"There is no telling, lad. Some folks have it that half of Europe will be mixed up in this muss before it's over. One thing is certain, Dewey's victory at Manila isn't going to be such a smooth thing out there, for the Filipinos are in a state of revolt and won't want us to govern them any more than they want the Spanish; and besides, Germany, France, and other nations have big interests there." "Well, I guess the best we can do is to look out for our little end," smiled the boy. "As for the rest, the authorities at Washington must settle that." "Well said, lad; you and I couldn't run the government if we tried. But we can do our duty, and that will be to obey orders and take what comes." "How is it that you got Jim Haskett to enlist?" asked Si. "Oh, that fellow is after prize money," was the gunner's reply. "He has been reading of the luck down around Havana, and he wants the chance to earn a few hundred extra. Well, maybe he'll get it." "I've heard of prize money before, but I don't exactly know what it is," observed Walter. "It's the money got out of a captured ship when she's sold. You see, when a ship is captured she's taken to some port and turned over to a prize court, and if she doesn't turn out a Scotch prize she is knocked down under the hammer." "I know what you mean by knocking her down under the hammer. But why doesn't the rule apply to a Scotch vessel?" At this query of Walter's Caleb Walton burst into a roar of laughter. "It's easy to see you're a landsman," he said. "I didn't say a Scotch vessel; I said a Scotch prize--a ship captured illegally, and one that must be given back to her owners. I don't know where that term came from, but it's what the men in the navy always use." "I see." "A legitimate prize is sold, and then the money is divided. If the vessel captured was the equal of that taking her, then all the prize money goes to her captain and crew; but if the captured ship is inferior, then her takers get only half of the money, and Uncle Sam keeps the balance." "And what part would I get if my ship took a prize?" went on Walter, more interested than ever, for the question of prize money had not appealed to him before. "You would get a share according to your regular pay--perhaps one dollar out of every five or ten thousand." "That wouldn't be much--on a small craft." "You are right, lad, but it would be a tidy amount on a big warship worth two or three millions. The division of the prize money is regulated according to law, so there can't be any quarrelling. The commander of a fleet gets one-twentieth, the commander of a ship one-tenth of that coming to his ship (when there are more ships than one interested in the prize), and so on, and we all get our money even if we are on temporary leave of absence." "But what does Uncle Sam do with his share?" put in Si.