In the utmost 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 winters in the latitude of Sullivan’s 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 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 armchair 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 scaraboeus 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 scaraboei 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 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!”