Paul Gerrard, the Cabin Boy is about the dangerous nautical journey of the ship the Cerberus and the adventures of those onboard. Excerpt: ""I will enter as a cabin-boy; I will work my way upwards. Many have done so, why should not I?" he exclaimed with enthusiasm; "I will win wealth to support you all, and honors for myself. 'Where there's a will there's a way.' I don't see the way very clearly just now, but that is the opening through which I am determined to work my way onward." Paul's mother, though a well-educated and very excellent person, knew nothing whatever of the world."