Edric made no reply, and the doctor dreading a pause, which might give his pupil an opportunity of upbraiding him, went on:—
“Though the Egyptians had a number of divinities, they clearly worshipped only two, viz. the principles of good and evil. Osiris, Isis, Cneph, Phath, Horus, and all their host of inferior deities, were clearly types of the first, and light and life were their essence; whilst Typhon, Campsa, and the malignant deities, exemplified the second, and their attributes were invariably darkness and death.”
“For Heaven’s sake!” cried Edric, “say no more upon the subject, for it is not in the power of language to describe the horror I have at the mere thought of anything Egyptian. Let us escape from this fearful country, and I most sincerely hope nothing may ever happen to recall even its recollection to my imagination.”
“Such and so changeable are the desires of human life!” said the doctor. “But a few short weeks since, Egypt was the goal of your wishes, and the prospect of reanimating a corpse—”
“Oh! do not mention it!” cried Edric, shuddering. “O God! how justly am I punished, by the very fulfilment of my unhallowed hopes!—even now the fearful eyes of that hideous Mummy seem to glare upon me; and even now I feel the grip of its horrid bony fingers on my arm!”
“Oh yes, no doubt!” exclaimed the doctor, “he pinched hard. He was a king, and kings should have strong arms, you know.”
“For God’s sake! do not jest upon such a subject,” returned Edric; “a subject so wild and fearful, that I can still scarcely believe but that all which has passed was a dream.”
“If it be,” said the doctor, “it is one from which I freely avow I should be very happy to awake, for I must confess this prison is not at all to my taste.”
“And yet, is it not your fault—?” began Edric.
“Recrimination, Edric, is always folly,” interrupted the doctor, who did not now feel very proud of the part he had acted before the magistrate, nor very anxious to have it alluded to;—“and instead of losing time in regretting past errors, it is the part of a wise man to endeavour to find means of remedying them, and avoiding them in future.”
“Agreed!” returned Edric; “and as I presume you are now convinced your learned dissertation on the probable seat of human life was, to say the least, ill-timed, we will drop the subject. But, even if we get out of prison, what is to become of us? Our money and valuables were all in the balloon; and here we are, in a foreign country, entirely destitute.”
“Not entirely, Edric—not entirely!” cried the doctor, a glow of satisfaction spreading itself again over his face; “no, no; I have guarded against that; ah, what a thing it is to have foresight! Well! some persons are certainly singularly gifted in that line, and it is a happy thing for you that you have somebody to think for you. See here!” displaying the things as he spoke; “here is a bed, bolster, and pillows, ready for inflation; a portable bedstead, linen, soap, pens, ink, paper, candles, fire, knives, forks, spoons, and money; all snugly packed up in my walking-stick!”
“Your supporter,” returned Edric, smiling, “as you used to call it; and as it now seems likely to prove, in more senses than one.”
“Yes, yes!” cried the doctor, “only let us get out of prison, and all the rest will be easy.”
“But that only, doctor.”
“Of that, we must take time to consider.”
“Well, it is some comfort that we are likely to be allowed time enough, as my hint respecting the British consul did not seem thrown away upon the judge. Oh, doctor, if you had not spoken!”
“Why, surely you would not have given him the declaration he required?”
“There was no occasion. He neither wished nor expected more than I had already said. After what I had mentioned of my family, he only wished a decent pretext for setting us at liberty.”
“At any rate,” said the doctor, by way of changing the subject, “you see my doctrine is proved completely by the resuscitation of the Mummy, for it must have been perfectly restored to life and consciousness, or it could not have flown away with our balloon.”
“For my part,” returned Edric, “I can scarcely believe what has occurred to be real: there must be some deception. And yet, by whom can a deception have been practised, and for what purpose? In short, I am quite bewildered.”
The doctor being much in the same condition, could only sympathize with his pupil; and in this state we must leave them, whilst we inquire respecting the mysterious object of their speculations.
The Mummy thus strangely recalled to life, was indeed Cheops! and horrible were the sensations that throbbed through every nerve as returning consciousness brought with it all the pangs of his former existence, and renewed circulation thrilled through every vein. His first impulse was to quit the tomb in which he had been so long immured, and seek
