The Green Mummy

F >> Fergus Hume >> The Green Mummy

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"Why don't you go to Africa, sir, and try?" asked Hope.

"Fool!" cried the Professor politely. "To fit out an expedition
would take some five thousand pounds, if not more. I would have
to penetrate through a hostile country to reach the chain of
mountains I speak of, where I know this precious tomb is to be
found. I need supplies, an escort, guns, camels, and all the
rest of it. A leader must be obtained to manage the fighting men
necessary to pass through this dangerous zone. It is no easy
task to find the tomb of Tahoser. And yet if I could--if I
could only get the money," and he walked up and down with his
head bent on his breast.

Mrs. Jasher was used to Braddock's vagaries by this time, and
merely continued to fan herself placidly.

"I wish I could help you with the expedition," she said quietly.
"I should like to have some of that lovely Egyptian jewelry
myself. But I am quite a pauper, until my brother dies, poor
man. Then--" She hesitated.

"What then?" asked Braddock, wheeling.

"I shall aid you with pleasure."

"It's a bargain!" Braddock stretched out his hand.

"A bargain," said Mrs. Jasher, accepting the grasp somewhat
nervously, for she had not expected to be taken so readily at her
word. A glance at Lucy revealed her nervousness.

"Do sit down, father, and finish your dinner," said that young
lady. "I am sure you will have more than enough to do when the
mummy arrives."

"Mummy--what mummy?" murmured Braddock, again beginning to eat.

"The Inca mummy."

"Of course. The mummy of Inca Caxas, which Sidney is bringing
from Malta. When I strip that corpse of its green bandages I
shall find--"

"Find what?" asked Archie, seeing that the Professor hesitated.

Braddock cast a swift look at his questioner.

"I shall find the peculiar mode of Peruvian embalming," he
replied abruptly, and somehow the way in which he spoke gave Hope
the impression that the answer was an excuse. But before he
could formulate the thought that Braddock was concealing
something, Mrs. Jasher spoke frivolously.

"I hope your mummy has jewels," she said.

"It has not," replied Braddock sharply. "So far as I know, the
Inca race never buried their dead with jewels,"

"But I have read in Prescott's History that they did," said Hope.

"Prescott! Prescott!" cried the Professor contemptuously, "a
most unreliable authority. However, I'll promise you one thing,
Hope, that if there are any jewels, or jewelry, you shall have
the lot."

"Give me some, Mr. Hope," cried the widow.

"I cannot," laughed Archie; "the green mummy belongs to the
Professor."

"I cannot accept such a gift, Hope. Owing to circumstances I
have been obliged to borrow the money from you; otherwise the
mummy would have been acquired by some one else. But when I find
the tomb of Queen Tahoser, I shall repay the loan."

"You have repaid it already," said Hope, looking at Lucy.

Braddock's eyes followed his gaze and his brows contracted.
"Humph!" he muttered, "I don't know if I am right in consenting
to Lucy's marriage with a pauper."

"Oh, father!" cried the girl, "Archie is not a pauper."

"I have enough for Lucy and me to live on," said Hope, although
his face had flushed, "and, had I been a pauper I could not have
given you that thousand pounds."

"You will be repaid--you will be repaid," said Braddock, waving
his hand to dismiss the subject. "And now," he rose with a yawn,
"if this tedious feast is at an end, I shall again seek my work."

Without a word of apology to the disgusted Mrs. Jasher, he
trotted to the door, and there paused.

"By the way, Lucy," he said, turning, "I had a letter to-day from
Random. He returns in his yacht to Pierside in two or three
days. In fact, his arrival will coincide with that of The
Diver."

"I don't see what his arrival has to do with me," said Lucy
tartly.

"Oh, nothing at all--nothing at all," said Braddock airily,
"only I thought--that is, but never mind, never mind. Cockatoo,
come down with me. Good night! Good night!" and he disappeared.

"Well," said Mrs. Jasher, drawing along breath, "for rudeness and
selfishness, commend me to a scientist. We might be all mud, for
what notice he takes of us."

"Never mind," said Miss Kendal, rising, "come to the drawing-room
and have some music. Archie, will you stop here?"

"No. I don't care to sit over my wine alone," said that young
gentleman, rising. "I shall accompany you and Mrs. Jasher. And
Lucy," he stopped her at the door, through which the widow had
already passed, "what did your father mean by his hints
concerning Random?"

"I think he regrets giving his consent to my marriage with you,"
she whispered back. "Did you not hear him talk about that tomb?
He desires to get money for the expedition."

"From Random? What rubbish! Sooner than that--if our marriage
is stopped by the beastly business--I'll sell out and--"

"You'll do nothing of the sort," interrupted the girl
imperiously; "we must live if we marry. You have given my father
enough."

"But if Random lends money for this expedition?"

"He does so at his own risk. I am not going to marry Sir Frank
because of my step-father's requirements. He has no rights over
me, and, whether he consents or not, I marry you."

"My darling!" and Archie kissed her before they followed Mrs.
Jasher into the drawing-room. All the same, he foresaw trouble.

CHAPTER IV

THE UNEXPECTED

For the next two or three days, Archie felt decidedly, worried
over his projected marriage with Lucy. Certainly he had--to put
it bluntly--purchased Braddock's consent, and that gentleman
could scarcely draw back from his plighted word, which had cost
the lover so much. Nevertheless, Hope did not entirely, trust
the Professor, as, from the few words which he had let drop at
the dinner party, it was plain that he hankered after money with
which to fit out the expedition in search of the mysterious tomb
to which he had alluded. Archie knew, as did the Professor, that
he could not supply the necessary five thousand pounds without
practically ruining himself, and already he had crippled his
resources in paying over the price of the green mummy. He had
fondly believed that Braddock would have been satisfied with the
relic of Peruvian humanity; but it seemed that the Professor,
having got what he wanted, now clamored for what was at present
beyond his reach. The mummy was his property, but he desired the
contents of Queen Tahoser's tomb also. This particular moon,
which he cried for, was a very expensive article, and Hope did
not see how he could gain it.

Unless--and here came in the cause of Archie's worry--unless
the five thousand pounds was borrowed from Sir Frank Random, the
Professor would have to content himself with the Maltese mummy.
But from what the young man had seen of Braddock's longing for
the especial sepulchre, which he desired to loot, he believed
that the scientist would not readily surrender his whim. Random
could easily lend or give the money, since he was extremely rich,
and extremely generous, but it was improbable that he would aid
Braddock without a quid pro quo. As the sole desire of the
baronet's heart was to make Lucy his wife, it could easily be
guessed that he would only assist the Professor to realize his
ambition on condition that the savant used his influence with his
step-daughter. That meant the breaking of the engagement with
Hope and the marriage of the girl to the soldier. Of course such
a state of things would make Lucy unhappy; but Braddock cared
very little for that. To gratify his craze for Egyptian
research, he would be willing to sacrifice a dozen girls like
Lucy.

Undoubtedly Lucy would refuse to be passed along from one man to
another like a bale of goods, and Archie knew that, so far as in
her lay, she would keep to her engagement, especially as she
denied Braddock's right to dispose of her hand. All the same,
the Professor, in spite of his cherubical looks, could make
himself extremely disagreeable, and undoubtedly would do so if
thwarted. The sole course that remained, should Braddock begin
operations to break the present engagement, would be to marry
Lucy at once. Archie would willingly have done so, but pecuniary
difficulties stood in the way. He had never told any one of
these, not even the girl he loved, but they existed all the same.
For many years he had been assisting needy relatives, and thus
had hampered himself, in spite of his income. By sheer force of
will, so as to force Braddock into giving him Lucy, he had
contrived to secure the necessary thousand pounds, without
confusing the arrangements he had made to pay off certain debts
connected with his domestic philanthropy; but this brought him to
the end of his resources. In six months he hoped to be free to
have his income entirely to himself, and then--small as it was--
he could support a wife. But until the half year elapsed he
could see no chance of marrying Lucy with any degree of comfort,
and meanwhile she would be exposed to the persecutions of the
Professor. Perhaps persecutions is too harsh a word, as Braddock
was kind enough to the girl. Nevertheless, he was pertinacious
in gaining his aims where his pet hobby was concerned, and
undoubtedly, could he see any chance of obtaining the money from
Random by selling his step-daughter, he would do so. Assuredly
it was dishonorable to act in this way, but the Professor was a
scientific Jesuit, and deemed that the end justified the means,
when any glory to himself and gain to the British Museum was in
question.

"But I may be doing him an injustice," said Archie, when he was
explaining his fears to Miss Kendal on the third day after the
dinner party. "After all, the Professor is a gentleman, and will
probably hold to the bargain which he has made."

"I don't care whether he does or not," cried Lucy, who had a fine
color and a certain amount of fire in her eyes. "I am not going
to be bought and sold to forward these nasty scientific schemes.
My father can say what he likes and do what he likes, but I marry
you--to-morrow if you like."

"That's just it," said Archie, flushing, "we can't marry."

"Why?" she asked, much astonished.

Hope looked at the ground and drew patterns with his cane-point
in the sand. They were seated in the hot sunshine--for the
Indian summer still continued--under a moldering brick wall,
which ran around the most delightful of kitchen gardens. This
was situated at the back of the Pyramids, and contained a
multiplicity of pot herbs and fruit trees and vegetables. It
resembled the Fairy Garden in Madame D'Alnoy's story of The White
Cat, and in the autumn yielded a plentiful crop of fine-flavored
fruit. But now the trees were bare and the garden looked
somewhat forlorn for lack of greenery. But in spite of the
lateness of the season, Lucy often brought a book to read under
the glowing wall, and there ripened like a peach in the warm
sunshine. On this occasion she brought Archie into the old-world
garden, as he had hinted at confidences. And the time had come
to speak plainly, as Hope began to think that he had not treated
Lucy quite fairly in hiding from her his momentarily embarrassed
position.

"Why can't we marry at once?" asked Lucy, seeing that her lover
held his peace and looked confused.

Hope did not reply directly. "I had better release you from your
engagement," he said haltingly.

"Oh!" Lucy's nostrils dilated and she threw back her head
scornfully. "And the other woman's name?"

"There is no other woman. I love you and you only. But--
money."

"What about money? You have your income!"

"Oh yes--that is sure, small as it is. But I have incurred
debts on behalf of an uncle and his family. These have
embarrassed me for the moment, and so I cannot see my way to
marrying you for at least six months, Lucy." He caught her hand.
"I feel ashamed of myself that I did not tell you of this before.
But I feared to lose you. Yet, on reflection, I see that it is
dishonorable to keep you in the dark, and if you think that I
have behaved badly--"

"Well, I do in a way," she interrupted quickly, "as your silence
was quite unnecessary. Don't treat me as a doll, my dear. I
wish to share your troubles as well as your joys. Come, tell me
all about it."

"You are not angry?"

"Yes, I am--at your thinking I loved you so little as to be
biased against our marriage because of money troubles. Pooh!"
she flicked away a speck of dust from his coat, "I don't care
that for such things."

"You are an angel," he cried ardently.

"I am a very practical girl just now," she retorted. "Go on,
confess!"

Archie, thus encouraged, did so, and it was a very mild
confession that she heard, involving a great deal of unnecessary
sacrifice in helping a pauper uncle. Hope strove to belittle his
good deeds as much as possible, but Lucy saw plainly the good
heart that had dictated the giving up of his small income for
some years. When in possession of all the facts, she threw her
arms around his neck and kissed him.

"You are a silly old boy," she whispered. "As if what you tell
me could make any difference to me!"

"But we can't be married for six months, dearest."

"Of course not. Do you believe that I as a woman can gather
together my trousseau under six months? No, my dear. We must
not marry in haste to repent at leisure. In another half year
you will enjoy your own income, and then we can marry."

"But meanwhile," said Archie, after kissing her, "the Professor
will bother you to marry Random."

"Oh no. He has sold me to you for one thousand pounds. There!
There, do not say a single word. I am only teasing you. Let us
say that my father has consented to my marriage with you, and
cannot withdraw his word. Not that I care if he does. I am my
own mistress."

"Lucy!"--he took her hands again and looked into her eyes--
"Braddock is a scientific lunatic, and would do anything to
forward his aims with regard to this very expensive tomb, which
he has set his heart on discovering. As I can't lend or give the
money, he is sure to apply to Random, and Random--"

"Will want to marry me," cried Lucy, rising. "No, my dear, not
at all. Sir Frank is a gentleman, and when he learns that I am
engaged to you, he will simply become a dear friend. There,
don't worry any more about the matter. You ought to have told me
of your troubles before, but as I have forgiven you, there is no
more to be said. In six months I shall become Mrs. Hope, and
meanwhile I can hold my own against any inconvenience that my
father may cause me."

"But--" He rose and began to remonstrate, anxious to abase
himself still further before this angel of a maiden.

She placed her hand over his mouth. "Not another word, or I
shall box your ears, sir--that is, I shall exercise the
privilege of a wife before I become one. And now," she slipped
her arm within his, "let us go in and see the arrival of the
precious mummy."

"Oh, it has arrived then."

"Not here exactly. My father expects it at three o'clock."

"It is now a quarter to," said Archie, consulting his watch. "As
I have been to London all yesterday I did not know that The Diver
had arrived at Pierside, How is Bolton?"

Lucy wrinkled her brows. "I am rather worried over Sidney," she
said in an anxious voice, "and so is my father. He had not
appeared."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well," she looked at the ground in a pondering manner, "my
father got a letter from Sidney yesterday afternoon, saying that
the ship with the mummy and himself on board had arrived about
four o'clock. The letter was sent on by special messenger and
came at six."

"Then it arrived in the evening and not in the afternoon?"

"How particular you are!" said Miss Kendal, with a shrug. "Well,
then, Sidney said that he could not bring the mummy to this place
last night as it was so late. He intended--so he told my father
in the letter--to remove the case containing the mummy ashore to
an inn near the wharf at Pierside, and there would remain the
night so as to take care of it."

"That's all right," said Hope, puzzled. "Where's your
difficulty?"

"A note came from the landlord of the inn this morning, saying
that by direction of Mr. Bolton--that is Sidney, you know--he
was sending the mummy in its case to Gartley on a lorry, and that
it would arrive at three o'clock this afternoon."

"Well?" asked Hope, still puzzled.

"Well?" she rejoined impatiently. "Can't you see show strange it
is that Sidney should let the mummy out of his sight, after
guarding it so carefully not only from Malta to England, but all
the night in Pierside at that hotel? Why doesn't he bring the
mummy here himself, and come on with the lorry?"

"There is no explanation--no letter from Sidney Bolton?"

"None. He wrote yesterday, as I stated, saying that he would
keep the case in the hotel, and send it on this morning."

"Did he use the word `send,' or the word `bring'?"

"He said 'send.'"

"Then that shows he did not intend to bring it himself."

"But why should he not do so?"

"I daresay he will explain when he appears."

"I am very sorry for him when he does appear," said Lucy
seriously, "for my father is furious. Why, this precious mummy,
for which so much has been paid, might have been lost."

"Pooh! Who would steal a thing like that?"

"A thing like that is worth nearly one thousand pounds," said
Lucy in a dry tone, "and if anyone got wind of it, stealing would
be easy, since Sidney, as appears likely, has sent on the case
unguarded."

"Well, let us go in and see if Sidney arrives with the case."

They passed out of the garden and sauntered round to the front of
the house. There, standing in the roadway, they beheld a
ponderous lorry with a rough-looking driver standing at the
horses' heads. The front door of the house was open, so the
mummy case had apparently arrived before its time, and had been
taken to Braddock's museum while they were chatting in the
kitchen garden.

"Did Mr. Bolton come with the case?" asked Lucy, leaning over the
railings and addressing the driver.

"No one came, miss, except myself and my two mates, who have
taken the case indoor." The driver jerked a coarse thumb over
his shoulder.

"Was Mr. Bolton at the hotel, where the case remained for the
night?"

"No, miss--that is, I dunno who Mr. Bolton is. The landlord of
the Sailor's Rest told me and my mates to take the case to this
here house, and we done it. That's all I know, miss."

"Strange," murmured Lucy, walking to the front door. "What do
you think, Archie? Isn't it strange?"

Hope nodded. "But I daresay Bolton will explain his absence,"
said he, following her. "He will arrive in time to open the
mummy case along with the Professor."

"I hope so," said Miss Kendal, who looked much perplexed. "I
can't understand Sidney abandoning the case, when it might so
easily have been stolen. Come in and see my father, Archie," and
she passed into the house, followed by the young man, whose
curiosity was now aroused. As they entered the door, the two men
who had taken in the case blundered out and shortly drove away on
the lorry towards Jessum railway station.

In the museum they found Braddock purple with rage and swearing
vigorously. He was staring at a large packing case, which had
been set up on end against the wall, while beside him crouched
Cockatoo, holding chisels and hammers and wedges necessary to
open the treasure trove.

"So the precious mummy has arrived, father," said Lucy, who saw
that the Professor was furious. "Are you not pleased?"

"Pleased! pleased!" shouted the angry man of science. "How can
I be pleased when I see how badly the case has been treated? See
how it has been bruised and battered and shaken! I'll have an
action against Captain Hervey of The Diver if my mummy has been
injured. Sidney should have taken better care of so precious an
object."

"What does he say?" asked Archie, glancing round the museum to
see if the delinquent had arrived.

"Say!" shouted Braddock again, and snatching a chisel from
Cockatoo. "Oh, what can he say when he is not here?"

"Not here?" said Lucy, more and more surprised at the
unaccountable absence of Braddock's assistant. "Where is he,
then?"

"I don't know. I wish I did; I'd have him arrested for
neglecting to watch over this case. As it is, when he comes back
I'll dismiss him from my employment. He can go back to his
infernal laundry work along with his old witch of a mother."

"But why hasn't Bolton come back, sir?" asked Hope sharply.

Braddock struck a furious blow at the head of the chisel which he
had inserted into the case.

"I want to know that. He brought the case to the Sailor's Rest,
and should have come on with it this morning. Instead of doing
so, he tells the landlord--a most unreliable man--to send it
on. And my precious mummy--the mummy that has cost nine hundred
pounds," cried Braddock, working furiously, and battering the
chisel as though it were Bolton's head, "is left to be stolen by
any scientific thief that comes along." While the Professor,
assisted by Cockatoo, loosened the lid of the packing case, a
mild voice was heard at the door. Lucy turned, as did Archie, to
see Widow Anne curtseying on the threshold of the door.

Braddock himself took no notice of her entrance, being occupied
with his task, and even while doing it swore scientifically under
his breath. He was furious against Bolton for neglect of duty,
and Hope rather sympathized with him. It was a serious matter to
have left a valuable object like the green mummy to the rough
care of laborers.

"I beg your pardon, my lady," whimpered Widow Anne, who looked
more lean and rusty and dismal than ever; "but has my Sid come?
I saw the cart and the coffin. Where's my boy?"

"Coffin! coffin!" bellowed Braddock angrily between thunder
blows. "What do you mean by calling this case a coffin?"

"Well, it do hold one of them camphorated corps, sir," said Mrs.
Bolton with another curtsey. "My boy Sid told me as much, afore
he went to them furren parts."

"Have you seen him since he returned?" questioned Lucy, while
Braddock and Cockatoo strained at the lid, now nearly off.

"Why, I ain't set eyes on him," moaned the widow dismally, "and
summat tells me as I never will."

"Don't talk rubbish, woman," said Archie tartly, for he did not
wish Lucy to be upset again by this ancient ghoul.

"Woman indeed, sir. I'd have you know,--oh!" the widow jumped
and quavered as the lid of the packing case fell on the floor
with a bang. "Oh lor, sir, the start you did give me!"

But Braddock had no eyes for her, and no ears for anyone. He
pulled lustily at the straw packing, and soon the floor was
littered with rubbish. But no green case appeared, and no mummy.
Suddenly Widow Anne shrieked again.

"There's my Sid--dead--oh, my son, dead! dead!"

She spoke truly. The body of Sidney Bolton was before them.

CHAPTER V

MYSTERY

After that one cry of agony from Widow Anne, there was silence
for quite one minute. The terrible contents of the packing case
startled and terrified all present. Faint and white, Lucy clung
to the arm of her lover to keep herself from sinking to the
ground, as Mrs. Bolton had done. Archie stared at the grotesque
rigidity of the body, as though he had been changed into stone,
while Professor Braddock stared likewise, scarcely able to credit
the evidence of his eyes. Only the Kanaka was unmoved and
squatted on his hams, indifferently surveying the living and the
dead. As a savage he could not be expected to have the nerves of
civilized man.

Braddock, who had dropped chisel and hammer in the first movement
of surprise, was the quickest to recover his powers of speech.
The sole question he asked, revealed the marvelous egotism of a
scientist, nominated by one idea. "Where is the mummy of Inca
Caxas?" he murmured with a bewildered air.

Widow Anne, groveling on the floor, pulled her gray locks into
wild confusion, and uttered a cry of mingled rage and grief. "He
asks that? he asks that?" she cried, stammering and choking,
"when he has murdered my poor boy Sid."

"What's that?" demanded Braddock sharply, and recovering from a
veritable stupor, which the disappearance of the mummy and the
sight of his dead assistant had thrown him into. "Kill your son:
how could I kill your son? What advantage would it have been to
me had I killed your son?"

"God knows! God knows!" sobbed the old woman, "but you--"

"Mrs. Bolton, you are raving," said Hope hastily, and strove to
raise her from the floor. "Let Miss Kendal take you away. And
you go, Lucy: this sight is too terrible for your eyes."

Lucy, inarticulate with nervous fear, nodded and tottered towards
the door of the museum; but Widow Anne refused to be lifted to
her feet.

"My boy is dead," she wailed; "my boy Sid is a corp as I saw him
in my dream. In the coffin, too, cut to pieces--"

"Rubbish! rubbish!" interrupted Braddock, peering into the depths
of the packing case. "I can see no wound."

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