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By Root 1303 0

grisly. The wood of which the coffin had been constructed was thin, and dried by century upon century of heat. It had not broken, it had shattered – splintered. Fragments were strewn far and wide; one section of the broken face lay not far away, and the painted black eye seemed to stare right at me. But the worst part of the wreckage was that of the mummy itself. The linen bandages and the bones had suffered the same desiccation that had reduced the wood to a fragile shell. There were indescribable bits and pieces scattered far and wide, some still in the wrappings, some bared in all their brown nakedness. The skull had rolled and come to rest against the foot of a chair. It was covered with brown leathery skin, and the hair that clung to the withered scalp was a pale, reddish yellow.

‘May the Lord protect us,’ Kevin muttered, staring. ‘An Irishman!’

‘The colour is due to henna,’ Ramses explained. ‘The original shade was white or grey.’

‘So here is your middle-aged woman, Emerson,’ I said. ‘Don’t be disheartened; they did not succeed in seizing the mummy.’

‘They didn’t want the cursed mummy,’ Emerson said. ‘They did succeed, Peabody. This is what they hoped to do.’

‘To destroy it? But why, Professor?’

Emerson glanced at Kevin’s notebook. ‘Gratitude has its limits, O’Connell. You’ll get no more from me tonight.’

I congratulated myself on my foresight in bringing the carriage; it was waiting for us, and we did not have to waste time looking for a cab. Henry, the coachman, almost fell off the box when he saw us approaching, and he hastened to climb down and run to lend a strong arm to Emerson. For once Emerson did not disdain assistance. The blow had left him dizzy and unsteady on his feet.

When we reached the house, which we did in record time, thanks to Henry’s inspired driving, I handed my wounded spouse over to Gargery and then knelt down by Ramses.

‘I must go to Papa, Ramses. Tell me first if you are hurt, for if you need attention –’

‘Papa is in greater need than I, for he took the brunt of the attack while shielding me from random blows to the best of his ability, which, as you know –’

‘Be brief, Ramses, I beg you.’ I felt of him as I spoke, searching for any sign of broken bones.

‘Yes, Mama. The few scrapes and bruises I acquired came when Papa fell on me. They are superficial. I believe I can best serve you by going at once to my room and keeping out of the way, though natural affection insists that I hasten to Papa’s side –’

‘You were right the first time, Ramses.’ I rose and took his hand in mine. ‘I will come to you later, not only to tend your bruises but to reassure you about Papa. I am sure you need not worry; he is weakened by shock and loss of blood, but there appears to be nothing seriously wrong.’

I omit Ramses’ reply, which contained nothing of importance and continued until we parted at the top of the stairs.

My diagnosis proved to be correct, as it usually did. Natural affection had triumphed over my medical instincts and also over the dark suspicions that had haunted me. To see Emerson weakened and wounded, to smooth the thick dark hair away from the ugly gash in his scalp and wipe the blood from his brown cheek – and feel his lips brush my hand as I worked over him – is it any wonder that for a time I forgot all else except how dear he was to me? And is it any wonder Emerson groaned rather loudly and affected to feel fainter than he really did? We both enjoyed it a great deal, and after I had attended to my other patient and tucked him into his bed, Emerson and I settled down before the fire in a spirit of amity almost as complete as the one that had always united us.

‘Now,’ I said, ‘explain to me (I can hardly blame you for refusing to do so in front of Kevin, since, as you put it so well, even gratitude has its limits) . . . explain to me, if you please, why the masked men did not want to steal the mummy.’

‘Gladly, Peabody.’ Emerson sipped at the brandy which I had strictly forbidden him to take. ‘I had a number of reasons for wanting to have a look inside that mummy case. I told you