The great battles in the Mediterranean are over and Ben is asked to assist with the assault on a castle on shore at St. Elmo. He is assigned to a bomb boat and with his friend, Tom Murphy, they learn how to sail the bomb boat and handle the mortars. When Commodore Troubridge is sent to explore Rome, Ben finds himself suddenly left sitting in the hot seat while the commodore returns to his ship. His friend Tom, has considerable trouble with exams and Ben helps him through his stressful Leftenant’s exam.
They sail off to Quiberon Bay and later to Killalla Bay. Some imposters pose as nobility when Ben is sent to escort them to England. Ben and his men end up in a French prison, but Ben wins their freedom when he is able to use his medical knowledge to cure the commandante when he becomes ill with fever. They encounter some African slaves who are marooned on a Caribbean island with little food. This really happened. Things get a bit testy when the Negroes begin to pick off crewmen for dinner from his commander’s ship which has gone aground. A fire ship is mysteriously linked to a problem on one of the islands in the Caribbean. Ben visits the island and learns much about its people and their language of the drums. The adventures continue in Book 6, Captain Rundel I.
