Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1880-10-29

putrefaction; soft satiny gloss culver
ed on the surface Of its lovely curves
rounded and polished by the tender
kisses of tweny centuries; for most
probably it was u Corinthion bronze, a
yeritablc antique, perhaps even cast
of Lysippus. "That little foot suits
me exactly, / said to the old man, who
looked Mt me slyly and half IRONICALLY,
rs he handled it to me to examine more
infinitely.
/ was surprised TO find how light it
was; il was not OF metal nj all but was
actually human foot-an embalmed
| foot--a mummys foot. In examining
it closely the delicate grain of the skin
was dstinguishablc, 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 ns agate. The great toe
was n tiille separated from the others.
giving it the slendcrncss II u birds foot,
the sole, scarcely lined, showed that it
never had touched the ground, and
had evidently never boon brought into
the contact with anything less soft than
the finest mating Of Nile reeds or vel
vcty panther skins. "Ila! you want
Princess Hermouthes foot" sud the
old gnone with - strange cracked
hugh, looking at me with his hideous
owls eyes, cha! hal hal for II paper
weight What M original, what IN ar
tistic idcn! What would cid Pharaoh
have said To it, that tho foot Of his
idoizcd daughter should serve as II
paper weight He who cxcavated u
granite mountain to place therein the
triplc-lincd coffin gildcd and painted
with hicroglyphics and representations
Of the judgement, " added this grim lit
Ito old man, in u low voice, as if talking
TO himself.
"Whnt will you sell me this foY"
"Ohl ! ought TO get good price for
Il; ii Il very choice It isquite superb;
if had the pair you could not haya
them for less than 800 francs; ue
daughter of IL Hhnrnoh You must
admit that nothing could be more
rare"
Certainly, II IL nol commonplace
affair. admit it; but to come to the
point, how much do you want for il?
tell you in the beginning that have
but FIVE louis; these an willing to pay
for il but no more
"'1'iyc louis for the foot Of tic PIN
ecss Ilcrmouthos, 1t is very little,
truly very, for an authentic foot, " and
the little man shook his head and began
to roll his eyes. VA
"Well, take it, you may have it, and
! will give YOU this over and above the
bargain" he added, wrapping it in II
little stri damask; sit is beautiful,
real ,Indinn ,la,naSk meyer dyed III is
strong md il issoft and Tine, and he
muttcrcd rs hc rubbed his fingers over
Che shabby frnyc,l lttbc rags from the
forcc Of habit which caused him to
praise an article of 50 slight II value
that even he was Wiling to give il
away, and he dropped the gold pieces
INTO n sort ~ aims purse hanging AZ
his side, still mmtcring "IAe l'rin-
cess llcrmouthcs' foot fora paper
weight" Then fixing ON mo his gilt
tering eyes, Ito said in Il voice ~ sharp
and Strident as the mrMing Of Il eat
which has swallowed t,h-bonc.
Pharaoh will not be NJ all pleased: he
loved his daughter, the dear old man,
"lou speak ns ifyou were contcmpo-
rarics; and although you are, without
doubt, somewhat advanced you can
scarcely remember 80 far back ia the
building of the pyramids" answered
from the door rs ! passed out,
came home very much charmed
with my new acquisition. and IN order
70 utilize il Immediately placed tho
foot Of the divine Princess llcrmouthca
upon n pile of manuscript verses, nm
docipherAhle mosaCs of crasurcs and
hicroglyphics, half finished articles and
forgotten letters; the effect was dc.
llghtiul, unique quaint and petur.
esqiic.
Highly pleased With this little cm-
helllshmcnt of my writing table, | went
out, walking with the mir of n man who
is fully conscious Of mn immense nd
vantage over all his fellow creatures in
being the enyiabln posscssor of n bit of
the Princess lIcrmouthes, the daugh-
ter of Pharaoh piticd every one who
was not, like myself, the owner of n
paper weight 80 unquostonahlc Egypt
inn, and to me the only thing III the
world worth having was mummy's
foot for paper-wcight.
Happily for me met some friends
and dincd with them, which served to
distract me from my tntatuntion.
On returning III the evening Mas
greeted 10y vague delicate breath. Il
suggestion Of oriental perfume, the
heat of the room having brought ont
the mtron, hiumcn and myrrh ia
which the Princess had been en-
halmcd; II perfume sweet Thought pen
etrnting; perfume which had not
evaporated in four thousand years. The
dream of Egypt was eternity, and even
is perfumes had the soldity Of granite,
and also its duration,
Very soon was asleep, and iormorc
than an hour everything wasa blank
! was stepped in the vague twilight of
turgctrulness.
Gradually my intellectual darkness
WIS dissipatcd aud dreams hovercd
lightly around me, their wings touch.
ing ME softly in their noiseless flight
The eyes of my soul Enclosed and
saw everything in my chamber exactly