aves, and where there were
Indian graveyards. With the aid of a little stain and judicious
arrangement of a body we prepared a fine Aztec mummy. Of course we used
the body of an Indian, one who had been dead for a long time and was
dried up and crumbly. My partner was a clever chap, and he fixed up the
axe and the silver necklace, and we took the outfit and started for the
Verde Canyon. We picked out a good-sized cave, and dug a hole in the
floor, in which we carefully placed the mummy and covered him up with
dry dust; then we wet the clay over him, leaving the floor hard and
smooth as before. We also buried about fifty axes and two or three
hundred arrow-heads, and half a dozen nice specimens of Indian pottery,
which we burned up good and black.

"After we had 'salted' the cave to our satisfaction, we partly sealed up
the entrance and returned to Flagstaff."

"Was that acting quite fair?"

"Fair? Why, how do you think that poor man would have felt if he had
come all the way out to Arizona, and gone to all the expense of his
car-fare and outfit, and then found nothing? It was philanthropy, my
dear sir, the height of philanthropy."

"Was he pleased with the mummy?"

"Pleased? Why, bless your dear, innocent soul, he screamed with joy like
a child, when we accidentally discovered a piece of a toe while digging
in the bottom of the cave! He dropped on his knees and removed every
particle of dirt with his hands, and almost cried over it. He carried on
so that my partner nearly gave us away. He was a chump about some
things: if anything pleased him, he would laugh, and his laugh sounded
like the bray of a jackass.

"Well, sir, when this scientific chap got down on his knees, and
commenced to paw the earth away from the fake mummy, my partner began to
gurgle. I knew what was coming and punched him in the ribs, but it did
no good. The scientific chap looked up and asked what was the matter.

"'Matter?' shouted my pard, and then he roared and yelled and howled.

"A look of doubt and annoyance came into our victim's eyes; but pard
saved himself just in time.

"'Look!' he yelled between his paroxysms of laughter, 'look at that
buzzard over there! I'm damned if he ain't the funniest buzzard I ever
saw in my life,' and then he roared and yelled and jumped about. 'Look
at him,' he laughed; 'see him fly! did you ever see anything so funny?'

"I am not sure but what the scientist thought he was crazy, but anyhow,
he didn't