Don Pedro winced at this desecration of the dead, but, as he had given his consent, there was nothing left to do but to grin and bear it.

In a wonderfully short space of time, considering the neatness of the workmanship and the holding power of the wooden pegs, the lid was removed.

Then the four on-lookers saw that the mummy had been tampered with.

Swathed in green-stained llama wool, it lay rigid in its case.

But the swathings had been cut; the hands protruded and the emeralds were gone--torn rudely from the hard grip of the dead..