Chapter I: Front Matter

Transcriber's note:
Archaic and variable spelling preserved as printed.
Author's punctuation style preserved.
Hyphenation standardized.
Passages in italics indicated by underscore _.

The Old Tobacco Shop

Also By
WILLIAM BOWEN
The Enchanted Forest
The Old Tobacco Shop

_The Old Tobacco Shop_

_A True Account of What Befell
a Little Boy in Search
of Adventure_

_By
William Bowen_

_Though you believe it not, I care not much: but an honest man, and
of good judgment, believeth still what is told him, and that which
he finds written._--RABELAIS.

New York
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
1921
_All rights reserved_

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

COPYRIGHT, 1921
BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

Set up and Electrotyped. Published October, 1921

FERRIS PRINTING COMPANY
NEW YORK

To
BILLY AND JOHN
TWO LITTLE BOYS

PRINCIPAL PERSONS

Freddie
Mr. Toby
Aunt Amanda
Mr. Punch
The Churchwarden
Mr. Hanlon
The Sly Old Fox
The Old Codger with the Wooden Leg
Mr. Lemuel Mizzen
The Cabin-Boy
Marmaduke
Captain Lingo
Ketch the Practitioner
The Third Vice-President
Mr. Matthew Speak
Shiraz the Rug-Merchant
The King and Queen
Robert, Jenny, and James
Mr. Punch's Father

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

1. "Lord bless us!" cried the hunch back. "Look at that!" Frontispiece

2. "I'm Lemuel Mizzen, A.B., that's me!" 50

3. "L-l-Lem!" shrieked the parrot. "Who's your f-f-f-friends?" 86

4. Mr. Hanlon was standing on his feet by the log on
which his head had been cut off 134

5. Shiraz the Rug-Merchant looked at his visitors
with little beady black eyes 188

6. "Ah, yes," said Aunt Amanda, "there's no place like
the Old Tobacco Shop after all" 235

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I. Mr. Punch and the Clock-Tower 1

II. Aunt Amanda and the Two Old Codgers 9

III. Introducing the Churchwarden 22

IV. In which Mr. Hanlon makes a Great Impression 31

V. The Chinaman's Head 39

VI. Lemuel Mizzen, A.B. 48

VII. The Hands of the Clock come Together 54

VIII. Celluloid Cuffs and a Silk Hat 60

IX. The Odour of Sanctity 65

X. Captain Higginson and the Spanish Main 69

XI. A Mixed Company in search of Adventure 74

XII. The Voyage of the Sieve 81

XIII. The Cabin-Boy's Revenge 93

XIV. The Cruise of the Mattresses 107

XV. A Fall in the Dark 111

XVI. Captain Lingo and a Fine Piece of Head-Work 122

XVII. High Dudgeon and Low Dudgeon 139

XVIII. The Society for Piratical Research 146

XIX. A Knock at the Door 160

XX. The City of Towers 171

XXI. Shiraz the Rug-Merchant 178

XXII. Six Enchanted Souls 187

XXIII. From the Fire Back to the Frying-Pan 196

XXIV. Disenchantment Complete 200

XXV. The Old Man of the Mountain 209

XXVI. The King's Tower 216

XXVII. The Sorcerer's Den 222

XXVIII. The Old Tobacco Shop 231

THE OLD TOBACCO SHOP