His last book, by a coincidence at the present time, also relates to the Mississippi. Nearly a generation has passed away between the first and the last; and the latter is the writer's seventy-fifth book. The author has endeavored to make his works correct in facts and descriptions, as well as in moral tendency; and in the preparation of them he has travelled over fifty thousand miles by sea and land. To his young friends,--some of the earlier of whom are now middle-aged men and women, with boys and girls of their own, reading the same books their fathers and mothers read a quarter of a century ago,--to his young friends the author again returns his sincere and hearty thanks for the favor they have bestowed upon his numerous volumes. DORCHESTER, MASS., June 1, 1881. CONTENTS. PAGE CHAPTER I. IN CAPTAIN BOOMSBY'S SALOON 11 CHAPTER II. FOUR THOUSAND DOLLARS 23 CHAPTER III. ADIEU TO THE BOOMSBYS 34 CHAPTER IV. NICK BOOMSBY HAS ASPIRATIONS 47 CHAPTER V. THE STRANGE MOVEMENT OF THE ISLANDER 59 CHAPTER VI. A LIVELY CHASE 71 CHAPTER VII. A FOG OFF THE FLORIDA COAST 81 CHAPTER VIII. A PORT IN A STORM 93 CHAPTER IX. A VISIT FROM AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE 104 CHAPTER X. INTELLIGENCE OF THE ISLANDER 116 CHAPTER XI. DIFFICULT NAVIGATION 127 CHAPTER XII. THE CALAMITY ON FRENCH REEF 138 CHAPTER XIII. A NIGHT LOST IN THE STORM 149 CHAPTER XIV. LOOKING FOR THE ISLANDER 160 CHAPTER XV. A PARTIAL SOLUTION OF THE MYSTERY 172 CHAPTER XVI. ACROSS THE GULF OF MEXICO 184 CHAPTER XVII. THE SYLVANIA IN AMBUSH 196 CHAPTER XVIII. HOW NICK BOOMSBY MANAGED HIS CASE 208 CHAPTER XIX. A SEARCH FOR THE LOST TREASURE 220 CHAPTER XX. THE THEORY AND THE FACTS 231 CHAPTER XXI. UP THE MISSISSIPPI 242 CHAPTER XXII. THE ISLANDER IN A BAD FIX 253 CHAPTER XXIII. AN EMBARRASSING SITUATION 265 CHAPTER XXIV. A CREVASSE ON THE MISSISSIPPI 277 CHAPTER XXV. SAILING ACROSS THE FIELDS 289 CHAPTER XXVI. A DESPERATE STRUGGLE WITH THE RUSHING WATERS 301 CHAPTER XXVII. THE PLANTER AND HIS FAMILY 312 CHAPTER XXVIII. A DISTINGUISHED PASSENGER 324