The Boy Fortune Hunters in Egypt

by L. Frank Baum

“Yes; in this section of the country,” was the answer. “Archeologists will tell you that originally the earth was covered by a vast table-land of solid rock such as we now call sandstone. The erosion of wind and weather caused bits of this rock to crumble. The simoons caught them and whirled them around, breaking off other particles of rock and crumbling them into sand. As ages passed the sand increased in volume, until now the desert is covered with it to a depth of from two to six feet, and sometimes even more. Often the winds blow this sand into billows, leaving the bare table-land of rock to be seen stretching for miles and miles.

“But to return to my story. The block of granite was heavy, measuring three by six feet on the surface and being more than two feet in thickness. Three bronze rings were imbedded in it, but pry and lift as we would we could not budge the huge stone an inch. It was evident that we must have help, so we covered up the stone again, marked the spot carefully, and went back to the Arab village.

“Next morning Lovelace bargained with the sheik, Abdul Hashim, for the use of two of his men to assist us. Also we were obliged to send to Luxor for four stout staves to use as levers. You may well imagine that all this excited the wonder of the Arabs, and I doubted if Lovelace would be able to keep his secret from them. However, he appeared to attach no importance to this danger, and the next evening we set out for our buried stone, accompanied by our assistants bearing the oaken staves. We quickly dug away the sand and cleared the stone, and then we four used the levers together and by straining our muscles to the utmost managed to lift the huge slab of granite until it stood on edge.

“Underneath was a rock cavity, carefully chiseled out by hand, and at first we saw only a mass of dried reeds brought from the Nile bank. Removing these we came upon heavy layers of rotted cloth, of the kind that was once used in Egypt for wrapping mummies. But after this padding was dragged away the treasure became visible and Lovelace’s hands shook with excitement while he examined it. First there were many rolls of papyrus, carefully swathed in bandages; then several Canopic jars of pure gold, each containing quarts of wonderful pearls, rubies and emeralds; and finally a vast collection of wrought jewelry, gold and silver ornaments, some packed in rude wooden boxes which were old and falling to decay and others scattered loosely over them and filling every crevice.

“Lovelace said not a word while we were examining this vast treasure, the most remarkable collection that has come down to us from antiquity. His face was white and set and except for the trembling of his hands he kept himself under perfect control. The eyes of the Arabs, however, glittered with cupidity, and I caught them exchanging significant glances.

“The Professor took a couple of handfuls of rubies and pearls and thrust them carelessly into his pockets. He selected a few golden ornaments of exquisite workmanship, and replaced all the rest of the treasure, with its padding, in the rock cavity. When this had been done he commanded us to replace the granite slab, which we did, tipping it forward so that it again covered the orifice. Our next task was to fill in the sand, and as a light breeze was blowing we knew that in an hour the desert would show no marks of the excavation we had so recently made. The levers we left lying beside the granite slab, buried deep in the sand.

“Lovelace now motioned the Arabs to return toward their village, and they set out eagerly enough, we following close behind them. But after we had proceeded a few hundred yards Lovelace Pasha drew his revolver and calmly shot both men dead.

“‘Now, Van Dorn,’ he said to me, ‘help me to bury this carrion.’

“Horrified as I was at the murderous act I hastened to obey, for there was something strange about the Professor that night—a steely, cruel gleam in his usually kindly eyes—that recalled my former suspicions and made me fear that his great discovery had actually driven him mad.

“Silently we dug away the sand where the men had fallen and covered them up, smoothing the surface afterward as well as we were able. We proceeded to the village.