The poet called his dog, and making a sign, which Marquis very well understood, he said, “I have lost my watch――go look for it.” At these words Marquis departed, and repaired, no doubt, to every spot at which his master stopped. It happened that the poor animal was so long occupied in the search as to create great anxiety, for midnight had arrived, and he had not returned. What was the astonishment of Pope, when, on rising in the morning, he opened his chamber door, and there beheld his faithful messenger lying quietly and holding in his mouth the splendid jewel, with which he had returned perfectly uninjured, and which was the more highly valued by the poet, as it had been presented to him by the queen of England. A Shark Story. Some years ago, while sitting on the quarter-deck of a West Indiaman, borne rapidly along before the trade wind, the captain and passengers were amusing themselves by telling stories and cracking jokes to beguile the sameness of the voyage. It came at last to the turn of a gentleman remarkable for his love of cigars and taciturnity; one who enjoyed a good anecdote, but abhorred the trouble of relating it himself. He was, however, so strongly importuned on this occasion, that with much reluctance he related the following, by fits and starts, filling up each pause by vigorous whiffs of his favorite weed:―― In the year 1820, the good ship Rambler sailed from Greenock, with goods and passengers, towards Jamaica. She had crossed the tropic. One day, when nearly becalmed, the steward, who had the care of the captain’s plate, had occasion, after dinner, to wash some spoons and other articles in a bucket, and thinking he had taken all out of the water, he chucked it over the gangway, when, to his vexation, he found he had thrown out with it a valuable silver table spoon. He saw it shining through the clear blue ocean, and wavering from side to side as it sank from his view. Several sharks had been observed near the ship, and it is known they generally dart upon anything white, a piece of rag often serving for a bait. He did not, however, observe any of them near the spot at the time; and the captain being a testy man, he kept the secret of the loss to himself, and the matter was soon forgotten.