fessor was not aware of the contents
of the ancient Latin manuscript, which revealed the fact of the hidden
emeralds, since Hope had decided to leave it to the Peruvian to impart
the information. Archie knew very well that Don Pedro--as he had
plainly stated--wished to purchase the mummy, and it was only right that
Braddock should know what he was selling. But Hope forgot one important
fact perhaps from the careless way in which Don Pedro had told his
story--namely, that the Professor in a second degree was a receiver
of stolen goods. Therefore it was more than probable that the Peruvian
would claim the mummy as his own property. Still, in that event he would
have to prove his claim, and that would not be easy.

The plump little professor had not yet unsealed the case, and when Don
Pedro entered, he was standing before it rubbing his fat hands, with a
gloating expression in his face. However, as Cockatoo had brought in the
Peruvian's card, Braddock expected his visitor and wheeled to face him.

"How are you, sir?" said he, extending his hand. "I am glad to see you,
as I hear that you know all about this mummy of Inca Caxas."

"Well, I do," answered De Gayangos, sitting down in the chair which his
host pushed forward. "But may I ask who told you that this mummy was
that of the last Inca?"

Braddock pinched his plump chin and replied readily, enough.

"Certainly, Don Pedro. I wished to learn the difference in embalming
between the Egyptians and the ancient Peruvians, and looked about for a
South American corpse. Unexpectedly I saw in several European newspapers
and in two English journals that a green Peruvian mummy was for sale at
Malta for one thousand pounds. I sent my assistant, Sidney Bolton, to
buy it, and he managed to get it, coffin and all, for nine hundred.
While in Malta, and before he started back in The Diver with the mummy,
he wrote me an account of the transaction. The seller--who was the son
of a Maltese collector--told Bolton that his father had picked up the
mummy in Paris some twenty and more years ago. It came from Lima some
thirty years back, I believe, and, according to the collector in Paris,
was the corpse of Inca Caxas. That is the whole story."

Don Pedro nodded gravely.

"Was there a Latin manuscript delivered along with the mummy?" he asked.

Braddock's eyes opened widely.

"No, sir. The mummy came thirty years ago from Lima to Paris. It passed
twenty years back into the possession of