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Show CONDENSED ! CLASSICS I THE TWO ADMIRALS I Y )) Br JAMKS FEN1MORB COOPER A ' ' X ' Cortdtmatten by Cvfut Ttmmcnd Broifp A At the ikc of 17, JamM Fenl-more Fenl-more Cooper determined de-termined to enter upon a naval career ca-reer tn the service of hi country. H I m apprentlce-nhlp apprentlce-nhlp tvbh be&ran on a freighter aalllnir from New York to Cow. In a Htormy pannage pan-nage of 40 doyH, lie endured the vlcroroaa h a r d -nhlpa of life before be-fore the mimt. Thin wan followed by an even rouprher period of 32 day. Thene adventures fornlnhed vivid material ma-terial for thrilling eplaodea In hla sea novels. After this he served In the navy" In vsrlons capacities, storing? np Invaluable Inval-uable experience to be relived by thousands In the pages of his books. At the aere of 21 he married. This fiery. Irritable and strons-wllled man was easily Influenced throughout his life by bis wife, to whom he was deeply devoted. Through her he abandoned aban-doned his ambition for a naval career. Not until he was 30, however, did he begin to write. His first novel was dull beyond belief. Nevertheless bis friends urged him to try again. This time he laid the scene In his own land and wrote of patriotism, the passion of his own heart. "The Spy" appeared In 1N21 and wan soon so popular as to make the largest sales yet won by an American writer. Cooper bad written bis first novel to prove that he conld Invent a more Interesting tnle than one be had Just read. He likewise wrote bis first sea story to rival Scott's "The Pirate," and to prove thnt the author of a sea novel should have lived on shipboard In order to know not only the ocean, bat the Intimate ways and workings of ships. "The Pilot" was convincing. It met with Instnntnneons and brilliant success suc-cess In Europe and America. SOME time since an American publisher pub-lisher invited a group of men, including in-cluding among others Roosevelt, Barnes, Spears, Connolly and the writer, to select the six greatest romances ro-mances of the sea. "The Two Admirals" Ad-mirals" was the one of Cooper's sea tales Included by a unanimous vote. Well does the book deserve its selection se-lection for it is without question the greatest of ail the novels of the sea, all of which I have read and not a few of which I have written. It has more of the best of Cooper, and less of his worst, than any of his naval or other romances. No writer was ever more at home on a ship's deck than Cooper not even Marryatt. And all his knowledge of the great deep, the way of ships therein, the-habits the-habits and customs of sailors, has been utilized in full measure in this Immortal Immor-tal story. It rings true alike to seamen sea-men and landsmen. There is a subsidiary story concerning concern-ing the love affairs of a gallant young sea ollicer, Sir Wycherly Wycheeombe, and Mildred Dutton-Bluewater, a damsel dam-sel as lovely, as delicate and as Inane as Cooper at his worst could describe. Whenever she appeared she was either suffused with blushes or bursting into tears. On one occasion she wept steadily for above one half hour! The supposed daughter of a drunken, drunk-en, retired officer and a woman of the middle class, Mildred turns out to be the lawful niece of one of the two admirals, ad-mirals, just in time to soothe his dying hours; while her husband, a Virginian, turns up in the nick of time with the papers In his hands to prove his succession suc-cession to the ancient title and lands of Wycheeombe. All of which Is excessively ex-cessively tiresome. Fortunately the greater part of the book is taken up with the doings of the Two Admirals. The puerile, pre-mld-Ylotorlan romance will easily be forgotten but the remainder will richly rich-ly repay the reader. In 1745 when George II reigned In England the young pretender, Charles Edward, made that daring and unsuccessful unsuc-cessful dash for a crown which came to a bloody end at Culloden In the following fol-lowing year. It Is that abortive but gallant effort which furnishes the motive mo-tive for the action of the novel. Vice Admiral of the Red Sir Gervnise Oakes commanded a well fitted, well officered, well manned, homogeneous fleet of ships-of-the-llnc which had been cruising In the Hay of Biscay. Associated As-sociated with him was Richard Blue-water, Blue-water, rear admiral of the White, second sec-ond in command. These two men, both wedded to the service alnne, had been shipmates and friends, during a naval career of nearly forty years. Oakes was n typical English admiral, i a superb sailor, n downright fighter; ' Bluewater his complement and oppo- ' site, a subtle thinker and a brilliant tactician. The combination was Ideal, i as was the completeness of a frlenil- ' ship, not to say an affection, as sin- cere as it was lasting. Nothing had ever broken It; nothing. It was believed, be-lieved, ever would brea" it. In but one point did the true friends J differ. Oakes was a Whig, Bluewater a Tory. It did not seem possible, how- i ever, for political consideration to In- i terrupt their' warm relations. The bold adventure of Charles Edward i bade fair to do that very thing, bow- j ever. For Bluewater, frank, unworld ly sailor that he was, cleverly played upon by politicians, began to waver between t lie House cf Hanover, whose commission lie held, and the House of Stewart, to which his heart inclined. To bring matters to a head M. le Vice Amiral Le Comte de Vervillin, sailed from Cherbourg Willi a fleet of such ships as fairly entitled him to challenge the English fleet of Vice Admiral Ad-miral Oakes for the mastery of the narrow seas. The latter, more than willing to try out the matter, at once put to sea In a heavy gale of wind, his capital ships weighing anchor In succession witli long intervals between them so as to spread a broad clue to intercept the French. Bluewater with his division brought up fhe rear. The rear admiral was obsessed with the idea that De Vervillln's course had something to do with the pretender's effort and his conscientious scruples threw him into a piteous state of indecision. The vice admiral was not troubled by any such subtle casuistry. He only saw the enemy whom It was his duty to beat when, where and how he could. After a series of the most brilliant tactical maneuvers and a successful minor engagement with the whole French fleet by his division nlone the two divisions had got separated In the mad gale and Bluewater had called his own ships around him the vice admiral ad-miral found himself with five ships in the vicinity of the French who were just double In number. Far away to windward the morning disclosed the five ships of the rear admiral's division divi-sion slowly standing down toward his superior under easy sail. Bluewater was still In his state of painful Indecision. As soon as within signal distance, by using a private and personal code, he sent the following pleading dispatch to his considerate superior : "God sake make no signal engage not." This .signal plunged Oakes, fully awr.re of the state of his beloved junior's mind, into the most terrible dilemma. Without the assistance of Bluewater's division he could not hope to engage the enemy with the least chance of success. On the other band should he now withdraw without fighting fight-ing he would have failed In his duty and would have been professionally ruined and rightly. His mind was at once made up. Attack he would and must. Would the friendship between the two admirals stand the test he imposed im-posed upon it? Did the younger care more for Oakes and England than for the young prince and France? A short time would determine. Magnanimously Magnanimous-ly refraining from making any embarrassing embar-rassing signal to his friend, which might force his hand untimely, Oakes boldly led down upon the waiting French line and with his five ships brought them to close action. The French were quick to take advantage of (he opportunity given them by the hesitations of the English rear admiral. ad-miral. Holding Oakes with five of his ships to leeward De Vervillin threw the other five under Des Prez, his contre amiral on the windward side of the English doubling on them, placing them between two fires. Although Oakes' division fought with the fury of despair the end was at band when the opportune arrival of Bluewater, who could not stand seeing see-ing his friend pounded to pieces and who threw political considerations to the wind and bore down on the triumphant French under a press of sail, completely changed the Issue and wrested victory from defeat. All of which Is set forth In a succession of sea pictures of surpassing grandeur. Bluewater, remorseful over his incertitude, in-certitude, actually carried the French rear admiral's ship by boarding at the head of his men, receiving a mortal wound In the attack by way of expiation. expia-tion. Space allows me only to mention the masterly descriptions of ship maneuvering and thrilling sea fighting. I can only refer to some of the well-drawn well-drawn characters In the story; the two splendid admirals, their captains, the oflicers and seamen, especially old Gallcygo the admiral's steward, delineated de-lineated out of a large experience with a sure hand. And the great ships themselves them-selves are Imbued with personality so dear to a seaman's heart. The touching scene at the close of flie book. In which Oakes, old, Infirm, forgetful, praying before the tomb of Bluewater In the great abbey of Westminster, West-minster, recalls the last battle the two had fought and wllh all of his former for-mer fire and fervor describes again those moments of suspense preceding the glorious victory, fitly rounds out the tale. And then death unites him with the friend he had loved and lost. I have rend the book a score or more of times with ever increasing Joy. I envy anyone who takes ship for the first time to sail and fight with these two great masters of the sea. (Copyrlcht. 1 by Post Publishing Co. The Boston Post.) |