The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1889-09-05

and spicy wrappings lay around the 70
mains. which, saw, were those Of man
and . woman. The head had been broken
on the body Of the man. took it up and
looked ut It. It had been closely shaved
after death, should say, from the general
indications-and the features were dis
figured with gold leaf. But, notwithstand-
ing this, and the shrinkage of the flesh,
think the face was one OF tho most impos-
ing and beautiful that / ever saw. It was
that Of q very old man, and his dead coun-
tcnancc still wore SO calm and solemn, in
deed soawful . look. that / grew quite su-
perstitlous Though, as YOU know, / am
pretty well accustomed to dead people,,
and put the head down IL a hurry. There
were still some wrappings left upon the
face Of the second body, and ] did not re-
move them: but she must have been q fine,
large woman IN her day.
''There is the other mummy said Ali,
pointing to . large and solid case that had
tie appearance Of having been carelessly
thrown down In a corner, for it was lying on
its side.
went up to it TO examine it. 1t was well
made, but Ct perfectly plain cedar wood
not an inscription, not a solitary god on It.
s'Nevcr sec one like him before said Ali.
.finccsh.' Throw HIM down there on side. =
| looked 1t the plain case till at last my
interest was thoroughly aroused. / had
been SO shocked by the sight Of the scattered
dust of the departed that had made up my
mind not to touch the remaining coffin-but
now my curiosity overcame me, and we set
TO work.
Ali had brought mallet and cold chiscl
with him and having set the coffin straight he
began upon it with all the zeal of an experI-
enced tomb-breaker. And then he pointed
out another thing. Most mummy cases are
fastened by four little tongues Of wood, two
on either side. which are fixed in the upper
half, and passing into mortises cut to re-
ceive them in the thickness Of the lower
half, are there held fast by pegs of hard
wood But this mummy case had eight
such tongues. Evidently IL had been
thought well to secure it firmly. At last,
with great difficulty, we raised the massive
lid, which was nearly three inches thick,
and there, covered over with q deep layer
Of loose spices "a very unusual thing, was
the body.
Ali looked at 1t with open eves-and no
wonder. Fer this mummy was not as other
mummies are. Mummies in general lie
upon their backs, as stiff and calm rs
though they were cut from wood: but this
mummy lay upon its side, and, the wrap
pings notwithstanding, its knees were
slightly bent. More than that, indeed, the
gold mask, which, after the fashion of the
Ptolemaic period, had been set upon the
face, had worked down, and was literally
pounded up beneath the hooded head
1t was impossible, seeing these things. to
avoid the conclusion that the mummy be-
fore US had moved with violence since 1t
was put in the coffin.
''Him very funny mummy. Him not
'maiish' when him go in there" said Ali.
Nonsense said. "Who ever heard
Of live mummy,
We lifted the body out OF the coffin,
nearly choking ourselves with mummy
dust in the process. and there beneath it.,
half hidden among the spices. we made our
first find. It was roll of papyrus, care
lesslv fastened and wrapped in piece OF
mummy cloth. having. to all appearance,
been thrown into the coffin at the moment
Of closing.
Ali eyed the papyrus greedily. but
seized 1t and put it in my pocket. for it was
agreed that was TO have all that might be
discovered. Then we began to unwrap the
body. II was covered with very broad.
strong bandages, thickly wound and rough.