Pirate schooner. Unnamed vessel commanded by Captain Jonsen on which the five young Bas-Thornton children and two Fernandez children are inadvertently taken prisoner when the ship carrying them from Jamaica to England is captured. The seven children quickly adapt to life aboard the slovenly pirate ship, and it becomes for them a place of adventure and friendly companions, much like their home in Jamaica. They climb the ship’s ratlines fearlessly and pass their days talking with the friendly crew and playing with the ship’s animals. After carrying the children aboard his ship for a year, Captain Jonsen disguises his vessel as the merchant ship Lizzie Green and hails a passenger steamship, which takes the children to England.
The pirate captain’s cabin serves as a refuge and a crime scene. With the others aboard the Thelma for the circus, young Emily, still recuperating from her injury, remains behind to guard the tied-up Thelma captain. When he struggles free to get the knife, Emily grabs it first and stabs him fatally. The pirates only take two prizes while the children are aboard: the Clorinda, a London-bound British merchant ship, and the Thelma, a Dutch steamer.
*Jamaica. West Indies island ruled by Great Britain. Formerly a tropical paradise, Jamaica is suffering from economic and social confusion following the emancipation of...
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