The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-04-10

Kidd. pirate as he was, was guilty of the
utrocity which the finding of the skela-
tons above the treasure would suggest?'
Il do" replied Legrand. 1T is clear
that Kidd-if indeed Kidd secreted this
treasure, as it appears he did-must have
had some assistance in his lafS'r of bury
ing it. But, this labor concluded, he
might have thought it expedient to re-
move all participants in his secret of the
place of it's hiding. Perhaps a few blows
of mattock was sufficient while his men
were filling up the pit; perhaps it re-
CURED a dozen-who shall tell?' But the
Gold Bug-I still am haunted with the
id, 4 of that Gold Bug" said the friend.
We'll, that 1 cannot explain replied L.
grand. 1T haunts me, too, and | shall
never part with this-as 1 think-unilue
specimen of the scarabaeus genus"
They talked the matter over long that
night, and whether Legrand prevailed
upon his friend to accept a part of the,
treasure or not was known only to Mr..
Poe, who first told the story. 1t may be
taken for granted that Jupiter, for his
horoisn in carrying the Gold Bug up the
was wealthy beyond any dreams which he
Ind ever had. 1t is certain that Legrand
recovered his estates and went back to
live in New Orleans and that thereafter,
nobody considered him crazy, but would
only say of him in his most morbid
moods. How delightfully."- originalr'
As to the Gold Bug, both Legrand and
his friend, in spite of all their reasoning,
could but feel that there was some
thing rather weird and uncanny about
that scarabaeus after all. The train of
events which had followed it's discovery,
though reason told them both that they
were nothing but a series of accidental
happenings, had so Joined themselves to-
gcther as a natural consequence of the
finding of the bug. do you know said
LcGrand. that Jupiters silly talk about
the Bug being of solid gold had remark
able effect upon my fancy? And 1 felt
sure-why 1 cannot tell-that | had wealth
once more before me. Then the whole
series of accidents and condolences were
SO very extraordinary. Do you observe
how mere an accident it was that 1 should
have found the Bug and the parchment
on the only night in the year in which 1T
has been, or may be, cool enough to have
a fire. and that without that fire and
without the Intervention of the dog at the
precise moment in which he appeared
never should have become aware of the
deaths head on the parchment, and so
never have come into the possession of
my treasure? Then the beetle biting me
when 1 attempted to pick 1t up with the
piece of parchment which was there at
hand where no parchment could reason
ably be looked for.
IT wonder if it was Kids treasure,
after all. If it was how came it that such
a valuable memorandum of which he nat
uraly would have taken the greatest care
and have carried away with him-how
came it to be there on the beach, with
the Geld Bug crawling about it and the
wreck of an ancient boat near by? Per-
haps some of Kidds followers, who
came into possession of the memorandum
after their chiefs DEATH came searching
for the gold and thus gave rise to those
rLmors of buried treasure of which the
whole of this section of the coast is full.
If So, it is evident they searched unsuc-
essfully-probably because they could
not read the cipher-and they perhaps
lost the bit of parchment on the beach.
One car conjecture almost anything. 1t
is all very strange-especially the Gold
Bug"
Next weeks one-page classic will be
1.-THE Pirate" by sir Walter Scott