The Orangeburg news. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1867-1875, 1870-03-26

N--S ~S' 80
"Ah, if / had only known you were
here !" said Legrand, tbnt it's 80 long
since i saw you aud how could 1 foresee
that you would pay me visit this very
night of all others2 ASH was coming
home l met Lieutenant c., from the
fort, and, very foolishly, | lent him the
bug; SO it will be impossible for you to
see it until the morning. Stay here to-
night, and will send Jup down for it
at sunrise. 1t is the loveliest thing in
creatiou.W
"What ?-sunrise 2"
Nonsense no the bug. 1t is of
a brilliant gold color--about the size of
n large hickory nut-with. two Jet black
spots near one extremity of the back,
and another somewhat longer, at the 9TH
er. The dntenne are"
"Dey aint no tin in him, Massa Will,
| keep tellin on you," here interrupted
Jupiter; ode bug is a goole bug, solid,
ebery bit of him, inside and all, SEP him
wing-neber feel half SO hebby bug in
my life"
"Well, suppose it is, Jup," replied Lc-
grand, somewhat more earnestly, it
seemed to me, than the case demanded,
"is that any reason for your letting the
birds burn? The COLOR" here he re-
turned to me-"is really almost enough
to warrant Jupiter's idea. You never
saw more brilliant metallic lustre than
the scales emit-but Of this you cannot
judge till Tomorrow In the meantime
| can give you some idea of the shape"
Saying this, he seated himself at a small
table, ON which were pen and ink, bat
no paper. He looked for some in Il
drawer, but found none.
Never mind" said he at length,
"this will answer; and he drew from his
waistcoat pocket 4 scrap Of what took
to be very dirty fools cap, and made upon
it rough drawing with the pen. While
he did this, | retained my seat by the
fire, f r L was. still chilly. When the
design was complete, he.tandrd it to me
without rising. As | received it, Il .,Ad
growl was heard, succeeded by scratch
ing at the door. Jupiter opened it, and
a large Newfoundland belonging to Lee
grand, rushed in, eaped upon nsS shoul-
ders, and loaded me with caresses for |
had shown him much attention during
previous visits. When his gambols were
over, looked at the pal per- and, to SPEAK
the truth, found myself not little puz-
Eled at what my friend had depicted
"Wcll ~ | said, after contemplating it
for some minutes, this as strange
scardb0us, | must confess new to me :
never saw anything like it before-un-
less it was a skull, or death s-hcad-
which it more nearly resembles than
anything else that has come under n,y
observation.
"A death S head ~ echoed Icgrand-
Oh-yes-well, it has something of that
appearance upon paper, no doubt. The
two upper black spots look like eyes, ELI?
aud the longer one ut the bottom like n
mouth--and then the shape OF the whole
is oval
Perhaps so" said | "but, Legrand,
| fear you are no artist. | must wait
until / see the beetle itself, if | am to
form any idea OF its personal appearance "
"Well, | don't know" said he, a little
ncttled, 81 draw tolerably do it
at least-have had good masters and
flatter myself that l am not quite a
blockhead"
But, my dear fellow, you are joking
them" said |, this is very passablc
skuit-indeed, l may say that it is
very excellent skull, according to the
vulgar notions about such specimens of
physiology your scarabpus must be
the queerest scaruboetls in the world if is
resembles it, Why, we may get up a
very thrilling bit of superstition upon
;h's hint. presume you will call the
bug scaraboe"s cap,a hominis or some
thing of that kipd-there are many
similar titles in the Natural Histories.
But where are the antenae you spoke
Of"
The antenae." said Lcgrand, who
seemed to be getting unaccountably
warm upon the subject; II am sure you
must see the dntennae. made them as
distinct as they are in the original insect,
and presume that is sufficient"
well, well" | said, perhaps you