The first person examined was the man who had been left in charge of the balloon, and he deposed as follows:--"Why, Sir," said he, scratching his head, as though he supposed wisdom dwelt in his fingers, and that their touch might give a little to his brain, "your honour told me to call out the _posse comitatus_, and set a guard of constables over the gentlemen's whirligig; but I thought as how, seeing it was but a queer-looking thing, and not likely to tempt anybody to steal it, I might as well save the gentlemen from throwing their money away upon a parcel of idle fellows, and keep watch over it myself." "And so get the reward instead of them," observed the judge. "Why, your honour," said the fellow, grinning, "I thought they might give something that might do _me_ some good, but that it would be nothing amongst so many." "Very true!" remarked the judge; "Go on Gregory." "Well," continued Gregory, "as I was sitting there, thinking of nothing at all, and somehow, I believe, I had fallen into a bit of a doze, I heard a queer sort of a buzzing, and I opened my eyes, and there I saw the gentlemen's whirligig buzzing and puffing like a steam-engine on fire, and i' th' midst o' the smoke I'll take my oath I saw the mummy of King Cheops as plain as I see his worship there sitting in his throne." "Oh!" groaned the horror-struck crowd; "Oh!" groaned the judge and jury. "Yes," continued the man; "I'll take my oath, if it was the last word I had to speak, that I saw him there vomiting fire, and his big eyes flaring like a fiery furnace." "Oh!" groaned the judge, crowd, and jury, a degree louder than before. "And then," resumed Gregory, "something went whiz, and off it all fled together like a flash of lightning--" "Oh!" shrieked the whole court, in a convulsion of horror. Some of the fair sex in particular, screamed and covered their faces, as though they feared the next exploit of the redoubtable magicians would be to blow up the court, and send them all flying after the resuscitated mummy. "With your permission, Sir," said Edric, as soon as the tumult had somewhat abated, "this proves nothing against either my friend or myself. We are, in fact, injured by it, and we have a claim against you instead of your being able to substantiate a charge against us. We left our balloon, containing valuable articles, and money to a considerable amount, in your charge, or, at least, in the custody of a man whom you recommended. When we quitted the Pyramid, we, of course, inquired for our balloon--it had vanished; and instead of making us amends for our loss, you throw us into prison and tell us a wild, extravagant story of the disappearance of our property, which no man in his senses can possibly believe."