Braddock, already knowing a great deal about Don Pedro from Lucy and

Archie Hope, was only too pleased to see the Peruvian, hoping to find in

him a kindred spirit. As yet the Professor was not aware of the contents

of the ancient Latin manuscript, which revealed the fact of the hidden

emeralds, since Hope had decided to leave it to the Peruvian to impart

the information. Archie knew very well that Don Pedro--as he had

plainly stated--wished to purchase the mummy, and it was only right that

Braddock should know what he was selling. But Hope forgot one important

fact perhaps from the careless way in which Don Pedro had told his

story--namely, that the Professor in a second degree was a receiver

of stolen goods. Therefore it was more than probable that the Peruvian

would claim the mummy as his own property. Still, in that event he would

have to prove his claim, and that would not be easy.

The plump little professor had not yet unsealed the case, and when Don

Pedro entered, he was standing before it rubbing his fat hands, with a

gloating expression in his face. However, as Cockatoo had brought in the

Peruvian's card, Braddock expected his visitor and wheeled to face him.

"How are you, sir?" said he, extending his hand. "I am glad to see you,

as I hear that you know all about this mummy of Inca Caxas."

"Well, I do," answered De Gayangos, sitting down in the chair which his

host pushed forward. "But may I ask who told you that this mummy was

that of the last Inca?"

Braddock pinched his plump chin and replied readily, enough.

"Certainly, Don Pedro. I wished to learn the difference in embalming

between the Egyptians and the ancient Peruvians, and looked about for a

South American corpse. Unexpectedly I saw in several European newspapers

and in two English journals that a green Peruvian mummy was for sale at

Malta for one thousand pounds. I sent my assistant, Sidney Bolton, to

buy it, and he managed to get it, coffin and all, for nine hundred.

While in Malta, and before he started back in The Diver with the mummy,

he wrote me an account of the transaction. The seller--who was the son

of a Maltese collector--told Bolton that his father had picked up the

mummy in Paris some twenty and more years ago. It came from Lima some

thirty years back, I believe, and, according to the collector in Paris,

was the corpse of Inca Caxas. That is the whole story."

Don Pedro nodded gravely.

"Was there a Latin manuscript delivered along with the mummy?" he asked.

Braddock's eyes opened widely.

"No, sir. The mummy came thirty years ago from Lima to Paris. It passed

twenty years back into the possession of the Maltese collector, and his

son sold it to me a few months ago. I never heard of any manuscript."




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