Hal said nothing, but continued to study the stranger through his night-glass.
"She is a queer-looking hooker," muttered Hastings. "Say, Eph, somehow that boat doesn't look as though she was built to fit her own rig."
"Why not!" demanded Eph.
"Well, look at her length. Then take a peep at the height of her dory-mast. Does it look tall enough for the length of the schooner?"
"I hadn't thought of that," admitted Somers, also taking a careful look through the nightglass. "Jove, Hal, she is an odd-looking piece of hulk."
Eph turned to pass the order to run in still closer to the schooner.
"What's wrong with her stern-hull?" asked Ensign Somers, three or four minutes later.
"Looks like a patchwork affair," declared Hal, more interested than ever.
"Has she a built-on stern?" demanded Somers, half a minute later.
"By Jove, I half believe she has. Eph, without that stern and the yawl mast, would you say the craft looks like the 'Juanita'?"