The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1897-12-27
A PRINCESS FOOT.

ways an air Of mystery about him. II h,
had lived hundred years ago no woult
certainly have been burned as an evil ma
gician.
Upon the day of which I write he re
oeived me with all the warmth Of an oil
friend, and followed me about among hi
treasures, now pushing aside some decrepil
chair, now spreading his hands over somt
bit Of porcelain to keep it from contao,
with my coat, now holding up some rict
piece of silk to show it's best side, agair
catching mo by the elbow to prevent my
knocking over a couple Of fragile and rart
Venetian glasses. He finally asked:
"Will the gentleman purchase nothing
todayS See trts Malayan daggerl 1T
blade shines like the suns rays. Yor
ought to have 1t in your collection. Did
you sec this sword with the hilt incrusted
with brilliantsP 1t belonged to Godfrey
Of Bouillon; a valuable thing, I assure
you, SIR"
"No, have weapons enough" I an.
swerod. Gan am looking for today IL
some triHe that can use as a paper.
weight. Tho bronze figures and such
things that ono usually sees are too com.
monplaee. don't want anything of that
sort,
Tho old gnome searched some time
among his curios and placed before mo O
collection of bronzes, pieces Of malaohite,
little Chinese and Indian idols and a small
green jasper figure. Any of them would
suit the purpose excellently.
Hooked them all over and finally my
choice lay between horrible dragon with
yawnlng jaws and an ugly little Mexican
fetich representing the god Fitzliputzli.
Just then my wandering eyes discovered
q charming little foot, which at the first
glance thought might have belonged to
some antique Venus.
II will take that foot It is Just what
want
The old man handed 1t to me, and
was astonished at its lightness. 1t certain
ly was not bronze 1t was foot of flesh
embalmed, the foot of mummy
And so you want to buy the foot of
Princess Hermonthi, cried the old dealer,
and world of scorn lay in his voice, "for
a paperweight! An original idea, truly!
The old Pharaoh would have been great
ly surprised If any one had told him that
the foot Of his fayorite daughter, Hermon-
thi, should ever be used as a paperweight,
especially utter he erected q huge granite
pile over her and sealed it with hioro-
glyphios."
"Well, how much does this fragment Of
mummy COST" asked.
"Just as much as possible, for it Is
priceless. II you offered me 500 gulden,
1t would not be half what it is worth.
Think Of it, sir, a foot that once belonged
to daughter of tho great king! What
could be more remarkable"
As was going out Of the door be called
to me:
"Well, YOU may have it, and its wrap
ping, too, l will give you"
So saying, he tied the foot up in piece
of old silk.
"Costly old damask, heard him NUT
ter. "Indian damask that has mover seen
the dye pot. :" He stroked tho little parcel
carcssingly and handed it to me, receiving
his money in return. Carefully counting
1t and examining every piece, he stood
thore mur,nuring softly:
Her foot for paperweight ' = that
would not please Pharaoh So he loved
his daughter wcll!'
You speak exactly as If you were a
fricnd of tho old Egyptian ruler" said,
laughing. Do you know the secrets Of
the pyramids?" And with that left the
shop.
was enchanted with my purchase, and
FASTENED homo with it. Then 1 set out
for my restaurant, vol pleased with my
new acquisition. There I met some
friends, with whom I dined, and 1t was
late when returned home
had asked one of my artist friends to
go with me the next day to an exhibition
of Makart's paintings and he had been
kind enough to send me complimentary
ticket. NV head acbed-wbich was not
to be wondered al, an had indnlyed freo,v
in ohampagne-and so, fearful Of forget.
ting my appointment, I looked ND the
ticket and placed it directly under the
princess foot, where It could NOT fail To
meet my owes the minute awoke. Then
wont TO ped
uraouaiiy became overcome with
sieep' Az the same limo 1t seemed that
Inc eyob oi my spirl6 opened all the wider,
LOT could see my room plainly and my.
sell &c, sleeping. my lamp burned dimly.
ms coais IN inc fireplace glowed softly.
A poaoelui stlilhoss was over everything.
ouooehiy hearo an oad cracking, like
ury leaves IL seemed TO come from my
"rlting taple. As1 looked toward it
saw the llttlo Egyptian foot walking
around among my papers
Az inc same time l Noticed that the
WINDOW curtains were moving. They
slowly parted, ana from between them
stepped wonderfully beautiful figure.
IL was u young girl, with warm, dark
coIorlng, and her extraordinary beauty
was OF tho pufost oriental type. Her aim
oha shapcd eyes were slightly raised at tho