As Perry was already dressed for sea he used his leisure to sit in the hatchway of the after cabin and converse entertainingly with the occupants until, on the score that he was keeping the air out, he was driven up to the cockpit.

There he perched himself in one of the four comfortable wicker chairs, placed his feet on the leather-cushioned seat across the stern and languorously observed a less fortunate person scrape the deck of a sloop on the far side of the slip.
Suppose that, while the _Adventurer's_ crew prepares for service, we have a look over the boat.

The _Adventurer_, late the _Cockatoo_, was a forty-foot V-bottom, military type cruiser, with a nine-foot beam and a draught of two feet and six inches.

Below the water-line she was painted a dark green.

Above it she was freshly, immaculately white as to hull, while decks and smoke-stack were buff.