One pale, misty November day in 1801 young Jacky Jacka hurls an inkpot at his schoolmaster, walks to Plymouth Hoe and signs on with the brig Piskie, bound for the West Indies, the Spanish Main and the greatest adventure of his life. Captured by a pirate ship, the Moonraker, and its swashbuckling Captain Lovel, Jacky and his fellow prisoner, the handsome Frenchman Raoul, are transported to San Domingo. This is an island of high mountains, glittering streams, of parrots like streaks of green fire, where the pulse of drums beats through the thick, dark woods; where Jacky falls under the spell of the great rebel Toussaint L'Ouverture and where the bewitched Captain Lovel finally holds the destiny of all in his daring hands.