Short Stories Old and New Part 10

"De bug--I'm berry sartain dat Ma.s.sa Will bin bit somewhere bout de head by dat goole-bug."

"And what cause have you, Jupiter, for such a supposition?"

"Claws enuff, ma.s.sa, and mouff too. I nebber did see sich a d----d bug--he kick and he bite every ting what c.u.m near him. Ma.s.sa Will cotch him fuss, but had for to let him go gin mighty quick, I tell you--den was de time he must ha got de bite. I didn't like de look ob de bug mouff, myself, no how, so I wouldn't take hold ob him wid my finger, but I cotch him wid a piece ob paper dat I found. I rap him up in de paper and stuff piece ob it in he mouff--dat was de way."

"And you think, then, that your master was really bitten by the beetle, and that the bite made him sick?"

"I don't tink noffin about it--I nose it. What make him dream bout de goole so much, if taint cause he bit by de goole-bug? Ise heerd bout dem goole-bugs fore dis."

"But how do you know he dreams about gold?"

"How I know? why, cause he talk about it in he sleep--dat's how I nose."

"Well, Jup, perhaps you are right; but to what fortunate circ.u.mstances am I to attribute the honor of a visit from you to-day?"

"What de matter, ma.s.sa?"

"Did you bring any message from Mr. Legrand?"

"No, ma.s.sa, I bring dis here p.i.s.sel"; and here Jupiter handed me a note which ran thus:

MY DEAR----: Why have I not seen you for so long a time?

I hope you have not been so foolish as to take offense at any little _brusquerie_ of mine; but no, that is improbable.

Since I saw you I have had great cause for anxiety. I have something to tell you, yet scarcely know how to tell it, or whether I should tell it at all.

I have not been quite well for some days past, and poor old Jup annoys me, almost beyond endurance, by his well-meant attentions.

Would you believe it?--he had prepared a huge stick, the other day, with which to chastise me for giving him the slip, and spending the day, _solus_, among the hills on the mainland. I verily believe that my ill looks alone saved me a flogging.

I have made no addition to my cabinet since we met.

If you can, in any way, make it convenient, come over with Jupiter. _Do_ come. I wish to see you _tonight_, upon business of importance. I a.s.sure you that it is of the _highest_ importance.

Ever yours,

WILLIAM LEGRAND

There was something in the tone of this note which gave me great uneasiness. Its whole style differed materially from that of Legrand.

What could he be dreaming of? What new crotchet possessed his excitable brain? What "business of the highest importance" could _he_ possibly have to transact? Jupiter's account of him boded no good. I dreaded lest the continued pressure of misfortune had, at length, fairly unsettled the reason of my friend. Without a moment's hesitation, therefore, I prepared to accompany the negro.

Upon reaching the wharf, I noticed a scythe and three spades, all apparently new, lying in the bottom of the boat in which we were to embark.

"What is the meaning of all this, Jup?" I inquired.

"Him syfe, ma.s.sa, and spade."

"Very true; but what are they doing here?"

"Him de syfe and de spade what Ma.s.sa Will sis pon my buying for him in de town, and de debbil's own lot of money I had to gib for em."

"But what, in the name of all that is mysterious, is your 'Ma.s.sa Will'

going to do with scythes and spades?"

"Dat's more dan _I_ know, and debbil take me if I don't believe 'tis more dan he know, too. But it's all c.u.m ob de bug."

Finding that no satisfaction was to be obtained of Jupiter, whose whole intellect seemed to be absorbed by "de bug," I now stepped into the boat and made sail. With a fair and strong breeze we soon ran into the little cove to the northward of Fort Moultrie, and a walk of some two miles brought us to the hut. It was about three in the afternoon when we arrived. Legrand had been awaiting us in eager expectation. He grasped my hand with a nervous _empress.e.m.e.nt_, which alarmed me and strengthened the suspicions already entertained. His countenance was pale even to ghastliness, and his deep-set eyes glared with unnatural l.u.s.tre. After some inquiries respecting his health, I asked him, not knowing what better to say, if he had yet obtained the _scarabaeus_ from Lieutenant G----.

"Oh, yes," he replied, coloring violently, "I got it from him the next morning. Nothing should tempt me to part with that _scarabaeus_. Do you know that Jupiter is quite right about it?"

"In what way?" I asked, with a sad foreboding at heart.

"In supposing it to be a bug of _real gold_." He said this with an air of profound seriousness, and I felt inexpressibly shocked.

"This bug is to make my fortune," he continued, with a triumphant smile, "to reinstate me in my family possessions. Is it any wonder, then, that I prize it? Since Fortune has thought fit to bestow it upon me, I have only to use it properly and I shall arrive at the gold of which it is the index. Jupiter, bring me that _scarabaeus_!"

"What! de bug, ma.s.sa? I'd rudder not go fer trubble dat bug--you mus git him for your own self." Hereupon Legrand arose, with a grave and stately air, and brought me the beetle from a gla.s.s case in which it was enclosed. It was a beautiful _scarabaeus_, and, at that time, unknown to naturalists--of course a great prize in a scientific point of view.

There were two round, black spots near one extremity of the back, and a long one near the other. The scales were exceedingly hard and glossy, with all the appearance of burnished gold. The weight of the insect was very remarkable, and, taking all things into consideration, I could hardly blame Jupiter for his opinion respecting it; but what to make of Legrand's agreement with that opinion, I could not, for the life of me, tell.

"I sent for you," said he, in a grandiloquent tone, when I had completed my examination of the beetle, "I sent for you that I might have your counsel and a.s.sistance in furthering the views of Fate and of the bug--"

"My dear Legrand," I cried, interrupting him, "you are certainly unwell, and had better use some little precautions. You shall go to bed, and I will remain with you a few days, until you get over this. You are feverish and--"

"Feel my pulse," said he.

I felt it, and, to say the truth, found not the slightest indication of fever.

"But you may be ill, and yet have no fever. Allow me this once to prescribe for you. In the first place, go to bed. In the next--"

"You are mistaken," he interposed, "I am as well as I can expect to be under the excitement which I suffer. If you really wish me well, you will relieve this excitement."

"And how is this to be done?"

"Very easily. Jupiter and myself are going upon an expedition into the hills, upon the mainland, and, in this expedition, we shall need the aid of some person in whom we can confide. You are the only one we can trust. Whether we succeed or fail, the excitement which you now perceive in me will be equally allayed."

"I am anxious to oblige you in any way," I replied; "but do you mean to say that this infernal beetle has any connection with your expedition into the hills."

"It has."

"Then, Legrand, I can become a party to no such absurd proceeding."

"I am sorry--very sorry--for we shall have to try it by ourselves."

"Try it by yourselves! The man is surely mad!--but stay--how long do you propose to be absent?"

"Probably all night. We shall start immediately, and be back, at all events, by sunrise."

"And will you promise me, upon your honor, that when this freak of yours is over and the bug business (good G.o.d!) settled to your satisfaction, you will then return home and follow my advice implicitly, as that of your physician?"