Boy Scouts in the North Sea; Or, the Mystery of "U-13" — Key Ideas to Explore

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In Category - Childrens Adventures

Authors: Ralphson, G. Harvey (George Harvey), 1879-1940 Digital Source: Project Gutenberg Gutenberg Release Year: 2019 First Publication Year: Not confirmed

Key Word: Submarines (Ships) -- Juvenile fiction; World War, 1914-1918 -- Juvenile fiction; Boy Scouts of America -- Juvenile fiction Target Reader: Readers of public-domain and historical texts

Book Edition: Project Gutenberg digital edition Book Language: en

Edition facts

Words 52,151

Reading time 227 min

Text sections 6

The source record for Boy Scouts in the North Sea; Or, the Mystery of "U-13" — Key Ideas to Explore measures this digital text at 52,151 words, 3 hr 47 min estimated reading time, and 6 detected text sections.

The text analysis averages about 11.2 words per sentence, while the detected sections provide another way to judge how the source is divided.

Project Gutenberg metadata also associates the work with “Submarines (Ships) -- Juvenile fiction,” connecting these edition facts with the source record’s subject description.

Source: Project Gutenberg record #60345

In this Boy Scouts adventure set during World War I, five scouts investigate the mysterious German submarine 'U-13' in the North Sea. The story features espionage, mistaken identity, and a tense inspection of a nearly-complete U-boat, with recurring motifs of surveillance and hidden agendas.

Editorial Edition Score 4.7/5

★★★★★ ★★★★★

Calculated from edition completeness, EPUB availability, text structure and catalogue metadata. Not a user rating.

How this score is calculated

Description quality20 pts
Title & short description10 pts
Source metadata20 pts
Text length15 pts
Chapters / structure15 pts
EPUB file integrity20 pts

Total of 100 points, scaled to a 2.5-5.0 range. Editions with an empty description or a missing EPUB file are not scored.

Edition quality

File: pg60345

Read the Text

a storm might break. To this the boys could but agree. A glance at the sky convinced them that a storm of rather unusual violence was gathering.

“Take him up, anyhow, Ned!” urged Harry. “We want to get home!”

“All right, then, here goes!” declared Ned, stepping aboard the waterman’s craft. “Pull away, my friend, we’re all aboard.”

In a short time the man was threading his way amongst the shipping in the harbor. From their position so low upon the water the masts and spars of the vessels looked to be of extraordinary height to the boys, who viewed every object with keen interest.

A hail from the boatman was answered by a man from the deck of the ship. He thrust his head over the rail inquiringly.

“Where’s your captain?” asked Ned, as the man appeared.

“What do you want of the captain?” asked the man in a surly voice.

“We want to talk with him,” replied Ned. “We’ll explain to him.”

“He’s busy now and don’t want to be disturbed. Tell me what you want and I’ll give him your message. Maybe he’ll see you!”

“We want to arrange passage on your ship to the United States.”

“I’ll see what he’s got to say,” replied the man, moving away.

While he was gone the boys examined the vessel closely. Jimmie pronounced the vessel very much to his liking. He admired the lines and pointed with pride to the modeling of the stern.

“Hello!” the boy cried excitedly, his arm extended still in the act of indicating the ship, “there goes our friend Mackinder in a launch!”

“Where?” asked Ned eagerly, turning about in his seat.

“Right astern of us!” replied Jimmie. “I wonder what he was doing aboard this ship. He seems to be in a hurry to get ashore.”

“Maybe he wasn’t on this ship at all,” was Harry’s objection. “He might have been out on the harbor for a pleasure ride.”

“Sure, he’s just the chap to take a pleasure ride on the harbor with a storm brewing! I’ve got a picture of that chap joy-riding!”

“I hope he doesn’t see us,” declared Jack. “He might have enough influence with the captain to prevent our securing passage on this ship.”

The conversation was interrupted by the advent of the captain, who looked over the rail at the little craft riding alongside.

“What do you want?” he inquired in a business-like tone.

“We want to arrange passage on your ship to New York, Captain,” stated Ned respectfully. “We understand you are to sail soon. We are citizens of the United States homeward bound. Can you help us out?”

“Not this trip!” decided the captain instantly.

“We are able to pay well for our accommodations,” continued the boy. “It is rather important that we get home as quickly as possible.”

“Possibly,” returned the captain shortly.

Nonplussed, Ned was at a loss to find words with which to urge his request further. The captain’s distant manner gave him no encouragement.

“We’ll not be the slightest trouble, Captain,” the lad presently continued. “We understand you’ll be loaded in a few days and will sail for New York direct. Cannot you arrange to accommodate us?”

“This isn’t a passenger vessel,” stated the captain.

“Well, then, couldn’t we sign articles and work our way over? We’d be willing to pay whatever you think is right for that privilege.”

“You want to get me into trouble with the authorities, don’t you?” replied the other, preparing to move away.

“But, Captain, just think a moment. There must be some way in which you can arrange it. Don’t leave us in a foreign country!”

“You seem to have done pretty well in foreign countries as it is! If you can pull off the stunts you have just done I guess you’ll get over to New York all right—if that’s where you want to go!”

“What do you mean? I don’t understand you!”

“Oh, you don’t, eh? Well, to put it plainly, this is a peaceable, neutral ship doing honest trading. I carry freight, not spies!”

With these words the captain disappeared. The boys gasped in astonishment at the words and looked at each other speechless.

Ned motioned to the boatman to return to the dock. His puzzled frown showed plainly that the boy was at a loss to understand the situation.

“I’ve got it!” almost shouted Jimmie, as the lads were once more on land. “I know what the answer is! I’ve been reading my little dream book!”

“All right, wise man, let’s have it! Don’t keep it bottled up!”

Continue Reading →

The story opens with a lad named Jimmie peering from a railway coach window and exclaiming that the train is running on a regular lake, immediately establishing a sense of dislocation and watery peril. The dialogue reveals the train is moving slowly, and the boys are tired—a mundane frustration that contrasts sharply with the high-stakes espionage that soon unfolds. The narrative voice is brisk and colloquial, with characters identified by nicknames and a focus on immediate sensory details: the feel of wheels hitting rail joints, the sight of floodwaters. This opening grounds the reader in the scouts' perspective before the plot accelerates into international intrigue.

A Submarine Inspected from Within

The excerpts center on a detailed inspection of a German submarine, likely the mysterious 'U-13' or a near copy. The scouts—Ned, Jimmie, Frank, Harry, and Jack—systematically examine the vessel: Frank and Jimmie overhaul the stores, Harry and Jack check the mechanical equipment, and Ned reviews the electric system with plans in hand. This division of labor mirrors the organizational ethos of the Boy Scouts, emphasizing competence and teamwork. The submarine is described as 'nearly complete,' needing only 'a few pieces of wire and about an hour’s work' from Ned. The inventory of provisions—'hard-tack, sausage, and canned goods'—suggests a prolonged mission, while the engines and pumps are 'apparently ready for duty in a moment.' The scouts infer that a crew is expected imminently, heightening the tension of their covert operation.

Surveillance and Mistaken Identity

A recurring pattern in the excerpts is the theme of watching and being watched. Jimmie spots a figure he believes to be Mackinder—a known prisoner—looking down the hatchway, but the face is in shadow and he admits uncertainty. The figure flees along planks connecting the vessels, dodging into a building on the wharf. Ned dismisses the incident with 'We’re too hungry for any more mysteries,' a line that undercuts the gravity of potential surveillance. This moment of possible mistaken identity echoes earlier in the chapter where the scouts use sign language to avoid being understood, despite suspecting the orderly cannot comprehend English. The narrative thus builds a world where appearances are unreliable, and characters must constantly reassess threats.

The Language of Secrecy and Sustenance

The text juxtaposes high-stakes secrecy with mundane bodily needs. The scouts communicate through sign language 'for the sake of absolute safety,' yet their conversation is punctuated by hunger. Jimmie declares he will stay to 'become acquainted with the chef,' and the boys attack dinner 'as only hungry boys can.' The orderly’s single word 'Essen?' (German for 'eat') bridges the gap between the foreign setting and the universal need for food. This contrast between espionage and appetite recurs: the submarine is a site of both mechanical intrigue and a mess hall serving 'strange but appetizing' dishes. The narrative refuses to let the reader forget that these are still boys, even as they navigate a war zone.

Readers should attend to the way the story balances technical detail—wire, engines, electric systems—with the scouts’ personal reactions, especially their dry humor and physical appetites. The excerpts suggest a world where loyalty is tested by fleeting shadows and half-glimpsed faces. The incomplete inspection and the unresolved sighting of Mackinder leave the narrative poised between revelation and further mystery, inviting the reader to weigh each clue as the scouts do.

Every sweeping hunt across the water in Boy Scouts in the North Sea reminded me of another kind of chase—less about hidden submarines and more about hidden creatures in the earth. There’s a shared patience, I think, in waiting for something monstrous to reveal itself. It made me pull down Dick and Dr. Dan; Or, the boy monster hunters of the Bad Lands — Context and Discussion, and sit with that same quiet, alert feeling.