e thought at first of performing hari-kari," said one of them. "But
Captain Nagai, with whom you were discussing the subject of hari-kari,
only the night before last, appears to have come round to your way of
thinking that it is better to live for the Emperor than to die for him.
He argues--as you did--that a dead man can do nothing for his Emperor,
whereas a living man may be able to do many things; in which statement
there is truth. Therefore we propose to surrender to the Russians, in
the honourable hope that we may be able to effect our escape, sooner or
later, and return to fight for Nippon. What do you honourably propose
to do, Captain?"

"Oh," said I, "to surrender seems the most sensible thing to do, and
doubtless I shall do it--eventually. Meanwhile, however, I think I will
toddle up on deck again, and see how Yagi and the ship's crew are
getting on. They are going to try to slip away in the ship's lifeboat,
you know?"

"Banzai!" cried one of the officers. "I hope they will honourably
succeed. But, having decided to surrender, I think the safest place is
down here. Doubtless we shall soon see you again."

"Y-e-s,--possibly," I replied. "But I shall not surrender until the
last moment; so, if you do not see me again, you may conclude that I
have found some means of effecting my escape, and have seized them."

Saying which, I shook hands with them all round, and returned to the
deck. During my brief visit to the saloon, Yagi and his men had got
their boat into the water, and were now pulling boldly for the _Rossia_;
but I noticed that directly they passed out of the area of radiance cast
by the searchlight, they shifted their helm sharply and, crossing the
cruiser's bows, were evidently endeavouring to slip past her in the
gloom of her own shadow.

Then, suddenly, an idea occurred to me. The _Kinshiu Maru_ had in tow a
small junk, or lighter, which we had used to facilitate the landing of
the soldiers at Iwon. Where was she now?

Crouching low under the cover of the bulwarks, to avoid being seen by
those aboard the _Rossia_, I slipped aft and, cautiously peering over
the taffrail, saw that she had drifted right in under the _Kinshiu's_
counter, where she was momentarily threatening to bilge herself against
the steamer's iron rudder, as the two craft ground against each other on
the swell. The forward half of her lay in the deep shadow of the
_Kinchiu's_ stern--a shadow rendered still deeper and