“Here it is!” Joe called out as an oblong container appeared high in the air and swung over the dock area. The crate hung there, swaying from side to side at the end of a cable while the operator of the crane prepared to lower his burden to the ground.
Suddenly the cable began to fray! Some of its strands broke under the weight, and the cargo lurched to one side!
“It’s going to fall!” Joe shouted to the crane operator in alarm. “It’ll be smashed if it hits the ground!”
The man sat frozen for a moment, as if afraid that another movement of his machine might make the cable snap. Frank ran to an untended cargo net. Starting the motor, he quickly raised the net up and eased it under the crate.
Just then the cable snapped in two. The crate tumbled into the net, and Frank lowered it to the dock.
Joe ran over to him. “Take a bow!” he said fervently. “You just saved the pharaoh!”
Frank wiped perspiration from his brow with his fingertips. “Well, I was lucky that this cargo net was on hand. ”
The stevedores lifted the crate from the net and carried it to a small truck with the words CAIRO EGYPTIAN MUSEUM on both sides. Frank and Joe introduced themselves to the driver, who invited them in halting English to ride with him.
Just then Chet and Biff ran down the gangplank. “Hey, you can’t leave without saying good-bye!” Chet complained.
Frank laughed. “Of course not, especially since you helped us so much during the trip. We really appreciate it, fellows.”
“Too bad you aren’t going back with us,” Biff spoke up. “This time it would be fun only!”
“We’re flying home as soon as we’ve delivered the mummy,” Joe said. “And we’ll beat you to Bayport!”
Frank and Joe climbed into the truck while their friends waved, then returned to the ship. The driver started the engine to begin the long run from Alexandria on the Mediterranean coast up to Cairo at the apex of the Nile delta.
He maneuvered his truck through the outskirts of the Egyptian capital and finally entered Independence Square. The Hardys saw a broad, open area made up of concentric circles where ten avenues came together. Buildings occupied by departments of the Egyptian government stood on one side of the square with the Nile-Hilton Hotel nearby. There the boys dropped off their bags, then continued to the Cairo Museum, which was located at one corner.
The truck stopped and the driver motioned for the boys to get out. A staff member was waiting and greeted Frank and Joe with a friendly smile.
“My name is Mahmoud Salim,” he said. “I am in charge of our new acquisitions. I understand that you know my brother, Najeeb Salim, who works for the Egyptian Museum in New York.”
The Hardys admitted knowing Najeeb without voicing the fact that he was a suspect in the statuette theft.
“We came in his place because he was ill,” Joe said.
Mahmoud Salim nodded. “He telephoned me about the heliomin in his coffee. I am happy to say he is getting better.”
Two men came out of the museum and carried the mummy crate inside. The boys and Salim followed.
“This is where the crate will be opened,” the Egyptian said when they had reached a large room in the basement. “Professor Fuad Kemal will be in charge. He is our expert on mummies. However, he is not here at the moment. The case is safe here, so I suggest that you—how do you say—kill time by viewing the museum. I would call to your attention the beautiful objects from the tomb of the Pharaoh Tutankhamen. ”
Frank and Joe went upstairs and walked through halls lined with artifacts of ancient Egypt. They saw stone panels covered with hieroglyphics, statues of pharaohs and queens of Egypt, and pictures of war, hunting, and domestic life.
Suddenly a blaze of gold met their eyes. They had come to the Cairo Museum’s most famous exhibit, the treasures of Tutankhamen.
First, they noticed a great sarcophagus that resembled the one they had seen in New York except that it was much more splendid. The image of the pharaoh was sculpted onto the lid of the case, the eyes half-closed in a passive stare.
Instead of a scepter, one hand held a shepherd’s s crook, symbolizing the fact that the pharaoh was the shepherd of his people.
“King Tut looks like he’s going to sleep,” Joe commented.
Frank chuckled. “Maybe he’s had a hard day at the palace.”
Joe pointed to the forehead of the ornate headdress, where a Nile cobra was portrayed in an upright position as if prepared to strike. “This looks just like the one we saw in the New York museum.”
The Hardys admired the golden masks of Tutankhamen, golden images of gods, golden furniture, and golden carvings representing life in ancient Egypt.
Then they paused before the mummy of Tutankhamen. The head was distorted by a backward extension of the skull. The nose was flattened, the teeth protruded through the lips, and the skin was crinkled like wax paper.
Joe shuddered at the sight. “Embalming didn’t do him much good!”
A voice behind them spoke up. “I think the embalmers made a mistake!”
Turning, they recognized Mahmoud Salim. “I believe they used too many fluids, he continued. ”Instead of preserving the corpse, they caused it to deteriorate. “ He paused for a moment, then smiled. ”I have come to inform you that Professor Kemal has arrived and is waiting in the basement. If you will join him, our new mummy can be removed from its sarcophagus.“
The three returned to the downstairs room where the Hardys met the professor. He was a stout, short fellow wearing the fez of modern Egypt, a high red hat with a flat top from which a black tassel dangled. He had a pleasant smile, and greeted the two Americans cordially.
“I expected to see Najeeb Salim,” he declared. “But I am pleased that the mummy had two escorts instead of one. It made the journey from New York so much safer.”
Kemal ordered his workmen to begin. Using chisels, they broke the metal seals around the crate. Then they hammered the top boards loose, placed them to one side, and removed the padding that protected the sarcophagus. At last they reached the mummy case itself which was wrapped in burlap held in place by three leather straps.
The men lifted the sarcophagus out of the crate onto the floor. They undid the straps and pulled the burlap away. The image of a pharaoh gazed at them from the lid of the case.
“They sure didn’t take any chances when they wrapped the coffin in New York,” Frank commented. “I had no idea it was packed in so many layers!”
Kemal rubbed his hands together with glee. “This is a wonderful moment for all Egyptologists. I long to look upon the mummy of the pharaoh who once ruled here on the banks of the Nile. Open the case!
The workmen loosened the lid and took it off. Kemal gasped, and the Hardys stared in disbelief.
The sarcophagus was empty!
14
The Trapdoor
“Where is the mummy?” Kemal exploded.
Frank scratched his head. “I have no idea, Professor. We made sure the crate was guarded while it was on the ship, and the seals were not broken.”
“You mean the crate was never tampered with?” Kemal demanded angrily.
“One of the metal bands snapped during a storm,” Frank replied. “We figured the violent motion of the ship caused it.”
“Could somebody have opened the crate and removed the mummy during the storm?” Kemal asked.
“I don’t think so,” Joe replied. “It was tough to keep on your feet with the freighter pitching up and down. How could anyone have opened the case, removed the mummy, and then put identical seals on?”
An idea struck Frank. “Perhaps someone substituted this crate for the real one in Alexandria!”
“But how is that possible!” cried Joe. “We never let it out of our sight!”
“I know.” Frank turned to Kemal. “Let me call the ship. The radioman is a friend of ours. I’ll have him ask Captain Baker to order a search of the freighter.”
Kemal gave his consent and Frank pho
ned the Admiral Halsey. Quickly he told Biff about their problem, then hung up.
“The ship will be checked right away,” he announced. “Biffs going to call back and let us know if they found anything.”
The group waited anxiously until the phone rang. “Nothing here, Frank,” Biff reported. “There’s no mummy crate aboard. However, something’s happened that might interest you.”
“What’s that?”
“Butch Londy jumped ship! He’s gone!”
Frank gritted his teeth. “I wonder if he has our mummy.”
Crestfallen, the Hardy boy reported the news. He told the professor about the difficulties they had encountered and the missing seaman who had acted so suspiciously during their journey.
“The real crate must have been smuggled ashore,” Kemal declared. “You will have to hurry to Alexandria to find it!”
“We will go right away, sir,” Frank said. “But I suggest you call the police.”
“I will,” Kemal said. “And I expect to hear from you soon!”
The boys walked out into Independence Square and sat down on a bench.
“I never felt like such a fool!” Frank complained. “How could a thing like this have happened?”
Joe shrugged unhappily. “I don’t know. We watched that crate as closely as we could.”
“I don’t think going to Alexandria is such a good idea,” Frank said. “Whoever has the mummy has probably taken it out of town already.
“Frank, let’s go to Luxor!” Joe exclaimed suddenly. “The mummy mask we found in the lifeboat had a Luxor tag in it. And the paper you saw in Reggie Watson’s house in Loma mentioned Luxor. Since there is a connection between the Rubassa case and the museum thefts, maybe we’ll find a clue in Luxor!”
Frank jumped up. “Great idea! How do we get there?”
“Let’s try the hydrofoil. I saw an advertisement for it when we drove by a travel bureau just down the street.”
The boys were informed that the hydrofoil to Luxor would be leaving in three hours. They decided to use the extra time for a visit to the Cairo bazaar.
Soon they found themselves in the most romantic quarter of the Egyptian capital. Shops lined both sides of the main street. Colorful banners waved in front of places selling everything from luxurious cloth to strange medicines. Vendors wandered along the street carrying large baskets of bread on their heads. Men pushed heavy carts loaded with baskets, hats, and shoes, while women carried jars of oil. There was a mingling of traditional Egyptian costume with modern Western dress.
Merchants called their wares from the doors of their shops as the Hardys went along.
“Look at this!” Frank exclaimed as he stopped at one shop and pointed to a row of masks hanging from a pole outside. They were replicas of mummy faces! I
As the Hardys stared in fascination at the display, the proprietor came out to speak to them. He wore a fez and had his hands folded over his stomach.
“I see you are interested in mummy masks,” he said in a soft voice. “There is another inside that you might care to see.”
Overcome by curiosity, the boys followed him through the front part of his shop into the back room. A single mummy mask hung on the rear wall.
“Frank,” Joe muttered, “that looks like the one the guy on the ship used!”
“It sure does. But it can’t be, can it?”
“Perhaps you would like a closer look,” the merchant suggested. He bowed and extended an arm toward the mask.
The Hardys moved forward. Suddenly the floor gave way under them and they plunged through a trapdoor!
Landing with a thump, they were stunned for a moment. Then they realized they were in a small, subterranean room lit by a single weak bulb in the ceiling. The door had been pushed shut above them. Solid walls enclosed them except for one place where they could see the outline of a narrow door.
“I doubt it’s open,” Joe grumbled. “Boy, did we ever walk into this one!”
“I don’t get it,” Frank said. “We don’t know this guy from Adam. What’s he want from us? He had no idea we would even come here today.”
Joe had approached the door and was just about to try the knob, when it opened and four men burst inside. One of them was Butch Londy!
Frank and Joe stared at them in surprise.
“You didn’t expect me, did you?” Londy grinned maliciously.
“What do you want? Frank demanded.
“I want to get even!” Londy said softly. “You gave me a hard time on the ship, and I’m giving you a hard time now!”
Realizing they were about to be attacked, the Hardys decided to go into action first. Joe caught Londy in a flying tackle and bowled over the ship’s s carpenter. Frank seized the Egyptian merchant in a bear hug and wrestled him to the floor. A battle royal raged and the boys used their karate training to overcome their antagonists. Frank pinned the merchant down while Joe got a hammerlock on Londy.
But the other Egyptians grabbed the Hardys from behind. Four against two proved too much, and finally Frank and Joe were overpowered.
Londy rubbed his arm where Joe had twisted it. “You’ll pay for this, double in spades!” he snarled.
“Indeed, the price shall be a high one!” the merchant declared venomously as he retrieved his fez from a corner where it had rolled during the fight.
Suddenly another figure came through the doorway—a man wearing a mummy mask. He gave a high-pitched cackle similar to the one they had heard during the night they guarded the mummy case in the New York museum.
Then the man whipped the mask off. He was Ahmed Ali!
“Hardys, I fooled you,” he scoffed at Frank and Joe.
“You stole the statuettes from the museum!” Joe blurted out.
“And you tried to frighten us away from the mummy by wearing that weirdo mask!” Frank added.
Ali smirked. “You are correct. I stowed away on the Admiral Halsey. I was the one you chased through the hold. But you failed to capture me.”
Londy laughed. “I helped him. I told you guys I hadn’t seen anyone on deck. But I knew Ali was hiding in the lifeboat. Same thing when he looked through your porthole. The Hardys ain’t so smart after all!”
Frank saw the point. “You followed us from the freighter to the carnival in Nicosia, Ali.”
The man nodded. “Butch was watching your friends, Morton and Hooper. He got the mask out of the lifeboat when they were not looking. I sneaked off the ship during the turmoil of unloading the cargo at Nicosia. I waited to see if you two would leave. When you did, I followed you all the way into the Tunnel of Horrors.”
“Well, at that point we fooled you!” Frank said. “We didn’t scare.”
Ali scowled. “It doesn’t matter. I flew from Cyprus to Cairo to see that nothing further went wrong. I followed you from the museum, and when you came to the bazaar, I arranged with my friend to trap you in his shop.”
A light dawned on Frank. “You also tampered with the mummy crate when you were hiding in the hold. That’s why the metal band was open and the board loose!”
“I did.”
“Where’s the mummy?”
“Where I wish it to be.”
“Which is?”
“We’ve talked enough!” Londy interrupted. “Let’s get this show on the road. I’m in this for money and I want my payoff as soon as possible.”
“What about us?” Frank asked.
“You come with us!” Ali put in. “We’ll hold you captive in case your father appears on the scene and attempts to interfere with us. Oh yes, we’ve heard what happend to the rebels on Rubassa. That’ll not happen to us. Fenton Hardy won’t dare to make a move against us when he learns that his sons are our prisoners. ”
“And when it’s all over?” Joe queried.
Londy scowled. “You’ll take a swim in the Nile. All the way down!”
Ali waved to the others and went off by himself. The rest of the gang hustled Frank and Joe out of the shop to the rear wher
e two cars were parked. Two more men, both Egyptians, were already inside one car.
The drivers guided the cars through Cairo to a landing strip on the outskirts of town, where their captors pushed Frank and Joe into a small plane. After everyone was seated, the pilot turned to Londy. “Where to this time?”
“To Luxor!”
15
“It’s a Crocodile!”
Frank and Joe stared in surprise, but said nothing. They were sitting in the rear by themselves and watched the plane take off, flying upstream along the Nile. They saw the river cutting through the desert creating a ribbon of green where the land was irrigated. Beyond the cultivated fields, sand and stone stretched to the horizon on either side.
The engine was noisy, and Frank felt safe enough to talk to his brother. “This is a hairy situation,” he whispered. “These guys are a bunch of thieves, and we have no idea where they’re taking us and for what purpose!”
Joe nodded. “Now I’m sure Ali tried to steal that dagger in the museum when the alarm went off. But how could he possibly have removed the mummy on the ship?”
“Beats me!”
“Hardys, stop whispering back there!” Londy commanded.
With a shrug, Frank and Joe fell silent. The plane flew up the Nile and landed in a desolate part of the desert. Everybody got out except the pilot, who said he had to get back to Cairo.
Minutes later a small battered bus trundled up the road. Its fenders were dented, the tires were worn smooth, and the engine backfired even worse than Chet Morton’s jalopy.
“That model must date from the year one,” Frank said.
“King Tut rode in it,” Joe grumbled.
“That’ll do for you guys!” Londy snarled. “Get in. And sit in the middle where we can keep an eye on you. Don’t try any funny business or we’ll toss you into the river!”
The Hardys climbed into their seats. Two members of the gang were behind them, while the rest sat up ahead, guarding the front door of the bus.
The driver started the vehicle and drove back along the desert road, the surface of which was stone overlaid with sand. Frank and Joe watched a landscape of small hills, valleys, and gulches glide by. Night was falling, and the panorama outside became an eerie pattern of objects and their shadows.
The Mummy Case Page 8
