CHAPTER XXIII CONCLUSION

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

During the process of empire building, even to-day carried on by the great powers, the far distant South Sea Islands received their share of attention from designing cabinets.

In their patriotic desire to further the cause of their country many sailors laid down their lives in battles with the natives.

These small wars are scarcely remembered at home, but in the islands where the rivalry between the nations was bitterest, there stand impressive monuments to these sailor heroes, and in their songs the chivalrous islanders praise the virtues of their fallen foes.

To the sailors of all nations who thus met death, fighting in their country’s cause, these pages are dedicated.

Introduction

In this story Midshipmen Phil Perry and Sydney Monroe, together with Boatswain’s Mate “Jack” O’Neil, act through an historic drama of a South Sea war.

The same characters have seen active service in 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 American revolution, furnished the setting. In “A United States Midshipman in China,” the midshipmen and O’Neil help to rescue an American Mission and put an end to a “Boxer” uprising. In “A United States Midshipman in the Philippines,” the same officers see very active service on board a gun-boat in coöperation with the army against the Filipino insurgents.

In “A United States Midshipman in Japan,” they discover a plot to bring the United States and Japan into open hostilities over the purchase of some foreign war-ships. War is narrowly averted through the detective work of the midshipmen and their Japanese classmate at Annapolis, but now a lieutenant in the Imperial Navy.

The present volume carries the midshipmen through further thrilling scenes that occurred in an island of the far-away South Seas. The portrayal of native life is faithful and many of the incidents are historic.