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Here was a long pause. At length the negro asked,
"Is de lef' eye of de skull pon de same side as de lef' hand of de
skull, too? - cause de skull ain't 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 and not let go your hold of the string."
"All dat done, Massa Will; mighty easy ting for to put de 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 now 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 farther 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 one to 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 worthy
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 mean time 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 towards 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 extent,
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! ain't 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 let the beetle
fall?" - 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 it again."
Here my friend, about whose madness I now saw, or fancied that 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 spades.
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 most 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 mould 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 woollen. One or two strokes of a spade
upturned 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 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.
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