“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