tances.

"Hello, Moung San," cried Dent. "We've come to pay you a visit."

"Very glad, very glad," replied the Burman. "Come up, come up."

They climbed at once to the deck of the _hnau_, where Moung San shook
hands with them very heartily. When he heard Jack's name he smiled and
showed all his teeth, stained black with betel-chewing.

"Me know your father," he said, and shook Jack's hand again. "Very
good man, very good man."

Amidships there was a large cabin, roofed with plaited cane, built up
on the _hnau_. Moung San invited them to enter it, and all four went
in and sat down.

"Now, Moung San," began Jim Dent "You listen to me. You know the
ruby-mines well, don't you?"

"Yes," replied Moung San. "Do much trade with the miners for many
years."

"Do you know a man named Saya Chone?"

"Yes," said the trader. "Know him. Don't like him."

"Who is he with now?"

"With U Saw, the man they call the Ruby King."

"U Saw," murmured Dent reflectively. "He's jumped into notice since I
was up here last. What sort of character has U Saw, Moung San?"

The Burman lowered his voice and looked uneasily round to see if any
of his crew were within earshot.

"Very dangerous man," he said, shaking his head, "if he hears of one
of the hill-miners finding good ruby, that man sure to lose it,
perhaps lose his head same time. U Saw has many Kachins who follow
him, and every Kachin carry strong, sharp _dah_ (native sword)."

"Have the police been on to him, Moung San?" asked Buck.

"The police!" Moung San laughed disdainfully. "What do the police know
about the hills and the jungle, and what goes on there? But we know.
The word goes from Kachin to Shan, and from Shan to Burman, over the
country, up and down the river. We know."

"Where does U Saw sell his rubies?" asked Dent.

"In China," replied the Burman. "Takes them along the great road to
China from Burmah over the mountains. Sells them there for big, big
money. Very rich and very strong is U Saw."

Then, with scarcely a pause, Moung San came out with a piece of news
that made his hearers jump.

"When I am at Prome two weeks ago, the 'fire-boat' of U Saw pass me,
and go up the river."

"Fire-boat!" cried Jim Dent. "U Saw possesses a steamer. How big,
Moung San?"

Moung San went into details. He compared the "fire-boat" with the size
of his _hnau_, he compared it with a river-steamer which now went
puffing past, he described it with the greatest minuteness, fo