Galusha started. "Eh?" he queried. "Thinking? Oh, yes--yes!--I suppose I was thinking, Primmie. I--ah--sometimes do."
"You "most always do. I never see anybody think as much as you do, Mr.
Bangs. Never in my born days I never. And lately--my savin" soul! Seems as if you didn"t do nothin" BUT think lately. Just set around and think and twiddle that thing on your watch chain."
The thing on the watch chain was a rather odd charm which Mr. Bangs had possessed for many years. "Twiddling" it was a habit of his. In fact, he had twiddled it so much that the pivot upon which it had hung broke and Martha had insisted upon his sending the charm to Boston for repairs. It had recently been returned.
"What is that thing, Mr. Bangs?" asked Primmie. "I was lookin" at it t"other day when you left your watch chain layin" out in the sink."
"In the sink? You mean BY the sink, don"t you, Primmie?"
"No, I don"t, I mean IN it. You"d forgot your watch and Miss Martha she sent me up to your room after it. I fetched it down to you and you and her was talkin" in the kitchen and you was washin" your hands in the sink basin. Don"t you remember you was?"
"Was I? I--I presume I was if you say so. Really I--I have forgotten."
"Course you have. And you forgot your watch, too. Left it layin" right alongside that tin washbasin full of soapsuds. "Twas a mercy you didn"t empty out the suds on top of it. Well, I snaked it out of the sink and chased out the door to give it to you and you was halfway to the lighthouse and I couldn"t make you hear to save my soul. "Twas then I noticed that charm thing. That"s an awful funny kind of thing, Mr.
Bangs. There"s a--a bug on it, ain"t there?"
"Why--ah--yes, Primmie. That charm is a very old scarab."
"Hey? A what? I told Miss Martha it looked for all the world like a pertater bug."
Galusha smiled. He held out the charm for her inspection.
"I have had that for a long time," he said. "It is a--ah--souvenir of my first Egyptian expedition. The scarab is a rather rare example. I found it myself at Saqqarah, in a tomb. It is a scarab of the Vth Dynasty."
"Hey? Die--what?"
"The Vth Dynasty; that is the way we cla.s.sify Egyptian--ah--relics, by dynasties, you know. The Vth Dynasty was about six thousand years ago."
Primmie sat down upon the chair she had been dusting.
"Hey?" she exclaimed. "My Lord of Isrul! Is that bug thing there six thousand year old?"
"Yes."
"My savin" soul! WHAT kind of a bug did you say "twas?"
"Why, I don"t know that I did say. It is a representation of an Egyptian beetle, Ateuchus Sacer, you know. The ancient Egyptians worshiped the beetle and so they--"
"Wait! Wait a minute, Mr. Bangs. WHAT did you say they done to it?"
"I said they worshiped it, made a G.o.d of it, you understand."
"A G.o.d! Out of a--a pertater bug! Go long, Mr. Bangs! You"re foolin", ain"t you?"
"Dear me, no! It"s quite true, Primmie, really. The ancient Egyptians had many G.o.ds, some like human beings, some in the forms of animals. The G.o.ddess Hathor, for example, was the G.o.ddess of the dead and is always represented in the shape of a cow."
"Eh! A cow! Do you mean to sit there and tell me them folks--er--er--went to church meetin" and--and flopped down and said their prayers to a COW?"
Galusha smiled. "Why, yes," he said, "I presume you might call it that.
And another G.o.d of theirs had the head of a hawk--the bird, you know.
The cat, too, was a very sacred animal. And, as I say, the beetle, like the one represented here, was--"
"Hold on, Mr. Bangs! HO-OLD on! Don"t say no more to me NOW. Let me kind of--of settle my stomach, as you might say, "fore you fetch any more onto the table. Worshipin" cows and--and henhawks and--and cats and bugs and--and hoptoads and clams, for what _I_ know! My savin" soul! What made "em do it? What did they do it FOR? Was they all crazy?"
"Oh, no, it was the custom of their race and time."
"WELL!" with a heartfelt sigh, "I"m glad times have changed, that"s all I"ve got to say. Goin" to cow meetin" would be too much for ME! Mr.
Bangs, where did you get that bug thing?"
"I found it at a place called Saqqarah, in Egypt. It was in a tomb there."
"A tomb! What was you doin" in a tomb, for the land sakes?"
"I was opening it, looking for mummies and carvings, statues, relics, anything of the kind I might find. This scarab was in a ring on the finger of the mummy of a woman. She was the wife of an officer in the royal court. The mummy case was excellently preserved and when the mummy itself was unwrapped--"
"Wait a minute! Hold on just another minute, won"t you, Mr. Bangs?
You"re always talkin" about mummies. A mummy is a--a kind of an image, ain"t it? I"ve seen pictures of "em in them printed report things you get from that Washin"ton place. An image with funny scrabblin" and pictures, kind of, all over it. That"s a mummy, ain"t it, Mr. Bangs?"
"Why, not exactly, Primmie. A mummy is--"
He proceeded to tell her much concerning mummies. From that he went on to describe the finding of the particular mummy from whose finger the scarab had been taken. Miss Cash listened, her mouth and eyes opening wider and wider. She appeared to be slowly stiffening in her chair.
Galusha, growing interested in his own story, was waxing almost eloquent, when he was interrupted by a gasp from his listener. She was staring at him, her face expressing the utmost horror.
"Why, dear me, Primmie, what is it?" he begged.
Primmie gasped again. "And you set there," she said, slowly, "and tell me that you hauled that poor critter that had been buried six thousand years out of--of--My Lord of Isrul! Don"t talk no more to me now, Mr.
Bangs. I sha"n"t sleep none THIS night!" She marched to the door and there, turning, looked at him in awe-stricken amazement.
"And to think," she said, slowly, "that I always cal"lated you was meek and gentle and--and all like that--as Moses"s grandmother. WELL, it just shows you can"t tell much by a person"s LOOKS. Haulin" "em out of their graves and--and unwrappin" "em like--like bundles, and cartin" "em off to museums. And thinkin" no more of it than I would of--of scalin" a flatfish. My savin" soul!"
She breathed heavily once more and departed. That evening she came to her mistress with a new hint concerning the reason for the Bangs"
absent-mindedness.
"It"s his conscience," she declared. "He"s broodin", that"s what he"s doin". Broodin" and broodin" over them poor remains in the showcases in the museums. He may be a good man; I don"t say he ain"t. He"s just lovely NOW, and that"s why his conscience keeps a-broodin", poor thing.
Oh, I know what I"m talkin" about, Miss Martha. You ask him some time where he got that bug thing--a Arab, he calls it--that he wears on his watch chain. Just ask him. You"ll hear somethin" THEN, I bet you! Whew!"
Galusha found considerable amus.e.m.e.nt in talks like those. Primmie was a distinct relief, for she never mentioned the troublesome Development Company. Talk in the village concerning it was dying down and Mr.
Pulcifer"s a.s.sertion that he had bought only the shares of the small holders was becoming more generally believed. But in the Gould"s Bluffs settlement this belief was scoffed at. Captain Jeth Hallett told Galusha the truth and his statement was merely a confirmation of Martha Phipps".
"Raish is hotfoot after that stock of mine," growled the light keeper.
"He"s "round to see me every day or two. Don"t hint any more neither; comes right out and bids for it. He"s got to as high as nineteen a share now. And he"d go higher, too. HOW far he"ll go I don"t know, but I cal"late I"ll keep him stringin" along till I find out."
He pulled at his beard for a moment and then added:
"It"s plain enough, of course, that Raish is agent for somebody that wants to buy in that stock. Who "tis, though, I can"t guess. It ain"t your Cabot, Bancroft and Cabot crowd, Mr. Bangs. That"s plain enough, too."
Galusha tried to look innocently interested.