The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-10-04

Asia inspired him, as wildly as they re-
call his "cancerous kisses of the croco-
die" Such an indeinable horror now
possessed me. The being before me had
lived and loved, had thought anddreamei i,
had hoped and longed and feared before the
dawn of history, when the earth was peo-
pied with strange racesIwhose very nam IS
have been forgotten long eons ago; when
the flood was matter of yesterday ard
the Tower of Babel an existing wonder Of
the world; and yet now saw before my
eyes the tide of life, stagnant for ages,
once more beginning to course within his
veins.
Antiquity had not begun
Long ere his primeval race was run"
He seemed to belong neither to the living
nor the dead. He was frightful anomai =.
l sickened with horror, but still continued,
mechanically, to chafe his limbs.
After the lapse of some minutes, which
were accompanied by increasing evidence
of the return of circulation, the doctor
opened the frmly-compressed lips. ard
with his penknife easily PRED the teeth
apart and poured several drops of the
liquid down the throat of the body. The
effect of this was soon evidenced by a very
slight, but yet perceptible respiration.
There was no longer room for doubt, if, in
deed, there had been any before. The man
lived.
Inc UOCtOf was btlll slleub, anu III the
whirl of my thoughts | was incapable Of
speech. We renewed our rubbings with
the liquor, and the respirations grew
stronger and stronger. At last they were
quite normal The doctor poured few
drops of the cordial down the throat.
I'VE may rest now" he said.
threw myself on the floor, and think
must have tainted from the exhaustive
labor, the tumult of my thoughts and the
heat of the chamber. At any rate, was
unconscious for some time
When I regained consciousness, tie
Egyptian flor now that he was alive I sup
pose he should be properly so called) WAS
breathing easily and naturally as though
in a profound sleep. The doctor was
cophagus, looking intentiy at the crystal
flask which he held in his hand. Its con-
tents. about one-haif of which had been
exhausted, sparkled brightly in the torch
light.
1 arose and approached my friend. As
did so I noticed something alarming in
his appearance. His features were set and
drawn. while his eyes clustered with light
that was fearful in the wild intensity of
their glare. l hesitated to speak and stood
looking irresolutely at him for several
minutes. He seemed unconscious of my
presence. From time to time he would
mutter in hoarse and inarticulate voic,.
In the hope that he might become more
composed il left to himself, and IN order
TO distract my own excited thoughts, /
turned my attention to the Egyptian. HIS
respirations had become somewhat shorter
and slight twitching of his eyelids wss
apparent Sitting down beside him, and
taking his head in my lap, knocked off
the neck of the bottle of wine and poured
some of its contents down his throat. at
the same time punching the epiglottis to
10 ho IF 10
draught was soon evidenced by an in
creased color in the swarthy cheek, and in
a few minutes, while I watched him close
ly, the eyelids trembled, and, with great
effort, slowly opened, and two great eyes,
OF intense blackness, stared solemnly into
mine.
There could have been nothing more
natural than for the man to have opened
his eyes after having been restored to COLI
seriousness, yet this action, natural as it
was, affected me more than the first dis
covered indications of life. A cold wave
swept along my spine, and my heart
paused until thought IL would never re-
sumo its pulsations.
On what prehistoric scenes had those
inscrutable eyes last gazed before they
looked into mine? What awful events,
forgotten ere yet pyramid was founded,
what mystic rites, what mighty men of
old long sunk into oblivion, had been
mirrored in those hideously ancient orbs
1t was as though the Sphynx had awal,-
ened from her granite sleep and looked
upon me. Luckily for me l was not called
upon to long endure that awesome gaze:
The eyelids fell, and, as if exhausted by
the effort of opening his eyes, the Egyp-
tian's respiration soon evidenced that be
was again sleeping. / laid his head upon
a fold of the canvas and arose TO my feet.
As did so cry from the doctor attracted
my attention. He had arisen, and was
pacing feverishly about the tomb.
30 fools and madmenw he cried. 40
blind and more than blind Idiots and
imbecilesi What have we done, asses that
We are. What we have done2"
l stared at my friend in terror and
amazement His words were those of
mailman, and the glitter of his eve. and
the frenzy of his manner were in keeping.
While stared he continued his eiacuIa
tons In half dozen languages, gestic1,-
lating wildly, throwing his hands aIof.
tearing his hair and darting about the
chamber
"Do you know what this is ?" at length
ne crleo, In terrible voice, advancing
toward me with the flask held aloft.
"Of course not" l replied, striving tn
appear calm and self-possessed.
vi course you do not" he answered.
with sheer. ''Of course you do not. How
should an imbecile like you know what
IL nat should 1t be2 What Is il hrt
the real Elixir Vita, the elixir of life the
wine OF youth, the medicine of immo.-
tallty, so long sought and never found
that's what it is, and that's what we
have been wasting on that muddy
carcass there, instead of treasuriny
1t for the preservation of our own
hyes through countless ages. And
why not" he cried, his voice rising tn
scream, as he turned fercelv TO me.
why not for all eternity, for, in the long
ages OF existence that this will give M
SHAH We not be able TO discover the inrre,
dents OF which it Is made, and the mar
ner IN which il is concocted? Eternity
Eternity ]" he screamed. IAN eternity If
life Is OursF
a cold, icy horror seized me. There
could De no doubt of my companions ir
sanity. He was a raving maniac. The
exciting events of the last few hours haj
been too much for his highly wrought
nervous system. / was alone with hin
far from human aid, and where no souni
or cry of mine could reach the ear of mar
To what extremity might not this insan-
10y drive himi l was unarmed. ami
though stronger man than he, vet /
knew that insanity lends strength a
NM