The adventure novel "The Little Sea Wolf" (1859) tells the story of the adventures and mortal dangers that befall the main character, Philip Forster. The will to live and resourcefulness helped him emerge victorious from all the troubles... The story is told on behalf of the main character, the old skipper. His story can be divided into 2 parts: life before the journey (chapters I–XIX) and, in fact, the journey (XX–LXII). From the first part we learn about young Forster’s love for water and the dangers it poses for him: how he drowns, how he is carried out to sea by an undercurrent, how he survives the tide on a signal post. Philip gets out of any situation in an original way, and with each new test his craving for water only increases. It is this urge that brings him aboard the Inca, a merchant ship, where he sneaks in secret from the crew. The boy finds himself buried alive in the hold of a ship and is forced to fight thirst, hunger, ship rats, seasickness, loneliness, fear of the dark, and even the fumes of alcohol in order to escape. He will have to use all his knowledge and skills to make his way up to freedom.