This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1905 edition. Excerpt: ... chapter xxx commander matsu and cadet brownleigh, op annapolis When interrupted by the admiral, Dunster, writing a letter home, was penning the following paragraph: "With you, dear people, this is Christmas Eve, while with us it is only the close of an ordinary day. If Taki were here he would help me recall one year ago to-night, when he and I danced at an academy hop. Not until it was ended and we were back in our own room would he tell me that he had been ordered home to take part in the war that is now upon us, and that he should be gone before sunrise. What a splendid record he has made for himself since that time! I have never known a chap more modestly brave than he, nor one of greater ability. If the war lasts a year longer, he is almost certain to become a commander, in which case I expect he will be the youngest in the Japanese navy. At this moment of writing I cannot imagine where he is, for he has been sent away on some secret service; but--" With their last battle-ship sunk, with half their forts in the enemy's hands, and those that remained to them shattered by mine and shell until they lay open to assault, with sickness decimating their ranks and starvation staring them in the face, hopeless of succor by land or sea, and almost exhausted by months of ceaseless fighting, the heroic defenders of Port Arthur realized that the time for surrender had arrived. So on January i, 1905, a white flag fluttered above their crumbling parapets and, as though by magic, the dreadful turmoil of battle was quieted. A few days later negotiations had been concluded, and the men of Japan once more were in possession of their own. Among the first to enter the fallen fortress, as an especial honor, and by virtue of his rank as a Knight of the G