Poe, Edgar Allen - The Gold Bug

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THE GOLD BUG
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1
The Gold Bug
By Edgar Allan Poe
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THE GOLD BUG
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2
The Gold Bug
Page 95
What ho! what ho! this fellow is dancing mad!
He hath been bitten by the Tarantula.
-- All in the Wrong
Many years ago, I contracted an intimacy with a Mr. William Legrand. He was of an ancient
Huguenot family, and had once been wealthy; but a series of misfortunes had reduced him to
want. To avoid the mortification consequent upon his disasters, he left New Orleans, the city of
his forefathers, and took up his residence at Sullivan's Island, near Charleston, South Carolina.
This island is a very singular one. It consists of little else than the sea sand, and is about three
miles long. Its breadth at no point exceeds a quarter of a mile. It is separated from the mainland
by a scarcely perceptible creek, oozing its way through a wilderness of reeds and slime, a
favorite resort of the marsh-hen. The vegetation, 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
Page 96
whole island, with the exception of this western point, and a line of hard, white beach on the sea-coast, is covered
with a dense undergrowth of the sweet myrtle so much prized by the horticulturists of England. The shrub here often
attains the height of fifteen or twenty feet, and forms an almost impenetrable coppice, burthening the air with its
fragrance.
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 friendship -- for 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 -- 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 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 "Massa Will." 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 GOLD BUG
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3
The winters in the latitude of Sullivan's Island are seldom very severe, and in the fall of the
year it is a
Page 97
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 weeks -- my 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 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 down and secured, with Jupiter's assistance, a
scarabaeus which he believed to be totally new, but in respect to which he wished to have my
opinion on the morrow.
"And why not to-night?" I asked, rubbing my hands over the blaze, and wishing the whole tribe
of scarabaei at the devil.
"Ah, if I had only known you were here!" said Legrand, "but it's 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 G -- -- , from the fort, and, very
Page 98
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!"
"What? -- sunrise?"
"Nonsense! no! -- the bug. It is of a brilliant gold color -- about the size of a large hickory-nut -
- with two jet black spots near one extremity of the back, and another, somewhat longer, at the
other. The antennae are -- "
"Dey aint no tin in him, Massa Will, I keep a tellin' on you," here interrupted Jupiter; "de bug is
a goole-bug, solid, ebery bit of him, inside and all, sep him wing -- meber feel half so hebby a
bug in my life."
"Well, suppose it is, Jup," replied Legrand, somewhat more earnestly, it seemed to me, than the
case demanded; "is that any reason for you letting the birds burn? The color" -- here he turned 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 tomorrow. In the meantime I can
give you some idea of the shape." 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.
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