"I am a very practical girl just now," she retorted. "Go on, confess!"

Archie, thus encouraged, did so, and it was a very mild confession that she heard, involving a great deal of unnecessary sacrifice in helping a pauper uncle. Hope strove to belittle his good deeds as much as possible, but Lucy saw plainly the good heart that had dictated the giving up of his small income for some years. When in possession of all the facts, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him.

"You are a silly old boy," she whispered. "As if what you tell me could make any difference to me!"

"But we can't be married for six months, dearest."

"Of course not. Do you believe that I as a woman can gather together my trousseau under six months? No, my dear. We must not marry in haste to repent at leisure. In another half year you will enjoy your own income, and then we can marry."

"But meanwhile," said Archie, after kissing her, "the Professor will bother you to marry Random."

"Oh no. He has sold me to you for one thousand pounds. There! There, do not say a single word. I am only teasing you. Let us say that my father has consented to my marriage with you, and cannot withdraw his word. Not that I care if he does. I am my own mistress."

"Lucy!"--he took her hands again and looked into her eyes--"Braddock is a scientific lunatic, and would do anything to forward his aims with regard to this very expensive tomb, which he has set his heart on discovering. As I can't lend or give the money, he is sure to apply to Random, and Random--"

"Will want to marry me," cried Lucy, rising. "No, my dear, not at all.

Sir Frank is a gentleman, and when he learns that I am engaged to you, he will simply become a dear friend. There, don't worry any more about the matter. You ought to have told me of your troubles before, but as I have forgiven you, there is no more to be said. In six months I shall become Mrs. Hope, and meanwhile I can hold my own against any inconvenience that my father may cause me."

"But--" He rose and began to remonstrate, anxious to abase himself still further before this angel of a maiden.

She placed her hand over his mouth. "Not another word, or I shall box your ears, sir--that is, I shall exercise the privilege of a wife before I become one. And now," she slipped her arm within his, "let us go in and see the arrival of the precious mummy."

"Oh, it has arrived then."

"Not here exactly. My father expects it at three o'clock."

"It is now a quarter to," said Archie, consulting his watch. "As I have been to London all yesterday I did not know that The Diver had arrived at Pierside, How is Bolton?"

Lucy wrinkled her brows. "I am rather worried over Sidney," she said in an anxious voice, "and so is my father. He had not appeared."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well," she looked at the ground in a pondering manner, "my father got a letter from Sidney yesterday afternoon, saying that the ship with the mummy and himself on board had arrived about four o'clock. The letter was sent on by special messenger and came at six."

"Then it arrived in the evening and not in the afternoon?"

"How particular you are!" said Miss Kendal, with a shrug. "Well, then, Sidney said that he could not bring the mummy to this place last night as it was so late. He intended--so he told my father in the letter--to remove the case containing the mummy ash.o.r.e to an inn near the wharf at Pierside, and there would remain the night so as to take care of it."

"That's all right," said Hope, puzzled. "Where's your difficulty?"

"A note came from the landlord of the inn this morning, saying that by direction of Mr. Bolton--that is Sidney, you know--he was sending the mummy in its case to Gartley on a lorry, and that it would arrive at three o'clock this afternoon."

"Well?" asked Hope, still puzzled.

"Well?" she rejoined impatiently. "Can't you see show strange it is that Sidney should let the mummy out of his sight, after guarding it so carefully not only from Malta to England, but all the night in Pierside at that hotel? Why doesn't he bring the mummy here himself, and come on with the lorry?"

"There is no explanation--no letter from Sidney Bolton?"

"None. He wrote yesterday, as I stated, saying that he would keep the case in the hotel, and send it on this morning."

"Did he use the word 'send,' or the word 'bring'?"

"He said 'send.'"

"Then that shows he did not intend to bring it himself."

"But why should he not do so?"

"I daresay he will explain when he appears."

"I am very sorry for him when he does appear," said Lucy seriously, "for my father is furious. Why, this precious mummy, for which so much has been paid, might have been lost."

"Pooh! Who would steal a thing like that?"

"A thing like that is worth nearly one thousand pounds," said Lucy in a dry tone, "and if anyone got wind of it, stealing would be easy, since Sidney, as appears likely, has sent on the case unguarded."

"Well, let us go in and see if Sidney arrives with the case."

They pa.s.sed out of the garden and sauntered round to the front of the house. There, standing in the roadway, they beheld a ponderous lorry with a rough-looking driver standing at the horses' heads. The front door of the house was open, so the mummy case had apparently arrived before its time, and had been taken to Braddock's museum while they were chatting in the kitchen garden.

"Did Mr. Bolton come with the case?" asked Lucy, leaning over the railings and addressing the driver.

"No one came, miss, except myself and my two mates, who have taken the case indoor." The driver jerked a coa.r.s.e thumb over his shoulder.

"Was Mr. Bolton at the hotel, where the case remained for the night?"

"No, miss--that is, I dunno who Mr. Bolton is. The landlord of the Sailor's Rest told me and my mates to take the case to this here house, and we done it. That's all I know, miss."

"Strange," murmured Lucy, walking to the front door. "What do you think, Archie? Isn't it strange?"

Hope nodded. "But I daresay Bolton will explain his absence," said he, following her. "He will arrive in time to open the mummy case along with the Professor."

"I hope so," said Miss Kendal, who looked much perplexed. "I can't understand Sidney abandoning the case, when it might so easily have been stolen. Come in and see my father, Archie," and she pa.s.sed into the house, followed by the young man, whose curiosity was now aroused. As they entered the door, the two men who had taken in the case blundered out and shortly drove away on the lorry towards Jessum railway station.

In the museum they found Braddock purple with rage and swearing vigorously. He was staring at a large packing case, which had been set up on end against the wall, while beside him crouched c.o.c.katoo, holding chisels and hammers and wedges necessary to open the treasure trove.

"So the precious mummy has arrived, father," said Lucy, who saw that the Professor was furious. "Are you not pleased?"

"Pleased! pleased!" shouted the angry man of science. "How can I be pleased when I see how badly the case has been treated? See how it has been bruised and battered and shaken! I'll have an action against Captain Hervey of The Diver if my mummy has been injured. Sidney should have taken better care of so precious an object."

"What does he say?" asked Archie, glancing round the museum to see if the delinquent had arrived.

"Say!" shouted Braddock again, and s.n.a.t.c.hing a chisel from c.o.c.katoo.

"Oh, what can he say when he is not here?"

"Not here?" said Lucy, more and more surprised at the unaccountable absence of Braddock's a.s.sistant. "Where is he, then?"

"I don't know. I wish I did; I'd have him arrested for neglecting to watch over this case. As it is, when he comes back I'll dismiss him from my employment. He can go back to his infernal laundry work along with his old witch of a mother."