The Adventures of Billy Topsail Read online

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER I 11

  In which young Billy Topsail of Ruddy Cove puts out to his first adventure with his dog in the bow of the punt.

  CHAPTER II 19

  Concerning the behaviour of Billy Topsail and his dog in the water when the _Never Give Up_ went to the bottom, and closing with an apology and a wag of the tail.

  CHAPTER III 26

  Describing the haunts and habits of devil-fish and informing the reader of Billy Topsail's determination to make a capture at all hazards.

  CHAPTER IV 34

  Recounting the adventure of the giant squid of Chain Tickle, in which the punt gets in the grip of a gigantic tentacle and Billy Topsail strikes with an axe.

  CHAPTER V 44

  On the face of the cliff: Wherein Billy Topsail gets lost in a perilous place and sits down to recover his composure.

  CHAPTER VI 52

  In which Billy Topsail loses his nerve. Wherein, also, the wings of gulls seem to brush past.

  CHAPTER VII 59

  In which Billy Topsail hears the fur trader's story of a jigger and a cake of ice in the wind.

  CHAPTER VIII 69

  In the offshore gale: In which Billy Topsail goes seal hunting and is swept to sea with the floe.

  CHAPTER IX 78

  In which old Tom Topsail burns his punt and Billy wanders in the night and three lives hang on a change of wind.

  CHAPTER X 86

  How Billy Topsail's friend Bobby Lot joined fortunes with Eli Zitt and whether or not he proved worthy of the partnership.

  CHAPTER XI 93

  Bobby Lot learns to swim and Eli Zitt shows amazing courage and self-possession and strength.

  CHAPTER XII 104

  Containing the surprising adventure of Eli Zitt's little partner on the way back from Fortune Harbour, in which a Newfoundland dog displays a saving intelligence.

  CHAPTER XIII 116

  In which Billy Topsail sets sail for the Labrador, the _Rescue_ strikes an iceberg, and Billy is commanded to pump for his life.

  CHAPTER XIV 123

  Faithfully narrating the amazing experiences of a Newfoundland schooner and describing Billy Topsail's conduct in a sinking boat.

  CHAPTER XV 131

  In which the Ruddy Cove doctor tells Billy Topsail and a stranger how he came to learn that the longest way 'round is sometimes the shortest way home.

  CHAPTER XVI 142

  Describing how Billy Topsail set out for Ruddy Cove with Her Majesty's Mail and met with catastrophe.

  CHAPTER XVII 151

  Billy Topsail wrings out his clothes and finds himself cut off from shore by thirty yards of heaving ice.

  CHAPTER XVIII 159

  In which Billy Topsail joins the whaler _Viking_ and a school is sighted.

  CHAPTER XIX 164

  In which the chase is kept up and the captain promises himself a kill.

  CHAPTER XX 172

  The mate of the fin-back whale rises for the last time, with a blood-red sunset beyond, and Billy Topsail says, "Too bad!"

  CHAPTER XXI 176

  In which Billy Topsail goes fishing in earnest. Concerning, also, Feather's Folly of the Devil's Teeth, Mary Robinson, and the wreck of the _Fish Killer_.

  CHAPTER XXII 184

  The crew of the _Fish Killer_ finds refuge on an iceberg and discovers greater safety elsewhere, after which the cook is mistaken for a fool, but puts the crew to shame.

  CHAPTER XXIII 196

  In which the clerk of the trader _Tax_ yarns of a madman in the cabin.

  CHAPTER XXIV 208

  In which a pirate's cave grows interesting, and two young members of the Ethnological and Antiquarian Club of St. John's, undertake an adventure under the guidance of Billy Topsail.

  CHAPTER XXV 216

  In which there is a landslide at Little Tickle Basin and something of great interest and peculiar value is discovered in the cave.

  CHAPTER XXVI 223

  In which Billy Topsail determines to go to the ice in the spring of the year, and young Archibald Armstrong of St. John's is permitted to set out upon an adventure which promises to be perilous and profitable.

  CHAPTER XXVII 231

  While Billy Topsail is about his own business Archie Armstrong stands on the bridge of the _Dictator_ and Captain Hand orders "Full speed ahead!" on the stroke of twelve.

  CHAPTER XXVIII 238

  In which Archie Armstrong falls in with Bill o' Burnt Bay and Billy Topsail of Ruddy Cove, and makes a speech.

  CHAPTER XXIX 246

  Billy Topsail is shipped upon conditions, and the _Dictator_, in a rising gale, is caught in a field of drift ice, with a growler to leeward.

  CHAPTER XXX 255

  In which Archie Armstrong and Billy Topsail have an exciting encounter with a big dog hood, and, at the sound of alarm, leave the issue in doubt, while the ice goes abroad and the enemy goes swimming.

  CHAPTER XXXI 264

  The _Dictator_ charges an ice pan and loses a main topmast.

  CHAPTER XXXII 272

  In which seals are sighted and Archie Armstrong has a narrow chance in the crow's-nest.

  CHAPTER XXXIII 279

  The ice runs red, and, in storm and dusk, Tim Tuttle brews a pot o' trouble for Captain Hand, while Billy Topsail observes the operation.

  CHAPTER XXXIV 287

  In which Tim Tuttle's shaft flies straight for the mark. The crews of the _Dictator_ and _Lucky Star_ declare war, and Captain Hand is threatened with the shame of dishonour, while young Billy Topsail, who has the solution of the difficulty, is in the hold of the ship.

  CHAPTER XXXV 296

  In which the issue is determined.

  CHAPTER XXXVI 302

  It appears that the courage and strength of the son of a colonial knight are to be tried. The hunters are caught in a great storm.

  CHAPTER XXXVII
308

  In which the men are lost, the _Dictator_ is nipped and Captain Hand sobs, "Poor Sir Archibald!"

  CHAPTER XXXVIII 317

  And last: In which wind and snow and cold have their way and death lands on the floe. Billy Topsail gives himself to a gust of wind, and Archie Armstrong finds peril and hardship stern teachers. Concerning, also, a new sloop, a fore-an'-after and a tailor's lay figure.