Chapter XIX
The Great Experiment
If any evidence had been wanted of how absolutely one and all of us hadcome to believe in the spiritual existence of the Egyptian Queen, itwould have been found in the change which in a few minutes had beeneffected in us by the statement of voluntary negation made, we allbelieved, through Margaret. Despite the coming of the fearful ordeal,the sense of which it was impossible to forget, we looked and acted asthough a great relief had come to us. We had indeed lived in such astate of terrorism during the days when Mr. Trelawny was lying in atrance that the feeling had bitten deeply into us. No one knows tillhe has experienced it, what it is to be in constant dread of someunknown danger which may come at any time and in any form.
The change was manifested in different ways, according to each nature.Margaret was sad. Doctor Winchester was in high spirits, and keenlyobservant; the process of thought which had served as an antidote tofear, being now relieved from this duty, added to his intellectualenthusiasm. Mr. Corbeck seemed to be in a retrospective rather than aspeculative mood. I was myself rather inclined to be gay; the relieffrom certain anxiety regarding Margaret was sufficient for me for thetime.
As to Mr. Trelawny he seemed less changed than any. Perhaps this wasonly natural, as he had had in his mind the intention for so many yearsof doing that in which we were tonight engaged, that any eventconnected with it could only seem to him as an episode, a step to theend. His was that commanding nature which looks so to the end of anundertaking that all else is of secondary importance. Even now, thoughhis terrible sternness relaxed under the relief from the strain, henever flagged nor faltered for a moment in his purpose. He asked usmen to come with him; and going to the hall we presently managed tolower into the cave an oak table, fairly long and not too wide, whichstood against the wall in the hall. This we placed under the strongcluster of electric lights in the middle of the cave. Margaret lookedon for a while; then all at once her face blanched, and in an agitatedvoice she said:
"What are you going to do, Father?"
"To unroll the mummy of the cat! Queen Tera will not need her Familiartonight. If she should want him, it might be dangerous to us; so weshall make him safe. You are not alarmed, dear?"
"Oh no!" she answered quickly. "But I was thinking of my Silvio, andhow I should feel if he had been the mummy that was to be unswathed!"
Mr. Trelawny got knives and scissors ready, and placed the cat on thetable. It was a grim beginning to our work; and it made my heart sinkwhen I thought of what might happen in that lonely house in themid-gloom of the night. The sense of loneliness and isolation from theworld was increased by the moaning of the wind which had now risenominously, and by the beating of waves on the rocks below. But we hadtoo grave a task before us to be swayed by external manifestations:the unrolling of the mummy began.
There was an incredible number of bandages; and the tearing sound--theybeing stuck fast to each other by bitumen and gums and spices--and thelittle cloud of red pungent dust that arose, pressed on the senses ofall of us. As the last wrappings came away, we saw the animal seatedbefore us. He was all hunkered up; his hair and teeth and claws werecomplete. The eyes were closed, but the eyelids had not the fiercelook which I expected. The whiskers had been pressed down on the sideof the face by the bandaging; but when the pressure was taken away theystood out, just as they would have done in life. He was a magnificentcreature, a tiger-cat of great size. But as we looked at him, ourfirst glance of admiration changed to one of fear, and a shudder ranthrough each one of us; for here was a confirmation of the fears whichwe had endured.
His mouth and his claws were smeared with the dry, red stains of recentblood!
Doctor Winchester was the first to recover; blood in itself had smalldisturbing quality for him. He had taken out his magnifying-glass andwas examining the stains on the cat's mouth. Mr. Trelawny breathedloudly, as though a strain had been taken from him.
"It is as I expected," he said. "This promises well for what is tofollow."
By this time Doctor Winchester was looking at the red stained paws."As I expected!" he said. "He has seven claws, too!" Opening hispocket-book, he took out the piece of blotting-paper marked by Silvio'sclaws, on which was also marked in pencil a diagram of the cuts made onMr. Trelawny's wrist. He placed the paper under the mummy cat's paw.The marks fitted exactly.
When we had carefully examined the cat, finding, however, nothingstrange about it but its wonderful preservation, Mr. Trelawny lifted itfrom the table. Margaret started forward, crying out:
"Take care, Father! Take care! He may injure you!"
"Not now, my dear!" he answered as he moved towards the stairway. Herface fell. "Where are you going?" she asked in a faint voice.
"To the kitchen," he answered. "Fire will take away all danger for thefuture; even an astral body cannot materialise from ashes!" He signedto us to follow him. Margaret turned away with a sob. I went to her;but she motioned me back and whispered:
"No, no! Go with the others. Father may want you. Oh! it seems likemurder! The poor Queen's pet...!" The tears were dropping from underthe fingers that covered her eyes.
In the kitchen was a fire of wood ready laid. To this Mr. Trelawnyapplied a match; in a few seconds the kindling had caught and theflames leaped. When the fire was solidly ablaze, he threw the body ofthe cat into it. For a few seconds it lay a dark mass amidst theflames, and the room was rank with the smell of burning hair. Then thedry body caught fire too. The inflammable substances used in embalmingbecame new fuel, and the flames roared. A few minutes of fierceconflagration; and then we breathed freely. Queen Tera's Familiar wasno more!
When we went back to the cave we found Margaret sitting in the dark.She had switched off the electric light, and only a faint glow of theevening light came through the narrow openings. Her father wentquickly over to her and put his arms round her in a loving protectiveway. She laid her head on his shoulder for a minute and seemedcomforted. Presently she called to me:
"Malcolm, turn up the light!" I carried out her orders, and could seethat, though she had been crying, her eyes were now dry. Her fathersaw it too and looked glad. He said to us in a grave tone:
"Now we had better prepare for our great work. It will not do to leaveanything to the last!" Margaret must have had a suspicion of what wascoming, for it was with a sinking voice that she asked:
"What are you going to do now?" Mr. Trelawny too must have had asuspicion of her feelings, for he answered in a low tone:
"To unroll the mummy of Queen Tera!" She came close to him and saidpleadingly in a whisper:
"Father, you are not going to unswathe her! All you men...! And inthe glare of light!"
"But why not, my dear?"
"Just think, Father, a woman! All alone! In such a way! In such aplace! Oh! it's cruel, cruel!" She was manifestly much overcome. Hercheeks were flaming red, and her eyes were full of indignant tears.Her father saw her distress; and, sympathising with it, began tocomfort her. I was moving off; but he signed to me to stay. I took itthat after the usual manner of men he wanted help on such an occasion,and man-like wished to throw on someone else the task of dealing with awoman in indignant distress. However, he began to appeal first to herreason:
"Not a woman, dear; a mummy! She has been dead nearly five thousandyears!"
"What does that matter? Sex is not a matter of years! A woman is awoman, if she had been dead five thousand centuries! And you expecther to arise out of that long sleep! It could not be real death, ifshe is to rise out of it! You have led me to believe that she willcome alive when the Coffer is opened!"
"I did, my dear; and I believe it! But if it isn't death that has beenthe matter with her all these years, it is something uncommonly likeit. Then again, just think; it was men who embalmed her. They didn'thave women's rights or lady doctors in ancient Egypt, my dear! Andbesides," he went on more freely, seeing that she was accepting hisargume
nt, if not yielding to it, "we men are accustomed to such things.Corbeck and I have unrolled a hundred mummies; and there were as manywomen as men amongst them. Doctor Winchester in his work has had todeal with women as well of men, till custom has made him think nothingof sex. Even Ross has in his work as a barrister..." He stoppedsuddenly.
"You were going to help too!" she said to me, with an indignant look.
I said nothing; I thought silence was best. Mr. Trelawny went onhurriedly; I could see that he was glad of interruption, for the partof his argument concerning a barrister's work was becoming decidedlyweak:
"My child, you will be with us yourself. Would we do anything whichwould hurt or offend you? Come now! be reasonable! We are not at apleasure party. We are all grave men, entering gravely on anexperiment which may unfold the wisdom of old times, and enlarge humanknowledge indefinitely; which may put the minds of men on new tracks ofthought and research. An experiment," as he went on his voicedeepened, "which may be fraught with death to any one of us--to us all!We know from what has been, that there are, or may be, vast and unknowndangers ahead of us, of which none in the house today may ever see theend. Take it, my child, that we are not acting lightly; but with allthe gravity of deeply earnest men! Besides, my dear, whatever feelingsyou or any of us may have on the subject, it is necessary for thesuccess of the experiment to unswathe her. I think that under anycircumstances it would be necessary to remove the wrappings before shebecame again a live human being instead of a spiritualised corpse withan astral body. Were her original intention carried out, and did shecome to new life within her mummy wrappings, it might be to exchange acoffin for a grave! She would die the death of the buried alive! Butnow, when she has voluntarily abandoned for the time her astral power,there can be no doubt on the subject."
Margaret's face cleared. "All right, Father!" she said as she kissedhim. "But oh! it seems a horrible indignity to a Queen, and a woman."
I was moving away to the staircase when she called me:
"Where are you going?" I came back and took her hand and stroked it asI answered:
"I shall come back when the unrolling is over!" She looked at me long,and a faint suggestion of a smile came over her face as she said:
"Perhaps you had better stay, too! It may be useful to you in yourwork as a barrister!" She smiled out as she met my eyes: but in aninstant she changed. Her face grew grave, and deadly white. In a faraway voice she said:
"Father is right! It is a terrible occasion; we need all to be seriousover it. But all the same--nay, for that very reason you had betterstay, Malcolm! You may be glad, later on, that you were presenttonight!"
My heart sank down, down, at her words; but I thought it better to saynothing. Fear was stalking openly enough amongst us already!
By this time Mr. Trelawny, assisted by Mr. Corbeck and DoctorWinchester, had raised the lid of the ironstone sarcophagus whichcontained the mummy of the Queen. It was a large one; but it was nonetoo big. The mummy was both long and broad and high; and was of suchweight that it was no easy task, even for the four of us, to lift itout. Under Mr. Trelawny's direction we laid it out on the tableprepared for it.
Then, and then only, did the full horror of the whole thing burst uponme! There, in the full glare of the light, the whole material andsordid side of death seemed staringly real. The outer wrappings, tornand loosened by rude touch, and with the colour either darkened by dustor worn light by friction, seemed creased as by rough treatment; thejagged edges of the wrapping-cloths looked fringed; the painting waspatchy, and the varnish chipped. The coverings were evidently many,for the bulk was great. But through all, showed that unhidable humanfigure, which seems to look more horrible when partially concealed thanat any other time. What was before us was Death, and nothing else.All the romance and sentiment of fancy had disappeared. The two eldermen, enthusiasts who had often done such work, were not disconcerted;and Doctor Winchester seemed to hold himself in a business-likeattitude, as if before the operating-table. But I felt low-spirited,and miserable, and ashamed; and besides I was pained and alarmed byMargaret's ghastly pallor.
Then the work began. The unrolling of the mummy cat had prepared mesomewhat for it; but this was so much larger, and so infinitely moreelaborate, that it seemed a different thing. Moreover, in addition tothe ever present sense of death and humanity, there was a feeling ofsomething finer in all this. The cat had been embalmed with coarsermaterials; here, all, when once the outer coverings were removed, wasmore delicately done. It seemed as if only the finest gums and spiceshad been used in this embalming. But there were the same surroundings,the same attendant red dust and pungent presence of bitumen; there wasthe same sound of rending which marked the tearing away of thebandages. There were an enormous number of these, and their bulk whenopened was great. As the men unrolled them, I grew more and moreexcited. I did not take a part in it myself; Margaret had looked at megratefully as I drew back. We clasped hands, and held each other hard.As the unrolling went on, the wrappings became finer, and the smellless laden with bitumen, but more pungent. We all, I think, began tofeel it as though it caught or touched us in some special way. This,however, did not interfere with the work; it went on uninterruptedly.Some of the inner wrappings bore symbols or pictures. These were donesometimes wholly in pale green colour, sometimes in many colours; butalways with a prevalence of green. Now and again Mr. Trelawny or Mr.Corbeck would point out some special drawing before laying the bandageon the pile behind them, which kept growing to a monstrous height.
At last we knew that the wrappings were coming to an end. Already theproportions were reduced to those of a normal figure of the manifestheight of the Queen, who was more than average height. And as the enddrew nearer, so Margaret's pallor grew; and her heart beat more andmore wildly, till her breast heaved in a way that frightened me.
Just as her father was taking away the last of the bandages, hehappened to look up and caught the pained and anxious look of her paleface. He paused, and taking her concern to be as to the outrage onmodesty, said in a comforting way:
"Do not be uneasy, dear! See! there is nothing to harm you. The Queenhas on a robe.--Ay, and a royal robe, too!"
The wrapping was a wide piece the whole length of the body. It beingremoved, a profusely full robe of white linen had appeared, coveringthe body from the throat to the feet.
And such linen! We all bent over to look at it.
Margaret lost her concern, in her woman's interest in fine stuff. Thenthe rest of us looked with admiration; for surely such linen was neverseen by the eyes of our age. It was as fine as the finest silk. Butnever was spun or woven silk which lay in such gracious folds,constrict though they were by the close wrappings of the mummy cloth,and fixed into hardness by the passing of thousands of years.
Round the neck it was delicately embroidered in pure gold with tinysprays of sycamore; and round the feet, similarly worked, was anendless line of lotus plants of unequal height, and with all thegraceful abandon of natural growth.
Across the body, but manifestly not surrounding it, was a girdle ofjewels. A wondrous girdle, which shone and glowed with all the formsand phases and colours of the sky!
The buckle was a great yellow stone, round of outline, deep and curved,as if a yielding globe had been pressed down. It shone and glowed, asthough a veritable sun lay within; the rays of its light seemed tostrike out and illumine all round. Flanking it were two greatmoonstones of lesser size, whose glowing, beside the glory of thesunstone, was like the silvery sheen of moonlight.
And then on either side, linked by golden clasps of exquisite shape,was a line of flaming jewels, of which the colours seemed to glow.Each of these stones seemed to hold a living star, which twinkled inevery phase of changing light.
Margaret raised her hands in ecstasy. She bent over to examine moreclosely; but suddenly drew back and stood fully erect at her grandheight. She seemed to speak with the conviction of absolute knowledgeas she sa
id:
"That is no cerement! It was not meant for the clothing of death! Itis a marriage robe!"
Mr. Trelawny leaned over and touched the linen robe. He lifted a foldat the neck, and I knew from the quick intake of his breath thatsomething had surprised him. He lifted yet a little more; and then he,too, stood back and pointed, saying:
"Margaret is right! That dress is not intended to be worn by the dead!See! her figure is not robed in it. It is but laid upon her." Helifted the zone of jewels and handed it to Margaret. Then with bothhands he raised the ample robe, and laid it across the arms which sheextended in a natural impulse. Things of such beauty were too preciousto be handled with any but the greatest care.
We all stood awed at the beauty of the figure which, save for the facecloth, now lay completely nude before us. Mr. Trelawny bent over, andwith hands that trembled slightly, raised this linen cloth which was ofthe same fineness as the robe. As he stood back and the whole gloriousbeauty of the Queen was revealed, I felt a rush of shame sweep over me.It was not right that we should be there, gazing with irreverent eyeson such unclad beauty: it was indecent; it was almost sacrilegious!And yet the white wonder of that beautiful form was something to dreamof. It was not like death at all; it was like a statue carven in ivoryby the hand of a Praxiteles. There was nothing of that horribleshrinkage which death seems to effect in a moment. There was none ofthe wrinkled toughness which seems to be a leading characteristic ofmost mummies. There was not the shrunken attenuation of a body dried inthe sand, as I had seen before in museums. All the pores of the bodyseemed to have been preserved in some wonderful way. The flesh wasfull and round, as in a living person; and the skin was as smooth assatin. The colour seemed extraordinary. It was like ivory, new ivory;except where the right arm, with shattered, bloodstained wrist andmissing hand had lain bare to exposure in the sarcophagus for so manytens of centuries.
With a womanly impulse; with a mouth that drooped with pity, with eyesthat flashed with anger, and cheeks that flamed, Margaret threw overthe body the beautiful robe which lay across her arm. Only the facewas then to be seen. This was more startling even than the body, forit seemed not dead, but alive. The eyelids were closed; but the long,black, curling lashes lay over on the cheeks. The nostrils, set ingrave pride, seemed to have the repose which, when it is seen in life,is greater than the repose of death. The full, red lips, though themouth was not open, showed the tiniest white line of pearly teethwithin. Her hair, glorious in quantity and glossy black as the raven'swing, was piled in great masses over the white forehead, on which a fewcurling tresses strayed like tendrils. I was amazed at the likeness toMargaret, though I had had my mind prepared for this by Mr. Corbeck'squotation of her father's statement. This woman--I could not think ofher as a mummy or a corpse--was the image of Margaret as my eyes hadfirst lit on her. The likeness was increased by the jewelled ornamentwhich she wore in her hair, the "Disk and Plumes", such as Margaret,too, had worn. It, too, was a glorious jewel; one noble pearl ofmoonlight lustre, flanked by carven pieces of moonstone.
Mr. Trelawny was overcome as he looked. He quite broke down; and whenMargaret flew to him and held him close in her arms and comforted him,I heard him murmur brokenly:
"It looks as if you were dead, my child!"
There was a long silence. I could hear without the roar of the wind,which was now risen to a tempest, and the furious dashing of the wavesfar below. Mr. Trelawny's voice broke the spell:
"Later on we must try and find out the process of embalming. It is notlike any that I know. There does not seem to have been any opening cutfor the withdrawing of the viscera and organs, which apparently remainintact within the body. Then, again, there is no moisture in theflesh; but its place is supplied with something else, as though wax orstearine had been conveyed into the veins by some subtle process. Iwonder could it be possible that at that time they could have usedparaffin. It might have been, by some process that we know not, pumpedinto the veins, where it hardened!"
Margaret, having thrown a white sheet over the Queen's body, asked usto bring it to her own room, where we laid it on her bed. Then shesent us away, saying:
"Leave her alone with me. There are still many hours to pass, and I donot like to leave her lying there, all stark in the glare of light.This may be the Bridal she prepared for--the Bridal of Death; and atleast she shall wear her pretty robes."
When presently she brought me back to her room, the dead Queen wasdressed in the robe of fine linen with the embroidery of gold; and allher beautiful jewels were in place. Candles were lit around her, andwhite flowers lay upon her breast.
Hand in hand we stood looking at her for a while. Then with a sigh,Margaret covered her with one of her own snowy sheets. She turnedaway; and after softly closing the door of the room, went back with meto the others who had now come into the dining room. Here we all beganto talk over the things that had been, and that were to be.
Now and again I could feel that one or other of us was forcingconversation, as if we were not sure of ourselves. The long wait wasbeginning to tell on our nerves. It was apparent to me that Mr.Trelawny had suffered in that strange trance more than we suspected, orthan he cared to show. True, his will and his determination were asstrong as ever; but the purely physical side of him had been weakenedsomewhat. It was indeed only natural that it should be. No man can gothrough a period of four days of absolute negation of life withoutbeing weakened by it somehow.
As the hours crept by, the time passed more and more slowly. The othermen seemed to get unconsciously a little drowsy. I wondered if in thecase of Mr. Trelawny and Mr. Corbeck, who had already been under thehypnotic influence of the Queen, the same dormance was manifestingitself. Doctor Winchester had periods of distraction which grew longerand more frequent as the time wore on.
As to Margaret, the suspense told on her exceedingly, as might havebeen expected in the case of a woman. She grew paler and paler still;till at last about midnight, I began to be seriously alarmed about her.I got her to come into the library with me, and tried to make her liedown on a sofa for a little while. As Mr. Trelawny had decided thatthe experiment was to be made exactly at the seventh hour after sunset,it would be as nearly as possible three o'clock in the morning when thegreat trial should be made. Even allowing a whole hour for the finalpreparations, we had still two hours of waiting to go through, and Ipromised faithfully to watch her and to awake her at any time she mightname. She would not hear of it, however. She thanked me sweetly andsmiled at me as she did so; but she assured me that she was not sleepy,and that she was quite able to bear up. That it was only the suspenseand excitement of waiting that made her pale. I agreed perforce; but Ikept her talking of many things in the library for more than an hour;so that at last, when she insisted on going back to her father's room Ifelt that I had at least done something to help her pass the time.
We found the three men sitting patiently in silence. With manlikefortitude they were content to be still when they felt they had doneall in their power. And so we waited.
The striking of two o'clock seemed to freshen us all up. Whatevershadows had been settling over us during the long hours precedingseemed to lift at once; and we went about our separate duties alert andwith alacrity. We looked first to the windows to see that they wereclosed, and we got ready our respirators to put them on when the timeshould be close at hand. We had from the first arranged to use themfor we did not know whether some noxious fume might not come from themagic coffer when it should be opened. Somehow, it never seemed tooccur to any of us that there was any doubt as to its opening.
Then, under Margaret's guidance, we carried the mummied body of QueenTera from her room into her father's, and laid it on a couch. We putthe sheet lightly over it, so that if she should wake she could at onceslip from under it. The severed hand was placed in its true positionon her breast, and under it the Jewel of Seven Stars which Mr. Trelawnyhad taken from the great safe. It seemed to flash and
blaze as he putit in its place.
It was a strange sight, and a strange experience. The group of gravesilent men carried the white still figure, which looked like an ivorystatue when through our moving the sheet fell back, away from thelighted candles and the white flowers. We placed it on the couch inthat other room, where the blaze of the electric lights shone on thegreat sarcophagus fixed in the middle of the room ready for the finalexperiment, the great experiment consequent on the researches during alifetime of these two travelled scholars. Again, the startlinglikeness between Margaret and the mummy, intensified by her ownextraordinary pallor, heightened the strangeness of it all. When allwas finally fixed three-quarters of an hour had gone, for we weredeliberate in all our doings. Margaret beckoned me, and I went outwith her to bring in Silvio. He came to her purring. She took him upand handed him to me; and then did a thing which moved me strangely andbrought home to me keenly the desperate nature of the enterprise onwhich we were embarked. One by one, she blew out the candles carefullyand placed them back in their usual places. When she had finished shesaid to me:
"They are done with now. Whatever comes--life or death--there will beno purpose in their using now." Then taking Silvio into her arms, andpressing him close to her bosom where he purred loudly, we went back tothe room. I closed the door carefully behind me, feeling as I did so astrange thrill as of finality. There was to be no going back now.Then we put on our respirators, and took our places as had beenarranged. I was to stand by the taps of the electric lights beside thedoor, ready to turn them off or on as Mr. Trelawny should direct.Doctor Winchester was to stand behind the couch so that he should notbe between the mummy and the sarcophagus; he was to watch carefullywhat should take place with regard to the Queen. Margaret was to bebeside him; she held Silvio ready to place him upon the couch or besideit when she might think right. Mr. Trelawny and Mr. Corbeck were toattend to the lighting of the lamps. When the hands of the clock wereclose to the hour, they stood ready with their linstocks.
The striking of the silver bell of the clock seemed to smite on ourhearts like a knell of doom. One! Two! Three!
Before the third stroke the wicks of the lamps had caught, and I hadturned out the electric light. In the dimness of the struggling lamps,and after the bright glow of the electric light, the room and allwithin it took weird shapes, and all seemed in an instant to change.We waited with our hearts beating. I know mine did, and I fancied Icould hear the pulsation of the others.
The seconds seemed to pass with leaden wings. It were as though allthe world were standing still. The figures of the others stood outdimly, Margaret's white dress alone showing clearly in the gloom. Thethick respirators which we all wore added to the strange appearance.The thin light of the lamps showed Mr. Trelawny's square jaw and strongmouth and the brown shaven face of Mr. Corbeck. Their eyes seemed toglare in the light. Across the room Doctor Winchester's eyes twinkledlike stars, and Margaret's blazed like black suns. Silvio's eyes werelike emeralds.
Would the lamps never burn up!
It was only a few seconds in all till they did blaze up. A slow,steady light, growing more and more bright, and changing in colour fromblue to crystal white. So they stayed for a couple of minutes withoutchange in the coffer; till at last there began to appear all over it adelicate glow. This grew and grew, till it became like a blazingjewel, and then like a living thing whose essence of life was light.We waited and waited, our hearts seeming to stand still.
All at once there was a sound like a tiny muffled explosion and thecover lifted right up on a level plane a few inches; there was nomistaking anything now, for the whole room was full of a blaze oflight. Then the cover, staying fast at one side rose slowly up on theother, as though yielding to some pressure of balance. The cofferstill continued to glow; from it began to steal a faint greenish smoke.I could not smell it fully on account of the respirator; but, eventhrough that, I was conscious of a strange pungent odour. Then thissmoke began to grow thicker, and to roll out in volumes of everincreasing density till the whole room began to get obscure. I had aterrible desire to rush over to Margaret, whom I saw through the smokestill standing erect behind the couch. Then, as I looked, I saw DoctorWinchester sink down. He was not unconscious; for he waved his handback and forward, as though to forbid any one to come to him. At thistime the figures of Mr. Trelawny and Mr. Corbeck were becomingindistinct in the smoke which rolled round them in thick billowyclouds. Finally I lost sight of them altogether. The coffer stillcontinued to glow; but the lamps began to grow dim. At first I thoughtthat their light was being overpowered by the thick black smoke; butpresently I saw that they were, one by one, burning out. They musthave burned quickly to produce such fierce and vivid flames.
I waited and waited, expecting every instant to hear the command toturn up the light; but none came. I waited still, and looked withharrowing intensity at the rolling billows of smoke still pouring outof the glowing casket, whilst the lamps sank down and went out one byone.
Finally there was but one lamp alight, and that was dimly blue andflickering. The only effective light in the room was from the glowingcasket. I kept my eyes fixed toward Margaret; it was for her now thatall my anxiety was claimed. I could just see her white frock beyondthe still white shrouded figure on the couch. Silvio was troubled; hispiteous mewing was the only sound in the room. Deeper and denser grewthe black mist and its pungency began to assail my nostrils as well asmy eyes. Now the volume of smoke coming from the coffer seemed tolessen, and the smoke itself to be less dense. Across the room I sawsomething white move where the couch was. There were severalmovements. I could just catch the quick glint of white through thedense smoke in the fading light; for now the glow of the coffer beganquickly to subside. I could still hear Silvio, but his mewing camefrom close under; a moment later I could feel him piteously crouchingon my foot.
Then the last spark of light disappeared, and through the Egyptiandarkness I could see the faint line of white around the window blinds.I felt that the time had come to speak; so I pulled off my respiratorand called out:
"Shall I turn up the light?" There was no answer; so before the thicksmoke choked me, I called again but more loudly:
"Mr. Trelawny, shall I turn up the light?" He did not answer; but fromacross the room I heard Margaret's voice, sounding as sweet and clearas a bell:
"Yes, Malcolm!" I turned the tap and the lamps flashed out. But theywere only dim points of light in the midst of that murky ball of smoke.In that thick atmosphere there was little possibility of illumination.I ran across to Margaret, guided by her white dress, and caught hold ofher and held her hand. She recognised my anxiety and said at once:
"I am all right."
"Thank God!" I said. "How are the others? Quick, let us open all thewindows and get rid of this smoke!" To my surprise, she answered in asleepy way:
"They will be all right. They won't get any harm." I did not stop toinquire how or on what ground she formed such an opinion, but threw upthe lower sashes of all the windows, and pulled down the upper. Then Ithrew open the door.
A few seconds made a perceptible change as the thick, black smoke beganto roll out of the windows. Then the lights began to grow intostrength and I could see the room. All the men were overcome. Besidethe couch Doctor Winchester lay on his back as though he had sunk downand rolled over; and on the farther side of the sarcophagus, where theyhad stood, lay Mr. Trelawny and Mr. Corbeck. It was a relief to me tosee that, though they were unconscious, all three were breathingheavily as though in a stupor. Margaret still stood behind the couch.She seemed at first to be in a partially dazed condition; but everyinstant appeared to get more command of herself. She stepped forwardand helped me to raise her father and drag him close to a window.Together we placed the others similarly, and she flew down to thedining-room and returned with a decanter of brandy. This we proceededto administer to them all in turn. It was not many minutes after wehad opened the windows when all three
were struggling back toconsciousness. During this time my entire thoughts and efforts hadbeen concentrated on their restoration; but now that this strain wasoff, I looked round the room to see what had been the effect of theexperiment. The thick smoke had nearly cleared away; but the room wasstill misty and was full of a strange pungent acrid odour.
The great sarcophagus was just as it had been. The coffer was open,and in it, scattered through certain divisions or partitions wrought inits own substance, was a scattering of black ashes. Over all,sarcophagus, coffer and, indeed, all in the room, was a sort of blackfilm of greasy soot. I went over to the couch. The white sheet stilllay over part of it; but it had been thrown back, as might be when oneis stepping out of bed.
But there was no sign of Queen Tera! I took Margaret by the hand andled her over. She reluctantly left her father to whom she wasadministering, but she came docilely enough. I whispered to her as Iheld her hand:
"What has become of the Queen? Tell me! You were close at hand, andmust have seen if anything happened!" She answered me very softly:
"There was nothing that I could see. Until the smoke grew too dense Ikept my eyes on the couch, but there was no change. Then, when allgrew so dark that I could not see, I thought I heard a movement closeto me. It might have been Doctor Winchester who had sunk down overcome;but I could not be sure. I thought that it might be the Queen waking,so I put down poor Silvio. I did not see what became of him; but Ifelt as if he had deserted me when I heard him mewing over by the door.I hope he is not offended with me!" As if in answer, Silvio camerunning into the room and reared himself against her dress, pulling itas though clamouring to be taken up. She stooped down and took him upand began to pet and comfort him.
I went over and examined the couch and all around it most carefully.When Mr. Trelawny and Mr. Corbeck recovered sufficiently, which theydid quickly, though Doctor Winchester took longer to come round, wewent over it afresh. But all we could find was a sort of ridge ofimpalpable dust, which gave out a strange dead odour. On the couch laythe jewel of the disk and plumes which the Queen had worn in her hair,and the Star Jewel which had words to command the Gods.
Other than this we never got clue to what had happened. There was justone thing which confirmed our idea of the physical annihilation of themummy. In the sarcophagus in the hall, where we had placed the mummyof the cat, was a small patch of similar dust.
* * * * *
In the autumn Margaret and I were married. On the occasion she worethe mummy robe and zone and the jewel which Queen Tera had worn in herhair. On her breast, set in a ring of gold make like a twisted lotusstalk, she wore the strange Jewel of Seven Stars which held words tocommand the God of all the worlds. At the marriage the sunlightstreaming through the chancel windows fell on it, and it seemed to glowlike a living thing.
The graven words may have been of efficacy; for Margaret holds to them,and there is no other life in all the world so happy as my own.
We often think of the great Queen, and we talk of her freely. Once,when I said with a sigh that I was sorry she could not have waked intoa new life in a new world, my wife, putting both her hands in mine andlooking into my eyes with that far-away eloquent dreamy look whichsometimes comes into her own, said lovingly:
"Do not grieve for her! Who knows, but she may have found the joy shesought? Love and patience are all that make for happiness in thisworld; or in the world of the past or of the future; of the living orthe dead. She dreamed her dream; and that is all that any of us canask!"
THE END
Thank you for reading books on BookFrom.Net Share this book with friends