suspicion--especially if it should happen to be a bog-oak chest. The
fact is, the latter is more likely than not to be "possessed" by
elementals, which need scarcely be a matter of surprise when one
remembers that bogs--particularly Irish bogs--have been haunted, from
time immemorial, by the most uncouth and fantastic type of spirits.

But mummies, mummies even more often than clocks and chests, are
"possessed" by denizens of the occult world. Of course, everyone has
heard of the "unlucky" mummy, the painted case of which, only, is in the
Oriental department of the British Museum, and the story connected with
it is so well known that it would be superfluous to expatiate on it
here. I will therefore pass on to instances of other mummies "possessed"
in a more or less similar manner.

During one of my sojourns in Paris, I met a Frenchman who, he informed
me, had just returned from the East. I asked him if he had brought back
any curios, such as vases, funeral urns, weapons, or amulets. "Yes,
lots," he replied, "two cases full. But no mummies! Mon Dieu! No
mummies! You ask me why? Ah! Therein hangs a tale. If you will have
patience, I will tell it you."

The following is the gist of his narrative:--

"Some seasons ago I travelled up the Nile as far as Assiut, and when
there, managed to pay a brief visit to the grand ruins of Thebes. Among
the various treasures I brought away with me, of no great archaeological
value, was a mummy. I found it lying in an enormous lidless sarcophagus,
close to a mutilated statue of Anubis. On my return to Assiut, I had the
mummy placed in my tent, and thought no more of it till something awoke
me with a startling suddenness in the night. Then, obeying a peculiar
impulse, I turned over on my side and looked in the direction of my
treasure.

"The nights in the Soudan at this time of year are brilliant; one can
even see to read, and every object in the desert is almost as clearly
visible as by day. But I was quite startled by the whiteness of the glow
that rested on the mummy, the face of which was immediately opposite
mine. The remains--those of Met-Om-Karema, lady of the College of the
god Amen-ra--were swathed in bandages, some of which had worn away in
parts or become loose; and the figure, plainly discernible, was that of
a shapely woman with elegant bust, well-formed limbs, rounded arms and
small hands. The thumbs were slender, and the fingers, each of which
were separately bandaged, l