Charles Hawes

The Mutineers annotated Charles Hawes

Written in the first person, this is the story of a young man, Benjamin Lathrop, age 12, and his older friend, who is in love with the boy's sister. The two of them sign on to go to sea in a merchant vessel owned by the young man's father -- only to find the second mate and others are in on a plot to take over the ship and seize the captain's valuable cargo for themselves. The second mate and those with him must first get the captain and the first mate killed in such a way that there appears to have been no dirty work done. Then the second mate can assume the captaincy. The boy and his older friend see what's afoot and seek for a way to stop this and save the owner's ship and precious cargo. But can they, and if they cannot, could they then manage to carry on a justified mutiny to depose the second mate and most of the crew, who support him? The two have very little support, but at times support seems to come from the physically powerful but wily old Negro cook. For a great tale of the sea.......