when you were
building the boat, Don Estevan."

"It would have been terrible for them," Stephen said, "but it would have
hurt us but little, for had they discovered our fort they could never have
taken it. With our twenty-four muskets we could have held it against any
number of savages, while as for the boat it would have been useless to
them, and they could scarcely have injured it. Even when it was finished
there was nothing on board to attract them. They might have knocked away
the props and tumbled her over, but they would have had to blockade us in
our fort while they did anything to her; for otherwise we could have moved
along the cliff to a point where we should have commanded the boat, and
could there have kept up a fire that would have speedily driven them from
her.

"No; we had no fear whatever of the natives from the time we had once
finished our wattle-work of thorny creepers until the day when we got her
into the water. After that we were certainly horribly anxious, for they
might have taken it into their heads to tow her away with them, for the
purpose of breaking her up at their leisure, for the sake of the bolts and
nails."

In the afternoon Lord Cochrane took Stephen ashore with him. "The
president and the council desire to thank you personally, Mr. Embleton, as
I told you last night as we came off. After dinner I gave them a brief
recital of your adventure, and said publicly that I considered you were
entitled to a handsome share of the prize-money which you had almost
miraculously brought back, and the president thoroughly endorsed my views.
The money is of the greatest consequence to them at the present moment,
for they are absolutely crippled, so much so that I deemed it right, some
time back, to offer to hand over to them my share of the prize-money for
the captures we had effected. They declined the offer, to my regret, for
though I am far from being a rich man, I would willingly have given the
money in order to get to sea again."

Stephen was warmly thanked by President O'Higgins for his great service to
the republic, and highly complimented on his conduct. He announced to him
that he and the council had decided to present him with the sum of
twenty-five thousand dollars as a recognition of his services.

"We consider," he said, "that you deserve a much larger sum, but the
circumstances of the state are such that we feel it is impossible for us
to do more than the barest justice at the prese