"But you say the Hankers lay claim to the fortune," went on Dave Fearless, a handsome lad of seventeen, the only son of Amos Fearless, ex-sea captain and marine architect.
"Yes, Lemuel Hankers always did claim the Washington fortune. His mother, you know, was a Washington."
"But so was your father."
"Exactly; and the money was left to our branch of the family, no matter what the Hankers may say to the contrary."
"And it was shipped from China to San Francisco in the steamship Happy Hour."
"Yes, but the Happy Hour belied her name, for she went down in the middle of the Pacific with all on board."
"And the exact location of this wreck?"
"Was not known up to six months ago. Then the Albatross, making some deep-sea fishing for the government, came upon some wreckage which proved conclusively that the Happy Hour had gone down in the exact spot which I have marked on the chart here."
"Do the Hankers know of this locality?"
"I think not. They were in Europe on a pleasure tour when the report came in, and it is very likely that it escaped their notice."