THE CONVICT SHIP VOL. I. NEW LIBRARY NOVELS. UNDER SEALED ORDERS. By GRANT ALLEN. 3 vols. A LONDON LEGEND. By JUSTIN H. MCCARTHY. 3 vols. THE TREMLETT DIAMONDS. By ALAN ST. AUBYN. 2 vols. THE DRIFT OF FATE. By DORA RUSSELL. 3 vols. BEYOND THE DREAMS OF AVARICE. By WALTER BESANT. 1 vol. THE MINOR CHORD. By J. MITCHELL CHAPPLE. 1 vol. HIS VANISHED STAR. By C. EGBERT CRADDOCK. 1 vol. ROMANCES OF THE OLD SERAGLIO. By H. N. CRELLIN. 1 vol. VILLAGE TALES AND JUNGLE TRAGEDIES. By B. M. CROKER. 1 vol. MADAME SANS-GÊNE. By E. LEPELLETIER. 1 vol. MOUNT DESPAIR. By D. CHRISTIE MURRAY. 1 vol. THE PHANTOM DEATH. By W. CLARK RUSSELL. 1 vol. THE PRINCE OF BALKISTAN. By ALLEN UPWARD. 1 vol. LONDON: CHATTO & WINDUS, PICCADILLY. THE CONVICT SHIP BY W. CLARK RUSSELL AUTHOR OF ‘THE WRECK OF THE GROSVENOR’ ‘MY SHIPMATE LOUISE’ ‘THE PHANTOM DEATH’ ETC. [Illustration] IN THREE VOLUMES--VOL. I. London CHATTO & WINDUS, PICCADILLY 1895 PRINTED BY SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE LONDON CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME CHAP. PAGE I. HER FATHER’S DEATH 1 II. HER MEMORIES 9 III. HER MOTHER DIES 21 IV. SHE MEETS CAPTAIN BUTLER 38 V. SHE VISITS THE ‘CHILDE HAROLD’ 55 VI. SHE IS ASKED IN MARRIAGE 69 VII. SHE PARTS WITH HER SWEETHEART 88 VIII. SHE RECEIVES DREADFUL NEWS 105 IX. SHE VISITS NEWGATE 119 X. SHE ATTENDS HER SWEETHEART’S TRIAL 140 XI. SHE VISITS H.M.S. ‘WARRIOR’ 163 XII. SHE RAMBLES WITH HER COUSIN 192 XIII. SHE CONCEIVES A STRANGE IDEA 205 XIV. SHE DRESSES AS A BOY 220 XV. SHE TAKES A LODGING AT WOOLWICH 244 XVI. SHE HIDES AS A STOWAWAY 272 XVII. HER SUFFERINGS IN THE HOLD 298 THE CONVICT SHIP CHAPTER I HER FATHER’S DEATH I was in my twenty-fourth year when I underwent the tragic and amazing experiences which, with the help of a friend, I propose to relate in these pages. I am now seventy-seven; but I am in good health and enjoy all my faculties, saving my hearing; my memory is brisk, and my friends find it very faithful, and what is here set down you may accept as the truth.