Short Stories Old and New

LLAN POE (

lery, United States Army, from November, 1827, to November, 1828. The atmosphere of the place in Poe's time is well preserved, but no such beetle as the gold-bug has been discovered. Poe may have found a hint for

91, beginning "When, at length, we had concluded our examination," etc. Notice how skillfully the interest is preserved and even heightened as the plot passes from the romantic action of part one to the subtle exposition of part two. These two parts may be said to represent the two sides of Poe's genius, the imagin

merican short-story writer to portray negro character. But Jupiter has been so far surpassed in breadth and reality by Joel Chandler Harris, Thomas Nelson Page, and a score of others as to be almost negligible in the count. In defense of Jupiter's barbarous lingo, which has been often criticized, it should be

nate enthusiasm and melancholy." He had also Poe's passion for puzzles. Jupiter is hardly more than an awkward tool fashioned to display Legrand's analytic and directive genius; and the other character in the story, like D

o! this fellow

bitten by t

n the

wealthy; but a series of misfortunes had reduced him to want. To avoid the mortification consequent upon his disasters, he le

as might be supposed, is scant, or at least dwarfish. No trees of any magnitude are to be seen. Near the western extremity, where Fort Moultrie stands, and where are some miserable frame buildings, tenanted during summer by the fugitives from Charleston dust and fever, may be found, indeed, the bristly palmetto; but the whole island, wit

moods of alternate enthusiasm and melancholy. He had with him many books, but rarely employed them. His chief amusements were gunning and fishing, or sauntering along the beach and through the myrtles in quest of shells or entomological specimens;-his collection of the latter might have been envied by a Swammerdamm. In these excursions he was usually accompanied by an old negro, called Jupiter, who had been manumitted

ergreens to the hut of my friend, whom I had not visited for several weeks-my residence being at that time in Charleston, a distance of nine miles from the island, while the facilities of passage and repassage were very far behind those of the present day. Upon reaching the hut I rapped, as was my custom,

nd was in one of his fits-how else shall I term them?-of enthusiasm. He had found an unknown bivalve, forming a new genus, and, more than this, he had hunted d

g my hands over the blaze, and wishing

is very night of all others? As I was coming home I met Lieutenant G--, from the fort, and, very foolishly, I lent him the bug; so it will be impo

?-sun

of a large hickory-nut-with two jet-black spots near one extremity of

terrupted Jupiter; "de bug is a goole-bug, solid, ebery bit of him, i

rned to me-"is really almost enough to warrant Jupiter's idea. You never saw a more brilliant metallic lustre than the scales emit-but of this you cannot judge till to-morrow. In the me

s still chilly. When the design was complete, he handed it to me without rising. As I received it, a low growl was heard, succeeded by a scratching at the door. Jupiter opened it, and a large Newfoundland, belonging to Legrand, rushed in, leaped u

t confess; new to me; never saw anything like it before-unless it was a skull, or a death's-

nce upon paper, no doubt. The two upper black spots look like eyes, eh? and the

o artist. I must wait until I see the beetle itself,

aw tolerably-should do it at least-have had good maste

specimens of physiology-and your scarab?us must be the queerest scarab?us in the world if it resembles it. Why, we may get up a very thrilling bit of superstition upon this hint. I

t hominis, "death

pon the subject; "I am sure you must see the antenn?. I made them as disti

ruffle his temper; but I was much surprised at the turn affairs had taken; his ill humor puzzled me-and as for the drawing of the beet

oom. Here again he made an anxious examination of the paper; turning it in all directions. He said nothing, however, and his conduct greatly astonished me; yet I thought it prudent not to exacerbate the growing moodiness of his temper by any comment. Presently he took from his coat pocket a wallet, placed the paper carefully in it, and deposited both in a writing-desk, which he locked. He now grew more composed in his demeanor; but his original air of ent

en I received a visit, at Charleston, from his man, Jupiter. I had never seen the good old

what is the matter now

f, massa, him not so b

sorry to hear it. What

r plain of notin-but him

didn't you say so at once

's just whar de shoe pinch-my mind is got

to understand what it

s sick. Hasn't he tol

aint de matter wid him-but den what make him go bout looking dis here way, wid he head

what, J

ighty tight eye pon him noovers. Todder day he gib me slip fore de sun up and was gone de whole ob de blessed day. I had a big stick re

on't flog him, Jupiter-he can't very well stand it-but can you form no idea of what has occasioned

sant since den-'t was fore den I'm fea

at do yo

I mean de b

e w

Massa Will bin bit somewhere b

e you, Jupiter, for

or 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

ter was really bitten by the beetle

dream bout de goole so much, if taint cause he bit by

u know he drea

he talk about it in he

what fortunate circumstances am I to attri

matter,

any message fro

pissel"; and here Jupiter han

hope you have not been so foolish as to take offense at a

. I have something to tell you, yet scarcely know

tions. Would you believe it?-he had prepared a huge stick, the other day, with which to chastise me for giving him the slip

dition to my cabi

piter. Do come. I wish to see you tonight, upon business of i

r y

AM LE

w 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 le

three spades, all apparently new, lying in the

ing of all this,

, massa,

t what are the

s pon my buying for him in de town, and de d

s mysterious, is your 'Massa Will' g

me if I don't believe 'tis more dan he

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 empressement, which alarmed me and strengthened the suspicions alrea

the next morning. Nothing should tempt me to part with that

sked, with a sad f

" He said this with an air of profound ser

ions. Is it any wonder, then, that I prize it? Since Fortune has thought fit to bestow it upon me, I have only

hat 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 bu

d my examination of the beetle, "I sent for you that I might have your

nd had better use some little precautions. You shall go to bed, and I will

pulse,"

truth, found not the slig

Allow me this once to prescribe for you. I

n expect to be under the excitement which I suffer. If y

is this t

this expedition, we shall need the aid of some person in whom we can confide. You are the only one we can

"but do you mean to say that this infernal beetle ha

ha

become a party to no s

y-for we shall have t

is surely mad!-but stay-how lon

start immediately, and be ba

over and the bug business (good God!) settled to your satisfaction, you will

w let us be off, for we

words which escaped his lips during the journey. For my own part, I had charge of a couple of dark lanterns, while Legrand contented himself with the scarab?us, which he carried attached to the end of a bit of whip-cord; twirling it to and fro, with the air of a conjuror, as he went. When I observed this last, plain evidence of my friend's aberration of mind, I could scarcely refrain from tears. I thought it best, howeve

esterly direction, through a tract of country excessively wild and desolate, where no trace of a human footstep was to be seen. Legrand led the way wit

of an almost inaccessible hill, densely wooded from base to pinnacle, and interspersed with huge crags that appeared to lie loosely upon the soil, and in many cases were prevented from precipit

tree, which stood, with some eight or ten oaks, upon the level, and far surpassed them all, and all other trees which I had then ever seen, in the beauty of its foliage and form, in the wide spread of its branches, and in the general majesty of its appearance. When we reached this tree, Legrand turned

imb any tree he ebb

ssible, for it will soon be too

up, massa?" in

n I will tell you which way to go-and

he negro, drawing back in dismay-"what for

dead beetle, why, you can carry it up by this string-but, if you do not take it up with

Was only funnin anyhow. Me feered de bug! what I keer for de bug?" Here he took cautiously hold of the extreme end of th

arance on the stem. Thus the difficulty of ascension, in the present case, lay more in semblance than in reality. Embracing the huge cylinder, as closely as possible, with his arms and knees, seizing with his hands some projections, and resting his naked toes upon others, Jupiter, aft

go now, Massa W

rently with but little trouble, ascending higher and higher, until no glimpse of his squat figure could b

fudder is

are you?" a

the negro; "can see de s

Look down the trunk and count the limbs below y

be-I done pass fibe big l

one lim

heard again, announcing that

want you to work your way out upon that limb as far

rest. I had no alternative but to conclude him stricken with lunacy, and I became seriously anxious abou

dis limb berry far-'t is dead

limb, Jupiter?" cried Leg

oor-nail-done up for sartain-

all I do?" asked Legrand, seem

hy come home and go to bed. Come now!-that's a fine fellow.

thout heeding me in the

ll, hear you e

with your knife, and see i

w moments, "but not so berry rotten as mought be. Mought

lf!-what d

pose I drop him down fuss, and den de limb w

do you mean by telling me such nonsense as that? As sure as you let tha

n't hollo at poor

far as you think safe, and not let go the beetle, I'll mak

s," replied the negro very prom

reamed Legrand, "do you say you

o-o-o-o-oh! Lorgol-a-marcy!

and, highly deligh

bin lef him head up de tree, and de crow

ll!-how is it fastened to

s sarcumstance, pon my word-dare's a great big na

do exactly as I te

, ma

en!-find the left

ood! why, dar aint

do you know your righ

bout dat-'tis my lef hand

de as your left hand. Now, I suppose you can find the left eye of the

same side as de lef hand of de skull, too?-cause de skull aint got not a bit ob a

as the string will reach-but be careful

easy ting for to put de bug fru de

rays of the setting sun, some of which still faintly illumined the eminence upon which we stood. The scarab?us hung quite clear of any branches, and, if allowed to fall, would have fallen at our feet. Legrand immed

lled 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 at

ce; 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 fantasy had received confirmation by the finding of the scarab?us, or, perhaps, by Jupiter's obstinacy in maintaining it to be "a bug of real gold." A mind disposed to

upon our persons and implements, I could not help thinking how picturesque a group we composed, and how strange and

is 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

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,

nd strode up to Jupiter, and seized him by the collar. The astonished negro opened hi

is clenched teeth-"you infernal black villain!-speak, I tell you!-answe

d Jupiter, placing his hand upon his right organ of vision, and holding it there with

g a series of curvets and caracoles, much to the astonishment of his valet, who, arising f

tter, "the game's not up yet;" and h

ome here! Was the skull nailed to the limb with

at de crows could get at de e

ough which you dropped the beetle?" here

s as you tell me," and here it was h

o-we must tr

o 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 con

ly, 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 s

treme disappointment. He urged us, however, to continue our exertions, and the words were hardly uttered when I stumbl

alf feet deep. It was firmly secured by bands of wrought iron, riveted, and forming a kind of trellis-work 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 rem

ce wore, for some minutes, as deadly a pallor as it is possible, in the nature of things, for any negro's visage to assume. He seemed stupefied -thunder-stricken. Presently he fell upon his kne

oor little goole-bug, what I boosed in dat sabage kind ob

o 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 just now. We rested until tw

denied us repose. After an unquiet slumber of some three or four hours' d

no American money. The value of the jewels we found more difficulty in estimating. There were diamonds-some of them exceedingly large and fine-a hundred and ten in all, and not one of them small; eighteen rubies of remarkable brilliancy; three hundred and ten emeralds, all very beautiful; and twenty-one sapphires, with an opal. These stones had all been broken from their settings and thrown loose in the chest. The settings themselves, which we picked out from among the other gold, appeared to have been beaten up with hammers, as if to prevent identification. Besides all this, there was a vast quantity of solid gold ornaments: nearly two hundred massive finger and ear-rings; rich chains-thirty of these, if I remember; eighty-three very large and heavy crucifixes; five gold censers of great value; a prodigious golden punch-bowl

some measure subsided, Legrand, who saw that I was dying with impatience for a solution of this

en you first made this assertion I thought you were jesting; but afterwards I called to mind the peculiar spots on the back of the insect, and admitted to myself that your remark had some little foundation in fac

paper, you m

ng it over, I saw my own sketch upon the reverse, just as I had made it. My first idea, now, was mere surprise at the really remarkable similarity of outline-at the singular coincidence involved in the fact that, unknown to me, there should have been a skull upon the other side of the parchment, immediately beneath my figure of the scarab?us, and that this skull, not only in outline, but in size, should so closely resemble my drawing. I say the singularity of this coincidence absolutely stupefied me for a time. This is the usual effect of such coincidences. The mind struggles to establish a connection-a sequence of cause and effect-and, being unable to do so, suffers a species of temporary paralysis. But, when I recovered from this stupor, there dawned upon me gradually a conviction which startl

above high-water mark. Upon my taking hold of it, it gave me a sharp bite, which caused me to let it drop. Jupiter, with his accustomed caution, before seizing the insect, which had flown towards him, looked about him for a leaf, or something of that nature, by which to take hold of it. It was at this moment that his eyes, and mine also, fell upon the

On my consenting, he thrust it forthwith into his waistcoat pocket, without the parchment in which it had been wrapped, and which I had continued to hold in my hand during his inspection. Perhaps he dreaded my changing my mind, and

ept. I looked in the drawer, and found none there. I searched my pockets, hoping to find an old letter, and then my hand fell upon the

oat lying on a seacoast, and not far from the boat was a parchment-not a paper-with a skull depicted on it. You will, of course, ask 'where is the co

t is not nearly so well adapted as paper. This reflection suggested some meaning-some relevancy-in the death's-head. I did not fail to observe, also, the form of the parchment. Although one of its corners had been, by some

then do you trace any connection between the boat and the skull-since this latter, according to your own admission,

ult. I reasoned, for example, thus: When I drew the scarab?us, there was no skull apparent on the parchment. When I had completed the drawing I gave it to you, and observed you n

essed him and kept him off, while your right, holding the parchment, was permitted to fall listlessly between your knees, and in close proximity to the fire. At one moment I thought the blaze had caught it, and was about to caution you, but, before I could speak, you had withdrawn it, and were engaged in its examination. When I considered all these particulars, I doubted not for a moment that heat had been the agent in bringing to light, on the parchment, the skull which I saw designed on it. You are well aware that chemical preparatio

. I immediately kindled a fire, and subjected every portion of the parchment to a glowing heat. At first, the only effect was the strengthening of the faint lines in the skull; but, on persevering in the experiment, there became vis

r mirth-but you are not about to establish a third link in your chain: you will not find any especial connection betwe

d that the figure wa

hen-pretty much

ieroglyphical signature. I say signature, because its position on the vellum suggested this idea. The death's-head at the corner diagonally opposite had, in the

find a letter between the

he bug being of solid gold, had a remarkable effect on my fancy? And then the series of accidents and coincidences-these were so very extraordinary. Do you observe how mere an accident it was that these events should have occurred on the sole day of all the year in

d-I am all

concealed his plunder for a time, and afterwards reclaimed it, the rumors would scarcely have reached us in their present unvarying form. You will observe that the stories told are all about money-seekers, not about money-finders. Had the pirate recovered his money, there the affair would have dropped. It seemed to me that some accident-say the loss of a memorandum indicating its locality-had deprived him of

ev

rth still held them; and you will scarcely be surprised when I tell you that I felt a hope, nearly amoun

did you

water over it, and, having done this, I placed it in a tin pan, with the skull downwards, and put the pan upon a furnace of lighted charcoal. In a few minutes, the pan having become thoroughly heated, I removed the slip, and, to my ine

to my inspection. The following characters were rudely tr

8*96*?;8)*$(:485);5*+2:*$(;4956*2(5*-4)8?8*;4069285);)6+8)4 $$;1($9;4

ever. Were all the jewels of Golconda awaiting me on my solution o

t readily guess, form a cipher-that is to say, they convey a meaning; but then, from what is known of Kidd, I could not suppose him capable of constructing any of the more abstruse c

really so

such riddles, and it may well be doubted whether human ingenuity can construct an enigma of the kind which human ingenuity may not, by proper application

here is no alternative but experiment (directed by probabilities) of every tongue known to him who attempts the solution, until the true one be attained. But, with the cipher now before us, all difficulty is removed by the signature. The pun upon the word 'Kidd' is appreciable in no oth

collation and analysis of the shorter words, and, had a word of a single letter occurred, as is most likely (a or I, for example), I should have considered the solution a

racter 8 t

"

"

"

"

"

"

"

"

"

.

hus: a o i d h n r s t u y c f g l m w b k p q x z. E predominates, however, so remarkably that

y require its aid. As our predominant character is 8, we will commence by assuming it as the e of the natural alphabet. To verify the supposition, let us observe if the 8 be seen often in couples-for e is doubled wi

on, the last of them being 8. If we discover repetitions of such letters, so arranged, they will most probably represent the word 'the.' On inspection, we find no less than seven such arrangements,

to the last instance but one, in which the combination ;48 occurs-not far from the end of the cipher. We know that the semicolon immediately ensuing is the commencement of a word, and, of th

ee

with the first t; since, by experiment of the entire alphabet for a letter adapted to the vacancy

the word 'tree' as the sole possible reading. We thus gain another le

see the combination ;48, and employ it by way of termination

ee;4($

natural letters, wher

e thr$?

characters, we leave blank spaces,

e thr..

t once. But this discovery gives us three new

combinations of known characters, we find, no

, or

f the word 'degree,' and gives us a

he word 'degree,' we p

(;8

s, and representing the unknown

.r

d 'thirteen,' and again furnishing us with two n

ginning of the cryptograph

$$

g as before

o

st letter is A, and that the

we arrange our key, as far as discovere

" e 3 " g 4 " h 6 " i

convince you that ciphers of this nature are readily soluble, and to give you some insight into the rationale of their development. But be assured that the specimen before u

een minutes northeast and by north main branch seventh limb east side shoot from the l

ever. How is it possible to extort a meaning from all this jargo

ect, when regarded with a casual glance. My first endeavor was to divide

, to punc

ng of th

t possible to

rly certain to overdo the matter. When, in the course of his composition, he arrived at a break in his subject which would naturally require a pause, or a point, he would be exceedingly apt to run his characters

een minutes-northeast and by north-main branch seventh limb east side-shoot from the l

" said I, "leaves me

ding my sphere of search, and proceeding in a more systematic manner, when one morning it entered into my head, quite suddenly, that this 'Bishop's Hostel' might have some reference to an old family, of the name of Bessop, which, time out of mind, had held possession of an ancient manor-house, about four miles to the northward o

missing her, I proceeded to examine the place. The 'castle' consisted of an irregular assemblage of cliffs and rocks-one of the latter being quite remarkabl

projected about eighteen inches, and was not more than a foot wide, while a niche in the cliff just above it gave it a rude resemblance to one of the hollow-bac

e to be used, and a definite point of view, admitting no variation, from which to use it. Nor did I hesitate to believe that the phrases 'twenty-one degrees and thirteen minutes,' and '

ce the horizontal direction was clearly indicated by the words, 'northeast and by north.' This latter direction I at once established by means of a pocket-compass; then, pointing the glass as nearly at an angle of twenty-one degrees of elevation as I could do it by guess, I moved it cautiously up or down, until my atten

d, also, of but one interpretation, in regard to a search for buried treasure. I perceived that the design was to drop a bullet from the left eye of the skull, and that a bee-line, or in other words, a straight line, drawn from the nearest poin

, although ingenious, still simple and explici

I get a glimpse of it afterwards, turn as I would. What seems to me the chief ingenuity in this whole business, is the fact (for repeated experiment has convinced m

pecial care not to leave me alone. But on the next day, getting up very early, I contrived to give him the slip, and went into the hills in search of the tree. After m

at digging, through Jupiter's stupidity in letting the bug fall

of little moment; but the 'shot,' together with the nearest point of the tree, were merely two points for the establishment of a line of direction; of course the error, however trivial in the beginning, increased as we p

s eye-was suggested to Kidd by the piratical flag. No doubt he felt a kind of

ency. To be visible from the Devil's seat, it was necessary that the object, if small, should be white; and there is not

-how excessively odd! I was sure you were mad. And why did you in

h you quietly, in my own way, by a little bit of sober mystification. For this reason I swung the beetle, and for

ne point which puzzles me. What are we to

d imply. It is clear that Kidd-if Kidd indeed secreted this treasure, which I doubt not-it is clear that he must have had assistance in the labor. But, the worst of this labor concluded, he may have thou