lord 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 manuscript 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 t