d of a bug did you say 'twas?"

"Why, I don't know that I did say. It is a representation of an Egyptian
beetle, Ateuchus Sacer, you know. The ancient Egyptians worshiped the
beetle and so they--"

"Wait! Wait a minute, Mr. Bangs. WHAT did you say they done to it?"

"I said they worshiped it, made a god of it, you understand."

"A god! Out of a--a pertater bug! Go long, Mr. Bangs! You're foolin',
ain't you?"

"Dear me, no! It's quite true, Primmie, really. The ancient Egyptians
had many gods, some like human beings, some in the forms of animals. The
goddess Hathor, for example, was the goddess of the dead and is always
represented in the shape of a cow."

"Eh! A cow! Do you mean to sit there and tell me them
folks--er--er--went to church meetin' and--and flopped down and said
their prayers to a COW?"

Galusha smiled. "Why, yes," he said, "I presume you might call it that.
And another god of theirs had the head of a hawk--the bird, you know.
The cat, too, was a very sacred animal. And, as I say, the beetle, like
the one represented here, was--"

"Hold on, Mr. Bangs! HO-OLD on! Don't say no more to me NOW. Let me kind
of--of settle my stomach, as you might say, 'fore you fetch any more
onto the table. Worshipin' cows and--and henhawks and--and cats and bugs
and--and hoptoads and clams, for what _I_ know! My savin' soul! What
made 'em do it? What did they do it FOR? Was they all crazy?"

"Oh, no, it was the custom of their race and time."

"WELL!" with a heartfelt sigh, "I'm glad times have changed, that's
all I've got to say. Goin' to cow meetin' would be too much for ME! Mr.
Bangs, where did you get that bug thing?"

"I found it at a place called Saqqarah, in Egypt. It was in a tomb
there."

"A tomb! What was you doin' in a tomb, for the land sakes?"

"I was opening it, looking for mummies and carvings, statues, relics,
anything of the kind I might find. This scarab was in a ring on the
finger of the mummy of a woman. She was the wife of an officer in the
royal court. The mummy case was excellently preserved and when the mummy
itself was unwrapped--"

"Wait a minute! Hold on just another minute, won't you, Mr. Bangs?
You're always talkin' about mummies. A mummy is a--a kind of an image,
ain't it? I've seen pictures of 'em in them printed report things you
get from that Washin'ton place. An image with funny scrabblin' and
pictures, kind of, all over it. That's a mummy, ain't it, Mr. Bangs?"

"Why, not e