The Pirates of Shan: A Rick Brant Science-Adventure Story — Story, Setting & Ideas

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In Category - Adventure Picaresque Fiction

Authors: Goodwin, Harold L. (Harold Leland), 1914-1990 Digital Source: Project Gutenberg Gutenberg Release Year: 2010 First Publication Year: Not confirmed

Key Word: Detective and mystery stories; Pirates -- Juvenile fiction; Scientists -- Juvenile fiction Target Reader: Readers of public-domain and historical texts

Book Edition: Project Gutenberg digital edition Book Language: en

Edition facts

Words 43,684

Reading time 190 min

Text sections 5

The source record for The Pirates of Shan: A Rick Brant Science-Adventure Story — Story, Setting & Ideas measures this digital text at 43,684 words, 3 hr 10 min estimated reading time, and 5 detected text sections.

The text analysis averages about 11.6 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 “Detective and mystery stories,” connecting these edition facts with the source record’s subject description.

Source: Project Gutenberg record #32059

Harold L. Goodwin's 1958 Rick Brant adventure uses precise nautical details and regional vocabulary to build a search for missing scientists in the Sulu Sea. The prose balances technical dialogue with colloquial banter, while the setting—from Spindrift Island to the Celebes Sea—is rendered through specific observations of sea life, vessel handling, and island geography.

Editorial Edition Score 4.7/5

★★★★★ ★★★★★

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

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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: pg32059

Read the Text

Zircon had shared many adventures with the boys. More than once, his enormous size and legendary strength had gotten them out of a tight spot. The physicist was considerably over six feet tall and built like a fighting bull, and he had a booming voice that fitted his physique.

Hartson Brant introduced Zircon to Colonel Rojas, waved the group to seats, and got down to business. He addressed the Filipino officer. "First, let me say for all of us that we are indebted to you for leaving your office on such short notice to give us the benefit of your advice and counsel."

"It is nothing. If I can be of help, I will be grateful. Perhaps if you will start at the beginning, it will clarify things."

The scientist nodded assent. "I'll be glad to. As I told you on the way over, two of our staff members are missing. You know one of them--Dr. Anthony Briotti. The other is Dr. Howard Shannon, our zoologist. Tony, of course, is an archaeologist. They departed for the Sulu Sea several weeks ago on a joint expedition to try to find new evidence for a theory of migration of the early peoples in the Pacific."

Hobart Zircon added, "We started on this theory some time ago with a trip to an island in the western Pacific. Dr. Briotti continued that work during the rice-terrace expedition. I believe you met him then."

"I did," Colonel Rojas agreed. "How is the present expedition connected with your previous work? The combination of an archaeologist and a zoologist seems unusual."

"Tony has determined that the origins of the Bajaus, the Sea Gypsies of Sulu, may be of importance," Hartson Brant explained. "In addition, he wanted to check some details of Bagobo culture. Dr. Shannon hoped to contribute some evidence based on the early migration of some animals from the Asia mainland to the islands."

Colonel Rojas nodded. "I understand. The presence of some animals may show that a land bridge existed between Sulu and the mainland across which the early peoples may have migrated."

"Exactly. I'm sure you also know that our staff has been co-operating with Dr. Remedios Okola of the University of the Philippines. It was from him we learned that our friends had vanished, when they failed to keep an important appointment."

"You know their itinerary?"

"Yes. They flew to Manila and spent a few days with Dr. Okola. At that time he persuaded them to revise their schedule, to return to Manila long enough to join him on a trip to the rice terraces. They flew to Zamboanga, chartered a boat of some sort, and sailed to Davao by way of Cotabato. They were supposed to leave the boat at Davao and fly back to Manila to take the trip with Okola, after which they would return to Davao, pick up the boat, and go into the Sulu Sea." The scientist's lips tightened, then he added, "They never kept the appointment with Okola!"

"What did Okola do about it?"

"He got in touch with the constabulary and asked for a check on their whereabouts, thinking they might have been delayed. The constabulary at Davao reported that Shannon and Briotti had reached Davao and hired a truck to take them to a Bagobo village. The truck driver let them off at a foot trail to the village. No one has seen them since."

Rojas rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "You have heard from the American consulate at Manila?"

"Yes, by phone, on the same day I talked with Okola. The consulate has asked your government for help. However, yesterday I received a cable stating that a second investigation has uncovered nothing new. It appears that both our governments have done all they can, but obviously we cannot stop there. So I have decided to send Dr. Zircon, with Rick and Scotty, to hunt for our friends."

Rick and Scotty exchanged relieved glances. It was what they had hoped and expected.

The colonel nodded. "I have not had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Zircon until now, but I have seen Rick and Scotty in action. They are resourceful, and they are lucky--two necessary qualities for a expedition such as this. Do you also plan to use their Hindu friend, Chahda?"

Rick leaned forward anxiously. He had suggested getting Chahda to help out several days ago, but his father was at that time waiting for further word from the American consulate. Chahda, a one-time Bombay beggar boy, had been a close friend since the Tibet relay expedition. He was a real wizard at uncovering information.

"Yes," Hartson Brant replied. "I have sent him a cable, through his organization, but he has not yet replied."

Continue Reading →

The opening chapter establishes a tone of restrained urgency through Rick Brant's terse dialogue: "We'd better do something, and we'd better do it fast." The narrative voice quickly distinguishes between the public perception of the Spindrift Foundation—"impersonal and efficient"—and its internal reality as a close-knit family. This contrast is reinforced by the physical setting: the green waters of the Atlantic off Spindrift Island, where Rick throws a stone in a gesture that "did little to relieve his worry." The author uses the scientists' disappearance not as a mystery to be pondered but as a catalyst for immediate action, a choice that shapes the story's forward momentum.

Dialogue as Characterization

Goodwin differentiates his young protagonists through their speech patterns. Rick Brant's lines are often imperative or declarative, reflecting his impatience: "We'd better do something." Don Scott, nicknamed Scotty, responds with soothing, analytical phrases: "I know how you feel. But don't forget that Dad is just as worried as we are." The Hindu boy Chahda uses a distinctive syntax—"We not miss any islands"—that marks him as a non-native speaker without resorting to stereotype. Even the adult scientist Hobart Zircon speaks in measured, precise terms: "There's only one island group remaining in this immediate area." These vocal tics create a quick, reliable sense of each character's role within the group dynamic.

Technical Vocabulary and Seamanship

The narrative is dense with nautical and scientific terminology that serves both authenticity and plot. Terms like vinta (a traditional outrigger boat), kris (a wavy-bladed dagger), and MTB (motor torpedo boat) are used without explanation, trusting the reader to infer meaning from context. The characters discuss engine throttle, chart plotting, and fuel capacity with casual expertise: "If we use both engines, someone had better keep watch from on top of the pilothouse." This technical language is not ornamental; it drives the search procedure, as when Zircon systematically eliminates island groups on a chart. The author's choice to embed exposition in dialogue—"These Datu Amman islands aren't very big"—keeps the story moving while conveying necessary information.

Setting Through Sensory Detail

The Sulu Sea and Celebes Sea are rendered through specific, observable phenomena rather than generic description. Rick watches "a school of flying fish break water from under the MTB's bow" and spots sharks, including a hammerhead. The calm day is defined by the absence of whitecaps, and the approach of land is signaled by "the tips of palms" visible above a coral atoll. These details ground the adventure in a tangible environment. The author also uses the characters' physical actions to convey setting: Rick sits in a canvas chair handed up by Zircon, using "Shannon's long glass" to sweep the horizon. Such small props and gestures—a borrowed telescope, a centavo coin used for a coin toss—build a world that feels inhabited rather than merely described.

Pacing and the Use of Time

Goodwin structures the search around elapsed time and travel logistics, creating a rhythm of anticipation and resolution. The characters calculate arrival times: "If we use both engines, then we can get there before dark." The afternoon "wore on without sign of a sail," and Rick checks his watch to estimate when they should sight the islands. This temporal framework gives the search a procedural feel, as if the reader is following a real expedition. The author also uses time to build tension through routine actions—making sandwiches, drinking cold cokes, taking turns at watch—that contrast with the underlying danger. The sudden cry of "Sail ho" breaks this routine, and the subsequent sighting of land behind the vinta is presented as a natural consequence of the plotted course, not a coincidence.

Readers approaching The Pirates of Shan will find a story that rewards attention to its technical and geographical specifics. The author's choices in dialogue, vocabulary, and pacing create a coherent world where every detail—from the type of boat to the color of the sea—serves the narrative. This is a work that trusts its audience to follow along with chart coordinates and engine decisions, offering a model of adventure fiction that values competence and observation over melodrama.

Reading about the careful nautical talk in The Pirates of Shan, the way each rope and current had its proper name, I felt that same quiet satisfaction from a different shelf—Guy in the Jungle; Or, A Boy's Adventure in the Wilds of Africa — Reading Notes. Both hold that patient, unnamed knowledge of a place, learned not from maps but from living in it.