The Green Mummy Part 23

CHAPTER XIII. MORE MYSTERY

Neither Lucy nor Archie Hope had ever seen the mummy, but they knew the appearance which it would present, as Professor Braddock, with the enthusiasm of an archaeologist, had often described the same to them. It appeared, according to Braddock, that on purchasing the precious corpse in Malta, his dead a.s.sistant had written home a full description of the treasure trove. Consequently, being advised beforehand, Hope had no difficulty in recognizing the oddly shaped case, which was made somewhat in the Egyptian form. On the impulse of the moment he had proclaimed this to be the long-lost mummy, and when a closer examination by the light of a lucifer match revealed the green hue of the coffin wood, he knew that he was right.

But what was the mummy in its ancient case doing in Mrs. Jasher's arbor?

That was the mute question which the two young people asked themselves and each other, as they stood in the chilly moonlight, staring at the grotesque thing. The mummy had disappeared from the Sailor's Rest at Pierside some weeks ago, and now unexpectedly appeared in a lonely garden, surrounded by marshes. How it had been brought there, or why it should have been brought there, or who had brought it to such an unlikely place, were questions hard to answer. However, the most obvious thing to do was to question Mrs. Jasher, since the uncanny object was lying within a stone-throw of her home. Lucy, after a rapid word or two, went to ring the bell, and summon the lady, while Archie stood by the arbor, wondering how the mummy came to be there. In the same way George III had wondered how the apples got into the dumplings.

Far and wide spread the marshes, flatly towards the sh.o.r.e of the river on one side, but on the other sloping up to Gartley village, which twinkled with many lights on the rising ground. Some distance away the Fort rose black and menacing in the moonlight, and the mighty stream of the Thames glittered like polished steel as it flowed seaward. As there were only a few leafless trees dotted about the marshy ground, and as that same ground, lightly sprinkled with powdery snow, revealed every moving object for quite a mile or so, Hope could not conceive how the mummy case, which seemed heavy, could have been brought into the silent garden without its bearers being seen. It was not late, and soldiers were still returning through Gartley to the Fort. Then, again, some noise must have been caused by so bulky an object being thrust through the narrow wicket, and Mrs. Jasher, inhabiting a wooden house, which was a very sea-sh.e.l.l for sound, might have heard footsteps and voices. If those who had brought the mummy here--and there was more than one from the size of the case--could be discovered, then the mystery of Sidney Bolton's death would be solved very speedily. It was at this moment of his reflections that Lucy returned to the arbor, leading Mrs. Jasher, who was attired in a tea-gown and who looked bewildered.

"What are you talking about, my dear?" she said, as Lucy led her towards the arbor. "I declare I was ever so much astonished, when Jane told me that you wished to speak to me. I was just writing a letter to the lawyer who has my poor brother's property in hand, announcing my engagement to the Professor. Mr. Hope? You here also. Well, I'm sure."

Lucy grew impatient at all this babble.

"Did you not hear what I said, Mrs. Jasher?" she cried irritably. "Can't you use your eyes? Look! The green mummy is in your arbor."

"The--green--mummy--in--my--arbor," repeated Mrs. Jasher, like a child learning words of one syllable, and staring at the black object before which the three were standing.

"As you see," said Archie abruptly. "How did it come here?"

He spoke harshly. Of course, it was absurd to accuse Mrs. Jasher of knowing anything about the matter, since she had been writing letters.

Still, the fact remained that a mummy, which had been thieved from a murdered man, was in her arbor, and naturally she was called upon to explain.

Some suspicion in his tone struck the little woman, and she turned on him with indignation.

"How did it come here?" she repeated. "Now, how can I tell, you silly boy. I have been writing to my lawyer about my engagement to Mr.

Braddock. I daresay he has told you."

"Yes," chimed in Miss Kendal, "and we came here to congratulate you, only to find the mummy."

"Is that the horrid thing?" Mrs. Jasher stared with all her eyes, and timidly touched the hard green-stained wood.

"It's the case--the mummy is inside."

"But I thought that the Professor opened the case to find the body of poor Sidney Bolton," argued Mrs. Jasher.

"That was a packing case in which this"--Archie struck the old-world coffin--"was stored. But this is the corpse of Inca Caxas, about which Don Pedro told us the other night. How does it come to be hidden in your garden?"

"Hidden." Mrs. Jasher repeated the word with a laugh. "There is not much hiding about it. Why, every one can see it from the path."

"And from the door of your house," remarked Hope significantly. "Did you not see it when you took leave of Braddock?"

"No," snapped the widow. "If I had I should certainly have come to look.

Also Professor Braddock, who is so anxious to recover it, would not have allowed it to remain here."

"Then the case was not here when the Professor left you to-night?"

"No! He left me at eight o'clock to go home to dinner."

"When did he arrive here?" questioned Hope quickly.

"At seven. I am sure of the time, for I was just sitting down to my supper. He was here an hour. But he said nothing, when he entered, of any mummy being in the arbor; nor when he left me at the door and I came to say good-bye to him--did either of us see this object. To be sure,"

added Mrs. Jasher meditatively, "we did not look particularly in the direction of this arbor."

"I scarcely see how any one entering or leaving the garden could fail to see it, especially as the snow reflects the moonlight so brightly."

Mrs. Jasher shivered, and taking the skirt of her tea-gown, flung it over her carefully attired head,

"It is very cold," she remarked irritably. "Don't you think we had better return to the house, and talk there?"

"What!" said Archie grimly, "and leave the mummy to be carried away as mysteriously as it has been brought. No, Mrs. Jasher. That mummy represents one thousand pounds of my money."

"I understood that the Professor bought it himself."

"So he did, but I supplied the purchase money. Therefore I do not intend that this should be lost sight of again. Lucy, my dear, you run home again and tell your father what we have found. He had better bring men, to take it to his museum. When it is there, Mrs. Jasher can then explain how it came to be in her garden."

Without a word Lucy set off, walking quickly, anxious to fulfill her mission and gladden the heart of her step-father with the amazing news.

Archie and Mrs. Jasher were left alone, and the former lighted a cigarette, while he tapped the mummy case, and examined it as closely as the pale gleam of the moonlight permitted. Mrs. Jasher made no move to enter the house, much as she had complained of the cold. But perhaps she found the flimsy skirt of the tea-gown sufficient protection.

"It seems to me, Mr. Hope," said she very tartly, "that you suspect my having a hand in this," and she tapped the mummy coffin also.

"Pardon me," observed Hope very politely, "but I suspect nothing, because I have no grounds upon which to base my suspicions. But certainly it is odd that this missing mummy should be found in your garden. You will admit that much."

"I admit nothing of the sort," she rejoined coolly. "Only myself and Jane live in the cottage, and you don't expect that two delicate women could move this huge thing." She tapped the case again. "Moreover, had I found the mummy I should have taken it to the Pyramids at once, so as to give Professor Braddock some pleasure."

"It will certainly be an acceptable wedding present," said Archie sarcastically.

"Pardon me," said Mrs. Jasher in her turn, "but I have nothing to do with it as a present or otherwise. How the thing came into my arbor I really cannot say. As I told you, Professor Braddock made no remark about it when he came; and when he left, although I was at the door, I did not notice anything in this arbor. Indeed I cannot say if I ever looked in this direction."

Archie mused and glanced at his watch.

"The Professor told Lucy that he came by the six train: you say that he was here at seven."

"Yes, and he left at eight. What is the time now?"

"Ten o'clock, or a few minutes after. Therefore, since neither you nor Braddock saw the mummy, I take it that the case was brought here by some unknown people between eight o'clock and a quarter to ten, about which time I arrived here with Lucy."

Mrs. Jasher nodded.

"You put the matter very clearly," she observed dryly. "You have mistaken your vocation, Mr. Hope, and should have been a criminal lawyer. I should turn detective were I you."

"Why?" asked Archie with a start.

"You might ascertain my movements on the night when the crime was committed," snapped the little widow. "A woman m.u.f.fled in a shawl, in much the same way as my head is now m.u.f.fled in my skirt, talked to Bolton through the bedroom window of the Sailor's Rest, you know."

Hope expostulated.

"My dear lady, how you run on! I a.s.sure you that I would as soon suspect Lucy as you."