The Professor immediately followed the false trail. “Not yet,” he said briskly, rubbing his smooth hands, “but in three days I expect The Diver will be at Pierside, and Sidney will bring the mummy on here. I shall unpack it at once and learn exactly how the ancient Peruvians embalmed their dead. Doubtless they learned the art from--” “The Egyptians,” ventured Mrs. Jasher rashly. Braddock glared. “Nothing of the sort, dear lady,” he snorted angrily. “Absurd, ridiculous! I am inclined to believe that Egypt was merely a colony of that vast island of Atlantis mentioned by Plato. There--if my theory is correct--civilization begun, and the kings of Atlantis--doubtless the gods of historical tribes--governed the whole world, including that portion which we now term South America.” “Do you mean to say that there were Yankees in those days?” inquired Mrs. Jasher frivolously. The Professor tucked his hands under his shabby coattails and strode up and down the room warming his rage, which was provoked by such ignorance. “Good heavens, madam, where have you lived?” he exclaimed explosively--“are you a fool, or merely an ignorant woman? I am talking of prehistoric times, thousands of years ago, when you were probably a stray atom embedded in the slime.” “Oh, you horrid creature!” cried Mrs. Jasher indignantly, and was about to give Braddock her opinion, if only to show him that she could hold her own, when the door opened. “How are you, Mrs. Jasher?” said Lucy, advancing. “Here am I and here is Archie. Dinner is ready. And you--” “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 that this grotesque creature invariably wore a white drill suit, emphasized still more the suggestion of his likeness to an Australian parrot.