Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1885-07-19
THE PRIESTS HAND.
firesid" Vision Of Ancient Egypt and
Her SOLEMN Nv Nstcrics.

firesidc Vision of Ancient Egypt and
Her solemn Mysteries.
The house stood at some distance
from the city, and its chief pride was
its library. Besides the usual number
of historical and biographical works of
such collections, and the ordinary
amount of the best grade of fiction, It
contained many old aud exceedingly
rare works. Black-letter volumes, and
manuscripts closely written in quaint,
outandiSh characters symbols of for
gotten tUngues-or covered with HERO
glyphics wholly unintelligible to any
but the eruditc antiquarian. were there.
But the most curious thing, and the
one apparently least suited for library.
was the hand and part OF the forearm
of mummy, which had occupied "A
small table in one corner of the room
ever since Col. Milway returned from
Egypt. He had the good fortune to
come upon it one day by accident while
exploring the great pyramid of Chcops,
and, thinking doubtless that of this
great word-legacy of a Oy-gone King
or line of Kings and dynasties he
ought to possess some share, he had
taken the hand, brought it home with
him, aud made ii place in his favorite
ruom-his library.
To his niece, Miss Maude Mllwav.
however, it had not the same interest,
ia fact, she regarded it with mingled
feeling of doubt and actual fear, and As
she sat, on COO. afternoon in the au-
tumn. before the low burning crate,
dividing her time between an open
h,p La, 4 81.
to which 1t gave rise, the dry, tawuy
thing would occasionally intrude Itself
upon her sight, wuilc the faint aroma
which 1t always emitted gave it an at
traction rs mystical and unpleasant Us
it was subtle.
She had been reading long time.
lhe volume selected Chanccd to be
translation OF an old German work. full
OF those wild theories and sombrc
specuiaiions to which the German mind
Is 50 prone, and with which their meta
physical and religious works of cent
ury ago We're filed. Her thoughts were
SO engrOsscd and her mind SO complete
ly filled with the new and vaguely
startling suggestions she had been road
lnH that she was not conscious that the
day was nearly gone. Long, slanting
bars of yellow sunlight fell through the
western window. flooiins thU opou
page and giving the old. crooked let
ters and aboriously-spelled words a
new and mystic meaning. A single
ray, cut oil from its fellows by a sway
ing tree just outside the window, crept
slowly from the floor up the dark wall,
toward the brown, dry hand. The au-
tumn wind swullcd and rustled among
the rapidly-thnning leaves; the boughs
swaycd to and fro, and ut each undula-
tion the rift of yellow gold shifted.
Suddenly it rested upon the thin fingers
of the hand.
1t could not be that they moved.
She shiyered slightly, then looked
again in kind of fascination. Miss
MiIway was neither nervous nor timid;
still she could not shake off the strange
sensation which, like an icy chill, had
gradually stolen over her as she sat in
this scmi-waking mood. She rose,
drew warm cushioned chair nearer to
the CRATE. and resumed her book; but
the faint. subtle odor haunted her, and
ever and anon her eyes wandered from
the pages before her and sought the
Hand. Outside, the breeze died away
and the slow y-rising sunbeam rested
full upon the dreadful relic. Again she
started. Did the weird fingers move?
Rising once more she walked to the
stand, and taking the mysterious thing
within her hand went back to her seat,
hoping by this bold measure to over
come the fascination she felt creeping
into brain and heart. Bah! After all
it was but bit of old mummy, dry
and hard, the fingers stiff and shrivel-
ed.
The hand of dead man?
Well, yes; but death had come forty
centuries ago! 1t was absurd to as
sociate anything human with that
parchment bundle. And yet, and yet
he was a man-who knows? Per-
chance those twisted fingers once urged
the plunging steeds of some great war
chariot against the foes of Egypt or
held the sword that smOte the hostile
ranks and brought new nations to bow
in alteration before the shrines of
Egypt's gods! Was hc young and fair?
Did he lay his palms Of victory at the
feet Of some dark-eyed girl? Did that
row withered hand, fresh from the
battlefield, take the poetic reed to in
dite sweet verses to The woman whom
he loved? Did she love him perchance?
Or was this the hand of some stern
warrior priest or that of the superb son
of some mighty Pharaoh, band that
humber men were proud to kiss in awe
and reverence?
Some woman's loving lips perhaps
.. o, horror! Kiss those wrinkled
clawSi Maud shrank hack and tha