Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1906-02-10
A STRANGE TRAGEDY


TN ancient queen. Heshipped it to his
home in Paris, and there opened it
with the most exquisite delicaey, in
order that the mummy 1t contained
might not be disturbed. He found the
body in perfect state If preservation.
enwrapped in mummy cloths and
shrouded In cloth OF gold.
He removed the body from the sar.
cophagus and set 1t ub in his study.
He called in his servant and told her
the mummy must ndt be touched,
much less busted, as Il was very pre-
cious and exceedingly fragile.
The dead queen stood In an alcove
Of the Psychologists study, the OBJ
ject of an almost hieratc reverence on
his part He longed to remove the
gold and resin that dotfred her and
gaze upon her face and form, but
knowledge that one touch of his hand
would destroy forever the fragile flesh
within caused him u curb his Curl
osity and TO worship with his eyes
alone. Once a month Gemond took
feather buster and, rsverently and in
trepidation, whisked from his treas
ure the dust that had settled upon it.
No other hand but his was ever laid
upon her who in life had reigned over
Egypt and who In death reigned with
no less authority over this quiet study
in Paris. He was her high priest and
she was his goddess.
But Gemond was alone in his wor-
ship His servant, a pious. practical
French woman, saw with grave disap-
prevail this corpse, that ought TO be I'M
foreground, standing in her masters
study; the fact that ii had lain buried
thousands Of years rendered the sacri-
lege no less impious in her sight.
But 1t was the dust which gathered
upon the mummy that most shocked
her tidy SOUL and her busy fingers
fairly itched to take off those golden
robes and give them a good shaking
and beating at an open window Fear
of her master alone restrained her,
but she would sniff with contempt at
Gemond's efforts to keep the mummy
clean with a feather buster.
After the queen had reigned over the
Partisan study for several months, her
high priest went out one day and for
got to lock the door of his room that
was HIS shrine. The faithful Gabrielle
seized the opportunity to tidy up bit
She busted the books, she shook the
rugs, she placed her masters papers in
neat piles, she washed the windows
and waxed the floor and polished the
mirror and did all the other little
things that only woman's sense of
neatness impels. At last she stood be-
fore the sacred mummy and looked
with ever-increasing rebellion at the
veil of dust that enshrouded il. Ev-
erything else in the room shone, and
this alone stood dusty.
1t was too much for irer woman's
soul. What woman would have stood
such sight? What woman would not
have done as did Gabrielle-even with
the commands of her master to the
contrary? What do men know about
neatness, anyway? She took the
cloth of gold from the Shoulders of the
queen; despoiled her of the royal
death robes and shook them out of the
winaow. Then she brushed them care
fully and laid them aside.
Having begun her work she deter
mined TO finish it, and make a good
Job of it. So she began TO remove
the brown mummy cloths in which her
Egyptian majesty had slept for all
these thousands of years, determining
TO give them a good cleaning. But,
what was her horror when she discov-
cred that they fell to pieces In her
hands
Gabrielle stood as if transfixed. The
soft brown linen dropped, bit by bit,
taking away and crumbling as 1t fell.
She seized the golden robes and hur-
riedly draped them upon the silent
form, hoping thereby TO hide the raw
ages her hands had wrought But as
she worked-too roughly in her hurry
she felt the whole mass crumble I'M
der her hands, and the cloth of gold
fell in a shapeless heap over a pile
of brown dust.
AT this moment Nicholas Gemond
entered the room. Gabrielle jumped
from her task and stood facing him,
her eyes wide with fright The savant
looked at the spot wherein had stoed
his ancient queen, and beheld 1t
empty. He seized the golden draper
les, and found beneath them nothing
but a handful OF dust
Then he turned in speeches. wrath
and put bullet through Gabrielle's
heart.
The faithful servant fell dead at his
feet.
Nicholas Gemond, the famous Egyp-
tologist, sits to-day In a cell in a Paris
prison, convicted murderer, awaiting