Ali picked up speed. Circling around Luxor and the ruins, he drove to a secluded spot on the Nile. A scow, a long flat-bottomed boat, lay in the water tied to stakes driven into the riverbank. Two cars were already aboard the vessel.
Londy and his men were waiting when Ali pulled up. The Hardys, peering out from under the tarpaulin, took in the scene as the Egyptian came to a halt near the scow.
“Clear the way so I can drive aboard! he called out, then carefully guided the truck onto the boat. Members of the gang untied the ropes, and with long poles pushed the scow away from the riverbank. Londy started the motor and headed toward the opposite side of the Nile.
To the Hardys, who were still hiding under the tarpaulin in the back of the pickup, the voyage seemed endless. At last, two gang members leaped ashore with the ropes and tied the scow in place.
The cars drove off, then the truck. Londy, who was in one of the cars, waited for Ali to pass him, then tailed the pickup.
“They don’t trust Ali,” Frank whispered. “They’re keeping him in between so he can’t get away.”
“Good idea, too,” Joe muttered. “I don’t trust him either.”
Lifting up the edges of the tarpaulin on both sides of the mummy case, they strained their eyes to see in the moonlight.
The caravan was driving through a barren landscape. A narrow, dusty road led between the cliffs and steep hills. The rubble of archeological digs lay everywhere—mounds of sand and rock, and boulders of enormous size. The pickup jounced up and down, swaying from side to side as the wheels careened over rocks or slipped off piles of loose sand.
“This is a pretty jolting ride,” Frank whispered. “Let’s look in the crate to see how the mummy is bearing up.” Together they managed to tilt the lid up.
Two black artificial eyes stared at them through the bandages of the ancient pharaoh’s wrapped body. But there was only a slight resemblance between this mummy and the one Frank and Joe had seen at the museum in New York!
Both boys realized instantly that this was not the mummy they had been asked to escort to Egypt!
Replacing the lid gingerly, they stared at each other in total disbelief.
When the group came to a stop, clouds momentarily covered the moon, enabling Frank and Joe to slip out of the pickup. Hitting the ground face downward, they slithered away in a panther crawl and stopped behind a small hill near enough to let them see and hear what was happening.
They heard Ali get out of the truck, and as their eyes became more accustomed to the dark, saw a car arrive with Londy at the wheel. Moments later all the men crowded around Ali.
“A partner of mine is hiding in one of the excavated tombs,” he announced. “I must give the signal. ”
He took a flashlight out of the glove compartment of the pickup, then pointed it toward a cliff, at the foot of which lay mountains of rubble from the dig. Ali snapped the light on and off three times in quick succession, then twice, then three times again.
The same signal was returned from the mouth of the excavation, then a figure emerged and walked toward the group.
Joe gasped. “It’s Norma Jones!” he whispered to his brother. “So this is where she came after escaping from us on Rubassa!”
“She’s here to get money for a fresh supply of weapons,” Frank whispered back.
When Norma was told that the Hardys had gotten away, she was furious. “They ruined my plans on Rubassa! They can do it again!” she hissed.
“Don’t worry,” Ali said. “They’re lost somewhere in the desert. Besides, we’ll be through with this deal in no time flat.”
“I hope so,” Norma grumbled. “Well, let’s see the pharaoh. He’s worth a lot of money to us.”
Londy and another man lifted the tarpaulin from the pickup and tossed it aside. Then they eased the mummy case out and placed it on the ground. All the gang members gathered around as Ali and Londy removed the lid.
Norma Jones gloated. “That’s just what we need,” she said. “It’s in wonderful condition. A little while longer and we’ll make the deal!”
Ali smiled. “Let’s put the lid back on,” he said to Butch Londy.
“Okay,” the sailor replied. “But where’s our client? What’s taking him so long?”
“He’s driving up from Cairo,” Norma replied. “He wants this for his private collection, and he doesn’t care where it came from or how we got it. I’ve sold him other art objects before. It’s perfectly safe because he keeps them hidden in his house.”
“I wonder whether he bought the stolen pharaoh figures from the New York museum,” Joe whispered to his brother.
“Probably,” Frank replied.
At this moment a pair of headlights became visible in the desert behind the boys. Norma Jones blinked the signal with her flashlight, and the car turned in her direction. The boys were right in the middle of its path!
“We’ll be killed!” Frank hissed. “Let’s run over to the tombs!”
They were about to rise to their feet and take off when the driver swerved to avoid a large boulder at the end of the hillock behind which they were hiding. His headlights shifted to the left,
Joe grabbed Frank’s arm. “There’s no point in running now. The driver didn’t notice us.”
“Right. We’re safe where we are. Let’s see who he is.”
The car made a half circle and came to a halt beside the gang in a cloud of dust. The driver, a man wearing a fez, got out and turned around.
Frank and Joe stared. He was Professor Fuad Kemal of the Cairo Museum!
18
Stranded on the Nile
While the Hardys gaped in utter disbelief, Kemal greeted the gang. He asked to see the mummy, and after inspecting it, he rubbed his hands in delight.
“It is in excellent condition,” he said. “It will be a choice addition to my private collection. I intend to have two mummies standing beside the window where they will show to their best advantage.”
“Two mummies?” Butch Londy asked. “You must really go for these critters.”
Kemal nodded. “Norma made it possible for me to buy another one, the one Frank and Joe Hardy were supposed to deliver to our museum. Which reminds me, you do have the Hardys, don’t you?”
“They’re lost in the desert,” Ali said cautiously.
“Fine,” Kemal grunted. “Now we will drive to my house in Cairo where I will pay for the mummy. You understand, this is necessary for my protection. After all, the truck could get hijacked on the way! Many things of that sort have happened lately. Unfortunately, there are too many crooks in this world!”
Frank and Joe had to suppress an ironic laugh at Kemal’s last remark. Joe ducked his head low behind the hillock to stay out of sight and took a deep breath that filled his nose with dusty particles of sand.
The irritation made him want to sneeze. He twitched his nose in an effort to remain silent and squinted his eyes. When this failed, he pushed his knuckles hard against his nostrils. This, too, was in vain.
Before he had a chance to warn Frank, he sneezed loudly!
The gang whirled around, glancing in the direction of the noise. “Somebody’s out there!” Norma Jones hissed. “Grab him!”
Londy moved forward followed by his men.
Thinking quickly, Frank got to his feet. Under his breath he said urgently, “Let’s pretend we’re natives out for a walk!” The boys drew the flaps of their headdresses together and strolled boldly within view of the gang.
Londy stopped as they came near. He peered at them malevolently through the darkness of the desert broken only by eerie moonlight.
Norma Jones snapped on her flashlight. In its beam, she inspected the two figures in native dress.
“It’s all right,” she whispered to Londy. “They’re Egyptians, probably on their way home. I don’t think they noticed what we’re doing.”
Stifling another laugh, Frank and Joe moved casually within a few feet of her, bowed slightly, and continued on, deliberatel
y walking slowly to avoid suspicion.
“We should stop ‘em!” Londy was worried.
“That would only make them suspicious,” Norma replied. “Then they might go to the police when they get to Luxor.”
“We could do ‘em in!” the sailor growled. “Bury ’em in one of these tombs. That’s what tombs are for, ain’t they?”
“And what happens when they don’t return home?” Norma retorted sharply. “Their families will go to the police. Either way, we’ll have the cops after us. Is that what you want?”
“I guess not,” Londy replied in an embarrassed tone.
That was the last Frank and Joe heard. Feeling secure, they took to their heels and ran off in the darkness. They kept to the narrow road along which they had ridden in the pickup and made their way back toward the Nile.
Frank finally slowed to a walk. “It’s at least a couple of miles,” he said. “Let’s not get puffed out too soon. Besides, it looks as if we’ll have to swim across the river, so save your breath.”
Joe had an inspiration. “We can take their scow, Frank. They left it tied to the bank. It must still be there.”
“That’s a terrific idea! We’ll make the gang pay for our passage to the Temple of Karnak.”
They hurried along through the desert, walking and running to pace themselves, and finally reached the spot where they had come ashore in the pickup. Two members of the gang were lying on the ground asleep near the stakes that held the scow in place at the riverbank.
“They must have been left here to guard the boat,” Frank said. “But they’re not doing a good job. I just heard a snore.”
“Let’s sneak the scow away from them,” Joe suggested. “You take the stake on the right, and I’ll take the one on the left. All we have to do is lift up the loop of each rope and we’re off.”
“Okay. But first I’m getting rid of this Egyptian outfit. It’s too confining.”
“Me, too. We don’t need it anymore.”
The boys removed their headdresses and gowns and tossed them aside. Then they eased their way down the riverbank to where the stakes were. Slowly and gingerly they lifted the ropes.
Frank’s heart skipped a beat as the guard near him moved uneasily in his sleep and appeared on the point of waking. However, the man settled back into a deep slumber. Holding his breath, Frank worked the loop up along the stake, freed the rope, and laid it in the scow. He stepped aboard and picked up the pole used to push off from the bank into deep water.
Joe also got his rope clear and put it inside. As he was about to follow it, he glanced at the guard nearer him. The man was watching him with wide-open eyes!
Instantly, Joe turned and leaped onto the scow. The man scrambled to his feet with a cry of alarm that wakened his companion. The pair rushed forward and, as Frank poled away from the bank, jumped into the river and waded toward the boat.
Raising the pole, Frank struck the first guard in the chest, knocking him off his feet and leaving him to thresh around in the water. The second man waded closer, but he was left behind clutching at empty air as Joe quickly started the motor. The scow chugged out into the Nile.
“Wow! That was a close call!” Joe said.
“And we’re not home free yet,” Frank replied, listening to the irregular drone of the boat’s engine. “It’s missing a lot!”
They were well out in the river heading for Luxor when the motor suddenly died. The boys tried to start it again, but to no avail.
The swift Nile current took control of the scow, which drifted downstream until it hit a sandbar with a thump.
“We’re stuck!” Joe cried morosely. “Now we’ll have to swim the Nile after all.”
“Unless we can hitch a ride!” Frank pointed into the distance, where a white speck on the surface of the river was growing larger and larger as it approached in the dawn.
“That’s a sailboat,” Frank observed. “Let’s see if we can flag it down.”
He took off his jacket and raised it high on the pole. The skipper of the approaching vessel adjusted his sail in the high wind and veered in the direction of the sandbar.
Joe was the first to recognize him. “Lee Mason! He must be coming back from his nighttime sail!”
The young man from Oklahoma stared in surprise when he saw his new friends. “Well, I’ll be!” he cried out. “What in the world are you doing here?”
“We’re sitting on a sandbar.” Joe chuckled. “Do you think you could give us a ride?”
“Of course. Hop aboard.”
The Hardys transferred to the sailboat, then Lee pointed to the scow. “What do you want to do with this?”
“We can leave it here,” Joe said. “The harbor patrol will pick it up.”
“That’s what you get for turning down my invitation,” Lee said. “If you’d gone with me instead of striking out on your own, you wouldn’t have gotten stranded. ”
“It’s not that simple,” Frank said. “We were chasing a bunch of crooks. Matter of fact, the scow is theirs.”
“Crooks?” Lee’s eyes popped. “Are you detectives?”
“Just amateurs,” Frank said modestly. “Now if you could get us to Luxor pronto, we’d appreciate it.”
“I’ll be glad to. My ship really travels fast in this wind.”
The three boys took turns at the tiller since the Hardys were experienced sailors. Lee was on duty when they reached the dock, and he eased the boat into a slip. Then he went to get his deposit back from the marina, while Frank and Joe raced to their hotel. Frank called the Cairo police and asked to speak to the chief. After identifying himself, he was connected with the officer’s home.
The chief had been alerted earlier by Fuad Kemal about the missing mummy and was astonished to hear that the curator himself was involved in the theft.
“He and the gang are on their way to Kemal’s house where he intends to pay them off,” Frank concluded.
“It is hard for me to believe that a prominent citizen of our town is a criminal!” the chief said. “But do not worry, we will check out your story.”
“It’s true!” Frank urged. “If you want a reference confirming that my brother and I are amateur detectives, you can call Chief Collig of the Bayport Police in the United States!”
“I shall do this,” the chief agreed. “And then we will have a welcoming party ready for the professor and his gang of thieves!”
19
The Welcoming Committee
“The police are staking out Kemal’s house,” Frank told Joe as he hung up the phone. “They’re hoping he’ll walk right into their trap.”
“I’d like to be in on it!” Joe said. “Maybe the mummy we were supposed to bring to Egypt is at his house!”
Frank nodded. “From the way Norma talked, I couldn’t tell if he had bought it already or was going to buy it.”
“Trouble is, how can we possibly make it to Cairo in time? Even if we rented a car, we couldn’t catch up with the crooks.”
Just then there was a knock on the door. Joe opened it to let Lee Mason in.
“Did you find your criminals?” he asked excitedly. “After you told me that story I couldn’t sleep, tired as I am.”
“We called the police and they’re staking out the crooks’ destination,” Frank said. “But we won’t be able to get there in time. It’s in Cairo, and the gang has a head start on us.”
“Hey, I know a guy in Luxor who owns a plane!” Lee volunteered. “He flies tourists around Egypt. Maybe he’ll take you to Cairo.”
“That’s a terrific idea!” Frank exclaimed. “What’s his name?”
“Abdel Jimad. He has an American-made four- seater. Got his pilot’s license in the States. I’ve been up with him. If you want to, I’ll call him for you.”
“Please do!”
Lee phoned the pilot and apologized for waking him up. Then he explained the situation and Jimad offered to take the Hardys to Cairo as soon as they could make it to the small airstrip where he kept h
is plane.
Gratefully, the boys said good-bye to Lee, promising to get in touch with him once they were all back in the United States. Then they went to the airfield and met Abdel Jimad, who was already there. He was a young man wearing corduroy pants, a green blazer, and dark glasses. Frank edged into the seat next to him, while Joe sat in the back. A few moments later, the plane took off.
Circling over Luxor, Jimad straightened his aircraft into a flight down the Nile toward Cairo. In the rising sun, they could see how the river created a ribbon of green through the desert. Irrigation systems carried its water to fields on both sides. In many villages, the houses were built in the desert away from the river.
When Joe asked why, Jimad said, “The reason is to keep all the irrigated land for agriculture. The population can live in the desert, but fruit and grain cannot. So, the people move into the sand, and their crops get the water.”
They flew above the highway between Luxor and Cairo that paralleled the Nile. Traffic was sparse.
“There aren’t many cars,” Frank noted.
“Not like in the United States.” Jimad chuckled. “We don’t have as many cars or use as much gasoline!”
At one point where the river made a slight bend to the right and then to the left, the Hardys saw a complex of ruins extending for several miles. “That must have been some city,” Joe guessed.
“It is Amarna, built by the Pharaoh Ikhnaton,” Jimad replied. “Your city of Washington was built as a new capital. Ikhnaton built Amarna for the same reason, only about three thousand years earlier.”
Amarna fell behind, and the flight continued down the Nile. Joe noticed a pickup truck moving along the highway at top speed. One car was ahead of it, two others brought up the rear.
“That looks like the gang we’re after!” he exclaimed. “Jimad, can you drop a little lower so we can see them better?”
The pilot nodded and went into a shallow dive.
The Mummy Case Page 10
