Other editions of book The Ebb-Tide

The Ebb-Tide. A Trio and a Quartette (1894) is a short novel written by Robert Louis Stevenson and his stepson Lloyd Osbourne. It was published the year Stevenson died. Three beggars operate in the port of Papeete on Tahiti. They are Herrick, a failed English businessman; Davis, an American sea captain disgraced by the loss of his last ship; and Huish, a dishonest Cockney of various employments. One day an off-course schooner carrying a cargo of champagne from San Francisco to Sydney arrives in port, its officers having been killed by smallpox. With no-one else willing to risk infection, the U.S. consul employs Davis to take over the ship for the remainder of its voyage. Davis brings the other two men, along with a plan to steal the ship and navigate it to Peru, where they will sell the cargo and vessel and disappear with the money. Once at sea, Davis and Huish start drinking the cargo and spend almost all of their time intoxicated. Herrick, whose conscience is severely troubled by the plan but feels he has no other way to escape poverty, is left alone to manage the ship and three native crew members, despite having no seafaring experience. Several days later the would-be thieves discover they have been victims of a fraud: most of the cargo is not champagne but merely bottles of water. Evidently the shipper and the previous captain had intended to sink the ship deliberately and claim the full value of the "champagne" on insurance. Now sober, Davis discovers that his rushed preparations and drunkenness leave the ship with insufficient food to reach Peru. The only port they can reach without starving is Papeete, where they would surely be imprisoned for their actions. They sight an unknown island, where they discover an upper-class Englishman named Attwater. Attwater, a devout Christian, has been harvesting pearls here for many years with the help of several dozen native workers, all except four of whom have recently also died of smallpox.

The unabridged classic on MP3 audio, narrated by Alfred von Lecteur. Three playback speeds on one disk; etext edition included. Running time: 5.7 hours (slow), 5.2 hours (medium), 4.7 hours (fast). Three men in Tahiti, down on their luck, agree to ship out on a vessel whose officers have died. Their desperate venture inspires them to a further idea: steal the schooner and its cargo of champagne, sell them, and live a plentiful life. This strange and memorable tale has been described as "a microcosm of imperialist society," and is one of three books Stevenson co-authored with his stepson, Lloyd Osbourne.

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

Throughout the island world of the Pacific, scattered men of many European races and from almost every grade of society carry activity and disseminate disease. Some prosper, some vegetate. Some have mounted the steps of thrones and owned islands and navies. Others again must marry for a livelihood; a strapping, merry, chocolate-coloured dame supports them in sheer idleness; and, dressed like natives, but still retaining some foreign element of gait or attitude, still perhaps with some relic (such as a single eye-glass) of the officer and gentleman, they sprawl in palm-leaf verandahs and entertain an island audience with memoirs of the music-hall. And there are still others, less pliable, less capable, less fortunate, perhaps less base, who continue, even in these isles of plenty, to lack bread.

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Excerpt from The Ebb-Tide Weir of Hermiston Heathercat: The Young ChevalierIt was late. Long ago the band had broken up and marched musically home, a motley troop Of men and women, merchant-clerks and navy Officers dancing in its wake, arms about waist and crowned with garlands. Long ago darkness and silence had gone from house to house about the tiny pagan city. Only the street-lamps shone on, making a glow-worm halo in the umbrageous alleys, or drawing a tremulous image on the waters Of the port. A sound Of snoring ran among the piles Of lumber by the Government pier. It was wafted ashore from the graceful, clipper-bottomed schooners, where they lay moored close in like dinghies, and their crews were stretched upon the deck under the Open sky or huddled in a rude tent amidst the dis order Of merchandise.But the men under the purao had no thought Of sleep. The same temperature in England would have passed without remark in summer; but it was bitter cold for the South Seas. In animate nature knew it, and the bottle Of cocoa nut Oil stood frozen in every bird-cage house about the island; and the men knew it, and shiv ered. They wore flimsy cotton clothes, the same they had sweated in by day and run the gauntlet Of the tropic showers; and to complete their evil case, they had had no breakfast to mention, less dinner, and no supper at all.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from The Ebb-Tide Weir of Hermiston Heathercat: The Young ChevalierIt was late. Long ago the band had broken up and marched musically home, a motley troop Of men and women, merchant-clerks and navy Officers dancing in its wake, arms about waist and crowned with garlands. Long ago darkness and silence had gone from house to house about the tiny pagan city. Only the street-lamps shone on, making a glow-worm halo in the umbrageous alleys, or drawing a tremulous image on the waters Of the port. A sound Of snoring ran among the piles Of lumber by the Government pier. It was wafted ashore from the graceful, clipper-bottomed schooners, where they lay moored close in like dinghies, and their crews were stretched upon the deck under the Open sky or huddled in a rude tent amidst the dis order Of merchandise.But the men under the purao had no thought Of sleep. The same temperature in England would have passed without remark in summer; but it was bitter cold for the South Seas. In animate nature knew it, and the bottle Of cocoa nut Oil stood frozen in every bird-cage house about the island; and the men knew it, and shiv ered. They wore flimsy cotton clothes, the same they had sweated in by day and run the gauntlet Of the tropic showers; and to complete their evil case, they had had no breakfast to mention, less dinner, and no supper at all.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.