Why dis berry curous sarcumstance,
      pon my word—dare’s a great big nail in de skull, what fastens ob
      it on to de tree.”

      “Well now, Jupiter, do exactly as I tell you—do you hear?”

      “Yes, massa.”

      “Pay attention, then—find the left eye of the skull.”

      “Hum! hoo! dat’s good! why dare aint no eye lef at all.”

      “Curse your stupidity! do you know your right hand from your
      left?”

      “Yes, I knows dat—knows all about dat—’tis my lef hand what I
      chops de wood wid.”

      “To be sure! you are left-handed; and your left eye is on the
      same side as your left hand. Now, I 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 a long pause. At length the negro asked,

      “Is de lef eye of de skull pon de same side as de lef hand of de
      skull, too?—cause de skull aint got not a bit ob a hand at
      all—nebber mind! I got de lef eye now—here de lef eye! what mus
      do wid it?”

      “Let the beetle drop through it, as far as the string will
      reach—but be careful and not let go your hold of the string.”

      “All 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 descend, was now
      visible at the end of the string, and glistened, like a globe of
      burnished gold, in the last rays of the setting sun, some of
      which still faintly illumined the eminence upon which we stood. The _scarabæus_ hung quite clear of any branches, and, if allowed
      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
      accomplished this, ordered Jupiter to let go the string and come
      down from the tree. Driving a peg, with great nicety, into the ground, at the precise
      spot where the beetle fell, my friend now produced from his
      pocket a tape measure. Fastening one end of this at that point of
      the trunk, of the tree which was nearest the peg, he unrolled it
      till it reached the peg, and thence farther unrolled it, in the
      direction already established by the two points of the tree and
      the peg, for the distance of fifty feet—Jupiter clearing away the
      brambles with the scythe. At the spot thus attained a second peg
      was driven, and about this, as a centre, a rude circle, about
      four feet in diameter, described. Taking now a spade himself, and
      giving one to Jupiter and one to me, Legrand begged us to set
      about digging as quickly as possible. To speak the truth, I 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 I felt much
      fatigued with the exercise already taken; but I saw no mode of
      escape, and was fearful of disturbing my poor friend’s equanimity
      by a refusal. Could I have depended, indeed, upon Jupiter’s aid,
      I would have had no hesitation in attempting to get the lunatic
      home by force; but I was too well assured of the old negro’s
      disposition, to hope that he would assist me, under any
      circumstances, in a personal contest with his master. I made no
      doubt that the latter had been infected with some of the
      innumerable Southern superstitions about money buried, and that
      his phantasy had received confirmation by the finding of the
      _scarabæus_, or, perhaps, by Jupiter’s obstinacy in maintaining
      it to be “a bug of real gold.” A mind disposed to lunacy would
      readily be led away by such suggestions—especially if chiming in
      with favorite preconceived ideas—and then I called to mind the
      poor fellow’s speech about the beetle’s being “the index of his
      fortune.” Upon the whole, I was sadly vexed and puzzled, but, at
      length, I concluded to make a virtue of necessity—to dig with a
      good will, and thus the sooner to convince the visionary, by
      ocular demonstration, of the fallacy of the opinions he
      entertained. The lanterns having been lit, we all fell to work with a zeal
      worthy a more rational cause; and, as the glare fell upon our
      persons and implements, I could not help thinking how picturesque
      a group we composed, and how strange and suspicious our labors
      must have appeared to any interloper who, by chance, might have
      stumbled upon our whereabouts. We dug very steadily for two hours. Little was said; and our
      chief embarrassment lay in the yelpings of the dog, who took
      exceeding interest in our proceedings. He, at length, became so
      obstreperous that we grew fearful of his giving the alarm to some
      stragglers in the vicinity—or, rather, this was the apprehension
      of Legrand;—for myself, I should have rejoiced at any
      interruption which might have enabled me to get the wanderer
      home. The noise was, at length, very effectually silenced by
      Jupiter, who, getting out of the hole with a dogged air of
      deliberation, tied the brute’s mouth up with one of his
      suspenders, and then returned, with a grave chuckle, to his task. When the time mentioned had expired, we had reached a depth of
      five feet, and yet no signs of any treasure became manifest. A
      general pause ensued, and I began to hope that the farce was at
      an end. Legrand, however, although evidently much disconcerted,
      wiped his brow thoughtfully and recommenced. We had excavated the
      entire circle of four feet diameter, and now we slightly enlarged
      the limit, and went to the farther depth of two feet. Still
      nothing appeared. The gold-seeker, whom I sincerely pitied, at
      length clambered from the pit, with the bitterest disappointment
      imprinted upon every feature, and proceeded, slowly and
      reluctantly, to put on his coat, which he had thrown off at the
      beginning of his labor. In the mean time I made no remark. Jupiter, at a signal from his master, began to gather up his
      tools. This done, and the dog having been unmuzzled, we turned in
      profound silence towards home. We had taken, perhaps, a dozen steps in this direction, when,
      with a loud oath, Legrand strode up to Jupiter, and seized him by
      the collar. The astonished negro opened his eyes and mouth to the
      fullest extent, let fall the spades, and fell upon his knees. “You scoundrel,” said Legrand, hissing out the syllables from
      between his clenched teeth—“you infernal black villain!—speak, I
      tell you!—answer me this instant, without
      prevarication!—which—which is your left eye?”

      “Oh, my golly, Massa Will!