The Professor rose fiercely.  “Money!  I care nothing for money.  I desire to obtain the funeral jewelry and golden masks, the precious images of the gods, so as to place them in the British Museum.  And the scrolls of papyrus buried with the mummy of Tahoser may contain an account of Ethiopian civilization, about which we know nothing.  Oh, that tomb,—­that tomb!” Braddock began to walk the room, quite forgetting that he had not finished his dinner.  “I know the mountains whose entrails were pierced to form the sepulchre.  Were I able to go to Africa, I am certain that I should discover the tomb.  Ah, with what glory would my name be covered, were I so fortunate!”

“Why don’t you go to Africa, sir, and try?” asked Hope.

“Fool!” cried the Professor politely.  “To fit out an expedition would take some five thousand pounds, if not more.  I would have to penetrate through a hostile country to reach the chain of mountains I speak of, where I know this precious tomb is to be found.  I need supplies, an escort, guns, camels, and all the rest of it.  A leader must be obtained to manage the fighting men necessary to pass through this dangerous zone.  It is no easy task to find the tomb of Tahoser.  And yet if I could—­if I could only get the money,” and he walked up and down with his head bent on his breast.

Mrs. Jasher was used to Braddock’s vagaries by this time, and merely continued to fan herself placidly.

“I wish I could help you with the expedition,” she said quietly.  “I should like to have some of that lovely Egyptian jewelry myself.  But I am quite a pauper, until my brother dies, poor man.  Then—­” She hesitated.

“What then?” asked Braddock, wheeling.

“I shall aid you with pleasure.”

“It’s a bargain!” Braddock stretched out his hand.

“A bargain,” said Mrs. Jasher, accepting the grasp somewhat nervously, for she had not expected to be taken so readily at her word.  A glance at Lucy revealed her nervousness.

“Do sit down, father, and finish your dinner,” said that young lady.  “I am sure you will have more than enough to do when the mummy arrives.”

“Mummy—­what mummy?” murmured Braddock, again beginning to eat.

“The Inca mummy.”

“Of course.  The mummy of Inca Caxas, which Sidney is bringing from Malta.  When I strip that corpse of its green bandages I shall find—­”

“Find what?” asked Archie, seeing that the Professor hesitated.

Braddock cast a swift look at his questioner.

“I shall find the peculiar mode of Peruvian embalming,” he replied abruptly, and somehow the way in which he spoke gave Hope the impression that the answer was an excuse.  But before he could formulate the thought that Braddock was concealing something, Mrs. Jasher spoke frivolously.

“I hope your mummy has jewels,” she said.

“It has not,” replied Braddock sharply.  “So far as I know, the Inca race never buried their dead with jewels,”