The Green Mummy | Page 6

me and not Random, and that
Random was on a yachting cruise, while I was on the spot. He then said
that he could not wait for the return of Random, and would give me a
chance."
"What did he mean by that?"
"Well, it seems that he was in a hurry to get this Green Mummy from
Malta, as he feared lest some other person should snap it up. This was
two months ago, remember, and Professor Braddock wanted the cash at
once. Had Random been here he could have supplied it, but as Random
was away he told me that if I handed over one thousand pounds to
purchase the mummy, that he would permit our engagement now, and
our marriage in six months. I saw my chance and took it, for your
step-father has always been an obstacle in our path, Lucy, dear. In a
week Professor Braddock had the money, as I sold out some of my
investments to get it. He then sent Bolton to Malta in a tramp steamer
for the sake of cheapness, and now expects him back with the Green
Mummy."

"Has Sidney bought it?"
"Yes. He got it for nine hundred pounds, the Professor told me, and is
bringing it back in The Diver - that's the same tramp steamer in which
he went to Malta. So that's the whole story, and you can see there is no
question of you being bought. The thousand pounds went to get your
father's consent."
"He is not my father," snapped Lucy, finding nothing else to say.
"You call him so."
"That is only from habit. I can't call him Mr. Braddock, or Professor
Braddock, when I live with him, so `father' is the sole mode of address
left to me. And after all," she added, taking her lover's arm, "I like the
Professor; he is very kind and good, although extremely absent-minded.
And I am glad he has consented, for he worried me a lot to marry Sir
Frank Random. I am glad you bought me."
"But I didn't," cried the exasperated lover.
"I think you did, and you shouldn't have diminished your income by
buying what you could have had for nothing."
Archie shrugged his shoulders. It was vain to combat her fixed idea.
"I have still three hundred a year left. And you were worth buying."
"You have no right to talk of me as though I had been bought."
The young man gasped. "But you said - "
"Oh, what does it matter what I said. I am going to marry you on three
hundred a year, so there it is. I suppose when Bolton returns, my father
will be glad to see the back of me, and then will go to Egypt with
Sidney to explore this secret tomb he is always talking about."
"That expedition will require more than a thousand pounds," said
Archie dryly. "The Professor explained the obstacles to me. However,

his doings have nothing to do with us, darling. Let Professor Braddock
fumble amongst the dead if he likes. We live!"
"Apart," sighed Lucy.
"Only for the next six months; then we can get our, cottage and live on
love, my dearest."
"Plus three hundred a year," said the girl sensibly then she added, "Oh,
poor Frank Random!"
"Lucy," cried her lover indignantly.
"Well, I was only pitying him. He's a nice man, and you can't expect
him to be pleased at our marriage."
"Perhaps," said Hope in an icy tone, "you would like him to be the
bridegroom. If so, there is still time."
"Silly boy! She shook his arm. "As I lave been bought, you know that I
can't run away from my purchaser."
"You denied being bought just now. It seems to me, Lucy, that I am to
marry a weather-cock."
"That is only an impolite name for a woman, dear. You have no sense
of humor, Frank, or you would call me an April lady."
"Because you change every five minutes. H'm! It's puzzling."
"Is it? Perhaps you would like me to resemble Widow Anne, who is
always funereal. Here she is, looking like Niobe."
They were strolling through Gartley village by this time, and the
cottagers came to their doors and front gates to look at the handsome
young couple. Everyone knew of the engagement, and approved of the
same, although some hinted that Lucy Kendal would have been wiser
to marry the soldier-baronet. Amongst these was Widow Anne, who
really was Mrs. Bolton, the mother of Sidney, a dismal female

invariably arrayed in rusty, stuffy, aggressive mourning, although her
husband had been dead for over twenty years. Because of this same
mourning, and because she was always talking of the dead, she vas
called "Widow Anne," and looked on the appellation as