Collected Works of Poe by Edgar Allan Poe (beautiful books to read TXT) đ
- Author: Edgar Allan Poe
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In the inmost recesses of this coppice, not far from the eastern or more remote end of the island, Legrand had built himself a small hut, which he occupied when I first, by mere accident, made his acquaintance. This soon ripened into friendshipâfor there was much in the recluse to excite interest and esteem. I found him well educated, with unusual powers of mind, but infected with misanthropy, and subject to perverse 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;âhis 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 before the reverses of the family, but who could be induced, neither by threats nor by promises, to abandon what he considered his right of attendance upon the footsteps of his young âMassa Will.â It is not improbable that the relatives of Legrand, conceiving him to be somewhat unsettled in intellect, had contrived to instil this obstinacy into Jupiter, with a view to the supervision and guardianship of the wanderer.
The winters in the latitude of Sullivanâs Island are seldom very severe, and in the fall of the year it is a rare event indeed when a fire is considered necessary. About the middle of October, 18-, there occurred, however, a day of remarkable chilliness. Just before sunset I scrambled my way through the evergreens to the hut of my friend, whom I had not visited for several weeksâmy residence being, at that time, in Charleston, a distance of nine miles from the Island, while the facilities of passage and re-passage were very far behind those of the present day. Upon reaching the hut I rapped, as was my custom, and getting no reply, sought for the key where I knew it was secreted, unlocked the door and went in. A fine fire was blazing upon the hearth. It was a novelty, and by no means an ungrateful one. I threw off an overcoat, took an arm-chair by the crackling logs, and awaited patiently the arrival of my hosts.
Soon after dark they arrived, and gave me a most cordial welcome. Jupiter, grinning from ear to ear, bustled about to prepare some marsh-hens for supper. Legrand was in one of his fitsâhow else shall I term them?âof enthusiasm. He had found an unknown bivalve, forming a new genus, and, more than this, he had hunted down and secured, with Jupiterâs assistance, a scarabĂŠus which he believed to be totally new, but in respect to which he wished to have my opinion on the morrow.
âAnd why not to-night?â I asked, rubbing my hands over the blaze, and wishing the whole tribe of scarabĂŠi at the devil.
âAh, if I had only known you were here!â said Legrand, âbut itâs so long since I saw you; and how could I foresee that you would pay me a visit this very night of all others? As I was coming home I met Lieutenant Gâ, from the fort, and, very foolishly, I lent him the bug; so it will be impossible for you to see it until the morning. Stay here to-night, and I will send Jup down for it at sunrise. It is the loveliest thing in creation!â
âWhat?âsunrise?â
âNonsense! no!âthe bug. It is of a brilliant gold colorâabout the size of a large hickory-nutâwith two jet black spots near one extremity of the back, and another, somewhat longer, at the other. The antennĂŠ areââ
âDey aint no tin in him, Massa Will, I keep a tellin on you,â here interrupted Jupiter; âde bug is a goole bug, solid, ebery bit of him, inside and all, sep him wingâneber feel half so hebby a bug in my life.â
âWell, suppose it is, Jup,â replied Legrand, somewhat more earnestly, it seemed to me, than the case demanded, âis that any reason for your letting the birds burn? The colorââhere he turned to meââis really almost enough to warrant Jupiterâs idea. You never saw a more brilliant metallic lustre than the scales emitâbut of this you cannot judge till tomorrow. In the mean time I can give you some idea of the shape.â Saying this, he seated himself at a small table, on which were a pen and ink, but no paper. He looked for some in a drawer, but found none.
âNever mind,â said he at length, âthis will answer;â and he drew from his waistcoat pocket a scrap of what I took to be very dirty foolscap, and made upon it a rough drawing with the pen. While he did this, I retained my seat by the fire, for I was still chilly. When the design was complete, he handed it to me without rising. As I received it, a loud growl was heard, succeeded by a scratching at the door. Jupiter opened it, and a large Newfoundland, belonging to Legrand, rushed in, leaped upon my shoulders, and loaded me with caresses; for I had shown him much attention during previous visits. When his gambols were over, I looked at the paper, and, to speak the truth, found myself not a little puzzled at what my friend had depicted.
âWell!â I said, after contemplating it for some minutes, âthis is a strange scarabĂŠus, I must confess: new to me: never saw anything like it beforeâunless it was a skull, or a deathâs-headâwhich it more nearly resembles than anything else that has come under my observation.â
âA deathâs-head!â echoed LegrandââOhâyesâwell, it has something of that appearance upon paper, no doubt. The two upper black spots look like eyes, eh? and the longer one at the bottom like a mouthâand then the shape of the whole is oval.â
âPerhaps so,â said I; âbut, Legrand, I fear you are no artist. I must wait until I see the beetle itself, if I am to form any idea of its personal appearance.â
âWell, I donât know,â said he, a little nettled, âI draw tolerablyâshould do it at leastâhave had good masters, and flatter myself that I am not quite a blockhead.â
âBut, my dear fellow, you are joking then,â said I, âthis is a very passable skullâindeed, I may say that it is a very excellent skull, according to the vulgar notions about such specimens of physiologyâand your scarabĂŠus must be the queerest scarabĂŠus in the world if it resembles it. Why, we may get up a very thrilling bit of superstition upon this hint. I presume you will call the bug scarabĂŠus caput hominis, or something of that kindâthere are many similar titles in the Natural Histories. But where are the antennĂŠ you spoke of?â
âThe antennĂŠ!â said Legrand, who seemed to be getting unaccountably warm upon the subject; âI am sure you must see the antennĂŠ. I made them as distinct as they are in the original insect, and I presume that is sufficient.â
âWell, well,â I said, âperhaps you haveâstill I donât see them;â and I handed him the paper without additional remark, not wishing to ruffle his temper; but I was much surprised at the turn affairs had taken; his ill humor puzzled meâand, as for the drawing of the beetle, there were positively no antennĂŠ visible, and the whole did bear a very close resemblance to the ordinary cuts of a deathâs-head.
He received the paper very peevishly, and was about to crumple it, apparently to throw it in the fire, when a casual glance at the design seemed suddenly to rivet his attention. In an instant his face grew violently redâin another as excessively pale. For some minutes he continued to scrutinize the drawing minutely where he sat. At length he arose, took a candle from the table, and proceeded to seat himself upon a sea-chest in the farthest corner of the room. 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 enthusiasm had quite disappeared. Yet he seemed not so much sulky as abstracted. As the evening wore away he became more and more absorbed in reverie, from which no sallies of mine could arouse him. It had been my intention to pass the night at the hut, as I had frequently done before, but, seeing my host in this mood, I deemed it proper to take leave. He did not press me to remain, but, as I departed, he shook my hand with even more than his usual cordiality.
It was about a month after this (and during the interval I had seen nothing of Legrand) when I received a visit, at Charleston, from his man, Jupiter. I had never seen the good old negro look so dispirited, and I feared that some serious disaster had befallen my friend.
âWell, Jup,â said I, âwhat is the matter now?âhow is your master?â
âWhy, to speak de troof, massa, him not so berry well as mought be.â
âNot well! I am truly sorry to hear it. What does he complain of?â
âDar! datâs it!âhim neber plain of notinâbut him berry sick for all dat.â
âVery sick, Jupiter!âwhy didnât you say so at once? Is he confined to bed?â
âNo, dat he aint!âhe aint find nowharâdatâs just whar de shoe pinchâmy mind is got to be berry hebby bout poor Massa Will.â
âJupiter, I should like to understand what it is you are talking about. You say your master is sick. Hasnât he told you what ails him?â
âWhy, massa, taint worf while for to git mad about de matterâMassa Will say noffin at all aint de matter wid himâbut den what make him go about looking dis here way, wid he head down and he soldiers up, and as white as a gose? And den he keep a syphon all de timeââ
âKeeps a what, Jupiter?â
âKeeps a syphon wid de figgurs on de slateâde queerest figgurs I ebber did see. Ise gittin to be skeered, I tell you. Hab for to keep mighty 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 ready cut for to gib him deuced good beating when he did comeâbut Ise sich a fool dat I hadnât de heart arter allâhe look so berry poorly.â
âEh?âwhat?âah yes!âupon the whole I think you had better not be too severe with the poor fellowâdonât flog him, Jupiterâhe canât very well stand itâbut can you form no idea of what has occasioned this illness, or rather this change of conduct? Has anything unpleasant happened since I saw you?â
âNo, massa, dey aint bin noffin unpleasant since denââtwas fore den Iâm fearedââtwas de berry day you was dare.â
âHow? what do you mean?â
âWhy, massa, I mean de bugâdare now.â
âThe what?â
âDe bug,âIâm berry sartain dat Massa Will bin bit somewhere bout de head by dat goole-bug.â
âAnd what cause have you, Jupiter, for such a supposition?â
âClaws enuff, massa, and mouth too. I nebber did see sick a deuced bugâhe kick and he bite ebery ting what cum near him. Massa Will cotch him fuss, but had for to let him go gin mighty quick, I tell youâden was de time he must ha got de bite. I did nât like de look oh de bug mouff, myself, no how, so I
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