East Saginaw courier. (East Saginaw, Mich.) 1859-18??, 1860-04-26
well. suppose il is, Jup,' replied LIE.

that any reason for your letting the birds
burn? The color'-here he turned to me
lis really almost enough to warrant .Ju
pter's idea. You never saw a more
brilliant metallic luster than the scales
emit-but of this you cannot Judge till
tomorrow. In the meantime | can give
you some idea of the shape Saying this
he seated himself at small table, upon
which were pen and ink, but no paper
He looked for some in drawer, but
found none.
Never mind, said he at length, this
will answer and he drew from his waist
coat pocket scrap of what took tn be
very dirty foolscap, and made upon it a
rough drawing with the pen. While he
did this | retained my seat by the fire
for | was still chilly. When the design
was complete he handed it to me without
rising. AS | received it loud growl was
heard, succeeded by scratching at the
door. Jupiter opened it, and large
Newfoundland, belonging to Legrand,
rushed in, leaped upon my shoulders, and
loaded me with caresses; for had shown
him much attention during previous Wis
its. When his gambols were over i
looked at the paper, and, to speak the
truth, found myself not a little puzzled
at what my friend had depicted.
well ? said, after contemplating it
for some minutes, this is strange scar
abauS, must confess: new to me : never
saw anything like it before--unles it was
a skull, or death 's-head--which it more
nearly resembles than anything else that
has come under my observation
"a death's-head? echoed Legrand-
"Oh-yes, well, it has something of that
appearance on paper, no doubt. The two
upper black spots look like eyes, eh? and
the longer one at the bottom like a
mouth-and then the shape Of the whole
is oval
Perhaps So said I ; but, Legrand, |
fear you are no artist must wait until
see the beetle itself, if / am to form
any idea of It's personal appearance
well, | don't know said he, little
nettled, Il draw tolerably-shOula do it at
least-have had good masters, and flatter
myself that ] am not quite blockhead.
But, my dear fellow, you are joking,
then, said /; this is a very passable skull
indeed, | may say that it is a very
ercslleat skull, according to the vulgar no
tions about such specimens Of physiology
and your ScGrabGHs must be the queer
est scqraJaw in the world if it resembles
it. Why we may get mp very thrilling
bit of superstition upon this hint. | pre-.
sumo you will call the bug scardbGS eapat
homiais or something of that kind-there
are many similar titles in the Natural
Histories. But whore are the GRtenRG
you spoke Off
The aateNne said Legrand, who
seemed to be getting unaccountably warm
upon the subject; am sure you must
see the a1teWg. made them as distinct
as they are in the original insect, and
presume that is sufficient
well we'll said, perhaps you have
still don't see thcm;' and | handed
him the paper without additional remark,
net wishing to ruillc his temper; but |
was much surprised at the turn affairs
had taken; his i'll humor puzzled mo
and, as for the drawing of the beetle,
there were positively no Gateane visible,
and the whole did bear very close re-
scmblance to the ordinary cuts of a
deaths head.
lie receive the paper very pcevishly,
and was about to crumplc it, apparently
to throw it iii the fire, when a casual
glance at the design seemed suddenly to
rivet his attentions; in an instant his face
grew violently rpd-in another as exces.
sively pale. For some minutes he con-
tinucd TO scrutinizc tho drawing minutely
where he sat. At length he arose, took
a candle from the table, and proceeded
to seat himself upon sea-chest in the
further corner of the room. Here again
he ma le an anxious examination of the
paper turning it in al directions. He
said nothing, however, AMI his conduct
greatly astonishcd me; yet | thought it
prudent not to exaccrbate the growing
moodncss of his temper by any comment.
Presently he took from his coat-pociet a
wallet, placed the paper carefully in it,
and deposited both in writing desk,
which lie locked. lie now grew more
composed in his dcmeanor, bat his orig.
inal air of enthusiasm had quite disap-
peared. Yet he seemed not so much
sulky as abstracted. AS the evening
wore away he became more and more
absorbed in reverie, from which no sallies
of mine could arouse him, 1t had been
my intention to pass the night at the hut,
as / had frequently done before, but, see
ing my host in this mood, / deemed it
proper to take leave. He did not press
me to remain, but, as departed, he shook
my hand with even more than his usual
cordiality.
1t was about month after this (and
during the interval had seen nothing ol
Legrand) when / received visit, al
Charleston, from his man Jupiter. had
never seen the good old negro so dispir
tied, and i feared that some serious dis
aster had befallen my friend.
well, Jup, said i, what is the matter
now? how is your master?'
'Why, to speak de troof, massa, hin
not so well as mought be-
Not well? / am truly sorry to hear it
What does he complain Off
'Darl dat's it!--him neber plain ol
notin--but him berry sick for all dat
'Yery sick, Jupiterl--why didn't yo,
say SO at once? Is he confined to bedt
sNo. dat he aintl-hc aint find nowha