I will furnish you with
the exact nautical location, as I have it. And when the wealth is
found and brought to the surface, I will give you half--in other
words at least a million dollars! Does that appeal to you?"
"I must say it is a fair, though perhaps strange, offer,"
conceded Tom. "And a million dollars is not made every day nor
every year. But what about the title to this money? After we have
recovered it--provided we are successful--will not some person or
some government lay claim to it?"
"None can successfully," declared Mr. Hardley. "As I told you,
the money was to finance a revolution. It was raised for an
unlawful purpose, so to speak, and no one has a valid claim to it
under the circumstances, so lawyers whom I have consulted have
told me. But if that is not enough, I have papers to prove that
those who might be called the owners have given up the search for
it. More than a year has elapsed, and though I don't know just
how long it takes to outlaw an under-ocean claim, I feel sure
that we would have a legal and moral right to take this gold if
we could find it.
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