Partners of the Tide

This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design. On a snowy Cape Cod night, a freckled orphan named Bradley Nickerson begins an uncertain journey into the strict, talkative world of Orham, where gossip travels fast and even a station platform feels like a stage. Between the banter of local men, the arrival of stage driver Barney Small, and the commanding presence of Captain Ez Titcomb, Bradley's strange new fate comes sharply into view: he is the boy the town has been whispering about, sent to live with the formidable Allen sisters, Prissy and Tempy. What follows is a warm, comic portrait of Cape Cod life—pepper tea, oversized slippers, winter storms, roadside eccentrics, and the old-fashioned hospitality of two unmarried sisters learning to make room for a child. As Bradley grows more comfortable, he finds himself drawn into dances, local rivalries, and the teasing confidence of Titcomb, who becomes both guide and friend. But the coast is never far from danger or opportunity. When a schooner is wrecked on the shoals, Bradley is pulled into the practical, hard-edged business of salvage, where storm damage, local cunning, and seafaring skill may turn disaster into profit.