A/N: Thank you FraterFrag for telling me about the formatting problem with this and the previous chapter.

R&R!

'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'

It is unknown where Hamilton kept the egg, but seeing as Calliope was known for her mastery of many languages right from the egg (including Greek, Latin, French and several native African languages), it is safe to say Hamilton hid her egg somewhere public where she learned all the languages spoken around her egg. Hamilton himself was known for his phenomenal French, even if most of his known works are written in English, and learned Greek and Latin in his attempt to get to Princeton College.

'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'

May 26th, 1775

Alexander strode to the water front, barely affected by the long night of hauling heavy canons. HMS Asia had fired upon them, but had suddenly stopped midway through. Some of the sailors survived, and said that something had hit the bottom of the ship, practically tearing through it. It sunk in minutes and only a handful of the sailors knew how to swim. (Alexander had always shaken his head at this. If you worked close to water, it was better to know how to swim.)

"Calliope?" he called over the river and in seconds Calliope's green head surfaced from the river. She spotted him and swam over with a few powerful thrusts of his body.

"You are not hurt?" she fretted, crowding Alexander's personal space. "I sunk that ship that dared to fire upon you, but they had already started. You weren't hit, were you?"

"No, I'm fine," answered Alexander, patting her nose. "My muscles are a little sore, but that's all. So you were the one to sink Asia?"

"Yes, they shouldn't have fired upon you," she said sulkily. The she brightened and offered something she had in her paw to Alexander. "I looked around the ship later, once it was all settled, and found these shiny things."

Alexander stared at the gold bullion with the Spanish stamp and the engraved 400 oz. What had Asia been doing to have gold bullions in cargo? Fighting Spanish frigates? Or pirates?

"How many?" asked Alexander, still staring at the bullion.

"Two hundred and thirty-seven," answered Calliope. "That I could find anyway. They were so pretty I couldn't leave them there."

Two hundred and thirty-seven gold bullions. That was more money than the people St. Croix and Nevis had combined. And it had fallen in Alexander's lap. What was he supposed to do now? Without Calliope, the gold would have lain in the bottom of the bay. No, it would have sailed to England to fund the war.

He had never wanted money for more than living and maybe a few comforts, but he knew he was singular in that way. Money didn't buy happiness, though it helped with it.

How would he even explain the gold to people? No one knew of Calliope, so he couldn't say she sunk the ship and found the gold there. Then there was the matter of the Spanish stamp. Should he return it to the Spanish? How would he explain that?

Why couldn't they have been pieces of eight? Those he could have used immediately.

On the other hand, gold was the standard of money everywhere, and it would be so in the colonies too after the war. They'd just need a bank to stabilize a national currency instead of having the public continually use a mixture of foreign currency. He was struck by Déjà vu of when he found Calliope's egg.

"Can you bury it to the bottom of the Hudson?" he asked.

Calliope tilted her head, confused. "Yes, but as it's pretty, why should I?"

"This is gold, and very valuable to humans. I don't know how much it's actually worth, but I do know it's worth a lot of money. Have I explained the concept of money to you?"

"Yes, last autumn."

"And did you like that pig I gave you for Christmas?"

"Yes."

"I bought it with money."

Calliope looked thoughtful. "Could you buy better clothes with money?"

Alexander glanced at his durable cotton clothes. They were a little drab and coarse, but they were functional. He looked at Calliope. "Yes I could."

"If you have use for it, why would you still bury it to the bottom of the river?"

"Because I have no way to turn this effectively into money, but after the war is a different story."

"Very well," Calliope sulked. "I will bury the gold."

Alexander's heart softened. "You can keep one with you. That way, the rest are easier to split between the two of us."

Calliope's countenance brightened immediately.