I approached and examined the box he held. It was perforated with finely
drilled holes for the admission of air, and within it lay a brilliant
winged insect coloured with all the tints and half-tints of the rainbow.
"Is it alive?" I asked.
"It is alive, and has a sufficient share of intelligence,"--replied
Rimânez. "I feed it and it knows me,--that is the utmost you can say of
the most civilized human beings; they know what feeds them. It is quite
tame and friendly as you perceive,"--and opening the case he gently
advanced his forefinger. The glittering beetle's body palpitated with
the hues of an opal; its radiant wings expanded, and it rose at once to
its protector's hand and clung there. He lifted it out and held it
aloft, then shaking it to and fro lightly, he exclaimed--
"Off, Sprite! Fly, and return to me!"
The creature soared away through the room and round and round the
ceiling, looking like a beautiful iridescent jewel, the whirr of its
wings making a faint buzzing sound as it flew. I watched it fascinated,
till after a few graceful movements hither and thither, it returned to
its owner's still outstretched hand, and again settled there making no
further attempt to fly.
"There is a well-worn platitude which declares that 'in the midst of
life we are in death'"--said the prince then softly, bending his dark
deep eyes on the insect's quivering wings--"But as a matter of fact that
maxim is wrong as so many trite human maxims are. It should be 'in the
midst of death we are in life.' This creature is a rare and curious
production of death, but not I believe the only one of its kind. Others
have been found under precisely similar circumstances. I took possession
of this one myself in rather a weird fashion,--will the story bore you?"
"On the contrary"--I rejoined eagerly, my eyes fixed on the radiant
bat-shaped thing that glittered in the light as though its veins were
phosphorescent.
He paused a moment, watching me.
"Well,--it happened simply thus,--I was present at the uncasing of an
Egyptian female mummy;--her talismans described her as a princess of a
famous royal house. Several curious jewels were tied round her neck, and
on her chest was a piece of beaten gold quarter of an inch thick.
Underneath this gold plate, her body was swathed round and round in an
unusual number of scented wrappings; and when these were removed it was
discovered that the mummified flesh between her breasts had decayed
away, and in the hollow or nest thus formed by the process of
decomposition, this insect I hold was found alive, as brilliant in
colour as it is now!"