oney too, if it
belonged to him."

"There is no chance whatever of that, lad. No captain would be fool enough
to bring out a lot of gold like that on his own account. It was certainly
ship's money that he would hold for making advances to the crew; as for
the purchase of stores, he would pay for them by bills on the owner. But
still, you are no doubt right about the watch, and the poor fellow's widow
would, doubtless, be glad to have it; as to the gold, I will take charge
of it for the present. We will talk the matter over again later on; there
is no occasion to come to any decision about it. At present it is entirely
yours. I don't think that you have any right to give up a sum of money
like this without, at any rate, very careful consideration. It is a sum
that, divided up into shares, would give but a very small amount to each
on board, while it might be of the most material service to you some day
or other. But please oblige me by saying nothing whatever about it at
present. Whatever decision is arrived at in matters of this sort, somebody
is sure to feel aggrieved, and it is astonishing what little things upset
a crew, especially on a voyage of this kind, where there is no such
controlling influence over the men's minds as that exercised by touching
at ports where there are authorities to whom, in case of necessity, the
captain can appeal."

"Very well, sir, I will, of course, do as you wish. Shall I say anything
about the watch?"

"Yes; there is no objection to your doing that, especially as that must be
mentioned in any inquiries we may make as to any ship being missing, and
there is no need for any secrecy about it. I shall also mention the money
to the officers; they will appreciate the offer that you have made, and
agree with me, I am sure, that it will be better that nothing should be
said to the crew."

That evening the first mate said to Stephen: "The captain has been telling
us about that bag of money you got hold of, Steve, and we all think that
your offer to treat it as if it were prize-money is a very kind one, but
we agree with him that it would be a mistake. In the first place, the
money wouldn't go far. In any matter of that sort the ship, that is to say
the owners, take a large share to begin with, the officers take some
shares, and the men's shares would not come to a pound a head. A pound a
head would only suffice for them to have a drunken spree on shore, but
they are just as well without tha