The Boy Captain of the Black Swallow

The Boy Captain of the "Black Swallow": A Stirring Tale of the Anglo-American War of 1812

This serial concerns Arthur Denwood, a twenty-year-old Maine fisherman of distinguished parentage—his grandfather was a Revolutionary War captain, his father a former sea-captain. Set during the War of 1812 embargo, Arthur discovers the family reduced to poverty by war blockades. Viewing the idle, grass-grown fishing-schooner "Black Swallow" anchored in their cove near Bath, Arthur resolves to outfit and command the vessel to resume deep-sea fishing despite British naval patrols blockading the Kennebec River. Against his mother Margaret's protests about capture and impressment, he declares the fast-sailing schooner can outrun heavy English men-of-war. Arthur departs town that evening, newly dressed, hinting to his mother at mysterious causes inspiring his determination—suggesting romantic interest may underscore his ambitions. His father's fate remains unclear from the available text.