CONTENTS: I. WE MAKE A START 1 II. GOING BACK WITH THE PILOT 16 III. RECTUS OPENS HIS EYES 29 IV. TO THE RESCUE 43 V. STORMING SAN MARCO 56 VI. THE GIRL ON THE BEACH 69 VII. MR. CHIPPERTON 88 VIII. THE STEAM-BOAT IN THE FOREST 100 IX. THE THREE GRAY BEANS 116 X. THE QUEEN ON THE DOOR-STEP 128 XI. REGAL PROJECTS 140 XII. RECTUS LOSES RANK 154 XIII. THE CORONATION 166 XIV. A HOT CHASE 178 XV. A STRANGE THING HAPPENS TO ME 191 XVI. MR. CHIPPERTON KEEPS PERFECTLY COOL 204 XVII. WHAT BOY HAS DONE, BOY MAY DO 217 XVIII. I WAKE UP MR. CHIPPERTON 229 XIX. THE LIFE-RAFT 241 XX. THE RUSSIAN BARK 252 XXI. THE TRIP OF THE TUG 263 XXII. LOOKING AHEAD 274 XXIII. UNCLE CHIPPERTON'S DINNER 285 XXIV. THE STORY ENDS 296 *** an excerpt from CHAPTER I: WE MAKE A START I was sitting on the deck of a Savannah steam-ship, which was lying at a dock in the East River, New York. I was waiting for young Rectus, and had already waited some time; which surprised me, because Rectus was, as a general thing, a very prompt fellow, who seldom kept people waiting. But it was probably impossible for him to regulate his own movements this time, for his father and mother were coming with him, to see him off. I had no one there to see me off, but I did not care for that. I was sixteen years old, and felt quite like a man; whereas Rectus was only fourteen, and couldn't possibly feel like a man--unless his looks very much belied his feelings. My father and mother and sister lived in a small town some thirty miles from New York, and that was a very good reason for their not coming to the city just to see me sail away in a steam-ship. They took a good leave of me, though, before I left home. I shall never forget how I first became acquainted with Rectus. About a couple of years before, he was a new boy in the academy at Willisville. One Saturday, a lot of us went down to the river to swim. Our favorite place was near an old wharf, which ran out into deep water, and a fellow could take a good dive there, when the tide was high. There were some of the smaller boys along that day, but they didn't dive any, and if they even swam, it was in shallow water near the shore, by the side of the wharf. But I think most of them spent their time wading about. I was a good swimmer, and could dive very well. I was learning to swim under water, but had not done very much in that line at the time I speak of. We were nearly ready to come out, when I took a dive from a post on the end of the wharf, and then turned, under water, to swim in shore. I intended to try to keep under until I got into water shallow enough for me to touch bottom, and walk ashore. After half a dozen strokes, I felt for the bottom and my feet touched it. Then I raised my head, but I didn't raise it out of the water. It struck something hard.