He was a grey-black mongrel; tough canny, loyal - and abandoned. The fisherman called him The Spuddy.

The only person to care for The Spuddy in the busy Hebridean village of Gaymal is Andy, a young mute boy staying in the town with relatives. For both of them, their meeting brings friendship after loneliness; but when the new companions are taken up by Jake, skipper of the Silver Crest, events take a swift and unexpected turn.

This moving, surprising story will warm the hearts of the many admirers of Lillian Beckwith's Hebridean stories and win her new friends.