Summary
Summary of Peter the Brazen
Peter the Brazen at a glance
Summary: 8 min to read
- Reading time
- About 5 h 55 min4 h 45 min fast, 7 h 5 min slow
- Length
- 84,900 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1919by George F. Worts
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
Key ideas
Key idea 1
A signal draws Peter back
Peter Moore can hear wireless signals that other operators dismiss as scratching. Yet he walks into the chief operator's office in San Francisco and quits, saying he has had too much China. Then scraps of red paper bring him the names Vandalia and Len Yang, and he returns to his old ship.
At sea, he learns of a hidden aristocrat whose mines swallow young girls. When a frightened call for help sounds in his headphones, the mystery becomes something he cannot simply leave alone.
Key idea 2
A rescue brings an enemy
When a silent junk comes alongside the Vandalia at night, Peter is attacked and caught in a struggle at the rail.
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Key idea 3
The wireless opens another door
After violence aboard the Hankow, a junk rams the steamer and leaves it sinking.
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Key idea 4
Peter agrees against his judgment
Peter escapes pursuit across Hong Kong harbor with help from the girl from Macassar.
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Key idea 5
Jealousy sends Peter back to sea
With a broken arm, Peter sails to San Francisco planning to find Eileen and settle down.
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Key idea 6
The pretend adventure becomes real
Romola offers her Shanghai house as the setting for Anthony's pretend adventure.
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Key idea 7
Eileen's letter changes the pursuit
Eileen writes that she never cared for Hodgson and has come to China to find Peter.
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Key idea 8
Love asks for a partner
Peter can face a gun more easily than he can understand his own heart.
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Key idea 9
Courage follows more than danger
Peter's extraordinary hearing starts a journey that carries him from a cry for help to a captive girl, a river steamer, and the Gray Dragon's red mining city.
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Go deeper: the whole of Peter the Brazen
About 6 h 10 min to read.Who it’s for
Readers who love fast, colorful adventures, secret societies, disguises, and river and rail chases will enjoy this book. It also suits fans of daring young heroes.
What this book is
What would you do if a faint cry for help came through your headphones in the middle of the Pacific night? Peter Moore, a wireless operator with ears sharper than any in the fleet, answers it, and the choice carries him across China and back again.
Peter the Brazen is a fast adventure by George F. Worts, set in the age of spark transmitters, steamers and junks. You get a hero who smiles when he is nervous, a hidden master called the Gray Dragon, a red mining city under a white palace, and a love story that keeps tripping over itself.
In this summary
- 1A wireless star quits the sea for mysteryFree
- 2A midnight junk and a girl in a bag
- 3Disguises, a dance, and a steamer upriver
- 4Wreck, caravan, and the red city
- 5Romola Borria and the girl from Macassar
- 6Hong Kong gives him an hour to live
- 7Eileen, a professor, and a bleeding heart
- 8A pretend den of danger turns real
- 9Ching-Fu, a clinic, and a kidnapping
- 10Hearts that a brave man cannot hold
- 11How the story is told, and why China stays secret
Key point 1 of 11
A wireless star quits the sea for mystery
Peter Moore is the best wireless operator on the Pacific. His keen ears read faint signals that others hear only as scratching. At the start of the book he walks into the chief operator's office in San Francisco and resigns. He says he has had too much China.
The quitting does not last. In Chinatown a ball of red paper lands at his feet. One scrap holds a word he knows, Vandalia, the ship he used to serve. Another holds a name, Len Yang. On sailing day a veiled figure in gray is hurried aboard, and Peter takes his old berth after all.
At sea the chief engineer tells him Len Yang belongs to a hidden Chinese aristocrat whose mines swallow young girls. That night a frightened signal spells help in his headphones, and it comes from somewhere aboard. A call for help is hard to ignore once you have heard it.
That’s 1 of 11 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Check yourself
What first draws Peter into the rescue mystery at sea?
Right. “That night a frightened signal spells help in his headphones, and it comes from somewhere aboard.”Not quite. “That night a frightened signal spells help in his headphones, and it comes from somewhere aboard.”
Why does Peter leave Eileen after the Valentine's ball?
Right. “At a Valentine's ball Hodgson corners her in a palm garden and kisses her just as Peter walks in.”Not quite. “At a Valentine's ball Hodgson corners her in a palm garden and kisses her just as Peter walks in.”
What does Eileen want from Peter?
Right. “Eileen, the one he loves, wants a partner.”Not quite. “Eileen, the one he loves, wants a partner.”
Go deeper: the whole of Peter the Brazen
About 6 h 10 min to read.Paperback, hardcover and large print, printed for you at cost, are on their way.Email me when it is printed
Questions about Peter the Brazen
What is Peter the Brazen about?
It follows Peter Moore, a gifted wireless operator, who quits the sea and becomes caught in a plot to rescue kidnapped girls from the mines of Len Yang. He travels from San Francisco across China and Asia, chased by spies of a hidden master.
Who is the Gray Dragon?
The Gray Dragon is the unseen ruler of Len Yang, a mining city in the hills near Tibet. His spies and wireless stations reach across Asia, and he sends hunters to find beautiful young women for his mines. Peter spends the book trying to meet him.
Who is Romola Borria?
Romola Borria is a beautiful woman born in China to Portuguese and Australian parents. She meets Peter on a steamer, offers him a plan, and then helps and hinders him by turns. Her loyalties are the book's most puzzling question.
When was Peter the Brazen written and is it a true story?
George F. Worts wrote it as a work of adventure fiction in the early twentieth century. It is not a true story. It uses real places such as Shanghai, Hong Kong, and the Yangtze, and the ships and wireless machines of its day.
Is Peter the Brazen easy to follow?
Yes, because the chapters are short and each ends with a hook. Peter's goal stays clear from the start, the places are vivid, and the plot moves through chases, disguises, and secret messages, with a new face and a new danger in nearly every scene.
Cite this edition
Worts, George F. Peter the Brazen. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/peter-the-brazen.
Worts, G. F. (2026). Peter the Brazen. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/peter-the-brazen (Original work published 1919)
Worts, George F. Peter the Brazen. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/peter-the-brazen.
@book{worts2026peter,
author = {Worts, George F.},
title = {Peter the Brazen},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/peter-the-brazen},
note = {First published 1919}
}
