f
theirs, and it is best that we should get out of the place before there is
any excuse for a quarrel."

A few minutes later they took their seats in the boat and rowed off to the
ship.

CHAPTER III.

A CYCLONE.

As soon as they arrived on board, Captain Pinder examined the chronometers
and pronounced them to be excellent ones.

"I would not wind them up until it is Greenwich time as they now stand,
and would then compare them with our own."

"Of course, sir," Stephen said, "I have bought these not for myself but
for the ship."

"Not at all, Steve; you have traded as you have a right to do, and the
ship has nothing to do with it. At the same time I don't know whether you
will be able to keep or sell them. I must give notice on our return home
that such things have been found here under circumstances that leave no
doubt that the crew of the ship to which they belonged have been
massacred, and the ship herself burned. No doubt owners of vessels that
have been missing will call at the office to inspect the chronometers. I
do not say that anyone would have a legal right to them; they have been
absolutely lost and gone out of their possession, and you have bought them
in the way of fair trade."

"If they wish to have them back again, sir, of course I will give them
up."

"Well, at any rate, if you did so, lad, you would get a reward
proportionate to their value. However, they may never be claimed. Owners
whose ships are missing, and who have received the insurance money, are
not likely to trouble themselves further in the matter."

"This is not all I have, sir," Stephen went on. "I also got this gold
watch and this bag of money. I suppose the chest belonged to the captain,
and that he carried this gold with him for the purchase of stores."

"You are a lucky fellow, Steve. Come down into my cabin and we will count
the money. Two hundred guineas," he went on, when they had finished;
"well, that is about the best bit of trade that I have seen done; you had
better hand this over to me to keep."

"Oh, I don't mean it to be kept, sir," Stephen said; "it would not be fair
at all. I would not think of it. It is like prize-money, and ought to be
divided in the same way. I don't mind keeping the gold watch just now, but
if we find out the name of the ship when we get back to England, I should
wish to send it to the widow of the captain, and the m