Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1880-10-28

ment,' added tins grim little old man, in
a !ow voice, as if talking to himself.
What will you sell me this forg''
ooh! | ought to get good price for it.
1t is very choice; it is quite superb. If
| had the pair, you could not have them
tor less than five hundred francs. The
daughter of Pharaoh You must admit
that nothing could be more rare,n
Certainly II is not commonplace
affair, | admit it,; but to come to the
point how much do yoU want for it?
tell you in the beginning that have but
five louis; these | am willing 70 pay for
it, but no more
Five louis for the foot Of the Princess
llermouthes! 1t is very little, truly very
I little iur an authentic FOOT and the little
man shook his head and began to roll his
eyes.
well, take ii, you may have it and |
will give you this over and above the
bargain" he added, wrapping il in little
strip of dam SIX; at is beautiful real India
damask, never dyed, it is strong ard ii is
soft and tine,n and he muttered as he
rubbed his fingers over the shabby, frayed
| little rag, from the force of habit which
caused him 10 praise an article of so slight
a value that even he was willing to give
it away, and he dropped the gold pieces
into u sort of aims purse hanging at his
side, still muttering: The Princess Her
mouthess foot for paperweightln Then
fixing on me his giittering eyes he said in
voice as sharp and strident as the NEW.
ing of cat which has swallowed u fish
bone: Pharaoh will not be at all
pleased; he loved his daughter, the dear
old man.
"YoI speak as if you were contem-
poraries; and although you are without
doubt somewhat advanced you can
scarcely remember SO for back as the
building of the Pyramids" | answered
from the door as passed out
| came home very much charmed with
my new acquisition, and in order to
utilize it Immediately placed the foot of
the divine Princess Hermouthes upon u
pile of manuscript verses, undecipherable
mOsaics of erasures and hier0glyphics
half finished articles and forgotten letters
the effect was delightful, unique, quaint
and picturesque.
Highly pleased with this little embcl.
lishment OF my writing table, went out,
walking with the air of a man who is
fully conscious OF an immense advantage
over all his fellow creatures in being the
enviable pOssessor Of bit of the Princess
BermOuthes, the daughter of Pharaoh |
pitiei everyone who was not, like my,
self, the owner of paper weight so un-
questionably Egyptian; and to me the
only thing IN the world really worth hav-
ing was a mummy's foot for paper
| weight.
Happily for me, met some friends
and dined with them, which served To
| distract me from my iniatuation.
! On returning in the evening, | was
greeted by a vague delicate breath, a sug.
/ gestion of oriental perfume, the heat Of
! the room having brought out the natron,
| bitumen and myrrh in which the prin-
cess had been embalmed; p rune
| sweet though penetrating; perfume
! which had not evaporated in four thou
sand years The dream of Egypt was
eternity, and even its perfumes have the
solidity Of granite, and also its duration
Very soon | was asleep, and for more
| than an hour everything was q blank
was stepped in the vague twilight of for.
| getfulness.
Gradually my intellectual darkness
was dissipated, and dreams lowered light.
! ly around me, their wings touching me
/ softly in their noiseless flight.
The ewes of my soul Enclosed, and saw
| everything in my chamber exactly as it
was; | should have thought myself
awake, but for something within me,
vague perception, which told me | was
| sleeping and that something very extraor-
| binary was about to occur. The odor of
myrrh had increased in Intensity, and
was conscious of a slight headache,
which, naturally, attributed to the in
Vulnerable libations of champagne which
we had poured to the unknown gods as
well as to our future success. | found
myself looking at everything in my cham.
Der with a feeling of expectation, for
which there was not the slightest ground /;
every piece Of furniture being in its place,
the lamp burning on the console, softly
shaded by the ground.gl1ss globe; the
window draperies motionless; everything
sleepy and quiet.
After a few moments, however, every
thing seemed disturbed. There were
faint noises in the walls; the log Of wood,
half buried in ashes, shot forth a blue
flame, and the room was filled with
vague sense of expectation By chance,
my eyes turned toward the table whyGe |
had placed my precious foot Instead OF
being motionless, which one would nat.
uraily expect to be the case with foot
which for four thousand years has been
embamed it was quiyeriag and trem-
bling, and moving restlessly among the
papers like frightened frog; it was as
if under the influence Of electricity, and
heard distinctly the sharp dry sound Of
its little heel, as hard as the hoof Of a
gazelle | was not absolutely satisfied
with my new acquisition, having de
cided preference for sedentary paper.
weights, and it seemed to me most uu.
natnrll Tint feet ehnnll move ahnnt