My father's
house was sacked, and this Vasa, who had been received hospitably
by my father when he was shipwrecked at Callao, stole the mummy,
of Inca Caxas. My father died of grief and charged me to get the
mummy back. When peace was restored to my unhappy country I
tried to recover the venerated body of my ancestor. But all
search proved vain, as Vasa had disappeared, and it was supposed
that, for some reason, he had taken the embalmed body out of the
country. It was when the mummy was lost that I unexpectedly came
across the manuscript, which detailed the funeral ceremonies of
Inca Caxas, and on learning about the two emeralds I was
naturally more anxious than ever to discover the mummy and
retrieve my fallen fortunes by means of the jewels. But, as I
said, all search proved vain, and I afterward married, thinking
to settle down on what fortune remained to me. I did live
quietly in Lima for years until my wife died. Then with my
daughter I came to Europe on a visit."
"To search for the mummy?" questioned Archie eagerly.
"No, sir. I had given up all hope of finding that. But chance
placed a clue in my hands. At Genoa I came across a newspaper,
which stated that a mummy in a green case--and a Peruvian mummy
at that--was for sale at Malta.
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