Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1898-03-11

OIutr tldl ne MlBnJ lOOh uOWu lnVO tne
sarcophagus.
As the glittering mummy case met
his sight he began a series of cjacula-
tions in his native tongue, apparently
unconscious of my presence. AT length
he somewhat regained his composure,
and the crystal flask in my hand at
tracted his attention.
"What is that?' he demanded.
81 do not know. found it inside the
sarcophagus. Did you ever see anything
like it before?'
He did not answer me, but, snatching
the vase from my hand, began to ex-
anime it very closely, at the same time
muttering excitedly to himself His in
spection lasted some time. Finally his
face frightened and assumed an express
sion of decision.
1T may be- 1t is possible" he said,
still speaking to himself. "Why not?
Do not the records of Manetho say SO?
1t is not so improbable after all. Come,
come, we shall soon know"
"Come," he said, turning to me,
1--WE must see that mummy. Let us get
the case out as soon as possible"
l gave the necessary orders to my
men, and the derrick was once more
called into requisition to lift the heavy
case from the sarcophagus.
"Do you suppose this is Thothmcs?"
inquired while the men were occupied
with this task.
at is no more Thothmes, " he replied,
Ethan it is Habakkuk. 1t is Nef Rah,
high priest of Osiris, of the eighteenth
dynasty" pointing at the same time to
n hieroglyph carved on the massive case,
which l had overlooked by reason of its
size, extending from one end of the
case nearly to the other.
In few moments the heavy case
was on the stone floor and the massive
! golden cover was removed, revealing
not the ordinary swathed and bandaged
mummy but a naked body floating i'll
an oily substance which emitted an
aromatic smell If l had expected re-
newed evidence Of excitement from the
doctor, 1 was disappointed. His fea-
lures assumed q set expression, and he
bent over the body without uttering a
syllable.
"This liquid, exclaimed excitedly,
"is"-
Honey" replied the doctor. Then
he continued as if to himself: GAS | eX-
pected. Come The ancients We're not
all fools nor all liars. 1t is o'clock
great day, great day"
The body, as the mummy case had
forctold was that of young man Of
pleasing appearance and majestic fig
urc, the flesh still firm and plump,
with no evidences Of decay. The body
appeared to have been unmutilated by
the hands of the embalmers. There was
no iucision on the flank to evidence the
removal of the visCcra, and the plump
ness of the closed eyelids led to the pre-
sumption that the eyes were stlll III
their sockets. There was positively No
evidence Of death about the body, I'M
less it were certain rigidity, but 9TH
erwise it might have been mistaken for
the person of some expert swimmer
sleeping on the surface of his bath.
"Send your men for some food, a
half dozen bottles of wine and plenty
of water and towels, said the doctor
in an unnatural voice.
had overlooked the fact that 1t wa:
past dinner time and FASTENED to give
the necessary orders to my men, though
what the doctor wanted of towels
could not imagine. The required arti
Giles We're soon brought.
"Now dismiss all your men" con
tinued the doctor in the same strained
tone of voice.
f,l. 1n-f1 fYa 1fylxs gE
wedding guest obeyed the Ancient Mari
ner, and the men, after depositing 1
number of lighted torches about tn,
chamber, retired. After their FOOTSTEPS
had died away in the long corridors
the doctor began to pace slowly up anC
down the room. Finally he spoke:
"How many kinds of mummies hav,
you found i'll your discoveries"
"Why," l replied, "three kinds, j
you mean the manner of their prepare
tion.
"And they were?"
"Why, the first class have all tn
viscera and the brains removed, thu
cavities filled with resins and spices
and have been stepped III natrOn for
I, long time. The second have only th
brains removed and the viscera injecte,
with oil of cedar. These Were ais
stepped in natron, AS we suppose. Tn
third kind were apparently just saltec
down for certain length Of time. Thes
are all the kinds l am familiar with.
"And have you found and seen n
: other kind?"
"No."
"Well, there was fourth kind. 1t i
= so written in the book of Manetho.
have always believed it to be a lie o
the priests. We are about to see whethe
it was such in fact or not. The priest
= claimed to have process by whic
they could arrest animation indefinite
l. ly, and that they could, after the laps
. of ages, restore life to a body in whic
existence had been suspended by th
use of certain liquor, if the body weT
. kept from external injury The onl
thing that has seemed to substantial
this claim has been the fact that fey
bodies have been discovered at widel
: different times which bore none Of tn
ordinary marks of embalming, fro
s which the viscera and brain had n
been removed and W hich were neverth
. less in a better state of preservatiC
L than mummies which had been car
fully embalmed. / say such bodies ha
been discovered. / should say, rattle
81 that il is claimed that they have be,