The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1889-08-28
not tell had not hand been laid on INV

not tell, had not hand been laid on my
shoulder and voice said:
"Mr. Montague"
looked up. The man who addressed
me was Mr.. Frampton, who carried on
business as a solicitor and general legal
adviser to the English residents in Cairo
and Alexandria.
"Mr. Montague" he repeated, 81 had
instructions to deliver this into your
hands as soon as you landed, and as was
afraid l might miss you ca the quay,
came on board"
"Mr. Blake is not here? ?" queried,
but did not notice that silence was his
only answer.
'Thank Godl' exclaimed, 81 shall not
have to tell him yet"
"Mr. Blake is-dead," said Mr.. Tramp
ton, quietly.
"Mr. Blake dead? Impossiblel and
Llora dyingl"
"He met his death in a sad way" con-
tinued Mr.. Frampton. ''On the march
inland with the expedition the party
stopped to shoot some elephants. Mr..
Blake was a good shot; I've been out with
him. But however il was, he fired at a
great bull elephant from the open and
missed, or at any rate, the shot only grazed
the beasts ear.
HE fired again and missed, and before
he had time to get to shelter the infurl
ated animal was on him, and he was lit
orally trampled to death. They buried
him on the spot, poor fellow, and one OF
the party came back to Cairo with the sad
news"
The horror of the thing took from me
all power of expression, and the lawyer
went on:
About three days after the expedition
started, a messenger returned and brought
me this package from Mr.. Blake. think
the same messenger had letter to you
also. Mr.. Blake sent instructions that l
was to deliver this in your hand immedi-
ately on your return from England, in
case, through delay or accident, he might
not be in Alexandria to meet you himself.
How little he thought when he wrote to
me that death would prevent the meet
ingw
took the packet and opened it mechan-
ically. First l came on letter TO myself
in Blake's handwriting. Trembling, tore
it open and read:
"MY DEAR HARRY-As l may not hav
returned from the expedition when You
arrive with Nasartas, / must tell you the
terrible secret which has been revealed to
me by Ahmed Ben Amen, the seer. Had
it concerned only myself it would be of
small account as all men must die. and |
have lived into middle life, and | thank
God my life has been happy one, there
| fore 1t is not for me to murmur at what
must be. But it concerns also my Llora,
whom by this time you have seen. She is
| beautiful, she is young-too young TO die
and for her sake implore you to carry
| out this trust if aught should occur to
/ prevent my meeting you when you come
with Vasartas. You will see in the trans
| lation of the parchment, which, with the
| original l send you, that the curse on my
! children only lasts until Vasartas is laid
once more in the tomb. This l implore
! you to do, first replacing the original
| parchment where found it. Then shall
the curse pass from Llora, and l alone
| shall suffer for what l did, heaven knows
unwittingly.
''If it should be that l may not see you
or Llora again, tell her that / thought of
/ her always, but keep secret from her the
story of Nasartas. In after years watch
kindly over that young life which 1 ask
/ you now to save. We may meet again,
but | cannot tell, for life now seems a
thing of the past to your true friend.
John BLAKE"
Hastily withdrew the paper inclcsing
| the parchment, attached to which was the
translation in Mr.. Blake's writing. At
the top OF the sheet on which it was writ
| ten | read:
Then came the terrible words:
"AHMED BEN ANEN's TRANSLATION"
''Vasartas of ten kings of the royal
house of Namoth.
"Cursed be the man that shall disturb
the tomb of me, Vasartus To him shall
death come with violence, and his bones
shall be scattered with the winds. Also
/ oh oh hn off 10
l, Vasartas, be laid to rest and no more
seen.
~, Vasartas, of mighty kings have
spoken"
The curse had fallen on Blake. And
Llora? Was there yet time to save her,
or was she by this cut off from life? The
telegram stated that she was dying. While
there is life there is hope, so | explained
to Mr.. Frampton the necessity for haste,
and he undertook TO assist in the re-burial
of Vasartas
1t was night when we reached the site
! of the tomb underneath the wall OF rock
from which Blake had removed the sar-
| cophagus in such triumph only few
weeks before. Unfortunately, great pile
OF sand had collected where the hollow
had been, and it took dozen men about
an hour to dig down to the stone slab
which closed the opening to the subter-
ranean cavern. Once more we removed
it and let the sarcophagus down by means
of ropes. Scarcely had we got it into
position when one of our party called out:
"Here's a stand-storm coming up.
Quick Get to the other side of this wall
or you're all dead menp
Helter-skelter we clambered ont of the
vault, not even waiting to replace the
stone, and took refuge behind the old wall
that had withstood the storms of thou
sands of years; and not minute too soon
were we, for the great binding sand-cloud
was on u.s. At one moment we thought
that even with the protection OF the wall
we were done for, as over the top OF it
came great avalanche OF sand, burying
some of us up to our waists. Then, as the
air cleared, we saw the dark moving mass
in front of us, rolling away out OF sight,
and we knew that the danger was past.
We helped each other to scramble out of
the loose sand, and having shaken out our
clothing as best we could, we went round
to the other side of the wall. But there
was no wall to be seen--for there was q
great bank of sand right up to the top of
it. The tomb of Vasartas was well hid
den, and, as il was open when we fled
round the wall, the sand must have COM
pletely filled the cavern.
The next day ! started up country with
the messenger who had brought the news
of poor Blake's death, as guide; for
wished to remove the body from its desert
| k,rrf oNlf - L..