"Do you know where the 'fire-boat' had been?" he asked.
"There was a word that U Saw had been a long cruise in the islands," replied Moung San.
"Been a long cruise in the islands, had he?" said Dent, in a meaning tone. There was silence while the three white men made swift calculations mentally.
"If the yacht is a good sea-boat," said Jack, "they would just about have had the right time to do it, supposing they came up the river two weeks back." He meant the voyage from the Mediterranean, and the others nodded.
The old Burman looked from one to the other gravely. There was something he did not understand behind this, and it was plain that he was about to shape a question.
Buck whispered swiftly to Jack, then spoke:
"Well, Moung San, we must be going. But the son of your old patron wished to see you and to give you a little present because you have served his father."
Jack smiled and passed over twenty rupees. Moung San's mouth was at once filled with thanks instead of questions, and an awkward moment passed safely.
"I could see the old fellow was going to ask questions," remarked Jim Dent, when they were once more in the sampan, and the big Shan was pulling strongly across the stream. "It was a lucky stroke to stop his mouth with the rupees."
"Yes," said Jack, "it's quite clear he knows nothing about my father's disappearance, or he would have said something. So it was just as well to leave him in ignorance, and escape a lot of talk. You never know where the simplest question may lead you to."