very long after the interment, the mud over which Smith had just crawled
was still wet. This he could tell, since the clay from the rascal's
feet remained upon the stairs, and that upon his fingers had stained the
paintings on the wall against which he had supported himself; indeed,
in one place was an exact impression of his hand, showing its shape and
even the lines of the skin.

At the top of the flight of steps ran another passage at a higher
level, which the water had never reached, and to right and left were the
beginnings of unfinished chambers. It was clear to him that this queen
had died young. Her tomb, as she or the king had designed it, was never
finished. A few more paces, and the passage enlarged itself into a hall
about thirty feet square. The ceiling was decorated with vultures, their
wings outspread, the looped Cross of Life hanging from their talons.
On one wall her Majesty Ma-Mee stood expectant while Anubis weighed her
heart against the feather of truth, and Thoth, the Recorder, wrote down
the verdict upon his tablets. All her titles were given to her here,
such as--"Great Royal Heiress, Royal Sister, Royal Wife, Royal Mother,
Lady of the Two Lands, Palm-branch of Love, Beautiful-exceedingly."

Smith read them hurriedly and noted that nowhere could he see the name
of the king who had been her husband. It would almost seem as though
this had been purposely omitted. On the other walls Ma-Mee, accompanied
by her _Ka_, or Double, made offerings to the various gods, or uttered
propitiatory speeches to the hideous demons of the underworld, declaring
their names to them and forcing them to say: "Pass on. Thou art pure!"

Lastly, on the end wall, triumphant, all her trials done, she, the
justified Osiris, or Spirit, was received by the god Osiris, Saviour of
Spirits.