Jack at Sea; or, All Work and no Play made him a Dull Boy, by George
Manville Fenn.
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We do seem to have rather a problem with this book, because the copy we
worked from had pages 15 and 16 missing (sheet was missing) and also the
bottom half of pages 283 and 284 has been torn out. Eventually, when I
can see another copy of the book I will be able to rectify this, but at
the moment there does not seem to be a copy in sight: it doesn't even
seem to be listed in the British Library Catalogue.
Jack is an academic and clever boy, who does not do much in the way of
sport and exercise. This worries his father who talks about it to the
local doctor. They decide that Jack has to be forced into the world
most of us inhabit, but the way they do it was surely a bit of an
over-kill, for Sir John (the father, who is a baronet), buys a yacht
capable of sailing round the world, and they all set off in it,
including Ned, one of the domestics from home. There is an excellent
crew and the skipper of the yacht is taken on for the trip.
Jack is pretty miserable at first, with seasickness, but gradually he
joins in with the daily activities, and as time goes on he becomes
indistinguishable from other boys who might have this opportunity. We
join in with Jack and Ned in various adventures, mostly in the Java
seas.
Apart from the minor blemish of the three missing texts, the book is
most enjoyable. There are the usual G M Fenn tight situations, but of
course the young men (as these boys would like to be called) manage to
get out of them.
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JACK AT SEA; OR, ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MADE HIM A DULL BOY, BY GEORGE
MANVILLE FENN.