"Sometimes, when a very great personage like the Emperor Hadrian came, it gave forth its utterance twice on the same morning. Then the whole of Thebes talked of the wonder, and the Emperor was regarded with special reverence.
"We went to see and hear it, and we did not go at sunrise, as was necessary to do three thousand years ago.
"We went in the afternoon, and for half a franc an Arab climbed up the statue and struck a stone that lies in the lap of the figure. We beat the Emperor Hadrian completely, as we heard the sound a dozen times instead of twice, and if we had given the Arab a franc he would have been delighted to pound the stone for half an hour.
EGYPTIAN PRIESTS CLAD IN LEOPARD-SKINS.
"The sound is what we call a metallic one, like that of a poorly tuned bell. The whole trick is clearly apparent. A priest was concealed in a niche behind the stone, where nobody could see him from the ground, and he could strike the stone at the proper moment without fear of discovery. Perhaps he went to sleep occasionally, and then the sound was not heard; or it is possible he was in league with the hotel-keepers of Thebes, and wished people to stay in town a week or two, instead of finishing their visit in a day and taking the train to the next place. At any rate, the Colossi have ceased to be among the wonders of the world. For thirty centuries they have looked out on the plain of Thebes. What a pity it is they cannot open their stony lips and tell us what has passed around them during all that period of time—what changes they have witnessed, and what generations have come and gone since they first began their long vigil!"