The Sunday herald. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1866-1887, 1880-08-22
THE MUMMY'S FOOT.

THE MUMMY'S FOOI.
One day wandering aimlessly through the
streets of Paris, noticed little shop which
seemed crowded with bric-a-brac, and EN-
tered il simply with the idea of filling an
idle hour.
1t seemed to be at one and the same time
an old iron shop, warehouse for tapestry
and upholstery generally, the laboratory OF
an alchemist and an artists studio. In
these mysterious dens, where the partly
closed shutters admit only very prudent
half light the most genuinely antique thing
is thedust the cobwehs are much more real
than the guipure, and the pear-tree wood far
younger than the mahogany from America,
which arrived yesterday.
This establishment was especially curious;
every age and every country seemed TO meet
there. An Etruscan lamp of rad clay was
placed OH Boue armoire, with ebony pan
els severely decorated with fine lines of cop
per inlaid duchess chair of the reign of
Louis XIV stretched its clawfeet under a
heavy Louis XIII table with clumsy twisted
oaken legs, carved in foliage and fantastic
figures. A suit of armor from Milan, beauti-
fully iplaid. was reflected in an antique mir
ror in the corner; exquisite little loves and
nymphs in bisrnit, grotesque Chinese figures
and beautiful cups of saxDUy and old Sevres
were crowded upon the etageres and the cor
ncr brackets. On the denticulated shelves
lining the walls were immense plaques of
Japan ware, with blue and red designs re-
lisved by gliding, side by side with Bernard
de Pajssy's exquisite enameled china repre-
senting ladders, lizards, aud frogs in relief
From half-open armoires escaped cascades of
silver brocade, and waves of brocatelle pow
dered with gold glittering in an oblique ray
of sunlight; portraits of every age smiled at
one another through their yellow varnisli
from out frames all more or less shabby.
The shopkeeper followed mo very closely
in my labyrinthine passage between the piles
of furniture, keeping his eye and sometimes
his hand on my coat-tails, and Watching my
elboys with the anxiety of an antiquary and
usurer. He had such an odd face, this shop
keeper; an enormous head, bald and shin
ing, surrounded with an aureole of thin
white hair, which, throwing into bold relief
the peculiar salmon color Of his skin, gave
him an air of patriarchal simplicity, counter
balanced, however, by the twinkiing of two
little yellow eyes which trembled in their
orbits like two louis d'ors on quicksilver.
The curve Of his nose had an aquiline out
line, recalling the Oriental or Jewish type.
His hands thin, veined, transparent, full of
nerves protruding like the strings on the
handle of violin, with claws rather than
nails, like those terminating the membran-
Gus wings of bat, bad an ineessant senie
oscillation most unpleasant TO witness but
these same hands, so useless with nervous
twitGhings, became tirmer than steel forceps
or lobster's claws as soon as they raised for
inspection some precious Objcct-an onyx
cup, Venetian glass, or plate of Bohemian
crystal. This queer old fellow looked so
thoroughly rabbinical and cabalistic that
three centuries ago be would assuredly have
been burned at the stake; his appearance
would have been considered sufficient proof
OF guilt.
"Can not sell yoH anything today, Mon
sienri Look at this Malayan sword the
blade qpivers and pndulates like fame /;
see these grooves for draining of the blood,
these reverse fluctuations for tearing out the
intestiRes when the sword is Withdrawn (; it
is ferocous weapon, very rare, and would
look well in 4 collection of arms here is a
sword to be used in both hands; 1t is one OF
La IIera's, and this'-
"No, have an abundance of arms and
weapons of every description should like
little figure, some little trile which could
use as q paper-weight, for | cannot endure
those trumpery little bronzes sold by every
statoDer, which one invariably sees on every
dcsk.'
The old gnome, rummaging among lis
trash, finally displayed some antique bronzes
at least he called them so-sOme pieces OF
| maiachits, some Iiindoo and Chinese idols
sort of pOnssa of OK stOne-incarnatiOns Of
Branah or Vishnu, singnlarIy appropriate
for the not very divine purpose of keeping
journals and papers in place.
| 4 atnnl hnsitatinD hatWapu n nnrnalu nj N
dragon and little Mexican fetish, most
abominably ugly, being . representation OF
| the god Witziliputzili, when | caught sight
of an exquisite little foot, which l at first
| thought must be fragment of an antique
Venus. IT had the beautiful yellow tint
which gives the Florentine bronze its pecr-
liarly warm, life-like appearances, so prefer
able to the greepish gray tone of the ordinary
bronzes which invariably suggests n state OF
putrelaction; a soft satiny gloss quivered on
the surface of its lovely curves rounded and
polished by the tender kisses OF twenty cen
turtles; for most probably it was COrinthiau
bronze, a veritabie antique, perhaps even a
east of Lysippus. Z" That little foot suits me
exactly" said to the old man, who looked
at me slyly and half ironically, as he handed
| il 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 mum.
my's foot in examining il closely the deli
cate grain of the skin was distinguishablo
and even the faint impression of the texture
of the bandages. The toes were exquisitely
slender, delicate, with perfect nails, pure
and transparent as agate. The great toe was
a tritle separated from the others, giving il
| the slenderness of birds foot; the sole
scarcely lined, showed that 1t never had
touched the ground, and had evidently never
been brought into contact with anything less
soft than the finest mating Of Nile reeds on
velvety panther skins. " Hal you want
Princess Hermouthes's foot" said the old
gnome with strange cracked laugh, look
ing at me with his hdeous OWLS eyes, F" Ia
la Ia for paper-weight What an orig
inal, what an artistic idea What would old
Pharaoh have said to it, that tie foot of hi
iiolized daughter should serve as a paper
weight He who excavated granite noun
tain TO place therein the triple-lined cofiii
gilded and painted with hiefoglyphics anc
representations Of the Judgment" added
this grim little old man, in a low voice, az
if talking to himself
"What will you sell me this for I"
sob, | ought to get good price for it, i
is very choice. 1t is quite superb; ii ha,
the pair you could not have them for les
than five hundred francs; the daughter q
a Pharaoh. You must admit that nothing
could be more rare"
:" Certainly it is not a commonplace affair
admit it, but to come to the point, ho,
much do you want for il 2 ! tell you in tn
beginning that | have but five louis; these
am willing to pay for it, but no more"
give louis for the foot of the Princes
Hermouthesl 1t is very little, truly yer.
for an authentic foot" and the little MAJ
shook his head and began to roll his eyes.
We'll, take it, you may have it, and
will give You this over and above the bar