“‘Certainly,’ he said, ‘if they are genuine.’
“‘Will you believe they are genuine if you see them in position in the tomb in which they were found?’ they asked.
“‘Yes,’ he replied. ‘Have you got a tomb?’
“They said they had, and made arrangements to take him to it at midnight, two or three nights later.
“When the night and the hour came, they met at the appointed place and proceeded towards the tomb. On the road there was a fierce whispered alarm that the guards were coming, and the party scattered in all directions. The next night a second appointment was made, and this time the party reached the entrance to the tomb. The doorway was blocked up, except for a small hole, and sealed with what seemed to be ancient mud-plaster. They tore down this block and entered the tomb, a large rock-cut chamber, literally filled with antiquities—stelæ, ushebti, coffins, vases, and other objects, apparently covered with the dust of ages.
PLATE XIV.
A PIECE OF MUMMY CASE.
This is new wood made up to represent a part of a genuine mummy case.
“The party then adjourned to Luxor to discuss the price. The dealer finally bought the lot for something like £600, and was obliged to raise a mortgage on some property in order to get the money. After great difficulties in avoiding the guards, the objects were finally transferred from the tomb to the dealer’s house in Luxor. The summer passed in pleasant dreams of winter profits, and finally the first Museum buyer arrived on the scene. The dealer selected a stone from the purchased lot, and carried it round to the house of a friend where the Egyptologist happened to be engaged in negotiations for the purchase of some antiquities. The dealer called his friend to the door, and asked him to show the stelæ to the buyer. His friend smiled and said, ‘It is a forgery.’
“The dealer laughed in derision, and insisted on the stone being shown to the expert, who took one look at it and said, ‘Rank forgery.’