by John Conroy Hutcheson
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There is no doubt that John Hutcheson was a talented writer of books for
teenagers. Most of his books were about the sea, but few of them were
as well-written as this one. What is meant here is that his English
style is very good, even when he brings in characters whose command of
English is less perfect; and also that he drives his characters from one
gripping situation to another.
The hero, Martin Leigh, is the son of a brave British Naval officer, who
was killed in Africa when the boy is very young. The mother also dies,
and Martin is left an orphan, to be brought up by his father's brother.
He has a horrible time in this family, and Aunt Matilda is his chief
tormentor. Eventually he is sent to a cheap boarding school with a
prospectus in no way matched by reality. Again he has a horrible time,
for several years, but is befriended by another boy, Tom. One year, on
Guy Fawkes' Day, they perpetrate a misdemeanour far beyond what they
should have done, and are sentenced to be expelled. They run away, and
stow away in a little coaster. When they are discovered, the captain
beats them even worse than the Headmaster of their school had done. So
Martin, aged thirteen, has known nothing but hard times.
He meets with nice people, has a while in which he gets his act
together, and then goes to sea again. This trip is full of adventure,
near misses and disasters. Fire at sea, wrecked on the southern tip of
South Anerica, and finally back home to the kind people who had
befriended him when he had that early chance to settle down.
It is a well-written book, easy to read or to listen to, and I recommend
it as one of Hutcheson's best. N.H.
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