They kept the engine running for another ten minutes, until the amateur engineers declared themselves satisfied.
"I hope she'll start quicker on Monday," remarked Roche. "I feel as if I had been flogged—stiff all over."
The return of the foraging-party diverted conversation into other channels, and by the time the Olivette was scrubbed down and tidied up, the Sea Scouts were quite ready for tea.
"There's no dinghy," observed Hepburn.
"No; but it doesn't matter," replied Mr. Armitage, "unless, of course, we want to run out a rope. In ordinary circumstances we can bring the boat alongside the bank if we want to land."
"What puzzles me," remarked Stratton, "is how we are going to turn. There's not room enough here. We'd foul one of the college barges."
"That rather troubled me," agreed Mr. Armitage, "until I made inquiries. I find that the large pleasure steamers—like the one ahead of us—go astern until the counter nearly touches that bridge. The current then bears against the bows and turns the boat until she can go ahead. When we've finished tea and washed up, we'll stroll along the tow-path as far as the first lock—Iffley Lock—and see what it looks like. Then we shan't be altogether strangers to it when we bring the Olivette down."
"It's only three o'clock by Greenwich time," observed Warkworth as the Sea Scouts set out on their walk. "Jolly sound scheme, summer time."
"Yes; but we must remember that when we have to consult tide tables," added Mr. Armitage, "otherwise we may find ourselves in a fix."
It was a pleasant ramble along the tow-path. Past the college barges and the confluence of the Cherwell the river was almost deserted, most of the pleasure-seekers afloat having made for the sheltered backwaters to enjoy alfresco tea.