Part 28 (1/2)

”Jes' you wait a minute, Sah!” the negro responded, ”I bring um in de shark pretty quick. De owners of de _Nancy_, dey come to court an' show papers that de _Nancy_ never was no 'Merican s.h.i.+p at all, an' dat Lieutenant Wylie, he make one great big mistake in capturin' dis hyar brig.

”But, what you t'ink, Sah? Right at dat moment, up steps in de court-room, Lieutenant Fitton, of H.M.S. _Ferret_, another cutter belongin' to the _Abergavenny_ an' hands the judge some papers.

”'Your Honor,' he says, 'these are the true papers of the brig _Nancy_.

Those you have before you are false.'

”'Where did you find these papers?' ask de judge.

”'In the belly of a shark, My Lord,' answers Lieutenant Fitton, clear an' loud.

”For de sake, Sah, dem Germans 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, fis.h.i.+n' 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 Inst.i.tute 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 pa.s.sengers.

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 pa.s.sengers. 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 the center of the French sea-rovers.

This was the story of Lewis Galdy, a merchant of Port Royal, French-born and a man of substance, who went through one of the most extraordinary experiences that has ever happened to a human being.

He was walking down the narrow street of that buccaneer town, on June 7, 1692, when the whole city and countryside was shaken by a terrific earthquake shock. The earth opened under the merchant's feet and he dropped into the abyss. He lost consciousness, yet, in a semi-comatose state, felt a second great wrenching of the earth, which heaved him upwards. Water roared about his ears, and he was at the point of drowning, when, suddenly, he found himself swimming in the sea, half-a-mile from land.

As the place where he had been walking was fully three hundred yards inland, he had been carried in the bowels of the earth three-quarters of a mile before being thrown forth. A boat picked him up, and he lived for forty-seven years after his extraordinary escape.

Jamaica, indeed, has been the prey of earthquakes, the most serious of which wrecked the city of Kingston, in 1907. The shocks lasted ten seconds, and the town of 46,000 inhabitants was a ruin. The death list reached nearly a thousand. From this shock, however, as Stuart found, the city has recovered bravely, largely due to the lighter system of building common to British islands, and all places which have an American impress, while in French, Dutch and Danish islands, buildings are more solidly constructed. Frame houses, however, are less damaged by earthquake than are stone structures.

There was, however, little opportunity for Stuart to make tours in Jamaica or to work out any articles for his ”Color Question” series. A registered letter from the paper awaited the boy in Kingston, the reading of which he concluded with a long, low whistle.

That night, without attracting attention, Stuart left the city on foot, taking neither tramway nor railroad, and made a long night march. The roads were steep, but the cool air compensated for that difficulty, and having spent a long time on board s.h.i.+p the boy was glad to stretch his legs. On the further side of Spanish Town he saw what he sought, a rickety automobile under a lean-to-shed.

He hurried to the negro owner, who was lolling on the verandah.