The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1914-02-28
The ESS0y0n
Statue
An Audacious Hazard of Nikolai, Independent Agent, as
Related by His Lieutenant, Summers
BY H. M. E
copyright. 1918. by W. C. Chapman,

swered the banker. "Now shoot Go
away. You make me feel tired"
On the following Saturday Nikolai
and l sailed for England. 1t was on
shipboard that he unfolded his plans.
I'VE must anticipate those mum
miles, he said. Now, Summers, to
let in a light upon your brain, l in
tend to ent n Essayan's house dis
guised as al Egyptian king"
"A mummy" l asked, bewildered.
Yes. Mummies can be procured
easily in London. ! shall simply re-
move the body, wrap myself in the
spiced windings, enclosing a very mod
ern piece of papyrus r%ecounting the
history of my undertaking, pore a
neat breathing hole in the case, and
ship myself to Boston. You will take
me in your stateroom or the voyage
back, and / trust that you will let me
out of my case at times for a little
fresh air and exercise. The difficult
part will be after we reach Boston har-
Dor. l shall prepare for a stay of
t~wenty-four hours or more at the GUS
tom house by making myself insensi-
BILE with opium or some drug, to while
away the time and prevent a feeling
Of cramp from lying in my case. !
shall be consigned to Mr.. Essayan, our
fat Armenian friend, and l have no
doubt that he will consider me to be
from Berg, his art expert on the other
side, and welcome me with open arms.
OF course he will deposit me in his
museum, where l hope to accomplish
my undertaking."
But Essayan will recognize the
statue" l objected.
Neither Essayan nor Eerg himself
will recognize it," Nikolai answered.
We readily procured a mummy in
London, and, on the night before our
return journey, Nikolai gave me my
final instructions.
IAN you will have to do" he said,
will be to wait at the back of the
house with a blanket and catch what l
shall throw out to you. You will have
a pony trap in waiting-or perhaps it
would be still better to be in the guise
of the collector of waste from barrels.
In this way you will not be under sus.
picion. You will wait, of course, I'M
til the Waterman has made his round;
then l shall throw down the statue"
We unwrapped the mummy from its
fastenings. l confess it was a some
what gruesome undertaking, and when
finally W. stood looking down upon
the features of that ancient Egyptian,
l detected in it an uncanny resem-
blance to Nikolai. There was the
same high forehead, the same eagle
nose; moreover, the proportions,
shriveled though they were, were lit
tie short of Nikolai's. He laughed.
"Reincarnation?" he said, smiling
down on the grotesque thing. well,
if so, my worthy ancestor in the flesh,
We shall put o to good purpose"
We left the mummy in rooms
there was no way to dispose of it
and Nikolai got into the box. l wrap
ped the windings round him and
placed a pillow beneath his head.
Then, having bored a number of holes
in the case, which l rubbed with a pig
ment to make them appear as though
they were the product of time, l put
or the lid.
How do you feel?' l asked.
well, but stuffy," came Nikolai's
answer family from within the case.
Then he called to me to raise the lid.
For heavens sake do not forget to
lay by a goodly supply of food for my
use in your stateroom," he said. "As
you may have observed, l am a great
: trencherman. Now shut her down."
He tested the air for half an hour
and found it breathable. Then he
emerged and we made our final dispo-
sitions.
t On the following day ] boarded the
IIispaniola, sailing from Liverpool for
Boston. The mummy was hoisted on
board, and a little while afterward
: Nikolai came to life within my state
| room. The voyage across the Allan
tic vas uneventful, and, although my
mummy caused considerable talk
: among the stewards, nobody suspected
l that it contained a very much up-to-
l date passenger. l had given instruc-
tions that the case should be shipped
to Essayan's house; l marked the out
side as though it had come from Berg,
and, having left Nikolai with a supply
of water and some concentrated food,
: I babe him farewell. He had decided,
at my i~nstigation, rather to endure
| the discomfort of the long wait pa
; tiently, than to take a drug.
We arrived on Sunday. The case
, would be delivered on the following
morning. Nikolai said, and the Gus
) toms officers promised to hurry il
through. I forget what duty 1 paid;
it was well worth it. On Monday
night, about the hour of twelve, Nj
Q kolai was to emerge from the mum
my case, select his statue and throw
it down to me.
n Then l remembered that the hour
b would be too early for the advent Of
the ash-barrel collector. l hit ON q
new plan, l would drive past the
back of the house in sight of the
e Waterman, in an automobile; l would
S pretend that the machine had broken
down, and would stop in the street
!" for repairs. No crowd would be like
ly to assemble at such an hour in tina
secluded district; and the watchmaI
would be compelled to make the round
Of the house.