_This story is told by Will Gordon, a young fellow about sixteen years old, who saw for himself everything worth seeing in the course of the events he relates, and so knows much more about them than any one who would have to depend upon hearsay. Will is a good-looking boy, with brown hair and gray eyes, rather large for his age, and very fond of being a leader among his young companions. Whether or not he is good at that sort of thing, you can judge from the story he tells._ CONTENTS. _Chapter._ _Page._ I. WE MAKE A START 1 II. GOING BACK WITH THE PILOT 16 III. RECTUS OPENS HIS EYES 29 IV. TO THE RESCUE 43 V. STORMING SAN MARCO 56 VI. THE GIRL ON THE BEACH 69 VII. MR. CHIPPERTON 88 VIII. THE STEAM-BOAT IN THE FOREST 100 IX. THE THREE GRAY BEANS 116 X. THE QUEEN ON THE DOOR-STEP 128 XI. REGAL PROJECTS 140 XII. RECTUS LOSES RANK 154 XIII. THE CORONATION 166 XIV. A HOT CHASE 178 XV. A STRANGE THING HAPPENS TO ME 191 XVI. MR. CHIPPERTON KEEPS PERFECTLY COOL 204 XVII. WHAT BOY HAS DONE, BOY MAY DO 217 XVIII. I WAKE UP MR. CHIPPERTON 229 XIX. THE LIFE-RAFT 241 XX. THE RUSSIAN BARK 252 XXI. THE TRIP OF THE TUG 263 XXII. LOOKING AHEAD 274 XXIII. UNCLE CHIPPERTON'S DINNER 285 XXIV. THE STORY ENDS 296 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. _Page._ "BANG! BANG! BANG!--SEVEN TIMES." (_Frontispiece._) "SHE SEIZED ME BY BOTH HANDS" 10 THE VESSEL IS OFF 17 SCOTT AND THE CAPTAIN 19 RECTUS AND THE LEMONS 27 "'HOLD YOUR TONGUE!' ROARED MR. RANDALL" 32 "RECTUS SHOWED ME THE MAP" 35 "HOW?" 46 "ANOTHER BEAN" 64 "THE GENTLEMAN WAVED HIS HAT TO US" 80 "WHY, HOW DO YOU DO?" 88 "VOY-EZZ VOWS CETT HOMMY ETT SES DUCKS FEMMYS SEELAH?" 110 "WE SAW HER SLOWLY RISING BENEATH US" 119