"'I INTEND RESIGNING MY COMMISSION, SIR'" ([See page 15])
HEMMING
THE ADVENTURER
BY
THEODORE ROBERTS.
AUTHOR OF "BROTHERS OF PERIL," ETC.
ILLUSTRATIONS BY A. G. LEARNED.
LONDON:
WARD, LOCK & CO., LIMITED,
1906.
A Dedication
TO ONE WHO BROUGHT
THE COLOUR OF REALITY BACK
TO LIFE AT A TIME WHEN LIFE WAS LIKE
A PICTURE, AND THE FACES OF MY FRIENDS WERE
LESS REAL THAN THE FACES OF MY DREAMING. TO ONE
WHOSE SWEET INTEREST IN MY STORIES MADE IT SEEM WORTH
WHILE TO RECALL MY AIMLESS ADVENTURES. TO ONE WHOSE
GENTLE MINISTRATIONS TURNED A WEARY SICKNESS INTO A
HOLIDAY, AND WIPED OUT THE MEMORY OF PAST PAIN. TO ONE
WHO TAUGHT ME THAT ROMANCE LIES NOT ALL IN THE MAKING
OF NEW LANDFALLS AND THE SIGHTING OF NEW
MOUNTAIN-TOPS. TO HER WHO READS THIS PAGE WITH
UNDERSTANDING, AND A QUICKENING OF
THE PULSE, THIS STORY OF HEMMING
THE ADVENTURER IS
LOVINGLY DEDICATED
1903 T. R.
CONTENTS
PART ONE
CHAPTER
I. [Captain Hemming Faces a Change of Life]
II. [Hemming Meets with a Strange Reception]
III. [Hemming Visits the Manager of the Syndicate]
IV. [The Advent of Mr. O'Rourke and His Servant]
V. [The Adventurers Dispense With Mr. Nunez]
VI. [Hemming Hears of the Villain]
VII. [An Elderly Champion]
VIII. [Hemming Undertakes a Dignified Work]
IX. [O'Rourke Tells a Sad Story]
X. [Lieutenant Ellis Is Concerned]
XI. [Hemming Draws His Back Pay]
PART TWO
I. [The Unsuspected City]
II. [The Sporting President]
III. [The Post of Honour.—The Secretary's Affair]
IV. [The Thing That Happened]
V. [Chance in Pernambuco]
VI. [Cuddlehead Decides on an Adventure]
VII. [Hemming Learns Something about His Army]
VIII. [Captain Santosa Visits His Superior Officer]
IX. [Mr. Cuddlehead Arrives]
X. [The First Shot]
XI. [The Colonel's Ultimatum]
XII. [O'Rourke to the Rescue]
XIII. [The Unexpected Sailor]
XIV. [The Attack]
XV. [Rest in Pernambuco]
PART THREE
I. [The Real Girl]
II. [A New Restlessness]
III. [A Rolling Stone]
IV. ["The Dear, Dear Witchery of Song"]
V. [An Uncanny Guest]
VI. [The Bachelor Uncle to the Rescue]
VII. [Hemming Receives His Sailing Orders from a Master Not to Be Denied]
VIII. [Hemming Would Put His Dreams To The Proof]
IX. [To Part No More]
X. [A New Command]
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
["'I intend resigning my commission, sir'"] ([See page 15]) Frontispiece
["Several days later Miss Travers wrote to Hemming"]
["The door came in with a rending, sidelong fall"]
["'I have decided, sir, to stick to scribbling'"]