head and feet and fastened with brown strips of linen. Under this last
shroud were the bandages which swathed the actual corpse, inscribed with
passages from the Book of the Dead, the mysterious fantastic directions
for the life hereafter. The symbolism requisite for the external
decoration of the mummy had been scrupulously executed by skilful
artists, and the conscientious method of wrapping again indicated the
pristine mode of embalmment practised when the craft was at its zenith,
long before the Greek conquest of Egypt.

A considerable time was occupied in unrolling the three or four hundred
yards of linen. Meanwhile a strange fragrance of myrrh, cassia,
cinnamon, the sweet spices and aromatic unguents used in embalming,
filled the room. Gradually the yellow skin preserved by the natron began
to appear through the cross-hatchings of the bandages. Attached to a
thick gold wire round the neck and placed over the heart was a scarab of
green basalt, mounted in a gold setting; and on the henna-stained little
finger of the left hand was another of steatite. As the right arm was
freed from its artificially tightened grasp a peculiar wooden cylinder
rolled on to the floor into the heap of scented mummy dust and bandages.

Languidly inquisitive, Professor Lachsyrma groped for it. Such objects
are generally found beneath the head. There was a seal at each end, both
of which he broke. A roll of papyrus was inside. He trembled, and with
forced deliberation made for the table, his knees tottering from
exhaustion. Excitement at this unexpected discovery made him forget
Carrel. The ghastly events of the evening were for the moment blotted
from his memory. After all, he was a palaeographer--an archaeologist
first, a murderer afterwards. Eagerly, painfully, he began to read,
adjusting his spectacles from time to time, the muscles of his face
twitching with anxiety and expectation. For a long time the words were