"I am very hungry," said Mrs. Jasher. "I have been called an
atom of the slime," then she laughed and took possession of young
Hope.

Lucy wrinkled her brow; she did not approve of the widow's
man-annexing instinct.




CHAPTER III

A MYSTERIOUS TOMB


One member of the Braddock household was not included in the
general staff, being a mere appendage of the Professor himself.
This was a dwarfish, misshapen Kanaka, a pigmy in height, but a
giant in breadth, with short, thick legs, and long, powerful
arms. He had a large head, and a somewhat handsome face, with
melancholy black eyes and a fine set of white teeth. Like most
Polynesians, his skin was of a pale bronze and elaborately
tattooed, even the cheeks and chin being scored with curves and
straight lines of mystical import. But the most noticeable thing
about him was his huge mop of frizzled hair, which, by some
process, known only to himself, he usually dyed a vivid yellow.
The flaring locks streaming from his head made him resemble a
Peruvian image of the sun, and it was this peculiar coiffure
which had procured for him the odd name of Cockatoo. The fact