The Golden Argosy

About this issue

The featured serial concerns Tom Gale, a mischievous boy from a whaling port who joins the ship Warren as a foremast hand during a three-year voyage. Initially unreliable and prone to pranks, Tom finds purpose aboard ship, eventually aspiring to become captain. Promoted to boat-steerer after two years at sea, he participates in the hunt of a massive whale that has resisted capture by other ships. When his whaleboat is destroyed by the creature's flukes, Tom lands on the whale's back and clings to a harpoon as the animal rushes through the ocean for three miles. Using the harpoon as a lance, he kills the whale from its back—a feat the captain calls "the most wonderful thing I ever knew." The whale proves the voyage's largest catch. Tom ultimately achieves his ambition, commanding his own ship by his third voyage. Also included: A brief poem, "Cat-Tails," and a chapter from a Horatio Alger Jr. serial featuring Kit performing trapeze work as a circus substitute performer.