“Later, in the light of the fire round which the men sat or lay, I saw
him exhibit to his fellows something white which they seemed to regard
with special awe and reverence. So I drew near silently, and saw that
it was none other than the white hand of the mummy which had lain
protecting the Jewel in the great sarcophagus. I heard the Bedouin tell
how he had found it on the body of him who had fallen from the cliff. There was no mistaking it, for there were the seven fingers which I had
noted before. This man must have wrenched it off the dead body whilst
his chief and I were otherwise engaged; and from the awe of the others
I doubted not that he had hoped to use it as an Amulet, or charm. Whereas if powers it had, they were not for him who had taken it from
the dead; since his death followed hard upon his theft. Already his
Amulet had had an awesome baptism; for the wrist of the dead hand was
stained with red as though it had been dipped in recent blood. “That night I was in certain fear lest there should be some violence
done to me; for if the poor dead hand was so valued as a charm, what
must be the worth in such wise of the rare Jewel which it had guarded. Though only the chief knew of it, my doubt was perhaps even greater;
for he could so order matters as to have me at his mercy when he would. I guarded myself, therefore, with wakefulness so well as I could,
determined that at my earliest opportunity I should leave this party,
and complete my journeying home, first to the Nile bank, and then down
its course to Alexandria; with other guides who knew not what strange
matters I had with me. “At last there came over me a disposition of sleep, so potent that I
felt it would be resistless. Fearing attack, or that being searched in
my sleep the Bedouin might find the Star Jewel which he had seen me
place with others in my dress, I took it out unobserved and held it in
my hand. It seemed to give back the light of the flickering fire and
the light of the stars—for there was no moon—with equal fidelity; and
I could note that on its reverse it was graven deeply with certain
signs such as I had seen in the tomb. As I sank into the
unconsciousness of sleep, the graven Star Jewel was hidden in the
hollow of my clenched hand. “I waked out of sleep with the light of the morning sun on my face. I
sat up and looked around me. The fire was out, and the camp was
desolate; save for one figure which lay prone close to me. It was that
of the Arab chief, who lay on his back, dead. His face was almost
black; and his eyes were open, and staring horribly up at the sky, as
though he saw there some dreadful vision. He had evidently been
strangled; for on looking, I found on his throat the red marks where
fingers had pressed. There seemed so many of these marks that I
counted them. There were seven; and all parallel, except the thumb
mark, as though made with one hand. This thrilled me as I thought of
the mummy hand with the seven fingers. “Even there, in the open desert, it seemed as if there could be
enchantments! “In my surprise, as I bent over him, I opened my right hand, which up
to now I had held shut with the feeling, instinctive even in sleep, of
keeping safe that which it held. As I did so, the Star Jewel held
there fell out and struck the dead man on the mouth. Mirabile dictu
there came forth at once from the dead mouth a great gush of blood, in
which the red jewel was for the moment lost. I turned the dead man
over to look for it, and found that he lay with his right hand bent
under him as though he had fallen on it; and in it he held a great
knife, keen of point and edge, such as Arabs carry at the belt. It may
have been that he was about to murder me when vengeance came on him,
whether from man or God, or the Gods of Old, I know not. Suffice it,
that when I found my Ruby Jewel, which shone up as a living star from
the mess of blood wherein it lay, I paused not, but fled from the
place. I journeyed on alone through the hot desert, till, by God’s
grace, I came upon an Arab tribe camping by a well, who gave me salt. With them I rested till they had set me on my way. “I know not what became of the mummy hand, or of those who had it. What strife, or suspicion, or disaster, or greed went with it I know
not; but some such cause there must have been, since those who had it
fled with it. It doubtless is used as a charm of potence by some
desert tribe. “At the earliest opportunity I made examination of the Star Ruby, as I
wished to try to understand what was graven on it. The symbols—whose
meaning, however, I could not understand—were as follows...”

Twice, whilst I had been reading this engrossing narrative, I had
thought that I had seen across the page streaks of shade, which the
weirdness of the subject had made to seem like the shadow of a hand. On the first of these occasions I found that the illusion came from the
fringe of green silk around the lamp; but on the second I had looked
up, and my eyes had lit on the mummy hand across the room on which the
starlight was falling under the edge of the blind. It was of little
wonder that I had connected it with such a narrative; for if my eyes
told me truly, here, in this room with me, was the very hand of which
the traveller Van Huyn had written. I looked over at the bed; and it
comforted me to think that the Nurse still sat there, calm and wakeful. At such a time, with such surrounds, during such a narrative, it was
well to have assurance of the presence of some living person. I sat looking at the book on the table before me; and so many strange
thoughts crowded on me that my mind began to whirl. It was almost as
if the light on the white fingers in front of me was beginning to have
some hypnotic effect. All at once, all thoughts seemed to stop; and
for an instant the world and time stood still. There lay a real hand across the book! What was there to so overcome
me, as was the case? I knew the hand that I saw on the book—and loved
it. Margaret Trelawny’s hand was a joy to me to see—to touch; and yet
at that moment, coming after other marvellous things, it had a
strangely moving effect on me. It was but momentary, however, and had
passed even before her voice had reached me. “What disturbs you? What are you staring at the book for? I thought
for an instant that you must have been overcome again!”  I jumped up. “I was reading,” I said, “an old book from the library.”  As I spoke I
closed it and put it under my arm. “I shall now put it back, as I
understand that your Father wishes all things, especially books, kept
in their proper places.”  My words were intentionally misleading; for I
did not wish her to know what I was reading, and thought it best not to
wake her curiosity by leaving the book about. I went away, but not to
the library; I left the book in my room where I could get it when I had
had my sleep in the day. When I returned Nurse Kennedy was ready to go
to bed; so Miss Trelawny watched with me in the room.