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-shell 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.”