No Defense, Volume 2.

The novel follows Dyck Calhoun, an experienced seaman hardened by prison and stigma after a fatal conviction, who seizes and maintains authority over a mutinous crew during a voyage from the English Channel to the West Indies. It tracks his release into poverty, the erosion of former privilege, and his uneasy reintegration among loyal, humble friends. The narrative examines how punishment and injustice reshape character, how honor and practical skill sustain influence aboard ship, and how leadership is slowly reconstructed through suffering, quiet sacrifice, and efforts to alter injurious shipboard customs.