Produced by Al Haines. BROTHERS THE TRUE HISTORY OF A FIGHT AGAINST ODDS BY HORACE ANNESLEY VACHELL LONDON JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET 1905 FIRST EDITION . . _May_ 1904 Reprinted . . _June_ 1904 Reprinted . . _August_ 1904 Reprinted . . _November_ 1904 Reprinted . . _December_ 1904 Reprinted . . _The same month_ Reprinted . . _January_ 1905 _Copyright in the United States of America by Horace Annesley Vachell_ TO ALL MEN AND WOMEN WHO HAVE STRIVEN: TO THE STRONG WHO HAVE ATTAINED THEIR GOAL, TO THE WEAK WHO HAVE MADE THE RUNNING FOR THE STRONG, AND IN PARTICULAR TO THOSE WHO HAVE CONFRONTED ILL-FORTUNE, ILL-HEALTH, AND DISAPPOINTMENT WITH FORTITUDE AND SERENITY, I DEDICATE THIS BOOK _BY THE SAME AUTHOR_ A DRAMA IN SUNSHINE JOHN CHARITY THE PROCESSION OF LIFE LIFE AND SPORT ON THE PACIFIC SLOPE THE SHADOWY THIRD THE PINCH OF PROSPERITY *PREFATORY NOTE* It is likely that the brothers in this book will be recognised by some readers who may indict the good taste of revealing a secret guarded jealously during many years. To these let it be said that the brother who attained to the highest honours and dignities of his profession earnestly desired that the truth concerning certain incidents in his earlier career should be told in a biography. A desire he was constrained reluctantly to forego. The story of the Samphires satisfies adequately enough the exigencies of a peculiar case. The many are not concerned; the few will discern truth through the thin veil of fiction. *CONTENTS* CHAPTER Prologue