emn guardianship, each upon a polished slab of marble, and
enclosed in a case of thick glass, lay the corpses of the Egyptian
dead, swathed in numberless wrappings, as in their day the true
religion that they held was swathed in symbols and in mummeries.

Here were to be found the high-priest of the mysteries of Isis, the
astronomer whose lore could read the prophecies that are written in
the stars, the dark magician, the renowned warrior, the noble, the
musician with his cymbals by his side, the fair maiden who had--so
said her cedar coffin-boards--died of love and sorrow, and the royal
babe, all sleeping the same sleep, and waiting the same awakening.
This princess must have been well known to Joseph, that may have been
her who rescued Moses from the waters, whilst the babe belongs to a
dynasty of which the history was already merging into tradition when
the great pyramid reared its head on Egypt's fertile plains.

Arthur stood, awed at the wonderful sight.

"Never before," said he, in that whisper which we involuntarily use in
the presence of the dead, "did I realize my own insignificance."

The thought was abruptly put, but the words represented well what was
passing in his mind, what must pass in the mind of any man of culture
and sensibility when he gazes on such a sight. For in such presences
the human mite of to-day, fluttering in the sun and walking on the
earth that these have known and walked four thousand years ago, must
indeed learn how infinitely small is the place that he occupies in the
tale of things created; and yet, if to his culture and sensibility he
adds religion, a word of living hope hovers on those dumb lips. For
where are the spirits of those that lie before him in their eternal
silence! Answer, withered lips, and tell us what judgment has Osiris
given, and what has Thoth written in his awful book? Four thousand
years! Old human husk, if thy dead carcass can last so long, what
limit is there to the life of the soul it held?

"Did you collect all these?" asked Arthur, when he had made a
superficial examination of the almost countless treasures of the
museum.

"Oh, no; Mr. Carr spent half his long life, and more money than I can
tell you, in getting this collection together. It was the passion of
his life, and he had this cave hollowed at enormous cost, because he
thought that the air here would be less likely to injure them than the
English fogs. I have added to it, however. I got those pa