A few nights later he was staggering along the same dirt track in search of more booze when up ahead he saw a stunningly beautiful woman in a full-length fur coat. It didn’t occur to him for a second how inappropriate a fur coat was in a tropical country. He was determined to ignore her. Nothing she could say would force him to take her home. But as he was passing, she opened up her coat and she was wearing nothing but skimpy lace underwear beneath it. To cut a long story short, he was awoken the next morning by a deep, angry roar. He turned to see a huge black bear beside him with saliva dripping from her yellow teeth. He could feel scratch marks on his back.

Hokofugu ran so fast and so far he was listed as AWOL. But when he finally returned after a week spent in a cave, he was a changed man and he vowed never to touch another drop of alcohol in his life.

I passed on the news to Colonel Konko, who, with thick makeup and a change of wigs, had been most convincing as a woman especially under the shadow of darkness and in the eyes of a drunk. Then I went to see Nay Pom, who tamed animals to perform at temple fairs. I gave him a hamper of foodstuff in return for the loan of his duck and his orangutan and his bear.

Siri’s eyelids were heavy and the lamplight was growing weak. He smiled with pleasure at the conclusion of Toshi’s last story and would have lain on one side and fallen asleep were it not for one thing. The story was complete but the writing continued on the final page. The date was March 1945 and something peculiar had happened in the life of Kangen Toshimado. Siri read it silently to himself.

I suppose it’s only natural that living together in a small group is likely to cause some friction. I have left the dormitory and moved back to my tent to collect my thoughts and for my safety. Corporal Yatsusuki has continued to grow. We get complaints from the French from time to time saying that . . .

There was only one more page but it did not continue Toshi’s account of changes in the camp. In fact Siri had reached the stubs of pages that had been ripped from the diary. All that remained beyond the vandalism was one final sheet. It was dated 8/14/1945 and it said,

Tomorrow, I rise.