The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1861-03-27
coacert, to make examination Of our treas

The chest had been full to the brim,
and we spent the whole day, and the
greater part of the next nigh,, in scru
tiny of its contents. There had been
nothing like order or arrangement. Eve
rythiug had been heaped in promiscuous.
ly. Having assorted all with care, we
found ourselves possessed of even vaster
wealth than we had at first supposed. In
coin there was rather mere thnn four
hundred and fifty thousand dollars-es.
timating the valae of the pieces, as ac-
curately as we could. by the tables Of the
period. There was not u particle of sill
YER 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, ve had new
er seen specimens before There were
several large and heavy coins, 70 worn
that we could make nothing of their in
scrfptions There was no American
money. The value of the jewels We found
more difficulty in estimating. There
were diamonds Of them exceed.
ingly large and fne-a hundred and ten
in all, aGd not one of them small; eighteen
rubies of remark arkablobriliancy, three huns
dred anc ten emeralds, all very beautiful;
and twenty one sapphires, with an opal.
These stones he'd 1all been broken from
iheir 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
banners, as if to prevent Identification.
of solid gold ornaments;5 nearly two hum
dred massive finger and ear rings; rich
chains; thirty of these, if remember;
eighty,three very large and heavy cruci.
fixes; fine gold censers Of great value;
a prodigious golden punch bowl, orna-
mented with richly chased vine leaves and
Bachaualian figures; With two sword
h.udles exquisitely embossed, and many
other smaller Articles which l cannot re-
collect. The weight of these valuables
exceeded three hundred and fifty pouHds
avoirdupois; and in this estimate / have
not Included one hundred and ninety-seyen
superb gold watches; three of the numGer
being worth each five hundred dollars, il
one. Many of them very old, and as time
keepers valueless, the works having suffer.
ed more or less from corrosion; but all
were richly jewelled and in cases Of grea,
WORTH We estimated the entire contents
of the chest that night. at million and
half of dollars, and, upon the subse
quent disposal of the trinkets and jewels
"a few being retained for our own use) i
was found that we had greatly underValu
ed the treasure.
When, at length, We had concluded ou
examination, and the intense excitemen
of the time had, in some measures, subsi
ded, Legrand, who saw that l was dying
4 with impa,iance, for solution of thi
most extraordinary riddle, entered into
4 fall detail of all the circumstances cen
necied with it.
You remember said he, she nigh
when handed you the rough sketch
had made of the scarabeus, Yoa recol
lect, also, that became quite yexed q
you for insisting that my drawing resem
bled deaths head, When you frs
made this assertion thought yeu wer
f testing, but afteIward called to min
the peculiar spots on the back of the in
sect, and admitted to myself that you
, remark had some little foundation in fac
E Still, the snesr at my graphic powers il
!. ri.ated ne, for am considered goo
D artist; aud, therefore, when you hande
n me the scrap of parchment, was abot
to erumble it mp and throw 1t augrily
e the fire. ..5.. -
!, The scrap of paper you meant said
b No; had much of the appearances
: paper, and, at first, supposed it TO /
such, but when came to draw upon
I discovered it, at once, to be piece
0 very thin parchment. II was quite dir
]. you remember. .s..t go ~.
is We'll, as I was in the very act of crur
; bling it up, my glance fell upon the sket'
IS at which you had been looking, and u
d may imagine my astonishment VIXEN
o perceived, in fact, the figure of death
/ head just where, it seemed TO me, / b,
Is made the drawing of the beetle. For
]. moment was too much amezed to thi,
e with accuracy. l knew that my desii
D. was very different in detail from this
z although there was certain similarity
N general outline. Presently took ca
ir die. and. seating myself at the other e.
l. of the room, proceeded to scrntinize t
lie parchment more closely. Upon turRi
Re it over, l saw my own sketch upon the
1t verse, just as had made it. My I'll
Is idea, now, WAS mere surprise at the rea
10 remarkable similarity of outline-at t
0, singular coincidence involved in the fa
4. that unknown to me, there should ha
se been skull upon the other side of t
re parchment, Immediately beneath my 6gu
1r of the scarabeus, and that his skull, .
n- only in outline, but in size. should
e, closely resemble my drawing. say
d, singularity Of this coincidence absoiut'
Or stupifed me for time. This is the us,
IN effect of such coincidence. The mi
of struggles to establish a connection
-. oao L.: