4 h 14 minAudiobook6 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 4 h 14 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What does a Boy Scout's promise mean when service takes him onto a wartime sea?
In Tom Slade on a Transport, Percy Keese Fitzhugh sends a young American Boy Scout aboard a ship carrying soldiers and supplies. The ocean brings Tom into a world where duty means real risk. His scouting ideals are no longer just principles to follow at home; they must guide him through a wartime adventure.
Tom's wider story follows a tough, poorly schooled boy who finds a new path through scouting. Here, he learns by doing as service takes him out to sea. Published in 1918, during the First World War, this fast, plain adventure also reveals how American writers encouraged young readers to think about loyalty, courage, and duty.
What you’ll discover
- A scout at sea Follow Tom aboard a transport where soldiers, supplies, and wartime service share the same voyage.
- Duty beyond the familiar Explore what scouting ideals demand when helping others carries real risk.
- A boy finding purpose Meet a young hero whose path leads from rough beginnings toward a life of service.
- War through a youthful lens Discover how a wartime adventure brings the First World War closer to its young readers.
- A direct adventure Enjoy a fast, plainly told story built around a hero who learns through action.
Who will love it
You will enjoy this if you like Scout stories, First World War adventure, quick-thinking young heroes, ship life, and friendly teasing among soldiers.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A cellar in Bridgeboro hides a secret
- Mr. Conne offers a job on a transport
- Frenchy tells of Alsace and gives a gift
- Tom learns how suspicious wartime can be
- A puzzle in a mess plate leads below
- What loyalty costs the hero
- A plain hero, a lively voice
Who’s who
- Tom SladeA blunt, observant seventeen-year-old former Scout who wants to fight in the war and has a sharp eye for small clues.
- FrenchyArmande Lateur, a cheerful soldier born in Alsace who longs to see his homeland free and gives Tom an iron button.
- Pete ConniganA big-hearted Irish truck driver from Bridgeboro who remembers Tom as a young hoodlum and shares news of Adolf Schmitt.
- Mary TempleA lively young woman working at the Red Cross store, who teases Tom and sees how he has grown up.
- Archibald ArcherA talkative, apple-loving steward's boy from the Catskills, who is Tom's friend from an earlier voyage.
- Adolf SchmittThe vanished Bridgeboro grocer whom federal detectives suspect of plotting, and whose cellar holds a secret.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
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- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 4 h 14 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 6 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Tom Slade sur un transport
by Percy Keese Fitzhugh · 1918
A Scout turned captain's mess boy on a troopship follows a strange clue from a dusty cellar to the open sea.
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In short
What would you do if a dusty cellar handed you a spy's secret? Tom Slade, a Boy Scout turned office worker, finds out in Percy Keese Fitzhugh's wartime adventure for young readers.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A cellar in Bridgeboro hides a secret
Tom Slade, seventeen, is back in Bridgeboro after surviving a torpedoed ship. On his walk to the Temple Camp office he meets Pete Connigan, a truck driver he once threw rocks at. They stand before the empty store of Adolf Schmitt, the grocer who vanished the morning after federal detectives came asking questions.
Mr. Temple now lets the Red Cross women use the store. Helping Mrs. Temple and her daughter Mary move a spice cabinet from the cellar, Tom notices bright nails and a clean strip where some molding was torn away. A can lifter with shiny tongs leads him to the chimney, where he knocks down a packet of six fat envelopes.
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What is Tom Slade on a Transport about?
It follows Tom Slade, a Boy Scout, who finds German spy papers in a cellar and takes a job on a troopship carrying soldiers to France. On board his sharp eye gets him into surprising danger.
Who is Frenchy in Tom Slade on a Transport?
Frenchy is Armande Lateur, a friendly soldier born in Alsace and later an American citizen. He tells Tom about his homeland and gives him an iron button that means friendship and help.
What does same idea as a periscope mean in the book?
It is a phrase in a hidden letter that puzzles Tom. He works out that it describes a way of sending light by reflection, and this idea guides him to a hidden danger on the ship.
The author
Percy Keese Fitzhugh
1876–1950 · American children's writer
Percy Keese Fitzhugh was an American author of popular boys' fiction in the early twentieth century, best remembered for his cheerful Boy Scout adventure series. Skinny McCord belongs to that same warm-hearted tradition of youthful adventure and good humor.
More by Percy Keese Fitzhugh
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