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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 Young
Lumbermen," "Old Glory Series," "Colonial Series,"
"Pan-American Series," etc.

Illustrated by A. B. Shute


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







[Illustration: 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 the
third volume in a line issued under the general title of "Soldiers of
Fortune Series."

The story relates primarily the adventures of Larry Russell and his
old-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 the
Japanese Government. This is during the war between Russia and Japan,
and when close to the Japanese coast the schooner is sighted by a
Russian warship and made a prize of war.

As prisoners both Larry and Luke see something of life in the Russian
navy. When close to Vladivostok, the Russian warship falls in with
several ships of the Japanese fleet, and after a thrilling sea-fight
surrenders with her prize. This brings Larry and Luke before Admiral
Togo, and as Larry's brother Ben, with their mutual friend, Gilbert
Pennington, is already in the Japanese army, Larry enters the Japanese
navy and Luke follows suit. The siege and bombardment of Port Arthur are
at their height; and the particulars are given of many battles both on
the sea and on land, leading up to the ultimate surrender of that brave
Russian commander, General Stoessel, and the fall of the city. By this
surrender the Japanese obtained many thousands of prisoners of war,
hundreds of cannon, with large quantities of ammunition, and several
scores of vessels, useful for either fighting purposes or as transports.
Moreover, this victory placed the entire southern portion of Manchuria
under Japanese control, giving the army untrammeled use of the railroad
running from Port Arthur to Liao-Yang, a city on the road to Mukden,
captured some time before, as already related in another volume of this
series, entitled "Under the Mikado's Flag."

As I have mentioned in a previous work, it is as yet impossible to state
what the outcome of this terrific conflict will be. So far victory has
perched largely upon the standard of Japan. The Russian navy has been
practically shattered and its army fought to a standstill. The cost of
the war