“I will,” answered Gilbert Pennington, and after a hearty handshake he left the main offices of the Anglo-Chinese Trading Company and walked slowly up the broad and well-kept business street of Port Arthur upon which the buildings of the concern were located.

Gilbert Pennington was a young man of Southern blood and strong military tendencies. He came from Richmond, Virginia, and upon the death of his parents had drifted, first to the West Indies and then to New York. This was during the opening of our war with Spain, and fired with patriotism, the young Southerner entered the volunteer service and became one of Roosevelt’s Rough Riders, as related in one of my previous books, entitled “A Young Volunteer in Cuba.”

From Cuba the young soldier shifted to the Philippines where, in company with his old-time chums, the Russell boys, he saw much active service under Generals Otis and McArthur, and the much-lamented General Lawton, many particulars of which are given in “Under Otis in the Philippines”[Pg 5] and other volumes of the “Old Glory Series.”

[Pg 5]

While the young soldier was in the Philippines he joined the regular army and shortly after this was sent to China, to aid in the suppression of the Boxer uprising and the rescue of many missionaries and others who had fled to the legations in Pekin for safety. As a lieutenant in the regulars Gilbert saw a good deal of hard fighting, the particulars of which have been set forth in “On to Pekin.” In this volume are also related how the young soldier overturned a plot to cheat him out of his legal share of stock of the Richmond Importing Company, and how he at last came into possession of sixteen thousand dollars of stock which was then worth exactly twice its face value.

Since those strenuous days many changes had taken place. With the rebellion in the Philippines and the uprising in China at an end, the young American had left the army as speedily as possible and applied himself strictly to business. New men were now at the head of the Importing Company, and as Gilbert had a fair knowledge of Japan, Korea, and the eastern coast of China, he was made the selling agent in that territory. For over a year he had done very well at this receiving both a salary and a commission, with all expenses paid.

[Pg 6]

[Pg 6]

The first real snag had been struck when he had started to do business with Ivan Snokoff, who represented 

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