`` yes , of course , '' hammond said , and sank back into his chair with a face like a sail with the wind spilling out of it , all gloom ; in a moment he burst out , `` they must have sent spies through brazil-it is the only explanation ; but how they should have persuaded the inca- '' and subsided ; a moment later he was repeating , `` i can not conceive how they should have persuaded the inca to open relations- '' de guignes certainly did not mean to volunteer any information ; however smiling his courtesies , it was plain he disliked extremely having encountered them , and meant so far as he could to isolate them from the life of the ship and in particular from his inca passengers , if there were any : laurence had so far seen none , saving the feathered dragon upon the deck .