We left Dr. Entwerfen in the last chapter uttering a very moral, if
not a very new, exclamation on the vanity of human expectations; which
had scarcely escaped from his lips, ere cruel Fate, resolving not to
be accused in vain, supplied him with yet more abundant cause for
lamentation. We have before mentioned, that the doctor had stumbled
as he quitted the Pyramids, and that his friends raised him from the
ground; but what was his consternation and dismay, when, on looking
round to thank them, he found he was surrounded by armed men, who
commanded him in the royal name to surrender! Sadly did the doctor turn
his woeful eyes upon Edric, but, alas! he was in the same predicament
as himself; and, in spite of their entreaties, they were marched off to
prison, without being at all informed of what crime they had committed.
Sadly passed the night, and gloomy dawned the day upon the unfortunate
travellers, whose minds were harassed and bewildered by the
extraordinary success of their awful experiment, and whose misery
was infinitely increased by the suspense they had to suffer, both on
account of their ignorance of the crime of which they were accused,
and its probable punishment if they should be found guilty. Soon after
daybreak, however, a summons for them arrived, and they were conducted
as criminals before the same magistrate who, the day before, had
treated them with such officious kindness.
Very different, however, was the solemn judge who, clothed in all
the insignia of magisterial dignity, now sate upon the bench, from
the easy, good-tempered gentleman of the Pyramids; and the unlucky
travellers saw, in an instant, that they were not likely to experience
any favour from their previous acquaintance with him. The court was
thronged with people, and the prisoners saw that they were regarded
with curiosity, mingled with horror and supernatural fear. It is not
agreeable to feel oneself an object of disgust to any one; and though
Edric magnanimously and frequently repeated to himself that it was
quite indifferent to him what such ignorant wretches as Egyptians
thought of him; yet, if he would have avowed the truth, he would have
been quite as well contented to have found himself the object of their
admiration instead of their hatred; and he would have been very glad
to have been safely at home again; whilst the doctor openly and loudly
lamented the much regretted comforts of his own dear delightful study
at Sir Ambrose's. Little time, however, was allowed for reflection;
for as soon as the prisoners were placed at the bar their examination
commenced.
"So, gentlemen!" said the learned judge, "you stand convicted--no, I
mean accused, of a most horrible, heinous, and sacrilegious offence--an
offence that makes our hair start with horror from our heads, and every
separate lock rise up in vengeance against you." The justice paused,
that the prisoners might admire his eloquence; but, alas! such was the
absorbing nature of self-love, that they were only thinking of what
was going to be done with them, and to what this terrible exordium
was likely to lead. After a short pause, Edric, supposing they were
expected to speak, addressed the judge, and begged to know of what
crime they were accused.
"We are strangers," said he, "and gentlemen. We were attracted to your
country by an account of the wonders it contained; we declared our
purposes openly; we have affected no concealment; and we have done
nothing we need blush to avow--"
A confused murmur ran through the court as he spoke, expressive of the
utmost disgust and abhorrence; Edric felt indignant, and he looked
round proudly as he added:--
"Yes, I repeat we have done nothing we need blush to avow, and nothing
derogatory to our characters as Englishmen and gentlemen."
"Sorcerers! wizards! demons in disguise!" cried the crowd. "Down with
them! burn them! guillotine them! destroy them!"
"Is this fair? is this generous?" asked Edric. "If we have done wrong,
let our crime be proved, and we are ready to submit to any punishment
you may think proper to inflict; but do not condemn us unheard. In
England, every man is deemed innocent until he be proved guilty. You
boast of having imported and improved upon all the useful regulations
of the mother country, and cannot surely have omitted her most glorious
law. Let us then have a fair trial, and God forbid that the course of
justice should be impeded."
"You talk well, Sir," said the judge; "but it's of no use here. My
chair, Sir, is made of witch-elm, and the whole court is lined with
consecrated wood; so you may take your familiars to another market, for
here they will avail you nothing."
"Good God!" exclaimed Edric, wringing his hands, "what ignorance! what
gross superstition! And yet, in this man's power are our lives!"
"Oh! oh!" said the judge, who saw his despair, though he did not
exactly know the cause; "I have brought you to, have I? Yes, yes; I
tell you, no incantations will be of any avail here; and so, clerk,
call the witnesses--"
The first person examined was the man who had been left in charge
of the balloon, and he deposed as follows:--"Why, Sir," said he,
scratching his head, as though he supposed wisdom dwelt in his
fingers, and that their touch might give a little to his brain, "your
honour told me to call out the _posse comitatus_, and set a guard of
constables over the gentlemen's whirligig; but I thought as how, seeing
it was but a queer-looking thing, and not likely to tempt anybody to
steal it, I might as well save the gentlemen from throwing their money
away upon a parcel of idle fellows, and keep watch over it myself."
"And so get the reward instead of them," observed the judge.
"Why, your honour," said the fellow, grinning, "I thought they might
give something that might do _me_ some good, but that it would be
nothing amongst so many."
"Very true!" remarked the judge; "Go on Gregory."
"Well," continued Gregory, "as I was sitting there, thinking of nothing
at all, and somehow, I believe, I had fallen into a bit of a doze, I
heard a queer sort of a buzzing, and I opened my eyes, and there I saw
the gentlemen's whirligig buzzing and puffing like a steam-engine on
fire, and i' th' midst o' the smoke I'll take my oath I saw the mummy
of King Cheops as plain as I see his worship there sitting in his
throne."
"Oh!" groaned the horror-struck crowd; "Oh!" groaned the judge and jury.
"Yes," continued the man; "I'll take my oath, if it was the last word
I had to speak, that I saw him there vomiting fire, and his big eyes
flaring like a fiery furnace."
"Oh!" groaned the judge, crowd, and jury, a degree louder than before.
"And then," resumed Gregory, "something went whiz, and off it all fled
together like a flash of lightning--"
"Oh!" shrieked the whole court, in a convulsion of horror. Some of the
fair sex in particular, screamed and covered their faces, as though
they feared the next exploit of the redoubtable magicians would be to
blow up the court, and send them all flying after the resuscitated
mummy.
"With your permission, Sir," said Edric, as soon as the tumult had
somewhat abated, "this proves nothing against either my friend or
myself. We are, in fact, injured by it, and we have a claim against you
instead of your being able to substantiate a charge against us. We left
our balloon, containing valuable articles, and money to a considerable
amount, in your charge, or, at least, in the custody of a man whom you
recommended. When we quitted the Pyramid, we, of course, inquired for
our balloon--it had vanished; and instead of making us amends for our
loss, you throw us into prison and tell us a wild, extravagant story
of the disappearance of our property, which no man in his senses can
possibly believe."
Another confused murmur, though very different in its character from
the former, ran through the court on the conclusion of this speech;
and the judge, if such an expression be not profane when speaking of a
representative of justice, looked most excessively foolish.
"Had not your worship better call the other witnesses?" whispered the
clerk, pitying the dilemma of his principal.
"True, true!" said the Lycurgus of Anglo-Egypt; "your observation is
premature, young man; when the case has been proved against you, it
will be time enough for you to think of your defence."
Edric bowed assent, and the examination continued. The guide was the
next witness.
"Well, Samuel," said the judge; "what do you know about this matter?"
"Why, Sir," replied Samuel, "ye see, my dame and I were sitting by the
fire, and we'd got a black pudding, as we was a going to have for our
dinners. And so says dame, 'I likes it cut in slices and fried,' and so
says I----"
"Hold, fellow!" cried the judge, with great dignity. "Don't abuse the
patience of the Court. We have nothing to do with your dame or the
black pudding; it is quite irrelevant to the matter now before us. Go
on."
But Samuel could not go on; and, like his predecessor in the
witness-box, he only stood still and scratched his head.
"Why don't you speak, fellow?" asked the clerk.
"Because I doesn't know what to say," replied Samuel.
"You must tell all you know about this affair," pursued the clerk.
"But I doesn't know where to begin!" rejoined the perplexed witness;
"his worship says it is not reverent."
"Begin with the Pyramid," said the judge; "and, if you can, give a
clear account of all that happened after you left the old passage by
the moveable block in the wall that was last discovered."
"Why I can't say there was any thing very particular happened, as I
know of, Sir," said Samuel, "after that, till we got to the shaft,
and then we went down, Sir, you know, as we always does, till we came
to the tomb of King Cheops; and then I turned the gentlemen in by
themselves, as we always does, for the 'fect, as Parson Snorum calls
it. And then I sits me down i' the vault, to wait for 'em, and I'd just
rolled myself up, and was dozed asleep, when I hears such a noise as
if the Pyramids were all coming tumbling about my ears. So up I jumped
and rubbed my eyes, for I did not know very well where I was; and then
I saw something that seemed to strike the torches out of the hands of
the two great sitting figures, and put them out; and then I saw a great
tall figure come gliding by me; and when he came up to the light, I
saw his great flaming eyes; and then I fell upon my knees, and he laid
hold of my shoulder and griped it. Look, your honour!" laying bare his
shoulder as he spoke, and showing the deeply indented marks of the
bony fingers of the Mummy. Again a groan of horror and indignation ran
through the Court; and when another witness proved that the sarcophagus
of Cheops had been examined, and was found empty, the judge seemed to
think it was a clear case, and called triumphantly upon Edric for his
defence.
"I do not see that what has been proved," said Edric, shuddering in
spite of himself, "can affect either my tutor or myself. These people
say that a mummy has revived, and, quitting the Pyramid in which
he had been so long immured, has flown away with our balloon: but,
supposing the tale to be true, what proof have you that we were at
all implicated in the business? We were in the Pyramid, it is true;
but so was also this man, whom you have brought forward as a witness
against us. Supposing it was the intervention of some human aid that
roused the Mummy from its tomb--a fact, by the way, by no means proved,
why may not he be the agent instead of us? What is there to fix the
charge against us? Have we gained any thing by the adventure? Have we
not, on the contrary, been serious losers by it? Where is our balloon,
and the valuable articles it contained? If we are wizards, it must be
confessed that we are very foolish ones; for we have lost our property,
and thrown ourselves into prison, without reaping the smallest possible
advantage! And if we have the power you seem to attribute to us, why do
we stay here to be questioned, when we might so easily fly away in a
flame of fire, or turn you all to statues, and walk quietly off without
your being able to follow us?"
Every one shuddered, and many turned pale at this speech, seeming to
fear that Edric was about to put his suggestions into execution; whilst
the judge seemed posed, and in vast perplexity as to what he had better
determine;--and the people were dreadfully afraid, lest they might,
after all, lose the edifying spectacle of of an _auto-da-fé_, for which
they had been so impatiently longing.
Edric marked the hesitation of the judge, and endeavoured to improve
it to his own advantage.--"For my part," continued he, "I am a British
subject, and as such, under the protection of my own Court; my
Sovereign has a consul here, and to him I make my appeal. I am neither
ignoble, nor unknown in my own country,--my name is Montagu, and I am
brother to the celebrated general of that family,--whose victories, no
doubt, have reached even this remote province!"
"My dear Mr. Montagu!" said the judge, "I really beg your pardon: why
did you not acquaint me sooner with your dignity? I dare say there is
no truth at all in the charge:--only assure me upon your honour that
you did not touch the mummy, and that you know nothing of what is
become of it at present, and I will instantly order you to be set at
liberty."
"I certainly do not know what is become of it," replied Edric. "But--"
"No!" interrupted Dr. Entwerfen, coming forward with the air of a
determined martyr, "I will not suffer such equivocation.--I would
rather perish at the stake, than disavow, for a moment, my opinions,
or betray the sacred interests of science with which I feel I am
entrusted. No, Sir! my pupil cannot make the public declaration you
require. I know he would not--and he cannot if he would;--on the
contrary, I avow the fact. We came here for the express purpose of
endeavouring to resuscitate the mummy of Cheops, and I glory in the
proud thought that we have succeeded." (A groan of horror.) "Yes, Sir,
I do not hesitate to avow openly, that the grand object of my life,
for several successive years, has been to detect in what consisted the
strange, inexplicable secret of life. We live, Sir, we die: we are
born, and we are buried: we know that time, sickness, or violence,
may kill us; but who can say in what the mysterious principle of life
consists? Various theories have been broached, with which, no doubt,
a gentleman of your intelligence and extensive information is well
acquainted;--and life has been successively stated to depend upon the
heart, the brain, the circulation of the blood, and the respiration of
the lungs. All, however, are fallacious; the heart has been wounded,
and the brain has been removed, and yet the patient has lived, whilst
the operations of respiration and circulation have been kept up for
hours, in a body from which the vital spirit had departed. Weighing
all these and divers other arguments in my mind, it has struck me, and
indeed I may say, that after mature deliberation, I have confidently
arrived at the conclusion, that both the faculties which we call
life and soul depend entirely upon the nervous system. Do not all
philosophers agree that we receive ideas merely through the medium of
the senses? And can our senses be operated upon otherwise than through
the influence of the nerves? Ergo, the nerves alone convey ideas and
sensations to the mind--or rather, the nerves alone are the mind. Not
a single instance, I believe, is known in which life remained after
the sensorium had been destroyed, or even seriously injured. What
then can be more simple than to suppose life resides there? Pursuing
this idea, I have long been convinced that where the nervous system
remained uninjured, and the appearance of death was only occasioned
by a suspension of the operation of the animal functions, that life
might be restored, if, by the intervention of any powerful agency,
the nervous system could be excited to re-action; and as this, of
course, could not be effected where any kind of decomposition had taken
place, it appeared to me that a mummy was the only body upon which the
experiment could be tried with the least prospect of success. From
various circumstances, however, it has never till now been in my power
to realize my wishes on this head; but for a few weeks past, my pupil
has entertained similar longings to myself; and yesterday saw our hopes
accomplished. Yes; I flatter myself there cannot now remain a shadow of
doubt to the world, that, in ordinary cases, before decomposition has
taken place, that resuscitation is not only possible, but probable, and
that dead bodies may be easily restored to life."
The horror and consternation produced by this extraordinary speech,
amongst the Anglo-Egyptians who heard it, far exceeded any human powers
of description. Their terror at what they considered as the doctor's
daring impiety, being considerably augmented by their not understanding
above one-tenth part of what he said,--and when he had finished, there
was a dead pause which no one dared to interrupt, till a sudden gust of
wind happening to blow open the door of the justice's retiring-room,
the terrified crowd fell back aghast one upon another, pale and
trembling, as though they absolutely expected his Infernal Majesty to
appear before them in _propriâ personâ_.
When tranquillity was in some degree restored, the judge ordered the
prisoners to be reconducted to prison.
"After the dangerous and impious speech we have just heard," said he,
"it would be madness to trust such suspected persons at large; and yet,
I would willingly take time to consider the case, and to ascertain
whether this young man be indeed the person he represents himself; as,
I own, I should be sorry to inflict the full penalty of the law upon
the brother of her Britannic Majesty's Commander-in-chief."
Remonstrance was useless, and the prisoners were again conducted to
their dungeon where they were heavily chained, and left to ruminate
upon the calamities that had befallen them. Far from agreeable were
these meditations; for Edric was too angry with the doctor's ill-timed
candour to be inclined to speak; and the doctor was too much ashamed
of the effect already produced by his eloquence, to wish to make any
farther display of it. At length, as his eyes became accustomed to the
faint glimmering light admitted into the dungeon, he perceived the wall
to which he was chained was covered with hieroglyphics, and endeavoured
to divert his chagrin by examining them.
"I congratulate you, Sir," said Edric, when he perceived this, feeling
rather indignant at his tutor's coolness--"I congratulate you most
sincerely upon your philosophy, and most earnestly do I wish that I
could imitate it."
"Ah, Edric!" returned the doctor, "all men are not equally gifted."
"With either the art of making blunders, or forgetting them," said
Edric pointedly.
"These hieroglyphics are very curious," observed the doctor, who
had his own reasons for not wishing to pursue the subject; "see
how beautifully the ancient Egyptians worked in granite. The fine
polish they contrived to give this hard substance would be perfectly
astonishing, if we did not recollect that they always edged their tools
with emerald dust."
"Humph!" said Edric, in a tone which seemed to imply "and what does
it matter to me if they did?" The doctor, however, was unabashed, and
continued: "You see, as usual, the figure of the bull is frequently
repeated here. This wall is evidently built of stones gathered from
some ancient ruin. By the way, Edric, I don't think I ever explained
to you why the ancient Egyptians chose a bull as one of their deities,
or, rather, as their principal one. You know, that anciently the year
began in Taurus, though, by the precession of the equinox, it has now
advanced past Aries. Well, as the ancient Egyptians found that the sun
began its career in Taurus, what could be more natural than that they
should identify a bull with the vivifying principle? The same theory
may account for that legend of the Chaldeans, which supposes the world
to have been produced by a bull's striking chaos with his horn--which
horn, by the way, was probably the origin of the fable of Amalthea, or
the Horn of Plenty."
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 any thing 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 re-animating a corpse--"
"Oh! do not mention it!" cried Edric, shuddering. "Oh 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 gripe 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, "let us only 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 the 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 again the regions of light and day. Instinct seemed
to guide him to this; for, as yet, a mist hung over his faculties, and
ideas thronged in painful confusion through his mind, which he was
incapable of either arranging or analyzing.
When however he reached the plain, light and air seemed to revive
him and restore his scattered senses; and gazing wildly around he
exclaimed, "Where am I? what place is this? Methinks all seems
wondrous, new, and strange! Where is my father? And where! oh, where,
is my Arsinoë? Alas, alas!" continued he wildly; "I had forgotten--I
hoped it was a dream, a fearful dream, for methinks I have been long
asleep. Was it, indeed, reality? Are all, all gone? And was that
hideous scene true?--those horrors that still haunt my memory like
a ghastly vision? Speak! speak!" continued he, his voice rising
in thrilling energy as he spoke--"speak! let me hear the sound of
another's voice, before my brain is lost in madness. Have I entered
Hades, or am I still on earth?--yes, yes, it is still the earth, for
there the mighty Pyramid, I caused to be erected, towers behind me. Yet
where is Memphis? where my forts and palaces? What a dark, smoky mass
of buildings now surrounds me!--Can this be the once proud Queen of
Cities? Oh, no! I see no palaces, no temples--Memphis is fallen. The
mighty barrier that protected her splendour from the waste of waters,
must have been swept away by the encroaching inroads of the swelling
Nile. But is this the Nile?" continued he, looking wildly upon the
river; "sure I must be deceived. It is the fatal river of the dead. No
papyrine boats glide smoothly on its surface; but strange, infernal
vessels, vomiting forth volumes of fire and smoke. Holy Osiris, defend
me! where am I? where have I been? A misty veil seems thrown upon the
face of nature. Awake, awake!" cried he, with a scream of agony; "set
me free; I did not mean to slay him!" Then throwing himself violently
upon the ground, he lay for some moments, apparently insensible. Then
slowly rising, he looked at himself, and a deep, unnatural shuddering
convulsed his whole frame. His sensations of identity became confused,
and he recoiled with horror from himself: "These are the trappings of
a mummy!" murmured he in a hollow whisper. "Am I then dead?" The next
instant, however, he broke into a wild laugh of derision:--"Poor,
feeble wretch!" cried he; "what do I fear?--Need _I_ tremble, in whose
bosom dwells everlasting fire? No--no! let me rather rejoice. I cannot
be more wretched; why then should I dread a change? I should rather
welcome it with transport, and bravely dare my fate."
At this moment the car of the balloon caught his eye: "Ah! what is
that?" cried he; "I am summoned! 'Tis the boat of Hecate, ready to
ferry me across the Mærian Lake, to learn my final doom. I come! I
come! I fear no judgment! My hell is here!" and, striking his bosom,
leaped into the car, and stamped violently against its sides.
At this instant Gregory awoke; his terror was not surprising. The
dried, distorted features of the Mummy looked yet more hideous than
before, when animated by human passions; and his deep hollow voice,
speaking in a language he did not understand, fell heavily upon his
ear, like the groans of fiends. Gregory tried to scream, but he could
not utter a sound. He attempted to fly, but his feet seemed nailed to
the spot on which he stood, and he remained with his eyes fixed upon
the Mummy, gasping for breath, while a cold sweat distilled from every
pore. In the mean time, Cheops had stumbled over the box containing
the apparatus for making inflammable air, and striking it violently,
had unintentionally set the machinery in motion. The pipes, tubes, and
bellows, instantly began to work; and the Indian-rubber bottle became
gradually inflated, till it swelled to an enormous magnitude, and
fluttered in the air like an imprisoned bird, beating itself against
the massive walls to which it was still attached.
"Still it goes not," cried Cheops, again stamping impatiently. The
quicksilver vapour bottle had fallen beneath his feet, and it broke as
he trod upon it. The vapour burst from it with inconceivable violence,
and tearing the balloon from its fastenings, sent it off through the
air, like an arrow darting from a bow.