In a minute afterward, and while I was still
rubbing my eyes, my wife thrust in my face a note, from my old friend,
Doctor Ponnonner. It ran thus:
Come to me, by all means, my dear good friend, as soon as you
receive this. Come and help us to rejoice. At last, by long
persevering diplomacy, I have gained the assent of the Directors of
the City Museum, to my examination of the Mummy- you know the one I
mean. I have permission to unswathe it and open it, if desirable. A
few friends only will be present- you, of course. The Mummy is now
at my house, and we shall begin to unroll it at eleven to-night.
Yours, ever, PONNONNER.
By the time I had reached the "Ponnonner," it struck me that I was
as wide awake as a man need be. I leaped out of bed in an ecstacy,
overthrowing all in my way; dressed myself with a rapidity truly
marvellous; and set off, at the top of my speed, for the doctor's.
There I found a very eager company assembled. They had been awaiting
me with much impatience; the Mummy was extended upon the dining-table;
and the moment I entered its examination was commenced.
It was one of a pair brought, several years previously, by Captain
Arthur Sabretash, a cousin of Ponnonner's from a tomb near
Eleithias, in the Lybian mountains, a considerable distance above
Thebes on the Nile. The grottoes at this point, although less
magnificent than the Theban sepulchres, are of higher interest, on
account of affording more numerous illustrations of the private life
of the Egyptians.
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