“Father, you are not going to unswathe her!  All you men . . . !  And in the glare of light!”

“But why not, my dear?”

“Just think, Father, a woman!  All alone!  In such a way!  In such a place!  Oh! it’s cruel, cruel!” She was manifestly much overcome.  Her cheeks were flaming red, and her eyes were full of indignant tears.  Her father saw her distress; and, sympathising with it, began to comfort her.  I was moving off; but he signed to me to stay.  I took it that after the usual manner of men he wanted help on such an occasion, and man-like wished to throw on someone else the task of dealing with a woman in indignant distress.  However, he began to appeal first to her reason: 

“Not a woman, dear; a mummy!  She has been dead nearly five thousand years!”

“What does that matter?  Sex is not a matter of years!  A woman is a woman, if she had been dead five thousand centuries!  And you expect her to arise out of that long sleep!  It could not be real death, if she is to rise out of it!  You have led me to believe that she will come alive when the Coffer is opened!”

“I did, my dear; and I believe it!  But if it isn’t death that has been the matter with her all these years, it is something uncommonly like it.  Then again, just think; it was men who embalmed her.  They didn’t have women’s rights or lady doctors in ancient Egypt, my dear!  And besides,” he went on more freely, seeing that she was accepting his argument, if not yielding to it, “we men are accustomed to such things.  Corbeck and I have unrolled a hundred mummies; and there were as many women as men amongst them.  Doctor Winchester in his work has had to deal with women as well of men, till custom has made him think nothing of sex.  Even Ross has in his work as a barrister . . .”  He stopped suddenly.

“You were going to help too!” she said to me, with an indignant look.

I said nothing; I thought silence was best.  Mr. Trelawny went on hurriedly; I could see that he was glad of interruption, for the part of his argument concerning a barrister’s work was becoming decidedly weak: 

“My child, you will be with us yourself.  Would we do anything which would hurt or offend you?  Come now! be reasonable!  We are not at a pleasure party.  We are all grave men, entering gravely on an experiment which may unfold the wisdom of old times, and enlarge human knowledge indefinitely; which may put the minds of men on new tracks of thought and research.  An experiment,” as he went on his voice deepened, “which may be fraught with death to any one of us—­to us all!  We know from what has been, that there are, or may be, vast and unknown dangers ahead of us, of which none in the house today may ever see the end.  Take it, my child, that we are not acting lightly; but with all the gravity of deeply earnest men!  Besides, my dear, whatever feelings you or any of us may have on the subject, it is necessary for the