was about at that hour, not even a policeman, and there was no light in Sidney Bolton's window. Braddock was much agitated as he thought that Sidney had already escaped. He waited in the boat and sent Cockatoo to knock at the window. Then a light appeared and the window was silently opened. The Kanaka slipped in and remained there for some ten minutes after closing the window. When he returned, the light was extinguished. He whispered to his master that Sidney had opened the packing case and the mummy coffin, and had ripped the swathings to get the jewels. When Sidney would not hand over the jewels to the Kanaka, as the latter wanted him to, Cockatoo, already prepared with the window cord, which he had silently taken from the blind, sprang upon the unfortunate assistant and strangled him. Cockatoo told this to his horrified master, and wanted him to come back to hide the corpse in the packing case. Braddock refused, and then Cockatoo told him that he would throw the jewels—which he had taken from Sidney's body—into the river. The position of master and servant was reversed, and Braddock was forced to obey.
El Profesor se deslizó silenciosamente a la orilla y entró en la habitación. Los dos hombres volvieron a encender la vela y bajaron la persiana. A continuación, colocaron el cadáver de Sidney en la caja de embalaje y la atornillaron en silencio. Cuando terminaron, se disponían a llevar la momia en su ataúd —cuya tapa habían vuelto a colocar— hasta la barca, cuando oyeron pasos distantes, probablemente los de un policía en su ronda. Al instante apagaron la vela y —tal como Braddock le contó a la señora Jasher— él, al menos, se quedó temblando en la oscuridad. Pero el policía —si es que aquellos pasos eran los de un policía— dobló por otra calle y los dos se salvaron. Sin volver a encender la vela, deslizaron silenciosamente la momia por la ventana, con Cockatoo dentro y Braddock fuera. La caja y su contenido no pesaban mucho, por lo que no les resultó difícil a los dos hombres llevarla hasta la barca. Una vez bien guardada, Cockatoo —que era más