Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1898-01-26
Fl. seemed to belong neither 70 tn.

living non the dead. He was frightful
anomaly. l sickened with horror, but
still continued mechanically to chafe
his limbs.
After the lapse of some minutes,
which were accompanied by increasing
evidences of the return of circulation,
the doctor opened the firmly compressed
lips and with his penknife easily pried
the teeth apart and poured several drops
of the liquid down the throat of the
body. The effect of this was soon evil
denced by very slight but yet percep-
tible respiration. There was no longer
room for doubt, if indeed there had
been any before. The man lived.
The doctor was still silent, and in the
whirl of my thoughts was incapable
of speech. We renewed our rubbings
with the liquor, and the Inspirations
grew stronger and stronger At last
they were quite normal. The doctor
poured few drops of the cordial down
the throat.
"We may rest now" he said.
l threw myself Oh the floor and think
I must have tainted from the exhaustive
labor, the tumult of my thoughts and
the heat of the chamber. At any rate
I was unconscious for some time.
When | regained consciousness, the
Egyptian (for now that he was alive
suppose he should be properly so called)
was breathing easily and naturally as
though in profound sleep. The doctor
was seated on the floor, his back against
a sarcophagus, looking intently at the
crystal flask which he held in his hand.
Its contents, about one-haf Of which
had been exhausted, sparkled brightly
in the torchlight.
arose ard approached my friend.
As did SO noticed something alarm
ing in his appearance. His features
were set and drawn, while his eyes
glittered with light that was fearful
in the wild intensity of their glare. /
hesitated to speak and stood looking IT.
resolutely at him for some minutes. He
seemed unconscious of my presence.
From time to time he would mutter in
a hoarse and inarticulate voice.
In the hope that he might become
more composed if 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 a slight twitch
ing of his eyelids was 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 pinching the epiglottis to make
him swallow. The effect of the draft
was soon evidenced by an increased color
in the swarthy cheek, and in few min.
utes, while l watched him closely, tbs
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
consciousness, yet this action, natural
as it was, affected me more than the
first discovered indications of life. A
cold wave swept along my spine, and
my heart paused until thought it
would never resume 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 found,
ed, what mystic rites, what mighty
men of old long sunk into oblivion, had
been mirrored in those hideously ancient
orbs?
It was as though the sphinx had
awakened from her granite sleep and
looked upon me. Luckily for me 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 Egyptians respiration soon
evidenced that he was again sleeping.
laid his head upon fold of the can
vas and arose to my feet AS did SO
cry from the doctor attracted my atten-
ton. He had arisen and was pacing
feverishly about the tomb.
"Oh, fools and madmen!' he cried.
"Oh, blind and more than blind! Idiots
and imbeciles! What have we done,
asses that we are? What have we done?"
stared at my friend in terror and
amazement. His words were those of a
mailman, and the glitter of his eye and
luC 1ISIlLy VI LIS Iudlu6r were III Keep
ing. While still stared he continued
his CALCULATIONS in half dozen lam
guages, gesticulating wildly, throwing
his hands aloft, tearing his hair and
darting about the chamber.
"Do you know what this is?'' at
length he cried in terrible voice, ad.
vancing toward me with the flask held
aloft.
GOT course not" replied, striving
to appear calm and self possessed.
"Of course you do not" he answered
with sneer "Of course you do not.
How should an imbecile like you know
what it is? What should it be? What is
it but the real elixir vitae, the elixir
Of life the v inc of youth, the medicine
of immortality, 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
treasuring it for the preservation of our
own lives through countless ages And
why not" he cried, his voice rising to
a scream, as be turned fiercely to me,
"why not for all eternity, for, in the
long ages of existence that this will
give us shall we not be able to discover
the ingredients of which it is made
and the manner in which it is concoct-
ed? Eternity! Eternity" he screamed.
&c An eterni,y of life is oursP'