Poison Island

Chapter. I. HOW I FIRST MET WITH CAPTAIN COFFIN. II. I AM ENTERED AT COPENHAGEN ACADEMY. III. A STREET FIGHT, AND WHAT CAME OF IT. IV. CAPTAIN COFFIN STUDIES NAVIGATION. V. THE WHALEBOAT. VI. MY FIRST GLIMPSE OF THE CHART. VII. ENTER THE RETURNED PRISONER. VIII. THE HUNTED AND THE HUNTER. IX. CHAOS IN THE CAPTAINS LODGINGS. X. NEWS. XI. THE CRIME IN THE SUMMER-HOUSE. XII. THE BLOODSTAIN ON THE STILE. XIII. CLUES IN A TANGLE. XIV. HOW I BROKE OUT THE RED ENSIGN. XV. CAPTAIN BRANSCOME'S CONFESSION—THE MAN IN THE LANE. XVI. CAPTAIN BRANSCOME'S CONFESSION—THE FLAG AND THE CASHBOX. XVII. THE CHART OF MORTALLONE. XVIII. THE CONTENTS OF THE CORNER CUPBOARD. XIX. CAPTAIN COFFIN'S LOG. XX. CAPTAIN COFFIN'S LOG (CONTINUED). XXI. IN WHICH PLINNY SURPRISES EVERYONE. XXII. A STRANGE MAN IN THE GARDEN. XXIII. HOW WE SAILED TO THE ISLAND. XXIV. WE ANCHOR OFF THE ISLAND. XXV. I TAKE FRENCH LEAVE ASHORE. XXVI. THE WOMEN IN THE GRAVEYARD. XXVII. THE MAN IN BLACK. XXVIII. THE MASTER OF THE ISLAND. XXIX. A BOAT ON THE BEACH. XXX. THE SCREAM ON THE CLIFF. XXXI. AARON GLASS. XXXII. WE COME TO DR. BEAUREGARD'S HOUSE. XXXIII. WE FIND THE TREASURE. XXXIV. DOCTOR BEAUREGARD.
HOW I FIRST MET WITH CAPTAIN COFFIN.
It was in the dusk of a July evening of the year 1813 (July 27, to be precise) that on my way back from the mail-coach office, Falmouth, to Mr. Stimcoe's Academy for the Sons of Gentlemen, No. 7, Delamere Terrace, I first met Captain Coffin as he came, drunk and cursing, up the Market Strand, with a rabble of children at his heels. I have reason to remember the date and hour of this encounter, not only for its remarkable consequences, but because it befell on the very day and within an hour or two of my matriculation at Stimcoe's. That afternoon I had arrived at Falmouth by Royal Mail, in charge of Miss Plinlimmon, my father's housekeeper; and now but ten minutes ago I had seen off that excellent lady and waved farewell to her—not without a sinking of the heart—on her return journey to Minden Cottage, which was my home.