Collected Works of Poe by Edgar Allan Poe (beautiful books to read TXT) đ
- Author: Edgar Allan Poe
- Performer: -
Book online «Collected Works of Poe by Edgar Allan Poe (beautiful books to read TXT) đ». Author Edgar Allan Poe
âWhat de matter now, massa?â said Jup, evidently shamed into compliance; âalways want for to raise fuss wid old nigger. Was only funnin any how. Me feered de bug! what I keer for de bug?â Here he took cautiously hold of the extreme end of the string, and, maintaining the insect as far from his person as circumstances would permit, prepared to ascend the tree.
In youth, the tulip-tree, or Liriodendron Tulipferum, the most magnificent of American foresters, has a trunk peculiarly smooth, and often rises to a great height without lateral branches; but, in its riper age, the bark becomes gnarled and uneven, while many short limbs make their appearance 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, after one or two narrow escapes from falling, at length wriggled himself into the first great fork, and seemed to consider the whole business as virtually accomplished. The risk of the achievement was, in fact, now over, although the climber was some sixty or seventy feet from the ground.
âWhich way mus go now, Massa Will?â he asked.
âKeep up the largest branchâthe one on this side,â said Legrand. The negro obeyed him promptly, and apparently with but little trouble; ascending higher and higher, until no glimpse of his squat figure could be obtained through the dense foliage which enveloped it. Presently his voice was heard in a sort of halloo.
âHow much fudder is got for go?â
âHow high up are you?â asked Legrand.
âEbber so fur,â replied the negro; âcan see de sky fru de top ob de tree.â
âNever mind the sky, but attend to what I say. Look down the trunk and count the limbs below you on this side. How many limbs have you passed?â
âOne, two, tree, four, fibeâI done pass fibe big limb, massa, pon dis side.â
âThen go one limb higher.â
In a few minutes the voice was heard again, announcing that the seventh limb was attained.
âNow, Jup,â cried Legrand, evidently much excited, âI want you to work your way out upon that limb as far as you can. If you see anything strange, let me know.â By this time what little doubt I might have entertained of my poor friendâs insanity, was put finally at rest. I had no alternative but to conclude him stricken with lunacy, and I became seriously anxious about getting him home. While I was pondering upon what was best to be done, Jupiterâs voice was again heard.
âMos feerd for to ventur pon dis limb berry farâtis dead limb putty much all de way.â
âDid you say it was a dead limb, Jupiter?â cried Legrand in a quavering voice.
âYes, massa, him dead as de door-nailâdone up for sartainâdone departed dis here life.â
âWhat in the name heaven shall I do?â asked Legrand, seemingly in the greatest distress. âDo!â said I, glad of an opportunity to interpose a word, âwhy come home and go to bed. Come now!âthatâs a fine fellow. Itâs getting late, and, besides, you remember your promise.â
âJupiter,â cried he, without heeding me in the least, âdo you hear me?â
âYes, Massa Will, hear you ebber so plain.â
âTry the wood well, then, with your knife, and see if you think it very rotten.â
âHim rotten, massa, sure nuff,â replied the negro in a few moments, âbut not so berry rotten as mought be. Mought ventur out leetle way pon de limb by myself, datâs true.â
âBy yourself!âwhat do you mean?â
âWhy I mean de bug. âTis berry hebby bug. Spose I drop him down fuss, and den de limb wonât break wid just de weight ob one nigger.â
âYou infernal scoundrel!â cried Legrand, apparently much relieved, âwhat do you mean by telling me such nonsense as that? As sure as you drop that beetle Iâll break your neck. Look here, Jupiter, do you hear me?â
âYes, massa, neednât hollo at poor nigger dat style.â
âWell! now listen!âif you will venture out on the limb as far as you think safe, and not let go the beetle, Iâll make you a present of a silver dollar as soon as you get down.â
âIâm gwine, Massa Willâdeed I is,â replied the negro very promptlyââmos out to the eend now.â
âOut to the end!â here fairly screamed Legrand, âdo you say you are out to the end of that limb?â
âSoon be to de eend, massa,âo-o-o-o-oh! Lor-gol-a-marcy! what is dis here pon de tree?â
âWell!â cried Legrand, highly delighted, âwhat is it?â
âWhy taint noffin but a skullâsomebody bin lef him head up de tree, and de crows done gobble ebery bit ob de meat off.â
âA skull, you say!âvery well!âhow is it fastened to the limb?âwhat holds it on?â
âSure nuff, massa; mus look. Why dis berry curous sarcumstance, pon my wordâdareâs a great big nail in de skull, what fastens ob it on to de tree.â
âWell now, Jupiter, do exactly as I tell youâdo you hear?â
âYes, massa.â
âPay attention, then!âfind the left eye of the skull.â
âHum! hoo! datâs good! why dare aint no eye lef at all.â
âCurse your stupidity! do you know your right hand from your left?â
âYes, I nose datânose all bout datâtis my lef hand what I chops de wood wid.â
âTo 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?â
Here was a long pause. At length the negro asked,
âIs de lef eye of de skull pon de same side as de lef hand of de skull, too?âcause de skull aint got not a bit ob a hand at allânebber mind! I got de lef eye nowâhere de lef eye! what mus do wid it?â
âLet the beetle drop through it, as far as the string will reachâbut be careful and not let go your hold of the string.â
âAll dat done, Massa Will; mighty easy ting for to put de bug fru de holeâlook out for him dare below!â
During this colloquy no portion of Jupiterâs 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 scarabĂŠus 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 feetâJupiter 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 friendâs equanimity by a refusal. Could I have depended, indeed, upon Jupiterâs 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 negroâs 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 scarabĂŠus, or, perhaps, by Jupiterâs obstinacy in maintaining it to be âa bug of real gold.â A mind disposed to lunacy would readily be led away by such suggestionsâespecially if chiming in with favorite preconceived ideasâand then I called to mind the poor fellowâs speech about the beetleâs being âthe index of his fortune.â Upon the whole, I was sadly vexed and puzzled, but, at length, I concluded to make a virtue of necessityâto 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;âor, rather, this was the apprehension of Legrand;âfor 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 bruteâs 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.
âYou scoundrel,â said Legrand, hissing out the syllables from between his clenched teethââyou infernal black villain!âspeak, I tell you!âanswer me this instant, without prevarication!âwhichâwhich is your left eye?â
âOh, my golly, Massa Will! aint dis here my lef eye for sartain?â 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 masterâs attempt at a gouge.
âI thought so!âI knew it! hurrah!â vociferated Legrand, letting the negro go, and executing a series of curvets and caracols, much to the astonishment of his valet, who, arising
Comments (0)