第34章 CHAPTER X(3)

"My dear, look how oddly the man is dressed.""I can't tell at this distance," said Lucy, "and if you can, Mrs.

Jasher I really do not see why you require glasses."Mrs. Jasher laughed at the compliment to her sight, and colored through her rouge at the reproof to her vanity. Meanwhile, the smaller figure, which was that of a village lad leading a tall gentleman and a slender lady, pointed toward the group round Hope's easel. Shortly, the boy ran back up to the village road, and the gentleman came along the pathway with the lady. Random, who had been looking of them intently, suddenly started, having at length recognized them.

"Don Pedro and his daughter," he said in an astonished voice, and sprang forward to welcome the unexpected visitors.

"Now, my dear," whispered the widow in Lucy's ear, "we shall see the kind of woman Sir Frank prefers to you.""Well, as Sir Frank has seen the kind of man I prefer to him,"retorted Lucy, "that makes us quite equal."

"I am glad these new-comers talk English," said Hope, who had risen to his feet. "I know nothing of Spanish.""They are not Spanish, but Peruvian," said Mrs. Jasher.

"The language is the same, more or less. Confound it! here is Random bringing them here. I wish he would take them to the Fort. There's no more work for the next hour, I suppose," and Hope, rather annoyed, began to pack his artistic traps.

On a nearer view, Don Pedro proved to be a tall, lean, dry man, not unlike Dore's conception of Don Quixote. He must have had Indian blood in his veins, judging from his very dark eyes, his stiff, lank hair, worn somewhat long, and his high cheek-bones.

Also, although he was arrayed in puritanic black, his barbaric love of color betrayed itself in a red tie and in a scarlet handkerchief which was twisted loosely round a soft slouch hat, It was the hat and the brilliant red of tie and handkerchief which had caught Mrs. Jasher's eye at so great a distance, and which had led her to pronounce the man a stranger, for Mrs.

Jasher well knew that no Englishman would affect such vivid tints. All the same, in spite of this eccentricity, Don Pedro looked a thorough Castilian gentleman, and bowed gravely when presented to the ladies by Random.

"Mrs. Jasher, Miss Kendal, permit me to present Don Pedro de Gayangos.""I am charmed," said the Peruvian, bowing, hat in hand, "and in turn, allow me, ladies, to introduce my daughter, Donna Inez de Gayangos."Archie was also presented to the Don and to the young lady, after which Lucy and Mrs. Jasher, while not appearing to look, made a thorough examination of the lady with whom Random was in love.

No doubt Donna Inez was making an examination on her own account, and with the cleverness of the sex the three women, while chatting affably, learned all that there was to be learned from the outward appearance of each other in three minutes. Miss Kendal could not deny but what Donna Inez was very beautiful, and frankly admitted - inwardly, of course - her own inferiority.

She was merely pretty, whereas the Peruvian lady was truly handsome and quite majestic in appearance.

Yet about Donna Inez there was the same indefinite barbaric look as characterized her father. Her face was lovely, dark and proud in expression, but there was an aloofness about it which puzzled the English girl. Donna Inez might have belonged to a race populating another planet of the solar system. She had large black, melting eyes, a straight Greek nose and perfect mouth, a well-rounded chin and magnificent hair, dark and glossy as the wing of the raven, which was arranged in the latest Parisian style of coiffure. Also, her gown - as the two women guessed in an instant - was from Paris. She was perfectly gloved and booted, and even if she betrayed somehow a barbaric taste for color in the dull ruddy hue of her dress, which was subdued with black braid, yet she looked quite a well-bred woman. All the same, her whole appearance gave an observant onlooker the idea that she would be more at home in a scanty robe and glittering with rudely wrought ornaments of gold. Perhaps Peru, where she came from, suggested the comparison, but Lucy's thoughts flew back to an account of the Virgins of the Sun, which the Professor had once described. It occurred to her, perhaps wrongly, that in Donna Inez she beheld one who in former days would have been the bride of some gorgeous Inca.

"I fear you will find England dull after the sunshine of Lima,"said Lucy, having ended a swift examination.

Donna Inez shivered a trifle and glanced around at the gray misty air through which the pale sunshine struggled with difficulty.

"I certainly prefer the tropics to this," she said in musical English, "but my father has come down here on business, and until it is concluded we shall remain in this place.""Then we must make things as bright as possible for you," said Mrs. Jasher cheerfully, and desperately anxious to learn more of the new-comers. "You must come to see me, Donna Inez - yonder is my cottage.""Thank you, madame: you are very good."

Meanwhile Don Pedro was talking to the two young men.

"Yes, I did arrive here earlier than I expected," he was remarking, "but I have to return to Lima shortly, and I wish to get my business with Professor Braddock finished as speedily as possible.""I am sorry," said Lucy politely, "but my father is absent.""And when will he return, Miss Kendal?"

"I can scarcely say - in a week or a fortnight."Don Pedro made a gesture of annoyance.

"It is a pity, as I am so very pressed for time. Still, I must remain until the Professor returns. I am so anxious to hear if the mummy has been found.""It is not found yet," said Hope quickly, "and never will be."Don Pedro looked at him quietly.

"It must be found," said he. "I have come all the way from Lima to obtain it. When you hear my story you will not be surprised at my desire to regain the Mummy.""Regain it?" echoed Hope and Random in one breath.

Don Pedro nodded.

"The mummy was stolen from my father," he said.