The Lost Prince

The Lost Prince is a novel written by Frances Hodgson Burnett and first published in 1915.

This book tells the story of Marco Loristan, his father named Stefan and his friend "The Rat". Marco's father is a Samavian patriot working to overthrow the cruel dictatorship in the kingdom of Samavia.

Marco and his father come to London where Marco strikes up a friendship with a crippled street urchin known as The Rat. There, Marco discovers a club called the Squadron. A group of boys are trained under the direction of The Rat, who is wildly imaginative.

Stefan has the idea to send the two boys to travel around Europe, as they will go unnoticed, and give the secret signal that is "The lamp is lit". In this adventure they will encounter a lot of dangers...

In the book, Samavia is not located in any real country. It is detailed as a humble kingdom in the Middle Ages that subsists on shepherding and is governed by tyrants who imposed themselves after assassinating the legitimate king and unleashing a civil war.