Public-domain ebook
by Oliver Optic
Language: en6,434 downloads on Project Gutenberg
Subjects
In: Children & Young Adult Reading·Adventure·Novels
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #27666.
Seek and Find; or, The Adventures of a Smart Boy is a nineteenth‑century juvenile novel that blends moral instruction with episodic adventure. The story opens with a declaration of the protagonist’s virtues, good judgment, quick perception, and a “high aim”, followed by a brisk, action‑filled scene in which Ernest Thornton rescues a distressed young lady, Miss Kate Loraine, from a lake. The opening chapter establishes a pattern of daring exploits, familial intrigue, and a series of numbered episodes that promise a progression from a simple lakeside rescue to broader travels and confrontations, all framed by the author’s emphasis on noble intentions and moral purpose.
The narrative voice is earnest and didactic, employing a formal, almost sermon‑like tone characteristic of post‑Civil War American youth literature. Its prose is straightforward, with occasional flourishes of moralizing rhetoric, and the pacing reflects the serialized adventure style of the era. Readers who appreciate historical fiction that foregrounds character development, moral lessons, and a steady succession of plot‑driven chapters, especially those interested in Victorian‑influenced American juvenile tales, will find this work engaging.
The opening · free to read
Ernest Thornton is a smart boy--perhaps he is too smart; but his smartness is not worldly cunning; it is made up of those elements of character which constitute a noble and true man--good judgment, quick perception, and manly decision, mingled with those moral and religious attributes which are the leading springs of the true life. If some of the hero's actions are doubtful, his motives are always good. The greatest crime against the moral law is to be without a high aim; and while a thousand errors and short-comings may be forgiven, the want of a good intention is the capital sin which may not be pardoned. While we cannot ask or expect all young men to accomplish what Ernest Thornton did, we may point to his high aims and good intentions, and say to the reader, "Go thou and do likewise."
HARRISON SQUARE, MASS., November 29, 1867.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I. PAGE IN WHICH ERNEST THORNTON BECOMES ACQUAINTED WITH MISS KATE LORAINE 11
CHAPTER II. IN WHICH ERNEST LISTENS TO THE STORY OF MISS KATE LORAINE 22
CHAPTER III. IN WHICH ERNEST CALLS UPON MRS. LORAINE 33
CHAPTER IV. IN WHICH ERNEST RELEASES THE CAPTIVE MAIDEN FROM HER PRISON 44
CHAPTER V. IN WHICH ERNEST IS AWAKENED BY A LOUD KNOCKING 56
CHAPTER VI. IN WHICH ERNEST GETS AN IDEA 67
CHAPTER VII. IN WHICH ERNEST HAS AN INTERVIEW WITH MR. TOM THORNTON 78
CHAPTER VIII. IN WHICH ERNEST VISITS HIS UNCLE'S LIBRARY 89
CHAPTER IX. IN WHICH ERNEST, AFTER A SUCCESSFUL RETREAT, FALLS INTO A TRAP 100
CHAPTER X. IN WHICH ERNEST STRIKES A HEAVY BLOW FOR LIBERTY 111
CHAPTER XI. IN WHICH ERNEST MAKES GOOD HIS RETREAT FROM THE COTTAGE 122
CHAPTER XII. IN WHICH ERNEST OBTAINS SOME VALUABLE LETTERS 132
CHAPTER XIII. IN WHICH ERNEST LEAVES PARKVILLE, AND TAKES THE TRAIN FOR THE EASTWARD 144
CHAPTER XIV. IN WHICH ERNEST WONDERS WHAT TOM THORNTON WILL DO, AND FINDS OUT 155
CHAPTER XV. IN WHICH ERNEST FACES THE ENEMY 166
CHAPTER XVI. IN WHICH ERNEST MAKES A LANDING ON THE HUDSON 177
CHAPTER XVII. IN WHICH ERNEST OUTFLANKS TOM THORNTON 189
CHAPTER XVIII. IN WHICH ERNEST CALLS ON SEVERAL LORAINES 200
CHAPTER XIX. IN WHICH ERNEST STARTS FOR MADISON PLACE WITH KATE 211
CHAPTER XX. IN WHICH ERNEST STRIKES A HEAVY BLOW, AND TOM THORNTON HAS A BAD FALL 221
CHAPTER XXI. IN WHICH ERNEST VISITS MADISON PLACE 232
CHAPTER XXII. IN WHICH ERNEST MAKES THE ACQUAINTANCE OF E. DUNKSWELL 243
CHAPTER XXIII. IN WHICH ERNEST FINDS THAT E. DUNKSWELL IS A DISAGREEABLE ROOM-MATE 254
CHAPTER XXIV. IN WHICH ERNEST LANDS AT CROOKHAVEN, AND PROCEEDS TO LONDON 265
CHAPTER XXV. IN WHICH ERNEST VISITS STONY STRATFORD, AND E. DUNKSWELL COMES TO GRIEF 276
CHAPTER XXVI. IN WHICH ERNEST RETURNS TO PARKVILLE WITH HIS MOTHER, AND THE STORY ENDS ON THE SHORES OF LAKE ADIENO 289
The book keeps going
Reading is free forever. Sign up and watch scenes appear while you read.
Scenes Storieta drew for other classics.
New illustrated classics
Once or twice a month: the latest books to get full character casts, scene art, and free comic editions. No account needed.
