A resourceful Maine boy confronts his family’s sudden poverty after his elder brother’s ill-fated whaling voyage by seeking work and delivering a carved moose figurehead made by his ship-carpenter father. He grows suspicious of a coarse seaman who claims to have been the lone survivor yet soon acquired wealth and a mortgage on the family home, and resolves to discover the truth. The narrative follows the boy’s steadfast efforts to support his parents, his willingness to take risky jobs among masts and ropes, and the choices that propel him toward hazardous ventures in the far north. Themes include filial duty, courage, and the dangers and allure of maritime life.