From where he sat he could look down upon the decks of a number of small sailing-craft.

Quite a crowd of curious idlers had collected to look at them, and Joe found himself growing interested.
There were four boats, and from where he sat he could make out their names.

The one directly beneath him had the name _Ghost_ painted in large green letters on its stern.

The other three, which lay beyond, were called respectively _La Caprice_, the _Oyster Queen_, and the _Flying Dutchman_.
Each of these boats had cabins built amidships, with short stovepipes projecting through the roofs, and from the pipe of the _Ghost_ smoke was ascending.

The cabin doors were open and the roof-slide pulled back, so that Joe could look inside and observe the inmate, a young fellow of nineteen or twenty who was engaged just then in cooking.