A United States Midshipman in China

By Yates Stirling
Listen with Sir Michael Caine™ and 1,000+ voices
Length6h 56m

About this audiobook

Excerpt: "The United States gunboat "Phœnix" lay at anchor in the swift current of the Yangtse River opposite the Chinese city of Ku-Ling. The surface of the water seemed tranquil, but a closer look over the side of the ship showed to the observer the strength of the muddy flood that swept for thousands of miles through the length of the Chinese Empire, from the far-away snows of the mountains of Tibet onward to the waters of the Pacific Ocean. Two young midshipmen were standing at the gunboat's rail in eager conversation. Their eyes were intent upon the scenes on the shore scarce a hundred yards away. "Oh, there's Langdon!" exclaimed Philip Perry, the taller of the two lads, as the form of the government pilot, Joseph Langdon, was seen coming from the ward-room companion ladder. "Langdon, have you ever seen this much talked about Chang-Li-Hun?" "Seen him?" Langdon echoed, approaching the speaker. "I've talked with him many a time, and you can take my word for it, there isn't a man in all China whom I wouldn't sooner have for my enemy. He's a past craftsman in oriental subtlety and diplomacy. He rules his own people with a rod of iron, and if an official displeases him, off goes his head in the most approved Chinese fashion." Both midshipmen suppressed an unconscious shiver as the American pilot of the Yangtse River illustrated the death of the disgraced official by chopping at his own thick neck with a great sun-tanned, muscular hand. "Everything looks peaceful enough ashore there now, doesn't it?" Sydney Monroe, Phil's friend and classmate, said in a tone of inquiry. "It doesn't seem as if the foreigners were much in fear of the dangers of Chinese violence. Look!" he exclaimed; "there are European women and even children walking along the streets." "That's the danger in China," Langdon returned in a troubled voice. "Living in this country is like being on top of a presumably extinct volcano. No one knows when it will break out. Sometimes it comes without the usual rumblings.""

Audiobook details

GenreHistory
Length6 hrs 56 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateApr 6, 2022
LanguageEnglish

Table of contents

1Introduction
2Illustrations
3CHAPTER I AN INCIDENT OF THE RIVER
4CHAPTER II AN UNPLEASANT ENCOUNTER
5CHAPTER III THE PERIL AT THE MISSION GATE
Show all chapters
6CHAPTER IV THE EMBASSY TO THE VICEROY
7CHAPTER V THE VICEROY’S TREACHERY
8CHAPTER VI DIPLOMACY FAILS
9CHAPTER VII DISSENSIONS
10CHAPTER VIII IGNACIO SHOWS HIS HAND
11CHAPTER IX HELD AS HOSTAGES
12CHAPTER X A CHINESE PRISON
13CHAPTER XI FRIENDS IN NEED
14CHAPTER XII A DARING PLAN
15CHAPTER XIII HOPES OF ESCAPE
16CHAPTER XIV THE ESCAPE
17CHAPTER XV AN ENEMY SILENCED
18CHAPTER XVI REËNFORCEMENTS
19CHAPTER XVII ABOARD THE “PHŒNIX”
20CHAPTER XVIII THE START FOR KU-LING
21CHAPTER XIX THE SECRET CHANNEL
22CHAPTER XX RUNNING THE BATTERIES
23CHAPTER XXI TO THE RESCUE OF THE MISSION
24CHAPTER XXII THE LAST CHARGE
25CHAPTER XXIII THE FORTS SURRENDER
26CHAPTER XXIV PHIL EXPLAINS

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