Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-02-15

jar winch ne naQ drawn from his pocket
He then took a handful of rings from the
case, and with most serious and anxious
face he proceeded to smear each in turn
with some liquid substance from the
earthen pot, holding them to the light as
he did So He was clearly disappointed
with the first lot, for he threw them petu-
lantly back into the case and drew out
some more. One of these, massive ring
with large crystal set in it, he seized,
and eagerly tested with the contents of the
jar. Instantly he uttered cry of JOY and
threw out his arms in wild gesture
which upset the pot and sent the liquid
streaming across the floor to the very feet
of the Englishman. The attendant drew
a red handkerchief from his bosom, and,
hopping up the mess, he followed it into
| the corner, where in moment he found
himself face to face with his observer.
Excuse me-" said John Vansittart
Smith, with all imaginable politeness. 81
have been unfortunate enough to fall
asleep behind this door,"
"And you. have been watching me ?'
the other asked in English, with most
venomous look on his corpse-like face.
The student was man of veracity. II
confess" said he, "that I have noticed
your movements, and that they have
aroused my curiosity and interest in the
highest degree"
The man drew long famboyant- bladed
knife from his bosom. "You have had
very narrow escape" he said. "Had I
seen you ten minutes ago | should have
driven this through your heart. As it is,
if you touch me or interfere with me in
any way you are dead man."
81 have no wish to interfere with you,"
the student answered. "My presence here
is entirely accidental. All | ask is that
you will have the extreme kindness to
show me out through some side door"
He spoke with great suavity, for the man
was still pressing the tip OF his dagger
against the palm of his left hand, as
though to assure himself of its sharpness,
while his face preserved its malignant ex-
preston.
'If 1 thought" said he. "But no,
perhaps it is as well. What is your
name"
The Englishman gave it.
"Vansittart Smith" the other repeated.
care you the same Vansittart Smith who
gave paper in London upon Ell Kab? 1
saw report of it. Your knowledge of the
subject is contemplate"
"Sir p cried the Psychologist.
"Yet it is superior to that of many who
make even greater pretensions. The
whole keystone of our old life in Egypt
was not the inscriptions or monuments of
which you make so much, but was our
hermetic philosophy and mystic knowledge,
of which you say little or nothing"
sour old life p repeated the scholar,
wide-eyed; and then suddenly, Good
God, look at the mummy's face %
The strange man turned and flashed his
light upon the dead woman, uttering a
long, doleful cry as he did so. The action
of the air had already undone all the art
of the embalmer. The skin had fallen
away, the eyes had sunk inward, the dis
colored lips had writhed away from the
yellow teeth, and the brown mark upon
the forehead alone showed that it was in
deed the same face which had shown such
youth and beauty few short minutes be-
fore.
The man tapped his hands together in
grief and horror. Then mastering himself
by strong effort he turned his hard eyes
once more upon the Englishman.
at does not matter" he said, in a shak-
ing voice at does not really matter.
came here tonight with the fixed deter
mination to do something. 1t is now done.
All else is as nothing. l have found my
quest. The old curse is broken. can re-
Join her. What matter about her mani
mate she'll so long as her spirit is awaiting
me at the other side of the veil ?"
''These are wild words" said Vansittart
Smith. He was becoming more and more
convinced that he had to do with a mad
man.
sTime passes and must CO." continued
the other "The moment is at hand for
which l have waited this weary time.
But | must show you out first. Come with
me-"
Taking up the lamp, he turned from the
disordered chamber and led the student
swiftly through the long series of the
Egyptian, Assyrian and Persian apart
ments. At the end of the latter he pushed
open small door let into the wall and de-
scended winding stone stair. The Eng
lishman felt the cold fresh air of the night
upon his brow. There was door opposite
him which appeared to communicate with
the street. To the right of this another
door stood ajar, throwing squirt of yellow
light across the passage. "Come in here"
said the attendant shortly.
Vansittart Smith hesitated He had
hoped that he had come to the end Of his
adventure. Yet his curiosity was strong
within him. He could not leave the matter
unsolved, so he followed his strange COM
panion into the lighted chamber.
1t was a small room, such as is devoted
to concierge. A wood fire sparkled in
the CRATE. At one side stood a truckle
bed, and at the other a coarse wooden
chair, with a round table in the center,
which bore the remains of meal As the
visitors eye glanced round he could not
but remark with an ever-recurring thrill
that all the small details of the room were
of the most quaint design and antique
workmanship. The candlesticks, the vases
upon the chimney-piece, the fine irons, the
ornaments upon the walls, were such as he
had been wont TO associate with the re-
mote past. The gnarled, heavy-eyed man
sat himself down upon the edge of the bed,
and motioned his guest into the chair.
"There NAV be design in this" he said,
still speaking excellent English. sit may
be decreed that l should leave some ac-
count pehlnu as warning 10 al rasn
mortals who would set their wits up
against workings of nature / leave it
with you. Make such use as you will of
it. / speak to you now with my feet upon
the threshold Of the other world.
81 am, as you surmised, an Egyptian
not of the down-trodden race Of slaves who
now inhabit the delta of the Nile, but
survivor of that fercer and harder people
who tanned the Hebrew, drove the Ethio-
plan back into the southern deserts and
built those mighty works which have been
the envy and the wonder of all after ge1-
erations. 1t was in the reign of Tuthmosis,
six hundred years before the birth. of
Christ, that l first saw the light You
shrink away from me. Wait and you will
see that l am more to be pitied than to be