The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1867-04-19

not help thinking how picturesque a
group we composed, and how strange
and suspicious our labors must have ap-
peared to any intcrlopcr who, by chance
might have stumbled upon our whcrca-
bouts.
We dug very steadily for two hours.
Little was said; and. our chief cmbar-
rassment lay in the yclpings Of the dog,
who took exceeding interest in our pro-
ceedings. lie, at length, became so OBJ
streperous that we grew fearful of his
giving the alarm to some stragglcrs in
the vicinity; or, rather, this was the
apprehension of Lcgrand for myself,
| should have rcjoiced at any Interrupt
ton which might have enabled me to
get the wandorcr home. The noise was,
at length, very eilectually silCnccd by
Jupiter, who, getting out of the hole
with dogged air of delibcntion, tied
the brutc's mouth up with one of his
suspenders, and then returned, with a
grave chucklc, to his task.
When the time mentioned had cX-
pircd, we had reached II depth of five
feet, and yet no signs of any treasure
became manifest. A general pause en-
sued, and | began to hope that the farce
was at an end, Legrand, however, al
though evidently much Disconnected,
wiped his brow thougltfully and re-
commenced. We had cxcavated 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-scell-
er, whom | sincerely piticd, at lcnsth
clambcrcd from the pit, with the bit
tcrcst disappointment imprinted upon
every feature, and proceeded, slowly
and reluctantly, to put on his coat,
ming Of his labor. In the mean time l
made no remark. Jupiter, at Il signal
from his masters began to gather up hi,
tools. This done, and the dog having
been unmuzzlcd, we turned inprofound
silence towards home.
We had taken, perhaps, q dozen steps
in this direction, when, with loud oatl
Lcgrand strodc up to Jupiter, and scizct
him by the collar. Tho astonishCd ne
gro opened his eyes and mouth to tht
fullest extent, let fall the spades, anC
fell upon his knees.
"You scOundrcl," said Lcgrand, hiss
ing out the syllables from between hi
clcnchcd toeth-"you informal black vi!
lain speak tell you!-answcr M
this instant, without prcvarication!-
which-which is your left cyc?"
"oii, my golly, Massa VIII! aint di
here my lcf eye for sortain?" roarc'
p the terrified Jupiter, placing his lIant
, upon his right organ Of vision, ant
holding it there with a desperate peril
nacity, as if in Immediate dread of hi
, masters attempt at gougc.
| 81 thought so Il knew ii hurrah y
; vocifcra,ed LcSraud, letting tho ncgr
| go, and executing a series of curvct
and caracols, much to the astonishmcn
| Of his valet, who, arising from hi
knees, looked, mutcly, from his maste
to myself, and then from myself to hi
master.
"Comc! we must go back" said tn
latter, "the games not up yet" ant
+ he again led the way to the tulip-trc2.
"Jupitcr," said he, when he rcachc
its foot, "comc here was the skull
| nailed to the limb with the face out
wards, or with the face to the limb ,"
} "Dc face was out, massa, so dat 4
g crows could get at de eyes good, widou
| any trouble"
p "Well, then, was ii this eye or tina
f through which you dropped the beetle?
t here Lcgrand touched each Of Jupi
G tcr's eyes.
4 "Twas dis eye, massa-de lcr cyc-ji
e as you tell me-" and here it was hi
G right eye that tile negro indicated.
. "That will dove must try itagain.
t Here my friend, about whose mat
; ness | now saw, certain indications o
n method, removed the peg which markc
;. the spot where the beetle fell, to spc
: about three inches to the westward o
q its former position. Taking, now, til
+ tape-measurc from the nearest point o
the trunk to the peg, as before, and col
i tinuing the extension in straight lin
!. to the distance of fifty feet, Il spot VIZ
i indicated, removed, by several yard
q from the point at which he had bee
h digging.
Around the new position q circl
Il somewhat larger than in the former il
: stance, was now described, and v
q again set to work with the spades.
| was dreadfully weary, but, scarcely Il,
/ Outstanding what had occasioncd Il
v change in my thoughts, felt no long
=, any great aversion from the labor il
" posed. had become most maccomt
e bly, intCrested-nay, oven excited. Pc
l. haps there was something, amid all 4
i cNtraVagant dCmCanOr Of LCgrUnd
: some air of fOrcthought, or of delibcr
ton, which impressed me. | dug G
le gcrly, and now and then caught myst
Is actually looking, with something th
l. very much rescmblcd expectation,
~ the lancied treasure, the vision of viii
~ had dcmented my unfurtNn0te compa
- ion. At Il period when such VagarieS
lg thought most fully possessed me, a
I'd when he had been Mt work perhaps
NJ hour and II half, we were again int
-, ruptcd by the violent howlings of t
~ dog. Ills uncasines, in the first instan
n had been, evidently, but the result
ld Ipluyfulness or caprice, but he now Z
,o- lumcd bitter and serious tone. Up
- Jupitcr's again attempting to muz'
. him, he made furious resistance, an
nd lcaping into the hole, tore up the mou
to lruntically with his claws. In Il 4
In seconds he had uncovered a mass of /
" ,..,,, I,,,. C,,.,,,inpr t,,-r ,,p,t,1stn ak