Winds Of Adventure on the Barbary Coast

Winds Of Adventure

The novel opens when THE MACGREGOR, the captain of the privateers breaks his gunner, RUBEN, out of an English prison and presses him into service.  They have sailed together before, and Ruben does not want to sail with the MacGregor again.  However, he has little choice.

Ruben and the second mate, WILLIAM, do not like each other almost at once.  Ruben is taken to the privateering ship where he meets two old friends, MR. ALISTAIR the first mate, and a teacher nicknamed ARCHIMEDES by the crew.

Sailing Into Adventure

They set sail, but because The MacGregor has a convict aboard, they cannot cruise where they had intended.  Ruben suggests they attack the corsairs of the Barbary Coast.  After much underhanded wrangling, he convinces The MacGregor.

 Their plan is to first attack the chieftain of the corsairs, AHMED.  They intend to steal or sink as many of his ships as possible so as to cripple him.  They then plan to attack the SHAH of the coast, who is the ally and fence of Ahmed.  The Shah, however, lives in dread of the ferocious Ahmed.

A storm drives them past the Straits of Gibraltar, and then, soon after they have beaten back north and passed the straits, they are captured by the galleys of Ahmed.  Ruben manages their escape, and they succeed in taking two of Ahmed’s ships.  They then set sail for the city of the Shah.

Once there, Ruben contacts his cousin BENJAMIN and an old friend named ABRAHAM.  The MacGregor begins to realize Ruben has been here before and has ulterior motives for everything he has been doing, especially when Ruben demands half of any loot they capture.

Plans are Made

Their plan is to sail boldly into the bay and open fire on the palace of the Shah.  They hope that he will see the ships of Ahmed which they have captured and believe Ahmed is attacking him, and so will agree to their demands.  They demand he empty his treasury for them.  The plan goes remarkably well – until they have the gold.

Then everything begins happening at once! And to discover more Purchase On Amazon

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Jomini Struther

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