The Green Mummy
course, the same must have been brought by river. Let us go down to the
embankment and see if there are any signs of a boat having been brought
there last night,” and he moved to the door. “Random?”
“I cannot leave the Fort, as I am on duty,” replied the officer, putting
the manuscript away in a drawer and locking the same, “but this evening
I shall see Don Pedro, and in the meanwhile I shall endeavor to learn
from my servant who visited me lately while I was absent. The manuscript
must have been brought here by someone. But I trust,” he added as he
escorted his two visitors to the door, “that you now acquit me of--”
“Yes! yes! yes!” cried Braddock, hastily cutting him short and shaking
his hand. “I apologize for my suspicions. Now I maintain that you are
innocent.”
“And I never believed you to be guilty,” cried Hope heartily.
“Thank you both,” said Random simply, and, having closed the door, he
returned to a chair near the fire to smoke a pipe, and meditate over his
future movements. “An enemy hath done this,” said Random, referring
to the concealment of the manuscript, but he could think of no one who
desired to harm him in any way.
CHAPTER XVIII. RECOGNITION
Lucy and Mrs. Jasher were having a confidential conversation in the
small pink drawing-room. True to her promise, Miss Kendal had come to
readjust matters between the fiery little Professor and the widow. But
it was not an easy task, as Mrs. Jasher was righteously indignant at the
rash words used to her.
“As if I knew anything about the matter,” she repeated again and again
in angry tones. “Why, my dear, he as good as told me I had murdered--”
Lucy did not let her finish.
“There! there!” she said, speaking as she would have done to a fretful
child, “you know what my father is.”
“It seems to me that I am just beginning to learn,” said the widow
bitterly, “and knowing how ready he is to believe ill of me, I think it
is better we should part for ever.”
“But you'll never be Lady Braddock.”
“Even if I married him, I am not sure that I should be, since I learn
that his brother is singularly healthy and comes of a long-lived family.
And it will not be pleasant to live with your father when he has such a
temper.”
“That was only because he was excited. Think of your salon, and of the
position you wish to hold in, London.”
“Ah, well,” said Mrs. Jasher, visibly softening, “there is something to
be said there. After all, one can never find a man who is perfection.
And a very amiable man is usually a fool. One can't expect a rose to
be without thorns. But really, my dear,” she surveyed Lucy with mild
surprise, “you appear to be very anxious that I should marry your
father.”
“I want to see my father made comfortable before I marry Archie,”
said the girl with a blush. “Of course my father is quite a child in
household affairs and needs everything done for him. Archie--I am glad
to say--is now in a position to marry me in the spring. I want you to be
married about the same time, and then you can live in Gartley, and--”
“No, my dear,” said Mrs. Jasher firmly, “if I marry your father, he
wishes us to go at once to Egypt in search of this tomb.”
“I know that he wants you to help with the money left to you by your
late brother. But surely you will not go up the Nile yourself?”
“No, certainly not,” said the widow promptly. “I shall remain in Cairo
while the Professor goes on his excursion into Ethiopia. I know that
Cairo is a very charming place, and that I shall be able to enjoy myself
there.”
“Then you have decided to forgive my father for his rash words?”
“I must,” sighed Mrs. Jasher. “I am so tired of being an unprotected
widow without a recognized position in the world. Even with my brother's
money,--not that it is so very much--I shall still be looked upon
askance if I go into society. But as Mrs. Braddock, or Lady Braddock,
no one will dare to say a word against me. Yes, my dear, if your father
comes and, asks my pardon he shall have it. We women are so weak,” ended
the widow virtuously, as if she was not making a virtue of necessity.
Things being thus settled, the two talked on amiably for some time, and
discussed the chances of Random marrying Donna Inez. Both acknowledged
that the Peruvian lady was handsome enough, but had not a word to say
for herself.
While thus chattering, Professor Braddock trotted into the room, looking
brisk and bright from his stroll in the cold frosty air. Gifted as he
was with scientific assurance, the little man was not at all taken aback
by the cold reception of Mrs. Jasher, but rubbed his hands cheerfully.
“Ah, there you are, Selina,” said he, looking like a bright-eyed robin.
“I hope you are feeling well.”
“How can you expect me to feel well after what you said?” remarked Mrs.
Jasher reproachfully, and anxious to make a virtue of forgiveness.
“Oh, I beg pardon: I beg pardon. Surely, Selina, you are not going to
make a fuss over a trifle like that?”
“I did not give you permission to call me Selina.”
“Quite so. But as we are to be married, I may as well get used to your
Christian name, my dear.”
“I am not so sure that we will be married,” said Mrs. Jasher stiffly.
“Oh, but we must,” cried Braddock in dismay. “I am depending upon your
money to finance my expedition to Queen Tahoser's tomb.”
“I see,” observed the widow coldly, while Lucy sat quietly by and
allowed the elder woman to conduct the campaign, “you want me for my
money. There is no love in the question.”
“My dear, as soon as I have the time--say during our voyage to Cairo,
whence we start inland up the Nile for Ethiopia--I shall make love
whenever you like. And, confound it, Selina, I admire you no end--to
use a slang phrase. You are a fine woman and a sensible woman, and I
am afraid that you are throwing yourself away on a snuffy old man like
myself.”
“Oh no! no! Pray do not say that,” cried Mrs. Jasher, visibly moved
by this flattery. “You will make a very good husband if you will only
strive to govern your temper.”
“Temper! temper! Bless the woman--I mean you, Selina--I have the very
best temper in the world. However, you shall govern it and myself also
if you like. Come,” he took her hand, “let us be friends and fix the
wedding day.”
Mrs. Jasher did not withdraw her hand.
“Then you do not believe that I have anything to do with this terrible
murder?” she asked playfully.
“No! no! I was heated last night. I spoke rashly and hastily. Forgive
and forget, Selina. You are innocent--quite innocent, in spite of
the mummy being in your confounded garden. After all, the evidence is
stronger against Random than against you. Perhaps he put it there: it's
on his way to the Fort, you see. Never mind. He has exonerated himself,
and no doubt, when confronted with Hervey, will be able to silence that
blackguard. And I am quite sure that Hervey is a blackguard,” ended
Braddock, rubbing his bald head.
The two ladies looked at one another in amazement, not knowing what
to say. They were ignorant of the theft of the emeralds and of the
accusation of Sir Frank by the Yankee skipper. But, with his usual
absentmindedness, Braddock had forgotten all about that, and sat in his
chair rubbing his head quite pink and rattling on cheerfully.
“I went down with Hope to the embankment,” he continued, “but neither
of us could see any sign of a boat. There's the rude, short jetty, of
course, and if a boat came, a boat could go away without leaving any
trace. Perhaps that is so. However, we must wait until we see Don Pedro
and Hervey again, and then--”
Lucy broke in desperately.
“What are you talking about, father? Why do you bring in Sir Frank's
name in that way?”
“What do you expect me to say?” retorted the little man. “After all, the
manuscript was found in his room, and the emeralds are gone. I saw that
for myself, as did Hope and Don Pedro, in whose presence I opened the
mummy case.”
Mrs. Jasher rose in her astonishment.
“Are the emeralds gone?” she gasped.
“Yes! yes! yes!” cried Braddock irritably. “Am I not telling you so?
I almost believe in Hervey's accusation of Random, and yet the boy
exonerated himself very forcibly--very forcibly indeed.”
“Will you explain all that has happened, father?” said Lucy, who was
becoming more and more perplexed by this rambling chatter. “We are quite
in the dark.”
“So am I: so is Hope: so is every one,” chuckled Braddock. “Ah, yes: of
course, you were not present when these events took place.”
“What events?--what events?” demanded Mrs. Jasher, now quite
exasperated.
“I am about to tell you,” snapped her future husband, and related all
that had taken place since the arrival of Captain Hervey in the museum
at the Pyramids. The women listened with interest and with growing
astonishment, only interrupting the narrator with a simultaneous
exclamation of indignation when they heard that Sir Frank was accused.
“It is utterly and wholly absurd,” cried Lucy angrily. “Sir Frank is the
soul of honor.”
“So I think, my dear,” chimed in Mrs. Jasher. “And what does he say
to--?”
Braddock interrupted.
“I am about to tell you, if you will stop talking,” he cried crossly.
“That is so like a woman. She asks for an explanation and then prevents
the man from giving it. Random offers a very good defense, I am bound to
say,” and he detailed what Sir Frank had said.
When the history was finished, Lucy rose to go.
“I shall see Archie at once,” she said, moving hastily, towards the
door.
“What for?” demanded her father benignly.
Lucy turned.
“This thing can't go on,” she declared resolutely. “Mrs. Jasher was
accused by you, father--”
“Only in a heated moment,” cried the Professor, excusing himself.
“Never mind, she was accused,” retorted Lucy stubbornly, “and now
this sailor accuses Sir Frank. Who knows who will be charged next with
committing the crime? I shall ask Archie to take the matter up, and hunt
down the real criminal. Until the guilty person is found, I foresee that
we shall never have a moment's peace.”
“I quite agree with you,” said Mrs. Jasher earnestly. “For my own sake
I wish the matter of this mystery to be cleared up. Why don't you help
me?” she added, turning to Braddock, who listened placidly.
“I am helping,” said Braddock quietly. “I intend to set Cockatoo on the
trail at once. He shall take up his abode in the Sailor's Rest on some
pretext, and no doubt will be able to find a clue.”
“What?” cried the widow incredulously, “a savage like that?”
“Cockatoo is much cleverer than the average white man,” said Braddock
dryly, “especially in following a trail. He, if any one, will learn the
truth. I would much rather trust the Kanaka than young Hope.”
“Nonsense!” cried Lucy, standing up for her lover. “Archie is the one to
discover the assassin. I'll see him at once. And you, father?”
“I, my dear,” said the Professor calmly, “shall remain here and make my
peace with the future Mrs. Braddock.”
“You have made it already,” said the widow graciously, and extended her
hand, which the Professor kissed unexpectedly, and then sat back in his
chair, looking quite abashed at his outburst of gallantry.
Seeing that everything was going well, Lucy left the elderly couple
to continue their courting, and hurried to Archie's lodgings in the
village. However, he happened to be out, and his landlady did not know
when he would return. Rather annoyed by this, since she greatly desired
to unbosom herself, Miss Kendal walked disconsolately towards the
Pyramids. On the way she was stopped by Widow Anne, looking more dismal
and funereal than ever, and garrulous with copious draughts of gin. Not
that she was intoxicated, but her tongue was loose, and she wept freely
for no apparent reason. According to herself, she had stopped Lucy to