1001 Classic Short Stories & Tales
What happens when an ambitious young newspaper reporter goes looking for adventure and discovers an entire island just waiting for someone to take charge?
The Reporter Who Made Himself King, Richard Harding Davis's wonderfully entertaining 1894 adventure, introduces us to Albert Gordon, a 23-year-old reporter who has already packed more excitement into three years than most men experience in a lifetime.
He's covered train wrecks, fires, political conventions, revolutions, Indian outbreaks, floods and earthquakes. There's only one assignment he still desperately wants:
A war.
Unfortunately for Gordon, the world stubbornly refuses to provide one.
So when he's offered the chance to travel to the remote Pacific island of Opeki as secretary to the newly appointed American consul, Gordon figures it might be the perfect place to slow down, enjoy the tropics, and finally write that novel he's been planning.
He couldn't be more wrong.
Almost immediately, Gordon discovers that Opeki is unlike anything he expected. The island has its own king, rival tribes, an enterprising young American named Stedman, two British sailors known as the Bradleys, and what passes for a connection to civilization through an obscure cable company.
Then Gordon's superior, Captain Travis, decides island life isn't for him and promptly heads home, leaving Gordon behind as acting American consul.
And that's when things really begin to get interesting.
Before long, Gordon and Stedman are behaving like a miniature diplomatic corps. They put on uniforms, hand out medals, impress the local king, make grand plans to modernize Opeki, and contemplate everything from a standing army to teaching the islanders baseball.
But there is one serious problem.
High in the mountains live the Hillmen, led by King Messenwah, and they have a habit of raiding Opeki, stealing livestock and terrorizing its people.
When word comes that the Hillmen are marching toward the village again, Gordon finally gets the adventure he's been waiting for.
Armed with rifles, bravado and a newspaperman's almost limitless confidence, he heads out to meet them.
What follows is part comedy, part adventure, part political satire, and a wonderfully sly look at the enormous egos of reporters, diplomats and governments.
And just when Gordon believes he has the situation under control, he discovers that another nation has already taken an interest in Opeki.
A foreign warship appears.
A flag goes up.
Another flag comes down.
And Albert Gordon suddenly finds himself in exactly the situation he has dreamed about for years.
Only now he isn't merely reporting the news.
He's making it.
Join us for Part One of THE REPORTER WHO MADE HIMSELF KING by Richard Harding Davis, on 1001 Classic Short Stories & Tales.
And be sure to come back for Part Two, when Albert Gordon's little adventure on Opeki threatens to become an international incident.
Richard Harding Davis was one of the most famous American journalists and adventure writers of his era. His experience as a reporter and war correspondent gave his fiction a lively, fast-moving style and an insider's understanding of the newspaper business, qualities that are on full display in this story.
THE REPORTER WHO MADE HIMSELF KING – PART ONE
Richard Harding Davis
1001 Classic Short Stories & Tales