# The Last Cruise of the Spitfire

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First volume in the Ship and Shore series
THE
LAST CRUISE OF THE SPITFIRE
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.
The Last Cruise of the Spitfire.
Norwood Press
J. S. Cushing & Co. – Berwick & Smith
Norwood Mass. U.S.A.
My Wakening was a Rude One.Page 53.
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.
| | PAGE |
| CHAPTER I. ||
| Myself and my Uncle | 5 |
| CHAPTER II. ||
| An Unexpected Letter | 15 |
| CHAPTER III. ||
| Somebody's Crime | 23 |
| CHAPTER IV. ||
| An Unexpected Arrival | 29 |
| CHAPTER V. ||
| An Appalling Prospect | 39 |
| CHAPTER VI. ||
| A Turn of Fortune | 45 |
| CHAPTER VII. ||
| On Board the Spitfire | 56 |
| CHAPTER VIII. ||
| Phil Jones | 64 |
| CHAPTER IX. ||
| Up Long Island Sound | 69 |
| CHAPTER X. ||
| A Narrow Escape | 75 |
| CHAPTER XI. ||
| Captain Hancock's Plot | 81 |
| CHAPTER XII. ||
| The Storm | 89 |
| CHAPTER XIII. ||
| A New Friend | 99 |
| CHAPTER XIV. ||
| Some Plain Facts | 107 ​ |
| CHAPTER XV. ||
| Captain Hancock tries to make Terms | 115 |
| CHAPTER XVI. ||
| An Important Discovery | 121 |
| CHAPTER XVII. ||
| In a Tight Fix | 130 |
| CHAPTER XVIII. ||
| I am put in Irons | 137 |
| CHAPTER XIX. ||
| The Burning of the Spitfire | 147 |
| CHAPTER XX. ||
| On the Raft | 154 |
| CHAPTER XXI. ||
| Night on the Hasty | 162 |
| CHAPTER XXII. ||
| A Terrible Loss | 169 |
| CHAPTER XXIII. ||
| The Deep Blue Sea | 175 |
| CHAPTER XXIV. ||
| Picked Up | 182 |
| CHAPTER XXV. ||
| The Capture on the Ocean | 190 |
| CHAPTER XXVI. ||
| On Land Once More | 201 |
| CHAPTER XXVII. ||
| Mr. Felix Stillwell's Hope | 214 |
| CHAPTER XXVIII. ||
| On the Cars | 220 |
| CHAPTER XXIX. ||
| Back in New York | 226 |
| CHAPTER XXX. ||
| An Unexpected Death | 234 |
| CHAPTER XXXI. ||
| Conclusion | 242 |
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1929.
The longest-living author of this work died in 1930, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 93 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
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