Thorndyke glanced at her keenly and then looked away as Dr. Norbury turned to him to ask a question.
"Why is it, think you, that some of the teeth show so much whiter than others?"
"I think the whiteness of the shadows is due to the presence of metal," Thorndyke replied.
"Do you mean that the teeth have metal fillings?" asked Dr. Norbury.
"Yes."
"Really! This is very interesting. The use of gold stoppings—and artificial teeth, too—by the ancient Egyptians is well known, but we have no examples in the Museum. This mummy ought to be unrolled. Do you think all those teeth are filled with the same metal? They are not equally white."
"No," replied Thorndyke. "Those teeth that are perfectly white are undoubtedly filled with gold, but that greyish one is probably filled with tin."
"Very interesting," said Dr. Norbury. "Very interesting! And what do you make of that faint mark across the chest, near the top of the sternum?"
It was Ruth who answered his question.
"It is the Eye of Osiris!" she exclaimed, in a hushed voice.