this much is certain, and who ever heard of a true pirate of
romance who knew his business that did not employ his spare time in
"a-burying of his treasure?"

[1] Strong, or robust.

[2] _History of the Buccaneers of America_, by Captain James Burney
(1816).

[3] _Voyage and Description_, etc., by Lionel Wafer, London (1699).

[4] "The Buccaneers of America," by John Esquemeling (Published, 1684).

[5] Dampier. To search for this wreck with a view to recover the
treasure in her was one of the objects of an expedition from England to
the South Sea a few years later than the voyage of Davis.

[6] "History of the Buccaneers of America," by Captain James Burney
(1816).

[7] Colnet's "Voyage to the Pacific."

[8] Esquemeling.

[9] "On the Spanish Main," by John Masefield.

CHAPTER XI

THE MYSTERY OF THE LUTINE FRIGATE

Harbored in the stately edifice of the Royal Exchange, down in the
heart of London City, is that ancient and powerful corporation known to
seafaring men the world over as Lloyd's. Its chief business is the
underwriting of maritime insurance risks and its word is law wherever
fly the house-flags of merchant shipping. More than two hundred years
ago, one Edward Lloyd kept a coffeehouse in Tower Street, a
thoroughfare between Wapping and the Thames side of the city, and
because of its convenient situation the place became a popular resort
for sea captains, underwriters, and insurance brokers who discussed
such important matters as arrivals in port, wrecks, missing ships, and
rumors of war.

In time Lloyd's coffeehouse was recognized as a sort of unofficial
headquarters for this special variety of insurance speculation, and the
gentlemen most active there drifted into a loosely formed organization
for the purpose of making the business less hazardous. In 1773, this
association of underwriters moved into the Royal Exchange, taking the
name of Lloyd's, and later appointed a governing body or committee to
control the more adventurous spirits who were fond of gambling on the
chances of war, on the length of Napoleon's life, and who would
undertake to insure a man against the risk of twins in his family.
From this beginning grew the vastly influential and highly organized
Lloyd's of the present day which is something more than a corporation.
It is also an aggregation of individual underwriters and brokers
carrying on business, each for his own personal profit and on the
strength of his g