Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England The Three Midshipmen, by W.H.G. Kingston. ________________________________________________________________________ The tale of the Three Midshipmen is carried on to the Three Lieutenants, the Three Commanders, and the Three Admirals. The book starts with the arrival of three new boys at a boarding school for young gentlemen. One boy is English, one is Scottish, and the third is Irish. Under the influence of various bullies and other schoolboy adversities the three lads learn to stick together, and to look after each other. They join the Navy, and get various postings by which from time to time they meet, usually under the most difficult circumstances. Of course they each survive bravely, though any of the boats' crews that they have the honour to command are mowed down by the enemy. In other words, some of it is pretty tall stuff, but it was very good fare for the nineteenth century and early twentieth century English schoolboy. I can remember these books on our 1940s school library's shelves, very well-thumbed and many times repaired by one of the masters, whose hobby it was to run a voluntary book-binding class. There are three parts to the book, of which we originally published only the first two, as we were working with a book that did not have the last part. In this new 2006 edition you will be able to read about the Midshipmen in China. We apologise for the delay in making good this omission. We see no reason why you should not enjoy this book. ________________________________________________________________________ THE THREE MIDSHIPMEN IN THE LEVANT, IN AFRICA AND IN CHINA, BY W.H.G. KINGSTON. CHAPTER ONE. EARLY DAYS. Ours was a capital school, though it was not a public one. It was not far from London, so that a coach could carry us down there in little more than an hour from the _White Horse Cellar_, Piccadilly. On the top of the posts, at each side of the gates, were two eagles; fine large birds I thought them. They looked out on a green, fringed with tall elms, beyond which was our cricket-field. A very magnificent red-brick old house rose behind the eagles, full of windows belonging to our sleeping-rooms. The playground was at the back of the house, with a grand old tulip tree in the centre, a tectum for rainy weather on one side, and the large school room on the other. Beyond was a good-sized garden, full of apple and pear trees, but, as we very seldom went into it, I do not remember its appearance. Perhaps, were I to see the place again, I might find its dimensions somewhat altered. The master was a first-rate schoolmaster. What his attainments were, I cannot say; but he understood managing boys admirably. He kept us all in very good order, had us fairly taught, fed us with wholesome, if not luxurious, food, and, though he used his cane freely, treated us justly. We held him in awe, and yet we liked him.