In the spring of 1873, Meg and John Bains are ready to return home from a winter working in a lumber camp when they are lured into a trap and shanghaied as crew on a leaky old square-rigged sailing ship in Quebec City. The windjammer is under-manned and the captain is a tyrant, making the voyage a difficult one. But danger is balanced by the excitement of travelling first to Jamaica to take on sugar cane and then to Liverpool. The crossing is dramatic and the trip back to Halifax is even more adventurous as the captain makes a deal to carry 350 immigrants to the new world. It takes five weeks before the crew of the Scotian find themselves safe upon the shores of Nova Scotia

Sequel to : Shantymen of Cache Lake.