ping of the powers differing. All parties also sought to control
the trade across the Isthmus of Panama, and there was great rivalry in
the slave trade. During this period, privateers and buccaneers ceased to
attack Spanish settlements only, and raided settlements belonging to any
other country than their own. During the various short intervals of
peace between these wars, the several treaties had become more and more
stringent against the buccaneers. When, therefore, in 1697, the Treaty
of Ryswick brought peace between England, France, Holland and Spain, it
ended the period of the buccaneer."

"I don't quite see why," put in Stuart, a little puzzled.

"For this reason. The buccaneers had not only existed in spite of
international law, they had even possessed a peculiar status as a
favored and protected group. The treaty put an end to that protection.
Sea-fighting thereafter was to be confined to the navies of the powers,
and the true privateers and sea-rovers roved the seas no more."

"But how about the pirates--'Blackbeard' Teach, Capt. Kidd, 'Bloody'
Roberts and all the rest?" queried Stuart.

"They were utterly different in type and habits from the buccaneers,"
explained Cecil. "After the Treaty of Ryswick, piracy became an
international crime. A harbor belonging to one of the powers could no
longer give anchorage to a pirate craft. Markets could no longer openly
deal in loot and plunder.

"Those freebooters who had learned to live by pillage, and who thus had
become outlaws of the sea, were compelled to find some uninhabited
island for a refuge. They made their new headquarters at the Island of
New Providence, one of the Bahamas. With buccaneering ended, and piracy
in process of suppression by all the naval powers, the reason for
Tortugas' importance was gone. It dwindled and sank until now it is a
mere rocky islet with a few acres under cultivation, and that is all. I
know it well. Much treasure is said to be buried there, but no one has
ever found it. Don't waste your time looking for it, boy. You will keep
away from this part of the world if you know what is good for you!"

With which menace, the Englishman fell silent, and Stuart felt it wiser
to refrain from disturbing him. Even over a copiously filled lunch
basket, the three in the boat munched, without a word exchanged.

At dusk they ran into a small cove at the easternmost end of the
northern coast of Cuba, not far from Baracoa, the oldest city in Cub