“You must remember that at this time England and France were at war with Spain, and hence the buccaneers were in no sense pirates. Many of them were given commissions to prey on the Dons as privateers, and their acts were considered a legitimate part of warfare and were encouraged and fostered by the officials. “And having gone thus far they realized that organization was necessary. Hence a sort of association was formed, or perhaps we might call it a society, which they called ‘Brethren of the Main’ and laws, rules and agreements were drawn up, to which, oddly enough, the buccaneers were wonderfully faithful. “Another interesting thing is the fact that these buccaneers were the originators of life and accident insurance. Before a ship set out a council was held, and papers were drawn up stating how large a share of the loot each man should have for his services, aside from his ‘lay’ of loot, and how much should be paid for the death of a man or injuries received. Thus the loss of a right arm was valued at six hundred pieces of eight or six slaves; a left arm was valued at five hundred pieces of eight or five slaves; a right leg, five hundred pieces of eight or five slaves; a left leg, four hundred pieces of eight or four slaves; an eye or a finger, one hundred pieces of eight or one slave.” “Please, Dad,” cried Jack. “Do tell us what a piece of eight is before you go on. We read about them and about doubloons and onzas, but no one seems to know what they are.” “That’s a question well put,” replied Mr. Bickford. “A piece of eight was a silver coin of eight reals. As a real was nominally twelve and one-half cents, or half a peseta of twenty-five centavos, the piece of eight was nominally a dollar of one hundred centavos. The doubloon was one hundred reals, or about ten dollars, and was a gold coin, while the onza, or double doubloon, was two hundred reals, or about twenty dollars, and was also of gold. But as the peseta is really worth only twenty cents in present values the piece of eight is worth eighty cents, and if you go to any money exchange you can buy Spanish silver ‘dollars,’ as they are called, for eighty cents, which are genuine ‘pieces of eight.’ For smaller coins, the old Dons and buccaneers used what were called ‘cross money.’ These were irregular-shaped slugs cut from the pieces of eight and with the lettering hammered out, leaving only the cross-shaped center of the Spanish shield to prove the coin was minted silver of a definite value. Sometimes, if the piece did not bear this cross, the priests stamped a cross upon it to prove its genuineness—a sort of hall mark so to speak. These odd cross money coins are still in use in remote parts of Panama and, although no two are exactly alike in size or shape, the natives recognize them as quarters, eighths or sixteenths of a piece of eight, or in other words, as half reals, one-real and two-real pieces. And speaking of these old