"
"What, Mr. Smith? Our inspector reported to me that you found nothing."
"I dare say, sir; but your inspector did not know what I found."
"Ah, you are a discreet man! Well, let us see."
Slowly Smith unbuttoned his waistcoat. From its inner pocket and
elsewhere about his person he extracted the jewels wrapped in
mummy-cloth as he had found them. First he produced a sceptre-head of
gold, in the shape of a pomegranate fruit and engraved with the throne
name and titles of Ma-Mee.
"What a beautiful object!" said the Director. "Look! the handle was of
ivory, and that _sacre_ thief of a priest smashed it out at the socket.
It was fresh ivory then; the robbery must have taken place not long
after the burial. See, this magnifying-glass shows it. Is that all?"
Smith handed him the surviving half of the marvellous necklace that had
been torn in two.
"I have re-threaded it," he muttered, "but every bead is in its place."
"Oh, heavens! How lovely! Note the cutting of those cornelian heads of
Hathor and the gold lotus-blooms between--yes, and the enamelled flies
beneath. We have nothing like it in the Museum."
So it went on.
"Is that all?" gasped the Director at last, when every object from the
basket glittered before them on the table.
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