. Hewson to keep for him.

Mr. Hewson that evening again talked over the question of the bag of money
with Lieutenant Embleton, and convinced the latter that Stephen was
entitled to keep the money, to which his right was, he declared,
unquestionable. Stephen's father was of the same opinion himself, and
argued the question only because he felt that the fact that the money was
really extremely useful at the present time, might render him unable to
judge the matter fairly. He really had no answer to the reasons given by
his friend, who, he was well assured, would not urge the matter upon him
did he not feel that Stephen was really entitled to keep the money, which
had entirely and absolutely passed out of the possession of its former
owners, whoever they were.

"I never heard," he said, "that anyone who was lucky enough to recover
treasure in an old wreck had his right to retain it questioned, and here
not even the wreck remained. So we will keep it and spend it, Hewson; but
if you ever discover the owners of that ship let me know, and I shall be
prepared to discuss the question with them."

"We shall never discover them, my good sir," Hewson said. "How can any man
in the world say that that money belongs to a ship that has disappeared in
the Malay Archipelago? The only possible clue is that afforded by the
chronometers, and here again it is unlikely in the extreme that the owners
of the ship, that has, perhaps, been sailing the seas for thirty or forty
years, would be able to swear to her chronometers. Lastly, there is no
shadow of proof that the chest in which the money was found came from the
same ship as the chronometers; they may be the proceeds of two different
acts of piracy. You will never hear anything about it."

CHAPTER VII.

COCHRANE'S CAREER.

"You promised, father," Stephen said one evening, "that you would, some
time or other, tell me more about the days when you served with Lord
Cochrane."

"Well, lad, I will tell you now. The first time I ever saw him was on the
day when he joined the _Hind_ at Sheerness, in June, 1793. I was a young
midshipman on board her, and I can tell you we were all astonished at his
appearance, for he was between seventeen and eighteen--a tall, gawky
fellow. I believe he had had a commission in the army, but that his taste
lay altogether in the direction of the sea, and that he obtained his
appointment to