Whatever happened to Jim Hawkins of Treasure Island after he returned to England with Captain Flint's treasure chest of gold? Rather than choose the safe path, managing an inn with his mother, Jim opts for the adventures of a medical career in Bristol. Jim matures quickly from the tough lessons of the rough, waterfront slave-trade city. Much of what he learns of herbal preparation is from Livian Adams, a beautiful but deaf linen weaver. Undeterred by her disability, their eventual love will last a lifetime. After his graduation from the London Company of Surgeons, Jim's enlistment as a surgeon's mate in the Navy hardens him to the brutality of shipboard discipline. Despite having fought pirates, his tour of duty opens his eyes to the slave trade, naval warfare, and smuggling in the Americas. As a young surgeon, life-threatening dangers are ever present. If he thought he'd seen enough danger for one lifetime, he was sorely mistaken.