1587 lines
76 KiB
Plaintext
1587 lines
76 KiB
Plaintext
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The Gold-Bug
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What ho! what ho! this fellow is dancing mad!
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He hath been bitten by the Tarantula.
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--All in the Wrong
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Many years ago, I contracted an intimacy with a Mr. William
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Legrand. He was of an ancient Huguenot family, and had once been
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wealthy; but a series of misfortunes had reduced him to want. To
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avoid the mortification consequent upon his disasters, he left
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New Orleans, the city of his forefathers, and took up his
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residence at Sullivan's Island, near Charleston, South Carolina.
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This island is a very singular one. It consists of little else
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than the sea sand, and is about three miles long. Its breadth at
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no point exceeds a quarter of a mile. It is separated from the
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mainland by a scarcely perceptible creek, oozing its way through
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a wilderness of reeds and slime, a favorite resort of the
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marsh-hen. The vegetation, as might be supposed, is scant, or at
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least dwarfish. No trees of any magnitude are to be seen. Near
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the western extremity, where Fort Moultrie stands, and where are
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some miserable frame buildings, tenanted, during summer, by the
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fugitives from Charleston dust and fever, may be found, indeed,
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the bristly palmetto; but the whole island, with the exception of
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this western point, and a line of hard, white beach on the
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sea-coast, is covered with a dense undergrowth of the sweet
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myrtle so much prized by the horticulturists of England. The
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shrub here often attains the height of fifteen or twenty feet,
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and forms an almost impenetrable coppice, burthening the air with
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its fragrance.
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In the inmost recesses of this coppice, not far from the eastern
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or more remote end of the island, Legrand had built himself a
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small hut, which he occupied when I first, by mere accident, made
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his acquaintance. This soon ripened into friendship--for there was
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much in the recluse to excite interest and esteem. I found him
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well educated, with unusual powers of mind, but infected with
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misanthropy, and subject to perverse moods of alternate
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enthusiasm and melancholy. He had with him many books, but rarely
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employed them. His chief amusements were gunning and fishing, or
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sauntering along the beach and through the myrtles, in quest of
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shells or entomological specimens--his collection of the latter
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might have been envied by a Swammerdamm. In these excursions he
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was usually accompanied by an old negro, called Jupiter, who had
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been manumitted before the reverses of the family, but who could
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be induced, neither by threats nor by promises, to abandon what
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he considered his right of attendance upon the footsteps of his
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young "Massa Will." It is not improbable that the relatives of
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Legrand, conceiving him to be somewhat unsettled in intellect,
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had contrived to instil this obstinacy into Jupiter, with a view
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to the supervision and guardianship of the wanderer.
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The winters in the latitude of Sullivan's Island are seldom very
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severe, and in the fall of the year it is a rare event indeed
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when a fire is considered necessary. About the middle of October,
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18--, there occurred, however, a day of remarkable chilliness.
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Just before sunset I scrambled my way through the evergreens to
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the hut of my friend, whom I had not visited for several weeks--my
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residence being, at that time, in Charleston, a distance of nine
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miles from the island, while the facilities of passage and
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re-passage were very far behind those of the present day. Upon
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reaching the hut I rapped, as was my custom, and getting no
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reply, sought for the key where I knew it was secreted, unlocked
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the door, and went in. A fine fire was blazing upon the hearth.
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It was a novelty, and by no means an ungrateful one. I threw off
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an overcoat, took an arm-chair by the crackling logs, and awaited
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patiently the arrival of my hosts.
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Soon after dark they arrived, and gave me a most cordial welcome.
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Jupiter, grinning from ear to ear, bustled about to prepare some
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marsh-hens for supper. Legrand was in one of his fits--how else
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shall I term them?--of enthusiasm. He had found an unknown
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bivalve, forming a new genus, and, more than this, he had hunted
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down and secured, with Jupiter's assistance, a scarabaeus which he
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believed to be totally new, but in respect to which he wished to
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have my opinion on the morrow.
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"And why not to-night?" I asked, rubbing my hands over the blaze,
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and wishing the whole tribe of scarabaei at the devil.
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"Ah, if I had only known you were here!" said Legrand, "but it's
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so long since I saw you; and how could I foresee that you would
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pay me a visit this very night of all others? As I was coming
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home I met Lieutenant G----, from the fort, and, very foolishly, I
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lent him the bug; so it will be impossible for you to see it
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until the morning. Stay here to-night, and I will send Jup down
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for it at sunrise. It is the loveliest thing in creation!"
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"What?--sunrise?"
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"Nonsense! no!--the bug. It is of a brilliant gold color--about the
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size of a large hickory-nut--with two jet black spots near one
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extremity of the back, and another, somewhat longer, at the
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other. The antennae are--"
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"Dey aint no tin in him, Massa Will, I keep a tellin' on you,"
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here interrupted Jupiter; "de bug is a goole-bug, solid, ebery
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bit of him, inside and all, sep him wing--meber feel half so hebby
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a bug in my life."
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"Well, suppose it is, Jup," replied Legrand, somewhat more
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earnestly, it seemed to me, than the case demanded; "is that any
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reason for you letting the birds burn? The color"--here he turned
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to me--"is really almost enough to warrant Jupiter's idea. You
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never saw a more brilliant metallic lustre than the scales
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emit--but of this you cannot judge till tomorrow. In the meantime
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I can give you some idea of the shape." Saying this, he seated
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himself at a small table, on which were a pen and ink, but no
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paper. He looked for some in a drawer, but found none.
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"Never mind," he said at length, "this will answer"; and he drew
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from his waistcoat pocket a scrap of what I took to be very dirty
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foolscap, and made upon it a rough drawing with the pen. While he
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did this, I retained my seat by the fire, for I was still chilly.
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When the design was complete, he handed it to me without rising.
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As I received it, a loud growl was heard, succeeded by a
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scratching at the door. Jupiter opened it, and a large
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Newfoundland, belonging to Legrand, rushed in, leaped upon my
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shoulders, and loaded me with caresses; for I had shown him much
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attention during previous visits. When his gambols were over, I
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looked at the paper, and, to speak the truth, found myself not a
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little puzzled at what my friend had depicted.
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"Well!" I said, after contemplating it for some minutes, "this is
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a strange scarabaeus, I must confess; new to me; never saw any
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thing like it before--unless it was a skull, or a death's-head,
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which it more nearly resembles than any thing else that has come
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under my observation."
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"A death's-head!" echoed Legrand. "Oh--yes--well, it has something
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of that appearance upon paper, no doubt. The two upper black
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spots look like eyes, eh? and the longer one at the bottom like a
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mouth--and then the shape of the whole is oval."
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"Perhaps so," said I; "but, Legrand, I fear you are no artist. I
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must wait until I see the beetle itself, if I am to form any idea
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of its personal appearance."
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"Well, I don't know," said he, a little nettled, "I draw
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tolerably--should do it at least--have had good masters, and
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flatter myself that I am not quite a blockhead."
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"But, my dear fellow, you are joking then," said I, "this is a
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very passable skull--indeed, I may say that it is a very excellent
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skull, according to the vulgar notions about such specimens of
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physiology--and your scarabaeus must be the queerest scarabaeus in
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the world if it resembles it. Why, we may get up a very thrilling
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bit of superstition upon this hint. I presume you will call the
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bug scarabaeus caput hominis, or something of that kind--there are
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many similar titles in the Natural Histories. But where are the
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antennae you spoke of?"
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"The antennae!" said Legrand, who seemed to be getting
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unaccountably warm upon the subject; "I am sure you must see the
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antennae. I made them as distinct as they are in the original
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insect, and I presume that is sufficient."
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"Well, well," I said, "perhaps you have--still I don't see them";
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and I handed him the paper without additional remark, not wishing
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to ruffle his temper; but I was much surprised at the turn
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affairs had taken; his ill humor puzzled me--and, as for the
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drawing of the beetle, there were positively no antennae visible,
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and the whole did bear a very close resemblance to the ordinary
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cuts of a death's-head.
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He received the paper very peevishly, and was about to crumple
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it, apparently to throw it in the fire, when a casual glance at
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the design seemed suddenly to rivet his attention. In an instant
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his face grew violently red--in another as excessively pale. For
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some minutes he continued to scrutinize the drawing minutely
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where he sat. At length he arose, took a candle from the table,
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and proceeded to seat himself upon a sea-chest in the farthest
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corner of the room. Here again he made an anxious examination of
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the paper; turning it in all directions. He said nothing,
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however, and his conduct greatly astonished me; yet I thought it
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prudent not to exacerbate the growing moodiness of his temper by
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any comment. Presently he took from his coat-pocket a wallet,
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placed the paper carefully in it, and deposited both in a
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writing-desk, which he locked. He now grew more composed in his
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demeanor; but his original air of enthusiasm had quite
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disappeared. Yet he seemed not so much sulky as abstracted. As
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the evening wore away he became more and more adsorbed in revery,
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from which no sallies of mine could arouse him. It had been my
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intention to pass the night at the hut, as I had frequently done
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before, but, seeing my host in this mood, I deemed it proper to
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take leave. He did not press me to remain, but, as I departed, he
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shook my hand with even more than his usual cordiality.
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It was about a month after this (and during the interval I had
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seen nothing of Legrand) when I received a visit, at Charleston,
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from his man, Jupiter. I had never seen the good old negro look
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so dispirited, and I feared that some serious disaster had
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befallen my friend.
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"Well, Jup," said I, "what is the matter now?--how is your
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master?"
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"Why, to speak de troof, massa, him not so berry well as mought
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be."
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"Not well! I am truly sorry to hear it. What does he complain
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of?"
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"Dar! dat's it!--him neber 'plain of notin'--but him berry sick for
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all dat."
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"Very sick, Jupiter!--why didn't you say so at once? Is he
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confined to bed?"
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"No, dat he aint!--he aint 'fin'd nowhar--dat's just whar de shoe
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pinch--my mind is got to be barry hebby 'bout poor Massa Will."
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"Jupiter, I should like to understand what it is you are talking
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about. You say your master is sick. Hasn't he told you what ails
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him?"
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"Why, massa, 'taint worf while for to git mad about de
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matter--Massa Will say noffin at all aint de matter wid him--but
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den what make him go about looking dis here way, wid he head down
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and he soldiers up, and as white as a gose? And den he keep a
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syphon all de time--"
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"Keeps a what, Jupiter?"
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"Keeps a syphon wid de figgurs on de slate--de queerest figgurs I
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ebber did see. Ise gittin' to be skeered, I tell you. Hab for to
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keep mighty tight eye 'pon him 'noovers. Todder day he gib me
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slip 'fore de sun up and was gone de whole ob de blessed day. I
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had a big stick ready cut for to gib him deuced good beating when
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he did come--but Ise sich a fool dat I hadn't de heart arter
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all--he looked so berry poorly."
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"Eh?--what?--ah yes!--upon the whole I think you had better not be
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too severe with the poor fellow--don't flog him, Jupiter--he can't
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very well stand it--but can you form no idea of what has
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occasioned this illness, or rather this change of conduct? Has
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any thing unpleasant happened since I saw you?"
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"No, massa, dey aint bin noffin onpleasant since den--'twas 'fore
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den I'm feared--'twas de berry day you was dare."
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"How? what do you mean?"
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"Why, massa, I mean de bug--dare now."
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"The what?"
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"De bug--I'm berry sartain dat Massa Will bin bit somewhere 'bout
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de head by dat goole-bug."
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"And what cause have you, Jupiter, for such a supposition?"
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"Claws enuff, massa, and mouff too. I nebber did see sich a
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deuced bug--he kick and he bite ebery ting what cum near him.
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Massa Will cotch him fuss, but had for to let him go 'gin mighty
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quick, I tell you--den was de time he must ha' got de bite. I
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didn't like de look ob de bug mouff, myself, nohow, so I wouldn't
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take hold ob him wid my finger, but I cotch him wid a piece ob
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paper dat I found. I rap him up in de paper and stuff a piece of
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it in he mouff--dat was de way."
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"And you think, then, that you master was really bitten by the
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beetle, and that the bite made him sick?"
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"I don't think noffin' about it--I nose it. What make him dream
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'bout de goole so much, if 'taint cause he bit by de goole-bug?
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Ise heerd 'bout dem goole-bugs 'fore dis."
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"But how do you know he dreams about gold?"
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"How I know? why, 'cause he talk about it in he sleep--dat's how I
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nose."
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"Well, Jup, perhaps you are right; but to what fortunate
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circumstance am I to attribute the honor of a visit from you
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to-day?"
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"What de matter, massa?"
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"Did you bring any message from Mr. Legrand?"
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"No, massa, I bring dis here pissel"; and here Jupiter handed me
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a note which ran thus:
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"My Dear ----
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"Why have I not seen you for so long a time? I hope you have
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not been so foolish as to take offence at any little brusquerie
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of mine; but no, that is improbable.
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"Since I saw you I have had great cause for anxiety. I have
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something to tell you, yet scarcely know how to tell it, or
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whether I should tell it at all.
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"I have not been quite well for some days past, and poor old
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Jup annoys me, almost beyond endurance, by his well-meant
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attentions. Would you believe it?--he had prepared a huge stick,
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the other day, with which to chastise me for giving him the slip,
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and spending the day, solus, among the hills on the main land. I
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verily believe that my ill looks alone saved me a flogging.
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"I have made no addition to my cabinet since we met.
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"If you can, in any way, make it convenient, come over with
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Jupiter. Do come. I wish to see you to-night, upon business of
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importance. I assure you that it is of the highest importance.
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"Ever yours,
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"William Legrand"
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There was something in the tone of this note which gave me great
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uneasiness. Its whole style differed materially from that of
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Legrand. What could he be dreaming of? What new crotchet
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possessed his excitable brain? What "business of the highest
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importance" could he possibly have to transact? Jupiter's account
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of him boded no good. I dreaded lest the continued pressure of
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misfortune had, at length, fairly unsettled the reason of my
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friend. Without a moment's hesitation, therefore, I prepared to
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accompany the negro.
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Upon reaching the wharf, I noticed a scythe and three spades, all
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apparently new, lying in the bottom of the boat in which we were
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to embark.
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"What is the meaning of all this, Jup?" I inquired.
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"Him syfe, massa, and spade."
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"Very true; but what are they doing here?"
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"Him de syfe and de spade what Massa Will sis 'pon me buying for
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him in de town, and de debbil's own lot of money I had to gib for
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'em."
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"But what, in the name of all that is mysterious, is your `Massa
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Will' going to do with scythes and spades?"
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"Dat's more dan I know, and debbil take me if I don't b'lieve
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'tis more dan he know too. But it's all cum ob de bug."
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Finding that no satisfaction was to be obtained of Jupiter, whose
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whole intellect seemed to be absorbed by "de bug," I now stepped
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into the boat, and made sail. With a fair and strong breeze we
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soon ran into the little cove to the northward of Fort Moultrie,
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and a walk of some two miles brought us to the hut. It was about
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three in the afternoon when we arrived. Legrand had been waiting
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us in eager expectation. He grasped my hand with a nervous
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empressement which alarmed me and strengthened the suspicions
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already entertained. His countenance was pale even to
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ghastliness, and his deep-set eyes glared with unnatural lustre.
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After some enquiries respecting his health, I asked him, not
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knowing what better to say, if he had yet obtained the scarabaeus
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from Lieutenant G----.
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"Oh, yes," he replied, coloring violently, "I got it from him the
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next morning. Nothing should tempt me to part with that
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scarabaeus. Do you know that Jupiter is quite right about it?"
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"In what way?" I asked, with a sad foreboding at heart.
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"In supposing it to be a bug of real gold." He said this with an
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air of profound seriousness, and I felt inexpressibly shocked.
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"This bug is to make my fortune," he continued, with a triumphant
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smile; "to reinstate me in my family possessions. Is it any
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wonder, then, that I prize it? Since Fortune has thought fit to
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bestow it upon me, I have only to use it properly, and I shall
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arrive at the gold of which it is the index. Jupiter, bring me
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that scarabaeus!"
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"What! de bug, massa? I'd rudder not go fer trubble dat bug; you
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mus' git him for your own self." Hereupon Legrand arose, with a
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grave and stately air, and brought me the beetle from a glass
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case in which it was enclosed. It was a beautiful scarabaeus, and,
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at that time, unknown to naturalists--of course a great prize in a
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scientific point of view. There were two round black spots near
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one extremity of the back, and a long one near the other. The
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scales were exceedingly hard and glossy, with all the appearance
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of burnished gold. The weight of the insect was very remarkable,
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and, taking all things into consideration, I could hardly blame
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Jupiter for his opinion respecting it; but what to make of
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Legrand's concordance with that opinion, I could not, for the
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life of me, tell.
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"I sent for you," said he, in a grandiloquent tone, when I had
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completed my examination of the beetle, "I sent for you that I
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might have your counsel and assistance in furthering the views of
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Fate and of the bug--"
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"My dear Legrand," I cried, interrupting him, "you are certainly
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unwell, and had better use some little precautions. You shall go
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to bed, and I will remain with you a few days, until you get over
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this. You are feverish and--"
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"Feel my pulse," said he.
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I felt it, and, to say the truth, found not the slightest
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indication of fever.
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"But you may be ill and yet have no fever. Allow me this once to
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prescribe for you. In the first place go to bed. In the next--"
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"You are mistaken," he interposed, "I am as well as I can expect
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to be under the excitement which I suffer. If you really wish me
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well, you will relieve this excitement."
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"And how is this to be done?"
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"Very easily. Jupiter and myself are going upon an expedition
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into the hills, upon the main land, and, in this expedition, we
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shall need the aid of some person in whom we can confide. You are
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the only one we can trust. Whether we succeed or fail, the
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excitement which you now perceive in me will be equally allayed."
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"I am anxious to oblige you in any way," I replied; "but do you
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mean to say that this infernal beetle has any connection with
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your expedition into the hills?"
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"It has."
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"Then, Legrand, I can become a party to no such absurd
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proceeding."
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"I am sorry--very sorry--for we shall have to try it by ourselves."
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"Try it by yourselves! The man is surely mad!--but stay!--how long
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do you propose to be absent?"
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"Probably all night. We shall start immediately, and be back, at
|
||
all events, by sunrise."
|
||
|
||
"And will you promise me, upon your honor, that when this freak
|
||
of yours is over, and the bug business (good God!) settled to
|
||
your satisfaction, you will then return home and follow my advice
|
||
implicitly, as that of your physician."
|
||
|
||
"Yes; I promise; and now let us be off, for we have no time to
|
||
lose."
|
||
|
||
With a heavy heart I accompanied my friend. We started about four
|
||
o'clock--Legrand, Jupiter, the dog, and myself. Jupiter had with
|
||
him the scythe and spades--the whole of which he insisted upon
|
||
carrying--more through fear, it seemed to me, of trusting either
|
||
of the implements within reach of his master, than from any
|
||
excess of industry or complaisance. His demeanor was dogged in
|
||
the extreme, and "dat deuced bug" were the sole words which
|
||
escaped his lips during the journey. For my own part, I had
|
||
charge of a couple of dark lanterns, while Legrand contented
|
||
himself with the scarabaeus, which he carried attached to the end
|
||
of a bit of whip-cord; twirling it to and fro, with the air of a
|
||
conjuror, as he went. When I observed this last, plain evidence
|
||
of my friend's aberration of mind, I could scarcely refrain from
|
||
tears. I thought it best, however, to humor his fancy, at least
|
||
for the present, or until I could adopt some more energetic
|
||
measures with a chance of success. In the meantime I endeavored,
|
||
but all in vain, to sound him in regard to the object of the
|
||
expedition. Having succeeded in inducing me to accompany him, he
|
||
seemed unwilling to hold conversation upon any topic of minor
|
||
importance, and to all my questions vouchsafed no other reply
|
||
than "we shall see!"
|
||
|
||
We crossed the creek at the head of the island by means of a
|
||
skiff, and, ascending the high grounds on the shore of the main
|
||
land, proceeded in a northwesterly direction, through a tract of
|
||
country excessively wild and desolate, where no trace of a human
|
||
footstep was to be seen. Legrand led the way with decision;
|
||
pausing only for an instant, here and there, to consult what
|
||
appeared to be certain landmarks of his own contrivance upon a
|
||
former occasion.
|
||
|
||
In this manner we journed for about two hours, and the sun was
|
||
just setting when we entered a region infinitely more dreary than
|
||
any yet seen. It was a species of table-land, near the summit of
|
||
an almost inaccessible hill, densely wooded from base to
|
||
pinnacle, and interspersed with huge crags that appeared to lie
|
||
loosely upon the soil, and in many cases were prevented from
|
||
precipitating themselves into the valleys below, merely by the
|
||
support of the trees against which they reclined. Deep ravines,
|
||
in various directions, gave an air of still sterner solemnity to
|
||
the scene.
|
||
|
||
The natural platform to which we had clambered was thickly
|
||
overgrown with brambles, through which we soon discovered that it
|
||
would have been impossible to force our way but for the scythe;
|
||
and Jupiter, by direction of his master, proceeded to clear for
|
||
us a path to the foot of an enormously tall tulip-tree, which
|
||
stood, with some eight or ten oaks, upon the level, and far
|
||
surpassed them all, and all other trees which I had then ever
|
||
seen, in the beauty of its foliage and form, in the wide spread
|
||
of its branches, and in the general majesty of its appearance.
|
||
When we reached this tree, Legrand turned to Jupiter, and asked
|
||
him if he thought he could climb it. The old man seemed a little
|
||
staggered by the question, and for some moments made no reply. At
|
||
length he approached the huge trunk, walked slowly around it, and
|
||
examined it with minute attention. When he had completed his
|
||
scrutiny, he merely said:
|
||
|
||
"Yes, massa, Jup climb any tree he ebber see in he life."
|
||
|
||
"Then up with you as soon as possible, for it will soon be too
|
||
dark to see what we are about."
|
||
|
||
"How far mus' go up, massa?" inquired Jupiter.
|
||
|
||
"Get up the main trunk first, and then I will tell you which way
|
||
to go--and here--stop! take this beetle with you."
|
||
|
||
"De bug, Massa Will!--de goole-bug!" cried the negro, drawing back
|
||
in dismay--"What for mus' tote de bug way up de tree?--d--n if I
|
||
do!"
|
||
|
||
"If you are afraid, Jup, a great big negro like you, to take hold
|
||
of a harmless little dead beetle, why you can carry it up by this
|
||
string--but, if you do not take it up with you in some way, I
|
||
shall be under the necessity of breaking your head with this
|
||
shovel."
|
||
|
||
"What de matter now, massa?" said Jup, evidently shamed into
|
||
compliance; "always want for to raise fuss wid old nigger. Was
|
||
only funnin anyhow. Me feered de bug! what I keer for de bug?"
|
||
Here he took cautiously hold of the extreme end of the string,
|
||
and, maintaining the insect as far from his person as
|
||
circumstances would permit, prepared to ascend the tree.
|
||
|
||
In youth, the tulip-tree, or Liriodendron Tulipiferum, the most
|
||
magnificent of American foresters, has a trunk peculiarly smooth,
|
||
and often rises to a great height without lateral branches; but
|
||
in its riper age, the bark becomes gnarled and uneven, while many
|
||
short limbs make their appearance on the stem. Thus the
|
||
difficulty of ascension, in the present case, lay more in
|
||
semblance than in reality. Embracing the huge cylinder, as
|
||
closely as possible, with his arms and knees, seizing with his
|
||
hands some projections, and resting his naked toes upon others,
|
||
Jupiter, after one or two narrow escapes from falling, at length
|
||
wriggled himself into the first great fork, and seemed to
|
||
consider the whole business as virtually accomplished. The risk
|
||
of the achievement was, in fact, now over, although the climber
|
||
was some sixty or seventy feet from the ground.
|
||
|
||
"Which way mus' go now, Massa Will?" he asked.
|
||
|
||
"Keep up the largest branch--the one on this side," said Legrand.
|
||
The negro obeyed him promptly, and apparently with but little
|
||
trouble; ascending higher and higher, until no glimpse of his
|
||
squat figure could be obtained through the dense foliage which
|
||
enveloped it. Presently his voice was heard in a sort of halloo.
|
||
|
||
"How much fudder is got for go?"
|
||
|
||
"How high up are you?" asked Legrand.
|
||
|
||
"Ebber so fur," replied the negro; "can see de sky fru de top ob
|
||
de tree."
|
||
|
||
"Never mind the sky, but attend to what I say. Look down the
|
||
trunk and count the limbs below you on this side. How many limbs
|
||
have you passed?"
|
||
|
||
"One, two, tree, four, fibe--I done pass fibe big limb, massa 'pon
|
||
dis side."
|
||
|
||
"Then go one limb higher."
|
||
|
||
In a few minutes the voice was heard again, announcing that the
|
||
seventh limb was attained.
|
||
|
||
"Now, Jup," cried Legrand, evidently much excited, "I want you to
|
||
work your way out upon that limb as far as you can. If you see
|
||
any thing strange let me know."
|
||
|
||
By this time what little doubt I might have entertained of my
|
||
poor friend's insanity was put finally at rest. I had no
|
||
alternative but to conclude him stricken with lunacy, and I
|
||
became seriously anxious about getting him home. While I was
|
||
pondering upon what was best to be done, Jupiter's voice was
|
||
again heard.
|
||
|
||
"Mos' feerd for to venture 'pon dis limb berry far--'tis dead limb
|
||
putty much all de way."
|
||
|
||
"Did you say it was a dead limb, Jupiter?" cried Legrand in a
|
||
quavering voice.
|
||
|
||
"Yes, massa, him dead as de door-nail--done up for sartain--done
|
||
departed dis here life."
|
||
|
||
"What in the name of heaven shall I do?" asked Legrand, seemingly
|
||
in the greatest distress.
|
||
|
||
"Do!" said I, glad of an opportunity to interpose a word, "why
|
||
come home and go to bed. Come now!--that's a fine fellow. It's
|
||
getting late, and, besides, you remember your promise."
|
||
|
||
"Jupiter," cried he, without heeding me in the least, "do you
|
||
hear me?"
|
||
|
||
"Yes, Massa Will, hear you ebber so plain."
|
||
|
||
"Try the wood well, then, with you knife, and see if you think it
|
||
very rotten."
|
||
|
||
"Him rotten, massa, sure nuff," replied the negro in a few
|
||
moments, "but not so berry rotten as mought be. Mought venture
|
||
out leetle way 'pon the limb by myself, dat's true."
|
||
|
||
"By yourself!--what do you mean?"
|
||
|
||
"Why I mean de bug. 'Tis berry hebby bug. Spose I drop him down
|
||
fuss, and den de limb won't break wid just de weight ob one
|
||
nigger."
|
||
|
||
"You infernal scoundrel!" cried Legrand, apparently much
|
||
relieved, "what do you mean by telling me such nonsense as that?
|
||
As sure as you drop that beetle I'll break your neck. Look here,
|
||
Jupiter, do you hear me?"
|
||
|
||
"Yes, massa, needn't hollo at poor nigger dat style."
|
||
|
||
"Well! now listen!--if you will venture out on that limb as far as
|
||
you think safe, and not let go the beetle, I'll make you a
|
||
present of a silver dollar as soon as you get down."
|
||
|
||
"I'm gwine, Massa Will--deed I is," replied the negro very
|
||
promptly--"mos' out to the eend now."
|
||
|
||
"Out to the end!" here fairly screamed Legrand; "do you say you
|
||
are out to the end of that limb?"
|
||
|
||
"Soon be to de eend, massa--o-o-o-o-oh! Lor-gol-a-marcy! what is
|
||
dis here pon de tree?"
|
||
|
||
"Well!" cried Legrand, highly delighted, "what is it?"
|
||
|
||
"Why taint noffin but a skull--somebody bin left him head up de
|
||
tree, and de crows done gobble ebery bit ob de meat off."
|
||
|
||
"A skull, you say!--very well,--how is it fastened to the
|
||
limb?--what holds it on?"
|
||
|
||
"Sure nuff, massa; mus' look. Why dis berry curous sarcumstance,
|
||
'pon my word--dare's a great big nail in de skull, what fastens ob
|
||
it on to de tree."
|
||
|
||
"Well now, Jupiter, do exactly as I tell you--do you hear?"
|
||
|
||
"Yes, massa."
|
||
|
||
"Pay attention, then--find the left eye of the skull."
|
||
|
||
"Hum! hoo! dat's good! why dey aint no eye lef' at all."
|
||
|
||
"Curse your stupidity! do you know your right hand from your
|
||
left?"
|
||
|
||
"Yes, I knows dat--know all bout dat--'tis my lef' hand what I
|
||
chops de wood wid."
|
||
|
||
"To be sure! you are left-handed; and your left eye is on the
|
||
same side as your left hand. Now, I suppose, you can find the
|
||
left eye of the skull, or the place where the left eye has been.
|
||
Have you found it?"
|
||
|
||
Here was a long pause. At length the negro asked:
|
||
|
||
"Is de lef' eye ob de skull 'pon de same side as de lef' hand ob
|
||
de skull too?--cause de skull aint got not a bit ob a hand at
|
||
all--nebber mind! I got de lef' eye now--here de lef' eye! what
|
||
mus' do wid it?"
|
||
|
||
"Let the beetle drop through it, as far as the string will
|
||
reach--but be careful not to let go your hold of the string."
|
||
|
||
"All dat done, Massa Will; mighty easy ting for to put the bug
|
||
fru de hole--look out for him dar below!"
|
||
|
||
During this colloquy no portion of Jupiter's person could be
|
||
seen; but the beetle, which he had suffered to descend, was not
|
||
visible at the end of the string, and glistened, like a globe of
|
||
burnished gold, in the last rays of the setting sun, some of
|
||
which still faintly illumined the eminence upon which we stood.
|
||
The scarabaeus hung quite clear of any branches and, if allowed to
|
||
fall, would have fallen at our feet. Legrand immediately took the
|
||
scythe, and cleared with it a circular space, three or four yards
|
||
in diameter, just beneath the insect, and, having accomplished
|
||
this, ordered Jupiter to let go the string, and come down from
|
||
the tree.
|
||
|
||
Driving a peg, with great nicety, into the ground, at the precise
|
||
spot where the beetle fell, my friend now produced from his
|
||
pocket a tape-measure. Fastening one end of this at that point of
|
||
the trunk of the tree which was nearest the peg, he unrolled it
|
||
till it reached the peg and thence further unrolled it, in the
|
||
direction already established by the two points of the tree and
|
||
the peg, for the distance of fifty feet--Jupiter clearing away the
|
||
brambles with the scythe. At the spot thus attained a second peg
|
||
was driven, and about this, as a centre, a rude circle, about
|
||
four feet in diameter, described. Taking now a spade himself, and
|
||
giving one to Jupiter and one to me, Legrand begged us to set
|
||
about digging as quickly as possible.
|
||
|
||
To speak the truth, I had no especial relish for such amusement
|
||
at any time, and, at that particular moment, would most willingly
|
||
have declined it; for the night was coming on, and I felt much
|
||
fatigued with the exercise already taken; but I saw no mode of
|
||
escape, and was fearful of disturbing my poor friend's equanimity
|
||
by a refusal. Could I have depended, indeed upon Jupiter's aid, I
|
||
would have had no hesitation in attempting to get the lunatic
|
||
home by force; but I was too well assured of the old negro's
|
||
disposition, to hope that he would assist me, under any
|
||
circumstances, in a personal contest with his master. I made no
|
||
doubt that the latter had been infected with some of the
|
||
innumerable Southern superstitions about money buried, and that
|
||
his phantasy had received confirmation by the finding of the
|
||
scarabaeus, or, perhaps, by Jupiter's obstinacy in maintaining it
|
||
to be "a bug of real gold." A mind disposed to lunacy would
|
||
readily be led away by such suggestions--especially if chiming in
|
||
with favorite preconceived ideas--and then I called to mind the
|
||
poor fellow's speech about the beetle's being "the index of his
|
||
fortune." Upon the whole, I was sadly vexed and puzzled, but, at
|
||
length, I concluded to make a virtue of necessity--to dig with a
|
||
good will, and thus the sooner to convince the visionary, by
|
||
ocular demonstration, of the fallacy of the opinions he
|
||
entertained.
|
||
|
||
The lanterns having been lit, we all fell to work with a zeal
|
||
worth a more rational cause; and, as the glare fell upon our
|
||
persons and implements, I could not help thinking how picturesque
|
||
a group we composed, and how strange and suspicious our labors
|
||
must have appeared to any interloper who, by chance, might have
|
||
stumbled upon our whereabouts.
|
||
|
||
We dug very steadily for two hours. Little was said; and our
|
||
chief embarrassment lay in the yelpings of the dog, who took
|
||
exceeding interest in our proceedings. He, at length, became so
|
||
obstreperous that we grew fearful of his giving the alarm to some
|
||
stragglers in the vicinity,--or, rather, this was the apprehension
|
||
of Legrand;--for myself, I should have rejoiced at any
|
||
interruption which might have enabled me to get the wanderer
|
||
home. The noise was, at length, very effectually silenced by
|
||
Jupiter, who, getting out of the hole with a dogged air of
|
||
deliberation, tied the brute's mouth up with one of his
|
||
suspenders, and then returned, with a grave chuckle, to his task.
|
||
|
||
When the time mentioned had expired, we had reached a depth of
|
||
five feet, and yet no signs of any treasure became manifest. A
|
||
general pause ensued, and I began to hope that the farce was at
|
||
an end. Legrand, however, although evidently much disconcerted,
|
||
wiped his brow thoughtfully and recommenced. We had excavated the
|
||
entire circle of four feet diameter, and now we slightly enlarged
|
||
the limit, and went to the farther depth of two feet. Still
|
||
nothing appeared. The gold-seeker, whom I sincerely pitied, at
|
||
length clambered from the pit, with the bitterest disappointment
|
||
imprinted upon every feature, and proceeded, slowly and
|
||
reluctantly, to put on his coat, which he had thrown off at the
|
||
beginning of his labor. In the meantime I made no remark.
|
||
Jupiter, at a signal from his master, began to gather up his
|
||
tools. This done, and the dog having been unmuzzled, we turned in
|
||
profound silence toward home.
|
||
|
||
We had taken, perhaps, a dozen steps in this direction, when,
|
||
with a loud oath, Legrand strode up to Jupiter, and seized him by
|
||
the collar. The astonished negro opened his eyes and mouth to the
|
||
fullest extend, let fall the spades, and fell upon his knees.
|
||
|
||
"You scoundrel!" said Legrand, hissing out the syllables from
|
||
between his clenched teeth--"you infernal black villain!--speak, I
|
||
tell you!--answer me this instant, without
|
||
prevarication!--which--which is your left eye?"
|
||
|
||
"Oh, my golly, Massa Will! aint dis here my lef' eye for
|
||
sartain?" roared the terrified Jupiter, placing his hand upon his
|
||
right organ of vision, and holding it there with a desperate
|
||
pertinacity, as if in immediate dread of his master's attempt at
|
||
a gouge.
|
||
|
||
"I thought so!--I knew it! hurrah!" vociferated Legrand, letting
|
||
the negro go and executing a series of curvets and caracols, much
|
||
to the astonishment of his valet, who arising from his knees,
|
||
looked, mutely, from his master to myself, and then from myself
|
||
to his master.
|
||
|
||
"Come! we must go back," said the latter, "the game's not up
|
||
yet"; and he again led the way to the tulip-tree.
|
||
|
||
"Jupiter," said he, when we reached its foot, "come here! was the
|
||
skull nailed to the limb with the face outward, or with the face
|
||
to the limb?"
|
||
|
||
"De face was out, massa, so dat de crows could get at de eyes
|
||
good, widout any trouble."
|
||
|
||
"Well, then, was it this eye or that through which you dropped
|
||
the beetle?"--here Legrand touched each of Jupiter's eyes.
|
||
|
||
"Twas dis eye, massa--de lef' eye--jis as you tell me," and here it
|
||
was his right eye that the negro indicated.
|
||
|
||
"That will do--we must try again."
|
||
|
||
Here my friend, about whose madness I now saw, or fancied I saw,
|
||
certain indications of method, removed the peg which marked the
|
||
spot where the beetle fell, to a spot about three inches to the
|
||
westward of its former position. Taking, now, the tape measure
|
||
from the nearest point of the trunk to the peg, as before, and
|
||
continuing the extension in a straight line to the distance of
|
||
fifty feet, a spot was indicated, removed by several yards, from
|
||
the point at which we had been digging.
|
||
|
||
Around the new position a circle, somewhat larger than in the
|
||
former instance, was now described, and we again set to work with
|
||
the spade. I was dreadfully weary, but, scarcely understanding
|
||
what had occasioned the change in my thoughts, I felt no longer
|
||
any great aversion from the labor imposed. I had become most
|
||
unaccountably interested--nay, even excited. Perhaps there was
|
||
something, amid all the extravagant demeanor of Legrand--some air
|
||
of forethought, or of deliberation, which impressed me. I dug
|
||
eagerly, and now and then caught myself actually looking, with
|
||
something that very much resembled expectation, for the fancied
|
||
treasure, the vision of which had demented my unfortunate
|
||
companion. At a period when such vagaries of thought moust fully
|
||
possessed me, and when we had been at work perhaps an hour and a
|
||
half, we were again interrupted by the violent howlings of the
|
||
dog. His uneasiness, in the first instance, had been, evidently,
|
||
but the result of playfulness or caprice, but he now assumed a
|
||
bitter and serious tone. Upon Jupiter's again attempting to
|
||
muzzle him, he made furious resistance, and, leaping into the
|
||
hole, tore up the mound frantically with his claws. In a few
|
||
seconds he had uncovered a mass of human bones, forming two
|
||
complete skeletons, intermingled with several buttons of metal,
|
||
and what appeared to be the dust of decayed wollen. One or two
|
||
strokes of the spade up-turned the blade of a large Spanish
|
||
knife, and, as we dug farther, three or four loose pieces of gold
|
||
and silver coin came to light.
|
||
|
||
At the sight of these the joy of Jupiter could scarcely be
|
||
restrained, but the countenance of his master wore an air of
|
||
extreme disappointment. He urged us, however, to continue our
|
||
exertions, and the words were hardly uttered when I stumbled and
|
||
fell forward, having caught the toe of my boot in a large ring of
|
||
iron that lay half buried in the loose earth.
|
||
|
||
We now worked in earnest, and never did I pass ten minutes of
|
||
more intense excitement. During this interval we had fairly
|
||
unearthed an oblong chest of wood, which, from its perfect
|
||
preservation and wonderful hardness, had plainly been subjected
|
||
to some mineralizing process--perhaps that of the bi-chloride of
|
||
mercury. This box was three feet and a half long, three feet
|
||
broad, and two and a half feet deep. It was firmly secured by
|
||
bands of wrought iron, riveted, and forming a kind of open
|
||
trellis-work over the whole. On each side of the chest, near the
|
||
top, were three rings of iron--six in all--by means of which a firm
|
||
hold could be obtained by six persons. Our utmost united
|
||
endeavors served only to disturb the coffer very slightly in its
|
||
bed. We at once saw the impossibility of removing so great a
|
||
weight. Luckily, the sole fastenings of the lid consisted of two
|
||
sliding bolts. These we drew back--trembling and panting with
|
||
anxiety. In an instant, a treasure of incalculable value lay
|
||
gleaming before us. As the rays of the lanterns fell within the
|
||
pit, there flashed upward a glow and a glare, from a confused
|
||
heap of gold and of jewels, that absolutely dazzled our eyes.
|
||
|
||
I shall not pretend to describe the feelings with which I gazed.
|
||
Amazement was, of course, predominant. Legrand appeared exhausted
|
||
with excitement, and spoke very few words. Jupiter's countenance
|
||
wore, for some minutes, as deadly a pallor as it is possible, in
|
||
the nature of things, for any negro's visage to assume. He seemed
|
||
stupefied--thunderstricken. Presently he fell upon his knees in
|
||
the pit, and burying his naked arms up to the elbows in gold, let
|
||
them there remain, as if enjoying the luxury of a bath. At
|
||
length, with a deep sigh, he exclaimed, as if in a soliloquy:
|
||
|
||
"And dis all cum ob de goole-bug! de putty goole-bug! the poor
|
||
little goole-bug, what I boosed in tat sabage kind ob style! Aint
|
||
you shamed ob yourself, nigger?--answer me dat!"
|
||
|
||
It became necessary, at last, that I should arouse both master
|
||
and valet to the expediency of removing the treasure. It was
|
||
growing late, and it behooved us to make exertion, that we might
|
||
get every thing housed before daylight. It was difficult to say
|
||
what should be done, and much time was spent in deliberation--so
|
||
confused were the ideas of all. We, finally, lightened the box by
|
||
removing two thirds of its contents, when we were enabled, with
|
||
some trouble, to raise it from the hole. The articles taken out
|
||
were deposited among the brambles, and the dog left to guard
|
||
them, with strict orders from Jupiter neither, upon any pretence,
|
||
to stir from the spot, nor to open his mouth until our return. We
|
||
then hurriedly made for home with the chest; reaching the hut in
|
||
safety, but after excessive toil, at one o'clock in the morning.
|
||
Wore out as we were, it was not in human nature to do more
|
||
immediately. We rested until two, and had supper; starting for
|
||
the hills immediately afterward, armed with three stout sacks,
|
||
which, by good lick, were upon the premises. A little before four
|
||
we arrived at the pit, divided the remainder of the booty, as
|
||
equally as might be, among us, and, leaving the wholes unfilled,
|
||
again set out for the hut, at which, for the second time, we
|
||
deposited our gold burthens, just as the first faint streaks of
|
||
the dawn gleamed from over the tree-tops in the East.
|
||
|
||
We were now thoroughly broken down; but the intense excitement of
|
||
the time denied us repose. After an unquiet slumber of some three
|
||
or four hours' duration, we arose, as if by preconcert, to make
|
||
examination of our treasure.
|
||
|
||
The chest had been full to the brim, and we spent the whole day,
|
||
and the greater part of the next night, in a scrutiny of its
|
||
contents. There had been nothing like order of arrangement. Every
|
||
thing had been heaped in promiscuously. Having assorted all with
|
||
care, we found ourselves possessed of even vaster wealth than we
|
||
had at first supposed. In coin there was rather more than four
|
||
hundred and fifty thousand dollars--estimating the value of the
|
||
pieces, as accurately as we could, by the tables of the period.
|
||
There was not a particle of silver. All was gold of antique date
|
||
and of great variety--French, Spanish, and German money, with a
|
||
few English guineas, and some counters, of which we had never
|
||
seen specimens before. There were several very large and heavy
|
||
coins, so worn that we could make nothing of their inscriptions.
|
||
There was no American money. The value of the jewels we found
|
||
more difficulty in estimating. There were diamonds--some of them
|
||
exceedingly large and fine--a hundred and ten in all, and not one
|
||
of them small; eighteen rubies of remarkable brilliancy;--three
|
||
hundred and ten emeralds, all very beautiful; and twenty-one
|
||
sapphires, with an opal. These stones had all been broken from
|
||
their settings and thrown loose in the chest. The settings
|
||
themselves which we picked out from among the other gold,
|
||
appeared to have been beaten up with hammers, as if to prevent
|
||
identification. Besides all this, there was a vast quantity of
|
||
solid gold ornaments; nearly two hundred massive finger- and
|
||
ear-rings; rich chains--thirty of these, if I remember;
|
||
eighty-three very large and heavy crucifixes; five gold censers
|
||
of great value; a prodigious golden punch-bowl, ornamented with
|
||
richly chased vine-leaves and Bacchanalian figures; with two
|
||
sword-handles exquisitely embossed, and many other smaller
|
||
articles which I cannot recollect. The weight of these valuables
|
||
exceeded three hundred and fifty pounds avoirdupois; and in this
|
||
estimate I have not included one hundred and ninety seven superb
|
||
gold watches; three of the number being worth each five hundred
|
||
dollars, if one. Many of them were very old, and as timekeepers
|
||
valueless; the works having suffered, more or less, from
|
||
corrosion--but all were richly jewelled and in cases of great
|
||
worth. We estimated the entire contents of the chest, that night,
|
||
as a million and a half of dollars, and upon the subsequent
|
||
disposal of the trinkets and jewels (a few being retained for our
|
||
own use), it was found that we had greatly under-valued the
|
||
treasure.
|
||
|
||
When, at length, we had concluded our examination, and the
|
||
intense excitement of the time had, in some measure, subsided,
|
||
Legrand, who saw that I was dying with impatience for a solution
|
||
of this most extraordinary riddle, entered into a full detail of
|
||
all the circumstances connected with it.
|
||
|
||
"You remember," said he, "the night when I handed you the rough
|
||
sketch I had made of the scarabaeus. You recollect also, that I
|
||
became quite vexed at you for insisting that my drawing resembled
|
||
a death's-head. When you first made this assertion I thought you
|
||
were jesting; but afterward I called to mind the peculiar spots
|
||
on the back of the insect, and admitted to myself that your
|
||
remark had some little foundation in fact. Still, the sneer at my
|
||
graphic powers irritated me--for I am considered a good
|
||
artist--and, therefore, when you handed me the scrap of parchment,
|
||
I was about to crumple it up and throw it angrily into the fire."
|
||
|
||
"The scrap of paper, you mean," said I.
|
||
|
||
"No; it had much of the appearance of paper, and at first I
|
||
supposed it to be such, but when I came to draw upon it, I
|
||
discovered it at once to be a piece of very thin parchment. It
|
||
was quite dirty, you remember. Well, as I was in the very act of
|
||
crumpling it up, my glance fell upon the sketch at which you had
|
||
been looking, and you may imagine my astonishment when I
|
||
perceived, in fact, the figure of a death's-head just where, it
|
||
seemed to me, I had made the drawing of the beetle. For a moment
|
||
I was too much amazed to think with accuracy. I knew that my
|
||
design was very different in detail from this--although there was
|
||
a certain similarity in general outline. Presently I took a
|
||
candle, and seating myself at the other end of the room,
|
||
proceeded to scrutinize the parchment more closely. Upon turning
|
||
it over, I saw my own sketch upon the reverse, just as I had made
|
||
it. My first idea, now, was mere surprise at the really
|
||
remarkable similarity of outline--at the singular coincidence
|
||
involved in the fact that, unknown to me, there should have been
|
||
a skull upon the other side of the parchment, immediately beneath
|
||
my figure of the scarabaeus, and that this skull, not only in
|
||
outline, but in size, should so closely resemble my drawing. I
|
||
say the singularity of this coincidence absolutely stupefied me
|
||
for a time. This is the usual effect of such coincidences. The
|
||
mind struggles to establish a connection--a sequence of causes and
|
||
effect--and, being unable to do so, suffers a species of temporary
|
||
paralysis. But, when I recovered from this stupor, there dawned
|
||
upon me gradually a conviction which startled me even far more
|
||
than the coincidence. I began distinctly, positively, to remember
|
||
that there had been no drawing upon the parchment when I made my
|
||
sketch of the scarabaeus. I became perfectly certain of this; for
|
||
I recollected turning up first one side and then the other, in
|
||
search of the cleanest spot. Had the skull been then there, of
|
||
course I could not have failed to notice it. Here was indeed a
|
||
mystery which I felt it impossible to explain; but, even at that
|
||
early moment, there seemed to glimmer, faintly, within the most
|
||
remote and secret chambers of my intellect, a glow-worm-like
|
||
conception of that truth which last night's adventure brought to
|
||
so magnificent a demonstration. I arose at once, and putting the
|
||
parchment securely away, dismissed all further reflection until I
|
||
should be alone.
|
||
|
||
"When you had gone, and when Jupiter was fast asleep, I betook
|
||
myself to a more methodical investigation of the affair. In the
|
||
first place I considered the manner in which the parchment had
|
||
come into my possession. The spot where we discovered the
|
||
scarabaeus was on the coast of the main-land, about a mile
|
||
eastward of the island, and but a short distance above high-water
|
||
mark. Upon my taking hold of it, it gave me a sharp bite, which
|
||
caused me to let it drop. Jupiter, with his accustomed caution,
|
||
before seizing the insect, which had flown toward him, looked
|
||
about him for a leaf, or something of that nature, by which to
|
||
take hold of it. It was at this moment that his eyes, and mine
|
||
also, fell upon the scrap of parchment, which I then supposed to
|
||
be paper. It was lying half buried in the sand, a corner sticking
|
||
up. Near the spot where we found it, I observed the remnants of
|
||
the hull of what appeared to have been a ship's long-boat. The
|
||
wreck seemed to have been there for a very great while; for the
|
||
resemblance to boat timbers could scarcely be traced.
|
||
|
||
"Well, Jupiter picked up the parchment, wrapped the beetle in it,
|
||
and gave it to me. Soon afterwards we turned to go home, and on
|
||
the way met Lieutenant G----. I showed him the insect, and he
|
||
begged me to let him take it to the fort. Upon my consenting, he
|
||
thrust it forthwith into his waistcoat pocket, without the
|
||
parchment in which it had been wrapped, and which I had continued
|
||
to hold in my hand during his inspection. Perhaps he dreaded my
|
||
changing my mind, and thought it best to make sure of the prize
|
||
at once--you know how enthusiastic he is on all subjects connected
|
||
with Natural History. At the same time, without being conscious
|
||
of it, I must have deposited the parchment in my own pocket.
|
||
|
||
"You remember that when I went to the table, for the purpose of
|
||
making a sketch of the beetle, I found no paper where it was
|
||
usually kept. I looked in the drawer, and found none there. I
|
||
searched my pockets, hoping to find an old letter, when my hand
|
||
fell upon the parchment. I thus detail the precise mode in which
|
||
it came into my possession; for the circumstances impressed me
|
||
with peculiar force.
|
||
|
||
"No doubt you will think me fanciful--but I had already
|
||
established a kind of connection. I had put together two links of
|
||
a great chain. There was a boat lying upon the sea-coast, and not
|
||
far from the boat was a parchment--not a paper--with a skull
|
||
depicted on it. You will, of course, ask `where is the
|
||
connection?' I reply that the skull, or death's-head, is the
|
||
well-known emblem of the pirate. The flag of the death's-head is
|
||
hoisted in all engagements.
|
||
|
||
"I have said that the scrap was parchment, and not paper.
|
||
Parchment is durable--almost imperishable. Matters of little
|
||
moment are rarely consigned to parchment; since, for the mere
|
||
ordinary purposes of drawing or writing, it is not nearly so well
|
||
adapted as paper. This reflection suggested some meaning--some
|
||
relevancy--in the death's-head. I did not fail to observe, also,
|
||
the form of the parchment. Although one of its corners had been,
|
||
by some accident, destroyed, it could be seen that the original
|
||
form was oblong. It was just such a slip, indeed, as might have
|
||
been chosen for a memorandum--for a record of something to be long
|
||
remembered and carefully preserved."
|
||
|
||
"But," I interposed, "you say that the skull was not upon the
|
||
parchment when you made the drawing of the beetle. How then do
|
||
you trace any connection between the boat and the skull--since
|
||
this latter, according to your own admission, must have been
|
||
designed (God only knows how or by whom) at some period
|
||
subsequent to your sketching the scarabaeus?"
|
||
|
||
"Ah, hereupon turns the whole mystery; although the secret, at
|
||
this point, I had comparatively little difficulty in solving. My
|
||
steps were sure, and could afford a single result. I reasoned,
|
||
for example, thus: When I drew the scarabaeus, there was no skull
|
||
apparent upon the parchment. When I had completed the drawing I
|
||
gave it to you, and observed you narrowly until you returned it.
|
||
You, therefore, did not design the skull, and no one else was
|
||
present to do it. Then it was not done by human agency. And
|
||
nevertheless it was done.
|
||
|
||
"At this stage of my reflections I endeavored to remember, and
|
||
did remember, with entire distinctness, every incident which
|
||
occurred about the period in question. The weather was chilly
|
||
(oh, rare and happy accident!), and a fire was blazing upon the
|
||
hearth. I was heated with exercise and sat near the table. You,
|
||
however, had drawn a chair close to the chimney. Just as I placed
|
||
the parchment in your hand, and as you were in the act of
|
||
inspecting it, Wolf, the Newfoundland, entered, and leaped upon
|
||
your shoulders. With your left hand you caressed him and kept him
|
||
off, while your right, holding the parchment, was permitted to
|
||
fall listlessly between your knees, and in close proximity to the
|
||
fire. At one moment I thought the blaze had caught it, and was
|
||
about to caution you, but, before I could speak, you had
|
||
withdrawn it, and were engaged in its examination. When I
|
||
considered all these particulars, I doubted not for a moment that
|
||
heat had been the agent in bringing to light, upon the parchment,
|
||
the skull which I saw designed upon it. You are well aware that
|
||
chemical preparations exist, and have existed time out of mind,
|
||
by means of which it is possible to write upon either paper or
|
||
vellum, so that the characters shall become visible only when
|
||
subjected to the action of fire. Zaffre, digested in aqua regia,
|
||
and diluted with four times its weight of water, is sometimes
|
||
employed; a green tint results. The regulus of cobalt, dissolved
|
||
in spirit of nitre, gives a red. These colors disappear at longer
|
||
or shorter intervals after the material written upon cools, but
|
||
again become apparent upon the re-application of heat.
|
||
|
||
"I now scrutinized the death's-head with care. Its outer
|
||
edges--the edges of the drawing nearest the edge of the
|
||
vellum--were far more distinct than the others. It was clear that
|
||
the action of the caloric had been imperfect or unequal. I
|
||
immediately kindled a fire, and subjected every portion of the
|
||
parchment to a glowing heat. At first, the only effect was the
|
||
strengthening of the faint lines in the skull; but, upon
|
||
persevering in the experiment, there became visible, at the
|
||
corner of the slip, diagonally opposite to the spot in which the
|
||
death's-head was delineated, the figure of what I at first
|
||
supposed to be a goat. A closer scrutiny, however, satisfied me
|
||
that it was intended for a kid."
|
||
|
||
"Ha! ha!" said I, "to be sure I have no right to laugh at you--a
|
||
million and a half of money is to serious a matter for mirth--but
|
||
you are not about to establish a third link in your chain--you
|
||
will not find any especial connection between your pirates and a
|
||
goat--pirates, you know, have nothing to do with goats; they
|
||
appertain to the farming interest."
|
||
|
||
"But I have just said that the figure was not that of a goat."
|
||
|
||
"Well, a kid then--pretty much the same thing."
|
||
|
||
"Pretty much, but not altogether," said Legrand. "You may have
|
||
heard of one Captain Kidd. I at once looked upon the figure of
|
||
the animal as a kind of punning or hieroglyphical signature. I
|
||
say signature; because its position upon the vellum suggested
|
||
this idea. The death's-head at the corner diagonally opposite,
|
||
had, in the same manner, the air of a stamp, or seal. But I was
|
||
sorely put out by the absence of all else--of the body to my
|
||
imagined instrument--of the text for my context."
|
||
|
||
"I presume you expected to find a letter between the stamp and
|
||
the signature."
|
||
|
||
"Something of that kind. The fact is, I felt irresistibly
|
||
impressed with a presentiment of some vast good fortune
|
||
impending. I can scarcely say why. Perhaps, after all, it was
|
||
rather a desire than an actual belief;--but do you know that
|
||
Jupiter's silly words, about the bug being of solid gold, had a
|
||
remarkable effect upon my fancy? And then the series of accidents
|
||
and coincidences--these were so very extraordinary. Do you observe
|
||
how mere an accident it was that these events should have
|
||
occurred upon the sole day of all the year in which it has been,
|
||
or may be sufficiently cool for fire, and that without the fire,
|
||
or without the intervention of the dog at the precise moment in
|
||
which he appeared, I should never have become aware of the
|
||
death's-head, and so never the possessor of the treasure?"
|
||
|
||
"But proceed--I am all impatience."
|
||
|
||
"Well; you have heard, of course, the many stories current--the
|
||
thousand vague rumors afloat about money buried, somewhere upon
|
||
the Atlantic coast, by Kidd and his associates. These rumors must
|
||
have had some foundation in fact. And that the rumors have
|
||
existed so long and so continuous, could have resulted, it
|
||
appeared to me, only from the circumstance of the buried treasure
|
||
still remaining entombed. Had Kidd concealed his plunder for a
|
||
time, and afterward reclaimed it, the rumors would scarcely have
|
||
reached us in their presently unvarying form. You will observe
|
||
that the stories told are all about money-seekers, not about
|
||
money-finders. Had the pirate recovered his money, there the
|
||
affair would have dropped. It seemed to me that some accident--say
|
||
the loss of a memorandum indicating its locality--had deprived him
|
||
of the means of recovering it, and that this accident had become
|
||
known to his followers, who otherwise might never have heard that
|
||
treasure had been concealed at all, and who, busying themselves
|
||
in vain, because unguided, attempts to regain it, had given first
|
||
birth, and then universal currency, to the reports which are now
|
||
so common. Have you ever heard of any important treasure being
|
||
unearthed along the coast?"
|
||
|
||
"Never."
|
||
|
||
"But that Kidd's accumulations were immense, is well known. I
|
||
took it for granted, therefore, that the earth still held them;
|
||
and you will scarcely be surprised when I tell you that I felt a
|
||
hope, nearly amounting to certainty, that the parchment so
|
||
strangely found involved a lost record of the place of deposit."
|
||
|
||
"But how did you proceed?"
|
||
|
||
"I held the vellum again to the fire, after increasing the heat,
|
||
but nothing appeared. I now thought it possible that the coating
|
||
of dirt might have something to do with the failure: so I
|
||
carefully rinsed the parchment by pouring warm water over it,
|
||
and, having done this, I placed it in a tin pan, with the skull
|
||
downward, and put the pan upon a furnace of lighted charcoal. In
|
||
a few minutes, the pan having become thoroughly heated, I removed
|
||
the slip, and, to my inexpressible joy, found it spotted, in
|
||
several places, with what appeared to be figures arranged in
|
||
lines. Again I placed it in the pan, and suffered it to remain
|
||
another minute. Upon taking it off, the whole was just as you see
|
||
it now."
|
||
|
||
Here Legrand, having re-heated the parchment, submitted it to my
|
||
inspection. The following characters were rudely traced, in a red
|
||
tint, between the death's head and the goat:
|
||
|
||
"53##305))6*;4826)4#);806*;48+8P60))85;I#(;:#*8+83(88)5*+;46(;88*
|
||
96*?;8)*#(;485);5*+2:*#(;4956*2(5*--4)8P8*;4069285);)6+8)4##;I(#9;
|
||
48081;8:8#I;48+85;4)485+528806*8I(#9;48;(88;4(#?34;48)4#;161;:188
|
||
;#?;"
|
||
|
||
"But," said I, returning him the slip, "I am as much in the dark
|
||
as ever. Were all the jewels of Golconda awaiting me upon my
|
||
solution of this enigma, I am quite sure that I should be unable
|
||
to earn them."
|
||
|
||
"And yet, "said Legrand, "the solution is by no means so
|
||
difficult as you might be led to imagine from the first hasty
|
||
inspection of the characters. These characters, as any one might
|
||
readily guess, form a cipher--that is to say, they convey a
|
||
meaning; but then from what is known of Kidd, I could not suppose
|
||
him capable of constructing any of the more abstruse
|
||
cryptographs. I made up my mind, at once, that this was of a
|
||
simple species--such, however, as would appear to the crude
|
||
intellect of the sailor, absolutely insoluble without the key."
|
||
|
||
"And you really solved it?"
|
||
|
||
"Readily; I have solved others of an abstruseness ten thousand
|
||
times greater. Circumstances, and a certain bias of mind, have
|
||
led me to take interest in such riddles, and it may well be
|
||
doubted whether human ingenuity can construct an enigma of the
|
||
kind which human ingenuity may not, by proper application,
|
||
resolve. In fact, having once established connected and legible
|
||
characters, I scarcely gave a thought to the mere difficulty of
|
||
developing their import.
|
||
|
||
"In the present case--indeed in all cases of secret writing--the
|
||
first question regards the language of the cipher; for the
|
||
principles of solution, so far, especially, as the more simple
|
||
ciphers are concerned, depend upon and are varied by, the genius
|
||
of the particular idiom. In general, there is no alternative but
|
||
experiment (directed by probabilities) of every tongue known to
|
||
him who attempts the solution, until the true one be attained.
|
||
But, with the cipher now before us all difficulty was removed by
|
||
the signature. The pun upon the word `Kidd' is appreciable in no
|
||
other language than the English. But for this consideration I
|
||
should have begun my attempts with the Spanish and French, as the
|
||
tongues in which a secret of this kind would most naturally have
|
||
been written by a pirate of the Spanish main. As it was, I
|
||
assumed the cryptograph to be English.
|
||
|
||
"You observe there are no divisions between the words. Had there
|
||
been divisions the task would have been comparatively easy. In
|
||
such cases I should have commenced with a collation and analysis
|
||
of the shorter words, and, had a word of a single letter
|
||
occurred, as is most likely (a or I, for example), I should have
|
||
considered the solution as assured. But, there being no division,
|
||
my first step was to ascertain the predominant letters, as well
|
||
as the least frequent. Counting all, I constructed a table thus:
|
||
|
||
Of the character 8 there are 33.
|
||
; " 26.
|
||
4 " 19.
|
||
#) " 16.
|
||
* " 13.
|
||
5 " 12.
|
||
6 " 11.
|
||
+I " 8.
|
||
0 " 6.
|
||
92 " 5.
|
||
:3 " 4.
|
||
? " 3.
|
||
P " 2.
|
||
--. " 1.
|
||
|
||
"Now, in English, the letter which most frequently occurs is e.
|
||
Afterward, the succession runs thus: a o i d h n r s t u y c f g
|
||
l m w b k p q x z. E predominates so remarkably, that an
|
||
individual sentence of any length is rarely seen, in which it is
|
||
not the prevailing character.
|
||
|
||
"Here, then, we have, in the very beginning, the groundwork for
|
||
something more than a mere guess. The general use which may be
|
||
made of the table is obvious--but, in this particular cipher, we
|
||
shall only very partially require its aid. As our predominant
|
||
character is 8, we will commence by assuming it as the e of the
|
||
natural alphabet. To verify the supposition, let us observe it
|
||
the 8 be seen often in couples--for e is doubled with great
|
||
frequency in English--in such words, for example, as `meet,'
|
||
`fleet,' `speed,' `seen,' `been,' `agree,' etc. In the present
|
||
instance we see it doubled no less than five times, although the
|
||
cryptograph is brief.
|
||
|
||
"Let us assume 8, then, as e. Now, of all words in the language,
|
||
`the' is most usual; let us see, therefore, whether there are not
|
||
repetitions of any three characters, in the same order of
|
||
collocation, the last of them being 8. If we discover a
|
||
repetition of such letters, so arranged, they will most probably
|
||
represent the word `the.' Upon inspection, we find no less than
|
||
seven such arrangements, the characters being ;48. We may,
|
||
therefore, assume that ; represents t, 4 represents h, and 8
|
||
represents e--the last being now well confirmed. Thus a great step
|
||
has been taken.
|
||
|
||
"But, having established a single word, we are enabled to
|
||
establish a vastly important point; that is to say, several
|
||
commencements and terminations of other words. Let us refer, for
|
||
example, to the last instance but one, in which the combination
|
||
;48 occurs--not far from the end of the cipher. We know that the ;
|
||
immediately ensuing is the commencement of a word, and, of the
|
||
six characters succeeding this `the,' we are cognizant of no less
|
||
than five. Let us set these characters down, thus, by the letters
|
||
we know them to represent, leaving a space for the unknown--
|
||
|
||
t eeth.
|
||
|
||
"Here we are enabled, at once, to discard the `th,' as forming no
|
||
portion of the word commencing with the first t; since, by
|
||
experiment of the entire alphabet for a letter adapted to the
|
||
vacancy, we perceive that no word can be formed of which this th
|
||
can be a part. We are thus narrowed into
|
||
|
||
t ee,
|
||
|
||
and, going through the alphabet, if necessary, as before, we
|
||
arrive at the word `tree,' as the sole possible reading. We thus
|
||
gain another letter, r, represented by (, with the words `the
|
||
tree' in juxtaposition.
|
||
|
||
"Looking beyond these words, for a short distance, we again see
|
||
the combination ;48, and employ it by way of termination to what
|
||
immediately precedes. We have thus this arrangement:
|
||
|
||
the tree ;4(#?34 the,
|
||
|
||
or substituting the natural letters, where known, it reads thus:
|
||
|
||
the tree thr#?3h the,
|
||
|
||
"Now, if, in place of the unknown characters, we leave blank
|
||
spaces, or substitute dots, we read thus:
|
||
|
||
the tree thr...h the,
|
||
|
||
when the word `through' makes itself evident at once. But this
|
||
discovery gives us three new letters, o, u, and g, represented by
|
||
#, ?, and 3.
|
||
|
||
"Looking now, narrowly, through the cipher for combinations of
|
||
known characters, we find, not very far from the beginning, this
|
||
arrangement,
|
||
|
||
83(88, or egree,
|
||
|
||
which, plainly, is the conclusion of the word `degree,' and gives
|
||
us another letter, d, represented by +.
|
||
|
||
"Four letters beyond the word `degree,' we perceive the
|
||
combination
|
||
|
||
;46(;88.
|
||
|
||
"Translating the known characters, and representing the unknown
|
||
by dots, as before, we read thus:
|
||
|
||
th.rtee,
|
||
|
||
an arrangement immediately suggestive of the word `thirteen,' and
|
||
again furnishing us with two new characters, i and n, represented
|
||
by 6 and *.
|
||
|
||
"Referring, now, to the beginning of the cryptograph, we find the
|
||
combination,
|
||
|
||
53##+.
|
||
|
||
"Translating as before, we obtain
|
||
|
||
.good,
|
||
|
||
which assures us that the first letter is A, and that the first
|
||
two words are `A good.'
|
||
|
||
"It is now time that we arrange our key, as far as discovered, in
|
||
a tabular form, to avoid confusion. It will stand thus:
|
||
|
||
5 represents a
|
||
+ " d
|
||
8 " e
|
||
3 " g
|
||
4 " h
|
||
6 " i
|
||
* " n
|
||
# " o
|
||
( " r
|
||
; " t
|
||
? " u
|
||
|
||
"We have, therefore, no less than eleven of the most important
|
||
letters represented, and it will be unnecessary to proceed with
|
||
the details of the solution. I have said enough to convince you
|
||
that ciphers of this nature are readily soluble, and to give you
|
||
some insight into the rationale of their development. But be
|
||
assured that the specimen before us appertains to the very
|
||
simplest species of cryptograph. It now only remains to give you
|
||
the full translation of the characters upon the parchment, as
|
||
unriddled. Here it is:
|
||
|
||
"`A good glass in the bishop's hostel in the devil's seat
|
||
forty-one degrees and thirteen minutes northeast and by north
|
||
main branch seventh limb east side shoot from the left eye of the
|
||
death's-head a bee-line from the tree through the shot fifty feet
|
||
out.'"
|
||
|
||
"But," said I, "the enigma seems still in as bad a condition as
|
||
ever. How is it possible to extort a meaning from all this jargon
|
||
about `devil's seats,' `death's-heads,' and `bishop's hostels'?"
|
||
|
||
"I confess," replied Legrand, "that the matter still wears a
|
||
serious aspect, when regarded with a casual glance. My first
|
||
endeavor was to divide the sentence into the natural division
|
||
intended by the cryptographist."
|
||
|
||
"You mean, to punctuate it?"
|
||
|
||
"Something of that kind."
|
||
|
||
"But how was it possible to effect this?"
|
||
|
||
"I reflected that it had been a point with the writer to run his
|
||
words together without division, so as to increase the difficulty
|
||
of solution. Now, a not over-acute man, in pursuing such an
|
||
object, would be nearly certain to overdo the matter. When, in
|
||
the course of his composition, he arrived at a break in his
|
||
subject which would naturally require a pause, or a point, he
|
||
would be exceedingly apt to run his characters, at this place,
|
||
more than usually close together. If you will observe the MS., in
|
||
the present instance, you will easily detect five such cases of
|
||
unusual crowding. Acting upon this hint, I made the division
|
||
thus:
|
||
|
||
"`A good glass in the bishop's hostel in the devil's
|
||
seat--forty-one degrees and thirteen minutes--northeast and by
|
||
north--main branch seventh limb east side--shoot from the left eye
|
||
of the death's-head--a bee-line from the tree through the shot
|
||
fifty feet out.'"
|
||
|
||
"Even this division," said I, "leaves me still in the dark."
|
||
|
||
"It left me also in the dark," replied Legrand, "for a few days;
|
||
during which I made diligent inquiry, in the neighborhood of
|
||
Sullivan's Island, for any building which went by the name of the
|
||
`Bishop's Hotel'; for, of course, I dropped the obsolete word
|
||
`hostel.' Gaining no information on the subject, I was on the
|
||
point of extending my sphere of search, and proceeding in a more
|
||
systematic manner, when, one morning, it entered into my head,
|
||
quite suddenly, that this `Bishop's Hostel' might have some
|
||
reference to an old family, of the name of Bessop, which, time
|
||
out of mind, had held possession of an ancient manor-house, about
|
||
four miles to the northward of the island. I accordingly went
|
||
over to the plantation, and re-instituted my inquiries among the
|
||
older negroes of the place. At length one of the most aged of the
|
||
women said that she had heard of such a place as Bessop's Castle,
|
||
and thought that she could guide me to it, but that it was not a
|
||
castle, nor a tavern, but a high rock.
|
||
|
||
|
||
"I offered to pay her well for her trouble, and, after some
|
||
demur, she consented to accompany me to the spot. We found it
|
||
without much difficulty, when, dismissing her, I proceeded to
|
||
examine the place. The `castle' consisted of an irregular
|
||
assemblage of cliffs and rocks--one of the latter being quite
|
||
remarkable for its height as well as for its insulated and
|
||
artificial appearance. I clambered to its apex, and then felt
|
||
much at a loss as to what should be next done.
|
||
|
||
"While I was busied in reflection, my eyes fell upon a narrow
|
||
ledge in the eastern face of the rock, perhaps a yard below the
|
||
summit upon which I stood. This ledge projected about eighteen
|
||
inches, and was not more than a foot wide, while a niche in the
|
||
cliff just above it gave it a rude resemblance to one of the
|
||
hollow-backed chairs used by our ancestors. I made no doubt that
|
||
here was the `devil's-seat' alluded to in the MS., and now I
|
||
seemed to grasp the full secret of the riddle.
|
||
|
||
"The `good glass,' I knew, could have reference to nothing but a
|
||
telescope; for the word `glass' is rarely employed in any other
|
||
sense by seamen. Now here, I at once saw, was a telescope to be
|
||
used, and a definite point of view, admitting no variation, from
|
||
which to use it. Nor did I hesitate to believe that the phrases,
|
||
`forty-one degrees and thirteen minutes,' and `northeast and by
|
||
north,' were intended as directions for the levelling of the
|
||
glass. Greatly excited by these discoveries, I hurried home,
|
||
procured a telescope, and returned to the rock.
|
||
|
||
"I let myself down to the ledge, and found that it was impossible
|
||
to retain a seat upon it except in one particular position. This
|
||
fact confirmed my preconceived idea. I proceeded to use the
|
||
glass. Of course, the `forty-one degrees and thirteen minutes'
|
||
could allude to nothing but elevation above the visible horizon,
|
||
since the horizontal direction was clearly indicated by the
|
||
words, `northeast and by north.' This latter direction I at once
|
||
established by means of a pocket-compass; then, pointing the
|
||
glass as nearly at an angle of forty-one degrees of elevation as
|
||
I could do it by guess, I moved it cautiously up or down, until
|
||
my attention was arrested by a circular rift or opening in the
|
||
foliage of a large tree that overtopped its fellows in the
|
||
distance. In the centre of this rift I perceived a white spot,
|
||
but could not, at first, distinguish what it was. Adjusting the
|
||
focus of the telescope, I again looked, and now made it out to be
|
||
a human skull.
|
||
|
||
"Upon this discovery I was so sanguine as to consider the enigma
|
||
solved; for the phrase `main branch, seventh limb, east side,'
|
||
could refer only to the position of the skull upon the tree,
|
||
while `shoot from the left eye of the death's-head' admitted,
|
||
also, of but one interpretation, in regard to a search for a
|
||
buried treasure. I perceived that the design was to drop a bullet
|
||
from the left eye of the skull, and that a bee-line, or, in other
|
||
words, a straight line, drawn from the nearest point of the trunk
|
||
through `the shot' (or the spot where the bullet fell), and
|
||
thence extended to a distance of fifty feet, would indicate a
|
||
definite point--and beneath this point I thought it at least
|
||
possible that a deposit of value lay concealed."
|
||
|
||
"All this," I said, "is exceedingly clear, and, although
|
||
ingenious, still simple and explicit. When you left the `Bishop's
|
||
Hotel,' what then?"
|
||
|
||
"Why, having carefully taken the bearings of the tree, I turned
|
||
homeward. The instant that I left `the devil's-seat,' however,
|
||
the circular rift vanished; nor could I get a glimpse of it
|
||
afterward, turn as I would. What seems to me the chief ingenuity
|
||
in this whole business, is the fact (for repeated experiment has
|
||
convinced me it is a fact) that the circular opening in question
|
||
is visible from no other attainable point of view than that
|
||
afforded by the narrow ledge upon the face of the rock.
|
||
|
||
"In this expedition to the `Bishop's Hotel' I had been attended
|
||
by Jupiter, who had, no doubt, observed, for some weeks past, the
|
||
abstraction of my demeanor, and took especial care not to leave
|
||
me alone. But, on the next day, getting up very early, I
|
||
contrived to give him the slip, and went into the hills in search
|
||
of the tree. After much toil I found it. When I came home at
|
||
night my valet proposed to give me a flogging. With the rest of
|
||
the adventure I believe you are as well acquainted as myself."
|
||
|
||
"I suppose," said I, "you missed the spot, in the first attempt
|
||
at digging, through Jupiter's stupidity in letting the bug fall
|
||
through the right instead of through the left eye of the skull."
|
||
|
||
"Precisely. This mistake made a difference of about two inches
|
||
and a half in the `shot'--that is to say, in the position of the
|
||
peg nearest the tree; and had the treasure been beneath the
|
||
`shot,' the error would have been of little moment; but `the
|
||
shot,' together with the nearest point of the tree, were merely
|
||
two points for the establishment of a line of direction; of
|
||
course the error, however trivial in the beginning, increased as
|
||
we proceeded with the line, and by the time we had gone fifty
|
||
feet threw us quite off the scent. But for my deep-seated
|
||
impressions that treasure was here somewhere actually buried, we
|
||
might have had all our labor in vain."
|
||
|
||
"But you grandiloquence, and your conduct in swinging the
|
||
beetle--how excessively odd! I was sure you were mad. And why did
|
||
you insist upon letting fall the bug, instead of a bullet, from
|
||
the skull?"
|
||
|
||
"Why, to be frank, I felt somewhat annoyed by your evident
|
||
suspicions touching my sanity, and so resolved to punish you
|
||
quietly, in my own way, by a little bit of sober mystification.
|
||
For this reason I swung the beetle, and for this reason I let it
|
||
fall from the tree. An observation of yours about its great
|
||
weight suggested the latter idea."
|
||
|
||
"Yes, I perceive; and now there is only one point which puzzles
|
||
me. What are we to make of the skeletons found in the hole?"
|
||
|
||
"That is a question I am no more able to answer than yourself.
|
||
There seems, however, only one plausible way of accounting for
|
||
them--and yet it is dreadful to believe in such atrocity as my
|
||
suggestion would imply. It is clear that Kidd--if Kidd indeed
|
||
secreted this treasure, which I doubt not--it is clear that he
|
||
must have had assistance in the labor. But this labor concluded,
|
||
he may have thought it expedient to remove all participants in
|
||
his secret. Perhaps a couple of blows with a mattock were
|
||
sufficient, while his coadjutors were busy in the pit; perhaps it
|
||
required a dozen--who shall tell?"
|