Young Captain Jack

绢
Young Captain Jack, by Horatio Alger and

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Title: Young Captain Jack The Son of a Soldier
Author: Horatio Alger and Arthur M. Winfield

Release Date: January 23, 2007 [eBook #20432]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
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YOUNG CAPTAIN JACK
Or
The Son of a Soldier
by
HORATIO ALGER, JR.
Author of "Out for Business," "Falling in with Fortune," "Adrift in New York," "Tattered Tom," "Ragged Dick," Etc.
Completed by
ARTHUR M. WINFIELD
Author of "The Rover Boys Series," Etc.

[Illustration: "OUT OF MY WAY, BOY!" AND NOW THE GUERRILLA RAISED HIS OWN SWORD.--Frontispiece.]

New York The Mershon Company Publishers Copyright, 1901, by The Mershon Company. All rights reserved.

PREFACE.
"YOUNG CAPTAIN JACK" relates the adventures of a boy waif, who is cast upon the Atlantic shore of one of our Southern States and taken into one of the leading families of the locality. The youth grows up as a member of the family, knowing little or nothing of his past. This is at the time of the Civil War, when the locality is in constant agitation, fearing that a battle will be fought in the immediate vicinity. During this time there appears upon the scene a Confederate surgeon who, for reasons of his own, claims Jack as his son. The youth has had trouble with this man and despises him. He cannot make himself believe that the surgeon is his parent and he refuses to leave his foster mother, who thinks the world of him. Many complications arise, but in the end the truth concerning the youth's identity is uncovered, and all ends happily for the young son of a soldier.
In its original shape Mr. Alger intended this tale of a soldier's son for a juvenile drama, and it is, therefore, full of dramatic situations. But it was not used as a play, and when the gifted author of so many boys' books had laid aside his pen forever the manuscript was placed in the hands of the present writer, to be made over into such a book as would evidently have met with the noted author's approval. The success of other books by Mr. Alger, and finished by the present writer, has been such that my one wish is that this story may meet with equal commendation.
Arthur M. Winfield.
February 16, 1901.

CONTENTS.
CHAPTER PAGE
I. THE ENCOUNTER ON THE BRIDGE, 1
II. DARCY GILBERT'S STORY, 9
III. A MYSTERY OF THE PAST, 16
IV. ON BOARD THE WRECK, 23
V. OLD BEN HAS A VISITOR, 30
VI. MRS. RUTHVEN'S STORY, 38
VII. A SETBACK FOR ST. JOHN, 47
VIII. THE HOME GUARDS OF OLDVILLE, 54
IX. DR. MACKEY INVESTIGATES, 63
X. THE PAPERS ON THE WRECK, 71
XI. MRS. RUTHVEN SPEAKS HER MIND, 78
XII. THE BOAT RACE ON THE BAY, 86
XIII. DR. MACKEY TELLS HIS STORY, 95
XIV. JACK SPEAKS HIS MIND, 105
XV. CAPTAIN JACK AT THE FRONT, 114
XVI. COLONEL STANTON'S VISIT, 125
XVII. A SCENE IN THE SUMMERHOUSE, 134
XVIII. MEETING OF THE COUSINS, 143
XIX. A SUMMONS FROM THE FRONT, 154
XX. THE STORM OF BATTLE AGAIN, 163
XXI. A LIVELY FIRE, 172
XXII. AFTER THE BATTLE, 180
XXIII. DR. MACKEY'S BOLD MOVE, 188
XXIV. THE HUNT FOR JACK, 197
XXV. A REMARKABLE REVELATION, 204
XXVI. DR. MACKEY SHOWS HIS HAND, 212
XXVII. COLONEL STANTON'S TALE, 220
XXVIII. IN THE HANDS OF THE GUERRILLAS, 228
XXIX. THE ESCAPE FROM THE CAVE, 235
XXX. BROUGHT TO BAY, 243
XXXI. FATHER AND SON--CONCLUSION, 252

YOUNG CAPTAIN JACK.
CHAPTER I.
THE ENCOUNTER ON THE BRIDGE.
"Get out of the way, boy, or I'll ride over you!"
"Wait a second, please, until I haul in this fish. He's such a beauty I don't wish to lose him."
"Do you suppose I'm going to bother with your fish? Get out of the way, I say!" And the man, who sat astride of a coal-black horse, shook his hand threateningly. He was dressed in the uniform of a surgeon in the Confederate Army, and his face was dark and crafty.
The boy, who was but fourteen and rather slenderly built, looked up in surprise. He was seated on the side of a narrow bridge spanning a mountain stream flowing into the ocean, and near him rested a basket half-filled with fish. He had been on the point of hauling in another fish--of extra size--but now his prize gave a sudden