The Last Cruise of the Spitfire or, Luke Foster's Strange Voyage   By: Edward Stratemeyer (1862-1930)

OR Luke Foster's Strange Voyage

BY EDWARD STRATEMEYER

AUTHOR OF "UNDER DEWEY AT MANILA," "A YOUNG VOLUNTEER IN CUBA" "FIGHTING IN CUBAN WATERS," "RICHARD DARE'S VENTURE" "REUBEN STONE'S DISCOVERY," "OLIVER BRIGHT'S SEARCH" ETC., ETC.

ILLUSTRATED

BOSTON LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO.

COPYRIGHT, 1894, By THE MERRIAM COMPANY.

COPYRIGHT, 1900, BY LEE AND SHEPARD.

All Rights Reserved.

Norwood Press J. S. Cushing & Co. Berwick & Smith Norwood Mass. U.S.A.

[Illustration: MY WAKENING WAS A RUDE ONE.]

PREFACE TO THE REVISED EDITION.

"THE LAST CRUISE OF THE SPITFIRE" is the opening volume of the "Ship and Shore" Series, and tells of the things which happened to a boy who ran away from his guardian's home because he could no longer stand the cruel treatment received.

In this tale, in order to get close to the heart of the boy, the author has allowed Luke Foster to tell his own story in his own way. Luke has never before been to sea, and when he is carried off on the "Spitfire" his real experiences on the briny ocean, set up in juxtaposition to what he had imagined a life on the "rolling deep" to be, make reading which I trust every lad who has a "hankering" after a sailor's life may digest with profit. Luke concludes that a life on land is good enough for him, and I feel certain that a majority of our readers will agree with him.

Of Luke's overbearing cousin and his dishonest uncle much might be said which Luke leaves untold. The boy does this probably out of his natural good heartedness. Yet the lives of the pair, and especially that of the father, well illustrate the old saying, that, sooner or later, every wrong doer is bound to overreach himself and fall into the hands of justice.

Upon first appearing in print, "The Last Cruise of the Spitfire" was as well received as the stories in the "Bound to Succeed Series," which had preceded it; and once again the author begs to thank readers and critics for their continued kindness to him.

EDWARD STRATEMEYER.

NEWARK, N.J.,

May 1, 1899.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I. Myself and my Uncle

CHAPTER II. An Unexpected Letter

CHAPTER III. Somebody's Crime

CHAPTER IV. An Unexpected Arrival

CHAPTER V. An Appalling Prospect

CHAPTER VI. A Turn of Fortune

CHAPTER VII. On Board the Spitfire

CHAPTER VIII. Phil Jones

CHAPTER IX. Up Long Island Sound

CHAPTER X. A Narrow Escape

CHAPTER XI. Captain Hancock's Plot

CHAPTER XII. The Storm

CHAPTER XIII. A New Friend

CHAPTER XIV. Some Plain Facts

CHAPTER XV. Captain Hancock tries to make Terms

CHAPTER XVI. An Important Discovery

CHAPTER XVII. In a Tight Fix

CHAPTER XVIII. I am put in Irons

CHAPTER XIX. The Burning of the Spitfire

CHAPTER XX. On the Raft

CHAPTER XXI. Night on the Hasty

CHAPTER XXII. A Terrible Loss

CHAPTER XXIII. The Deep Blue Sea

CHAPTER XXIV. Picked Up

CHAPTER XXV. The Capture on the Ocean

CHAPTER XXVI. On Land Once More

CHAPTER XXVII. Mr. Felix Stillwell's Hope

CHAPTER XXVIII. On the Cars

CHAPTER XXIX. Back in New York

CHAPTER XXX. An Unexpected Death

CHAPTER XXXI. Conclusion

List of Illustrations

MY WAKENING WAS A RUDE ONE.

I WENT SPINNING THROUGH THE AIR, AND THEN FELL WITH A SPLASH INTO THE WATER.

DOWN IN THE HOLD.

ON THE RAFT.

THE LAST CRUISE OF THE SPITFIRE;

OR, LUKE FOSTER'S STRANGE VOYAGE.

CHAPTER I.

MYSELF AND MY UNCLE.

"Luke!"

"Yes, Mr. Stillwell."

"Why didn't you sweep and dust the office this morning?"

"I did, sir."

"You did!"

"Yes, sir."

"You did!" repeated the gentleman, who, I may as well state, was my esteemed uncle. "I must say, young man, that lately you have falsified to an astonishing degree."

"Excuse me, but I have not falsified not to my knowledge, sir."

"Stop; don't contradict me "

"I am telling the truth, sir."

"Stop, I tell you! I will not have it! Look here, and then dare to tell me that this office has seen the touch of a broom or duster this day!"