"I am very sorry for him when he does appear," said Lucy
seriously, "for my father is furious. Why, this precious mummy,
for which so much has been paid, might have been lost."

"Pooh! Who would steal a thing like that?"

"A thing like that is worth nearly one thousand pounds," said
Lucy in a dry tone, "and if anyone got wind of it, stealing would
be easy, since Sidney, as appears likely, has sent on the case
unguarded."

"Well, let us go in and see if Sidney arrives with the case."

They passed out of the garden and sauntered round to the front of
the house. There, standing in the roadway, they beheld a
ponderous lorry with a rough-looking driver standing at the
horses' heads. The front door of the house was open, so the
mummy case had apparently arrived before its time, and had been
taken to Braddock's museum while they were chatting in the
kitchen garden.

"Did Mr. Bolton come with the case?" asked Lucy, leaning over the
railings and addressing the driver.

"No one came, miss, except myself and my two mates, who have
taken the case indoor." The driver jerked a coarse thumb over
his shoulder.

"Was Mr. Bolton at the hotel, where the case remained for the