An Egyptian-Babylonian Story
A Pair of Mummies
IS THERE no limit to what thieves will steal? I have heard of their stealing old tin cans, garbage, and even false teeth, and I have a vague idea of how a thief might see some value in any one of these. But I cannot see of what value one mummy could be to a thief; much less two mummies!
I was seated in the spacious, tiled and fountained lobby of an exclusive hotel in Venice, reading a recent issue of the London Daily Mail. Casually I glanced over its pages until the following advertisement, buried in an obscure corner beneath the "country estates" and "table waters," arrested my attention:
STOLEN—From the British Museum last night, a pair of mummies. Same are the only extant specimens of the embalming practised in ancient Babylon. £50 reward for evidence leading to their recovery. Apply street entrance near southerly gate. No questions asked.
"That is a queer thing for any one to steal," I remarked showing the advertisement to a thin, elderly man, who sat next to me.
There was an Asiatic air about him that was mysteriously attractive. Nevertheless, he was unmistakably an Englishman. He had a touch, or perhaps it was only a shadow, of the past in his dark, Semitic eyes. The odor about him was musty and prehistoric. I thought, as I looked at him, that he was not far from a mummy himself. He looked out of keeping with the luxurious surroundings, in his dirty, old linen suit, which hung loosely on his spare frame. His hair and whiskers sadly needed the smoothing attention of comb and brush.
The old man piqued my interest. He had a strange air about him, and I have found that people who appear strange usually have strange experiences.
The advertisement about the mummies proved to be the opening that I was looking for to engage him in conversation. It seemed to shock him as he read it. His voice and manner were apparently perturbed, and his tone startled me as he spoke.
"I unearthed those very mummies myself. I carried them to London only a few weeks ago. As a matter of fact, sir, I have just come from London, having delivered them in person to the museum, after a three thousand mile journey with them. They were highly prized, as you can judge from the magnitude of the reward offered."
"Someone must have known of their peculiar value, and planned their theft," I remarked.
"That may be," he nodded.
After a pause in which he would not speak, I continued, "I see that you are a member of the London Psychical Research Society, by the emblem in your lapel. I was taken into membership a few years ago."
He smiled slightly, nodded and said, "You will be interested in my story, then, touching those two mummies, which the press announces have just been stolen."
I told him I would be very glad to hear the story, surmising by his manner that he had something to tell.
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