The Ayesha: Adventures of the Landing Squad of the Emden

I discovered this little book in an antique store and picked it up because I had heard of the cruise of the German commerce raider Emden, quite famous in World War I naval history. That, and I like a good sea story.

What is peculiar about this book, presumably first published in German but translated into English in the United States, is that it is a World War I story published in the U.S. that takes the German side during the war. The copyright date is 1917, which would be while the war was still going on, though possibly before the United States entered the war against Germany on April 6, 1917. Further, it was copyrighted by "Ritter & Company" of Boston. This is suggestive because "Ritter" is the German word for "knight," so possibly this was a publishing company owned by a German, and perhaps it published materials sympathetic to Germany, possibly with the intent of influencing debate in the United States regarding entry into the war.

Notes:
All footnotes have been put into square brackets []
Batavia was the name for Jakarta during Dutch rule.
Padang is a port city on the west coast of Sumatra