South Sea Adventure - Enemies

Enemies

• "Merlin Kaggs"- An shadowy, unseen character for most of the book although his presence is felt throughout. When he does make his appearance he removes his failed henchman, Crab, from the picture and tries to convince the boys that he's a Christian minister. The ploy worked to begin with although Hal became suspicious towards the end. When they reached the island he tried to steal its pearl beds but was driven away by the boys and eventually went mad after drinking sea water out of desperation. He then went on to appear in later novels.

• Crab- A spy placed aboard the ship by Merlin Kaggs. Lazy and shiftless, he ultimately failed to acquire the location of the boys' secret pearl island and was abandoned and framed by Kaggs as a result. Hal eventually bailed him out of prison and he promptly joined the crew on a tanker and left without even a word of thanks.