The Green Mummy [34]
me nothing beyond the fact that he wanted the mummy, and had come to Europe to get it. In some way he learned that it was in Malta and was for sale."
"Quite so: quite so," rasped the Professor. "He saw the advertisement in the newspapers, as I did, and wanted to buy it over my head."
"Oh, he wanted to buy it right enough, and wired to Malta," said Random, "but in reply he received a letter stating that it had been sold to you and was being taken to England on The Diver. I followed The Diver in my yacht and arrived at Pierside an hour after she did."
"Ah!" Braddock glared. "I begin to see light. This infernal Spaniard was on board, and wanted my mummy. He knew that Bolton had taken it to the Sailor's Rest and went there to kill the poor lad and get my - "
"Nothing of the sort," interrupted Sir Frank impatiently. "Don Pedro remained behind in Genoa, intending to write and ask if you would sell him the mummy. I wrote and told him of the murder of your assistant and related all that had happened. He wired to me that he was coming to England at once, as - as I told you. He will be in Gartley in a couple of days. That is the whole story."
"It is a sufficiently strange one," grumbled Braddock, frowning. "What does he want with my mummy?".
"I cannot tell you. But if you will sell - "
"Sell! sell! sell!" vociferated Braddock furiously.
"Don Pedro will give you a good price," finished Random calmly.
"I haven't got the mummy," said the Professor, sitting down and wiping his pink head, "and if I had, I certainly would not sell. However, I'll hear what this gentleman has to say when he arrives. Perhaps he can throw some light on the mystery of this crime."
"I am perfectly certain that he cannot, sir. Don Pedro - as I said - was left behind in Genoa."
"Humph!" said the Professor, unconvinced. "He could easily employ a third party."
Random rose, looking and feeling annoyed.
"I assure you that Don Pedro is a gentleman and a, man of honor. He would not stoop to - "
"There! there!" Braddock waved his hands. "Sit down: sit down."
"You shouldn't say such things, Professor."
"I say what I desire to say," retorted the old gentleman man tartly; "but we can dismiss the subject for the time being."
"I am only too glad to do so," said Random, who was ruffled out of his usual calm by the veiled accusation which Braddock had brought against his foreign friend, "and to get to a more agreeable subject, tell me how Miss Kendal is keeping."
"She is ill, very ill," said the Professor solemnly.
"Ill? Why, Hope, whom I met the other day, said that she was feeling very well and very happy."
"So Hope thinks, because he has forced her into an engagement."
Random started to his feet.
"Forced her? Nonsense!"
"It isn't nonsense, and don't dare to speak like that to me, sir. I repeat that Lucy - poor child - is breaking her heart for you."
The young man stared and then broke into a hearty laugh.
"Pardon me, sir, but that is impossible"
"It isn't, confound you!" said Braddock, who did not like being laughed at. "I know women."
"You don't know your daughter."
"Step-daughter, you mean."
"Ah, perhaps the more distant relationship accounts for your ignorance of her character," said Random dryly. "You are quite wrong. I was in love with Miss Kendal, and asked her to be my wife before I went on leave. She refused me, saying that she loved Hope, and because of her refusal I took my broken heart to Monte Carlo, where I lost much more money than I had any right to lose."
"Your broken heart seems to have mended quickly," said Braddock, who was trying to suppress his wrath at this instance of Lucy's duplicity, for so he considered it.
"Oh, pooh, it's only my way of speaking," laughed the young man. "If my heart had been really broken I should not have mentioned the fact."
"Then you did not love Lucy, and you dared to play fast and loose with her affections," raged Braddock, stamping.
"You are quite wrong," said Sir Frank sharply; "I did love Miss Kendal,
"Quite so: quite so," rasped the Professor. "He saw the advertisement in the newspapers, as I did, and wanted to buy it over my head."
"Oh, he wanted to buy it right enough, and wired to Malta," said Random, "but in reply he received a letter stating that it had been sold to you and was being taken to England on The Diver. I followed The Diver in my yacht and arrived at Pierside an hour after she did."
"Ah!" Braddock glared. "I begin to see light. This infernal Spaniard was on board, and wanted my mummy. He knew that Bolton had taken it to the Sailor's Rest and went there to kill the poor lad and get my - "
"Nothing of the sort," interrupted Sir Frank impatiently. "Don Pedro remained behind in Genoa, intending to write and ask if you would sell him the mummy. I wrote and told him of the murder of your assistant and related all that had happened. He wired to me that he was coming to England at once, as - as I told you. He will be in Gartley in a couple of days. That is the whole story."
"It is a sufficiently strange one," grumbled Braddock, frowning. "What does he want with my mummy?".
"I cannot tell you. But if you will sell - "
"Sell! sell! sell!" vociferated Braddock furiously.
"Don Pedro will give you a good price," finished Random calmly.
"I haven't got the mummy," said the Professor, sitting down and wiping his pink head, "and if I had, I certainly would not sell. However, I'll hear what this gentleman has to say when he arrives. Perhaps he can throw some light on the mystery of this crime."
"I am perfectly certain that he cannot, sir. Don Pedro - as I said - was left behind in Genoa."
"Humph!" said the Professor, unconvinced. "He could easily employ a third party."
Random rose, looking and feeling annoyed.
"I assure you that Don Pedro is a gentleman and a, man of honor. He would not stoop to - "
"There! there!" Braddock waved his hands. "Sit down: sit down."
"You shouldn't say such things, Professor."
"I say what I desire to say," retorted the old gentleman man tartly; "but we can dismiss the subject for the time being."
"I am only too glad to do so," said Random, who was ruffled out of his usual calm by the veiled accusation which Braddock had brought against his foreign friend, "and to get to a more agreeable subject, tell me how Miss Kendal is keeping."
"She is ill, very ill," said the Professor solemnly.
"Ill? Why, Hope, whom I met the other day, said that she was feeling very well and very happy."
"So Hope thinks, because he has forced her into an engagement."
Random started to his feet.
"Forced her? Nonsense!"
"It isn't nonsense, and don't dare to speak like that to me, sir. I repeat that Lucy - poor child - is breaking her heart for you."
The young man stared and then broke into a hearty laugh.
"Pardon me, sir, but that is impossible"
"It isn't, confound you!" said Braddock, who did not like being laughed at. "I know women."
"You don't know your daughter."
"Step-daughter, you mean."
"Ah, perhaps the more distant relationship accounts for your ignorance of her character," said Random dryly. "You are quite wrong. I was in love with Miss Kendal, and asked her to be my wife before I went on leave. She refused me, saying that she loved Hope, and because of her refusal I took my broken heart to Monte Carlo, where I lost much more money than I had any right to lose."
"Your broken heart seems to have mended quickly," said Braddock, who was trying to suppress his wrath at this instance of Lucy's duplicity, for so he considered it.
"Oh, pooh, it's only my way of speaking," laughed the young man. "If my heart had been really broken I should not have mentioned the fact."
"Then you did not love Lucy, and you dared to play fast and loose with her affections," raged Braddock, stamping.
"You are quite wrong," said Sir Frank sharply; "I did love Miss Kendal,