Cape May County, New Jersey, has been for many years a favorite place with Mr. Meader and his family. With its long coastline and its maze of tidal creeks, the County has been a tempting target for smugglers for two hundred years, and what more natural than that Mr. Meader should tell his latest story against that background which he knows so well.
Farmers’ sons worked hard in the year 1820, for it took dawn-to-dark labor by all hands to make a living. But Andy Corson’s father found an excuse to let his youngest son have a day’s fishing whenever he could. Thus it was that Andy set off early one morning for Leaming’s Island to count the cattle pastured there—a job which would leave him plenty of time for fishing. It was not good fishing which made that day memorable, however. Instead Andy found evidence that strangers had landed on the island, and he stumbled upon a small locked box half buried in the sand. When he pried it open, he discovered a bit of crudely carved wood which later helped him in tracking down the smugglers who were working along that lonely coast.
This is more than just an adventure story, though it has all the excitement a boy could ask for. It is a story filled with the sturdy individuality of Cape May people, their farms and villages, and it gives, as well, a memorable picture of Philadelphia as it was more than a century ago. The many young readers who eagerly await each new book by this well-loved author will spread the word quickly that this is one of Mr. Meader’s best.
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