Publisher's Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1882 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER I. FRIENDS AND FOES. iHE brilliant summer sun was already descending towards the west, shining in at the back windows of the houses in the seaside town of East Wavebury, turning its dusty glass windows into molten gold, and lighting up the breezy downs that stretched far away inland, while in front--facing the sea--the rugged cliffs, stern in their pitiless outlines, stood in sullen shadow, as though cruelly anticipating the miserable fate of many a gallant craft upon the reefs at their base, where other noble vessels had already, in stormy winters gone by, been wrecked and lost. At the door of a cottage near the edge of the cliff sat a lad busily mending a fishingnet, but finding time, now and again, to look across the expanse of sea before him, with lingering, loving eyes. His sunburnt face was radiant with the bloom of health, and his deep grey eyes, as he gazed far out towards the horizon, were thoughtful beyond his years. "Oh, isn't that lovely!" he exclaimed, as a ship, with all sail set, glided across the gold and crimson sea just where the tints fell most brightly, beyond the deep shadows cast by town and cliffs. She was a stately vessel with pure white wings and shining figure-head; and as she sailed right into the glowing light, from stem to stern she was transfigured by a glow that seemed almost more than natural. "She's just like a golden ship," said Charlie Walter to himself. "If there was to be any sea in heaven, I should say that such-like must be the look of the ships there." Charlie, though only a fisher lad, had a keen eye for the beautiful, and to him the bountiful, generous sea, which yielded him a living, was an ever-changing world of beauty and interest. "What are you a-thinkin' of, my boy?" said a voice...
