The book might have just come into port, so redolent is it of the sea. It describes the wooing of one William Gore, formerly captain of the Southern Cross, then mate of the Conemaugh. On board this vessel, as passengers, are a trim young lady and her mother. When the good ship is taken by pirates, Gore wills to remain and run the risk of identification with the black flag, rather than desert the woman he loves. He has the reward he deserves. The book is written in a clean-cut, crisp style, and is a thoroughly good "book of a day." — Library of the World's Best Literature, Volume XLIV, page 281.

Captain Gore tells why he shipped as mate of the Yankee clipper Conemaugh; of an encounter with an English convict ship, The Countess of Warwick, whose desperate crew overpowered their captain, and after burning their vessel boarded the Conemaugh, compelling the service of Gore, who gives in detail the thrilling adventures of himself and the second mate, not omitting the romantic part played by Miss Waters. — The Annual American Catalogue 1896, page 82.

Another of Captain Hains's inimitable sea stories, in which piracy, storm, and shipwreck are cleverly intermingled with love and romance, and vivid and picturesque descriptions of life at sea. Mr. Hains's new story describes the capture on the high seas of an American vessel by a gang of convicts, who have seized and burned the English ship on which they were being transported, and their final recapture by a British man-of-war.

"A capital story, full of sensation and excitement, and a rollicking sea story of the good old-fashioned sort. The reader who begins this exciting voyage will sail on at the rate of twelve miles an hour until it is finished." — Boston Transcript.

"Bold in plot and told with spirit. Mr. Hains knows the sea and keeps its salt smell on every page." — Philadelphia Enquirer.

"An all action sea tale of the first rank by a master of his craft." — New York World.