Los Angeles herald., 1906-02-25


thousandth millennium"
! My orthodoxy received severe shock How
ever, ] had been accustomed to geological cal
cuIations, and was somewhat inclined TO accept
the antiquity of man; 30 ! swallowed the state
ment without more ado Resides IL such a
charming girl as Hatasou had asked me at that
moment to turn Mohammedan, or to wcrshp
Osiris | believe / should incontinently have
done so.
you wake UP only for single day and night
| then" 7 said
only for single day and night. After that
we go to sleep for another millennium"
| Unless YOU are meanwhile burned as fuel on
the Cairo Railway" ! added, mentally. but
how | continued aloud, "do you get these
! lights?"
"The Pyramid ia built above a spring of in.
fammable gas We have reservoir in one Of
the side chambers, in which IL collects during
the thousand years. AS soon as we awake, we
turn it on at once from the tap, and light it
with a lucifer match"
Upon my word" I interposed. "I had no
notion you Ancient Egyptians were acquainted
with the use of matches"
VERY likely not There are more things in
heaven and earth, Cephrenes, than are dreamt
of in your philosophy, as the bard of Philae puts
IT,"
Further inquiries brought out all the secrets
of that strange tombhouse, and kept me fully
interested till the close Of the banquet. Then
JHe CnitL priest SOlem0lV rose, Offere0 a small
fragment of meat TO deifed crocodile, who sat
in meditative manner by the side of his desert
ed mummy-case. and declared the feast con
cluded for the night All rose from their places
wandered away into the long corridors or side
aisles, and formed little groups of takers under
the brilliant gas lamps.
For my part strolled off with Hatasou down
the least illuminated of the colonnades, and took
my seat beside marble fountain, where several
hsh (gods of great sanctity, Hatasou assured mel
were disporting themselves IN porphyry basin.
How long sat there ] cannot tell. but know
that we talked good deal about fish, and gods,
and Egyptian habits and Egyptian philosophy,
and, above all, Egyptian love-making. The last
named subject we found very interesting and
when once got full started upon it, no di-
version afterwards occurred to break the even
tenor of the conversation. Hatasou was love-
y figure, tall, queenly, with smooth dark arms
and neck of polished bronze; her big black eyes
full of tenderness, and her long hair bound up
into bright Egyptian headdrcss, that harmon
lied to a tone with her complexion and her
robe. The more we talked the more desperately
did ] fall in love, and the more utterly obliv
ious did ] become of my duty to Editha Fitz
Simkins. The mere ugly daughter Of rich and
vulgar brand-new knight, forsooth, to show off
her airs before me, when here was Princess
of the Blood Royal Of Egypt, obviously sensible
to the attentions which / was paying her, and
not unwilling to receive them with coy and
modest grace.
Well, I went saying pretty things to Hata-
sou, and Hatasou went on deprecating them in
a pretty little way as who should say, 81 don't |
mean what / pretend to mean one Bit" until at
last may confess that we were both evidently
far gone in the disease of the heart called love
as it is possible for two young people on first
acquaintance to become. Therefore when Hata.
SOU pulled forth her watch-another piece of
mechanism with which antiquaries used never to
.a1. h. IL laa1or 1,aAI
she had only three more hours to live, at least
for the next thousand years. fairly broke down, |
took out my handkerchief, and began to sob
like a child of five years old.
Hatasou was deeply moved. Decorum forbade |
hat she should console me with too much en-
but she ventured to remove the
gently from my face, and suggest
ID that there was yet one course open by which
we might enjoy little more of another's
ocety. Suppose" she said quietly, you were
o become mummy You would then wake up
Is we do. every thousand years; and after you
nave tried it once, you will find it just as nat
Iral to sleep for millennium for eight hours
IF course" she added with a slight blush, dur
ng the next three four solar cycles there
would be plenty of time to conclude any other
you might possibly contemplate
,efore the occurrence of another glacial epoch"
This mode of regarding time was certainly nov
!, and somewhat bewdering to people who
md 1 had a vague consciousness that my rela-
ions with Editha imposed upon me moral ne
essty of returning to the outer world, instead |
Il becoming a mllennal mummy. Besides, there
vas the awkward chance of being converted into
ue and dssipated into space before the ar
ival of the next waking day. But / took one
ook at Hatasou, whose eyes were filling in turn
With sympathetic tears, and that look decided
me- I flung Editha, life, and duty to the dogs,
nd resolved at once to become a mummy.
There was no time to be lost. Only three
ours remained to us, and the process OF en-
aiming even in the most hasty manner would
AXE up fully two. We rushed off to the chief
riest, who had charge of the particular depart
nent in question. He at once acceded to my
fishes, and briefly explained the mode in which
hey usually treated the corpse.
That word suddenly aroused me- THE
orpse!" cried; "but I am alive. You can't
mbalm me living"
I'VE can" replied the priest, under chloro-
orm."
"Chloroform!" I echoed, growing more and
nore astonished: 'T had no idea you Egyptians
new anything about it."
Ignorant bsrbarian!' he answered with curl
{ the lip; "you imagine yourself much wiser
han the teachers of the world. If you were
ersed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians you
1ould know that chloroform is one of our sim
lest and commonest anaesthetics."
/ put myself at once under the hands Of the
riest. He brought out the chloroform, and
laced it beneath my nostrils, as | lay soft
ouch under the central court. Hatasou held my
and in hers, and watched my breathing with an
nxious eye. / saw the priest leaning over me,
18th a clouded phial in his hand and | expert
need a vague sensation of smelling myrrh and
plzenard. Next, I lost myself for few mo-
tents, and when | again recovered my senses
} temporary break, the priest holding a
nall greensboro knife, dabbled with blood, and I