The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1867-05-10
BLOOMSBURY, PA, FRIDAY, MAY 10, 1867.

did ! hesitate to believe that the phra-
scs 'torty-one degrees and thirteen min
utes,' and northeast and by north
were intended as directions for the lev
Cling of the glass. Greatly excited by
these discoveries, ' hurried home, pro-
cured a telescope, and returned to the
rock
81 let myself down to the ledge, and
found that it was impossible to retain a
seat upon it except in one particular po-
sition. This fact confirmed my precOn-
ceivcd idea. | proceeded to use the
glass. Of course, tie 'forty-one degrees
and thirteen minutes could allude to
nothing but elevation above the visible
! horizon, since the horizontal direction
was clearly indicated by the words,
northeast and by north This latter
direction | at once established by means
of pocllet-compass then, pointing
the glass as nearly at an angle of forty
one degrees of elevation as | dould do it
! by guess, | moved it cautiously up or
down, until my attention was arrested
| by Il circular rift or opening in the foil
age of large tree that oVCrtoppod its
! fellows in the distance. In the centre
of this rift perceived white spot, but
could not, at first, distinguish what it
was. Adjusting the focus of the telc-
scope, | again looked, and now made it
out to be Il human skull.
"Upon this discovery ! was so sam
guine as to consider the enigma solved ;
for the phrase main branch, seventh
limb, east side,' could refer only to the
position of the skull upon the tree, while
shoot from the left eye of the DEATHS
head admitted, also, of but one inter-
probation, in regard to a search for bur-
ip1 I ,,prpoix-p1 that thn do
sign was to drop bullet from the left
eye of the skull, and that bec-linc, or,
in other words, straight line, drawn
from the nearest point of the trunk
through 'thc shot (or the spot where
the bullet fell and thence extended to
Il distance of fifty feet, would indicate a
definite point-and beneath this point,
| thought it at least possible that Il de-
post of value lay concealed"
"All this" | said, sis exceedingly
clear, and, although ingenious, still sim
pie and explicit. When you left the
Bishops Hotel, what then?"
"Why, having carefully taken the
bearings of the tree, / turned home
wards. The instant | left the devils
seat however, the circular rift van
ished; nor could l get glimpse of it
afterwards, turn as l would. What
seems to me the chief ingenuity in this
whole business, is the fact for repeated
experiment has convinced me it is a
fact that the circular opening in ques-
ton is visible from no other attainable
point of view than that afforded by the
narrow ledge upon the face of the rock.
"In this expedition to the Bishops
Hotel | had been attended by Jupiter,
who had, no doubt, observed. for some
weeks past, the abstraction of my de-
meanor, and took especial care not tC
leave me alone. But, on the next day
getting up very early, | contrived tC
give him the Slip, and went into the
hills in search of the tree. After much
toll found it. When | came home at
night my valet proposed to give me {
, tlogging. With the rest of the adven
ture l believe you are about rs well ac
quainted as myself"
81 suppose" said |, 'you missed the
, spot, in the first attempt at digging
, through Jupiter's stupidity in letting
the bug fall through the right instead o
through the left eye of the skull"
"Precisely. This mistake made {
difference of about two inches and Il
half in the 'shOt'-that is to say, in the
position of tht peg nearest the tree; ant
had the treasure been beneath the shot,
the error would have been of little mo
mcnt; but the shot,, together with the
, nearest point of the tree, were merely
two points for the establishment of !
line of direction Of course the error
, however trivial in the beginning, in
creased as we proceeded with the line
: and by the time we had gone fifty feet
threw Us quite Off the scent. But fO
t my decp.seatcd impressions that trea
I sure was here somewhere actually bur
led, we might have had all our labo
, in vain"
"But your grandloquence, and you
conduct in swinging the beetle-hov
t excessively odd! | was sure you wer
mad. And why did you insist upol
| ! letting fall the bug, instead of bullet
; from the skull ?n
"Why, to be frank, felt somewha
l annoyed by your evident suspicion
G touching my sanity, and so resolved t.
[ punish You quietly, in my own way, b,
a little bit of sober mYStiticatiOn. FO
: this reason | swung the beetle, and 70
, this reason let it fall from the tree. Al
u observation of yours about its grca
: weight suggested the latter idea"
c "Ycs, / perceive; and now there j
Il only one point which puzzles me. Wha
{ are we to make of the skeleton foun,
:, in the hole ?"
"'rhat is a question | am no more abb
{, to answer than yourself There seems
y however, only one plausible way of aC
Il counting for thcm-and yet it is dread
e full to believe in such atrocity as m
{, suggestion would imply. 1t is clea
|, that Eidd-if Kidd indeed secreted thi
Il treasure, which | doubt nOt-it is clea
!, that he must have had assistance in tn
Il labor. But this labor concluded, h
II he may have thought it cXpedient I
= remove all participants in his secre
l, Perhaps couple of blows with ma
z took were sufficient, while his coadlt
Il tors were busy in the pitt; perhaps
D REQUIRED a dOzen--who shall tell ="
Il