The Project Gutenberg EBook of Tales of the Sea, by W.H.G. Kingston

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Title: Tales of the Sea
And of our Jack Tars

Author: W.H.G. Kingston

Illustrator: Stephen Miller; Engraver: T. Robertson

Release Date: November 6, 2007 [EBook #23378]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TALES OF THE SEA ***

Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England

Tales of the Sea, by W.H.G. Kingston.

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This is a collection of nine stories, some short, and some not so short.
They are all very good reading, and Kingston seems to be at his best in
the short story mode. You will probably enjoy the two episodes from the
life of "Uncle Boz", that form the second story, especially the first,
when he organises the rescue of the crew and passengers of a vessel that
is wrecked near his house on a stormy Christmas Day.

The first story, "Happy Jack", is by far the longest, occupying one
third of the whole book. Jack, in spite of the desires of his lawyer
father, goes to sea, where he has many adventures, culminating in an
event in which he was presumed to have perished. Very short of money,
and looking somewhat dishevelled, he reaches home, where he is not
recognised by his sisters, but a girl who was being brought up by the
family, and who was mutually interested in Jack, does recognise him, and
he is given a proper welcome home.

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TALES OF THE SEA, BY W.H.G. KINGSTON.

STORY ONE, CHAPTER 1.

HAPPY JACK.

Have any of you made a passage on board a steamer between London and
Leith? If you have, you will have seen no small number of brigs and
brigantines, with sails of all tints, from doubtful white to decided
black--some deeply=laden, making their way to the southward, others with
their sides high out of the water, heeling over to the slightest breeze,
steering north.

On board one of those delectable craft, a brig called the _Naiad_, I
found myself when about fourteen summers had passed over my head. She
must have been named after a negress naiad, for black was