Empty Sleeve

''Him what''s born on the chime . . . he''s the one what''ll have communications with the devil.''

At the age of fourteen, ''chime-child'' Peter Gannet is apprenticed to a locksmith in Covent Garden. But his desperate longing to escape from the insufferable adults around him and go to sea leads him into some dubious undertakings. Before long, the old ship''s carpenter''s dire prophecy comes true, f...