Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-10-04

| I'm gWine, MaSSa Wlll.-ueed Is,
replied the negro very promptly
mos out to the eend now"
| "Out to the end!" here fairly
! screamed Legrand; do you say you
are out to the end of that limb"
Soon be to the eend. massa,-
o-o-o-o-o-h! or-gol-amarcy! what
is dis here pom de tree?"
Well" cried Legrand, highly de-
lighted, what is it?"
why. 'taint muffin but n skull
somebody bin lef' him head up de
tree, and de crows done gobble ebery
bit OBJ de meat off"
"A skull, you say! very well!-how
is it fastened to the limb?-what holds
| it on?"
Sure nuff, massa: mus look. Why
dis berry curious circumstance, pom
| my word-dare's great big nail in de
skull. what fastens oh it on to de tree
We'll, now, Jupiter, do exactly as
| tell you,-do you hear?"
YES, massa."
"Payy attention, then!-find the left
| eye of the skull"
Hum! hoo! dat's good! why, dare
amt no eye lef' at ALL"
Curse your stupidity! do you know
your right hand from your left?'
Yes, nose dat,-nose all bout dat.
It is my lef' hand what l chops de
wood wild"
"To be sure! you are left-handed;
and your left eye is on the same side
as your left hand. Now, l suppose, you
can find the left eye of the skull or
the place where the left eye has been.
Have you found it?'
Here was long pause. At length
the negro asked:
rs de lef eye of de skull pom de
same side as de lef' hand of de skull
too ?-'cause de skull amt not got a
bit of hand at all, nebber mind! l
got de lef' eye nowhere de lef eye!
what mus do wild it?"
Let the beetle drop through 1t, as
far as the string will reach,-but be
careful and not let go your hold of the
string"
"Al dat done, Massa Will; mighty
easy ting for to put de bug fru de hole,
look out for him dare below!"
During this colloquy no portion of
Jupiter's person could be seen; but the
beetle, which he had suffered to de-
scend, was now visible at the end OF
the string, and glistened, like a globe
of FURNISHED gold, in the last rays of
the setting sun, some of which still
family illumined the eminence upon
which we stood. The scarabaeus hung
quite clear of any branches. and, if al
lowed to fall, would have fallen at our
feet. Legrand Immediately took the
scythe, and cleared with it a circular
space, three or four yards in diameter,
Just beneath the insect, and having ac-
complished this, ordered Jupiter to let
go the string and come down from the
tree.
Driving a peg, with great nicely, in
to the ground, at the precise spot where
the beetle fell, my friend now produced
from his pocket tape-measure. Fas-
tening one end of this at that point
of the trunk of the tree which was
nearest the peg, he unrolled it till 1t
reached the peg, and thence farther un-
rolled it, in the direction already es-
tablished by the two points of the tree
and the peg, for the distance of fifty
feet,-Jupiter clearing away the bram-
bles with the scythe. At the spot thus
attained a second peg was driven, and
about this, as centre, rude circle,
about four feet in diameter, described.
Taking now a spade himsclg, and Civ
ing one to Jupiter and one to me, Le-
grand begged us to set about digging
as quickly as possible.
To speak the truth, l had no especial
relish for such amusement at any time,
and, at that particular moment, would
most willingly have declined it; for the
night was coming on, and | felt much
| fatigued with the exercise already TAX
en-; but | saw no mode of escape, and
was fearful of disturbing my poor
| friends equanimity by a refusal. Could
| have depended, indeed, upon Jupi-
tcr's aid, / would have had no hesita-
| tion i'm attempting To get the lunatlc
home by force; but | was too we'll as
surcd of the old negros disposition. to
hope that he would assist me, under
any circumstances, in a personal con-
| test with his master. | made no doubt
| that the latter had been infected with
| some of the innumerablc southern Su-
pcrstitions about money buried, and
| that his fantasy had received confir-
nation by the finding of the scara-
bacus. or, perhaps. by Jupitcr's obsti-
macy i'm maintaining it to he "a bug of
real gold" a mind disposed to luna
cy would readily he led away by such
suggestions if Ginning in
with favOrite preconCeived ideaS.-and
| then | called to mind the poor fellows
speech about the beetles being the
index of his fortune" Upon the whole,
was sadly vcXed and puzzled, but, at
| length. | concluded to make virtue
of ncccsSity.-tu dig with good will,
and thus the sooner To convince the
| visionary, 10y ocular demonstration, OF
the fallacy of the opinions he enter
tanned.
The lanterns having been lit, we all
| fell 10 work with zeal worthy more
rational cause: and, as the glare fell
upon our persons and implements.
could not help thinking how pictur-
esquc a group W" composed. and how
strange and suspicious our labors must
have appeared to any mterloper who
10y chance, might have stumbled upon
| our whereabouts.
| We dug very steadily for two hours.
| Little was said: and our chief embar-
rassmcmt lay in the yelpngs of the
dog. who took exceeding interest in
our proceedings. He at length became