Page:"The Mummy" Volume 2.djvu/77

Rh weak man! nor dare to boast how thou wilt act until the moment of temptation shall arrive!"

The deep thrilling voice of the Mummy fell upon Lord Edmund's ear as a warning from the tomb. He too was relying on his own strength, and should he too fall? Forbid it Heaven! "No!" thought he, "in some cases I might fear; but now, when the welfare of her I love is at stake, I cannot fail!"

The Mummy smiled as he read the thoughts that passed over Lord Edmund's expressive countenance. "Thus I too thought," muttered he; "and as I was, so will he be deceived! Human nature is still the same even in this remote corner of the globe. Fool that I was, then, to attempt to reverse her decrees! Forgive me, mighty Isis!" The rest was lost in inarticulate murmurs as the Mummy's head sank upon his breast.

"Oh, God!" cried Edmund to Father Morris; "whence comes this fearful spectre? what does it import?"

"I know not," said Father Morris, in a