nd it was plain that he had died for making
himself the connection between the poles of the battery.

"Well," said the captain pleasantly. "I suppose you are not going down
again?"

"Not I," I replied. "I give up this job."

Then suddenly I cried:

"Come boys, all of you. Make fast to that shark, and get him on board. I
want him."

Some of the men laughed, but my manner was so earnest that in a moment
they all set about to help me. A small boat was lowered, lines were made
fast to the dead fish with block and tackle, and we hauled him on deck.
I then got a butcher's knife from the cabin and began to cut him open.

"Look here, Tom!" exclaimed the captain, "that's nonsense. Your lamp's
all smashed to pieces, and if you get it out, it will never be any good
to you."

"I don't care for the lamp," I answered, working away energetically,
"but an idea has struck me. It's plain that this creature had a fancy
for shining things. If he swallowed a lamp, there is no reason why he
should not have swallowed anything else that glittered."

"Oho!" cried the captain, "you think he swallowed the bracelet, do you?"

And instantly everybody crowded more closely about me.

I got out the lamp. Its wires were severed as smoothly as if they had
been cut by shears. Then I worked on. Suddenly there was a cry from
every man. Something glimmered in the dark interior of the fish. I
grasped it and drew it out. It was not a bracelet, but a pint bottle
which glimmered like a glow-worm. With the bottle in my hand, I sat upon
the deck and gazed at it. I shook it. It shone brighter. A bit of oiled
silk was tied tightly over the cork, and it was plain to see that it was
partly filled with a light colored oil, into which a bit of phosphorous
had been dropped, which, on being agitated, filled the bottle with a dim
light.

But there was something more in the bottle than phosphorus and oil. I
could see a tin tube, corked at each end, and the exposed parts of the
corks spreading enough to prevent the tin from striking the glass. We
all knew that this was one of those bottles containing a communication
of some sort, which are often thrown into the sea, and float about until
they are picked up. The addition of the oil and phosphorus was intended
to make it visible by night as well as by day, and this was plainly the
reason why it had been swallowed by a light-loving shark.

I poured out the oil and extracted the tube. Wiping it carefully, I drew