Illustrated by William Rainey, R.I.
NEW YORK
G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
27 AND 29 WEST 230 ST.
1905
TO
LILLIPUT
WITH ALL DUE RESPECT TO
BROBDINGNAG
"Oh! it is easy to cross the Yalu river."
--_Japanese War Song_.
_My dear Ralph,_
_Last year, I remember, you were a little reproachful because I sent
"Tom Burnaby" to Jack at Harrow, and I made you a half promise that
possibly at some future date you Taylorians should not be forgotten. I
am better than my word. Here is a book--too late for your birthday, but
in time for Christmas--which I hope will meet with your good favour._
_It is now nearly ten years since, on one of the bridges in Osaka, I
watched a battalion of the Imperial Guards marching to the China war.
The Chinese had been driven across the Yalu and hustled through
Manchuria; the Guards were to assist in carrying the war, if necessary,
to the walls of Pekin. There was something in the bearing of those
short, sturdy, alert little soldiers to arrest the attention and give
food for thought. They had all the purposeful air of our own Gurkhas,
with a look of keener intelligence, and a joyous eagerness that thrilled
the observer._
_In the China war the Japanese were for the first time measuring their
strength. It was merely practice for the great struggle with the
Colossus of the North which all knew to be inevitable, however long
delayed. The humbling of China cost Japan little real effort, and we in
this country hardly realized all that was at stake when European
diplomacy robbed the victor of the fruits of victory. The part of Great
Britain at that period was regarded, perhaps justly, by the Japanese as
something less than that of the warm friend and well-wisher she was
supposed to be. Yet, in common with other English visitors to their
country, I never met with aught but perfect courtesy and smiling
hospitality. The politeness and self-restraint of the people, and their
extraordinary military promise, were among my strongest impressions of
Japan. How completely they have been justified the history of the past
ten years and of the present struggle has shown._
_Yours very sincerely,_
_HERBERT STRANG._
_Michaelmas Day, 1904._
*Contents*
_Chapter_ I
A Mere Chinaman
_Chapter_ II
Rokuro Kobo San
_Chapter_ III
A Samurai's Home
_Chapter_ IV
Six to One
_Chapter_ V
A Fleet in Action
_Chapter_ VI
Helping-to-Decide
_Chapter_ VII
The Battle of the Destroyers
_Chapter_ VIII
Cut Off
_Chapter_ IX
Chased by Cossacks
_Chapter_ X
The One-Eared Man
_Chapter_ XI
Tried and Sentenced
_Chapter_ XII
At Midnight
_Chapter_ XIII
Ah-Sam
_Chapter_ XIV
Mrs. Isidore G. Pottle
_Chapter_ XV
Fortifying the Gully
_Chapter_ XVI
Hemmed In
_Chapter_ XVII
A Night Reconnaissance
_Chapter_ XVIII
Rushing a Cossack Camp
_Chapter_ XIX
Sound and Fury
_Chapter_ XX
Herr Schwab Gomblains
_Chapter_ XXI
The Battle of the Yalu River
_Chapter_ XXII
A Dumb Chinaman
_Chapter_ XXIII
The Tiger's Lair
_Chapter_ XXIV
In the Enemy's Gates
_Chapter_ XXV
Nemesis
_Chapter_ XXVI
Old Friends and New Prospects
*Glossary*
*List of Illustrations*
_Plate_ I
Koreans Receiving Cavalry . . . . . . Frontispiece
_Plate_ II
Bob Rescues Yamaguchi
_Plate_ III
Bob Surprises his Jailer
_Plate_ IV
A Korean Knight-Errant
_Plate_ V
A Question of Seconds
*Map and Plan*