The Northern Pacific farmer. [volume] (Wadena, Minn.) 1878-1885, 1880-11-04

pirate for the not very divine purpose
OF keeping journals and papers in
place.
| Istood ,hesitating between porcelain
dragon and little Mexican fetish,
most abom,nably ugly, being repre-
scntation Of the god Witzihputzili,
when I caught sight Of an exqui-
site little foot which I at first thought
must be fragment of an antique
Venus. It had the beautiful yellow
tint which gives the Florentine bronze
its peculiarly warm, lifelike appear
ance, so preferable to the greenish
gray tone Of the ordinary bronzes
which invariably suggests state of
putrefaction; a soft satiny gloss CULVER
cd on the surface of its lovely curves
rounded and polished by the tender
kisses of tweny centuries; for most
probably it was Corinthion bronze, Il
veritable antique, perhaps even a cast
of Lysippus. "That little foot suits
me exactly" I said to the old man, who
looked at me slyly and half IRONICALLY,
as he handled it to me to examine more
infinitely.
was surprised to find how light it
was; it was not of metal at all but was
actually a human foot-an embalmed
foot-a mummy's foot. In examining
it closely the delicate grain of the skin
was distinguishable, and even the faint
impression of the texture of the band
ages. The toes were exquisitely slen-
der, delicate, with perfect nails, pure
and transparent as agate. The great toe
was a tlif1e separated from the others,
giving it the slenderness of birds foot;
the sole, scarcely lined, showed that it
never had touched the ground, and
had evidently never been brought into
the contact with anything less soft than
the finest mating of Nile reeds or vel
yety panther skins. "Ha! you want
Princess Hermouthes' foot" said the
old gnome with strange cracked
laugh, looking at me with his hideous
owls eyes, cha! ha! ha! for paper
weight! What an original, what an ar
tistic idea! What would cid Pharaoh
have said to it, that the foot of his
idolized daughter should serve as a
paper weight! He who excavated a
granite mountain to place therein the
triple-lined coffin gilded and painted
with hieroglyphics and representations
of the judgement" added this grim lit
tie old man, in low voice, as if talking
to himself.
"What will you sell me this for?'
ooh! L ought to get a good price for
it; it is very choice. 1t is quite superb;
if had the pair you could not have
them for less than 500 francs: the
daughter of a Pharaoh. You must
| admit that nothing could be more
rare"
certainly, it is not a commonplace
affair. l admit it; but to come to the
point, how much do you want for it?
l tell you in the beginning that I have
but five louis; these I All willing to pay
for it. but no more"
Give louis for the foot of the Prin-
cess Hermouthes! It is very little,
truly very, for an authentic foot" and
the little man shook his head and began
to roll his eyes.
"Well, take it, you may have it, and
l will give you this over and above the
bargain" he added, wrapping it in a
little strip of damask; 'it is beautiful,
real Indian damask, never dyed; it is
strong and it is soft and fne," and he
muttered, as he rubbed his fingers over
the shabby frayed little rags from the
force of habit which caused him to
praise an article of so slight a value
that even he was willing to give it
away, and he dropped the gold pieces
into sort of aims purse hanging at
his side, still muttering: 'The Prin-
cess Hermouthes' foot for paper
weight" Then fixing on me his gilt
tering eyes, he said, in voice as sharp
and strident as the mewing of a cat
which has swallowed fish-bone:
'Pharaoh will not be at all pleased; he
loved his daughter, the dear old man. u
"You speak as ifyou were contempo-
raries; and although you are, without
doubt, somewhat advanced, you can
scarcely remember 80 far back as the
building of the pyramids" answered
from the door as passed out.
L came home very much charmed
with my new acquisition: and in order
to utilize it immediately I placed the
foot of the divine Princess Hermouthes
upon pile of manuscript verses, un
decipherable mosaics of erasures and
hieroglyphice, half finished articles and
forgotten letters; the effect was de.
lighttul, unique, quaint and pictur
esque.
! Highly pleased with this little ON
bellishment of my writing table, went
out, walking with the air of a man who
is fully conscious of an immense ad
vantage over all his fellow creatures il
being the enviable possessor of a bit O.
the Princess Hermouthes, the daugh
ter OF Pharaoh. I pitied every one who
was not, like myself, the owner of {
paper-weight SO unquestionable Egypt
ian, and to me the only thing in thu
world worth having was mummy
foot for paper-weight.
j Happily for me met some friend!
, and dined with them, which served t.
/ disfra ct na from m Y II, f. t,,a+;ox