River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1914-01-22
The ESS0y0n
Statue
An Ardacous Hazard Nikolai Independent Agent as
Related by His Lieutenant Summers
BY H NJ EGBERT
Statue
copyright. 1913, by w. G. Chapman
BY Fl. NJ. EGBERT

out of my case at times for a little
fresh air and exercise. The difficult
part will be after we reach Boston har-
Dor. | shall prepare for stay of
twenty-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 feeling
of cramp from lying in my case. l
shall be consigned to Mr. Essayan, our
fat Armenian friend and | 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 / hope to accomplish
my undertaking"
But Essayan will recognize the
statue" l objected.
Neither Essayan nor Berg 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.
All you will have to do" he said
will be to wait at the back of the
house with blanket and catch what
! shall throw out to you. You will have
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, un-
J til the Waterman has made his round;
] then | shall throw down the statue
/ We unwrapped the mummy from its
fastenings. | confess it was a some
what gruesome undertaking, and when
finally we 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 you to good purpose"
We left the mummy in our rooms
there was no way to dispose Of it
and Nikolai got into the box. | wrap
/ ped the windings round him and
placed a pillow beneath his head
Then, having bored number Of holes
in the case, which rubbed with pig
ment to make them appear as though
| they were the product of time, | put
on 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 goodly supply of food for my
use in your stateroom," he said. AS
you may have observed. l am 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.
On the following day / boarded the
Hispaniola, 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 was uneventful, and, although my
mummy caused considerable talk
among the stewards, nobody suspected
that it contained very much up-to-
date passenger.
We arrived on Sunday. The case
would be delivered on the following
morning, Nikolai said, and the GUS
toms officers promised to hurry it
through l forget what duty l paid;
it was we'll worth it. On Monday
night, about the hour of twelve, Nj
kolai was to emerge from the mum
my case, select his statue and throw
it down to me.
Then ] remembered that the hour
would be too early for the advent of
the ash-barrel collector. | hit on a
new plan | would drive past the
back of the house in sight Of the
Waterman, in an automobile; l would
pretend that the machine had broken
| down, and would stop in the street
for repairs.
This plan l carried into effect. The
banker was in the country, | had
learned, and the house deserted 1t
would be the easiest matter to accom-
plish my scheme. Soon after mid
night ! drove up toward Essayan's
house. l duly stopped the machine,
uttered an exclamation of anger, de-
scended, and burrowed into the ground
beneath it. AS l had anticipated, the
| Waterman paused OH his round
Broken down. he inquired sym
pathetically.
I'm not doing this for fun l an
/ swered, with feiSned anger.
He watched me for while and
/ then resumed his patrol of the house
The moment that he disappeared l
sprang from under the machine, seized
the blanket I had brought, and whist
led twice the appointed signal Then,
looking up, l saw Nikolais head ap-
pear from an upper window.
Nikolai motioned with his hands;
spread the blanket and braced myself
to receive the weight of the statue.
To my establishment, however. I re-
ceived, not what / had expected, but
an oblate sphere, that hurtled heavily
through the air and descended into
the receptacle. glanced at it hastily
1t was the fore part OF a female head
of course in marble.
1 laid it down stupidity and glanced
up again. Once more an object de
scended. This time it was a leg
a marble leg, worthy of an Apollo. ]
caught it and FASTENED beneath the au
tomobile again, concealing my treas
ureS inst in time to hear the watch