Freaks of Fortune or, Half Round the World   By: Oliver Optic (1822-1897)

OLIVER OPTIC

[Illustration: THE WRECK OF THE CARIBBEE. Page 273.]

FREAKS OF FORTUNE;

OR,

HALF ROUND THE WORLD.

BY

OLIVER OPTIC,

AUTHOR OF "YOUNG AMERICA ABROAD," "THE ARMY AND NAVY STORIES," "THE WOODVILLE STORIES," "THE BOAT CLUB STORIES," "THE RIVERDALE STORIES," ETC.

BOSTON LEE AND SHEPARD PUBLISHERS

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1868, by WILLIAM T. ADAMS, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.

COPYRIGHT, 1896, BY WILLIAM T. ADAMS, All rights reserved.

FREAKS OF FORTUNE.

TO

MY YOUNG FRIEND,

THOMAS POWELL, JR.

This Book

IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED.

PREFACE.

"FREAKS OF FORTUNE" is the fourth of the serial stories published in "OUR BOYS AND GIRLS." It was written in response to a great number of calls for a sequel to "THE STARRY FLAG." The author was pleased to learn that Levi Fairfield had made so pleasant an impression upon his young friends, and the gratifying reception extended to him in the present story, as it appeared in the Magazine, was quite as flattering to the writer as to Levi himself. When a good boy, like the hero of "The Starry Flag," is regarded with so much kindly interest by our boys and girls, it is convincing evidence that they have the capacity to appreciate noble conduct, daring deeds, and a true life.

The author is not disposed to apologize for the "exciting" element as some have been pleased to denominate it of this and others of his stories. If goodness and truth have been cast down, if vice and sin have been raised up, in the story, an explanation would not, and ought not to, atone for the crime. The writer degrades no saints, he canonizes no villains. He believes that his young friends admire and love the youthful heroes of the story because they are good and true, because they are noble and self sacrificing, and because they are generous and courageous, and not merely because they engage in stirring adventures. Exciting the youthful mind in the right direction is one thing; exciting it in the wrong direction is quite another thing.

Once more it becomes the writer's pleasant duty to acknowledge the kindness of his young friends, as well as of very many parents and guardians, who have so often and so freely expressed their approbation of his efforts to please his readers. He has been continually cheered by their kind letters, and by their constant favor, however manifested; and he cannot help wondering that one who deserves so little should receive so much.

WILLIAM T. ADAMS.

HARRISON SQUARE, MASS.,

July 27, 1868.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

CHAPTER I. THREE YEARS AFTER. 11

CHAPTER II. FIRE. 21

CHAPTER III. THE HOLE IN THE WALL. 31

CHAPTER IV. THE PLANK OVER THE CHASM. 42

CHAPTER V. AN INDUCTIVE ARGUMENT. 53

CHAPTER VI. THE STARRY FLAG. 64

CHAPTER VII. GRAVE CHARGES. 75

CHAPTER VIII. CONSTABLE COOKE. 86

CHAPTER IX. THE EXAMINATION. 97

CHAPTER X. MR. C. AUGUSTUS EBÉNIER. 108

CHAPTER XI. THE RESULT OF THE EXAMINATION. 119

CHAPTER XII. HOTEL DE POISSON. 130

CHAPTER XIII. "OFT FROM APPARENT ILLS." 141

CHAPTER XIV. "LOSE HIS OWN SOUL." 151

CHAPTER XV. ANOTHER LITTLE PLAN. 161

CHAPTER XVI. PISTOLS FOR TWO. 173

CHAPTER XVII. THE GOLD RESTORED. 184

CHAPTER XVIII. MAT MOGMORE. 195

CHAPTER XIX. THE CARIBBEE. 207