I had deposited it twenty years before. It was, I remember, brought up by the same clerk who had taken it down. He perfectly remember

ss. I scouted the idea as showing an unworthy curiosity. The chest had waited twenty years, I said, so it could very well continue to wait until after breakfast. Accordingly at nine-an unusually sharp nine-we breakfasted; and so occupied was I with my own thoughts that I regret to state that I

etched the chest, and placed it upon the table in a somewhat gingerly f

uld prefer to have an independent witness to this business, who c

o call me uncle-though he varied the appellation somewhat disrespec

s head, not ha

" I said, "and bring

key, the second an exceedingly ancient one, and the third entirely unlike anything of the sort that we had ever seen before, being fashioned apparently from a strip of solid sil

hots, for my hands were shaking, managed to fit it, and shoot the lock. Leo bent over and caught the massive lid in both his hands, and with an effort, for the hinges had rusted, forced it ba

bound in every direction with flat bands of iron. Its antiquity must have been ext

said, insertin

as a magnificent silver casket, about twelve inches square by eight high. It appeared to be of Egyptian workmanship, and the four legs were formed of Sphinxes,

ded, and the casket stood before us. It was filled to the brim with some brown shredded material, more like vegetable fibre than paper, the nature of which I have never been able to discover.

hould he live to

nvelope, and then put it down upon the table, ma

eath this roll was something hard and heavy, wrapped up in yellow linen, and reposing upon another layer of the fibrous material. Slowly and carefully we unrolled the linen, exposing to view a very large but undoubtedly ancient potsherd of a dirty yellow colour! This potsherd had in my judgment, once been a part of an ordinary amphora of medium size. For the rest, it measured ten and a half inches in length by seven in width, was about a quarter of an inch thick, and densely covered on the convex side that lay towards the bottom of the box with writing in the later uncial Greek character, faded here

ate

F THE SHERD

1/2

h of the origi

breadth

t 1lb

ate

F THE SHERD

1/2

e?" asked Leo, in a ki

Out of the bag we took first a very beautiful miniature done upon ivory, a

ch om

Royal Son of Ra or the Sun." The miniature was a picture of Leo's Greek mother-a lovely, dark

s all,"

had been gazing affectionately; "and now let us read the letter," a

th, and my voice speaks to you from the silence of the grave. Though I am dead, and no memory of me remains in your mind, yet am I with you in this hour that you read. Since your birth to this day I have scarcely seen your face. Forgive me this. Your life supplanted the life of one whom I loved better than women are often loved, and the bitterness of it endureth yet. Had I

self," I exclaime

d in my imagination. When I was only nineteen years of age I determined, as, to his misfortune, did one of our ancestors about the time of Elizabeth, to investigate its truth. Into all that befell me I cannot enter now. But this I saw with my own eyes. On the coast of Africa, in a hitherto unexplored region, some distance to the north of where the Zambesi falls into the sea, there is a headland, at the extremity of which a peak towers up, shaped like the head of a negro, similar to that of which the writing speaks. I landed there, and learnt from a wandering native, who had been ca

nt preparations. On my way I stopped in Greece, and there, for 'Omnia vincit amor,' I met your beloved mother, and married her, and there you were born and she died. Then it was that my last illness seized me, and I returned hither to die. But still I hoped against hope, and set mys

ion to provide that they shall not be put into your hands until you have reached an age when you will be able to judge for yourself whether or no you will choose to in

chimera, then, I adjure you, destroy the potsherd and the writings, and let a cause of troubling be removed from our race for ever. Perhaps that will be wisest. The unknown is generally taken to be terrible, not as the proverb would infer, from the inherent superstition of man, but because it so often is terrible. He who would tamper with the vast and secret forces that animate the world may well fall a victim to them. And if the end were attained, if at last you emerged from the trial ever

h was unsigned and un

rt of gasp, as he replaced it on the table. "We have been lo

answered, testily. "I guessed as much that night, twenty years ago, when he came into m

ly. Job was a most matter-of-fact

t any rate," said Leo, taking up the translation

are caves of which no man hath seen the end; and they brought us to the Queen of the people who place pots upon the heads of strangers, who is a magician having a knowledge of all things, and life and loveliness that does not die. And she cast eyes of love upon thy father, Kallikrates, and would have slain me, and taken him to husband, but he loved me and feared her, and would not. Then did she take us, and lead us by terrible ways, by means of dark magic, to where the great pit is, in the mouth of which the old philosopher lay dead, and showed to us the rolling Pillar of Life that dies not, whereof the voice is as the voice of thunder; and she did stand in the flames, and come forth unharmed, and yet more beautiful. Then did she swear to make thy father undying even as she is, if he would but slay me, and give himself to her, for me she could not slay because of the magic of my own people

ectanebo II., the la

Ochus to Ethiopia

ned Job, who had been listening to this m

at such a story could have been invented by anybody. It was too original. To solve my doubts I took up the potsherd and began to read the close uncial Gr

ΟΝΑΗΓΑΓΟΝΔΕΩΣΒΑΣΙΛΕΙΑΝΤΗΝΤΩΝΞΕΝΟΥΣΧΥΤΡΑΙΣΣΤΕΦΑΝΟΥΝΤΩΝΗΤΙΣΜΑΓΕΙΑΜΕΝΕ ΧΡΗΤΟΕΠΙΣΤΗΜΗΔΕΠΑΝΤΩΝΚΑΙΔΗΚΑΙΚΑΛΛΟΣΚΑΙΡΩΜΗΝΑΓΗΡΩΣΗΝΗΔΕΚΑΛΛΙΚΡΑΤΟΥΣΤΟΥΣ ΟΥΠΑΤΡΟΣΕΡΑΣΘΕΙΣΑΤΟΜΕΝΠΡΩΤΟΝΣΥΝΟΙΚΕΙΝΕΒΟΥΛΕΤΟΕΜΕΔΕΑΝΕΛΕΙΝΕΠΕΙΤΑΩΣΟΥΚΑΝ ΕΠΕΙΘΕΝΕΜΕΓΑΡΥΠΕΡΕΦΙΛΕΙΚΑΙΤΗΝΞΕΝΗΝΕΦΟΒΕΙΤΟΑΠΗΓΑΓΕΝΗΜΑΣΥΠΟΜΑΓΕΙΑΣΚΑΘΟΔΟ ΥΣΣΦΑΛΕΡΑΣΕΝΘΑΤΟΒΑΡΑΘΡΟΝΤΟΜΕΓΑΟΥΚΑΤΑΣΤΟΜΑΕΚΕΙΤΟΟΓΕΡΩΝΟΦΙΛΟΣΟΦΟΣΤΕΘΝΕΩΣ ΑΦΙΚΟΜΕΝΟΙΣΔΕΔΕΙΞΕΦΩΣΤΟΥΒΙΟΥΕΥΘΥΟΙΟΝΚΙΟΝΑΕΛΙΣΣΟΜΕΝΟΝΦΩΝΗΝΙΕΝΤΑΚΑΘΑΠΕΡΒ ΡΟΝΤΗΣΕΙΤΑΔΙΑΠΥΡΟΣΒΕΒΗΚΥΙΑΑΒΛΑΒΗΣΚΑΙΕΤΙΚΑΛΛΙΩΝΑΥΤΗΕΑΥΤΗΣΕΞΕΦΑΝΗΕΚΔΕΤΟΥ ΤΩΝΩΜΟΣΕΚΑΙΤΟΝΣΟΝΠΑΤΕΡΑΑΘΑΝΑΤΟΝΑΠΟΔΕΙΞΕΙΝΕΙΣΥΝΟΙΚΕΙΝΟΙΒΟΥΛΟΙΤΟΕΜΕΔΕΑΝΕ ΛΕΙΝΟΥΓΑΡΟΥΝΑΥΤΗΑΝΕΛΕΙΝΙΣΧΥΕΝΥΠΟΤΩΝΗΜΕΔΑΠΩΝΗΝΚΑΙΑΥΤΗΕΧΩΜΑΓΕΙΑΣΟΔΟΥΔΕΝΤ ΙΜΑΛΛΟ

have here accurately transcribed this

· ?γαγον δ? ?? βασ?λειαν τ?ν τ?ν ξ?νου? χ?τραι? στεφανο?ντων, ?τι? μαλε?α μ?ν ?χρ?το ?πιστ?μη δ? π?ντων κα? δ? κα? κ?λλ?? κα? ??μην ?λ?ρω? ?ν· ? δ? Καλλικρ?του? το? πατρ?? ?ρασθε?δα τ? μ?ν πρ?τον συνοικε?ν ?βο?λετο ?μ? δ? ?νελε?ν· ?πειτα, ?? ο?κ ?ν?πειθεν, ?μ? γ?ρ ?περεφ?λει κα? τ?ν ξ?νην ?φοβε?το, ?π?γαγεν ?μ?? ?π? μαγε?α? καθ? ?δο?? σφαλερ?? ?νθα τ? β?ραθρον τ? μ?γα, ο? κατ? στ?μα ?κειτο ? γ?ρων ? φιλ?σοφο? τεθνε??, ?φικομ?νοι? δ? ?δειξε φ?? το? β?ου ε?θ?, ο?ον κ?ονα ?λισσ?μενον φ?νην ??ντα καθ?περ βροντ??, ε?τα δι? πυρ?? βεβηκυ?α ?βλαβ?? κα? ?τι καλλ?ων α?τ? ?αυτ?? ?ξεφ?νη. ?κ δ? το?των ?μοσε κα? τ?ν σ?ν πατ?ρα ?θ?νατον ?ποδε?ξειν, ε? συνοικε?ν ο? βο?λοιτο ?μ? δε ?νελε?ν, ο? γ?ρ ο?ν α?τ? ?νελε?ν ?σχυεν ?π? τ?ν ?μεδαπ?ν ?ν κα? α?τ? ?χω μαγε?α?. ? δ? ο?δ?ν τι μ?

further investigation, and as the reader may eas

d on wax. Whether this was the cartouche of the original Kallikrates,[*] or of some Prince or Pharaoh from whom his wife Amenartas was descended, I am not sure, nor can I tell if it was drawn upon the sherd at the same time that the uncial Greek was inscribed, or copied on more recently from the Scarab by some other member of t

if it be a true car

ates, as Mr. Holly s

t entitled to a car

yptian royalty, t

me or title upon

obliquely in red on the space not covered by the uncial characters

STRANGE THYNGES THER BE.

k, Latin, and English. The first in uncial Greek was by Tisisthenes, the son to whom the writing was addressed. It

ΥΕ?ΘΑΙΤΙ?Ι?ΘΕΝΗ?Κ

?εσθαι. Τισισθ?νη? Κ

ome attempt to start on the quest, for his entry written in very faint and almost illegible uncial

ΕΠΑΥΣΑΜΗΝΤΗΣΠΟΡΕΙΑ

?παυσ?μην τ?? πορε?α?

on of the tile which had, in the course of ages, undergone the most handling, it was nearly rubbed out-was the bold, modern-looking signature of one Lionel Vincey, "?tate sua 17," which was written thereon, I think, by Leo's grandfather. To the right of this were the initi

now migrated to Rome. Unfortunately, however, with the exception of its termination (evi) the date of their

hich seems to have been adopted by the family after its migration to Rome as a kind of equivalent to the Greek "Tisisthenes," which also means an avenger. Ultimately, as might be expected, this Latin cognomen of Vindex was transformed

I have actually since found mentioned in history

VARIVS MARVLLVS C.

n

ANA. CONIVX. M

of course, the na

er, comprises all the Lat