We rushed out _en masse_ to bring in the mangled remains of the
      victim, but had the happiness to meet him upon the staircase, coming up in
      an unaccountable hurry, brimful of the most ardent philosophy, and more
      than ever impressed with the necessity of prosecuting our experiment with
      vigor and with zeal. It was by his advice, accordingly, that we made, upon the spot, a profound
      incision into the tip of the subject’s nose, while the Doctor himself,
      laying violent hands upon it, pulled it into vehement contact with the
      wire. Morally and physically—figuratively and literally—was the
      effect electric. In the first place, the corpse opened its eyes and winked
      very rapidly for several minutes, as does Mr. Barnes in the pantomime; in
      the second place, it sneezed; in the third, it sat upon end; in the
      fourth, it shook its fist in Doctor Ponnonner’s face; in the fifth,
      turning to Messieurs Gliddon and Buckingham, it addressed them, in very
      capital Egyptian, thus:

      “I must say, gentlemen, that I am as much surprised as I am mortified at
      your behavior. Of Doctor Ponnonner nothing better was to be expected. He
      is a poor little fat fool who knows no better. I pity and forgive him. But
      you, Mr. Gliddon—and you, Silk—who have travelled and resided
      in Egypt until one might imagine you to the manor born—you, I say
      who have been so much among us that you speak Egyptian fully as well, I
      think, as you write your mother tongue—you, whom I have always been
      led to regard as the firm friend of the mummies—I really did
      anticipate more gentlemanly conduct from you. What am I to think of your
      standing quietly by and seeing me thus unhandsomely used? What am I to
      suppose by your permitting Tom, Dick, and Harry to strip me of my coffins,
      and my clothes, in this wretchedly cold climate? In what light (to come to
      the point) am I to regard your aiding and abetting that miserable little
      villain, Doctor Ponnonner, in pulling me by the nose?”


      It will be taken for granted, no doubt, that upon hearing this speech
      under the circumstances, we all either made for the door, or fell into
      violent hysterics, or went off in a general swoon. One of these three
      things was, I say, to be expected. Indeed each and all of these lines of
      conduct might have been very plausibly pursued. And, upon my word, I am at
      a loss to know how or why it was that we pursued neither the one nor the
      other. But, perhaps, the true reason is to be sought in the spirit of the
      age, which proceeds by the rule of contraries altogether, and is now
      usually admitted as the solution of every thing in the way of paradox and
      impossibility. Or, perhaps, after all, it was only the Mummy’s exceedingly
      natural and matter-of-course air that divested his words of the terrible. However this may be, the facts are clear, and no member of our party
      betrayed any very particular trepidation, or seemed to consider that any
      thing had gone very especially wrong. For my part I was convinced it was all right, and merely stepped aside,
      out of the range of the Egyptian’s fist. Doctor Ponnonner thrust his hands
      into his breeches’ pockets, looked hard at the Mummy, and grew excessively
      red in the face. Mr. Glidden stroked his whiskers and drew up the collar
      of his shirt. Mr. Buckingham hung down his head, and put his right thumb
      into the left corner of his mouth. The Egyptian regarded him with a severe countenance for some minutes and
      at length, with a sneer, said:

      “Why don’t you speak, Mr. Buckingham? Did you hear what I asked you, or
      not? Do take your thumb out of your mouth!”


      Mr. Buckingham, hereupon, gave a slight start, took his right thumb out of
      the left corner of his mouth, and, by way of indemnification inserted his
      left thumb in the right corner of the aperture above-mentioned. Not being able to get an answer from Mr. B., the figure turned peevishly
      to Mr. Gliddon, and, in a peremptory tone, demanded in general terms what
      we all meant. Mr. Gliddon replied at great length, in phonetics; and but for the
      deficiency of American printing-offices in hieroglyphical type, it would
      afford me much pleasure to record here, in the original, the whole of his
      very excellent speech. I may as well take this occasion to remark, that all the subsequent
      conversation in which the Mummy took a part, was carried on in primitive
      Egyptian, through the medium (so far as concerned myself and other
      untravelled members of the company)—through the medium, I say, of
      Messieurs Gliddon and Buckingham, as interpreters. These gentlemen spoke
      the mother tongue of the Mummy with inimitable fluency and grace; but I
      could not help observing that (owing, no doubt, to the introduction of
      images entirely modern, and, of course, entirely novel to the stranger)
      the two travellers were reduced, occasionally, to the employment of
      sensible forms for the purpose of conveying a particular meaning. Mr.
      Gliddon, at one period, for example, could not make the Egyptian
      comprehend the term “politics,” until he sketched upon the wall, with a
      bit of charcoal a little carbuncle-nosed gentleman, out at elbows,
      standing upon a stump, with his left leg drawn back, right arm thrown
      forward, with his fist shut, the eyes rolled up toward Heaven, and the
      mouth open at an angle of ninety degrees. Just in the same way Mr.
      Buckingham failed to convey the absolutely modern idea “wig,” until (at
      Doctor Ponnonner’s suggestion) he grew very pale in the face, and
      consented to take off his own. It will be readily understood that Mr. Gliddon’s discourse turned chiefly
      upon the vast benefits accruing to science from the unrolling and
      disembowelling of mummies; apologizing, upon this score, for any
      disturbance that might have been occasioned him, in particular, the
      individual Mummy called Allamistakeo; and concluding with a mere hint (for
      it could scarcely be considered more) that, as these little matters were
      now explained, it might be as well to proceed with the investigation
      intended. Here Doctor Ponnonner made ready his instruments. In regard to the latter suggestions of the orator, it appears that
      Allamistakeo had certain scruples of conscience, the nature of which I did
      not distinctly learn; but he expressed himself satisfied with the
      apologies tendered, and, getting down from the table, shook hands with the
      company all round. When this ceremony was at an end, we immediately busied ourselves in
      repairing the damages which our subject had sustained from the scalpel.