The Sunday herald. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1866-1887, 1880-08-22

his fingers over the shabby frayed little rag,
from the force of habit which caused him to
praise an article Of so slight n value that
even he was willing to give II away, and he
dropped the gold pieces into sort Of aims
purse hanging at his sidc still muttering,
"The Princess lIermouthcs's foot for n
papcr-weight" Then fixing ON me his gilt
tcring eyes he said in voice as sharp and
strident as the moving of n cat which has
swallowed a fish bone: " Pharaoh will not
bc at all pleased; he loved his daughter, the
dear old man"
You speak as il you were contemporaries;
and although you are without doubt some
what advanced you can scarcely remember
so far back as the building of the pyra-
mids,n answered from the door as ! passed
out.
came home very much charmed with my
new acquisition, and in order TO utilize il
Immediately placed the foot of the divine
| Princess liermouthes upon pile of manu-
script verses, undecpherable mosaics of
erasures and hieroglyphics, half-iinished
| articles and forgotten letters; the effect
was delightful, unique, quaint, and pic
| turesque.
| Highly pleased with this little embcish-
ment of my writing table, | went out, walk
| ing with the air of a man who is fully CON
| scious of an immense advantage over all his
fellow-creatures in being the enviable pos
SCISSOR of bit of the Princess Hermouthes,
the daughter of Pharoah ptied every one
who was not, like myself, the owner of a
| paper-weight so unquestionably Egyptian,
and TO me the only thing in the world
worth having was mummy's foot for a
paper weight.
| Happily for me | met some friends and
dined with them, which served to distract
me from my infatuation.
On returning in the evening | was greeted
| by vague delicate breath, a suggestion of
Oriental perfume, the heat of the room hav
ing brought out the natron, bitumen, and
myrrh in which the Princess had been EN-
balmed perfume sweet though penetrat-
ing; perfume which had not evaporated in
four thousand years. The dream of Egypt
was eternity, and even its perfumes had
the solidity of granite, and also its dura-
ton.
Very soon ! was asleep, and for more
than an hour everything was n blank. ! was
stepped In the vague twilight of forgetful-
| ness.
Gradually my intellectual darkness was
dissipatrd, and dreams lowered battle-ground
me, their wings touching me softly in their
noiseless fight.
| The eyes of my soul Enclosed, and | saw
everything in my chamber exactly as it was;
| Shoulu nave Thought Iiiyscii tWahe p"p ioi
something within me, n vague perception
which told me was sleeping and that some
thing very extraordinary was about to occur
The odor of marrh had Increased in intensity,
and l am conscious Of q slight headache,
which, naturally, attribute tn the innumer-
able libations of champagne which we had
poured to the unknown gods as well as to our
future success. l found myself looking at
everything in my chamber 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
consold, softly shaded by the glass globe; the
window draperies motionless: everything
sleepy and quiet.
| Alter few moments, however, everything
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
where had placed my precious foot. In
stead of being motionese, which one would
naturally expect to he the case with n foot
which for four thousand years has been en-
balmed, it was quivering and trembling, and
moving restlessly among the papers like II
heightened frog; it was as If under the inilu-
ence of electricity, and heard distinctly the
sharp dry sound of its little heel, as hard as
W
satisfied with my new acquisition, having q
decided preference for selentary paper
| weights, and ii seemed to me most unnatural
that feet should move about without legs,
and, in short, began to experience sensa-
ton of positive fear.
Suddenly the folds of one of My Qnrtains
was disturbed, and heard sound like that
of person jumping on zone foot. must con-
fess that was very cold and very warm by
turns, that | seemed to feel cold peculiar
wind blowing on my back, and my hair rose,
lifting my nightcap above my head. The
curtains were parted, and saw advancing
the most remarkable figure lMqginable., IT
was that of young grl-her coloring deep
cafeau-lait like the Vayadue Amani. She
was of singular beauty of the purest Egyp-
tian type; her almond, shaped eyes, with
corners slightly raised, were SHADED by eye
lashes so black that they were almost blue,
her nose was sharply cut and Greecian in its
delicacy, and she might have been taken for
Corinthian bronze if the high cheek bones
and the somewhat African contour of the lips
had not betrayed the hieroglyphic race an
the borders of the Nile
Fl Her delicate arms We're loaded with bands
of metal. Her hair was dressed in countless
plaits, and on her breast hing a little idol
!, of green porcelain.
!,
and faint tint at rose blended with the
clear copper hue of her cheek.
| As to her costume 1t was most strange
consisting simply of bandages covered with
red and black hieroglyphics and heavy will
I bitumen. BY one of those strange intellect
ual gymnastics so frequent in dreams
heard the hoarse, sharp voice of the old
, bric-a-brac merchant repeating, like a mo
notonous refrain, the same words which h.
9 had used with SO marked and mysterious AZ
, emphasis; pharaoh will be dsP pleased
He loved his daughter deyotedly, the dear
old man."
one foot, the other leg being broken at th'
+ ankle; and this discovery was not altogether
reassuring to me.
fl She moved toward the table where tn,
Q little foot was quivering and trembling witt
: ever increasing restlessness. As she stood
leaning on the edge saw tears drop from
4 her eyes. Although silent | could see hel
I thoughts in her face. She stood looking al
f her foot-for it was in fact hers-with I
I charming expression, full of sadness and a
I the same time of q certain coapettish grace
9 But the little foot continued to RIM abou
I from one side of the table to the other, as |
impeled by steel springs Two or three
times she put out her hand toward It as j
|
Then began between tho Princess Her
Q mouthes and her foot, which seemed en-
l lowed with individual life, a most remark
: able dialogue in the Coptic language in ns'
q thousands of years agol happily at that pre-
a else time was perfectly familiar with th,
. Coptic.
The Princess liormouthes said in q voic,
l clear and vibrating as q crystal bell
"Ah my dear little foot, why do yol
(; llee from me, when always lavished upon
Y You the tenderest care bathed you il
: perfumed water, in an alabaster basin;
: polished your little heel with pumice ston,
/, dipped in palm oil; your nails were trimmed
g with golden pincers and polished with tia
' tooth of hippopotamus; always chose fo
g you the most beautiful Of embroidered anc
) painted sandals which were the envy of al
t the girls in Egypt your large toe was al
!, ways ornamented with rings representing
l the sacred scarabaus, and you carried Tia,
r lightest possible weight that a lazy it'll