The Powder Monkey | George Manville Fenn

In The Powder Monkey, an old seaman finds a ragged and hungry young boy, to whom he talks, finding out that the boy was being brought up by an aunt and her brother. The uncle used to beat the boy too severely to bear, and he had run away from home.

At first in The Powder Monkey, Phil Leigh doesn't get on well with the other ship's boys, but one day they are chasing each other round the rigging, and one of the boys, Tom Dodds, falls. Eventually, he gets on well with the other seamen, but is especially fond of Jack. The seaman, Jack Jeens, decides to take charge of the boy.