At the Fall of Port Arthur; Or, A Young American in the Japanese Navy Read online

  Soldiers of Fortune Series

  AT THE FALL OF PORT ARTHUR

  Or

  A Young American in the Japanese Navy

  by

  EDWARD STRATEMEYER

  Author of "Under the Mikado's Flag," "On to Pekin," "Two YoungLumbermen," "Old Glory Series," "Colonial Series,""Pan-American Series," etc.

  Illustrated by A. B. Shute

  "It is coming this way!" yelled Larry.----_Page 84._]

  Printer's logo]

  Boston:Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co.1930

  Copyright, 1905, by Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Company

  All rights reserved

  AT THE FALL OF PORT ARTHUR

  Printed in U.S.A.

  PREFACE

  "AT THE FALL OF PORT ARTHUR" is a complete tale in itself, but forms thethird volume in a line issued under the general title of "Soldiers ofFortune Series."

  The story relates primarily the adventures of Larry Russell and hisold-time sea chum, Luke Striker, already well known to the readers of my"Old Glory Series." Larry and Luke are aboard of their old ship, the_Columbia_, bound from Manila to Nagasaki, with a cargo designed for theJapanese Government. This is during the war between Russia and Japan,and when close to the Japanese coast the schooner is sighted by aRussian warship and made a prize of war.

  As prisoners both Larry and Luke see something of life in the Russiannavy. When close to Vladivostok, the Russian warship falls in withseveral ships of the Japanese fleet, and after a thrilling sea-fightsurrenders with her prize. This brings Larry and Luke before AdmiralTogo, and as Larry's brother Ben, with their mutual friend, GilbertPennington, is already in the Japanese army, Larry enters the Japanesenavy and Luke follows suit. The siege and bombardment of Port Arthur areat their height; and the particulars are given of many battles both onthe sea and on land, leading up to the ultimate surrender of that braveRussian commander, General Stoessel, and the fall of the city. By thissurrender the Japanese obtained many thousands of prisoners of war,hundreds of cannon, with large quantities of ammunition, and severalscores of vessels, useful for either fighting purposes or as transports.Moreover, this victory placed the entire southern portion of Manchuriaunder Japanese control, giving the army untrammeled use of the railroadrunning from Port Arthur to Liao-Yang, a city on the road to Mukden,captured some time before, as already related in another volume of thisseries, entitled "Under the Mikado's Flag."

  As I have mentioned in a previous work, it is as yet impossible to statewhat the outcome of this terrific conflict will be. So far victory hasperched largely upon the standard of Japan. The Russian navy has beenpractically shattered and its army fought to a standstill. The cost ofthe war has been tremendous to both countries. Countless thousands oflives have already been sacrificed. Would that peace were soon at hand!

  Again I thank my young friends for their appreciation of my formerstories. May the present tale fulfill every reasonable expectation.

  EDWARD STRATEMEYER.

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER PAGE

  I. LARRY AND HIS FRIENDS 1

  II. A STORM ON THE PACIFIC 10

  III. LARRY LEARNS SOMETHING 20

  IV. THE RUSSIAN SAILOR'S PLOT 29

  V. SIGNS OF A MUTINY 38

  VI. THE FIGHT FOR THE SHIP 47

  VII. THE MUTINEERS IN POSSESSION 56

  VIII. TURNING THE TABLES 66

  IX. CLOSE TO A WATERSPOUT 76

  X. SOMETHING ABOUT WAR AND FIGHTING SHIPS 86

  XI. AN ORDER TO LAY-TO 95

  XII. TAKEN AS A PRIZE OF WAR 103

  XIII. PRISONERS ON THE _Pocastra_ 113

  XIV. PROGRESS OF THE WAR 122

  XV. A SHARP NAVAL BATTLE 132

  XVI. ABOARD A JAPANESE WARSHIP 140

  XVII. THE RETAKING OF THE _Columbia_ 148

  XVIII. A CLEVER RUSE 156

  XIX. THE DISAPPEARANCE OF THE ENEMY 164

  XX. LARRY BEFORE ADMIRAL TOGO 171

  XXI. LETTERS OF INTEREST 180

  XXII. A MEETING AND A PLOT 189

  XXIII. THE ATTACK IN THE DARK 198

  XXIV. THE DEFENSE OF THE POWDER TRAIN 206

  XXV. BOMBARDING A PORT ARTHUR FORT 215

  XXVI. BEN MEETS CAPTAIN BARUSKY 223

  XXVII. A FIERCE BATTLE AT SEA 232

  XXVIII. THE SIEGE OF PORT ARTHUR 240

  XXIX. FROM ONE DIFFICULTY TO ANOTHER 248

  XXX. A SURPRISE FOR LARRY 258

  XXXI. A CALL TO REPEL BOARDERS 266

  XXXII. FALL OF PORT ARTHUR--CONCLUSION 274

  AT THE FALL OF PORT ARTHUR

  AT THE FALL OF PORTARTHUR