"Then you will be dealt with in a more severe manner."
I paused before I replied to this. My temper rose, and I felt that any dispute was to be avoided. Still I could not withhold a protest.
"Your captain can, of course, hang me, but I am perfectly innocent. Cannot he send me aboard some American or British ship?"
"We have no means of doing so," he replied, when this renewed demand had been translated. "You must decide at once, and, if you do accept the offer, make your preparations."
"Well then, I must accept, I suppose. What preparations do you refer to?"
"You must appear as a Chinese, and accompany the interpreters ashore, and bring back the intelligence to the Commander-in-Chief."
I was staggered. My heart beat loudly. Was this Japanese method? Then the punishment was really intended to fit the supposed crime. I was accused of being a spy. The Japanese would make me one in fact! This was carrying the war into the enemy's country with a vengeance.
"Impossible!" I gasped. "I cannot. You surely will not compel me to play the spy?"
The lieutenant perceived my indignation, and said something to the junior officer.
"You must decide quickly," he said. "The troops will soon be landed."