It seemed best to retire. I did so, but how I hardly know. Somehow or another I reached the pylon, passed the blacks and stepped upon the sand. About fifty paces off I saw a beautiful grove of palm trees suddenly spring up out of the desert. Such magic was most astonishing. I said to myself, "They cannot be real, of course. I am merely imagining them." But their shade was so deliciously inviting that I simply had to accept its challenge. I entered the grove and sat down beside a little purling stream of crystal water. It was very pleasant to dip my hands in it. Presently a lovely Naiad rose up out of the pool, seized my hands and pressed them to her lips. That was pleasant, too. Then she came and sat quite near me on the banks of the rill and drew my head upon her lap and stroked cool fingers through my hair, crooning a tender love song all the while. That was pleasantest of all. But her crooning made me drowsy. Like the Lorelei's song, it charmed away my senses, and I slept.
Chapter IX A Cool Defiance
Of course, I had swooned, and equally, of course, not on the bank of a rivulet and under the cool shade of palm trees, but in the full blaze of the mid-day sun and on the smooth, unprotected burning surface of the desert. It was the accursed sarcophagus perfume that had worked the mischief. Fortunately Miss Ottley saw me fall; otherwise I might have had a sunstroke. Belleville and the Captain carried me between them to the shade of one of the pylons, and Belleville opened a vein in my left arm—a proceeding I am prevented from commenting on by considerations of professional etiquette. Happily, I recovered consciousness in time to save a little of my precious blood. I told Belleville my opinion of him in one comprehensive scowl, which he interpreted correctly, I am glad to say, and then got up. I bandaged my arm myself and made off for the Captain's tent. That gentleman followed me. There arrived, I cast myself upon the cot and swore at ease. Weldon listened in spellbound admiration. He afterwards assured me that he had never before encountered such proficient fluency in objurgation and invective. I was madder than a hatter, and the more because I was as weak as a cat, and I wanted to be strong, with all my soul. Yet, five days passed before I felt well enough to be able to attack the task in front of me. Meanwhile, I told the Captain very little and Miss Ottley nothing. How could I let her know I knew her father to be a confounded old rascal? She was very good. She visited me every day and spent hours reading aloud by my bedside, while the Captain and I watched her face and thought much the same thoughts; though I took care, for my own part, not to let my features reflect the fatuous devotion of the Captain's. On the sixth morning I found I could lift that young man shoulder-high with one hand without wanting to sit down and pant afterwards, so I got up. It was just after daylight. The Captain wanted to accompany me, but I thought differently. He was annoyed, but I let him watch me from the tent flap. I found Sir Robert talking to Dr. Belleville at the door of the cave temple. His greeting was quite affectionate. "So glad you are better again, my dear young friend," he said, and he warmly invited me into the chamber. It was almost empty. The jar of perfume had gone; the sarcophagus had disappeared. It contained only a table and a cot. "Sit down," said Sir Robert.
"Where is the sarcophagus?" I demanded.
The old rascal grinned. "I had it quietly transferred last night on a truck to a punt," he replied, "while you were enjoying your beauty sleep. Dr. Belleville and I have not been to bed at all. It is now on the road to Cairo—and England."
I sat down on the cot. "And the dead Arab?" I questioned.
Dr. Belleville choked back a laugh. Sir Robert smiled.
"The dead Arab you saw was the mortal casket of Ptahmes," said he. "I am not surprised at your mistake. The body is in a perfect state of preservation. It is not a mummy in any sense of the expression. I regret very much that your sudden indisposition prevented you from examining it closely and me from explaining the circumstances of its preservation and discovery on the spot. However, I can tell you this much now. We found it steeped in an essential oil which an hermetic process had defended from evaporation. The oil began to evaporate immediately it was exposed to the air: but I contrived to save a certain quantity with which, later, I purpose to experiment in London. The Egyptian authorities have been very good to me. They have given me all necessary powers to deal with my discovery as I please. I tell you this lest professional jealousy should lead you to attempt any interference with my actions."