The Island School

About this issue

This issue contains the opening installment of "The Island School," an original adventure narrative by E. Harcourt Burrage. The story concerns a maritime school established on the island of Fermentera in the Mediterranean, headed by the autocratic "Napoleon" Farrell, who controls the island through subsidy from the Spanish Government. Three boys—Jim Gordon, Lai Brodie, and Stiff—crew the school's sailing boat, the Swallow, to collect mail from a Spanish steamer. En route home, they are pursued by a larger native vessel whose crew attempts to ram them. Gordon, the boat's captain, executes an evasive maneuver and strikes the pursuing vessel's helmsman with a stone, causing confusion aboard the attacker and enabling the boys to escape toward shore. The narrative combines seafaring adventure with school-life elements, establishing tensions between the island community and hostile Spanish interests.