“ISN’T IT WORTH COMING FOR?”
A
UNITED STATES
MIDSHIPMAN
IN THE
SOUTH SEAS
by
Lt. Com. Yates Stirling Jr. U.S.N.
Author of
“A U.S. Midshipman Afloat”
“A U.S. Midshipman in China”
“A U.S. Midshipman in the Philippines”
“A U.S. Midshipman in Japan”
Illustrated by Ralph L. Boyer
THE PENN PUBLISHING
COMPANY PHILADELPHIA
MCMXIII
COPYRIGHT
1913 BY
THE PENN
PUBLISHING
COMPANY
During the process of empire building, even to-daycarried on by the great powers, the far distant SouthSea Islands received their share of attention fromdesigning cabinets.
In their patriotic desire to further the cause of theircountry many sailors laid down their lives in battleswith the natives.
These small wars are scarcely remembered at home,but in the islands where the rivalry between the nationswas bitterest, there stand impressive monuments to thesesailor heroes, and in their songs the chivalrous islanderspraise the virtues of their fallen foes.
To the sailors of all nations who thus met death, fightingin their country’s cause, these pages are dedicated.
Introduction
In this story Midshipmen Phil Perry andSydney Monroe, together with Boatswain’sMate “Jack” O’Neil, act through an historicdrama of a South Sea war.
The same characters have seen active servicein many parts of the world.
In “A United States Midshipman Afloat,”life in a battle-ship of the Atlantic fleet,together with a typical South Americanrevolution, furnished the setting. In “AUnited States Midshipman in China,” themidshipmen and O’Neil help to rescue anAmerican Mission and put an end to a“Boxer” uprising. In “A United StatesMidshipman in the Philippines,” the sameofficers see very active service on board a gun-boatin coöperation with the army against theFilipino insurgents.
In “A United States Midshipman in Japan,”they discover a plot to bring the United Statesand Japan into open hostilities over the[6]purchase of some foreign war-ships. War isnarrowly averted through the detective workof the midshipmen and their Japanese classmateat Annapolis, but now a lieutenant inthe Imperial Navy.
The present volume carries the midshipmenthrough further thrilling scenes that occurredin an island of the far-away South Seas. Theportrayal of native life