aint dis here my lef eye for sartain?”
      roared the terrified Jupiter, placing his hand upon his right
      organ of vision, and holding it there with a desperate
      pertinacity, as if in immediate dread of his master’s attempt at
      a gouge. “I thought so!—I knew it! hurrah!” vociferated Legrand, letting
      the negro go, and executing a series of curvets and caracols,
      much to the astonishment of his valet, who, arising from his
      knees, looked, mutely, from his master to myself, and then from
      myself to his master. “Come! we must go back,” said the latter, “the game’s not up
      yet;” and he again led the way to the tulip-tree. “Jupiter,” said he, when we reached its foot, “come here! was the
      skull nailed to the limb with the face outwards, or with the face
      to the limb?”

      “De face was out, massa, so dat de crows could get at de eyes
      good, widout any trouble.”

      “Well, then, was it this eye or that through which you dropped
      the beetle?”—here Legrand touched each of Jupiter’s eyes. “’Twas dis eye, massa—de lef eye—jis as you tell me,” and here it
      was his right eye that the negro indicated. “That will do—we must try it again.”

      Here my friend, about whose madness I now saw, or fancied that I
      saw, certain indications of method, removed the peg which marked
      the spot where the beetle fell, to a spot about three inches to
      the westward of its former position. Taking, now, the tape
      measure from the nearest point of the trunk to the peg, as
      before, and continuing the extension in a straight line to the
      distance of fifty feet, a spot was indicated, removed, by several
      yards, from the point at which we had been digging. Around the new position a circle, somewhat larger than in the
      former instance, was now described, and we again set to work with
      the spades. I was dreadfully weary, but, scarcely understanding
      what had occasioned the change in my thoughts, I felt no longer
      any great aversion from the labor imposed. I had become most
      unaccountably interested—nay, even excited. Perhaps there was
      something, amid all the extravagant demeanor of Legrand—some air
      of forethought, or of deliberation, which impressed me. I dug
      eagerly, and now and then caught myself actually looking, with
      something that very much resembled expectation, for the fancied
      treasure, the vision of which had demented my unfortunate
      companion. At a period when such vagaries of thought most fully
      possessed me, and when we had been at work perhaps an hour and a
      half, we were again interrupted by the violent howlings of the
      dog. His uneasiness, in the first instance, had been, evidently,
      but the result of playfulness or caprice, but he now assumed a
      bitter and serious tone. Upon Jupiter’s again attempting to
      muzzle him, he made furious resistance, and, leaping into the
      hole, tore up the mould frantically with his claws. In a few
      seconds he had uncovered a mass of human bones, forming two
      complete skeletons, intermingled with several buttons of metal,
      and what appeared to be the dust of decayed woollen. One or two
      strokes of a spade upturned the blade of a large Spanish knife,
      and, as we dug farther, three or four loose pieces of gold and
      silver coin came to light. At sight of these the joy of Jupiter could scarcely be
      restrained, but the countenance of his master wore an air of
      extreme disappointment. He urged us, however, to continue our
      exertions, and the words were hardly uttered when I stumbled and
      fell forward, having caught the toe of my boot in a large ring of
      iron that lay half buried in the loose earth. We now worked in earnest, and never did I pass ten minutes of
      more intense excitement. During this interval we had fairly
      unearthed an oblong chest of wood, which, from its perfect
      preservation and wonderful hardness, had plainly been subjected
      to some mineralizing process—perhaps that of the bi-chloride of
      mercury. This box was three feet and a half long, three feet
      broad, and two and a half feet deep. It was firmly secured by
      bands of wrought iron, riveted, and forming a kind of open
      trelliswork over the whole. On each side of the chest, near the
      top, were three rings of iron—six in all—by means of which a firm
      hold could be obtained by six persons. Our utmost united
      endeavors served only to disturb the coffer very slightly in its
      bed. We at once saw the impossibility of removing so great a
      weight. Luckily, the sole fastenings of the lid consisted of two
      sliding bolts. These we drew back—trembling and panting with
      anxiety. In an instant, a treasure of incalculable value lay
      gleaming before us. As the rays of the lanterns fell within the
      pit, there flashed upwards a glow and a glare, from a confused
      heap of gold and of jewels, that absolutely dazzled our eyes. I shall not pretend to describe the feelings with which I gazed. Amazement was, of course, predominant. Legrand appeared exhausted
      with excitement, and spoke very few words. Jupiter’s countenance
      wore, for some minutes, as deadly a pallor as it is possible, in
      nature of things, for any negro’s visage to assume. He seemed
      stupefied—thunderstricken. Presently he fell upon his knees in
      the pit, and, burying his naked arms up to the elbows in gold,
      let them there remain, as if enjoying the luxury of a bath. At
      length, with a deep sigh, he exclaimed, as if in a soliloquy:

      “And dis all cum ob de goole-bug! de putty goole-bug! de poor
      little goole-bug, what I boosed in dat sabage kind ob style! Aint
      you shamed ob yourself, nigger?—answer me dat!”

      It became necessary, at last, that I should arouse both master
      and valet to the expediency of removing the treasure. It was
      growing late, and it behooved us to make exertion, that we might
      get every thing housed before daylight. It was difficult to say
      what should be done, and much time was spent in deliberation—so
      confused were the ideas of all. We, finally, lightened the box by
      removing two thirds of its contents, when we were enabled, with
      some trouble, to raise it from the hole. The articles taken out
      were deposited among the brambles, and the dog left to guard
      them, with strict orders from Jupiter neither, upon any pretence,
      to stir from the spot, nor to open his mouth until our return. We
      then hurriedly made for home with the chest; reaching the hut in
      safety, but after excessive toil, at one o’clock in the morning. Worn out as we were, it was not in human nature to do more
      immediately.