The Midshipman and the Rajah by Marjorie Phillips

Title: The Midshipman and the Rajah
Author: Marjorie Phillips
Illustrator: Gil Walker
Publication: The Bobbs-Merrill Co., hardcover, 1963
Genre: Juvenile historical fiction

Description: At ten, Tim Kennet was alone in the world after his mother died, working at a local inn for his keep. When his uncle returned from a naval voyage and found Tim there, he made the boy a midshipman on the ship he captains, the Ariadne.