"You no longer need my services."
"How can I ever repay you, Pinsent, for your extreme kindness to me?"
"Easily; let me be present when you open the coffin of Ptahmes."
"What?"
"Ah!" said I, "I forgot." I then told him of my experiment with the sarcophagus, and the perfume. He listened with the most passionate attention. Finally he said:
"You are not certain the sarcophagus does contain the body, though?"
"Not certain, Sir Robert."
"Yet you told me, if I remember aright, that, that——"
"You were dying," I interrupted. "I had to arouse you. But, after all, I feel sure your desire will be gratified. I have no sort of doubt but that a body lies in the coffin."
"Nor I," said he. "The papyrus speaks of an essential oil the mere scent of which arrests decay. Ptahmes alone knew the secret of its preparation. But the sarcophagus must be guarded, Pinsent."