Poe, Edgar Allen - The Complete Works of Edgar Allen Poe

by Volume 01-05 (lit)

  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 scarabµus, 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! 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 outwards, 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 - 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,

&
nbsp; 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.

  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 trelliswork 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 upwards 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 nature of things, for any negro's visage to assume. He

  seemed stupified - 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! de poor

  little goole-bug, what I boosed in dat 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. Worn 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 afterwards, armed with three stout

  sacks, which, by good luck, 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 holes unfilled, again

  set out for the hut, at which, for the second time, we deposited our

  golden 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 or 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 earrings; - 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

  time keepers 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, at 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 undervalued the treasure.

  When, at length, we had concluded our examination, and the intense

  excitement of the time had, in some measure, subsided, Legr
and, 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 scarabµus. 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 afterwards 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