“Certainly,” said Murray; “and let them try to stop us if they dare.”
“Humph!” said Mr Braine, raising his brows a little. “You doubt then the likelihood of the rajah’s people interfering with you?”
“Excuse me for seeming rude to you in my incredulity, but I do doubt this.”
Mr Braine smiled again.
“I presume,” he said, “that when your boat came up you were boarded by the rajah’s naga.”
“Yes.”
“And you saw that she had a well-armed crew?”
“I noticed that the men all wore their krises, and that spears were hanging in slings from the covered-in part.”
“Exactly. That boat boards every vessel that goes up or down the river, and all pay tax or toll to the lord of this district, and have to await his permission before they can stir.”
“Then,” said Murray, sharply, “you consider that we are prisoners?”