A new adventure story again offers some excellent excitement and the sea this time is an implacable opponent. During a channel crossing John Sands boards what appears to be a phantom ship and is stranded aboard with her only survivor, Patch, who is uncommunicative about the Mary Deare's past. After formal enquiries are launched it is only through a perilous trip to the wreck of the Mary Deare that Patch is able to redeem his record and return his debt to Sands.
