[Illustration: GODDESS OF TRUTH, WITH HER EYES CLOSED.]
Frank repeated some lines which were originally addressed to a mummy in Belzoni's Museum, in London, many years ago:
"And thou hast walked about--how strange a story!-- In Thebes's streets, three thousand years ago. When the Memnonium was in all its glory, And time had not begun to overthrow Those temples, palaces, and piles stupendous, Of which the very ruins are tremendous.
"Speak! for thou long enough hast acted dummy. Thou hast a tongue--come, let us hear its tune. Thou'rt standing on thy legs above-ground, mummy, Revisiting the glimpses of the moon; Not like pale ghosts or disembodied creatures, But with thy bones, and legs, and limbs, and features.
"Tell us, for doubtless thou canst recollect, To whom should we ascribe the Sphinx's fame? Was Cheops or Cephrenes architect Of either pyramid that bears his name? Was Pompey's Pillar really a misnomer? Had Thebes a hundred gates, as sung by Homer?"
"Good-bye, sweetheart, good-bye!" said Fred, as Frank paused, and the Doctor turned away from the relic of other days.
[Illustration: LADY'S HEAD-DRESS ON A MUMMY CASE.]
"You're wrong there," said the Doctor; "he has not a sweet heart, but a solid one." Turning to the attendant, he asked him in French to show the scarabæus and other things that came from the mummy at the time the case was opened.
[Illustration: RINGS, BRACELETS, AND SCARABÆI.]
The attendant pointed to a glass case close at hand, containing some necklaces, and representations of beetles carved in stone. Among them was a scarabæus, or beetle, in jasper (one of the hardest stones in the world), about three inches long and two in width. The rounded portion represented the back of a beetle with the wings folded, while the flat surface beneath was covered with hieroglyphics, with an oval line drawn around them.
[Illustration: STONE SCARABÆUS WITH WINGS.]
"The scarabæus," said the Doctor, "was the symbol of resurrection among the ancient Egyptians, and hence we find it very frequently used about the mummies, and the places where they were laid away to rest. This large one was deposited in place of the heart of our desiccated friend in the box, and these necklaces, principally composed of scarabæi, were around his neck. This flat one lay upon his breast in direct contact with the flesh; the circle in the centre represents the sun; on each side of it is the asp, a snake that was sacred to one of the gods, and the outstretched wings on either side are to indicate the power of the soul to take flight from the body. The Egyptians had some process of cutting stone that is unknown to us, as the carving of these scarabæi, in the hardest materials as we find them, would defy the skill of modern lapidaries."