The Orangeburg news. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1867-1875, 1870-04-09

"Jsoh ~ lhc UtucE cuU Va SHu 1pots,
proceeded to scrutiuises the pafchneat
more closeIyb Upon turning sssover;B
saw my own Sketch upon tie reverse,
just as I had made it, My'fts5iaea, !: now,
was mere surprise at the really remark,
able similarity of outlihe-attiis tiissiugulari
coincidence Involved in the fact, ,itliat
unknown to me, there should .bays been
skull upon the other side afshe pafch-;
ment, Immediately beneath ~ figure of
the 'scara5eis, aud that thi5 skull; nos
only IN outline, but III sigeg should so
closely resembletmy drawing. 81 say the
sineuiarity Of this coincidenceee ceeeabseilss;;sssly
stupified me for time. This Is the usual,
effect Of such condolences 9The,tnind
struggles to establish ga connexions
sequence of cause and effcct-4and, being
unable to do SO, suffers a species often.
porary paralysis. But, when Ifecovercd I
from this stupor, there dawned upon me
gradually coGvicti6n wiiich startied me
even far more than the coincidence L
began distinctly, positively, 70 remember
that there had been no drawing upon the
parchment when | made my sketch Of
the sccrdJous. became perfectly GER
tain of this; Tor / recolccted turning up
first one side and then tho other, in
search Of the cleapest spot Had the
skull been then there, Of coirsee 1 could
not have failed to notice it. H ere was
indeed mystery which / fclttit 'ii6poss-
iblc to exrlain but, even at that early
moment, there seemed to glimner, faintly,
within the most remote ana secret Cham
bers Of my intellect, a glos-@or,n-liEe
conception of that truth which last
nights adventure brought toso nagnfi-
cent demonstration / arose at once,
and putting the parchment securely away,
dismissed ill farther reflection until /
should be alone
When you had gone, anu when Jupi-
ter was fast asleep, I betosk myself to
more nsethsdieal Investigation Of The
affair 4 In the hrst place considered
the paaner.in which the patslilis.nt had
come i;nto nfy pokssssiu !, Z. ! asu pot
where We discovered the scdrdbaas was
on the coast OF the main land, about II
mile eastward of the island, and but
short distance above high water mark
Upon l&y taking hold of it, it gave me
sharp bite, which caused me to let it
drop, Jupiter, with his accust omed
caution, before seizing the insect, which
had flown towards him, looked about
him fer leaf, or something of that ma
ture, by which to take hold of it. 1t
was at this moment that his eyes, and
mine also, iell upon the scrap of parch-
ment, which then supposed to be paper
1t was lying half buried in the sand, a
corner sticking up. Nedr the spot where
we fond it, observed the remnants of
the hull of what appeared to have been
sh p's long boat. The wreck seemed to
have been there for great while for
the resemblance to boat timbers could
scarcely be traced.
Well, Jupiter picked up the parch-
ment, wrapped the beetle in it, and gave
it to me. Soon afterwards We turn ID to
go home, and on the way met Lieutenant
G.. showed him the insect. and me
begged me to let him take it to the fort.
Upon my consenting, he thrust it forth
with into his waistcoat pocket, without
the parchment in which it had been
wrapped, aud which had continued to
hold in my hand during his inspection.
Perhaps he dreaded my changing my
mind, and thought it best to make sure
OF the prize at oncc-you know how
enthusiastic he is on all subjects con
nected with Natural History. At the
same time, without being conscious of it,
| must have deposited the parchment in
my own pocket
I" You remember that when | went to
the table, for the purpose OF making Il
sketch of the beetle, found no paper
where it was usually kept. l looked in
the drawer, and none there. | searched
my pockets, hoping to find an old letter,
when my hand fell upon the parchment.
l thus detail the precise mode in which
it came into my possession; for the cir
cumstances impressed me With peculiar
force.
I" No doubt you think me ianciful-
but | had already established kind of
coHnenion | had put together two links