Kidnapped · Chapter
What Befell at the Queen’s Ferry explained
David Balfour arrives at the Queen's Ferry with his uncle Ebenezer and meets Captain Hoseason.
What happens
David Balfour arrives at the Queen's Ferry with his uncle Ebenezer and meets Captain Hoseason. While Ebenezer and Hoseason negotiate, David learns from the innkeeper that his uncle is suspected of murdering his father Alexander for the estate. Hoseason tricks David into boarding the brig Covenant, where he is knocked unconscious and kidnapped.
Themes in this chapter
Greed and Corruption
Ebenezer's greed drives him to conspire with Hoseason to kidnap David for the family estate, revealing moral corruption.
Survival and Resilience
David's instinct to cry for help and his eventual survival of the kidnapping highlight his resilience.
Characters to notice
- David Balfour
David is the naive protagonist who is tricked into boarding the Covenant and kidnapped.
- Ebenezer Balfour
Ebenezer conspires with Captain Hoseason to have David kidnapped, revealing his cruelty and greed.
- Captain Hoseason
Hoseason presents a composed exterior but is complicit in the kidnapping, showing his duplicity.
- Ransome
Ransome is a young cabin boy who interacts with David at the inn, hinting at the rough life aboard the ship.
Key passages
“I felt I was lost. With all my strength, I plucked myself clear of him and ran to the bulwarks. Sure enough, there was the boat pulling for the town, with my uncle sitting in the stern. I gave a piercing cry—'Help, help! Murder!'—so that both sides of the anchorage rang with it, and my uncle turned round where he was sitting, and showed me a face full of cruelty and terror.”
David realizes he has been betrayed and trapped on the ship; he sees his uncle escaping in the boat and screams for help, but is struck down.
This moment captures the climax of the kidnapping and David's sudden loss of freedom.
“Of course, I had guessed it a long while ago; but it is one thing to guess, another to know; and I sat stunned with my good fortune, and could scarce grow to believe that the same poor lad who had trudged in the dust from Ettrick Forest not two days ago, was now one of the rich of the earth, and had a house and broad lands, and might mount his horse tomorrow.”
David learns from the innkeeper that his uncle murdered his father for the estate, making David the rightful heir, and he is overwhelmed by the revelation.
This reveals the central conflict of inheritance and sets up David's claim to Shaws.