As she turned for the third time to retrace her steps, she was nearly knocked off her feet by two noisy boys, who bumped against her.

They were playing horse, to the annoyance of all the passengers on deck, stepping on people's toes, knocking over chairs, and stumbling against the stewards who were hurrying along with their heavy trays of beef tea and lemonade.
Lloyd had seen the boys several times before.

They were little fellows of six and nine, with unusually thin legs and shrill voices, and were always eating.
Every time a deck steward passed, they grabbed a share of whatever he carried.

They seemed to have discovered some secret passage to the ship's supplies.

Their blouses were pouched out all around with the store of gingersnaps, nuts, and apples which they had managed to stow away as a reserve fund.