Stratford Central Secondary School - Collegian Yearbook (Stratford, Ontario Canada)

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COLLEGIAN, 1930 SWENIOR PRIZE STORIES FIRST PRIZE STORY The Ring By Velma Swanson-4A Dr. Robert Alexander was very much interested in Egyptian articles. ln fact, he was a noted authority on them and wrote many editorials con- cerning them. On the evening of the 2 l st of May he was riding to Paris, for the pur- pose of collecting information ,in the Egyptian room at the Louvre. Arriving in Paris, he immediately went to his hotel, but as it was early, he decided to go to the 'Louvre at once, get his information, and leave for home early in the morning. He called a taxi, and soon had made his way to the Egyptian room. Dr. Alexander knew the place well, and soon had found what he desired. While mentally making note of the objects which interested him, he happened to glance into a large mir- ror which hung on the wall. He stood transfied, for at the other end of the room was a figure almost un- earthly, as if one of the mummies themselves had come to life. His skin was shiny as marble, his face shaped like that of an Egyptian, his eyes-ah! who could describe them? Nlysterious eyes, weary, despairing eyes, which saw so much and re- vealed so little. Dr. Alexander saw that he was an attendant, and al- ways interested in faces, he man- aged to come closer to the man. Then, summoning his courage, he asked: You are an Egyptian, are you not? For a moment those eyes flashed fire. Then the man curtly answered: Non, Monsieur, je suis Francais, and he walked away. Dr. Alexander, after pondering for a moment, shrugged his shoulders, and took out his note-book. In a shadowed corner, where he might be free to think, he sat down and be- gan to write his editorial. For a few minutes, his pencil rushed along, then the motion became slower, and Dr. Alexander, overcome by fatigue, fell asleep. The guards, closing the doors, did not notice the sleeping man as he sat in the shadow, and silence fell over the Louvre, broken only by his breathing. About one o'clock, he started and awoke. For a few minutes, he won- dered where he wasg then looking around him, he realized, and with a grim sort of humour, wondered how he was going to get out of the place. l-le was rising from his chair, when he saw a light coming towards him. Shrinking back into his corner he watched with a beating heart. The light came nearer, and then he saw behind it the face of the Egyp- tian, glowing vividly in the glare. The man stopped at the other end of the room, looked about him, then ran quickly to where the mummies stood. One, which apparently had never been unswathed, he laid on the Hoor. Quickly and with shak- ing fingers, he unrolled the band- ages, one by one. As he took the last one off, a mass of black hair fell over the floor. It was a girl, very beautiful, her face perfectly pre- served. Dr. Alexander caught his breath in amazement. It was a mas- terpiece in embalming. The girl re- mained perfectly as she must have been in life. But the effect on the Egyptian startled him still more. The man fell on his knees, crying: Ma petite, ma 1511.

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COLLEGIAN, l930 petite. ,Then he rose quickly and opened a drawer containing rings. He took out two or three large pla- tinum ones with large brilliants in the centre, and poured a liquid over them, apparently to test the platin- um. l-le gave a shriek of joy and held one to the light. ln his excite- ment, he knocked the liquid on the floor and it flowed until it reached Dr. Alexander's feet. The Egyptian mopping it up, came face to face with his unseen audience. For a mo- ment, he was utterly dumbfounded, then recovering his composure, he angrily demanded why he was there. Dr. Alexander began to explain as well as he could, then breaking off, he cried: Look at the mummy. The face had fallen in, it was ugly. A few minutes exposure had destroyed the effect of that marvel- lous emblaming, and now the face was like that of other mummies. The Egyptian uttered a low moan, then turning to the man beside him, he said in English: Come with me. Dr. Alexander followed him into an exquisite sitting-room, and the nian began to speak. 'iYou were right, he said, l am an Egyptian, and l am going to tell you the strangest story that you have ever heard. Since you have watched my movements to-night, l shall ex- plain them to you l was born six- them to you. l was born sixteen hundred years before the birth of Christ. You shrink, away from me. Wait, and you will see that l am more to be pitied than feared. My father was a prince, and l was educated by the best priests. They taught me especially the arts of na- ture and science. l was an apt pupil and by the time l was sixteen, I had learned all that they could teach me. After that, l studied Nature myself, keeping all I found a secret. I was deeply interested in the problemof life. lt seemed so short to me, and l wondered why l could not find some mixture which would so fortify the body that it would live for thous- ands of years, l experimented for years, using animals, slaves and my- self. I need not tell you of my re- searches. You would not understand them. It is sufficient to say that l found a substance which, if taken, would preserve the body against di- sease and timeg in short, l have found the Elixir of Life. About this time, l met a very beautiful girl with whom I fell madly in love. l wooed her and she learned to love me. But l had a rival, who like myself, was interested in science. l hold him of my secret sub- stance, and both of us, in the folly of youth, took some of it. Shortly after this, a plague broke out in the city. l worked among the sick, never fearing because l knew l could not die. My sweetheart mar- velled at my daring, so one day l told her of my secret and begged her to take some of my Elixir. But she was afraid, and begged me to wait until the next day. l agreed, but a dull foreboding came over me. The next morning when l went to her home, she was dying. The plague had reached her too. But l saw her before she died and she told me that she would be waiting for me always, l, who had to live for thousands of years. For months l was delirious, but I could not die. One night the prince who had been my rival in love came to me, and joyfully told me that he was going to join my sweetheart. He, a scientist too, had found something to' combat my Elixir, and he could die. l begged him to tell me what it was, but he would not. Only when he was dying, he said that he had left a few drops in his famous platinum ring. Only, he said, you will never find that ring. 'il-le died, and for hundreds and thousands of years, l have looked for that ring, or for something to combat the Elixir, but always I failed. mjz-.