Public-domain ebook
by Oliver Optic
Language: en6,536 downloads on Project Gutenberg
Subjects
In: Children & Young Adult Reading·Adventure·Novels
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #25485.
The work is a juvenile adventure set within the “Young America Abroad” series, chronicling the voyages of the Academy Ship Young America and its consort, the Josephine, as they sail the waters of Holland and Belgium. The opening places the vessels in a light wind off the Scheldt, where the crew’s routine studies are interrupted by an approaching squall. The narrative quickly introduces a clash of authority between the ship’s commander, Captain Haven, and the pedantic Professor Hamblin, whose insistence on a Greek lesson threatens to delay the crew’s response to the gathering storm. Through detailed descriptions of the ships’ rigging, the geography of the Low Countries, and the personalities of the officers, the author promises a blend of factual exposition and lively seafaring drama.
Written in a mid‑nineteenth‑century prose style, the book combines earnest instructional tone with the brisk pacing of a school‑yard adventure. Its language reflects the period’s formal diction and frequent moralizing, while the plot hinges on youthful mischief, disciplinary conflict, and the excitement of foreign travel. Readers who enjoy historic nautical tales, educational fiction that weaves real geography and history into the story, or any young‑adult narrative that balances moral lessons with spirited action will find this volume engaging.
The opening · free to read
Second Series.
I. UP THE BALTIC; OR, YOUNG AMERICA IN DENMARK AND SWEDEN.
II. NORTHERN LANDS; OR, YOUNG AMERICA IN PRUSSIA AND RUSSIA.
III. VINE AND OLIVE; OR, YOUNG AMERICA IN SPAIN AND PORTUGAL.
IV. SUNNY SHORES; OR, YOUNG AMERICA IN ITALY AND AUSTRIA.
V. CROSS AND CRESCENT; OR, YOUNG AMERICA IN GREECE AND TURKEY.
VI. ISLES OF THE SEA; OR, YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND.
PREFACE.
DIKES AND DITCHES, the fourth of the "YOUNG AMERICA ABROAD" series, is a continuation of the history of the Academy Ship and her consort in the waters of Holland and Belgium. As in its predecessors, those parts of the book which lie within the domain of history and fact are intended to be entirely reliable; and great care has been used to make them so. The author finds his notes so copious, and his recollections of the Low Countries so full of interest, that he has felt obliged to devote a considerable portion of the work to the geography and history of the country, and to the manners and customs of the people; but there is so much that is novel in the region itself, and so much that is stirring and even "sensational" in the history of the sturdy patriots of Holland, that he hopes his young friends will not complain of the proportion in which he has mingled his material. It would be a very great happiness to him to have excited a sufficient degree of interest in these countries to induce the boys and girls to read Mr. Motley's inimitable works, "The Rise of the Dutch Republic," and "The History of the United Netherlands." The writer is confident that young people will find these volumes quite as attractive as the story books of the day.
DIKES AND DITCHES has its independent story of the adventures of the students. Though the Academy Squadron has thus far been remarkably fortunate in the character of its instructors, Professor Hamblin proves to be an exception, and the crews of the ship and her consort are unhappily plunged into sundry disciplinary tribulations by his overstrained dignity, and by his want of discretion. The young commander of the Josephine suffers from the evils of a divided authority, which brings him into conflict with the senior instructor before experience suggests the remedy. While the principal is compelled to punish the students for their misconduct in "hazing" the obnoxious professor, he also finds it necessary to abate the nuisance of a conceited, overbearing, and tyrannical pedagogue. Boys cannot be expected to be angels in school, until their instructors have soared to this sublime height.
The author of the series, more than ever encouraged by the hearty and generous favor of his readers, submits this volume to their consideration, trusting that they will at least appreciate his earnest efforts not only to please, but to instruct them.
HARRISON SQUARE, MASS., April 9, 1868.
CONTENTS.
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