rmans must ha' turn green! In de belly ob a
shark, Yah, ha-ha!" And the steward roared in white-toothed laughter.

"But how were they found there?" came the boy's next question.

"Yes, Sah, I was jes' comin' to that. Dis hyar Fitton, wid one cutter,
was a-cruisin' together wid Wylie, in de other cutter, when Wylie broke
away to take de _Nancy_.

"Bein' nigh breakfast time, Fitton signals to Wylie to come to
breakfast. Wylie, he right busy wid _Nancy_ an' can't come right away.
Fitton, fishin' while he waitin' for Wylie, catch a small shark. Dey cut
him open, jes' to see what he got inside, an' dar, right smack in de
belly, dey see a bundle o' papers.

"'Hi!' says Fitton, 'dat somet'ing important!' and he keep de papers an'
tow de shark to Port Royal."

"I suppose," said Stuart, "the captain of the _Nancy_ must have thrown
the papers overboard. But why should the shark swallow them? I know
sharks will turn over and make ready to swallow most things, but they
don't take them in, as a rule, unless they're eatable."

"Yes, Sah, quite right, Sah, but dar was a reason. De papers, Sah, had
been hidden in a pork barrel on board de _Nancy_, an' de shark must ha'
t'ought dey smelt good. When Fitton showed dese hyar papers in court, de
experts what were called in on de case said dat dere was grease on 'em
what wouldn't come from no shark's stomach. No, Sah.

"Dey figured, right den an' dar, dat de grease must ha' been on de
papers, fust. So dey started lookin' on board de _Nancy_ an', for de
sake, dey found, right in a pork barrel, a lot more papers, all written
in German an' showin' a reg'lar plot for privateerin' against the United
States.

"Dose papers, Sah, dey're right thar in de Institute in Jamaica, wid a
letter from de official, who was in charge ob de case, ober a hundred
years ago. In de United Service Museum, in London, is de head of de
shark what swallowed de papers. I reckon, Sah, dat was de fust time dat
a shark ever was a witness in a court!"

And, with a loud laugh, the steward went to respond to the call of
another of the passengers.

Strange as was the story of the shark swallowing the papers and being
forced to give them up again, still stranger was the story that Stuart
heard from one of the passengers. This tale, equally authentic, was of
an occurrence that happened even earlier, in that famous town of Port
Royal, which, in the long ago days, was the English buccaneer center,
even as Tortugas was t