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The Last American by John Ames Mitchell
page 14 of 45 (31%)

"Is it possible?" I asked, "that this woman has been lying here almost
a thousand years and yet so well preserved?"

"I, also, am surprised," said Nofuhl. "I can only account for it by
the extreme dryness of the air in absorbing the juices of the body and
retarding decay."

Then lifting tenderly in his hand some of the yellow hair, he said:

"She was probably very young, scarce twenty."

"Were their women fair?" I asked.

"They were beautiful," he answered; "with graceful forms and lovely
faces; a pleasure to the eye; also were they gay and sprightly with
much animation."

Thereupon cried Lev-el-Hedyd:

"Here are the first words thou hast uttered, O Nofuhl, that cause me
to regret the extinction of this people!" There is ever a place in my
heart for a blushing maiden!"

"Then let thy grief be of short life," responded Nofuhl, "for
Mehrikan damsels were not of that description. Blush-ing was an art
they practised little. The shyness thou so lovest in a Persian maiden
was to them an unknown thing. Our shrinking daughters bear no
resemblance to these Western products. They strode the public streets
with roving eyes and unblushing faces, holding free converse with men
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