The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1867-04-26

stout sacks, which, by good luck, were
upon the premises. n little before four
we arrived at the pit, divided the re-
mainder ofthe booty, as equally as
might be, among us, and, leaving the
holes untitled, again set out for the hut,
at which, for the second time, we de-
posted our golden burthens, just as the
first faint streaks of the dawn cleaned
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 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 night, in II scrutiny
of its contents. There had been moth
ing like order or arrangement. Every
thing had been heaped in promiscuous-
| ly. Having assorted all with care, we
found ourselves possessed of even vaster
wealth than we had ut first supposed.
In coin there was rather more than four
hundred and fifty thousand dollars-es-
timating the value of the pieces, as ac-
curately as we could, by the tables of
the period. There was not particle of
silver. All was gold of antique date
and of great variety-French, Spanish,
and German money, with 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
There was no American money. The
value of the jewels we found more diff
Guilty in estimating. There were dia-
monds-some of them exceedingly large
and fne-a hundred and ten in all, and
not one of them small eighteen rubies
of remarkable hrilliancy three hun
dred and ten emeralds, all very beauti-
full; 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, las ifto prevent identi-
ficaton. Besides all this, there was q
vast quantity of solid gold ornamen is I;
nearly two hundred massive finger
and ear rings rich chains-thirty Of
these, if l remember ;-eighty-three
very large and heavy crucfiXes five
gold censers of great value "a prodig-
ious golden punch-bowel, ornamented
with richly chased vine-leaves and Bac-
chanlian figures; with two sword ham
dies exquisitely embossed, and many
other smaller articles which l cannot
recollect. The weight of these valua-
bles exceeded three hundred and fifty
pounds avoirdupois and in this esti-
/ mate / have not included one hundred
and ninety-seven superb gold watches
three of the number being worth each
, five hundred dollars, if one. Many ol
5 them-were very old, and as time keepers
valueless; the works having suffered
t more or less, from corrosion-but all
{ were richly jeweled and in cases of
: great worth. We estimated the entire
l contents of the chest, that night at {
million and half of dollars; and upor
, the subsequent disposal of the trinkets
2 and jewels IA few being retained for oul
t own use), it was found that we hat
: greatly undervalued the treasure.
When, at length, we had concluded
: our examination, and the intense ex
+, citement of the time had, in some mea
| sure, subsidized, Legrand, who saw tha
V | was dying with impatience for a so
= luton of this most extraordinary iddl,
: entered into full detail of all the cir
!. cumstance5 connected with it.
h "You remember" said he, 'the nigh
, when handed you the rough sketch
f had made of the scarabTuS. You rec
: ollect also, that became quite veXed a
you for insisting that my drawing re
e sembled deaths head. When you frs
= made this assertion thought you wer
= testing; but afterwards | called to min(
= the peculiar spots on the back of tEC
= insect, and admitted to myself tha
l. your remark had some little foundation
,, in fact. Still, the sneer at my graphic
5 powers irritated me-for | am consid
d cred good artist-and, therefore, whel
Il you handed me the scrap of parchment
@ | was about to crumplc it up and throS
d it angrily into the fire."
q "The scrap of paper, you mean,
h said L.
q "No; it had much of the appearance
of paper, and at first l supposed it t
lie be such, but when came to draw upo
q it, discovered it, at once, to be a yer
d thin piece of parchment. 1t was quit
r dirty, you remember. Well, as / we
in the very act of crumpling it up, III
| glance fell upon the sketchat which yo
10 had been looking, and you may in
s. imagine my astonishment when l pc
e. ceived, in fact, the figure of a death
'e head Just where, it seemed to me, | ha
re- made the drawing of the beetle. For
1t moment [ was too much amazed
as think with accuracy. l knew that N
re design was very different in detail fro
I'd this-although there was certain sin
IS ilarity in general outline. Presently
tn took a candle, and seating myself at Il
e. other end of the room, proceeded
I'd scrutinize the parchment more closel
1T Upon turning it over, l saw my oy
m sketch upon the reverse, just rs hi
To made it. My first idea, now, was me