The swashbuckling adventures of Jake Carpenter, cabin boy. The twenty-third of September, 1716. I write this on my last day at home. Tomorrow I am to join my Uncle Will aboard his ship and become A SAILOR. Will has told me of sea monsters and mermaids and has sailed through a hurricane. Maybe I shall see these things FOR MYSELF! Nine-year-old Jake Carpenter does indeed see all this - and more, when his ship, the Greyhound, is captured by pirates and he discovers the thrills and perils of life at sea as he embarks on an exciting new life on the wrong side of the law.