Page:At the Fall of Port Arthur.djvu/158

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CHAPTER XVI


ABOARD A JAPANESE WARSHIP


"What a beauty of a ship!"

Such was Larry's exclamation as he stepped aboard of the Japanese warship. The vessel was, like the Russian prize, an auxiliary cruiser and named the Mimora Juri. She was but three years old and had been used for passenger service between Japan and China. For such a small cruiser she carried an unusually heavy battery, and everything was shined up to the last degree,—the work having been undertaken directly after the battle was over. The Mimora Juri had suffered but little damage during the contest and only a handful of men had been killed and wounded.

"This looks more like Uncle Sam's navy than anything I have seen yet," said Luke.

"Well, I don't know that the decorations aboard our ships are quite so fine," returned the youth. "But then this isn't an ordinary fighting ship. Some of the auxiliary cruisers we used during the war with Spain—those that used to be trans-Atlantic steamers—were just as fine as this and finer."

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