"No," said Random sharply. "I buy the mummy, from you, so they pa.s.s into my possession and belong to De Gayangos. I shall give them to him."
"You"ll have to find them first," said Braddock savagely; "and as to the mummy, you shan"t have it. I decline to sell it. So there!"
"If you don"t," said Random very distinctly, "Don Pedro will bring an action against you, and Captain Hervey will be called as a witness to prove that the mummy was stolen."
"Don Pedro hasn"t the money," said Braddock triumphantly; "he can"t pay lawyer"s fees."
"But I can," rejoined the young man very dryly. "As I am going to marry Donna Inez, it is only just that I should help my future father-in-law in every way. He has a romantic feeling about this relic of poor humanity and wishes to take it back to Peru. He shall do so."
"And what about me?--what about me?"
"Well," said Random, speaking slowly with the intention of still further irritating the little man, whose selfishness annoyed him, "if I were you I should marry Mrs. Jasher and settle down quietly in this house to live on what income you have."
Braddock turned purple again and spluttered.
"How dare you make a proposition like that to me, sir?" he bellowed. "You ask me to marry this low woman, this adventuress, this--this--this--" Words failed him.
Of course Random had no intention of advising such a marriage, although he did not think so badly of Mrs. Jasher as did the Professor. But the little man was so venomous that the young man took a delight in stirring him up, using the widow"s name as a red rag to this particular bull.
"I do not think Mrs. Jasher is a bad woman," he remarked.
"What! what! what! After what she has done? Blackmail! blackmail!
blackmail!"
"That is bad, I admit, but she has failed to get what she wanted, and, after all, you indirectly are the cause of her writing that blackmailing letter."
"I am?--I am? How dare you?"
"You see, she wanted to get five thousand out of me as her dowry."
"Yes, and told me lies about her d.a.m.ned brother who was a Pekin merchant, when after all he never existed."
"Oh, I don"t defend that," said Random coolly. "Mrs. Jasher has behaved badly on the whole. Still, Professor, I think there is good in her, as I said before. She evidently had bad parents and a bad husband; but, so far as I can gather, she is not an immoral woman. The poor wretch only came here to try and drag herself out of the mire. If she had married you I feel sure that she would have made you a most excellent wife."
The Professor was in such a rage that he suddenly became calm.
"Of course you talk absolute rubbish," he said caustically. "Had I my way this woman would be whipped at a cart"s tail for the shameful way in which she has deceived us all. However, I shall see her to-day and make her confess who murdered Bolton."
"Don Pedro will be greatly obliged if you do. He wants those emeralds."
"So do I, and if I get them I shall keep them," snapped Braddock; "and if you haven"t anything more to say you can leave me. I"m busy."
As there was nothing more to be done with the choleric little man, Sir Frank took the hint and departed. He went forthwith to the Warrior Inn to see Don Pedro and also Donna Inez. But it so happened that the girl had gone to the Pyramids on a visit to Miss Kendal, and Random was sorry that he had missed her. However, it was just as well, as he could now talk freely to De Gayangos. To him he related the whole story of Mrs.
Jasher, and discovered that the Peruvian also, as Braddock had done, insisted that Mrs. Jasher knew the truth.
"She would not have written that letter if she did not know it," said Don Pedro.
"Then you think that she should be arrested?"
"No. We can deal with this matter ourselves. At present she is quite safe, as she certainly will not leave her cottage, seeing that she thinks it is being watched. Let us permit Braddock to interview her, and see what he can learn. Then we can discuss the matter and come to a decision."
Random nodded absently.
"I wonder if Mrs. Jasher was the woman who talked to Bolton through the window?" he remarked.
"It is not impossible. Although that does not explain why Bolton borrowed a female disguise from this mother."
"Mrs. Jasher might have worn it."
"That would argue some understanding between Bolton and Mrs. Jasher, and a knowledge of the ma.n.u.script before Bolton left for Malta. We know that he could only have seen the ma.n.u.script for the first time at Malta. It was evidently stowed away in the swathings of the mummy by my father, who forgot all about it when he gave me the original."
"Hervey forgot also. I wonder if that is true?"
"I am certain it is," said Don Pedro emphatically, "for, if Hervey, or Vasa, or whatever you like to call him, had found that ma.n.u.script and had got it translated, he certainly would have opened the mummy and have secured the emeralds. No, Sir Frank, I believe that his theory is partly true. Bolton intended to run away with the emeralds, and send the empty mummy to Professor Braddock; for, if you remember, he arranged that the landlord of the Sailor"s Rest should forward the case next morning, even if he happened to be away. Bolton intended to be away--with the emeralds."
"Then you do not believe that Hervey placed the ma.n.u.script in my room?"
"He declared most emphatically that he did not," said Don Pedro, "when at Pierside yesterday I went to the Sailor"s Rest and saw him. He told Braddock only the other day that he had lost his chance of a sailing vessel, and, as yet, had not got another one. But when he returned to Pierside he found a letter waiting him--so he told me--giving him command of a four thousand ton tramp steamer called The Firefly. He is to sail at once--to-morrow, I believe."
"Then what is he going to do about this murder business?"
"He can do nothing at present, as, if he remains in Pierside, he will lose his new command. To-morrow he drops down stream, but meantime he intends to write out the whole story of the theft of the mummy. I have promised to give him fifty pounds for doing so, as I want to get back the mummy, free of charge, from Braddock."
"I think Braddock will stick to the mummy in any event," said Random grimly.
"Not when Hervey writes out his evidence. He will not have it completed by the time he sails, as he is very busy. But he has promised to send off a boat to the jetty near the Fort to-morrow evening, when he is dropping down stream. I shall be there with fifty pounds in gold."
"Supposing he fails to stop or send the boat?"
"Then he will not get his fifty pounds," retorted Don Pedro. "The man is a rascal, and deserves prison rather than reward, but since the mummy was stolen by him thirty years back, he alone can prove my ownership."
"But why take all this trouble?" argued the baronet. "I can buy the mummy from Braddock."
"No," said Don Pedro. "I have a right to my own property."
Random lingered until late in the afternoon and until darkness fell, as he was anxious to see Donna Inez. But she did not appear until late.
Meanwhile Archie Hope put in an appearance, having come to see Don Pedro with an account of his interview with Widow Anne. Before coming to the inn he had called on Professor Braddock, and from him had heard all about the wickedness of Mrs. Jasher. His surprise was very great.
"I should not have believed it," he declared. "Poor woman!"
"Ah," said Random, rather pleased, "you are more merciful than the Professor, Hope. He calls her a bad woman."
"Humph! I don"t think that Braddock is so good that he can afford to throw a stone," said Archie rather sourly. "Mrs. Jasher has not behaved well, but I should like to hear her complete story before judging. There must be a lot of good in her, or Lucy, who has been with her a great deal, would have found her out long ago. I go by a woman"s judgment of a woman. But Mrs. Jasher must have been anxious to marry."
"She was; as Professor Braddock knows," said Random quickly.
"I am not thinking of that so much as of what Widow Anne told me."