t it last night--that
time back about 1600 when the Dutch fought a Spanish armada for a week
an' licked 'em!"

"It was a big battle," went on old Jerry. "One o' the ships drifted up
to the coast of Tringanu an' sunk. Some o' the men got away, but she's
there still--right where we're goin', lads, in Kuala Besut Bay. She's
got treasure aboard, gold an' pearls an' such, an' the Pirate Shark's
guarding her."

"Oh, rats!" laughed Mart, to whose practical mind treasure stories were
all absurd. "If there'd been any treasure there it'd be gone long ago."

"So?" Jerry looked at him, and Mart felt suddenly afraid, so strange was
the look in the bleared old eyes. "So? This Chink had been there wi'
some Chink divers, after pearls, lads. O' course, folks know the wreck
is down there, eight fathom down, lads. The Dutch has been there, the
Japs, the Chinks--but they didn't get the gold, lads! 'Cause why? The
Pirate Shark is there, keepin' watch. The divers went down, but he cut
their air lines--he cut their air lines, lads! And they didn't come up.
He's got a black fin, a big black back fin, which is one reason why he's
called the Pirate Shark.

"But there's another reason, lads. That's because he went from one pearl
fishery to another, cuttin' air hose, killin' men, keepin' the pearlers
off the grounds. They were scared of him all through the south seas.
When the big black fin cut the water, not even a Jap would go down. Fish
tell no tales, lads, fish tell no tales! Man after man he ate, Malay an'
Chink an' Britisher an' Arab, and now he's got the old galleon an' her
gold, and no one knows where it is but the old quartermaster. The fish
down below, lads, and us up above--"

"I guess you're mixed up, Jerry," said Bob quickly. "A little while ago
you said that lots o' people know the wreck is there, but just now you
say no one knows where it is except you. How 'bout that?"

Jerry chuckled, rising slowly to his feet.

"She's inside the lagoon, lad, eight fathom down, an' no one knows but
old Jerry Smith where she is _now_. She used to be under the sand, but
the tide and the river dug her out and she drifted, drifted, down with
the fish. Fish tell no tales, lads--fish tell no tales! Now she's wedged
up among the rocks, eight fathom down, wi' the Pirate Shark's flag over
her. Lads, ye won't tell the cap'n or Joe Swanson that old Jerry told ye
about the Pirate Shark, will you?"

"Sure not, Jerry," chorused the two together. Jerry