Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1880-10-28
The Princess SIN hold nv hand c,oso,v

The Princess still held my hand closely
and gracefully and easily recognizing all
the mum6iies of her acquaintance. My
eyes soon becoming accustomed to the
dim light began to distinguish differ.
ent objects
saw, seated on thrones, kings OF the
subterranean races; old men OF enormous
size, wrinkled, dry as parchment. black
with bItumen and naphtha, covered with
precious stones, their eyes fixed like those
OF the Sphinx, their long boards white
with the SHOWS of ages Behind VI re
their subjects, standing in the stf. con.
strained positions characteristic OF Eryp.
tlan art keeping forever the attitude pre-.
scribvd by the hieratc pharmacopcia,
ana behind these the ibis beat their
wings The cats sVualle I, and huge crocn.
dies doomed up in the darkness. appcar.
ing still more monstrous and gigantic
from being swathed I'M han lagos.
All the PharaOs were there, CheopS.
Chephren, Psammoticus and Sesostris; ali
the duSky S0ycroignS Of the pyramids.
On a dais, little raised, sat kmg Giro
nos, and NiXanthroS, who were reigning
at the time ct the dcluge, and rubal
Cain, who was autedcluviGn
The beard Of King XiXanthros had
grown 20 such an immense length that It
was wound seven times around the gran.
/ lite table, on which he leaned. asleep and
! dreaming. Farther on In the -sky atmos
| phere, | distinguished vaguely through
the mist Of ages, eighty-two prea 'amite
/ kings, together with their eiphty-two
4 races, now extinct
After permitting me for few moments
I tho ,Naungitl npfA,rt,nyt ,F 1 1.
/ wildering spectacle, the Princess pre.
/ scented me 10 Pharaoh, her father, who
/ bowed to inc with majestic condesctn-
( sion,
Il have found my foot! | have found
my footN' cried the Princess, ciapping
/ her little hands in an ecStacy of delight ,
| adding, land this is the gentleman TO
| whom | am indebted
! The races Of korme and Of Nahazi, all
| the black, bronze and copper colorod ma
| tons, united in "a tull chorus, repeating
her words: The Princess Hermou,ucs
has found hsr footl The Princess Her
mouthes has found her footW
/ Even AlXanthros himself was reused,
and lifting his heavy eyes, he passed his
! fingers through his moustacho, and turned
on me glance which seemed to carry
the weight of ages.
by Oms, he Is fine, brave fellow r
he said, pointing 10 me with his sceplre
| oruamcnled with the otos flower
And how am | to reward youg Will
the audacity with which we are eudowea
in dreamand, where nothing seems i'm
/ possible, or even strange, asked for the
hand Of Hermouthes; hand for foo
appearing TO me rs an antithetiC recon-
pense in singularly good taste
Pharaoh opened his glass eyes with
establishment at my request
"Of what nationality are you, and how
old are your
81 am Fronchman, and | AN twenty
seven years old"
"Twenty years old and he eX
poets TO marry the Princess Hermouthes
who has lived for thirty centuriesw ex
claimed all the kings and all the races
llermouthcs alone appearing to see moth
ing audaCious in my proposition,
"if you were but two thousand year.
old" continued the venerable king, 81
would willingly give you my daughter
but the disparity is quite too great, and
Their again, we must marry our daughters
to husbands who can endure, and you
know nothing now of embalming. 1t is
scarcely fifteen centuries since the last
mummies joined us, and they are literally
but a pinch OF DUST seel my flesh IL as
hard as basalt; my bones are like bars 81
steel, and so ! shall remain; and my
daughter IlermOuthes, is like a bronze
sa'uc, while the wind viii 50 scatter the
last grain Of your dust that Isis herself
although she found the most minute par
ticlc OF Osiris, would be puzzled to recon
siruct you. See how strong | am still
and how vigorous and muscular my arm
is" And he grasped my hand PAaglais
that is to say, with such cordially thai
he cut my fingers with my rings.
So lercely did he seize and hold il Chat
awok3 to find my friend Alfred leaning
over me shaking me violently.
Come, wake up. You sleepy, lazy
fellow ! hal begun to think | should
never rouse you without letting off a
cannon at your ears here it is long past
twelve O'Clock and you seem to have
quite forgotten your promise to take me
to see those Spanish pictures"
Indeed, my dear fellow, | have never
thought of it," answered, as ! rose and
began my toilet; "but it is not too late; !
shall be ready very soon, and here are the
tickets on my writing desk
And | turned to hand them 10 him. but
fancy my amazemcnt when, instead OF
the little foot | had purchased yesterday
| ! saw the little porcelain idol with which
/ the Princess had replaced II.
7