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The International Adventure Library Three Owls: Edition Ti-Ie Devil's Admiral an Adventure Story
Excerpt from The Devil's Admiral: An Adventure Story
Captain Riggs had a trunk full of old logbooks, and he said any of them would make a better story than the kut Sang. The truth of it was, he didn't want me to write this story. There were things he didn't wish to see in type, perhaps because he feared to read about himself and what had happened in the old steamer in the China Sea.
"Folks don't care nothing about cargo-boats," he would say, taking his pipe out of his mouth and shaking his head gravely, whenever I hinted that I would like to tell of our adventure of the Kut Sang. "They want yams of them floating hotels called liners, with palm-gardens in 'em and bands playing at their meals and games and so on going from eight bells to the bos'n's watch.
"It was mostly fighting in the Kut Sang, and the mess you and me and poor Harris and the black boy there got into wouldn't be just the quiet sort of reading folks want these days. It was all over in a night and a day, anyway - look at them Northern Spy apples, Mr. Trenholm!"
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
Captain Riggs had a trunk full of old logbooks, and he said any of them would make a better story than the kut Sang. The truth of it was, he didn't want me to write this story. There were things he didn't wish to see in type, perhaps because he feared to read about himself and what had happened in the old steamer in the China Sea.
"Folks don't care nothing about cargo-boats," he would say, taking his pipe out of his mouth and shaking his head gravely, whenever I hinted that I would like to tell of our adventure of the Kut Sang. "They want yams of them floating hotels called liners, with palm-gardens in 'em and bands playing at their meals and games and so on going from eight bells to the bos'n's watch.
"It was mostly fighting in the Kut Sang, and the mess you and me and poor Harris and the black boy there got into wouldn't be just the quiet sort of reading folks want these days. It was all over in a night and a day, anyway - look at them Northern Spy apples, Mr. Trenholm!"
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
309 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1913
About the author
Frederick F. Moore
18 books1 followerNot to be confused with the journalist and non-fiction author Frederick Moore, who was also born in 1877.
Frederick Ferdinand Moore, b. 1877, is described in Sibera To-Day as "Late Captain, Intelligence Division, General Staff, A.E.F. Siberia".
Author of:
The Devil's Admiral (1913)
Siberia To-Day (1919)
Isle O' Dreams (1920)
Sailor Girl (1920)
The Samovar Girl (1921)
Frederick Ferdinand Moore, b. 1877, is described in Sibera To-Day as "Late Captain, Intelligence Division, General Staff, A.E.F. Siberia".
Author of:
The Devil's Admiral (1913)
Siberia To-Day (1919)
Isle O' Dreams (1920)
Sailor Girl (1920)
The Samovar Girl (1921)
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 8, 2018
To suggest the devil has but a single admiral would be to tax the bounds of credulity, but there are swaths of this story that do just that, so maybe the title is just a portentous teaser. On the other hand, a great man once said, You can't fix stupid, but if this story holds any water (no pun intended), you can use it to unscrpulous advantage.
The story is a narrative by a man named Trenholm, a war correspondent in what was apparently World War 1 given the time frame that the book was published, although the war itself had little to do with the story. Trenholm had just shipped into Manila, and was immediately ordered to Hong Kong, so he looked for the first barque out of town. In the meantime, he delivered a letter to the Russian consul there as a favor for a friend that caught the attention of a missionary, Rev. Luther Meeker. The good reverend and his red headed goon soon attach themselves to Trenholm to the point of suspicion, but our crack war correspondent just took it as an annoyance. Well, woe to him.
Between the time Trenholm books a room on the Kut Sang to Hong Kong and the ensuing few hours after, Meeker and his cohort try everything to keep Trenholm from getting on that ship. They failed in their attempts, and wouldn't you know, Meeker himself was a passenger on board as well. But it gets better. The red headed dufus that tailed him around Manila suddenly shows up and offers to carry Trenholm's bags aboard. Okay, nothing suspicious about that, until you realize that this guy was spying on Trenholm outside his hotel room and would have gotten his ass kicked had he caught him. Getting tripped up by Meeker on the stairs allowed red to escape. So what is Trenholm's response to the revelation of having these two, not only spying on him, but actively trying to prevent his boarding the Kut Sang? He has lunch with the guy! Oh, but it gets better. Passing a bar, he sees that a man has been murdered at the doorstep. One witness says he saw a red headed man running from the scene. Yes, a red headed man in Manila. Now Trenholm suspects that this thug may have killed someone, but when it came time to load those bags on board the ship, he not only was okay with that, but actually paid the guy for the honor! But no, it gets better! One of the crew of the Kut Sang gets accused of the murder, leaving a crew opening for-you guessed it, the red headed goon. What luck!
The story wasn't bad, but the dearth of improbable set ups (such as the one described above) made me wonder if stupidity was the order of day. Meeker was so annoying that it was a wonder anybody would want to talk with him, but not only did they, he was able to extract information that any stranger would be hard pressed to extract. Meeker is so unlikeable that I almost wish he wasn't in the story. Pretty sure the author did not intend that kind of acrimony from the reader. But he was in the story, but at this point he wasn't himself.
After a stabbing on board the Kut Sang, Trenholm ends up a suspect, although Meeker was in the area literally minutes before the body was discovered. Hello? Not only was Meeker not a suspect, he actually became one the inquisitors, walking over the captain like he was a deck hand. Ahh, fiction.
Trenholm had skills though. He was able to not only escape from where ever he might be imprisoned, but was able to sneak up on just about anybody and catch their conversation. Entertaining, if not realistic. There was also a common tendency that whenever the characters spoke to eachother, they to recap their past adventures together, tying the story neatly together for the reader. Very convenient, I must say.
Meeker, who wasn't what he seemed (Thank God), apparently chose cohorts with the mentality of a 10 year old to do his bidding for him. It seems improbable, given the complexity of the scheme, but a brilliant mind giving cut and dry orders to a simple mind might be plausible. It didn't seem so in this story, but I guess it could be.
If you haven't guessed, this is a pirate story, and has its share of stupid, violent pirates. There was no "admiral" per se. I could tear apart the story mercilessly, but then this review would be full of spoilers, and in fact, there is a story here; it's just full of holes. Then again, if you just use your imagination and buy a one time confluence of events and situations, you can enjoy the story despite its defects. I give it three stars for the story, and subtracted two for unlikely scenarios and behavior of the characters, unless you buy the 10 year old mentality theory of some of the pirates. Then it all makes sense-for them. For the supposedly educated Trenholm and a seasoned ships captain, not so much.
The story is a narrative by a man named Trenholm, a war correspondent in what was apparently World War 1 given the time frame that the book was published, although the war itself had little to do with the story. Trenholm had just shipped into Manila, and was immediately ordered to Hong Kong, so he looked for the first barque out of town. In the meantime, he delivered a letter to the Russian consul there as a favor for a friend that caught the attention of a missionary, Rev. Luther Meeker. The good reverend and his red headed goon soon attach themselves to Trenholm to the point of suspicion, but our crack war correspondent just took it as an annoyance. Well, woe to him.
Between the time Trenholm books a room on the Kut Sang to Hong Kong and the ensuing few hours after, Meeker and his cohort try everything to keep Trenholm from getting on that ship. They failed in their attempts, and wouldn't you know, Meeker himself was a passenger on board as well. But it gets better. The red headed dufus that tailed him around Manila suddenly shows up and offers to carry Trenholm's bags aboard. Okay, nothing suspicious about that, until you realize that this guy was spying on Trenholm outside his hotel room and would have gotten his ass kicked had he caught him. Getting tripped up by Meeker on the stairs allowed red to escape. So what is Trenholm's response to the revelation of having these two, not only spying on him, but actively trying to prevent his boarding the Kut Sang? He has lunch with the guy! Oh, but it gets better. Passing a bar, he sees that a man has been murdered at the doorstep. One witness says he saw a red headed man running from the scene. Yes, a red headed man in Manila. Now Trenholm suspects that this thug may have killed someone, but when it came time to load those bags on board the ship, he not only was okay with that, but actually paid the guy for the honor! But no, it gets better! One of the crew of the Kut Sang gets accused of the murder, leaving a crew opening for-you guessed it, the red headed goon. What luck!
The story wasn't bad, but the dearth of improbable set ups (such as the one described above) made me wonder if stupidity was the order of day. Meeker was so annoying that it was a wonder anybody would want to talk with him, but not only did they, he was able to extract information that any stranger would be hard pressed to extract. Meeker is so unlikeable that I almost wish he wasn't in the story. Pretty sure the author did not intend that kind of acrimony from the reader. But he was in the story, but at this point he wasn't himself.
After a stabbing on board the Kut Sang, Trenholm ends up a suspect, although Meeker was in the area literally minutes before the body was discovered. Hello? Not only was Meeker not a suspect, he actually became one the inquisitors, walking over the captain like he was a deck hand. Ahh, fiction.
Trenholm had skills though. He was able to not only escape from where ever he might be imprisoned, but was able to sneak up on just about anybody and catch their conversation. Entertaining, if not realistic. There was also a common tendency that whenever the characters spoke to eachother, they to recap their past adventures together, tying the story neatly together for the reader. Very convenient, I must say.
Meeker, who wasn't what he seemed (Thank God), apparently chose cohorts with the mentality of a 10 year old to do his bidding for him. It seems improbable, given the complexity of the scheme, but a brilliant mind giving cut and dry orders to a simple mind might be plausible. It didn't seem so in this story, but I guess it could be.
If you haven't guessed, this is a pirate story, and has its share of stupid, violent pirates. There was no "admiral" per se. I could tear apart the story mercilessly, but then this review would be full of spoilers, and in fact, there is a story here; it's just full of holes. Then again, if you just use your imagination and buy a one time confluence of events and situations, you can enjoy the story despite its defects. I give it three stars for the story, and subtracted two for unlikely scenarios and behavior of the characters, unless you buy the 10 year old mentality theory of some of the pirates. Then it all makes sense-for them. For the supposedly educated Trenholm and a seasoned ships captain, not so much.
December 24, 2012
An excellent and unconventional pirate story. My only complaint is that it wrapped up a bit too quickly and neatly, but all in all, this was a thrilling adventure on the high seas that any nautical fiction fan would enjoy.
October 27, 2019
Overall, a good book for the researcher and enthusiast.
Read for personal research
- found this book's contents helpful and inspiring - number rating relates to the book's contribution to my needs.
Read for personal research
- found this book's contents helpful and inspiring - number rating relates to the book's contribution to my needs.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews