hat fashion. But you must go to work very
cautiously. The men you are after are at home there, and have a
hundred ways of finding out what you're up to, while you know no more
of them and their movements than you know which way a snake's slipping
through the jungle."

"Would it be of any use to appeal to the authorities?" asked Jack.

The gunsmith shook his head.

"Not a mite, sir, not a mite. In the first place, you're moving on
suspicion, and you can hardly expect the police to go tramping round
in wild and only partly explored jungle to find out if your suspicions
are correct. Then, again, if inquiries were started you would only
warn the parties you suspect, and they'd take good care your plans
came to nothing. For holding a man tight and keeping the place of his
hiding secret, this country is a marvel. I've known many a native
disappear in a very mysterious fashion and be never heard of again;
some enemy had disposed of him." The gunsmith fell silent and mused
for a few moments.

"I'll tell you," said he, "the best thing to do now, and that is to
strike up to Mandalay. There might be a chance there to pick up a bit
of river news which would help you. I wonder whether old Moung San is
up in Mandalay yet. He started up river with his _hnau_ weeks back,
and you know how they dawdle along, picking up every scrap of river
gossip."

"Moung San!" cried Buck, "old Moung, why, he's the very man whose
_hnau_ took the Professor up the river Chindwin, the last trip Mr.
Haydon made before he went up to Mogok. He'll give us a hand if he
can, I know."

"He was in here, buying stuff off me to trade along the river," said
Dent, "and he ought to be somewhere about Mandalay by now."

"Then we'll start in the morning by the first train," said Buck; "and
that reminds me, Jim, we shall want some guns; we've got nothing at
all at present, and we'll look over your stock."

"Come in the shop," said Dent, and all three went back to the little
front room where weapons stood in racks about the wall.

"These Mauser pistols are handy things," remarked Dent, as he turned
some of his stock on to the counter. "Clap the holster on 'em and they
make a very smart little rifle."

"We'll have a couple," said Buck, "they're daisies. I've tried 'em.
Have you got a light rifle or two in stock, Jim? We don't want to
drag any weight through the jungle, as you know as well as most."

"What's the matter with the Mannlicher?" said Dent, picking u