barney had even managed to persuade a group of those queer , shabby types , who lived on the river boats nearby , to float a barge and a couple of rowboats round to where the main events were taking place , so that , all in all , by the time the effervescent councillor had appeared on the scene , there was quite a crowd in position , and there was something of a carnival atmosphere in the air , which was compounded by the sudden appearance of an ice-cream van , as well as a mob of completely unconnected onlookers .