Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 446

# The Scapegrace of the Sea

This 1886 serial by Col. Prentiss Ingraham, published in Beadle and Adams' weekly, follows Harry Harwell, a minister's son in New Jersey forced from home by his stepmother. After his mother's death, Harry's father remarries the widow Jones, who favors her own son Duke for naval service while pushing Harry toward an academy. With only twenty dollars, Harry walks to New York, befriended by stage-driver Dan Rawlings, who arranges his passage on a packet-schooner bound for Boston. Aboard the vessel, Harry works his passage alongside the captain and mate, demonstrating competence learned from coastal fishing experience. A wealthy passenger's haughty son Ralph contrasts with Harry's humble industriousness. The schooner encounters a suspected pirate vessel in the Sound, and the captain attempts evasive action, setting up adventure at sea.