"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."