Slowly, the “Gray Gull” chugged its way toward the greater river. The boys looked eagerly about them. At the point of junction, the Harlem is spanned by a railroad bridge, and just as the house-boat reached it a heavy freight train rumbled overhead.
“Glad I’m not on it,” observed Tommy Clifton, with a wink. “Must be fierce to go poking along like that.”
“Gee whiz, doesn’t the Hudson look wide!” exclaimed Jack, shading his eyes. “Lots of boats to steer clear of, too. What’s that, Bob? All the power is on, my boy. We can’t go any faster, unless you get out and push.”
Gradually the house-boat drew away from the hills on either hand, and was headed directly across the river. The sunlight, streaming between a break in the clouds, reflected in the water, which the freshening breeze had kicked up into choppy waves. They tumbled against the sides of the craft with a strange, melancholy swish. Now and then shining drops splashed over the bow, and Confuse-us hastily retired within.
“Looks an awful distance across,” remarked Jack, again.
“We’re so close to the water—that’s why,” said Dave Brandon. “But doesn’t it seem lonely out here, fellows?”
“And take a squint at those sea-gulls,” added Joe, pointing toward a flock of birds circling above.
The Hudson greatly impressed the boys with its vastness. The river, viewed from a height of only a few feet, presented a very different picture from the one so familiar to passengers on excursion and ferry-boats.
A vague sense of danger stole over the occupants of the house-boat. The little craft rocked gently, and they could well imagine how, in case of a squall, it would be at the mercy of the foam-crested waves. However, such thoughts soon vanished. The smell of the water was pleasant, and the boys, leaning comfortably against the side of the boat, sniffed the air with keen pleasure.
Straight ahead, a big, lumbering schooner slowly made its way down the river, the breeze being just sufficient to fill out her dingy gray sails. Shouts and commands reached their ears with astonishing clearness, even above the steady chug-chug of the motor.