The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1867-05-03
A,isftllanfnus.
THE GOLD-B . G..
CONTINUED


"At this stage of my reflections en-
deavored to remember, and dMremem-
Der, with entire distinctness, every in
cident which occurred about the period
in question. The weather was chilly
(oh rare and happy incidentD, and a
fire was blazing upon the hearth. l
was heated with exercise and sat near
the table. You, however, had drawn
chair close to the chimney. Just as l
placed the parchment in your hand, and
as you were in the act of inspecting it,
Wolf, the Newfoundland, entered, and
leaped upon your shoulders. With
your left hand you caressed him and
kept him off, while your right, holding
the parchment, was permitted to fall
listlessly between your knees, and in
close proximity to the fire. At one mo-
ment | thought the blaze had caught it,
and was about to caution you, but, be-
fore / could speak you had withdrawn
it, and were engaged in its examination.
When ! considered all these particulars
| doubted not for moment that heat
had been the agent in bringing to light,
upon the parchment, the skull which |
saw designed upon it. You are all
aware that chemical preparations exist,
and have existed time out of mind, by
means of which it is possible to write
upon either paper or vellum, so that the
characters shall become visible only
when subjected to the action of fire.
Zaffre, digested in aqua regia, and dilut-
cd with four times its weight of water,
is sometimes employed; a green tint re-
suits. The regulus of cobalt, dissolved
in spirit of nitre, gives a red. These
colors disappear at longer or shorter in
tervals after the material written upon
cools, but again become apparent upon
the re-application of heat.
81 now scrutinized the death's-head
with care. Its outer edges-the edges
of the drawing nearest the edge of the
vellum-were far more distinct than
the Others. 1t was clear that the action
of the caloric had been imperfect or un-
equal. | Immediately kindled fire,
and subjected every portion of the
parchment to a glowing heat. At first,
the only effect was the strengthening Ct
the faint lines in the skull but, upon
persevering in the experiment, there
became visible, at the corner of the slip
diagonally opposite to the spot in which
the death's-hcad was delineated, the
figure of what l ut first supposed to be
goat. a closer scrutiny, however,
satisfied me that it was intended for q
kid"
"Ha! hap said I, 'to be sure have
no right to laugh at you-a million and
a half of money is too serious matter
for mirth-but you are not about to es-
tablish third link in your chain-and
will not find any especial conneXion be-
tween your pirates and goat-pi-
rates, you know. .have nothing to dc
with goats; they appertain to the farm
ing interest" , a..
@But have just said that the figure
was not that of goat"
"Well, kid, then-pretty much thu
same thing"
"Pretty much, but not altogether
said Legrand. "You may have hear'
of one Captain Kidd. l at once looked
upon the figure of the animal rs kind
of punning or hieroglyphical signature
l say signature; because its position
upon the vellum suggested this idea
The death's-head at the corner diagon
ally opposite, had, in the same manner
the air of a stamp, or seal. But ! wa
sorely put out by the absence of all els
of the body to my imagined instru
ment-of the text for my context"
81 presume you expected to find
letter between the stamp and the signf
ture."
"Something of that kind. The fat
is, | felt irresistibly impressed with
prescntimcnt Of some vast good fortul