This page has been validated.
214
THE MUMMY.

old gentleman," said the doctor, as they walked towards the entrance of the Pyramids; "I declare he almost reconciles me to the country, though, I own, I thought at first the people were the greatest brutes I had ever met with."

"Which Pyramid does your honour wish to see?" asked the guide.

"That which contains the tomb of Cheops, man!" cried the doctor solemnly; who, encumbered with his long cloak, and loaded with his walking-stick and galvanic battery, had some difficulty in getting on.

"Won't your honour let me carry that pole and that bag?" said the man; "you'd get on a surprising deal better, if you would."

"Avaunt, wretch!" exclaimed the doctor, "nor offer to touch with thy profane fingers the immortal instruments of science."

The man stared, but fell back, and the whole party walked on in perfect silence.

In the mean time, Edric had walked on before his companions, completely lost in meditation. A crowd of conflicting thoughts rushed through his mind; and now, when he found himself at the