The Ebb-Tide by Robert Louis Stevenson

EBB-TIDE is a south seas adventure written by TREASURE ISLAND author Robert Louis Stevenson and his stepson, Lloyd Osborne. The story follows three down-on-their luck men stranded in Tahiti; a failed English businessman, an American sea captain, and a cockney laborer. When a ship stricken with smallpox enters the harbor, the sea captain is hired to sail her on to Australia. The three hatch a plot to steal the cargo, but soon find themselves the victim of fraud themselves.