Jack at Sea

Jack at Sea, by George Manville
Fenn

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Title: Jack at Sea All Work and no Play made him a Dull Boy
Author: George Manville Fenn
Illustrator: W.B. Overend
Release Date: November 6, 2007 [EBook #23375]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JACK AT
SEA ***

Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England

Jack at Sea; or, All Work and no Play made him a Dull Boy, by George
Manville Fenn.

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We do seem to have rather a problem with this book, because the copy
we worked from had pages 15 and 16 missing (sheet was missing) and
also the bottom half of pages 283 and 284 has been torn out.
Eventually, when I can see another copy of the book I will be able to
rectify this, but at the moment there does not seem to be a copy in sight:
it doesn't even seem to be listed in the British Library Catalogue.
Jack is an academic and clever boy, who does not do much in the way
of sport and exercise. This worries his father who talks about it to the
local doctor. They decide that Jack has to be forced into the world most
of us inhabit, but the way they do it was surely a bit of an over-kill, for
Sir John (the father, who is a baronet), buys a yacht capable of sailing
round the world, and they all set off in it, including Ned, one of the
domestics from home. There is an excellent crew and the skipper of the
yacht is taken on for the trip.
Jack is pretty miserable at first, with seasickness, but gradually he
joins in with the daily activities, and as time goes on he becomes
indistinguishable from other boys who might have this opportunity. We
join in with Jack and Ned in various adventures, mostly in the Java
seas.
Apart from the minor blemish of the three missing texts, the book is
most enjoyable. There are the usual G M Fenn tight situations, but of
course the young men (as these boys would like to be called) manage to
get out of them.
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JACK AT SEA; OR, ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MADE HIM A DULL
BOY, BY GEORGE MANVILLE FENN.
OR ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MADE JACK A DULL BOY.

CHAPTER ONE.
WHEN A BOY IS NOT A BOY.
"Fine morning, Jack; why don't you go and have a run?"
John Meadows--always "Jack," because his father's name was
John--upon hearing that father's voice, raised his dull, dreamy eyes
slowly from the perusal of the old Latin author over which he was
bending, and looked in Sir John's face, gazing at him inquiringly as if
he had been walking with Cicero in Rome--too far away to hear the
question which had fallen upon his ears like a sound which conveyed
no meaning.
Father and son were as much alike as a sturdy sun-browned man of
forty can resemble a thin, pale youth of sixteen or so. In other words,
they possessed the same features, but the elder suggested an outdoor
plant, sturdy and well-grown, the younger a sickly exotic, raised in the
hot steaming air of the building which gardeners call a stove, a place in
which air is only admitted to pass over hot-water pipes, for fear the
plants within should shiver and begin to droop.
Sir John had just entered the handsome library, bringing with him a
good breezy, manly suggestion of having been tramping through woods
and over downs; and as soon as he had closed the door, he glanced at
the large fire near to which his son had drawn a small writing-table,
said "Pff!" unbuttoned his rough heather-coloured Norfolk jacket,
raised his eyes to the window as if he would like to throw it open, and
then lowered them and wrinkled up his forehead as he gazed at his son,
carefully dressed in dark-brown velvet, and wearing correctly fitting
trousers and patent leather shoes, a strong contrast to his own
knickerbockers, coarse brown knitted stockings, and broad-soled
shooting-boots.
Sir John looked anxious and worried, and he stretched out a strong
brown hand to lay upon his son's shoulder, but he let it fall again, drew
a deep breath, and then very gently asked him the question about the
walk.

"Did you speak to me, father?" said the lad vacantly.
"Speak to you!" cried Sir John, in an impatient,