“That is not so,” spoke up one of the men next the leader. “He is a good linguist and speaks our language fluently.”
Dick recognized the voice despite the mask.
“Clark! You renegade!” he shouted with sudden fury.
Clark made a hasty move in his direction, but the leader checked him.
“What matter,” he said, indifferently. “It will not be long in his power to injure us by any information he may have picked up to-night.”
The finality of his tone sent a cold shiver up and down Dick’s spine. Apparently his doom was sealed. Only a game of bluff might pull him out of his ghastly predicament.
“Don’t be too certain of that,” he said, coolly. “Clark, there, can add to the information he has already given you of me by saying that I am a representative of the Washington Star, one of the most influential newspapers in the country. You know the power of the press in America.”
His words made a visible impression on the three men. They glanced uneasily at each other. The leader spoke hastily and sternly.
“It does not matter who is at your back. You are in our power and cannot escape the fate of a spy.”
Dick’s heart sank, but he refused to give up. He was fighting for time. Something must intervene.