J. Meade Falkner

Orphaned John Trenchard grows up in the village of Moonfleet with his aunt, entranced by the local legend of the ghostly Blackbeard, who rises each winter night to search for his lost diamond. While conducting his own hunt for the treasure, John begins a dangerous adventure which will see him in a hair-raising chase along a precarious cliff path and deciphering a hidden code in an ancient castle.