About this story
A hurricane lays her over between Guadeloupe and Dominica, and when the Torch goes down you spend three days adrift on a quarter pint of water a man. Taken by a piccaroon, you count the pirate lagoon from a loft above its capstan house until the guns come on your count. Forty-eight chapters carry the boy to the Lotus-Leaf's quarterdeck and home.
How it opens
At thirteen, you had petitioned every useful relation for a place in the Navy.
MotherThe Admiralty seal has arrived, Tom, and I fear success more than another refusal.
Sir Barnaby's letter appointed you to the Breeze, fitting at Portsmouth for foreign service.
NicodemusFour days give a widowed mother scarcely time to prepare her only son's departure.
Choose
Admit that the speed frightens you despite everything you asked for.
Offer to ask Sir Barnaby whether the posting can be delayed.