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.
The Adventures of Billy Topsail Page 2