"Well, Joe, have you made out what you have got on board?" the captain said, when he reached the deck.
"No, sir. Neither of the officers can speak a word of English. I have opened the hatches, and she is chock-full of hides; but what there is, underneath, I don't know."
"Come along, Bob, we will overhaul the papers," the captain said and, going to the cabin, they examined the bill of lading.
"Here it is, sir," Bob said, triumphantly. "Two hundred tons of lead."
"Splendid!" the captain exclaimed. "That is a prize worth having. Of course, that is stowed away at the bottom; and then she is filled up with hides, and they are worth a lot of money--but the lead, alone, is worth six thousand pounds, at twenty pounds per ton.
"Is there anything else, Bob?"
"Yes, sir. There are fifty boxes. It doesn't say what is in them."
"You don't say so, Bob! Perhaps it is silver. Let us ask the officers."
The Spanish first mate was called down.
"Where are these boxes?" Bob asked, "and what do they contain?"