7 h 31 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 7 h 31 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What good is hidden gold if finding it means losing your sense of right and wrong?
In The Coming Wave; Or, the Hidden Treasure of High Rock, Oliver Optic offers an old-fashioned adventure of shipwrecks, buried gold, and danger on the water. The sea promises excitement, but the search for treasure carries another question: how do young people choose between the easy way and the right way?
Optic places honesty and duty beside the thrill of adventure. Courage means more than facing a storm; it also means doing right when a wrong choice looks easier or more profitable. His direct storytelling makes moral choices clear, inviting you to follow the action while weighing what matters more than gold.
What you’ll discover
- The sea's sudden power Discover a world where danger on the water gives adventure its force.
- The lure of treasure Let the promise of hidden gold draw you into a search with moral stakes.
- Courage beyond the storm Explore the bravery of choosing honesty when an easier path seems more rewarding.
- Right and wrong made clear Enter a tale that speaks plainly about character, duty, and the choices people make.
- Old-fashioned adventure Enjoy the direct style of a nineteenth-century storyteller who joins excitement with moral lessons.
Who will love it
This book suits readers who love sea adventure, buried treasure and rousing small-town tales. It is a good match for anyone who enjoys young heroes with a firm sense of right.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A hurricane wrecks the brig Waldo
- One sick man survives with his diary
- Two boys turn a mackerel catch into a boat
- A stingy grandfather threatens Stumpy's home
- A strange nurse offers five hundred dollars
- The diary is found and Coffin Rock appears
- A failing hotel and a foggy rescue
- A dandy demands his share of the gold
- The passenger's name is Joel Wormbury
- Honesty is tested again and again
- Money, family and the sea shape the story
Who’s who
- Leopold BenningtonA sixteen-year-old boatman and hotel keeper's son who works hard, saves for a sloop and tries to do right whatever it costs.
- Stumpy (Stumpfield Wormbury)Leopold's cheerful, loyal friend, the eldest child of a poor widow, who longs to save his mother's house from his grandfather.
- Peter BenningtonLeopold's father, the honest landlord of the Cliff House, who stakes everything on a bigger hotel and fears he cannot pay for it.
- Squire Moses WormburyStumpy's rich, stingy grandfather, a moneylender who holds mortgages across town and wants the Sea Cliff House for his son.
- Harvey BarthThe sick cook and steward of the Waldo, the only man to live through the wreck, who guards a secret diary.
- Herr SchlagerLeopold's German uncle, a kind watchmaker who lends him money and keeps his savings safe in an iron safe.
- Franklin HamiltonA wealthy New York merchant born in Rockhaven, who arrives by yacht with his family and values honest dealing.
- Rosabel HamiltonThe merchant's lively young daughter, who loves sailing and gives her name to Leopold's sloop.
Formats and delivery
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- The same book in bigger, clearer type, once the book texts are online.
- Audiobook
- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 14 minutes, to read today.
- Paperback
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- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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La ola que se avecina; o, el tesoro escondido de High Rock
by Oliver Optic · 1874
A lone survivor hides a diary, a stranger buries gold in a storm, and a boy must decide whose money it is.
Medium level5–10 hours to readEspañol
Excellent
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In short
What would you do if you found a bag of gold that nobody could prove was yours? That question sits at the heart of The Coming Wave, or the Hidden Treasure of High Rock, a boys' adventure by Oliver Optic.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A hurricane wrecks the brig Waldo
The story begins at sea on a still August evening. The brig Waldo carries the cook Harvey Barth, a passenger calling himself J. Wallbridge, and Captain Josiah Barnwood. The sea is flat, yet the captain's barometer has dropped fast.
The storm comes from two sides at once. Sails rip to ribbons, and the crew fights to save the brig. Then lightning strikes the mainmast and runs down it. The bolt knocks the captain and several sailors senseless and smashes the wheel. Without a rudder, the old vessel rolls helplessly toward the rocks.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1874
- Language
- Español
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Optic, Oliver. The Coming Wave; Or, the Hidden Treasure of High Rock. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-coming-wave-or-the-hidden-treasure-of-high-rock.
Optic, O. (2026). The coming wave; or, the hidden treasure of High Rock. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-coming-wave-or-the-hidden-treasure-of-high-rock (Original work published 1874)
Optic, Oliver. The Coming Wave; Or, the Hidden Treasure of High Rock. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-coming-wave-or-the-hidden-treasure-of-high-rock.
@book{optic2026coming,
author = {Optic, Oliver},
title = {The Coming Wave; Or, the Hidden Treasure of High Rock},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-coming-wave-or-the-hidden-treasure-of-high-rock},
note = {First published 1874}
}
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What is The Coming Wave by Oliver Optic about?
It follows Leopold Bennington, a young boatman in a Maine harbor town, as he finds buried gold from a shipwreck and tries to do the right thing with it, while his father's hotel faces debt.
Who are Leopold and Stumpy?
Leopold is the hotel keeper's son who sails a sloop and fishes for mackerel. Stumpy is his closest friend, whose real name is Stumpfield Wormbury and whose family is poor and threatened by a mortgage.
What does Coffin Rock mean in the story?
It is a rock on the beach below High Rock that looks like the head of a coffin, but only from one spot and in flashes of lightning. It marks where the gold lies buried.
The author
Oliver Optic
1822–1897 · American children's author
Oliver Optic was the pen name of William Taylor Adams (1822–1897), an American author and teacher. Born in Medway, Massachusetts, he lived and worked in Boston. He wrote books for young readers during the nineteenth century, including The Yacht Club and Little by Little. He also served in the Massachusetts legislature.
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