"Perhaps he did," said Braddock, pointing to the rifled corpse. "You see
that the emeralds are missing."
"Your assistant's assassin stole them," insisted Don Pedro coldly.
"We cannot be sure of that," retorted the Professor, "although I admit
that no man would jeopardize his neck for the sake of a corpse."
Archie looked surprised.
"But an enthusiast such as you are, Professor, might risk so much."
For once in his life Braddock made a good-humored reply.
"No, sir. Not even for this mummy would I place myself in the power of
the law. And I do not think that any other scientist would either. We
savants may not be worldly, but we are not fools. However, the fact
remains that the jewels are gone, and whether they were stolen by Vasa
thirty years ago, or by poor Sidney's assassin the other day, I don't
know, and, what is more, I don't care. I shall examine the mummy
further, and in a couple of days Don Pedro can bring me a check for one
thousand and remove his ancestor."
"No! no!" cried the Peruvian hurriedly; "since the emeralds are missing,
I am not in a position to pay you one thousand English pounds, sir.
I want to take back the body of Inca Caxas to Lima; as one must show
respect to one's ancestors. But the fact is, I cannot pay the money."
"You said that you could," shouted the exasperated Professor in his
bullying way.
"I admit it, senor, but I had hoped to do so when I sold the emeralds,
which--as you can see--are not available. Therefore the body of my royal
ancestor must remain here until I can procure the money. And it may be
that Sir Frank Random will help me in this matter."
"He wouldn't help me," snapped Braddock, "so why should he help you?"
Don Pedro, looking more dignified than ever, drew himself up to his tall
height.
"Sir Frank," he said, in a stately way, "has done me the honor of
seeking to be my son-in-law. As my daughter loves him, I am willing to
permit the marriage, but now that I have learned the emeralds are lost,
I shall not consent until Sir Frank buys the mummy from you, Professor.
It is only right that my daughter's hand should redeem her regal
forefather from purely scientific surroundings and that she should take
the mummy back to be buried in Lima. At the same time, sir, I must say
that I am the rightful owner of the dead, and that you should surrender
the mummy to me free of charge."
"What, and lose a thousand pounds!" cried Braddock furiously. "No, sir,
I shall do nothing of the sort. You only wanted the mummy for the sake
of the jewels, and now that they are lost, you do not care what becomes
of your confounded ancestor, and you--"