exhibition of darb el-mendel, Abû Tabâh being evidently a sahhar, or adept in the art called er-roohânee. Save for this indistinct muttering, no other sound disturbed the silence of the apartment, until suddenly the girl began to speak Arabic and in a sweet but monotonous voice.

“Again I see the ring,” she said, “a hand is53 holding it before me. The ring bears a green scarab, upon which is written the name of a king of Egypt.... The ring is gone. I can see it no more.”

“Seek it,” directed Abû Tabâh in a low voice, and threw more incense upon the fire. “Are you seeking it?”

“Yes,” replied the girl, who now began to tremble violently, “I am in a low passage which slopes downwards so steeply that I am afraid.”

“Fear nothing,” said Abû Tabâh; “follow the passage.”

With marvelous fidelity the girl described the passage and the shaft leading to the King’s Chamber in the Pyramid of Méydûm. She described the cavity in the wall where once (if Hassan es-Sugra was worthy of credence) the ring had been concealed.

“There is a freshly made hole in the stonework,” she said. “The picture has gone; I am standing in some dark place and the same hand again holds the ring before me.”

“Is it the hand of an Oriental,” asked Abû Tabâh, “or of a European?”

“It is the hand of a European. It has disappeared; I see a funeral procession winding out from Rikka into the desert.”

“Follow the ring,” directed Abû Tabâh, a queer, compelling note in his voice.

Again he sprinkled perfume upon the fire and—

“I see a Pharaoh upon his throne,” continued the monotonous voice, “upon the first finger of his left hand he wears the ring with the green scarab. A54 prisoner stands before him in chains; a woman pleads with the king, but he is deaf to her. He draws the ring from his finger and hands it to one standing behind the throne—one who has a very evil face. Ah!...”

The girl’s voice died away in a low wail of fear or horror. But—

“What do you see?” demanded Abû Tabâh.

“The death-ring of Pharaoh!” whispered the soft voice tremulously; “it is the death-ring!”

 Prev. P 32/187 next