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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Romance of Golden Star ..., by George
+Chetwynd Griffith, Illustrated by Alfred Pearse
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: The Romance of Golden Star ...
+
+
+Author: George Chetwynd Griffith
+
+
+
+Release Date: December 23, 2006  [eBook #20173]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ROMANCE OF GOLDEN STAR ...***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Wilelmina Maillière and the Project Gutenberg Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net/c/)
+
+
+
+Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
+      file which includes the original illustrations.
+      See 20173-h.htm or 20173-h.zip:
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/0/1/7/20173/20173-h/20173-h.htm)
+      or
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/0/1/7/20173/20173-h.zip)
+
+
+Transcriber's note:
+
+      Some punctuation has been changed to meet contemporary standards.
+
+      Printer's errors: see the list of corrections at the end of the
+      text.
+
+
+
+
+
+THE ROMANCE OF GOLDEN STAR ...
+
+by
+
+GEORGE [CHETWYND] GRIFFITH[-JONES]
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Reprint Edition 1978 by Arno Press Inc.
+Reprinted from a copy in The Library of the University of California,
+Riverside
+Editorial Supervision: Marie Stareck
+
+
+
+
+THE ROMANCE OF GOLDEN STAR
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Hail, Son of the Sun!
+
+_Page 78._
+
+THE ROMANCE OF GOLDEN STAR.
+
+_Frontispiece._]
+
+
+
+
+THE ROMANCE OF GOLDEN STAR ...
+
+by
+
+GEORGE GRIFFITH
+
+Author of
+'The Angel of the Revolution,'
+'Olga Romanoff,' 'The Outlaws
+of the Air,' 'Valdar the Oft-Born,'
+'Briton or Boer?' Etc., Etc.
+
+Illustrated by Alfred Pearse
+
+
+
+
+_'To that Son of the Sacred Race
+who for Honour and Faith and
+Love shall take the hand of a
+pure virgin of his own holy blood
+and with her pass fearless through
+the Gate of Death into the shadows
+which lie beyond shall be given the
+glory of casting out the Oppressor
+and raising the Rainbow Banner
+once more above the Golden Throne
+of the Incas. On that Throne he
+shall sit and wield power and mete
+out justice and mercy to the Children
+of the Sun when the gloom
+that is falling upon the Land of
+the Four Regions shall have passed
+away in the dawn of a brighter
+age.'_
+
+--THE PROPHECY CONTAINED
+IN THE ANCIENT LEGEND
+OF VILCAROYA-INCA AND
+GOLDEN STAR, HIS SISTER-BRIDE.
+
+
+London: F. V. White & Co....
+14 Bedford Street, Strand, W.C. 1897
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+PROLOGUE
+
+                                                         PAGE
+
+HIS HIGHNESS THE MUMMY                                      1
+
+A PHYSIOLOGICAL EXPERIMENT                                 16
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+BACK THROUGH THE SHADOWS                                   32
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+BROTHERS OF THE BLOOD                                      47
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+IN THE HALL OF GOLD                                        66
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+THE SISTER STARS                                           86
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+HOW DJAMA DID HIS WORK                                    105
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+THE WAKING OF GOLDEN STAR                                 124
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+IN THE THRONE-ROOM OF YUPANQUI                            145
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+HOW THE SOUL OF GOLDEN STAR CAME BACK                     168
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+THE TREACHERY OF DJAMA                                    188
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+ON THE RODADERO                                           209
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+HOW WE TOOK THE CITY OF THE SUN                           230
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+QUEEN AND CROWN                                           250
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+HOW DJAMA PAID HIS DEBT                                   262
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+THE RE-KINDLING OF THE SACRED FIRE                        271
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+BY
+
+ALFRED PEARSE
+
+                                                             PAGE
+
+'HAIL, SON OF THE SUN!'                           _Frontispiece_
+
+'AM I ONLY DREAMING THAT THE DEATH-SLEEP IS OVER?'             26
+
+THE DAGGER-POINT DROPPED TILL IT WAS WITHIN AN INCH
+OF GOLDEN STAR'S BREAST                                       119
+
+THEY THRUST HIM IN WITH HIS ARMS STILL BOUND                  205
+
+IT HAD SMITTEN HIM TO THE HEART                               228
+
+NOW THE MOMENT FOR THE GIVING OF THE SIGN HAD COME            280
+
+
+
+
+The Romance of Golden Star
+
+
+
+
+PROLOGUE
+
+
+I
+
+HIS HIGHNESS THE MUMMY
+
+
+'Ah, what a thing it would be for us if his Inca Highness were really
+only asleep, as he looks to be! Just think what he could tell us--how
+easily he could re-create that lost wonderland of his for us, what
+riddles he could answer, what lies he could contradict. And then think
+of all the lost treasures that he could show us the way to. Upon my
+word, if Mephistopheles were to walk into this room just now, I think I
+should be tempted to make a bargain with him. Do you know, Djama, I
+believe I would give half the remainder of my own life, whatever that
+may be, to learn the secrets that were once locked up in that withered,
+desiccated brain of his.'
+
+The speaker was one of two men who were standing in a large room,
+half-study, half-museum, in a big, old-fashioned house in Maida Vale.
+Wherever the science of archæology was studied, Professor Martin Lamson
+was known as the highest living authority on the subject of the
+antiquities of South America. He had just returned from a year's
+relic-hunting in Peru and Bolivia, and was enjoying the luxury of
+unpacking his treasures with the almost boyish delight which, under such
+circumstances, comes only to the true enthusiast. His companion was a
+somewhat slenderly-built man, of medium height, whose clear, olive skin,
+straight, black hair, and deep blue-black eyes betrayed a not very
+remote Eastern origin.
+
+Dr Laurens Djama was a physiologist, whose rapidly-acquired fame--he was
+barely thirty-two--would have been considered sounder by his
+professional brethren if it had not been, as they thought, impaired by
+excursions into by-ways of science which were believed to lead him
+perilously near to the borders of occultism. Five years before he had
+pulled the professor through a very bad attack of the calentura in
+Panama, where they met by the merest traveller's chance, and since then
+they had been fast friends.
+
+They were standing over a long packing-case, some seven feet in length
+and two and a-half in breadth, in which lay, at full length, wrapped in
+grave-clothes that had once been gaily coloured, but which were now
+faded and grey with the grave-dust, the figure of a man with hands
+crossed over the breast, dead to all appearances, and yet so gruesomely
+lifelike that it seemed hard to believe that the broad, muscular chest
+over which the crossed hands lay was not actually heaving and falling
+with the breath of life.
+
+The face had been uncovered. It was that of a man still in the early
+prime of life. The dull brown hair was long and thick, the features
+somewhat aquiline, and stamped even in death with an almost royal
+dignity. The skin was of a pale bronze, though darkened by the hues of
+death. Yet every detail of the face was so perfect and so life-like
+that, as the professor had said, it seemed to be rather the face of a
+man in a deep sleep than that of an Inca prince who must have been dead
+and buried for over three hundred years. The closed eyes, though
+somewhat sunken in their sockets, were the eyes of sleep rather than of
+death, and the lids seemed to lie so lightly over them that it looked as
+though one awakening touch would raise them.
+
+'It is beyond all question the most perfect specimen of a mummy that I
+have seen,' said the doctor, stooping down and drawing his thin, nervous
+fingers very lightly over the dried skin of the right cheek. 'On my
+honour, I simply can't believe that His Highness, as you call him, ever
+really went to the other world by any of the orthodox routes. If you
+could imagine an absolute suspension of all the vital functions induced
+by the influence of something--some drug or hypnotic process unknown to
+modern science, brought into action on a human being in the very prime
+of his vital strength--then, so far as I can see, the results of that
+influence would be exactly what you see here.'
+
+'But surely that can't be anything but a dream. How could it be possible
+to bring all the vital functions to a dead stop like that, and yet keep
+them in such a state that it might be possible--for that's what I
+suppose you are driving at--to start them into activity again, just as
+one might wind up a clock that had been stopped for a few weeks and set
+it going?'
+
+'My dear fellow, the borderland between life and death is so utterly
+unknown to the very best of us that there is no telling what frightful
+possibilities there may be lying hidden under the shadows that hang over
+it. You know as well as I do that there are perfectly well authenticated
+instances on record of Hindoo Fakirs who have allowed themselves to be
+placed in a state of suspended animation and had their tongues turned
+back into their throats, their mouths and noses covered with clay, and
+have been buried in graves that have been filled up and had sentries
+watching day and night over them for as long a period as six weeks, and
+then have been dug up and restored to perfect health and strength again
+in a few hours. Now, if life can be suspended for six weeks and then
+restored to an organism which, from all physiological standpoints, must
+be regarded as inanimate, why not for six years or six hundred years,
+for the matter of that? Given once the possibility, which we may assume
+as proved, of a restoration to life after total suspension of animation,
+then it only becomes a question of preservation of tissue for more or
+less indefinite periods. Granted that tissue can be so preserved, then,
+given the other possibility already proved, and--well, we will talk
+about the other possibility afterwards. Now, tell me, don't you, as an
+archæologist, see anything peculiar about this Inca prince of yours?'
+
+The professor had been looking keenly at his friend during the delivery
+of this curious physiological lecture. He seemed as though he were
+trying to read the thoughts that were chasing each other through his
+brain behind the impenetrable mask of that smooth, broad forehead of
+his. He looked into his eyes, but saw nothing there save a cold, steady
+light that he had often seen before when the doctor was discussing
+subjects that interested him deeply. As for his face, it was utterly
+impassive--the face of a dispassionate scientist quietly discussing the
+possible solution of a problem that had been laid before him. Whether
+his friend was really driving at some unheard-of and unearthly solution
+of the problem which he himself had raised, or whether he was merely
+discussing the possible issue of some abstract question in physiology,
+he was utterly unable to discover, and so he thought it best to confine
+himself to the matter in hand, without hazarding any risky guesses that
+might possibly result in his own confusion. So he answered as quietly as
+he could:
+
+'Yes, I must confess that there are two perhaps very important points of
+difference between this and any other Peruvian mummy that I have ever
+seen or heard of.'
+
+'Ah, I thought so,' said Djama, half closing his eyes and allowing just
+the ghost of a smile to flit across his lips. 'I thought I knew enough
+about archæology and the science of mummies in general to expect you to
+say that. Now, just for the gratification of my own vanity, I should
+like to try and anticipate what you are going to say; and if I'm wrong,
+well, of course, I shall only be too happy to be contradicted.'
+
+'Very well,' laughed the professor; 'say on!'
+
+'Well, in the first place, I believe I'm right in saying that all
+Peruvian mummies that have so far been discovered have been found in a
+sitting posture, with the legs drawn close up to the body by means of
+bindings and burial-clothes, so that the chin rested between the knees,
+while the arms were brought round the legs and folded over them. Then,
+again, these mummies have always been found in an upright position,
+while you found this one lying down.'
+
+'Quite so, quite so!' said the professor. 'In fact, I may say that no
+one save myself has ever discovered such a mummy as this among all the
+thousands that have been taken out of Peruvian burying-places. And now,
+what is your other point?'
+
+'Simply this,' said Djama, kneeling down beside the case, and laying his
+hands over the abdomen of the recumbent figure. 'In the case of all
+mummies, whether Egyptian or Peruvian, it was the invariable practice of
+the embalmers to take out the intestines and fill the abdominal cavity
+with preservative herbs and spices. Now, this has not been done in this
+case. Look here.'
+
+And deftly and swiftly he moved the dusty, half-decayed coverings from
+the body of the mummy, while the professor looked on half-wondering and
+half-frightened for the safety of his treasure.
+
+'That has not been done here. You see the man's body is as perfect as it
+was on the day he died--to use a conventional term. Now, am I not
+right?'
+
+'Yes, yes; perfectly right,' answered the professor, who felt himself
+fast losing his grip of the conversation which had taken so strange a
+turn. 'But what has all this got to do with the most unique mummy that
+ever was brought from South America? Surely, in the name of all that's
+sacred, you don't mean--'
+
+'My dear fellow, never mind what I mean for the present,' replied Djama,
+with another of his half smiles. 'If I mean anything at all, the meaning
+will keep, and if I don't it doesn't matter. Now, do you mind telling me
+exactly how and where you came across this extraordinary specimen
+of--well, for want of a better term--we will say, Inca embalming?'
+
+'Yes, willingly,' said the professor, glad to get back again on to the
+familiar ground of his own experiences. 'I found it almost by accident
+in a little valley about four days' ride to the westward of Cuzco. I was
+on my way to Abancay across the Apurimac. My mule had fallen lame, and
+so I got belated. Night came on, and somehow we got off the track
+crossing one of the Punas--those elevated tablelands, you know, up among
+the mountains--and when the mule could go no farther we camped, and the
+next morning I found myself in an almost circular valley, completely
+walled in by enormous mountains, save for the narrow, crooked gorge
+through which we had stumbled by the purest accident. The bottom of this
+valley was filled by a little lake, and while I was exploring the shores
+of this I saw, hidden underneath an overhanging ledge of rock, a couple
+of courses of that wonderful mortarless masonry which the Incas alone
+seemed to know how to build. I had no sooner seen it than all desire of
+getting to Abancay or anywhere else had left me. I made my arriero turn
+the animals loose for the day, and then I sent him back to a village we
+had passed through the day before to buy more provisions and bring them
+to me.
+
+'As soon as he had got out of sight I set to work to get some of the
+stones out and see what there was behind them. I knew there must be
+something, for the Incas never wasted labour. It was hard work, for the
+stones were fitted together as perfectly as the pieces of a Chinese
+puzzle; but at last I got one out and then the rest was easy. Behind the
+stones I found a little chamber hollowed out of the rock, perfectly
+clean and dry, and on the floor of this I found, without any other
+covering than what you see there, the mummy of His Highness lying on
+what had once been a bed of soft Vicuña skins, as perfect and as
+lifelike as though he had only crept in there twelve hours before, and
+had laid down for a good night's rest.
+
+'You may imagine how delighted I was at such a find. I hardly knew how
+to contain myself until my man came back. I put the stones back into
+their places as well as I could, and when Patricio returned the next day
+I had the animals saddled up, and started off in a hurry to Cuzco. There
+I had this case made, bought two extra mules, brought them to the
+valley, packed up my mummy, took it back to Cuzco, and from there to the
+railway terminus at Sicuani and took it down by train to Arequipa, where
+I left it in safe keeping until I had finished the rest of my
+exploration. Then I went back, took it down to Mollendo, got it on board
+the steamer, and here it is.'
+
+'And you didn't find any traces of other treasure-places, I suppose, in
+the valley?' said Djama, who had listened with the most perfect
+attention to the professor's story.
+
+'No, I didn't, though I must confess that one side of the cave in which
+I found this was walled up with the same kind of masonry as there was in
+front of it; but, to tell you the truth, the Peruvian Government has
+such insane ideas about treasure-hunting; and the life of a man who is
+believed to have discovered anything worth stealing is worth so little
+in the wilder districts of the interior, that I was afraid of losing the
+treasure I had got, perhaps for the sake of a few little gold ornaments
+which I might have dug out of the hill, and so I decided to be content
+with what I'd found.'
+
+'H'm!' said the doctor. 'Well, you may have been wise under the
+circumstances; I daresay you were. But we can see about that afterwards.
+Meanwhile there is something else to be talked about.'
+
+He stopped suddenly, took a quick turn or two up and down the room, with
+his hands clasped behind him and his eyes fixed on the floor. Then he
+went to the door, opened it, looked out, shut it and locked it, and then
+came back again and sat down without a word in his chair, staring
+steadily at the impassive face of the mummy in the packing-case.
+
+'Why, what's the matter, doctor?' said the professor, a trifle sharply.
+'You don't suppose I am afraid of anyone coming to steal my treasure, do
+you?'
+
+'My dear fellow,' said Djama, looking him straight in the eyes, and
+speaking very slowly, as though his mind was doing something else
+besides shaping the thoughts to which he was giving utterance, 'I don't
+for a moment suppose that there are thieves about, or that, if there
+were, any burglar with a competent knowledge of his profession would
+think of stealing your mummy, priceless as it may prove to be. I locked
+the door because I don't want to be interrupted. I want to talk to you
+about a very important matter.'
+
+'And that is?'
+
+'Mephistopheles.'
+
+'WHAT?'
+
+'Gently, my friend, gently, don't get excited yet. You will want all
+your nerves soon, I can assure you. Yes, I am quite serious. You know
+that in the good old days, when people still believed in His Majesty of
+Darkness, such a speech as the one you remember making a short time ago
+was quite enough to call up one of his agents, armed with full powers to
+make contracts and do all necessary business.'
+
+'Look here, Laurens, if you go on talking like that, I shall begin to
+think you have gone out of your mind.'
+
+'My dear fellow, to be quite candid with you, I don't care two pins what
+you think on that subject. I have been called mad too many times for
+that. Now, suppose, just for argument's sake, that I were
+Mephistopheles, and staked my diabolic reputation on the statement that
+in that thing you possess a possible key to those lost treasures of the
+Incas, which ten generations of men have hunted for in vain, what kind
+of a bargain would you be inclined to make with me on the strength of
+it? Half the rest of your life, I think you said, and as that wouldn't
+be very much good to me, suppose we say the half of any treasures we
+may discover by the help of our silent friend there? Eh?--will that suit
+you?'
+
+'Are you really serious, Djama, or are you only dreaming another of
+these wild scientific dreams of yours?' exclaimed the professor, taking
+a couple of quick strides towards him. 'What connection can there
+possibly be between a mummy, about four centuries years old, and the
+lost treasures of the Incas?'
+
+'This man was an Inca, wasn't he?' said the doctor, abruptly, 'and one
+of the highest rank, too, from what you have said. He lived just about
+the time of the Conquest, didn't he--the time when the priests stripped
+their temples, and the nobles emptied their palaces of their treasures
+to save them from the Spaniards? Is it not likely that he would know
+where, at anyrate, a great part of them was buried? Nay, may he not even
+have known the localities of the lost mines that the Incas got their
+hundredweights of gold from, and of the emerald mines which no one has
+ever been able to find? Why, Lamson, if these dead lips could speak, I
+believe they could make you and me millionaires in an hour. And why
+shouldn't they speak?'
+
+'Don't talk like that, Djama, for Heaven's sake! It is too serious a
+thing to joke about,' said the professor, with a half-frightened glance
+in his set and shining eyes. 'I should have thought you, of all men,
+knew enough of the facts of life and death not to talk such nonsense as
+that.'
+
+'Nonsense!' said the physiologist, interrupting him almost angrily; 'may
+I not know enough of the facts of life and death, as you call them, to
+know that that is _not_ nonsense? But there, it's no use arguing about
+things like this. Will you allow this mummy of yours to be made the
+subject of--well, we will say, an experiment in physiology?'
+
+'What! the finest and most unique huaca that was ever brought to
+Europe--'
+
+'It would only be made finer still by the experiment, even if it failed.
+I know what you are going to say, and I will give you my word of honour,
+and, if you like, I'll pledge you my professional reputation, that not a
+hair of its head shall be injured. Let me take it to my laboratory, and
+I promise you solemnly that in a week you shall have it back, not as it
+is now, but either the body of your Inca, as perfect as it was the day
+he died, or--'
+
+He stopped, and looked hard at his friend, as if wondering what the
+effects of his next words would be upon him.
+
+'Or what?' asked the professor, almost in a whisper.
+
+'Your Inca prince, roused from his three-hundred-year sleep, and able
+to answer your questions and guide us to his lost mines and treasure
+houses.'
+
+'Are you in earnest, Djama?' the professor whispered, catching him by
+the arm and looking round at the mummy as though he half thought that
+the silent witness in the packing-case might be listening to the words
+which, if it could have heard, would have had such a terrible
+significance for it. 'Do you really mean to say in sober earnest that
+there is the remotest chance of your science being able to work such a
+miracle as that?'
+
+'A chance, yes,' replied Djama, steadily. 'It is not a certainty, of
+course, but I believe it to be possible. Will you let me try?'
+
+'Yes, you shall try,' answered the professor in a voice nothing like as
+steady as his. 'If any other man but you had even hinted at such a
+thing, I would have seen him--well, in a lunatic asylum first. But
+there, I will trust my Inca to you. It seems a fearful thing even to
+attempt, and yet, after all, if it fails there will be no harm done, and
+if it succeeds--ah, yes, if it succeeds--it will mean--'
+
+'Endless fame for you, my friend, as the recreator of a lost society,
+and for both of us wealth, perhaps beyond counting. But stop a
+moment--granted success, how shall we talk with our Inca _revenant_?
+Have I not heard you say that the Aymaru dialect of the Quichua tongue
+is lost as completely as the Inca treasures?'
+
+'Not quite, though I believe I am now the only white man on earth who
+understands it.'
+
+'Good! then let me get to work at once, and in a week--well, in a week
+we shall see.'
+
+
+II
+
+A PHYSIOLOGICAL EXPERIMENT
+
+Laurens Djama dined with the professor that night, and the small hours
+were growing large before they ended the long talk of which their
+strange bargain, and the still stranger experiment which was to result
+from it, formed the subject. The next day the packing-case containing
+the mummy was transferred to Djama's laboratory, and then for a whole
+week neither the professor nor any of his friends or acquaintances had
+either sight or speech of him.
+
+Every caller at his house in Brondesbury Park was politely but firmly
+denied admittance on professional grounds, and three letters and two
+telegrams which the professor had sent to him, after being himself
+denied admittance, remained unanswered.
+
+At last, on the Thursday following the Friday on which the mummy had
+been sent to the laboratory, the professor received a telegram telling
+him to come at once to the doctor. Three minutes after he had read it he
+was in a hansom and on his way to Kilburn, wondering what it was that he
+was to be brought face to face with during the next half hour.
+
+This time there was no denial. The door opened as he went up the steps,
+and the servant handed him a note. He tore it open and read,--
+
+     '_Come round to the laboratory and make a new acquaintance who will
+     yet be an old one._'
+
+His heart stood still, and he caught his breath sharply as he read the
+words which told him that the unearthly experiment for which he had
+furnished the subject had been successful.
+
+The doctor's laboratory stood apart from the house in the long, narrow
+garden at the back, and as he approached the door he stopped for a
+moment, and an almost irresistible impulse to go away and have nothing
+more to do with the unholy work in hand took possession of him. Then the
+love of his science and the longing to hear the marvels which could only
+be heard from the lips that had been silent for centuries overcame his
+fears, and he went up to the door and knocked softly.
+
+It was opened by a haggard, wild-eyed man, whom he scarcely recognised
+as his old friend. Djama did not speak; he simply caught hold of the
+sleeve of his coat with a nervous, trembling grasp, drew him in, shut
+the door, and led him to a corner of the room where there was a little
+camp bed, curtained all round with thin, transparent muslin, through
+which he could see the shape of a man lying under the sheets.
+
+Djama pulled the curtain aside, and said in a hoarse whisper,--
+
+'Look, it has been hard work, and terrible work, too, but I have
+succeeded. Do you see, he is breathing!'
+
+The professor stared wide-eyed at the white pillow on which lay the head
+of what, a week before, had been his mummy. Now it was the head of a
+living man; the pale bronze of the skin was clear and moist with the dew
+of life; the lips were no longer brown and dry, but faintly red and
+slightly parted, and the counterpane, which was pulled close up under
+the chin, was slowly rising and falling with the regular rhythm of a
+sleeper's breathing. He looked from the face of him who had been dead
+and was alive again to the face of the man whose daring science and
+perfect skill had wrought the unholy miracle, and then he shrank back
+from the bedside, pulling Djama with him, and whispering,--
+
+'Good God, it is even more awful than it is wonderful! How did you do
+it?'
+
+'That is my secret,' whispered Djama, his dry lips shaping themselves
+into a ghastly smile, 'and for all the treasures that that man ever saw,
+I wouldn't tell it to a living soul, or do such hideous work again. I
+tell you I have seen life and death fighting together for two days and
+nights in this room--not, mind you, as they fight on a deathbed, but the
+other way, and I would rather see a thousand men die than one more come
+back out, of death into life. You see, he is sleeping now. He opened his
+eyes just before daybreak this morning--that's nearly ten hours ago--but
+if I lived ten thousand years I should never forget that one look he
+gave me before he shut them again. Since then he has slept, and I stood
+by that bed testing his pulse and his breathing for eight hours before I
+wired you. Then I knew he would live, and so I sent for you.'
+
+The professor looked at his friend with an involuntary and unconquerable
+aversion rising in his heart against him; an aversion that was half
+fear, half horror, and then he remembered that he himself had a share in
+the fearful work which had been done--a work that could not now be
+undone without murder.
+
+With another backward look at the bed, he said, in a whisper that was
+almost a smothered groan,--
+
+'When will he wake?'
+
+Before Djama could reply, the question was answered by a faint rustle,
+and a low, long-drawn sigh from the bed. They looked and saw the Inca's
+face turned towards them, and two fever-bright eyes shining through the
+curtains.
+
+'He is awake already, two hours sooner than I expected,' said Djama, in
+a voice that he strove vainly to keep steady. 'Come, now, you are the
+only man on earth who can talk to him. Let us see if he has come back to
+reason as well as to life.'
+
+'Yes, I will try,' said the professor, faintly. He took a couple of
+trembling steps. Then the lights in the room began to dance, the
+whitewashed walls reeled round him, and he pitched forward and fell
+unconscious by the side of the bed.
+
+When he came to himself he was lying on the floor of the laboratory, out
+of sight of the bed, behind a great cupboard, glass-doored and filled
+with bottles. Djama was kneeling beside him. A strong smell of ammonia
+dominated the other smells peculiar to a laboratory, and his brow was
+wet with the spirit that Djama was gently rubbing on it with his hand.
+
+'What have I been doing?' he said, as, with the other's assistance, he
+got up into a sitting position and looked stupidly about him. 'It isn't
+true, that is it, I really saw--Good God no, it can't be; it's too
+horrible. I must have dreamt it.'
+
+'Nonsense, my dear fellow, nonsense! I should have thought you would
+have had better nerves than that. Come, take a nip of this, and pull
+yourself together. There is nothing so very horrible about it for you.
+Now, if you had had the actual work to do--'
+
+'Then it _is_ true! You really have brought him back to life again? That
+was him I saw lying on the bed?' He looked up at Djama as he spoke with
+a half-inquiring, half-frightened glance. His voice was weak and
+unsteady, like the voice of a man who has been stunned by some terrible
+shock, and is still dazed with the fear and wonder of it.
+
+'Yes, of course it was,' said Djama; 'but I can tell you, I should have
+hesitated before I introduced you so suddenly, if I hadn't thought that
+the nerves of an old traveller like you would have been a good deal
+stronger than they seem to be. It's a very good job that His Highness
+was only about half conscious himself when you collapsed, or you might
+have given him a shock that would have killed him again.'
+
+'Again?' said the professor, echoing the last word as he got up slowly
+to his feet. 'That sounds queer, doesn't it, to talk of killing a man
+_again_? I am more sorry than I can say that I was weak enough to let my
+feelings overcome me in such a ridiculous fashion. However, I am all
+right now. Give me another drain of that brandy of yours, and then let
+us talk. Is he still awake?'
+
+'No, he dozed off again almost immediately, and you have been here about
+ten minutes or a quarter of an hour. Do you think you can stand another
+look at him?'
+
+'Oh, certainly,' said the professor, who, as a matter of fact, felt a
+trifle ashamed of himself and his weakness, and was anxious to do
+something that would restore his credit. He followed the doctor out into
+the laboratory again, and stood with him for some moments without
+speaking by the Inca's bedside. He was sleeping very quietly, and his
+breathing seemed to be stronger and deeper than it had been. He had
+slightly shifted his position, and was lying now half turned on his
+right side, with his right cheek on the pillow.
+
+'You see he has moved,' whispered Djama. 'That shows that muscular
+control has been re-established. We shall have him walking about in a
+day or so. Ah! he is dreaming, and of something pleasant, too. Look at
+his lips moving into a smile. Poor fellow, just fancy a man dreaming of
+things that happened three hundred years ago, and waking up to find
+himself in another world. I'll be bound he is dreaming about his wife or
+sweetheart, and we shall have to tell him, or rather you will, that she
+has been a mummy for three centuries. Look now, his lips are moving; I
+believe he is going to say something. See if you can hear what it is?'
+
+The professor stooped down and held his ear so close that he could feel
+on his cheek the gentle fanning of the breath that had been still for
+three centuries. Then the Inca's lips moved again, and a soft sighing
+sound came from them, and in the midst of it he caught the words,--
+
+'_Cori-Coyllur, Nustallipa, Ñusta mi!_'
+
+Then there came a long, gentle sigh. The Inca's lips became still again,
+shaped into a very sweet and almost womanly smile, as though his vision
+had passed and left him in a happy, dreamless slumber.
+
+'What did he say?' whispered Djama. 'Were you able to understand it?'
+
+'Yes,' said the professor, 'yes, and you were right about the subject of
+his dream. Come away, in case we wake him, and I will tell you.'
+
+They went to the other end of the laboratory, and the professor went on,
+still speaking in a low, half-whisper,--
+
+'Poor fellow, I am afraid we have incurred a terribly heavy debt to him.
+What he said meant, "Golden Star, my princess, my darling!" So you see
+you were right, but poor Golden Star has been dead three hundred years
+and more--that is, at least, if his Golden Star is the same as the
+heroine of the tradition.'
+
+'What tradition?' asked Djama.
+
+'It's too long a story to tell you now, but if she is the same, then our
+Inca's name is Vilcaroya, and he is the hero of the strangest story,
+and, thanks to you, the strangest fate that the wildest romancer could
+imagine. However, the story must keep, for I wouldn't spoil it by
+cutting it short. The principal question now is--what are we going to do
+with him? We can't keep him here, of course?'
+
+'No, certainly not,' replied Djama, with knitted brows and faintly
+smiling lips. 'His Highness must be cared for in accordance with his
+rank and our expectations. I shall have him taken into the house and
+properly nursed.'
+
+'But what about your sister? You will frighten her to death if you take
+in a living patient that has been dead for three hundred years.'
+
+'Not if we manage it properly; there will be no need to tell Ruth the
+story yet, at anyrate. I'll tell her that I am going to receive a
+patient who is suffering from a mysterious disease unknown to medical
+science. I'll say I picked him up in the Oriental Home in Whitechapel,
+and have brought him here to study him, and you and I must smuggle him
+into the house and put him to bed some time when she is out of the way.
+Then I'll instal her as nurse; in fact, she will do that for herself;
+and as there is no chance of her learning anything from him, we can
+break the truth to her by degrees, and when His Highness is well enough
+to travel we'll all be off to Peru and come back millionaires, if you
+can only persuade him to tell you the secret of his treasure-houses.'
+
+That night the doctor and the professor took turns in watching by the
+bedside of their strange patient, whose slumber became lighter and
+lighter until, towards midnight, he got so restless and apparently
+uneasy that Djama considered that the time had come to wake him and see
+if he was able to take any nourishment. So he set the professor to work,
+warming some chicken broth over a spirit lamp, and mixing a little
+champagne and soda-water in one glass and brandy and water in another.
+Meanwhile, he filled a hypodermic syringe with colourless fluid out of a
+little stoppered bottle, and then turned the sheet down and injected the
+contents of the syringe under the smooth, bronze skin of the Inca's
+shoulder. He moved slightly at the prick of the needle, then he drew
+two or three deep breaths, and suddenly sat up in bed and stared about
+him with wide open eyes, full, as they well might be, of inquiring
+wonder.
+
+The professor, who had turned at the sound of the hurried breathing, saw
+him as he raised himself, and heard him say in the clear and somewhat
+high-pitched tone of a dweller among the mountains,--
+
+'Has the morning dawned again for the Children of the Sun? Am I truly
+awake, or am I only dreaming that the death-sleep is over? Where is
+Golden Star, and where am I? Tell me--you who have doubtless brought me
+back to the life we forsook together--was it last night or how many
+nights or moons ago?'
+
+The words came slowly at first, like those of a man still on the
+borderland between sleep and waking; but each one was spoken more
+clearly and decisively than the one before it, and the last sentence was
+uttered in the strong, steady tones of a man in full possession of his
+faculties.
+
+'Come here, Lamson,' said Djama, a trifle nervously; 'bring the soup
+with you, and some brandy, though I don't think he needs it. Do you
+understand what he said?'
+
+[Illustration: "Am I only dreaming that the death-sleep is over?"
+
+_To face page 26._]
+
+'Yes,' replied the professor, coming to the bedside with a cup of soup
+in one hand and a glass of brandy and water in the ether. Both hands
+trembled as he set the cup and the glass down on a little table. He
+looked at the Inca like a man looking at a re-embodied spirit, and said
+to him in Quichua,--
+
+'I am not he who has brought you back to life, but my friend here, who
+is a great and skilled physician, and master of the arts of life and
+death. You are in his house, and safe, for we are friends, and have
+nursed you back to health and waking life after your long sleep.'
+
+'But Golden Star,' said the Inca, interrupting him with a flash of
+impatience in his eyes. 'Where is she--my bride who went with me into
+the shades of death? Have you not brought her, too, back to life?'
+
+The professor stared in silence at the strange speaker of these strange
+words, which told him so plainly that the old legend of the death-bridal
+of Vilcaroya-Inca and Golden Star was now no legend at all, but a true
+story which had come down almost unchanged from generation to
+generation. Then an infinite pity filled his heart for this lonely
+wanderer from another age, whose friends and kindred had been dead for
+centuries, and whose very nation was now only a shadowy name on a
+half-forgotten page of history.
+
+'What does he say?' said Djama, breaking in upon his reverie. 'I suppose
+he wants to know where he is, and what has become of that sweetheart of
+his he was dreaming about?'
+
+'Yes,' replied the professor; 'but you won't understand properly until I
+have told you the story. Poor fellow! I suppose we shall have to tell
+him the ghastly truth. Good Heavens! fancy telling a man that his wife
+has been dead for three hundred years or more! Look here, Djama, this
+business can't stop here, you know. What a fool I was, after all, not to
+see if there wasn't another chamber beside the one I found him in! Of
+course there must be, and I have no doubt she is lying there at this
+present moment. We shall have to go and find her, and you must restore
+her as you have done him. Phew! where is it all going to end, I wonder!'
+
+'And suppose we can't find her, or suppose I fail, even if I can bring
+myself to undertake that horrible work all over again?' said Djama,
+looking almost fearfully at the Inca, who was still sitting up in the
+bed glancing mutely from one to the other, as though waiting for an
+answer to his question. Then, keeping his voice as steady as he could,
+the professor told him the story of his resuscitation, addressing him by
+his own name and ending by asking him if he remembered when he and
+Golden Star had devoted themselves to die together, as the tradition
+said they had done.
+
+'Yes, I remember!' said Vilcaroya, with brightening eyes and faintly
+flushing cheeks. 'How could I forget it? It was when the bearded
+strangers from the north had come and taken the usurper Atahuallpa
+prisoner in the midst of his conquering host at Cajamarca. It was after
+the Inca Huascar had been slain by stealth with a traitor's knife. It
+was on the night of the feast of Raymi, when our Father the Sun had left
+the Sacred Fleece unkindled, and when was fulfilled the prophecy that
+the night should fall over the land of the Children of the Sun. Now,
+tell me, you who speak the language of my people, how long have I been
+sleeping?'
+
+Instead of replying directly, he offered the Inca the cup of broth, and
+asked him first to take the nourishment that he must need so greatly
+after his long fast, telling him that it was needful to prevent him
+losing his new-found strength again. When he had eaten and drunk a
+little, then he would tell him what he could.
+
+He took the broth and a little bread obediently, and while he was eating
+and drinking, the professor translated what he had said to the doctor.
+When he had finished, Djama looked at the Inca, sitting there taking
+food and drink like any other human being, and with evident relish, too,
+and said,--
+
+'That happened in 1532--three hundred and sixty-five years ago! It
+sounds utterly incredible, doesn't it, and yet there he is, eating and
+drinking and talking with us just like any other man. I can hardly
+believe the work of my own hands, and I am beginning to half wish I had
+never begun it. Just imagine the awful loneliness to which we shall have
+condemned this poor fellow, supposing we can't find his Golden Star and
+restore her to him! Still perhaps you had better tell him the truth at
+once. I think he can stand it. He has been a long time coming round, but
+I don't think there is much the matter with him now.'
+
+Then the professor told Vilcaroya the, to him, so terrible truth, that
+of all men in the world he was the most lonely, separated as he was from
+all that he had known and loved by an impassable gulf of nearly four
+long centuries--that his well-loved Golden Star was but a memory known
+to few, a name in a vague tradition; that the resting-place, even of her
+mummy, was unknown, and that all that the darkest prophecy could have
+foretold had in very truth fallen upon the land of the Incas and the
+Children of the Sun.
+
+Vilcaroya heard him to the end in silence; then, raising his hands to
+his forehead, he bowed his head and said,--
+
+'It is the will of our Father, foretold by the lips of his priests, but
+other things were foretold which shall be fulfilled as well as these.
+Golden Star is not dead; she only sleeps as I did. If I have awakened,
+why shall not she? I know where she lies--where Anda-Huillac swore to me
+they would lay her. Come, let us go! I will take you to the place, and
+you shall restore her to me, warm and living and loving as she was when
+I kissed her good-bye in the Sanctuary of the Sun, and I will give you
+treasures of gold and silver and jewels such as you have never dreamed
+of in exchange for her.'
+
+
+
+
+THE STORY OF VILCAROYA
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+BACK THROUGH THE SHADOWS
+
+
+As the time passes between dreaming and waking, so for me did the long
+years pass, flowing like a smooth and silent stream seen from afar, out
+of the darkness that fell so slowly and so sweetly over my eyes that
+night when I sank into the death-trance beside Golden Star, my beloved,
+in the bridal chamber that they made for us in the Temple of the Sun,
+into the light that shone into them when they opened upon a scene so
+different, and saw a white, haggard face bending over me, and two black,
+burning eyes looking into them.
+
+Then I closed them again and slept, and when I woke again there were two
+faces looking at me, both white and full of fear and wonder, and I saw
+two beings who seemed very strange to me, such as I had never seen among
+the Children of the Sun, standing by the couch on which I lay, and one
+of them fell down as though sore stricken, and I tried to think what
+this could mean, and, thinking, fell asleep again.
+
+Then I dreamt a long, sweet dream of the days that I now know were far
+past, when I, Vilcaroya, son of the great Huayna-Capac, lived in the
+Land of the Four Regions, a prince among princes, a warrior and a child
+of the Sacred Race, whose blood had flowed unmixed through many
+generations from the divine fountain of life and light, our Father the
+Sun. I dreamt of Golden Star, and the days when I loved her in timid
+silence, for she was the fairest of all our race, and so, as it seemed
+to me, destined to no less a lot than the motherhood of a long line of
+Incas, in whom should live and grow to ever greater splendour the
+glories of the race that owned no earthly origin.
+
+I called her in my dream, but she made no answer. I saw her lying by my
+side in that well-remembered chamber, with the shadowy forms of the
+priests standing about us as I had seen them long before; but, alas! she
+lay still with closed eyes and lips which seemed to have forgotten how
+sweetly they once could smile. I whispered her name, mingled with many a
+loving word, into her ear, and still she moved not. I put my arms about
+her and kissed her, and instantly I shrank back shivering with a fear
+unspeakable, for the form that should have been so warm and soft and
+yielding, was chilled and pulseless and rigid, as though some foul magic
+had changed it into stone, and the lips that should have given me back
+kiss for kiss were still and cold and senseless.
+
+Then I saw, as it seemed with half-closed eyes, that dear shape of hers
+being borne away from me, while I, longing to snatch her from the hands
+of those who were robbing me of her, yet lay helpless on the couch,
+without strength to move or speak, until all grew dim around me, and I
+felt myself raised by invisible hands, and borne far away through the
+darkness--and so my dream melted away into the night of sleep.
+
+Then, yet again, I woke and saw the two strange men that I had seen
+before, and one came and spoke to me kindly in my own tongue, and called
+me by my own name, and gave me food and drink, and told me in a few, but
+to me terrible, words that the dreams I had dreamed were dreams
+indeed--dreams of a time that was long gone by, of things that had
+passed away, perchance for ever, and men and women whose names were only
+memories.
+
+Thus did I come from the evening of one age into the morning of another,
+falling asleep in the prime of my strength and manhood, and waking again
+even as I had fallen asleep--though those who had closed my eyes had
+been dead for many generations, and the name of our ancient race was
+but a bitter memory to the sons and daughters of my own land amidst the
+mountains.
+
+Then I went forth into the wondrous new world into which I had awakened,
+the world which you who read this hold so common, and which I found
+crowded with wonders so many and marvellous that if it had not been for
+the loving care of her who guided my first footsteps on my new journey,
+as she might have guided those of a little child, my re-awakening reason
+must soon have been quenched in the night of madness.
+
+Many and strange as were the things that happened to me during the first
+days and months of my awakening, there is little need that I should now
+write of them at any length. Yet something I must say of them in order
+that the still stranger things of which I shall have to tell may be the
+better understood.
+
+And first I must tell of her whose gentle hand led me from weakness to
+strength, and guided my unwonted footsteps through the mazes of that new
+wonderland in which I had awakened, and from whose lips I learnt the
+first words that I spoke of the strong and stately English speech in
+which I am striving so lamely and imperfectly to write down the story of
+my new life.
+
+This was Ruth, the sister of Djama, whose smile was the first ray of
+sunshine that shone into my second life, and whose laugh was so sweet
+and gladsome, that when it first sounded in my ears, like an echo from
+the dear dead past, I named her forthwith Cusi-Coyllur, which in English
+means Joyful Star--after that royal maiden of my own race who loved the
+handsome rebel Ollantay, and, refusing all others, waited for him in the
+House of the Virgins of the Sun until he came in triumph to claim her.
+She came with us to the south, rejecting all contrary counsel and
+braving the labours of the long, toilsome journey, so that she might be
+the first woman to welcome Golden Star back into the world of life.
+
+Yet what words can I find in this new speech that I have yet but half
+learnt to tell fitly of her beauty and sweet graciousness, and of all
+the magic which made her seem in my eyes like an angel that had come
+down from the Mansions of the Sun to greet me in a world in which I was
+a stranger? Better that you who may read what I write should learn to
+know her for yourself through the sweetness and grace of her own words
+and deeds, as I shall strive, however unworthily, to tell of them. So,
+then, let it be.
+
+But there is another of whom I must say something before I go on to tell
+of my return to my own land--now, alas! mine no longer--and that is
+Francis Hartness, a captain among the warriors of the English, and a
+friend of him who was called the professor, because of his learning--he
+who had helped Djama to bring me back into the world of living men.
+
+He was a man of about thirty years, tall of stature and strong of limb,
+brief of speech and straight of tongue, with eyes as blue as the skies
+which shine on Yucay, and hair and beard golden and bright as the rays
+which flow from the smile of our Father the Sun. Him we met by chance
+one evening in the square of the town which is called Panama, named,
+they told me, after that older city, whence the conquerors of my people
+sailed to ravish the realms of Huayna-Capac. There was peace in his own
+land and all the neighbouring countries, and so he was journeying to the
+region which is now called South America, where the descendants of the
+Spaniards are nearly always fighting among themselves over the spoils of
+my people, to see what work he could find to keep his sword from
+rusting.
+
+As he was greatly skilled in that strange, new warfare of flame and
+thunder and far-smiting bolts, which had but begun to be when our Father
+the Sun hid his face from the eyes of his children, I took counsel with
+Joyful Star--who was ever my wisest as well as my most faithful guide
+in all things--and we together told him my story as we went south, and
+after that I had asked him if he would help me in the task which I was
+going to essay, which was nothing less than the taking back of the land
+of my fathers, and the raising of the children of my people to the
+ancient glories of that state which I alone of living men remembered. To
+this, after some shrewd questioning, he consented--for it was a
+desperate venture, such as his brave heart loved--and when he had given
+me his hand on it, and promised, after the simple fashion of his nation,
+to be true to me in peace and war, I told him of the means that I could
+employ to gain my end, and how I would use that lust of gold which had
+led to the ruin of my people, so that it should conquer the children of
+their conquerors and give me back the empire that had been my father's.
+
+At Panama we took ship again and travelled swiftly and straightly south,
+driven by that wondrous power which had come into the world to serve men
+like a tireless giant since I had fallen asleep; and day after day on
+the southward voyage I walked alone up and down the deck, or stood
+gazing, rapt in thought, at the desert foreshore along which the steamer
+was running, and at the great masses of the dark brown barren mountains,
+as they towered range beyond range till they overtopped the clouds
+themselves and stood serene and sharply outlined against the blue
+background of the upper sky.
+
+Behind those mighty, rock-built ramparts lay the well-loved,
+well-remembered land over which my fathers had ruled in the days of
+peace, before the stranger and the oppressor had come. On the other side
+of them I knew that I was now fated to find only the poor fragments of
+the great cities and stately pleasure-houses that I had known in all
+their strength and beauty--only the silent and deserted ruins of the
+mighty fortresses which had guarded the confines of our lost empire, and
+were the portals through which the Children of the Sun had marched to
+unvarying conquest.
+
+I thought, too, of the broad, green, level plain of Cajamarca,
+surrounded by its guardian ramparts of terraced hills; of the long,
+verdant valley of Cuzco with its hundred towns and villages nestling
+amidst the foliage which shaded their streets and squares, and looking
+out over the level fields of the valley and the countless tiers of
+terraces that rose green and gold with maize, or glowing with flowers,
+to the summits of the hills; and of that earthly paradise of Yucay,
+wherein the Gardens of the Sun, the golden shrines of my ancient faith,
+and the wondrous pleasure-palaces of many generations of Incas had
+glowed in almost heavenly beauty, embosomed in green and gold and
+scarlet in the midst of inaccessible mountains which themselves were
+overtopped by the mighty peaks of eternal snow that I had so often seen
+glimmering white and ghostly in the moonlight, like guardian spirits
+round an enchanted realm, on many a night of delicious revelry now far
+past and lost in the swift flood of the years that had rolled by since
+then.
+
+It was to the poor remnants of all these glories that I was
+returning--returning to find, as they had told me, the homes of my
+ancestors laid waste and the descendants of my people the slaves of
+strangers. The desolation which it had taken centuries to accomplish
+would be to me but the swift, magical change of a day and a night and a
+morning.
+
+Think, you who read, of the dread and the horror of it! I had seen the
+last day of the stately empire of my fathers the Incas! I had fallen
+asleep and I had awakened, and now, on the morrow of my sleep, I was
+coming back to the silent and ghastly ruins which the slow, pitiless
+work of the years and centuries had left behind it!
+
+But over the gulf of these same centuries the hand of my Father the Sun
+was swiftly stretched out to help and uphold me, for no sooner did I
+again tread that soil which had once been sacred to Him, than my
+fainting heart grew strong with the memory of that ancient prophecy
+which I had come to fulfil, and of which this new life of mine was of
+itself a part fulfilment. If one part, and that not the least, had
+already been made good, then why not the rest?
+
+Far away behind those towering tiers of mountains lay Golden Star in
+that resting-place to which she had been borne with me, sleeping soundly
+in the impassive embrace of their mighty arms; and within the
+safe-keeping of those arms lay, too, that uncounted treasure, that vast
+legacy which the long-dead leaders of my people had bequeathed to me for
+the sacred purpose of restoring those glories which all men, save
+myself, believed to be but a dream of the distant past, that
+incomparable inheritance of which I was the sole lawful heir on earth,
+and which I was coming to share with Golden Star when I had once more
+raised the Rainbow Banner above the restored throne of the divine Manco.
+
+As I thought of all this, the blood that had lain stagnant through the
+long years of my magical death-sleep began to pulse like living fire
+through my veins. My new life with all its marvels became glorified into
+a waking vision of new conquests and re-won empire. The past was a dream
+both sweet and bitter in its vivid memories, but still a dream that had
+been dreamt and was done with. The present and the future were
+realities, golden and glorious with a hope justified by the miracle that
+had made them possible. I had learnt enough of the new age in which I
+had awakened to know that the lust of gold which had brought the
+conqueror and the oppressor into the land of the Children of the Sun
+burnt every whit as fiercely in the hearts of the men who were living
+now as it had done in theirs, and that lust, as I had told Hartness and
+the others, should now work for me and for the redemption of my people
+so that that which had been their ruin should yet prove their salvation.
+
+Thus, through the long sunny days and cool, starlit nights did I,
+Vilcaroya, last of the Incas, muse and dream until I once more stood in
+the Land of the Four Regions, hale and strong, and burning with the
+ardour of my sacred mission, ready to dare and do all things, and to use
+without ruth or scruple that dread power which would so soon lie within
+my hands to fulfil my oath and Golden Star's, and to accomplish the work
+that I had come through the shadows of death to do.
+
+So I came back to the shores of that well-loved land of mine which, by
+the reckoning of the new time into which I had come, had been for more
+than three hundred years the sport and prey of the generations of
+strangers and oppressors who had followed those first conquerors of the
+Children of the Sun, whose coming had sounded the hour of doom and ruin
+through the length and breadth of that glorious land of green plains and
+verdant valleys, of terraced hills and towering mountains, which had
+once been our empire and our home.
+
+From the mean coast town of wooden houses where the railway begins we
+travelled ever upward over great, grey, sloping deserts, and by rugged
+ravines with steep, broken walls of red earth and ragged rock; through
+range after range of mountains that were all strange and hateful to me,
+until we swung round the shoulder of a great crag-crowned mountain, and
+I saw across a vast plain, into which range after range of lesser hills
+sloped down, the crystal-white peaks of the snow-mountains towering far
+beyond the clouds into the blue sky above them.
+
+Then I knew that I was coming nearer to the land that had once been
+mine, and ere many hours had passed we stopped in a great city which
+still bore its old name of Arequipa, the Place of Rest, which my own
+ancestors had given to it. It was no longer the place of palaces and
+pleasure-houses, of flowery gardens and leafy woods that I had seen it,
+but above it still gleamed the white snow-fields and shining peaks of
+Charchani and Pichu-Pichu, and between the two great white ranges still
+towered the vast, black, snow-crowned cone of Misti, the smoke-mountain,
+rising sheer in its lonely grandeur twelve thousand feet above the
+sloping plain on which the city lay.
+
+As I looked at it again for the first time after so many years, I asked
+the professor, as we all called him, if, since I had been asleep, the
+mountain had been rent asunder again as it had been in the olden times,
+long before the Spaniards came to seek gold and blood in the Land of the
+Four Regions. He was very learned in such matters, even as Djama, his
+friend, was learned in secrets of life and death, and when he told me
+that the fires within it had slept for more years than men could
+remember, I was glad. Yet I said nothing of my inward joy, for had I
+told them all that I knew about the valley of black sand and yellow rock
+that was hidden behind the far-off wall of snow which shone so whitely
+against the blue of the midway heaven, it might have been many a long
+day before we had again set out on our journey towards the place that
+was the goal at once of my hopes and fears.
+
+We stayed seven days in Arequipa, making our last preparations for the
+work that lay before us and then we went on again by train to Sicuani,
+in the valley of the Vilcañota. Then from Sicuani we journeyed on by
+road, riding on mules through a land that was lovely even in my eyes,
+though its loveliness was to me only the beauty of ruin and decay, for
+this was the heart and centre of that vanished empire whose glories no
+living eyes but mine had ever seen.
+
+I saw wildernesses where there had been gardens, and gaunt, treeless
+mountains lying bare to the glare of the sun. Lakes that had shone
+encircled with gardens now spread out dull and stagnant over the
+neglected fields. A few ragged fragments of grey clay walls still rose
+from the green plain of Cacha, where I had last seen, in all its glory
+of gold and rainbow colours, the holy Temple of Viracocha; and the great
+guardian fortress of Piquillacta, which I had seen stretching its
+impregnable length and rearing its unscalable height from mountain to
+mountain across the entrance to the once lovely valley of Cuzco, lay, a
+huge ragged mass of towering ruins, splendid even in decay.
+
+As we passed through the one half-choked portal that still lay open, I
+thought, with heavy heart and bowed-down head, of the great fortress as
+I had seen it in the glory of its pride and strength, of the gallant
+warriors that had defended it, and the gay processions that I had seen
+winding in and out of its stately gates, making its hoary walls ring
+with songs and laughter, and, farther on, as we rode along the valley on
+that sad and yet eager three days' march of ours, I saw, on the
+hill-spurs about me, the black and ragged ruins of the fair cities and
+stately temples and palaces that I had seen crowded with happy throngs,
+bright with gold and colours, and so fair and strong that no man could
+have dreamed of the ruin the oppressor had brought upon them.
+
+And so, journeying amidst all these sad memories through a land which,
+for me, was peopled with the ghosts of my long-dead friends and kindred,
+we came out at length on the broad, green Plain of the Oracle, and there
+before me, still nestling under her guardian hills, lay, glimmering
+white and grey under the slanting sun-rays, all that was left of what
+had once been Cuzco, the City of the Sun and the home of his children.
+Then, as I lifted my eyes and gazed upon it through the rising mist of
+my tears, I bowed my bared head towards it and swore, in the sadness and
+silence of my desolate heart, that, to the full extent of the power
+which I believed was soon to be mine, I would take life for life and
+blood for blood, and I would give sorrow for sorrow and shame for shame,
+until I had paid to the full the debt which the long years of plunder
+and cruelty and oppression had heaped up against those who, from
+generation to generation, had brought this shame and ruin on the once
+bright home of the Children of the Sun.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+BROTHERS OF THE BLOOD
+
+
+I shall not weary you who perchance may some day read this story of mine
+by dwelling on the sorrow and shame that filled me as I entered the
+foul, unlovely streets, and saw the filthy refuse in the squares of the
+city that I remembered so pure and bright and beautiful; nor yet by
+telling of the feelings that possessed me when I saw the poor remains of
+our desecrated temples, the places where our vanished palaces had stood,
+and the dismantled ruins of that mighty fortress of Sacsahuaman, which I
+had last seen standing palace-crowned and throned in all its grandeur
+high up above the city.
+
+All this and more you who read must picture for yourselves, for I have
+greater things to tell of than the poor sorrows of a wanderer who had
+left his own age and his own kindred far behind him, and who had come
+back into a strange world to find his country a wilderness, and the
+children of his people the slaves of strangers.
+
+It had been settled amongst us that, for the purpose for which we had
+come, it would be necessary to hire a house that should be at once
+commodious for our work, sufficiently removed from the city for privacy,
+and capable of defence against intruders if need be. The professor,
+being already known in Cuzco as a man of science and seeker after
+antiquities, and possessing, moreover, a special permit from the
+Government in Lima to travel and dwell in the interior, and make such
+searches as he thought fit, undertook the business of finding such a
+house. He made many journeys in quest of what he sought, and on these
+journeys Djama always accompanied him, since he had to see that the
+house chosen contained a chamber suitable for that precious work which
+he had undertaken to do in return for the share of treasure that I was
+to give to him.
+
+And while these two were absent I at times wandered about the city with
+Joyful Star and Francis Hartness, who, it was plain to see, already
+looked with eyes of love and longing on her beauty, as in good truth I
+myself could have done had I dared, and could I have forgotten that
+older love of mine who still lay cold in her death-sleep in the cave by
+the lake yonder, over the mountains to the westward, whither I had
+already cast so many longing glances. But at other times I left them to
+go upon my own ways, for I had work on hand which, for the present, did
+not concern them.
+
+I had by this time met and conversed with many of my people in their own
+language, which was that of the labouring classes of my own times, and
+from them I had learned that at a village called San Sebastian, through
+which we had passed, about two leagues to the south of the city, there
+still dwelt many families of Ayllos--that is to say, the descendants of
+those of the old noble Inca lineage, who had been permitted by their
+conquerors to settle here. So one morning I went to visit an old
+Indian--as they now called all our people--named Ullullo, with whom I
+had made acquaintance, and at his house I dressed myself in the native
+fashion--in an old shirt and short trousers, with sandals on my feet,
+and a broad-brimmed, fringed hat on my head, and covered myself with a
+faded poncho, and together we went on foot to San Sebastian, I looking
+no different from the rest of the Indians who were passing to and fro
+upon the road.
+
+I had already seen, while riding through the village, that the people
+were different to those of all other villages that we had come through
+on the way. They were taller of stature, prouder of carriage, and
+fairer of face. The blood showed red in their cheeks through the light
+brown of their skin, and these signs had told me that if any remnant of
+the pure Inca race was left these must be they; and I was soon to have
+proof that it was so, although the children of those who had lived in
+palaces were now dwelling in huts of mud and reeds.
+
+Ullullo led me first to the house of a man named Tupac Rayca, who was
+chief among the Indians of the town. He was great-grandson of that
+ill-fated Tupac-Amaru, who, as you know, had revolted many years before
+against the oppressors of his race, and for this, after being forced to
+watch the torture and murder of his wife in the square of Cuzco, had
+himself been torn limb from limb by horses.
+
+We found him alone in a bare room in one of the better houses of the
+village. As he stood up to salute us it needed but a glance to tell me
+that in his veins at least the ancient blood of our race flowed well
+nigh as purely as it did in my own. Had it not been for the meanness of
+his clothing and the dull, brooding look on his noble features--the
+stamp of generations of oppression--I could have pictured him with the
+yellow Llautu[A] on his brow, the golden image of the Sun on his
+girdled tunic, and the rainbow banner in his hand, standing amongst the
+guards of the great Huayna-Capac himself.
+
+I asked Ullullo to leave us alone for a little while, and when he had
+gone I stepped forward, and, drawing myself up to my full height, I
+looked him in the eyes, and said in the tongue that was spoken only by
+those of the divine Inca race,--
+
+'Tell me, Tupac-Rayca, does a remnant of the Children of the Sun still
+dwell in the Land of the Four Regions, and are they still faithful to
+the traditions of their race, and the faith of their ancestors?'
+
+As the words left my lips he staggered back a pace or two with his hands
+clasped to his forehead, staring at me from under them as though--as in
+very truth I was--some spirit of the past stood re-embodied before him.
+Then, coming forward again and scanning me eagerly from head to foot, he
+whispered in the same tongue--by the Lord of Light how those familiar
+accents thrilled my ears as I heard them again after so long!
+
+'Who are you--a stranger--that comes in the image of those long dead, to
+ask me such a question in the tongue that may only be spoken when none
+save those of the Blood are present?'
+
+'One who is of the Blood himself!' I answered, taking a stride towards
+him, and stretching out my hand. 'Fear not, Tupac-Rayca, son of him that
+suffered, I am a friend, and have come from afar to work as a friend
+with you and others of the Blood that may still be left in the land,
+with a great and holy purpose of which you shall know ere long.'
+
+He grasped my hand and bowed over it in silence for a while. Then he
+stepped back and looked at me again, murmuring,--
+
+'Can it be so? Has the divine Manco come back from the Mansions of the
+Sun to save the remnant of his children, or has Vilcaroya broken the
+bonds of his death-sleep and come to fulfil the oath he swore with
+Golden Star before the altar in the Sanctuary? I know all the Children
+of the Blood that are left in the land, and I have never seen your face
+before, yet you are of the Blood. Who are you--Lord?'
+
+The last word seemed forced from his lips by some power other than his
+own will, and it sounded most pleasant to me, for it told me that,
+without knowing my name, and seeing me only as a stranger, he had
+recognised the stamp of my divine ancestry, and this promised well for
+the progress of the work I had in hand. I answered him kindly, and yet
+as one speaking to another who is scarce his equal, and said,--
+
+'My name matters not now or here, Tupac, for we are but two, and I
+might lie to you, and you would have no proof of my truth or falsehood.
+But if you will do as I bid you, to-night you shall know and all shall
+be made plain and with ample proof. Are you willing to give me your
+aid?'
+
+He picked up a rude hoe that stood in a corner of the room, and laying
+it across his shoulder after the manner of one who bears a burden, bowed
+his head and answered,--
+
+'The Son of the Sun has but to speak, and I and all his slaves will
+obey.'
+
+What he had done was an act of homage, which, in the olden time, was
+paid only to him who wore the imperial Llautu, and proved to me how
+faithfully the old traditions had been preserved in secret.
+
+'That is well said, Tupac,' I replied, speaking now as a sovereign might
+speak to a faithful subject, 'and in the days to come fear not that I
+shall forget this, your first act of unasked-for homage. Now, hear me.
+Are there twenty men of the Blood in this village--men who are faithful
+and can be trusted even to the death?'
+
+'There are five hundred here, Lord, and as many thousands within the
+valley, whose blood has flowed pure from the olden times, unpolluted by
+a single stain of Spanish dirt. What would you with them?'
+
+'I asked not for hundreds or thousands,' I said, right glad at heart to
+hear such good tidings. 'For the present I need but a score, so do you
+choose me twenty of the noblest blood and the best judgment, and an hour
+before midnight let them be with you on the plain behind the
+Sacsahuaman. Let them come well provided with torches or candles, and
+tools, levers, and hammers and spades. Tell them what has passed between
+us, but nothing of the guesses that you may have made in your own mind
+while we have been talking, and leave the rest to me. Can you do that?'
+
+'It shall be done, Lord,' he answered, still bending before me with the
+shaft of the hoe across his shoulders, 'and we will wait and toil in
+patience till the Son of the Sun shall please to reveal himself to the
+eyes of his servants.'
+
+'Nor shall you have to wait long,' I said. 'Now put that off your back
+and take my hand again, for we are not Inca and servant yet, only two
+men of the Blood, and brothers of a fallen race who are joined together
+to perform a holy work. Now farewell, Tupac, till to-night. Choose your
+companions well, and fear not but that your services and your
+faithfulness shall have their due reward.'
+
+He put his hand humbly and tremblingly into mine, bowing low over it,
+and so I left him, standing there with bent head, not daring to look up
+until the door closed behind me. Then Ullullo and I went back into the
+city, and as we crossed the great square on our way to Ullullo's house,
+I saw my four English friends standing among the market people by the
+fountain in the centre. We passed close to them, and I heard my name
+spoken by Joyful Star to her brother, who answered her and said,--
+
+'I daresay we shall find he is making friends again with some of these
+filthy Indian compatriots of his.'
+
+I hated him from that moment for his bitter words, and swore in my heart
+that some day he should pay for them, for I loved my people, and pitied
+them in their misery and degradation. I stopped beside them, and my
+heart was beating hard as I listened for what Joyful Star would say, and
+I have remembered her words, even as I have remembered his. She looked
+at him with the light of anger in her eyes and said,--
+
+'For shame, Laurens! I couldn't have believed that you would have said
+such a thing. If you belonged to a race that had been enslaved and
+plundered by these brutes of Spaniards and Peruvians for three centuries
+and a half, do you think you would be any better than these poor
+fellows? And, besides, whatever they are, they are Vilcaroya's people,
+and he is our friend.'
+
+I could have fallen on the stones and kissed her feet for those sweet
+words of hers, and I moved away quickly for fear I should betray myself,
+and went with a swelling heart and mingled tears of love and anger in my
+eyes to old Ullullo's house, where I changed my clothes again, and then,
+as it was nearly dinner time, which, as you know, is in the evening in
+Spanish countries, I went back to the house where we were lodging,
+wondering what they would think if they could have understood the words
+that had passed between Tupac-Rayca and myself.
+
+When I met them again I saw that they would willingly have learned what
+had become of me during the day, but I answered their inquiries by
+telling them nothing more and yet a great deal less than the truth, and
+saying that I had spent the day revisiting old scenes, and learning what
+I could of the present condition of my people. This satisfied them
+outwardly at least, though I saw a look in Djama's eyes which told me
+that he suspected more of the truth than it suited my purpose to tell
+him.
+
+Then our conversation turned to the matter of procuring a house, such as
+I have spoken of, and the professor told me that he had heard of a
+hacienda, well built and solid, and standing in its own domain, about
+three leagues across the valley to the westward, on a secluded little
+plain among the hills, which would serve our purpose excellently; but
+the owner of it wished to sell it, and 'with the stupidity of these
+Peruvians,' as he said, would not hire it out to us but would only sell
+it, and the price was twenty thousand soles, or dollars of Peru, which
+was two thousand pounds in English money.
+
+'It is a great pity,' said the professor, when he had finished telling
+me about it, 'for it doesn't seem as though there was another house in
+the neighbourhood of Cuzco that would suit our purpose, and this one
+would do perfectly.'
+
+'Of course, if the fellow won't let it there's no use thinking any more
+about the matter, for two thousand pounds is entirely out of the
+question. It seems to me that the expedition will be quite expensive
+enough without the luxury of buying houses at fancy prices.'
+
+It was Djama who spoke. No one else at our table could have spoken like
+that. I heard him in silence, for I could not trust myself to speak for
+the anger that was rising within me. I saw Joyful Star raise her eyelids
+and look at him with a swift glance that meant much; but she, too, said
+nothing; and then, looking at me, he spoke again and said,--
+
+'Of course, if His Highness'--for so he always spoke of me when no
+strangers were present--'would just unlock one of those treasure-houses
+of his, the matter would be easy enough, but I suppose that's outside
+the contract.'
+
+I still kept silence, knowing as I did what the night was to bring
+forth. But Francis Hartness answered for me, and said,--
+
+'I don't think you can quite put it that way, Djama, if you'll excuse me
+saying so. If I am not mistaken, it has been clearly understood that the
+first treasure-house to be unlocked is the one that holds Vilcaroya's
+greatest treasure--his wife--and what you say seems to suggest--'
+
+'It is enough!' I said, unconsciously speaking in my growing anger in
+the same imperious tone that I had used but a few hours before to Tupac.
+'Let the house be bought. I will charge myself with the cost, and I will
+be the debtor of my friends no longer.'
+
+They stared at me as I spoke, for hitherto I had spoken to them as a
+child rather than as a man; as an inferior, rather than as an equal. I
+saw a smile that was not pleasant to look upon pass swiftly over Djama's
+mouth, but he kept silence, and the professor said to me,--
+
+'Are you really in earnest, Vilcaroya? You know, according to our
+bargain, we have no claim on you until our part of the work is done.
+None of us have any desire to learn your secrets.'
+
+'I am not talking of secrets,' I said, breaking into his speech, 'and
+one of my race does not speak to make a liar of himself. What I say I
+can do and will, for I wish the work to begin at once. Do you think I
+have not waited long enough for my beloved, my sister and my wife?'
+
+'Your what!' cried Joyful Star, rising suddenly from her seat, and
+staring at me with fixed and wide-opened eyes. 'Your sister! Oh,
+Vilcaroya, surely this is not true!' and as she said this I saw her
+cheeks grow pale and her lips tremble.
+
+'Yes,' I answered, 'it is true. Why should I lie to my new sister and
+friend, Joyful Star? Golden Star was the daughter of my father, the
+great Huayna-Capac, though our mothers were not the same.'
+
+I had no time to finish my speech, for with a look of unutterable horror
+in her eyes, which pierced me to the heart and seemed to sever it in
+twain, she cried,--
+
+'Oh, no, no! that is too horrible! I don't want to hear any more. I will
+go back to England to-morrow. Laurens, come to my room; I want to speak
+to you at once.'
+
+So saying, she went to the door and opened it and went out, followed by
+her brother, who looked at me as he passed me with a look which I never
+forgot or forgave, for it was like the words that I had heard him say to
+her in the square.
+
+'What is this?' I said to the professor when the door had closed behind
+them. 'What have I said or done that Joyful Star should look with
+horror upon me and say such cruel words?'
+
+I saw him exchange glances full of meaning with the English soldier
+before he answered me; and then, leaning his arms on the table in front
+of him, he said, in that quiet, calm voice of his,--
+
+'My dear Vilcaroya, it is a very strange thing, and, as far as Miss
+Djama is concerned, perhaps, a very great pity that this has never come
+out before, for without knowing it you have given her a shock that may
+have very painful consequences. No, don't interrupt me now, for the
+sooner I can make you understand the meaning of your words to her the
+better. It is this way: we know, of course, that in your day and among
+your people sister-marriage was held to be the most sacred of all
+marriages. We know that from such a marriage only might spring the
+wearer of the imperial Borla, but to us the idea is so unutterably
+horrible and revolting that of all the crimes that could be committed by
+one of our race that would be the most fearful. It cannot even be
+discussed amongst us, and yet you, in the most perfect innocence, have
+spoken of it in the presence--Good Heavens, Hartness! what is to be
+done? Do you think Miss Djama was really in earnest when she talked of
+going back to England to-morrow? It is impossible--it would ruin
+everything!'
+
+I kept silence, for my sorrow and wonder were too great for words, but I
+listened eagerly for what Francis Hartness would say in reply.
+
+'She was in earnest when she spoke,' he said, as quietly as the
+professor had spoken; 'but, if the doctor has as much sense as I give
+him credit for, she will have seen the thing in a different light by
+this time. Of course, she has read Prescott, and she really knows as
+much about the marriage customs of the ancient Incas as we do. In fact,
+to tell you the truth'--and as he said this I saw him frown, and an
+angry light came into his eyes that I had never seen in them before--'I
+really can hardly understand how, knowing that as she does know it, she
+can have been as horrified as she certainly was. She knows perfectly
+well that Vilcaroya has come at a single step, as it were, from his age
+into ours, and so must have brought all the ideas and beliefs of his
+time and his people with him. Depend upon it, a little reflection will
+very soon show her that, horrible and all as the idea must naturally
+have appeared to her at the first shock of hearing it, from Vilcaroya's
+point of view there is nothing in it but what is perfectly natural and
+proper. Now, to my mind, the matter is much more sad and serious for
+Vilcaroya himself than for anyone else.'
+
+As he said this he turned from the professor to me and went on,
+addressing me in a tone so frank and kindly that ever afterwards I
+looked upon him as my friend and my brother,--
+
+'It's not a pleasant thing for me to say, and it must, of course, be a
+very painful one for you to hear; still, it has got to be said some time
+or other, and, unless I am wrong in what I think of you, I believe you
+are man enough to hear it and to agree with me that it had better be
+said now than later on, when the saying of it might be tenfold more
+painful both to you and us.'
+
+'Say on,' I said shortly. 'Your tongue is straight and your eyes look
+into mine as those of a friend should look. I am listening.'
+
+'I would wish for no better friend than you, Vilcaroya, after that, for
+I know what you mean. Now, what I have to say is this. We know, of
+course, that you look upon yourself as doubly married to this love of
+yours, who is dead and, like you, may yet be alive again. You are bound
+to her, not only by a marriage which, in the time that it took place,
+was perfectly lawful and natural, but also by the oath that you took
+together. But you have come back to the world in another age and among
+another people, and now that form of marriage is looked upon by all
+civilised humanity, not only as unlawful, but, as the professor has just
+said, unnatural and horrible beyond conception.
+
+'Therefore, if Golden Star is restored to life, for you to love her,
+save as a brother, or for you to consummate the union which, as you have
+told us, began and ended before the altar of the Sun, would be to make
+not only yourself, but your--your sister, Golden Star, as well, looked
+upon with horror and loathing by every civilised man and woman who knew
+your story. I am speaking strongly, because it is necessary.
+
+'You might succeed in all your aims, you might realise every ambition of
+your life, and yet I tell you it is Heaven's own truth, that if you took
+Golden Star to sit beside you on the throne of the Incas as your wife
+and queen, you would place her upon a pinnacle of infamy which men would
+spit upon and women turn their backs on. The reward of all your labours,
+the price of all your treasures, no matter how great they might be,
+would be nothing but a curse that would fall heavily on you, but a
+thousand times more heavily on the woman whom you have loved best in all
+the world.'
+
+He stopped, and they both sat and looked at me in silence, awaiting for
+me to answer him. As for me, I felt my spirit wandering over a bare
+wilderness where all was dark.
+
+I knew that he had spoken truth, strange as the truth seemed to me, for
+no man could have heard his voice and seen the steady light in his
+eyes, without knowing that he was a true man, and so spoke the truth.
+The moments passed, and I could still find no words to say. Then the
+silence was broken by the opening of the door, and Djama came in and
+said,--
+
+'My sister wishes you to excuse her coming back to the table. Of course,
+I have explained matters to her, and I think she now sees them in a
+different light, but for some reason or other she seems strangely
+shaken. You know how extremely sensitive she is, and so, as her doctor,
+as well as her brother, I have sent her to bed. She wasn't really fit to
+come back after what has happened, and a night's rest will be the best
+thing in the world for her. I suppose you two have explained things to
+His Highness as well, eh?'
+
+'Yes,' I said, rising from my seat. 'It has been explained to me. I do
+not understand all now, but I must think, and think alone, so I will
+go.'
+
+Then I went to Francis Hartness and held out my hand to him and said,
+after the fashion of the English,--
+
+'Good-night, Captain Hartness. You have wounded me sorely with your
+words, yet you have spoken them as only a friend could speak them. From
+now till the day of my death or yours, Vilcaroya Inca is your friend,
+and all his people are your servants.'
+
+Then I took my hand from his, and bowing farewell to the others, walked
+swiftly out of the room and got my cloak, and went out into the city to
+think in silence by myself over the strange and terrible things that I
+had heard, and to calm my spirit before I went to do the work which, in
+a few hours, would be awaiting me on the hills behind the Sacsahuaman.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[A] The yellow Llautu, or fringed turban of wool, worn on the brows, was
+the distinguishing mark of the sacred Inca race. The scarlet was worn
+only by the reigning Inca--'Son of the Sun.' Its fringe, called the
+'borla,' was mingled with threads of gold.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+IN THE HALL OF GOLD
+
+
+I went first to Ullullo's house and changed my clothing, so that I might
+the more easily lose myself among the hundreds of Indians about the
+streets of the city, for something told me that Djama might make an
+attempt to discover the meaning of what I had said about the house by
+following me and learning, if possible, the secret of my movements; for
+he must have known that, being without money as I was, save for the few
+dollars that the professor had lent me, it would not be possible for me
+to do as I had said, unless one, at least, of the hiding-places of the
+old treasures was within easy reach so that I could take sufficient gold
+out of it by the next day to fulfil my promise.
+
+When I changed my clothes I put a dagger into my belt, and a revolver,
+which Francis Hartness had already taught me how to use, into a case
+slung at my hip, and hidden by my jacket and the long folds of my
+poncho. Then I went back into the great square, and across it up the
+street in which we had our lodgings. As I passed the house I saw Djama
+standing in the archway leading into the courtyard, smoking a cigar. I
+turned and looked him in the face as I went by, slouching and trailing
+my sandalled feet after the fashion of the natives. He looked at me, but
+I saw no recognition in his eyes. Then as I walked on there came a
+thought to me.
+
+I hurried to Ullullo's house once more and brought him back with me,
+telling him on the way what I wanted him to do for me. When we reached
+the house again we saw Djama standing in the courtyard, and Ullullo,
+doing as I had bid him, went in to him, and told him in Spanish, which I
+could not speak, that if he would give him ten dollars he should learn
+the secret of my goings and comings, and where I was to find the gold
+with which to pay for the hacienda. Djama instantly promised him the
+money, as I thought he would, and Ullullo told him to be at the end of
+the street which is now called El Triunfo at eleven o'clock that night.
+He was to come alone, for if anyone came with him he would learn
+nothing. As you will soon see, I had two objects to serve in doing this.
+
+When Ullullo came back and told me that Djama would be there, I bade
+him wait for me at the same place and hour, and then I went away alone
+out of the city and up a path which led towards the mountains to the
+north. There, alone and in silence, I communed with my own soul, at
+first in sorrow, yet slowly becoming more and more peaceful in heart,
+even as one who is told that he is to die on a certain day first rages
+against his doom and then learns to contemplate with calmness that which
+there is no hope of escaping. The words of the professor and Francis
+Hartness had shown me that in the world to which I had returned my
+sister Golden Star could now never be my wife and queen, and the more I
+pondered on what they had said, the more plainly it appeared to me that
+this was the truth, however bitter it might seem.
+
+Yet there was something else in my heart, although at that time I did
+not dare even to let my inmost thoughts dwell upon it, which in some way
+dulled the pain of the blow that had fallen upon me, and reconciled me
+to the parting which in one sense must now be eternal. The longer I
+pondered the more deeply did that look of horror which I had seen in the
+eyes of Joyful Star burn into my soul, and the more clearly did the
+words that she had spoken ring in my ears. She had said that it was
+horrible and that it was impossible, and she was to me as one of those
+bright angels who, according to our ancient faith, awaited the heroes
+and sages of our race in the Mansions of the Sun--a being so far above
+me that I could look upon her only as a mortal might look from afar upon
+a daughter of the Celestials.
+
+Thus, musing in silence and solitude on the wild mountain-side, now
+looking back into my distant past, and now hazarding a glance into the
+fast-approaching future, the hours slipped by quickly for me, and I
+heard the bells of the churches--bells which they had told me had been
+cast out of the copper and gold and silver that our conquerors had taken
+from our temples and palaces--chiming the half-hour before eleven.
+
+So I turned back to the city, and made haste to the place where Djama
+and Ullullo would be waiting for me. I found them there talking
+together, and without discovering myself to Djama, I told Ullullo in
+Quichua to follow me with the Englishman. Then I went on swiftly along
+the rivulet of Tullamayo, past the terrace of Rocca Inca, and along the
+smooth, dark wall of what had once been the Yachahuasi, or College of
+the Youths, and so out of the city and the gorge of the little river
+Rodadero. Then, with the two still following me a few yards behind, I
+climbed the lower terraces of the Colcompata, or the Granaries, where
+the divine Manco built his first palace, and then on up the hillside to
+the Tiupunco, or Gate of Sand, which led through the fragments of what
+had once been the outer wall of the great fortress, and so on to the
+little level pampa of the Rodadero, which was my meeting-place with
+Tupac.
+
+Now as I went I began to sing one of our ancient songs, which was the
+signal that I had agreed upon with Tupac, and presently, one after
+another, silent, stealthy forms crept out from the angles of the great
+zig-zag wall and came towards me. One of them, taller than the rest,
+threw an iron bar that he was carrying across his shoulders, and came
+and stood before me with bowed-down head, waiting for me to speak. I
+knew that it was Tupac, and I said to him,--
+
+'Are the Children of the Sun ready to do the bidding of his Son?'
+
+'They are, Lord!' he replied. 'Here are twenty who have sworn by the
+heart of the divine Manco to do all things lawful and unlawful, even to
+the death, at the bidding of him who shall prove himself to be the true
+heir of the royal Llautu.'
+
+'It is good,' I said, 'and the proof shall soon be given. Now, take the
+stranger yonder; do him no harm, but bind his eyes so that he cannot
+see, and tie his hands behind him. Then follow me.'
+
+Instantly the stealthy forms closed around Djama. Not a word was spoken
+save his startled, angry exclamation, which was soon stifled, and then
+they brought him along after me, I going first and Tupac following close
+behind me. Like a string of shadows we moved across the plain past the
+great carved rock which is still called the Inca's Seat, and over the
+ridge of the Sliding Stones and down into the valley beyond, which is
+thickly strewn with great rock-masses carved into seats, and altars, and
+baths, and chambers, of which no man knows the origin, and which were
+ancient when Manco-Capac and Mama-Occlu first came into the land.
+
+The greatest of these is a high white rock carved all over into steps
+and seats and altars and basins, which are said to have been made to
+catch the blood of the living sacrifices that were offered up here by a
+race of men whose name has been forgotten. It is called in our language
+the Sayacusca, or Tired Stone, for an old tradition says that ages ago
+it was brought from the mountains by the toil of ten thousand men, and
+when it reached its present place it rolled over and killed three
+hundred of them, and could never be moved again upon its journey.
+
+On the south side of this there is a great cleft from the top to the
+bottom, and up the sides of this cleft are the two halves of a stairway,
+which was carved there before some earthquake rent the stone in twain,
+and under this is a deep dark pool of water. At the entrance to the
+cleft I stopped and beckoned to the others to come round me. Then I told
+them that they were about to see that which no man then alive on earth
+had ever seen, and made all swear by the Glory of the Sun that each and
+every one of them would slay without pity him who revealed anything seen
+or heard that night, even though he were his own brother, or his own
+father, or his own son. As for Djama, they held him there bound and
+blindfolded amongst them, and when he tried to speak they stopped his
+mouth at my bidding, for I had told them that I would be answerable for
+him, since I had brought him here for my own purposes.
+
+Then I made two of the men stretch a cord tightly across the mouth of
+the cleft close down to the ground, and to the middle of this I tied
+another cord, and stretched it out straight twelve foot-lengths from the
+centre, and here I bade them clear away the bushes, and dig. Then axe
+and hoe and spade went to work. In that clear air, and under that
+cloudless sky, the stars gave light enough to work by, and soon a space
+had been cleared, and a round hole about three feet across was being dug
+down through the loose, rocky soil.
+
+When it was about half the depth of a man the spades struck on the solid
+rock below, and could go no farther. When Tupac told me of this, I, who
+had been standing by the cleft, looking--full of strange thoughts--down
+into the dark pool of water, called the man who had been digging out of
+the hole, and, taking an iron bar from Tupac, I dropped into it.
+
+I sought about the bottom with my hands for a few moments till I found
+the outline of a squared stone that had been let into the rock. In the
+centre of this I found a hole, out of which I picked the dirt with my
+dagger. Then, putting the end of my iron bar into it, I pulled, and the
+stone turned over on a hinge, leaving an opening half its size. Down
+this I thrust my arm, and found a chain of copper which hung down into a
+deep well below. I pulled this with all my strength until something gave
+way at the bottom, then I drew the chain up, and cast my iron bar under
+it across the hole. As I did this, I heard the deep, smothered roar of
+waters rushing away far below me into the bowels of the earth.
+
+Then I got out of the hole and went back to the cleft. I lit a candle
+and looked down at the pool. It was no longer stagnant now, but seething
+and eddying like a whirlpool. I beckoned to Tupac, who was standing a
+little way behind me, and as he came and looked over my shoulder I
+pointed down into the dark gulf, out of which the bottom was rapidly
+falling, and said,--
+
+'See, the waters are opening the way by which the Son of the Sun shall
+go into his kingdom. Watch now, and listen!'
+
+'Son of the Sun and Lord of the Four Regions, it is true!' he whispered
+as the waters eddied round faster and faster, and gurgled and rattled
+down into some unknown abyss. Soon they vanished altogether, leaving
+only a dark, black, and seemingly fathomless cavern in the place where
+they had been. I waited until the sound of the last gurgle had died away
+in the depths, and then I turned to Tupac and said,--
+
+'The way is open. Tell Ullullo to bring the lantern and light it. There
+must be no other light. You and the rest follow me, and let two strong
+men bring the stranger.'
+
+He did as I bade him, and when I had lit the lantern I cast its rays
+about the gulf beneath me till I found the continuation of the broken
+stairway above, and then picking my way carefully down the dank, slimy
+steps, I led the way into the heart of the rock, the rest following,
+guided by the spreading ray of light in front of me.'
+
+I counted fifty steps, and then stopped and turned sharply to the right.
+The fiftieth step ended against a wall of rock, still dripping with the
+water that was running down from the arched roof of the chamber. I
+measured ten spans with my hand from the wall where the steps ended,
+and made a mark with my dagger on the rock. Then from the floor I
+measured eight spans in a line across the mark. Where the eighth span
+ended I made another mark, and with the help of my lantern I found a
+silver socket let into the rock. It was a plate with a hole in the
+centre large enough to admit the iron bar which I had brought for the
+purpose. I put it in, and whispering to Tupac to help me, we gripped the
+bar, and after two or three hard pulls felt it coming towards us.
+
+A great slab of rock, which fitted into the wall with all the perfection
+that our old Inca masons could give it, turned on a central hinge,
+leaving a space that two men could have walked through abreast.
+
+'Go in,' I said to Tupac, 'and let all follow you.'
+
+He obeyed, and standing by the opening with a ray of my lantern shooting
+across it, I watched them file past one by one until all had gone in.
+Then I followed, and as I crossed the threshold set my shoulder against
+the edge of the slab and pushed it back into its place.
+
+Now I covered my lantern with my poncho and cried aloud in the
+darkness,--
+
+'Let the torches be got ready, but let no light be struck till that
+which is to be revealed may be seen.'
+
+A low murmur answered me, and then, still keeping my lantern hidden, I
+felt my way along the wall, treading softly as a mountain lion
+approaching its prey, until I had counted forty paces. The fortieth
+brought me to a doorway, through which I turned. Five paces more brought
+me to another turning, ten more to the end of the passage, and then I
+uncovered my light and found myself in a little square chamber hewn out
+of the rock and surrounded with stone chests covered with lids of
+copper.
+
+In the centre of the chamber stood a smaller one, all of metal. I set my
+lantern down on one of the others so that the light fell across this
+one; then I raised the lid, and there before me lay, perfect as they had
+been on the day when Anda-Huillac, last High Priest of the Sun, had laid
+them there, the imperial robes and insignia that had last been worn by
+the ill-fated Huascar, son of the great Huayna-Capac.
+
+Quickly throwing off the mean garments that I wore, I dressed myself in
+them. Then, binding the golden sandals on my feet, and clasping the long
+mantle emblazoned in gold and jewels with the symbols of the Sun and his
+sister-wife the Moon across my shoulders, I wound the scarlet Llautu
+around my head, with the crimson fringe of the Borla interlaced with
+gold falling upon my brow, and then, closing the chest, I took up my
+lantern and went back along the passages I had traversed.
+
+In the middle of the last one I put my lantern down with the glass
+against the wall, and feeling my way into the doorway, which opened on
+to the chamber in which the others were awaiting me, I cried, in a voice
+that echoed strangely through the great chamber,--
+
+'Let the torches be kindled, and let the Children of the Sun look upon
+their Lord!'
+
+I heard a shuffling of feet and a whispering of many voices. Then lights
+were struck, and I stepped back quickly into the shadow of the doorway.
+I saw the glow of light grow into a glare that was flashed back in a
+thousand many-coloured rays from the walls of the chamber. I heard a
+deep, low cry of wonder, and then I strode out into the midst and
+said,--
+
+'I am he who went into the shadows at the bidding of our Father the Sun,
+and by his will I have returned to bring deliverance to his children!'
+
+For one moment of affrighted amazement they stared wide-eyed at me
+standing there before them, as though Huayna-Capac himself had returned
+from the Mansions of the Sun to resume his sceptre and his crown. Then,
+with one accord, they sank on their knees before me, holding their
+torches above their bent heads and murmuring,--
+
+'Hail, Son of the Sun and deliverer of his children, who hast come to
+bring the daylight back to the long-darkened Land of the Four Regions!'
+
+I looked at them and saw Djama standing erect, still bound and
+blindfold, in the midst of them. I went through the kneeling forms to
+him, and taking the bandage from his eyes stepped back, and while he was
+blinking at the light of the torches, said to him in English,--
+
+'Look about you, Laurens Djama, and tell me if you believe now that I,
+the friend of the filthy Indians whom you despise, can do that which I
+have said?'
+
+He was still half dazzled by the glare of the torches and the thousand
+rays of many colours that were flashing about him. Wherever his
+wondering glance fell it saw great golden plates covering the walls,
+thick-set with jewels, and in front of him, piled up against the end
+wall of the chamber, a shining heap of gold bars in the shape of a
+pyramid reaching to the roof of the chamber, and on either side of this,
+half way up, was a great image of the Sun, like to that which in the
+olden times stood above the altar in the sanctuary of the great temple
+of Cuzco, each with its centre fashioned as a human face, with great
+flashing diamonds for eyes, with lips of rubies, and long pendants of
+emeralds hanging from the ears, and all round a hundred curving rays of
+gold edged and lined with jewels.
+
+He stared about him, open-eyed and open-mouthed with amazement. Then his
+eyes fell on me, and he started forward and stared me in the face for a
+moment. Then he gasped,--
+
+'Vilcaroya, is it you, or am I dreaming? Where have you brought me to?'
+
+'To one of the treasure-houses that you so longed to see,' I said, 'so
+that you might see and believe that I told you no idle tale, and that I
+can perform my promise if you can perform yours.'
+
+Then I turned my back on him and went to the foot of the pyramid, and,
+taking my place in front of it, I said to those who still knelt before
+me in silence,--
+
+'Let those of his children who are faithful to their Father the Sun rise
+and come without falsehood in their hearts, and say if they now believe
+that that which was foretold long ago, when the darkness fell over the
+land, has in very truth come to pass.'
+
+They rose from their knees and came towards me in a half circle,
+carrying their torches. They stopped about five paces from me, looking
+at me through a little space with wondering eyes full of worship. Then
+they bowed their heads again, and Tupac came from the midst of them,
+and, casting himself prone at my feet, yet not daring even to touch my
+sandals, said in a broken voice,--
+
+'Son of the Sun, heir of heaven and lord of earth, we have seen thy
+wisdom and thy majesty. None but one of thy royal line--nay, none but
+thee, oh, Vilcaroya, son of Huayna-Capac, and brother of Huascar, last
+of the Incas, could have known the secret that thou hast brought with
+thee from the past into the present. We are thy children and thy slaves,
+and all the men of the Blood that are left in the Land of the Four
+Regions shall hail thee lord as we do, and own no other master save
+thee, Vilcaroya Inca, from now until the hour when their father, the
+Lord of Life, shall call them back to the Mansions of the Sun. We are
+thine, and we will serve thee, ourselves and our wives and our children,
+as our fathers served thy father in the days when there was yet peace
+and happiness in the land.'
+
+'And if ye are but faithful,' I said, 'and if the Lord, my father, who
+rules the day, and his sister, my mother, who rules the night, shall
+give me strength and wisdom to use the power that is mine, I will give
+you back peace and happiness, and the stranger and the oppressor shall
+be driven from the land, and the homes of the Children of the Sun shall
+again be full of light. Rise now, Tupac, and let ten of the men give
+their torches to the others and make ready to do my bidding.'
+
+He rose, and it was done. Then I called Djama to me and said,--
+
+'What you have seen here to-night is a dream. When your eyes open again
+on the outer world, remember what I have said. Your hand has brought me
+from the grave to the throne, and you must obey me as these do. Let me
+but know that you have spoken one word, even to Joyful Star herself,
+concerning what you have seen here to-night, and I will show you how an
+Inca deals with one who dares to disobey him. Keep silence and have
+patience, and perform that which you have promised, and you shall go
+back to your own land loaded with gold and jewels. Fail, and the
+fragments of your body shall be sent north and south and east and west
+throughout the Land of the Four Regions, and your name shall be one of
+shame in the ears of my people for ever.'
+
+For a moment he looked me in the eyes, and I saw his lips moving as
+though he was striving to shape some answer to my words. Then his face
+grew grey, and his knees shook as he stood. Then I called to Tupac, and
+bade him bind his eyes again and lead him away, and as soon as his sight
+was taken from him I bade the ten men who had given up their torches
+take off their ponchos and fill them with as many of the golden bars as
+each one could carry, and when this was done, I ordered all the torches
+save one to be extinguished. This one I took, and went with it into the
+passage where I had left my lantern. Then I dashed it against the wall
+and vanished into the darkness.
+
+I took my lantern, and hiding the light carefully, went back to the
+little chamber, where I took off my robes and sandals and the imperial
+Llautu, and put them back into the chest. Then I put on my mean attire
+again and went back into the Hall of Gold. Signing to the others to
+follow me, I turned the stone door on its pivot again, and watched them
+file past me as before. Then, going out last, I closed the portal after
+me and lighted them up the steps with my lantern.
+
+When we all once more stood in the open air by the cleft I went to the
+hole and released the chain. Instantly the roar of waters broke out
+again, and I bade them fill the hole up and put turf over it, and
+trample it down and scatter the bushes over it; and that being done, we
+took our way back again across the plain towards the fortress, still
+leading Djama blindfold in our midst.
+
+We took him by the gate of Viracocha into the fortress, across its upper
+part, where the three crosses stood, and down on to the zigzag road
+which leads into the eastern part of the city, and there we unbound his
+eyes, and I bade him go to the house and make ready to receive me early
+in the morning, telling our friends that I should arrive with some
+packages of Indian merchandise and metals from one of my mines, for, as
+I should have told you before, I had come to Cuzco in the character of
+an owner of mines who had lived long in Europe and had returned to
+supervise the working of my property.
+
+I and Tupac and his companions then went back into the hills, and
+without entering the city made our way by twos and threes into the
+village of San Sebastian. We met at Tupac's house, and there I explained
+to them as much of my plans and purposes as I thought fit for them to
+know, and showed them that the time was not yet come for them to make
+use of the treasures that I would share with them. But to each man I
+gave two pounds' weight of gold to be left in Tupac's care till it could
+be taken into the cities of the south and there changed for silver
+coins. Then I had a list made of their names, and promised them, after
+reminding them of their oaths, that when I once more sat on the throne
+of the divine Manco, their fidelity should be well remembered.
+
+The next morning we loaded the gold in bales of the coca-leaf, great
+quantities of which are taken every day into Cuzco, upon four mules, and
+these I sent to our house while I went back with Ullullo and put on my
+English clothing. Then I followed, and found that the bags of coca had
+already arrived. They were carried up to my own room, and there, in the
+presence of Djama and Joyful Star, the professor and Francis Hartness, I
+took out the gold ingots and built them up in a pyramid before them.
+
+I could see from their amazement that, whether from fear or faith, Djama
+had obeyed me, and said nothing of what he had seen during the night. As
+for me, I said but little. I gave them the gold, and that day the
+professor and Djama, acting as my agents, sold it to some of the
+merchants of Cuzco as the product of my mines. The price was more than
+twice as much as was needed for the hacienda, so with the rest I
+discharged my debt and made myself once more a free man.
+
+There is no need for me to dwell upon our dealings with the owner of the
+hacienda, and therefore it will suffice for me to say, before ten days
+more had passed the purchase-money had been paid, we had taken up our
+abode there, and installed Joyful Star as housewife, with faithful
+servants chosen by myself from among the Children of the Blood. Djama,
+who had been strangely silent and reserved with all of us since the
+lesson I had taught him in the Hall of Gold, had taken possession of the
+chamber which was devoted to his uses, and had put all his apparatus in
+order for the great work that was to be done there.
+
+So on the fourteenth day, such was the power of my gold and of my
+longings, all things were ready, and at daybreak on the fifteenth day we
+rode at the head of our little mule train out of the courtyard of the
+hacienda on our way to the resting-place of Golden Star.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+THE SISTER STARS
+
+
+For five long days we travelled slowly and toilfully on our way from the
+valley of Cuzco to that other where Golden Star lay sleeping beside the
+lake. Over high plains and pleasant valleys, through deep, dark gorges
+and ravines, to whose lowest depths the sun but seldom reaches, and then
+but for an hour or two, along narrow pathways cut into the living rock
+on the mountain side, with precipices on one hand falling thousands of
+feet into the dark abysses, where the torrents roared and foamed, and on
+the other the great rock-walls of the mountain soaring up into the sky
+yet more thousands of feet above us.
+
+I saw the mighty crests of Saljantai and Umantai rising snow-crowned
+from earth to heaven, unchanged in their eternal grandeur since the
+long-distant day on which I had last beheld them. I rode with saddened
+heart past the ruins of Lima Tambo, remembering how fair and stately a
+city it had been in the days before the plunderer and the oppressor
+came. We toiled slowly over the great, sharp-ridged range which parts
+the waters of the Vilcamayo from those of the Apurimac--the 'Great
+Speaker'--then, descending again by the gorge of the river which is now
+called the Rio de la Banca, we came to the long bridge which swings in
+mid-air from rock to rock across the chasm through which the Great
+Speaker rolls his swift, roaring flood.
+
+Its cables were loosened and its floorway broken, for, like all things
+else in the land, the Spaniards had suffered it to fall well nigh to
+ruin; and, as I led Joyful Star across it by the hand, I thought of what
+it had been in the olden times, when not a rope or a stick was suffered
+to be out of place, and when the Son of the Sun had been borne across it
+in his golden travelling litter, with long processions of his adoring
+people going before and behind him, strewing his way with flowers, and
+waking the echoes of these gloomy gorges with the melody of their songs
+and laughter.
+
+From here we journeyed on, ever facing the setting sun, for two days
+more, still winding higher and higher up into the mountains, until at
+length, on the third evening, I, riding alone many yards in front of
+the others, found the sign that I was looking for--a rock with three
+seats carved on the top of it--and turned my mule from the track and
+rode over the rough, stony ground up the side of the mountain until what
+looked from the road a single rock-built peak opened into two. I
+beckoned to the others to follow me, and when they came up I said to the
+professor,--
+
+'Do you know where you are now? Have you ever been here before?'
+
+He looked about him and shook his head, saying,--
+
+'This may have been the place where we got off the road when my mule
+gave out, but I don't recognise it. Do you mean that we are near the
+valley?'
+
+'Yes,' I said. 'Do you not remember seeing yonder two peaks from the
+shore of the lake near where you found me?'
+
+He looked at them for a moment, and then said,--
+
+'Yes, I remember them; but they don't look the same, and I don't believe
+I could find my way back into the valley from here to save my life. It's
+very strange how I can have forgotten it so completely.'
+
+I smiled as he said this, knowing that I had brought them purposely many
+miles out of the way by which he had found the valley by accident, for
+I had no desire that the way should be known to any but myself and those
+I had chosen from among the remnant of the Children of the Blood. Then I
+bade them follow me again, and once more rode on alone ahead, for, as
+you may well believe, I was too full of my own thoughts and hopes and
+fears to be in any mood for conversation, even with Joyful Star herself.
+They, too, talked but little, and as we rode on in the deepening gloom
+amid the solemn silence and the gaunt grandeur of the mountains, their
+words became fewer and fewer, till at length thought took the place of
+speech, and the silence was broken by no sound save the patter of the
+mules' feet and the rattle of stones under their iron-shod hoofs.
+
+Hour after hour I led them on, turning from valley to valley on the road
+that was visible only to my own eyes, and ever rising higher and higher
+towards the twin peaks that now stood out dark and sharp against the
+starry sky. At last, when our watches were nearly marking ten o'clock, I
+stopped before a cliff covered with bushes and creeping grasses, and
+calling Tupac to me, I bade him seek for an opening under these.
+
+He groped about among the bushes for a while, and then suddenly, with a
+short cry of surprise, he vanished, as it seemed, through the face of
+the rock itself. I dismounted and followed him, and found him standing
+behind the bushes, facing a square doorway cut in the rock and lined
+with masonry. Behind it, and closing it completely, was a great slab of
+dressed stone. Down the sides of the doorway were two square pillars of
+stone, and in the middle of one, to the left hand, three little lines
+had been cut about a finger's breadth apart, but so faintly that only
+one who knew they were there could find them.
+
+I stretched a string across from the middle one of these to the
+right-hand pillar, and where the string ended in the centre of the
+pillar I felt with my finger-tips and found a little circle about as big
+round as an English two-shilling piece. Tupac had in his hand the iron
+rod that I had used on the Rodadero. I took it from him, and, pressing
+the end against the circle, told him to push with me, and, to his
+wonder, the rod sank, seemingly, into the solid stone, forcing out a
+bolt which had been fitted so cunningly into the pillar that the end of
+it looked no more than a circle traced on the face of it.
+
+When we had pushed the rod in about six inches I bade Tupac help me to
+pull it round towards the door. The pillar turned on a central hinge as
+we did so, and the great stone slab swung back by its own weight, which
+we had thus released, opening the entrance to a tunnel high enough for a
+man to walk through erect. This tunnel sloped somewhat sharply upwards,
+and looking up it I could see, shining in the clear sky beyond the upper
+entrance, the stars that I knew were reflected in the still waters of
+the little lake by which Golden Star was sleeping the sleep out of which
+we had come to wake her.
+
+As the passage was not large enough for the mules to go through with
+their burdens, I bade my men unload them and carry their loads through
+into the valley. Then we followed, leading our own animals by the
+bridle, and after us the cargo-mules were driven through. The load of
+one of them was a long, narrow case of wood like that in which the
+professor had taken my own dead body to London, but this was thickly and
+softly padded inside with wool, and lined with white linen, and at one
+end was a little pillow of the softest down, on which the head of Golden
+Star would soon be resting.
+
+As soon as we were all standing outside the upper mouth of the tunnel I
+looked at Joyful Star and said,--
+
+'Is not this a fitting resting-place even for the daughter of kings? Are
+not the stars bright in the heavens and on the bosom of the lake? Are
+not the mountains great, and strong, and silent? Do they not guard her
+couch well, and does not the snowy peak of Umantai yonder point the
+straight way to the Mansions of the Sun, where the soul of Golden Star
+is even now waiting for the arts of your brother to call it back to
+earth as he called mine?'
+
+'Yes,' she said, looking about her, first at the stars and then at the
+vast shapes of the mountains which loomed huge and dim on every side.
+'Yes, Vilcaroya, it is a good place for sleep, but--is not the world
+beyond a good place to wake in? Have _you_ not found it so?'
+
+I caught the gleam of her eyes in the starlight as she looked towards me
+saying this, and, by the glory of the Sun, had we stood alone where we
+were, I might have forgotten all save the knowledge that I was the
+lawful lord of all this land, and that she was there in the midst of it
+with me. For the instant I had gone back to my old life, with all its
+old-world thoughts and customs, and then, before I could answer her, my
+dreaming soul was called back to the present by the cold, quiet voice of
+her brother saying,--
+
+'I don't think that very many would find the world an unpleasant place
+to wake in, either for the first or second time, if they could also wake
+up lord of illimitable treasures as Vilcaroya here has done. But come,
+Your Highness, and you, professor, it is getting late. Don't you think
+it is time to be thinking about camping?'
+
+The matter-of-fact words scattered my dreams in an instant, and I woke
+from them into the present. I bade Tupac have the animals tethered and
+fed, and the tents we had brought with us pitched in the most sheltered
+place he could find; and while they were doing this, and Djama and the
+others were busy seeing that the work was done to their satisfaction, I
+went to Ruth and said--my words, which I strove so hard to keep steady,
+trembling with I know not how many mingled passions,--
+
+'Will Joyful Star come with me and see the place where her sister and
+mine is lying, waiting to come forth and greet her?'
+
+'Your sister, Vilcaroya?' she said, turning her face up to me so that
+the starlight shone upon its fairness and lost itself in the lustrous
+depths of her eyes. 'Do you mean your sister only--not--your--'
+
+'No,' I said, 'not my wife, for I have thought upon your words and
+pondered them deeply; and though they wounded me sorely at first, yet
+now I see that they were wise and just, like all the other words that
+Joyful Star has spoken to me. I have learned that lesson, like many
+others which you have taught me. That bridal of ours is already to me a
+dream of the long-lost past, the vision of a time that is dead and a
+people that is no more. When Golden Star wakes, if she ever does, I will
+greet her as a sister and a friend, as one of my own people who has
+come back to me out of my own times, and she shall help me in the work
+that I swore with her to do--but that is all; and I will find others of
+the Blood who shall sit upon the restored throne of my ancestors, and be
+the parents of the generations of Incas that shall come after me.'
+
+'What do you mean, Vilcaroya?' she said, in a voice that was half angry
+and half fearful. 'Do you mean--no, I cannot say it--for I am sure you
+do not mean that.'
+
+'How could that be?' I answered, guessing her meaning. 'Is it not _you_
+who have taught me the ways and thoughts of the world into which I have
+come back? No, what I mean is that I am not the only one now alive in
+whose veins the old blood of the Incas flows. Tupac, yonder, is the son
+of the son of the son of that Tupac-Amaru who died torn asunder in the
+square of Cuzco, because he had dared to raise the Rainbow Banner in the
+Land of the Four Regions, and called the Children of the Sun to revolt
+against their oppressors. He, more blessed than I who am his lord, has
+both wife and child, and if the prophecy is to be fulfiled, and I am to
+reign in the City of the Sun, then I will take his firstborn and
+instruct him in all the lore of our people and the duties of their
+ruler, and if he proves worthy he shall wear the Llautu after me.'
+
+She looked up at me again as I ceased speaking, just one swift, bright
+glance that seemed to pierce to the most secret depths of my soul, and
+read the unuttered thoughts that were hidden there, thoughts which I did
+not dare to speak even to myself in the loneliest hour of my musings.
+Then she looked down again, and side by side we walked in silence round
+the shore of the lake until I stopped in front of a great black cliff
+that jutted out from the mountain side and hung impending over the dark,
+still waters of the lake. I pointed into the black shadows in which its
+base was hidden, and said,--
+
+'There lies Golden Star, and there I lay beside her through all the long
+years that were to pass from the night when I pledged my troth with her
+before the Altar of the Sun until this night when I stand with you,
+Joyful Star, a new being in a new world, before her resting-place.'
+
+'Is it really true?' she said, stopping as she spoke, and staring
+straight before her into the darkness. 'Is it really true that you, who
+are standing alive and strong here beside me, lay there under that great
+rock for all those years, while ten generations of men and women were
+born, and lived and died, and the whole world changed again and again?
+And is the Golden Star lying in there now really the Golden Star you
+have told me so much of, and I have thought about until she seems to me
+more like some living friend that I have known and loved, than a dead
+body that has been in the grave for more than three hundred years? Is it
+really true, Vilcaroya, or have we all only been dreaming some wild
+dream, like that Frankenstein story that I was telling you the other
+day?'
+
+As she spoke she laid her hand for a moment upon my arm, as though to
+satisfy herself that I was really made of human flesh and blood, and not
+a phantom standing beside her in the starlit darkness.
+
+Scarce knowing what I did, I laid my own hand, warm and strong and firm,
+upon hers. For an instant I felt it tremble beneath mine. I would have
+given all the boundless wealth that I knew was mine for the courage to
+close upon it a grasp that it could not have escaped if it would. My
+heart seemed to swell as though it would burst in my breast, my tingling
+blood ran fire, and wild words rose choking to my lips. Then her hand
+slipped away from under mine. Once more I saw her eyes shine in the
+starlight, and then I knew that I had learned the last and greatest
+lesson that Joyful Star could teach me.
+
+I knew now why to think of Golden Star as my wife and my queen, filled
+me with the same untold horror which I had heard that night thrill in
+the tones of her who stood beside me, for now I--the son of a lost race
+and a long-past age--loved this daughter of the new time. For good or
+evil, for hope or despair, I was hers until I went again, and for the
+last time, into the shadows through which I had already passed, and
+then--yes, there he was, this tall, stalwart, golden-haired son of her
+own race and her own time, whose eyes I had seen looking love into hers!
+
+He was coming towards us round the lake with his long, easy, swinging
+strides, this man who was already my friend, and who would one day be
+the captain of my armies. For one blind moment of madness I thought how
+completely I had him and the others in my power; of the lonely, unknown
+valley where we stood; of the men who were already my slaves, and who
+looked upon me as a god. I thought, too, of the dark, deep waters of the
+lake, and the secrets that they held for me alone. How well they could
+hide others for me, too! What if Golden Star never awoke? Would she not
+be as well lying there in the peace of her endless sleep as coming back
+into the world, perhaps to love in vain and to suffer as I was doomed to
+suffer?
+
+The shadowy forms of the mountains began to waver and reel around me;
+the stars danced up and down in the sky, and a red mist seemed to swim
+before my eyes. Then, through the hoarse, dull murmur that was sounding
+in my ears, I heard the sweet, low voice of Joyful Star saying,--
+
+'Ah, Captain Hartness, I suppose you have been wondering what had become
+of us! I am afraid I have been neglecting my household duties, and you
+have been attending to them for me, but really I could not resist coming
+here with Vilcaroya. Look, that is where Golden Star is lying, in a cave
+under that great rock down there where those dark shadows are. Doesn't
+it look cold and lonely and eerie?'
+
+'Yes,' he answered, with a laugh that did not sound to me like his own.
+'But I don't suppose that matters very much now to Her Highness any more
+than it did to Vilcaroya. But, to descend to less romantic matters, I
+have come to tell you that the affairs of our temporary household are
+already in order, supper is ready, and we are all ravenously hungry, and
+I suppose you are about the same. This mountain air puts an edge on
+one's appetite like a razor's.'
+
+'Supper--yes, I had forgotten all about it, thinking of poor Golden Star
+lying there all alone in the darkness. Of course, I am desperately
+hungry, now that you remind me of it. Come, Vilcaroya, I am sure you are
+hungry too. Another night alone won't matter much to poor Golden Star
+after all these years. You can dream of her to-night, as I suppose we
+all shall, and to-morrow we shall see her. Oh, how I wonder what she
+will be really like!'
+
+As Joyful Star said this in a voice that was half sad and half merry,
+she turned away towards Francis Hartness, and I followed her with some
+light words on my lips and many heavy thoughts in my heart, and we
+walked together to the tents, talking of the things that were to be done
+on the morrow.
+
+The next morning I was afoot before the stars had begun to pale in the
+coming dawn. I had not slept for two hours together through the night,
+yet, waking and sleeping, many dreams had come to me. I had been back to
+the past among my people, living again that strange old life, with all
+its light and colour and gaiety, which was now every day becoming more
+and more like a vision that had been told to me by some other dreamer.
+
+I had talked with Golden Star, seeking to teach her the lesson that my
+dear instructress of the new time had taught me, and had awakened half
+mad with the perplexities of my divided love--the love of the past that
+was dead and of the present that was alive. I had seen my sister-bride
+come forth out of her tomb to greet me, clothed in her bridal robes,
+with the dust of the grave in her hair and on her face. I had clasped
+her in my longing arms and kissed the dust from her lips, and while I
+yet held her in my embrace her form had grown cold and stiff again.
+Then, in the agony of my sorrow, I had strained her to my breast, and,
+under the pressure of my arms, she had crumbled in my grasp and fallen,
+a little heap of grey bones and dusty garments, at my feet.
+
+Once more I had awakened with my gasping cry of horror still sounding in
+my ears, and then, not daring to seek sleep again, I had risen and gone
+out to watch for the rest of the night before her grave under the rock.
+There they found me when they came from the camp at daybreak. I went
+back with them, and our hasty morning meal was eaten and drunk almost in
+silence, for we were all too busy with our thoughts to have leisure for
+conversation, and my friends, knowing how much that day's work must mean
+to me, respected my unspoken feelings, and left me to the silent company
+of my own hopes and fears.
+
+Breakfast over, we took our lanterns and tools and went to the rock,
+followed by Tupac and two of my men carrying the coffin-like case in
+which Golden Star's body was to be laid. Under the rock was a long heap
+of loose stones which the professor had wisely piled up in front of the
+upright courses of masonry through which he had broken into my
+resting-place. He scanned them eagerly to see if they had been
+disturbed since his visit, and told us that they had not. Then I bade
+Tupac and the men clear them away, which they speedily did, laying bare
+the courses of stone behind them, still standing as the professor had
+re-built them after taking out my body.
+
+A few minutes' more work opened a passage large enough for a man to walk
+in, stooping. As if by a common instinct they all stepped aside and
+looked at me. I saw what they meant, and, turning the light of my
+lantern into the entrance, I walked back, a living man, into the grave
+where I had lain dead while ten generations of men had lived and died. I
+saw the place where I had lain, for a few mouldering scraps and shreds
+of cloth and furs still lay where my bed had been. Then I flashed my
+lantern round the walls of the cavern, and on the side along which my
+own couch had been spread by Anda-Huillac and his brother priests I
+found what they had told me to seek while I was preparing to fulfil the
+oath that I had sworn with Golden Star.
+
+It was a wedge of stone fitted in to a crevice in the wall and left
+rough and jagged at its outer end, so that one who did not know its true
+purpose would have taken it to be nothing more than a natural projection
+in the rough side of the cavern.
+
+With a mallet that I had brought with me I struck the end of the wedge
+softly above and below until it was loosened in its socket. Then,
+standing to one side, I struck it harder. It dropped from its place, and
+the same instant a part of the cavern wall swayed outwards and fell with
+a rumbling crash across the floor.
+
+For a moment I stood breathless and motionless on the threshold of
+Golden Star's grave. Then, with trembling hands, I turned the light of
+my lantern into the inner chamber, and as the dust that the falling
+stone had raised fell slowly back to the ground I saw through the
+particles dancing in the lantern rays the dim outline of a human form
+lying on a couch of skins.
+
+Still, not daring to set a foot within that sacred place, I stood in the
+doorway and let the light fall full upon the figure. A glance showed me
+that so far all was well. No profaning hand had disturbed the peace and
+sanctity of her long slumber. She lay there as perfect in form and
+feature as she had lain beside me that night in the little chamber in
+the Sanctuary of the Sun.
+
+Then I thought of Joyful Star. Hers should be the first eyes after mine
+to look upon that dead loveliness. So I turned and went out to where
+they were all standing round the outer entrance, and, taking no notice
+of the others, replying nothing to their half-whispered questions, I
+went to Ruth and, holding out my hand for her, said,--
+
+'Come, Joyful Star, and see the sister that the Lord of Life made long
+ago in the image that you now wear.'
+
+She said nothing, but, with a look of wondering question, put her hand
+into mine and I turned to lead her to the entrance.
+
+Djama, with a sudden exclamation, took a step forward as though he would
+stop her, but Francis Hartness put his hand on his shoulder, saying,--
+
+'I think you had better let them go alone. There is no fear for your
+sister with all of us here so near; and if what Vilcaroya says is true,
+why should she not see her first?'
+
+Djama drew back, though with no very good grace, and I went into the
+inner chamber, helping Ruth over the fallen stones. Then I flashed my
+light on Golden Star's face and said,--
+
+'Did I not tell you truly that the Lord of Life made her in the same
+image as yours?'
+
+I heard her utter a little gasping cry of wonder, and then I saw her
+slip forward on to her knees beside Golden Star's pillow, and as the
+light fell upon the two faces--the living and the dead--the likeness
+between them was so perfect, save for the golden gleam of Joyful Star's
+hair and the lustrous blackness of the tresses that framed my dead
+love's face, that they seemed to me as sisters, one watching over the
+slumbers of the other.
+
+'It is more than wonderful, and it is surely more than chance!' said
+Joyful Star, in a tone that was almost a whisper, and turning towards me
+her white face and the eyes into which the loving tears of pity were
+already springing. 'Why did you not tell me of this before, Vilcaroya?'
+
+'Because,' I said, 'the arts of the priests might not have done for her
+what they did for me, and I might have found here that which your eyes
+should never have looked upon. But now--is she not beautiful, even as
+you are?'
+
+The bright blood came swiftly back into her cheeks as I said this, and,
+without answering me she stooped, and with gentle hands put back the
+tresses from Golden Star's forehead, and, bending over her, laid her
+warm, sweet lips on the cold, smooth brow that I had last seen crowned
+with the marriage-garland in our bridal chamber in the Sanctuary.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+HOW DJAMA DID HIS WORK
+
+
+I can tell you but little of what followed the taking of the body of
+Golden Star back to the hacienda, for neither I nor any of the others,
+save only Djama himself, witnessed the secret mysteries of his strange
+and fearful art. I could tell you of their wonder when, after I had
+bidden Tupac bring the case into the cavern and he and I and Joyful Star
+had gently and reverently raised her from her couch and laid her in it,
+we carried her out into the daylight. How they stood around the open
+case and looked, half in wonder and half in fear, from her dead, cold
+face to the living likeness that was bending over it. How they praised
+her beauty and marvelled at the forgotten arts that had preserved so
+perfect a likeness of life in one who for more than three centuries and
+a half had neither drawn breath nor known a thrill of feeling.
+
+I could tell you, too, with what loving and anxious care that precious
+burden was borne over plain and valley and mountain in a litter that we
+had brought with us for the purpose, and how at last we laid her in all
+her calm, unconscious loveliness on the great table which stood in the
+middle of the chamber in which Djama was to do his work. But here my
+story must cease for the time, for Djama made it an unalterable
+condition that he should do the work that only he could do in absolute
+solitude. Only thus, he said, would he, or could he, perform the task
+upon whose issue the completion of Golden Star's life on earth, if it
+was ever to be completed, depended.
+
+He told us plainly that a single interruption should be fatal to her and
+all our hopes. He would not even permit his sister to enter the room
+until he should call for her. I was bitterly loath to yield--to leave
+her who had been so dear to me powerless and unconscious in the hands of
+a man whom I had already learned to hate, although not only did I owe my
+own new life to him, but on him alone rested all my hopes of seeing
+Golden Star once more restored to life and health, and the beauty that
+had been peerless ages before Joyful Star had reached the perfection of
+her young womanhood.
+
+How did I know what unholy arts he might use to rekindle the
+long-quenched life-flame in that fair shape of hers? How could I do
+more than guess vaguely and fearfully at the awful mysteries that might
+be enacted in the silence and solitude of that fast-closed chamber in
+which, day and night, he would remain alone with her, the living with
+the dead, like the potter with his clay, until it should please him to
+use the dreadful power that was his, and call her back from death to
+life, perhaps--and oh! how horrible the thought was to me!--to be the
+slave of the man who, by his unearthly art, had made himself the master
+of her new life.
+
+Yet, think of it, brood over it as I would, there was no help for it.
+He, and he alone, could exert the power that would loose the bonds of
+death in which she lay enchained. Unless he had his will she would
+remain as she was, perhaps until the Last Day came, and the Lord of Life
+called all his children, living and dead, back to the Mansions of the
+Sun; and so we yielded, since there was nothing else to be done.
+
+On the evening of the day that we returned to the hacienda, he busied
+himself making the last preparations for his work. Then he came out of
+the room and locked the door, and, after eating his dinner almost in
+silence, went to bed, taking the key with him, and telling us that on no
+account must he be awakened. All that night and the next day and the
+next night we neither saw nor heard anything of him; but on the morning
+of the second day, the door of his bedroom was open and his bed was
+empty, but the door of the room in which Golden Star lay was still fast
+shut and locked.
+
+How the time passed I cannot tell you. Joyful Star, seemingly more
+self-possessed than any of us, took up her household duties, and went
+about them with a quick, quiet industry that surprised and shamed us.
+But we three men wandered about aimlessly, now alone and now together,
+communing with our own thoughts or talking with each other always of the
+same thing--of what was going on in that chamber, where, as we knew from
+the faint sounds that every now and then came through the closed door,
+the master of the arts of life and death was performing his awful task.
+
+The first day and night came and went, then the second, and still the
+door remained closed, and Djama gave no sign. But the professor sought
+to comfort me and soothe our impatience by telling me how long the same
+work had lasted before I was recalled to life. I had sought also to
+distract my thoughts by talking with him and Francis Hartness of all
+that was to be done for the deliverance of my people, and the
+realisation of my dreams of empire when Djama's task should be over.
+
+But it was useless, for fear and suspense kept my mind bound as though
+with invisible chains, and, do what I would, my thoughts went back and
+back again to dwell upon the unknown secrets of that closed and silent
+room. Then I tried to draw Joyful Star into conversation about the
+thoughts which I knew were filling both our hearts; but though she
+listened to me she would say nothing herself, and I soon saw that with
+her the subject was forbidden, and the work not to be talked of till, in
+success or failure, it was ended.
+
+For the first two nights no sleep came to my eyes, but the third night
+my weariness was too much for me, and scarcely had my aching head fallen
+on the pillow than slumber, filled with broken dreams and visions of
+things unutterably horrible, came upon me. In the midst of one of
+them--I know not what it was, save that no human words could paint the
+horror of it--I woke up with a cold, damp hand upon my shoulder, and
+heard Djama's voice, hoarse and trembling, saying to me,--
+
+'Get up and dress, Vilcaroya; I have something for you to see and to
+hear. Make haste, for there is not much time to be lost.'
+
+I looked up, and saw him standing by my bed with a light in his hand,
+ghastly pale, and staring at me with black, burning eyes, which seemed,
+as they looked into mine, to take my will a prisoner, and draw my very
+soul towards him.
+
+'What is it?' I said, in the broken words of one just roused from sleep.
+'Is it over--have you succeeded? Is she alive? Have you come to take me
+to her?'
+
+'The work is not done yet,' he said. 'I have come for you to see it
+finished. Make haste, I tell you, if you want to see what you have been
+waiting so long for.'
+
+I needed no second bidding. I sprang out of bed, and dressed myself with
+swift, though trembling, hands. Then I thrust my feet into a pair of
+soft slippers, such as Djama himself wore, and then I followed him from
+the room out on to the balcony that was built round the house over the
+inner courtyard. We went down into the court and into the dining-room,
+and through that down a long, narrow passage out of which opened the
+room that had held all our hope and fear and wonder for so long.
+
+He unlocked the door, and motioned to me to go in. He followed me, and
+locked the door behind us. I looked about the room, which was dimly lit
+by two shaded lamps. The table on which we had laid Golden Star was
+empty. Many strangely-shaped things, that I knew not the use of were
+scattered about. The air was hot and moist, and filled with a faint,
+sweet odour. At the opposite end from the door, which was covered by a
+screen, I saw in one corner a bath--from which white, steamy fumes were
+rising--and in the other stood a little, narrow, curtained bed, such as
+I had first awakened in.
+
+Djama caught me by the arm, and half led, half dragged me to the
+bedside. Then with his other hand he parted the curtains and pointed to
+the pillow. I felt his burning eyes fixed upon me as I looked and saw
+the sweet fair face of Golden Star lying in the midst of her dusky
+tresses, which lay spread out on the pillow, cleansed from the dust of
+the grave, and soft and shimmering as silk.
+
+I started forward, and, with my face close to hers, scanned every
+feature, and listened, but in vain, for the soft sound of her breathing.
+Her skin was clear and moist; I could see the thin, blue veins in her
+eyelids, and the moisture on her lips. I laid my hand gently on her
+cheek. It was soft and smooth, but still cold as death.
+
+Then a fierce, unreasoning anger came into my heart. I sprang back and
+seized Djama by the shoulders, and, looking with fierce, hot eyes into
+his, I whispered hoarsely,--
+
+'Have you brought me here to mock me? She is not alive--she is but a
+fair image of death. Tell me that you have failed and I will strangle
+you, liar and cheat that you are!'
+
+He looked back steadily into my eyes and smiled, and said, in a voice
+that had not the slightest tremor of fear,--
+
+'If I fail you may strangle me, and welcome; but I have not failed yet,
+Vilcaroya. It is for _you_ to say now whether Golden Star is to awake or
+not.'
+
+'What do you mean?' I said, letting go my grip on his shoulders, and
+recoiling a pace from him.
+
+'You shall hear what I mean,' he said. 'But you must hear patiently and
+quietly, and think well on what I say, for in your answer to what I ask
+you will also answer the question whether Golden Star is to awake to
+life and health, or to be put back in that case yonder and buried, to
+rot away into corruption like any other corpse.'
+
+'Say on, I am listening,' I said. My lips were dry, and the grip of a
+deadly fear seemed to be clutching at my heart and draining the last
+drop of blood from it.
+
+'Listen well, then,' he said. He paused for a moment as though to
+collect his thoughts, and make words ready to express them. Then he went
+on. 'You see, I have undone the work that your priests did three hundred
+and sixty years ago. Your Golden Star is now neither dead nor alive. She
+is lying on the narrow borderland that divides life from death, and for
+an hour from the time I left this room she will remain there--if I
+choose. At the end of that time she will pass beyond the border, and no
+earthly power, not even mine, could call her back. But at any time
+before the hour has expired I can complete the work that I have begun. I
+can bring the breath back to her body; I can set the blood flowing
+through her veins. You shall see her eyes open and her lips smile, and
+you shall hear her speak to you as though she had only awakened out of
+sleep. This I can do, and I will, if you will do what I am going to ask
+you.'
+
+'What is it?' I whispered. 'Tell me quickly that I may know. You are
+master here. I can only listen and obey.'
+
+He smiled as I said this, a smile that it was not good for an honest man
+to look upon, and went on, speaking now rapidly and earnestly,--
+
+'When I did this work for you, I did it as a student and a man of
+science, who was making the greatest experiment of his life. I believed
+that I had solved one, at least, of the secrets of life and death. I
+watched and noted every change that came over you. I marked every
+symptom and measured every step of your return from death into life, but
+I did all this as a student inquiring into the mysteries of Nature, as
+an observer watching the working out of a great problem, and with no
+more feeling than if I had been dissecting a corpse. But this time it
+has been different. I began this work with the cold and passionless
+deliberation of one who toils only to learn and to succeed. But
+afterwards--come here and look at her, and you will understand me
+better. She is a woman, and she is beautiful, and here, for two days and
+two nights, she has lain under my hands and my eyes. I have given her
+beauty back to her, and if that beauty is to live it must be mine. Do
+you understand me, Vilcaroya?'
+
+What could I say, what could I do to answer this man whom I hated, and
+yet who held the power of life and death for Golden Star in his hands?
+The vague fear that had smitten me when he began to speak had taken its
+worst shape now. I looked at him with hate and horror staring out of my
+eyes. Again and again I tried to speak, but my lips only moved and
+trembled without making any word. But he read my thoughts, and smiled
+that evil smile of his again and said, in a low voice which seemed to
+have the echo of a laugh in it,--
+
+'I see you hate me, as I have often thought you did, and that is why I
+have brought you here to tell you this. That is why I would not complete
+my work till you had sworn, as you yet shall do if you would see Golden
+Star alive again, that what I have brought back out of the grave shall
+be mine and mine only.'
+
+These last words of his let loose my anger and unchained my tongue. I
+gripped him by the arm, and in a whisper that had a strange hissing
+sound, I said,--
+
+'But that is _not_ all! What do you think your life would be worth if
+you left her to die? Have you forgotten what I said to you in the cave
+beneath the Rodadero? Do you not know that this very night I could have
+you carried, gagged and bound, over the mountains and back to the grave
+that we took Golden Star out of? Do you not know that I could lay you
+there with food and drink beside you that you could not touch, and a
+lamp whose light would show them to you, and then wall up the entrance
+again, and leave you there to think of your fate till you went mad and
+died of hunger and thirst? Do you not know that I could chain you to a
+rock and light a fire about you, and watch you burn limb by limb till
+you shrieked your life out in lingering agony? Would this be better than
+going back to your own land loaded with treasure that would make you
+richer than you have ever dreamed of being? Now, _I_ have spoken, and it
+is for you to answer me.'
+
+Before I had done speaking he had taken a chair and seated himself
+astride it, with his arms resting on the back and his chin on his arms,
+and was looking at me with white, set face, and steady, dark, shining
+eyes. When I had finished there was a little silence between us, and
+then he spoke, and the first time I ever felt fear in either of my lives
+was when I heard those cold, cruel, carefully-measured words of his,--
+
+'That is well said, Vilcaroya. I am glad you have spoken plainly, for
+now we understand each other; but I don't think you quite realise the
+difference between your power and mine. You have, or think you have, the
+brute force, the strength of numbers, and the slavish devotion of your
+people on your side, and you threaten to use that power to put me to a
+lingering and torturing death unless I withdraw my demands and do as you
+wish me. In that, however, you are quite wrong. I am as much the master
+of my own life as I was once of yours, and still am of Golden Star's.
+Without moving hand or foot I could kill myself as I sit here before
+you, so your threats of torture are nothing more than empty words. It is
+only a matter of simple life or death. If I live, Golden Star will live.
+If I die, she will never draw the breath of life--but what I have said,
+I have said. She shall only live as my promised wife, bound to me by the
+most sacred oath that you can swear. You cannot consummate your own
+marriage with her, because in the modern world that is impossible. You
+are refusing simply because, for some reason or other, you dislike me
+personally, but I don't propose that that shall stand in my way. As for
+your treasures, their value has utterly changed for me. A week ago, I
+frankly confess that I would have sold my soul, if I thought I had one,
+for them. Now, without her, they would only make the world a golden
+mockery to me, for I tell you, Vilcaroya, that I, who have never loved
+living woman yet, love that beautiful shape of inanimate flesh as that
+old sculptor we have told you of loved his statue. Every hour that I
+have been alone in this room with her this strange love of mine has
+grown. First it was only scientific curiosity, then physical admiration,
+then something else. I don't know what it is, for it is beyond the reach
+of my analysis, but I know enough of it to call it love, and I tell you
+it is such love as only a man of my nature and pursuits is capable of.
+Unsatisfied, it would consume me and kill me, and I would rather die
+quickly than slowly. Now--once more--shall Golden Star and I live or
+die?'
+
+How was I to answer such a speech as this? I heard him in silence to the
+end, my eyes held fast by his, and my spirit sinking as though beaten
+down by the pitiless force of those cold words of his. And in the
+meantime a great truth had been dawning in my mind. Force had ceased to
+rule in this new world, and intellect had taken its throne. I was the
+inferior of this man, whose trained mind was the heir of the generations
+that had toiled and fought while I had slept. I was little better than a
+savage before him, and I knew it, and he knew it, and, bitter as the
+thought was to me, yet it was only the truth. I was conquered, and a new
+gleam in his eyes told me that he had read my thoughts before I had
+spoken them.
+
+Then, while I stood hesitating before him, his white, hard-set face
+softened, and his lips melted into a smile that was almost as sweet as a
+woman's. It was that that saved me, for it reminded me of Ruth, and the
+recollection of her told me that I loved even as Djama did. The very
+thought of her put new blood into my heart. The words of yielding and
+submission died unuttered on my lips. I raised my head, which I had
+bowed down in dejection, and looked at him steadily again. Then I said
+slowly, and in the voice of a man who does not speak twice,--
+
+'I have thought, and I will speak for the last time. I will swear by the
+sacred glory of the Lord of Light that Golden Star shall be yours, upon
+two conditions.'
+
+'Conditions!' said he, bringing his dark brows down till they made a
+straight black line over his eyes. 'What are they?'
+
+[Illustration: The dagger-point dropped till it was within an inch of
+Golden Star's breast.
+
+_To face page 119._]
+
+'These,' I said. 'You love and I love. First, then, you must win the
+love of Golden Star, and, secondly, you must give me your sister, Joyful
+Star, if I can win her love.'
+
+'My sister Ruth to _you_! Is that your earnest, Vilcaroya, or are you
+only trying my patience?'
+
+The bitter, coldly-spoken words cut into my soul as the lash of a whip
+cuts into the flesh. I could have slain him as he sat there sneering at
+me, but it was a time for words, not deeds; and so, mastering my anger
+as best I could, I took two swift strides to Golden Star's bedside, and,
+snatching my dagger out of the sheath of the belt which I had put on
+when I had dressed, I turned and faced him, and said,--
+
+'I am not jesting. As you love I love, and by the glory and majesty of
+my Father the Sun I tell you if you do not say yes I will do with this
+dagger what all your art will never repair, and then, if I must do that,
+I will kill you too; and before to-morrow night has passed Joyful Star
+shall be with me where none can find her. Now, what is your answer--yes,
+or no?'
+
+He looked at me and then at the dagger hanging in my hand, point
+downwards, over the breast of Golden Star. Then his eyes fell upon the
+still loveliness of her face. He knew that if he moved the dagger would
+fall. His face, flushed a moment before, grew grey and pale again at the
+sound of my words, and then I saw that he had not lied to me when he
+said that his life would be worthless without her. Twice, thrice, his
+lips moved without shaping a word. Then the words came. They were dry
+and broken and trembling, for in the strength of my own love I had now
+conquered my conqueror, and he said,--
+
+'Yes, since it must be so. My sister for your sister. Well, I suppose
+it's a fair exchange. We hate each other, you and I, but that's an
+accident of fate. Take away your dagger. I know when I am beaten, and I
+am beaten now. Will you swear that oath of yours again?'
+
+'Yes,' I said, 'and you?'
+
+I still kept the dagger within a span of Golden Star's heart, for I
+still had but little trust in his faith. He rose from his chair,
+throwing it over as he did so, and stood up and faced me, saying,--
+
+'There is no need for oaths either from you or me. We have both too much
+to lose to break faith. Put up your dagger and come away, and in ten
+minutes from now you shall hear Golden Star draw the first breath of her
+new life, and see her eyes open and look at you. That would be worth
+more than any oath I could swear, wouldn't it?'
+
+'Yes,' I said, 'but that is not all or enough. If you broke faith with
+me after that, I should have to shed blood--my sister's and yours. Now I
+need only make her life impossible. I will stop here. Go you and wake
+your sister and bring her here. Then we will say more.'
+
+'Bring Ruth here!' he cried, staring at me as though he wished, as no
+doubt he did, that the fierce light in his eyes could blast and wither
+me where I stood. 'Bring her here to see what no human eyes but mine
+have ever seen. Bring her here to listen to what you have said--and if
+her, why not Lamson and Hartness as well?'
+
+'You may bring all, if you please,' I said, 'but Joyful Star must come,
+no matter what she hears or sees. I have spoken--now go, or Golden Star
+shall never wake again.'
+
+He took a half pace towards me, with clenched hands and set teeth,
+crouching like a mountain lion about to spring on its prey. The dagger
+point dropped till it was only an inch from Golden Star's breast. If he
+had made another step I would have driven it home. He read in my eyes
+that I would do so, and he stopped. Then he hissed a curse at me through
+his clenched teeth, and turned and walked away towards the door. As he
+reached it he looked back, and saw me still standing there with the
+dagger ready to do the work that could never be undone. I saw his lips
+move, but heard no sound.
+
+Then he unlocked the door, went out, and locked it after him, leaving me
+there alone with my dead sister-love, whose new life, with all its
+possibilities of love and happiness, or hate and misery, I had thrown
+into the balance of Fate in the game that I was playing against him to
+win that other love which had now become tenfold more dear to me.
+
+When he had gone I took his chair and put it by the side of the bed and
+sat down, still holding my bare dagger in my hand and looking on Golden
+Star's dead loveliness, wondering what it would be like when the
+sunshine of her new life should shine upon it, and on whom her first
+glance would fall, or whose name be the first that her lips would speak,
+and as I sat and watched and waited it seemed to me as though the ghosts
+of those long dead were taking shape and ranging themselves about the
+bed of her re-awakening as they had done about the bed of her falling
+asleep and mine.
+
+I saw Anda-Huillac and his brother priests of the Sun standing about me,
+gazing at me and at her with sad and dreamy eyes, like phantoms of the
+past looking upon the realities of the present. Then the shape of
+Anda-Huillac seemed to glide towards me. His ghostly eyes looked into
+mine, and a smile of pity and reproach moved his pale lips. I felt a
+cold, soft hand laid upon mine, my grasp relaxed and the dagger fell
+ringing to the floor.
+
+The sound awoke me, and my vision vanished. How long it had lasted, or
+whether it was a vision of sleep or waking, I know not, but I was awake
+now for I heard the door creek on its hinges. I picked the dagger up
+again and started to my feet, and, still guarding Golden Star's bed, I
+turned and faced Djama as he came in, followed by the professor and
+Francis Hartness, with Joyful Star between them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+THE WAKING OF GOLDEN STAR
+
+
+'There is your royal, would-be lover, Ruth! Come, if you don't believe
+me, you can hear from his own lips that upon you, and you alone, depends
+Golden Star's return to life. Is not that so, Your Highness?'
+
+It was Djama who said this, and as he said it, he caught Joyful Star by
+the hand and half led, half dragged her towards me from between the
+other two. But before he had come half the length of the room, Francis
+Hartness had overtaken him in a few swift strides. I saw his hand fall
+heavily on his shoulder, and with his other hand he took Ruth's out of
+his. His blue eyes were nearly black with anger, and his bronzed face
+was grey and set and pale with the passion that his strong will was
+holding back, and his voice was low and clear, and vibrating like the
+sound of a distant bell when he spoke and said,--
+
+'I can't stand that, Djama. Are you forgetting that your sister is a
+woman, and that you have brought her into the presence of the dead?'
+
+'You must be mad, Laurens!' said Joyful Star, before her brother could
+reply. 'Surely this dreadful work of yours has turned your brain.
+Vilcaroya, what does all this mean? Is Golden Star dead or alive? Ah,
+how beautiful she is now! No, surely she cannot be dead!'
+
+She had broken away from both her brother and Francis Hartness, and as
+she said the last words she was leaning over Golden Star's pillow,
+softly stroking her hair; and then she stooped lower and kissed her
+forehead. Then the others came up to the bedside, Francis Hartness and
+Djama in front, and the professor standing silent and wondering behind
+them.
+
+'If Djama won't speak, will you, Vilcaroya?' said Hartness, looking at
+me with eyes that were still angry. 'What is that dagger in your hand
+for, and what is the meaning of this story that he has been telling me?'
+
+'The meaning is of life or death,' I said. 'Laurens Djama will not give
+Golden Star's life back to her if I will not swear to give her to him
+when she lives again, and I have sworn that he shall not restore her to
+life unless he swears to give Joyful Star to me, for I love her, and
+will have neither life nor empire without her.'
+
+As I listened to my own voice saying these bold words, it seemed to me
+as though another were speaking, for, even in that hot moment of passion
+and desperate resolve, I could scarce believe them mine. For the
+instant, I thought Hartness would have struck me down where I stood, nor
+could I have used my dagger against him, for he was a man and I loved
+him, though I saw now that we both loved the same woman. But before
+either of us could move, Ruth had risen erect and come between us, her
+cheeks burning with shame and her eyes aglow with anger.
+
+'What!' she said, 'Laurens give me to you, Vilcaroya! Don't you know yet
+that no one can give an English girl away except herself, and that she
+only gives herself to the man she chooses of her own free will? Do you
+think I am a slave or a human chattel to be bartered away like that?
+Nonsense! And you, Captain Hartness, don't look so fiercely at
+Vilcaroya. Remember that he is your friend and mine, or has been, and
+has not the same ideas as we have. If he had--'
+
+'He has,' I said, breaking in upon her speech, 'since Joyful Star has
+spoken. He is not her lover but her slave, and she has shamed him. I
+will eat the words that should never have been spoken. Let Golden Star
+live! I will keep my oath and ask nothing in return.'
+
+So the savage within me was tamed, and I, who but a few minutes before
+had been ready to take two lives at the prompting of a single word,
+dropped my dagger and stood with bowed head, humble as a chidden child
+before her whose lightest word was then my most sacred law. I raised my
+eyes and looked at her to see if my words had pleased her. As our eyes
+met she gave me a glance that I would have died to win from her, and
+then, pushing me and Francis Hartness gently aside, yet with a force
+that neither of us could have resisted, she took her brother by the arm
+and, leading him to the bedside with one hand, she laid the other on
+Golden Star's brow, and said,--
+
+'Laurens, can you really bring her back to life?'
+
+'Yes,' he answered, and I could see that he did not dare to raise his
+eyes to hers, 'but--'
+
+'But you will only do it for a price, you think. For shame! Is that the
+way you would use this terrible power that you possess? Is my brother so
+mean a creature as that? You love her, you say, even as she lies there,
+neither dead nor alive? Well, when she lives, she will be worthy of any
+man's love, but only of a man's, Laurens, and you would not be a man,
+with all your learning and power, if you insisted on so mean an
+advantage as your skill gives you. Do you mean to tell me that you can
+look on such a beauty as that, knowing that you can restore it to life,
+and yet ask a price before you will do it? Come, Laurens, that is not
+like your old self. Use your power with the same generosity that it has
+been given to you, and then win Golden Star like a man if you can.'
+
+Where my strength had been vanquished, her sweet wisdom conquered. The
+man who had laughed at my threats, and told me without a quiver in his
+voice how he could, and would, slay himself rather than I should do what
+he knew I could do, stood humbled and abashed before the righteous and
+yet gently-spoken reproach of her who was pleading for the life of a
+sister woman.
+
+I saw Djama's hands meet behind his back, and his fingers begin to twine
+about each other. I saw him look from Ruth to Golden Star, from the
+living woman who was his sister to her lifeless counterpart. Then came
+over him one of those swift changes of mood which we had so often seen
+before. All the cold cruelty of his long-chained-up passion vanished.
+His face, from being stone, became flesh again. The fierce glitter, as
+of a sword's point, died out of his eyes, and they grew warm and soft
+again, and his voice was almost as sweet and gentle as Ruth's, and
+strangely like it, too, as he answered her and said,--
+
+'You are right, Ruth. I was not myself. I was a brute, unworthy either
+of love or power. Let her die! Good God, I would die myself a thousand
+times rather than do that! I must have been out of my senses even to
+think of such a crime for a moment, but if you were a man and had lived
+through what I have lived through for the last two days and nights, you
+would understand me, and perhaps forgive me. Yes, she shall live. How
+could I ever have thought of letting her die!'
+
+Then he rose from his half-stooping posture over the bed, and came to
+where I stood at the foot, and, with his hand outstretched and a smile
+on his lips, said,--
+
+'You have heard what I have just said, Vilcaroya. You have withdrawn
+your conditions; now I will take back mine. It is no use for you and me
+to be enemies. We have had our fight, and I confess myself beaten. Now
+let us try to be friends for Ruth's sake and Golden Star's, and I
+promise you that to-morrow morning you shall be telling her the story of
+your resurrection and her own.'
+
+For a moment I stared at him in, speechless wonder, striving to
+understand how it could be that those eyes, which had, but a short time
+before, been glaring hate at me, could now be looking so kindly and
+frankly into mine; and how those lips, which had just been sneering so
+coldly and cruelly alike at my love and my hate, could shape such
+friendly and honest-sounding words. Then I looked at Ruth, asking her
+with my eyes what she would have me do, and in instant obedience to what
+I saw took Djama's hand in mine and said,--
+
+'So be it! The evil in our hearts has spoken, now let the good that is
+there speak, and let us be friends; and, when Golden Star awakes, with
+my lips she shall bless you and her who has made peace between us where
+there was strife.'
+
+'Miss Ruth, you really must allow me to congratulate you on your success
+as a peacemaker,' said the professor, speaking now for the first time
+since he had come into the room, and coming forward to where Joyful Star
+still stood by the bedside. 'It would have been ten thousand pities if
+this--ah--this little affair had ended any other way, for all of the
+exquisitely perfect subjects--'
+
+'_Subjects_, professor?' said Ruth, interrupting him with a laugh. 'Do
+you venture to call Golden Star a subject, just as you do those awful
+things in your dissecting-rooms? Look at her--a _subject_ indeed! Don't
+call her that again in my hearing, please!'
+
+'Oh, ah, of course, I beg your pardon a thousand times, and Her
+Highness's too. Really, I spoke quite thoughtlessly and most
+improperly.' he answered, laughing at her mock displeasure, 'And now,
+Djama, since we have had two declarations of love and a peacemaking,
+don't you think it would be cruel to keep Her Highness waiting any
+longer on the threshold of her new life? Come, Hartness, you and I have
+no more business here at present. Don't you think we had better go and
+wait somewhere else for the working of the miracle?'
+
+'Just what I was going to say,' replied Hartness, who had gone away a
+little distance from the bed while we were talking, and had been
+standing by the table, seeming to examine the strange instruments that
+were scattered about it. 'Of course the doctor will wish to finish his
+work alone.'
+
+'May not Vilcaroya and I stay, Laurens?' asked Joyful Star, looking at
+him with appealing eyes. 'You know it will be much better for her to see
+another woman by her when she awakes, and then she will recognise
+Vilcaroya, and that will tell her that she is among friends.'
+
+But Djama shook his head and said,--
+
+'No, Ruth, not yet. There is something else to be done before
+that--something, well, something that only a medical man ought to see or
+do, and you really must leave me to do it alone. You forget, it is not
+merely a matter of waking. She is not alive yet; but if you will leave
+me alone for about half-an-hour, I promise you that I will call you and
+Vilcaroya back before she actually wakes.'
+
+'Very well,' she said, moving away from the bedside. 'I don't want to
+pry into your mysteries.' Then she turned to me, and said, with a faint
+smile on her lips, 'Vilcaroya, come into the dining-room, I have
+something to say to you.'
+
+She went down the room after the professor and Francis Hartness, and I
+followed her with beating heart and anxious thoughts, wondering what new
+lesson it was she was about to teach me.
+
+Djama closed and locked the door after us. She led the way to the
+dining-room, where there was a light burning. It was empty, for the
+others, hearing what she had said to me, had gone out into the
+courtyard. Then she turned and faced me with her back to the light; but
+in spite of that I could see that her eyes were bright, and her fair
+face flushed as she said to me in a low voice that trembled a little,--
+
+'Vilcaroya, I am going to forget everything that was said in the room
+yonder, and--and you must forget it too. It was no time or place for
+such things to be said, and you and Laurens were not yourselves when you
+said them. If you do not forget them, we cannot be friends any more. You
+understand me, don't you?'
+
+Gentle and sweetly spoken as the words were, they fell upon my heart
+like snow upon a fainting flame; yet I felt that, like all her words,
+they were true and just. I crossed my hands on my breast with one of my
+old-world gestures, and, standing so before her with bowed head, I
+said,--
+
+'The will of Joyful Star is my law. Let what I spoke in my madness be
+forgotten as you have said. Who am I that I should say such things?--a
+poor savage that has wandered from his own world into hers, where he is
+a stranger!'
+
+'No, not a savage, Vilcaroya. You must never say that word again. How
+could Golden Star's brother be a savage? How could I--but there, we have
+said enough for the present. We have other things to think of now.'
+
+With that she turned away and sat down in a long, low chair, resting her
+cheek upon her hand, and looking out of one of the windows at the
+stars, while I went and stood before another to look at the same stars
+that she was looking at, and so we waited in silence until the door
+opened, and we heard Djama's voice telling us that the long-expected
+moment of Golden Star's awakening had come at last.
+
+As Joyful Star went to the door I stood aside and waited for her to pass
+me and go out first. As she went by our eyes met for a moment, and I saw
+that hers were bright with tears. My heart leapt at the sight, and then
+fell still again and well nigh fainting. What had she said to me but a
+few minutes before? How dare I dream that those sweet tears could be for
+me?
+
+I followed her and Djama into the room, but half-way between the door
+and the bed I stopped, not daring to go on, held back by some impulse I
+could not name. I saw her lean over the pillow for a moment in silence
+that for me was breathless. Then came a soft, sweet sound, and then a
+little cry. Was it her's or Golden Star's?
+
+Djama beckoned to me. I went with swift, silent steps to the foot of the
+little bed, and saw Golden Star's eyes wide open and looking wonderingly
+up into Ruth's face, and her red lips smiling at her. The miracle had
+been completed. She had awakened her with a kiss.
+
+'Come and give her your welcome back to life, Vilcaroya,' she whispered,
+rising and turning her fair face with its wet cheeks and smiling lips
+towards me. I went and stood over the pillow, and laid my trembling lips
+on Golden Star's brow, and then I said, in the words that had been the
+first of my own new life,--
+
+'_Cori-Coyllur Ñustallipa, Ñusta mi!_'
+
+She looked at me, but there was no more recognition in her gaze than in
+that of a newborn child, nor was there any answering smile upon her
+lips. Unheeding this for the moment, I went on and said, still speaking
+very gently and softly in our own tongue,--
+
+'Thou art thrice welcome back from the shades of night into the bright
+presence of our Father the Sun, oh, Golden Star! Dost thou not remember
+me, Vilcaroya, thy brother, who went into the darkness with thee long
+ago, and has been permitted to return before thee that he might greet
+thee and bid thee welcome?'
+
+Her eyes wandered from my face to Joyful Star's, and then she smiled
+again, but no answering words came from her parted lips. Now, as we
+looked from one another to her, a great fear came into all our hearts,
+and Ruth gave it voice.
+
+'Laurens,' she whispered, laying her hands upon his arm, 'what is the
+matter? Vilcaroya spoke at once, didn't he? Why doesn't she speak? Oh,
+surely it can't be that she is--that she has come back to life without
+memory or--or her reason? What is it?'
+
+I waited for Djama's answer as a man might wait for words that were to
+tell him whether he was to live or die. He put us both gently away from
+the bed, and then, laying his hand on Golden Star's brow, he looked long
+and steadfastly into her eyes. It seemed to me as though Ruth and I
+could hear each other's hearts beating and counting off the seconds
+until he raised his head again and said in the slow, even tones of the
+man of science who, for the time, had overcome and banished the lover,--
+
+'Memory, perhaps, even probably; but reason, no. These are not the eyes
+of an imbecile or an idiot, but they _are_ the eyes of a child. It is
+possible that when she fully recovers we may find her mind a perfect
+blank--a virgin page on which the story of her new life will have to be
+written.'
+
+'Thank God for that!' she murmured, and I, too, echoed her words in my
+heart, though I did not know then how much she meant by them.
+
+Then once more she turned and went to Golden Star's pillow, laying her
+hand upon her brow again, and looking fondly for a moment on the silent
+and yet eloquent face that was looking up at her. Then she said to her
+brother,--
+
+'But is she well now? I mean, is her physical life certain? Will she
+live and grow well and strong again?'
+
+'Yes,' he answered. 'I have done everything that it is in my power to
+do. I have fulfilled my promise to His Highness. The rest is, as it was
+with him, merely a matter of care and nourishment and nursing.'
+
+'Then,' she said, with a swift, subtle change coming over her manner,
+'the care and the nursing must be mine, and you two must say good-bye to
+her for the present, until I have nursed her back to health. Of course
+you may see her when necessary, as her doctor, but only as her doctor,
+mind. And you, Vilcaroya, must possess yourself with what patience you
+can until my part of the work is done as well. Now, go away, both of
+you. I am mistress here for the present. Laurens, you go and get ready
+the nourishment that you think she should take, and come back in
+half-an-hour, and tell me how it is to be taken.'
+
+It was easy for us to see the deep yet kindly meaning of her
+lightly-spoken words, for in them she had told us that Golden Star was
+now once more a living woman. No longer a mummy, or a corpse, or a
+'subject,' as the professor had called her--no longer an inanimate thing
+that had neither sex nor claim to human rights--but a sister woman of
+her own kind whose wants could only be supplied by her. So we obeyed
+her, and went away, leaving her there to perform the most sacred task
+save one that a loving woman could perform.
+
+Djama went to prepare the food that Golden Star would soon need, and I
+went in search of the professor and Francis Hartness, and told them all
+that had happened, and then, when the professor had gone to bed to
+finish his broken night's rest, I and he who was my rival in love, and
+who was to be my brother-in-arms, went out from the courtyard into the
+_patio_ which lay in front of the house, sloping down towards the
+entrance of the little valley in which the hacienda lay, and there,
+walking to and fro side by side, we talked long and earnestly of many
+things upon the doing of which my heart was set, and which might now be
+freely entered upon, seeing that the first object of our journey was
+already achieved.
+
+Our talk, as you may well believe, was of war and not of love, though it
+would be hard to say which of the two at that hour most filled our
+secret thoughts; but, as I have told you, this English soldier was a
+true man, and I trusted him, knowing well that though, when the imperial
+Llautu once more encircled my brows, I might find courage to seek openly
+the love of her into whose eyes I had already seen him look with love,
+yet no falsehood or hatred could ever come between us. So I told him
+freely of the treasures that I had only to take from their hiding-places
+to make them mine, and spoke once more of the use that I would make of
+them, and took his advice as to the best method of that use.
+
+This he was well able to give me, for I soon found that since he had
+resolved to throw in his lot with us, he had applied himself diligently
+to the task of studying the work that was to be ours, and seeking the
+best and readiest means of doing it. In Lima and Arequipa he had bought
+books and papers from which he had learned, as far as could be learned,
+the resources and power of the government of Peru, the number of its
+soldiers and their stations, the names and characters of the men who
+made the government, and of those who were opposed to them, seeking, as
+he told me was now ever the case in the countries of South America, to
+overturn the government and to take for themselves the honours and the
+profits of rule.
+
+He told me--which events soon proved to be the truth--that not many
+months would pass by before civil war once more broke out. The President
+and the ministers, who were the tools of his tyranny, had oppressed the
+people with grievous burdens till they could endure them no longer, and
+already people in the towns of the interior were refusing to pay taxes,
+and were arming themselves in secret and meeting in bands among the
+mountains to practise themselves with their weapons, and make ready for
+the war which was so soon to come.
+
+All this, as he soon showed me, was happening as though the Fates which
+rule the world had especially prepared it for my coming. The people had
+no leader save a man who had been himself a tyrant before, and none
+trusted him, but looked to him only to serve their own ends. Those who
+had the power were hated, and those who sought to seize it were
+distrusted.
+
+But better than all was the utter, and, as far as all men, save
+ourselves, could see, the hopeless poverty of the country. Long years of
+plundering had emptied the treasury. Commerce was leaving the shores,
+and industries were languishing throughout the land. No man trusted his
+neighbour, for nearly all were in debt, and none could get paid, and my
+own people, the slaves of the children of the Spaniards, and the sport
+of their blind and brutal jesting, had borne their heavy burdens till
+their backs were sore, sore as their patient hearts were, and they would
+bear them no longer.
+
+From the country which is called Ecuador, and which in my other life had
+been Quito, the kingdom of Atahuallpa, to the southern confines of
+Bolivia, which had once been part of the Land of the Four Regions, the
+dominions of my own father, all were ready to throw down their
+long-borne burdens and turn and rend their oppressors and those whose
+fathers had robbed them of the land that had once been theirs.
+
+I well remember the very words in which Francis Hartness told me all
+this at much greater length than I have set it down here; and this is
+what he said when, as the stars were paling in the sky above us and the
+eastern mountains were beginning to stand out sharply against the
+growing light of the coming dawn, our long talk drew to its close,--
+
+'In short, Vilcaroya, if I were given to that sort of thing, I could
+believe that the very Fates themselves had conspired to prepare the way
+for you. You have come back to the world and to your own country at the
+very moment that these miserable wretches are getting ready to tear each
+other to pieces. The government is as hopeless as it is impossible, and
+the popular party, as they call themselves, have neither a leader that
+they can trust, nor money to buy weapons and pay their soldiers with.
+The treasury is empty, for, so to speak, almost the last dollar had been
+stolen. The native troops have had no regular pay for months, and I
+believe they would desert to a regiment if they once believed that you
+are what you are, and that you possess, as you do, the means of paying
+them well and honestly for their help.
+
+'And, after all, I don't know that even I, as a soldier, could call it
+desertion under such circumstances. You are of their own blood, the son
+of one of their ancient kings. These people, these Peruvians, are only
+mongrel descendants of those who have plundered and oppressed them for
+centuries. They owe them no allegiance that is worth the name; but you
+they would hail, not only as their lawful king, but almost as a god--as,
+indeed, they could well be pardoned for doing, seeing what a marvellous
+fate yours has been.
+
+'The only thing to do at present, and the only thing in which I see any
+difficulty, is to get into communication with them in such a way that
+they shall come to know you without the authorities knowing anything
+about you or your treasures. If that could be done, I think all the rest
+would be easy, and then I believe that the moment you raised the flag of
+the old Incas, they would flock to it in thousands, and after that it
+would only be a matter of military management and leadership.'
+
+'And if I will charge myself with that, my friend,' I said, as he paused
+for a moment; 'if I will promise you that before six more suns have
+risen and set, the news of my coming shall be spread far and wide
+through the land, and yet in such a manner that none but the faithful,
+the Children of the Blood themselves, shall know anything that could
+work us harm, will you give me the help of your skill and your knowledge
+of the arts of this new warfare which is so strange to me? Will you lead
+my armies to battle against the oppressors of my people? Will you help
+me to free this land of my fathers from the yoke of its tyrants, and be
+the war-chieftain of my people, and stand by my throne in the days when
+the Rainbow Banner shall once more float over the battlements of the
+Sacsahuaman and the City of the Sun? If you will, you shall have riches
+and power and all that the heart of man can desire.'
+
+'Not all, I am afraid, Vilcaroya!' he said, interrupting me with a laugh
+that had but little mirth in it. 'Not all; but that would not be in your
+hands to give. Never mind, it is the fortune of war, or perhaps I should
+rather say of love. But for the rest, yes. I believe your cause is a
+just and righteous one, and what I can do to help it I will. Henceforth
+we are brothers-in-arms, even though we may perhaps be rivals in love.
+There, you have my hand upon it, and with it the word of an Englishman
+who never broke his word yet to man or woman.'
+
+How shall I tell you of the great joy with which those brave,
+honest-spoken words of his filled me? He, the man whom I had feared
+most, even as I had learned to love him most, was the first to bid me
+hope--and hope I did now, in spite of all things. So, saying nothing,
+for my heart was too full for speech, I put my hand in his, and there,
+as the dawn brightened over the mountains, we clasped hands in silence
+and sealed our compact, and when the sun rose swiftly over the now
+glittering peaks, I let go his hand and bowed myself before it, greeting
+it as the bringer of a new day which was to end the long night that had
+fallen over my land and my people when the light of my last life was
+quenched in the darkness of my death-sleep.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+IN THE THRONE-ROOM OF YUPANQUI
+
+
+We saw nothing of Golden Star the next day, nor yet for many days
+afterwards, for, in spite of our impatience, Ruth would not permit us to
+do so. What her brother had said had speedily proved itself to be true.
+She had come back to life a child-woman. Her body was that of a girl of
+seventeen years--which was her age when she and I had drunk the draught
+of the death-sleep together--and the kindly Powers that had presided
+over her birth had shaped her in a mould of almost perfect womanly
+beauty, yet, as Djama had said, her mind was a virgin page, from which
+the story of her past life had been utterly erased, and on whose blank
+whiteness the story of her new life had yet to be written.
+
+Now, on the writing of the first words of this story, as Joyful Star
+told us in her sweetly-serious way the night that she had sunk into her
+first natural slumber, everything might depend.
+
+'It is a task,' she had said that night, 'which I fear terribly to enter
+upon, and yet I know that I am the only one here who ought to undertake
+it. She will need weeks and months of most careful watching, and the
+sympathy that only another woman, and one who loves her as I have
+already learned to do, could give her. No woman ever had such a task
+before, and very few have had so good a work to do. There is something,
+too'--and here I remember how subtle a change came into her voice as she
+said this--'there is something in this wonderful resemblance between us
+which tells me that this is my duty, and I am going to devote myself
+absolutely to it during every hour of her waking life until she is able
+to do without my care. I must watch her and care for her as a mother
+does for her child, and you must let me do it alone as long as I wish
+to, just as we had to let Laurens do _his_ work alone. Don't you think I
+am right, professor?'
+
+'Yes,' he answered, 'perfectly right, Miss Ruth. I am sure everybody
+will agree with me that Her Highness could not be in better hands than
+yours. Indeed, as you say, yours are the only hands in which she could
+possibly be trusted with safety to her newly-awakening reason at such an
+extraordinary juncture in her life.'
+
+To this we all agreed willingly enough, and so Joyful Star had the big
+room cleared out and installed herself there with all the comforts and
+luxuries that the inexhaustible wealth which was now at my command could
+provide her with, so that Golden Star should find her new world as
+beautiful as might be. Meanwhile the professor, with a trusty guide that
+I had provided him with from among my own people, plunged afresh into
+his beloved studies with such ardour that he seemed to have almost
+forgotten all else that had brought us to Peru.
+
+Francis Hartness had gone with Tupac--who, in the sight of the
+Spaniards, was only his Indian servant and guide--on a mission of
+importance to the South, where the first rumblings of the coming
+war-storm were already making themselves heard. As for Djama, who, as
+you know, had no more interest in the work that now lay before Francis
+Hartness and myself than the professor had, he went about for some days
+gloomy and silent, and seemingly ill at ease, like a man who for a time
+has lost his interest in life; and at last--it was on the twentieth day
+after Golden Star had awakened--he came to me when I was alone in my
+room and said abruptly,--
+
+'Vilcaroya, do you think I have fairly earned my reward for what I have
+done?'
+
+'Yes,' I said, looking into his eyes and reading, though he knew it
+not, the thoughts that were moving in his mind. 'You have done all that
+you promised to do, but we have yet said nothing of the price. How much
+do you ask for?'
+
+'As much as I can get!' he said, with a laugh that pleased me but
+little. 'But, of course, I know the work that you yourself have come
+here to do, and I see that it will be expensive, so you will find me
+reasonable.'
+
+'And you, I hope, will not find me ungenerous. Do you remember what you
+saw in the Hall of Gold?' As I said this, his self-command left him for
+an instant. I saw his hands close, and his lips tremble, and the fierce
+fire of the gold-lust spring into his eyes as he replied,--
+
+'Yes; how could I forget it?'
+
+'And do you remember, too,' I said, 'the words that you heard me speak
+when I stood before the pyramid?'
+
+'Yes,' he replied, with a faint flush coming into his pale cheeks. 'It
+is not likely that I should forget them either. Why do you ask?'
+
+'Because,' I said, speaking slowly as a man who weighs his words well,
+'saving only the sacred emblems of the Sun, which it is not lawful for
+me to give away, all that you saw there shall belong to you and to him
+who made it possible for you to do what you have done. You will share it
+as you please--that is no care of mine--but I have conditions to make
+for my own sake and that of my people.'
+
+'What are they?' and as he spoke the flush died out of his cheeks again.
+
+'That you shall both swear solemnly to me that, come what may, no man
+shall ever know from you where the gold came from, and that, moreover,
+you shall never utter any word of my story or Golden Star's where mortal
+ears can hear it, nor give any sign or word to any man or woman that
+shall lead him or her to guess that I am what I am, or that my work here
+is what it is. Swear that oath to me and you shall take your gold and go
+in peace. Break it, and the fate that I told you of shall be yours. Are
+you content?'
+
+'Yes,' he said, 'and more than content; and I swear to you most
+solemnly, on my own honour and by all that I hold sacred, that I will
+keep your secrets absolutely.'
+
+'No, not here,' I said, breaking into his speech; 'and more, it is not
+only your oath that I want. There must be witnesses, for this is too
+great a thing to do lightly. To-morrow night we will go back to the Hall
+of Gold, and there you shall swear your oaths and they shall be
+witnessed.'
+
+'Very well,' he said. 'Whenever and wherever you like. But now,
+Vilcaroya, I have something else to say to you. Personally, you know, I
+have no further interests in Peru, saving one only. Your next few years
+will be stormy ones, and though I believe that, with the power you have
+behind you, you will win in the end, yet you know as well as I do that
+you will have to run all the risks of a war that may be a very savage
+one before you succeed. You may restore the throne of the Incas, and
+reign upon it, or you may be killed in the first battle. You will pardon
+me speaking so plainly, won't you?'
+
+I bowed my head in silence and he went on.
+
+'In view of this, then, I am going to propose that when we leave Peru--I
+mean my sister and the professor and myself--you will allow Ruth to take
+Golden Star to England with her, say, for three years or so, in order
+that her education may be carried on to the best advantage. I will
+promise you solemnly that during that time I will not speak a word of
+love to her, or attempt to be anything else to her than I am to Ruth,
+and then if you succeed in your aims, as I hope you will, we will come
+back and be Your Majesty's guests for a time, and after that we shall
+see what more the kindly Fates may have in store for you and me.'
+
+No man ever heard more fairly spoken or reasonable-sounding words than
+these were, and yet all the while I listened to them I knew that they
+were but used to hide the real thoughts of him who was speaking them.
+Yet what could I answer him? Did they not seem to point out the best of
+all courses that could be followed for the welfare of Golden Star and
+the comfort of her whose gentle hand was leading her nearer every day to
+the fulfilment of the promise of her new life? So, for want of anything
+better in my mind, I answered,--
+
+'Your words are unwelcome to me, for so long a parting would be a great
+sorrow to me; yet they are wise, and that which is most pleasant is not
+always the best to be done.'
+
+'Very well,' he said, 'I quite understand you, so we won't say anything
+more about it until then. I suppose I may tell the professor about what
+we are to do to-morrow night?'
+
+'Yes,' I said; 'there will be no harm in that, since a share of the gold
+belongs to him as well.'
+
+'And Hartness?'
+
+'He knows already, for I have told him not only of the treasures in the
+Hall of Gold, but of many others that will be used in the work that he
+has sworn to do with me.'
+
+Later on that day when the mid-day heat had cooled a little, I was
+walking alone in the garden of the hacienda, thinking deeply of what
+Djama had said and striving to find some plan of my own that would be
+as good and yet not make the parting that I dreaded needful. I turned,
+paying but little heed to my way, into a winding pathway shaded with
+trees and bordered with grass and flowers. I was looking down upon the
+ground, as was my wont, when I heard footsteps near me and looked up. I
+had turned the bend in the path, and there, but a few paces from me,
+stood Golden Star and Ruth. I started and made a motion as though I
+would turn back, but Ruth immediately beckoned to me smilingly, and
+said,--
+
+'Come and let me introduce you to your sister, Vilcaroya. I think it's
+time you began to be friends again. Don't you think she is looking
+wonderfully well and strong, and--and beautiful?'
+
+You may think, but I cannot tell you, of all the feelings that rose up
+within me as I obeyed her invitation. It was the first time that I had
+seen Golden Star since the night she had awakened. Nay, was it not the
+first time I had seen her as a truly living woman since the night of our
+bridal in the Sanctuary?
+
+She was dressed in garments made after the fashion of Ruth's own, of
+light grey soft stuff, and on the glorious wealth of her hair was a
+broad-brimmed straw hat such as Ruth wore. Indeed, to look at them both,
+standing there side by side, they could but have been taken for two
+twin sisters--daughters of the Day and Night--as my loving fancy called
+them afterwards--rather than the daughters of different peoples, and
+children of far-parted generations, whose hands, as they clasped,
+bridged the gulf between one age of the world and another.
+
+As I approached, Golden Star's eyes looked at me with the simple wonder
+that shines out of the eyes of a little child, and like a little child
+she smiled at me, and then she looked at Ruth, and made a soft low sound
+that was almost like the cooing of a child.
+
+'She is pleased to see you, Vilcaroya,' said Ruth, taking hold of my
+hand and hers, 'but of course she can't say so yet. Now, let me teach
+her to shake hands with you.'
+
+Then she put into mine the soft, warm little hand that I had last
+clasped when we went hand in hand to the couch of our long sleep. I
+pressed it gently, looking at her through the tears that rose into my
+eyes, then I raised it to my lips and kissed it, and she smiled, and
+made the little soft sound again, and then Ruth put her arm around her
+waist and said,--
+
+'Come, now, you are acquainted, and she likes you. This will be a most
+valuable lesson for her. Now, let us have a walk, and you tell me the
+news, if there is any.'
+
+'Most willingly,' I said, 'for I have much news to tell.'
+
+So we turned back along the path into the quietest part of the garden, I
+walking by Ruth's side. And I told her of all that had passed between
+her brother and me in the morning, and of what was to be done on the
+following night. She was looking very serious when I had finished, and I
+could see that many unspoken thoughts were working in her mind, and when
+I had done she looked up at me and said,--
+
+'Laurens's plan seems a very good one at first sight, but of course we
+cannot decide upon anything until we have thought a good deal more about
+it, and talked it well over amongst ourselves. But, at anyrate, it would
+be several weeks yet before I would even think of going away with Golden
+Star, so there is plenty of time for that. But to-morrow night--Listen,
+Vilcaroya, may I ask a very great favour of you?'
+
+'Joyful Star can ask no favour of me,' I said. 'She can speak, and I can
+hear and obey.'
+
+'Nonsense, Vilcaroya! I wish you wouldn't talk like that,' she answered
+with pretty petulance. 'Now, suppose I was to ask you to let me see this
+wonderful treasure-house of yours and promise faithfully not to tell
+anyone about it--would you let me?'
+
+'It is not the best that I can show you,' I answered gladly, 'but if
+you desire to see it, it is yours and all that it contains. I can give
+your brother and the professor other gold, and I will show you a greater
+treasure-house than this under the Fortress itself.'
+
+'Well,' she laughed, 'I won't say now that I won't have it, because the
+sight of all that gold might be too much for me, but I should dearly
+love to come and see it, and I think I might venture to bring Golden
+Star too. She's quite well and strong now, and if we are careful of her,
+it can't do her any harm, and it may do her good. Shall I bring her?'
+
+'Yes,' I said, 'why not?'
+
+At this moment we saw Djama come walking down the path towards us, and
+at the sight of him there came to me, like the stab of a dagger of ice,
+the sudden memory that, at the moment I was speaking of my
+treasure-house under the Sacsahuaman, I had heard a gentle rustle behind
+some bushes close by the path, and a sound like that of a stealthy
+tread.
+
+As Djama came near to us I saw the love-light flash into his eyes, and a
+swift flush rise into his sallow cheeks. He held out his hand and
+quickened his pace, smiling as sweetly as a woman the while. I was
+facing him a little in advance, and I heard behind me a sharp, low,
+shuddering cry of terror that shook my heart as I turned to learn its
+cause. Golden Star had thrown her arms round Ruth's neck, and was
+clinging to her, trembling with fear, and looking sideways at Djama with
+eyes fixed and wide open with terror.
+
+You have seen how little children will go smiling and fearless into the
+arms of one stranger and shrink in hate and terror from another. Their
+sight is keener than it is in after years, when the dust of the world's
+conflict has dulled it, and they can see plainly the good and the evil
+that is hidden behind the mask of the face. So it was with that
+child-soul of Golden Star's. Though I was now to her as strange as
+Djama, yet she had seen in me only the friend and brother who loved her
+and wished her well, and whose heart was clean in her sight; but in
+Djama she had seen at a single glance the evil that had only been
+revealed to me after many weeks of watching.
+
+Though I hated him for the fear that he had caused her, yet I was glad
+also, for now I saw that the answer to his proposal would be easier than
+I had thought for. As for him, his face darkened and his black brows
+came together, and the love-light in his eyes changed to a glare of
+anger; but this was only for an instant. It passed more quickly than the
+thunder-clouds melt round the crest of Illampu. He stopped, and stood
+with his head slightly bent and his hands spread, palms outward, in the
+posture of one who asks pardon, and said, in a voice that had no trace
+of anger,--
+
+'Forgive me, Ruth! I am afraid I have startled our patient--or perhaps I
+should rather say yours now. It was something more than stupid of me to
+come upon you suddenly like this, without any warning. Of all people in
+the world, I ought to have known better than that. But I suppose seeing
+Vilcaroya already here made me forget myself. Did she start like that
+when he came?'
+
+'No,' replied Ruth, still standing with her arm where she had thrown it
+around Golden Star's shoulders, and stroking her hair with the other.
+'She--she saw him farther off than you, and I took her towards him, so I
+suppose the shock was not so great. But please go away, both of you,
+now. You see she is terribly frightened, and she is trembling as though
+someone had struck her. I must take her into the house and get her quiet
+again, or the consequences may be serious.'
+
+Djama turned away without a word, his face darkening again as he did so,
+and with one backward glance at Golden Star, who had now raised her head
+from Ruth's breast, and was staring after us with fixed, wide-open eyes,
+I turned and walked away beside him, neither of us speaking a word, for
+we were both too busy with our own thoughts.
+
+That night Francis Hartness and Tupac returned from their journey to the
+South, and as the professor was also in the house I told them of what I
+wished done on the following night, and bade Tupac make all preparation.
+The next day we all started in the cool of the morning to go to the
+Rodadero as though for a picnic, as the people of Cuzco often do, so
+that there might be no suspicion of our true object. We all rode upon
+horses, saving Golden Star, who was carried in a hammock litter, that I
+had had made for her, and Tupac, and six of our people who came with us
+as bearers and servants.
+
+We spent the day wandering about among the huge ruins of the
+Sacsahuaman, and exploring the wonders of the carved rocks and
+underground passages and altar-places, which have been the marvel of
+every traveller to the hills about Cuzco, and all that I knew of the
+upper works I told my companions, and showed them as well as I could
+what the mighty fastness had been in the days of its pride and unbroken
+strength.
+
+Then, when the brief twilight came, I bade one of our men take the
+beasts into a chamber among the rocks that I had shown him, and where
+plenty of fodder had been stored a few days before. After this we waited
+a little longer till night fell, and then I bade Tupac do what I had
+bidden him the day before. His voice rose shrill and plaintive in the
+silence, chanting a song that you may have heard the Indians singing in
+Peru when returning from their labours, and presently, from among the
+rocks on the plain, and from the shadowy lines of the Fortress, many
+silent figures stole out and went towards the valley in which the
+Sayacusca stands.
+
+Then I told my companions that all, save those of the Blood, must have
+their eyes bandaged, as Djama's had been before, and when they had
+submitted willingly to this, knowing that no harm would come to them, we
+led them to the Sayacusca, I leading Ruth by the hand, and following the
+bearers of Golden Star's litter, and there the way to the Hall of Gold
+was opened as before, and we entered it, followed by a long line of the
+Children of the Blood.
+
+But I made no halt here, nor did I let my companions even see the
+treasure that was to be divided between Djama and the professor
+according to my promise, for I had greater marvels in store for them.
+So, lantern in hand, I led the way through a winding gallery behind the
+pyramid of gold of which I told you before. At the end of this was a
+door, formed by a revolving stone similar to that at the entrance to the
+hall. This Tupac and another opened under my directions, and we entered
+a long, straight passage behind it. At the end was a broad flight of
+stone steps, and at the top were two low bronze doors bolted into
+pillars on either side. The doors had no hinges, but they turned with
+the pillars, and no one who did not know this, or how the pillars
+turned, could open them. But this secret was one of many others that I
+had brought with me from the past, and in a few moments the doors were
+standing open before us.
+
+We passed in, and I closed them behind us. Two of my men had come laden
+with great candles and torches, and these I had lighted and placed in
+golden sconces which stood out from the walls in the great hall into
+which we had passed through the bronze doors. When this had been done, I
+beckoned to Tupac, and went silently with him to the other end of the
+hall, where, on a throne of gold under a canopy of silver, sat a silent
+figure clad in the imperial robes, and with a mask of beaten gold over
+its face, according to the ancient custom. It was the effigy of the
+great Yupanqui, father of Huayna-Capac, which had been seated here since
+his death, as an emblem of the unbroken sovereignty of his race, giving
+place in turn to his son and grandson on the days that they were
+crowned, and being replaced when the ceremony was over.
+
+Now, with Tupac's help I carried the effigy into a little chamber behind
+the throne, and there quickly removed my upper clothing and dressed
+myself as I had done before in the Hall of Gold, and took my place on
+the throne. Then I bade Tupac lead Joyful Star, with her eyes still
+bandaged, to me. When he had placed her before me, I made a sign to him,
+and the bandage fell from her eyes. She turned white as death, and
+staggered back a pace, with her hands clasped to her temples, and there
+she stood, staring wide-eyed at me and all the splendours about her.
+
+Wherever her gaze wandered it saw nothing but gold and silver and gems
+and rich-dyed hangings of silk and wool, whose brilliant hues no time
+could dim. The roof and the upper halves of the walls were covered with
+plates of burnished silver. Around the walls, half-way between the floor
+and the ceiling, ran a great cornice or ledge of gold, on which stood
+the golden chairs in which were seated the mummies of the twenty Incas
+which I had last seen in the Sanctuary of the Sun, looking down through
+the eye-holes in their golden masks.
+
+From the cornice to the floor hung the bright-hued hangings, and against
+these were ranged along the floor on either side threescore seats of
+silver, and the floor was paved with diamond-shaped blocks of gold and
+silver set alternately. Behind the throne on which I sat rose from the
+floor to roof a sloping wall of golden ingots, and on either hand stood
+a great golden vase, heaped high with unset gems, emeralds and diamonds,
+pearls and sapphires and rubies, precious almost beyond price; and on
+the roof above my throne a great, golden image of the Sun, encircled by
+spreading rays of gems, glowed and sparkled in the light of the candles
+and torches.
+
+At last Ruth's wandering gaze became steady and rested upon my face, and
+I looked back into her eyes, making no sign until she should speak, and
+sitting motionless as the effigy whose place I had taken.
+
+'Where am I?' she said at last in a low, faint voice, like one awakening
+from a dream. 'And who are you? Surely you cannot be--and yet, yes, you
+are Vilcaroya! What has happened?'
+
+'Nothing more than the granting of Joyful Star's request, save that
+through the treasure-house which she asked to see I have brought her to
+a better one. Does it please her?'
+
+'Is it real, Vilcaroya?' she whispered. 'Is all this really gold and
+silver, and are these real diamonds and rubies and emeralds, or am I
+only dreaming? Does it please me? What a question! I have never even
+dreamed of anything like it. Where are we, Vilcaroya?'
+
+'In the throne-room of the Incas, beneath what was once their palace and
+fortress on the hill of Sacsahuaman,' I answered, 'and this is the
+throne of the great Yupanqui, the greatest earthly king and conqueror of
+my race. I sat here and crowned myself Inca in the presence of
+Anda-Huillac and the priests and nobles of the Land of the Four Regions
+on the day before the night when I drank the death-draught with Golden
+Star.'
+
+'Ah, yes, where is she?' she cried, looking round only to see that all
+the rest had vanished, and that she and I were alone in the great hall.
+'What have they done with her, and where are Laurens and the others?'
+she cried, looking fearfully and almost mistrustingly at me. 'What have
+you done with them, Vilcaroya?'
+
+'They are safe,' I said. 'Tupac and his men have care of them, and they
+will come back when I bid him bring them. But I have need of your
+presence here alone before I do that,' I went on, rising from my seat as
+I spoke. 'Has Joyful Star ever sat on a throne?'
+
+'No,' she stammered, staring at me with wonder in her eyes. 'You know I
+haven't. Why should you ask?'
+
+'Then sit on mine,' I said, 'for I have something to say to you which I
+can best say and you can best hear if we change places. Nay, I will take
+no denial,' I said, drawing her by the hand up the steps in front of the
+throne, 'for it is not only your--your friend who is asking, but a
+crowned king in his own palace, who is lord of life and death over all
+who enter it.'
+
+Half frightened and half wondering, she submitted to my will and allowed
+me to seat her in the chair which no woman had ever sat in before. Then
+I took her hand, and, dropping on one knee on the upper step, I said,--
+
+'Joyful Star has taken one queen from me, and she alone can give me
+another to fill her place. She is sitting where the great Yupanqui sat
+when he ruled all the land from north to south, and from the eastern
+mountains to the sea, and ere long I too shall reign, sole and
+undisputed lord, over a realm wider even than that. Many things have
+been done that Joyful Star knows not of since I came back to my country
+and my people. Through all the Land of the Four Regions the word has
+gone forth, with the swiftness of thought, that the Son of the Sun has
+returned, and that the heir of the divine Manco has come to deliver his
+children from bondage.[B]
+
+'Everywhere the tidings have been received with joy, and the people are
+longing to return to the allegiance of their fathers, and tread their
+oppressors under foot. Before many days civil war will be raging
+throughout the lands of the south, and I have but to set flowing that
+golden stream, one of whose many sources is here, and say, "Here is gold
+and silver in plenty for all who will fight under the Rainbow Banner,"
+and I shall have armies and fleets to do what I will with, and the sway
+of my sceptre shall reach from north to south and sea to sea.
+
+'This I shall do because of my oath; but I have brought Joyful Star here
+to tell her, in the most sacred place that is left in the Land of the
+Four Regions, that I shall also do it so that she, if she will, may be
+queen where I am king, and sit beside me on my throne, and make my
+empire a paradise by the brightness and the sweetness of her presence. I
+cannot forget, as she bade me do--for the words that I said in the heat
+of my passion are true--for I love you, Joyful Star, and all that I
+have or shall ever have on earth will be worthless to me unless you take
+it as a gift from my hands. Nay, do not speak, for now I seek no answer,
+whether good or evil. I have brought you here that I, as a king, might
+kneel at the feet of her whom I would win for my queen, and from now
+until I sit in the sight of all the world on the throne of the Four
+Regions no other words of love shall pass my lips. So you shall have
+many days to ponder what I have said, and to ask your own heart whether
+it will say "yes" or "no" to me when I stretch out my hand from my
+throne and ask you to come and sit beside me and rule my people with
+me.'
+
+Before she could answer, I stood up and clapped my hands, and Tupac with
+six others, dressed now in the forbidden costume of their ancestors,
+entered the hall from the ante-chamber, into which they had taken the
+others, and came towards me, bearing wands across their shoulders in
+token of homage, and with heads downbent, not daring to look upon my
+majesty till I bade them. I drew Joyful Star from the throne by the
+hand, and seating myself in it, said in the ancient tongue,--
+
+'Let the Children of the Blood enter into the presence of their father
+and their lord, and let the strangers be brought in, and the other
+maiden, all with eyes bandaged, and let seats of silver be placed to
+the right and left of the throne, one for each of the virgins of the Sun
+to sit upon. Are all things else ready, Tupac-Rayca?'
+
+'Yes, lord,' he answered, stepping out in front of the others and
+falling on his knees, 'and the Children of the Blood are waiting to see
+the glory of thy presence and hear the words of wisdom and hope from thy
+lips.'
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[B] The Inca Indians of the Sierra region possess the same extraordinary
+faculty of transmitting intelligence without apparent material means
+that the Hindoos and the Arabs have. Thus, during the last revolution in
+Peru, the fall of Lima was known to the Indians of Bolivia on the
+southern shore of Lake Titicaca three days after it happened, though the
+telegraph wires were cut and all ordinary communications suspended.
+Without the telegraph this would be quite impossible by any means known
+to Europeans.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+HOW THE SOUL OF GOLDEN STAR CAME BACK
+
+
+When the two chairs had been brought in and placed according to my
+orders, I rose from my throne and led Joyful Star to the one on my left
+hand and placed her in it, still silent with the wonder and perplexity
+of what she had seen and heard since her eyes were opened. Then, seating
+myself again, I bade Tupac summon the Children of the Blood to take
+their places, and presently he ushered them in from the chambers that
+opened out of the great hall on either hand at the other end.
+
+There were threescore of them, the heads of the families of Ayllos,
+whose blood was the purest and whose descent was most direct from the
+old nobility of my own days. Each of them, too, under the outward husk
+of his forlorn and degraded state, had preserved unsullied the ancient
+faith and traditions of the sacred race, and, against all appearances,
+had steadfastly hoped for the fulfilment of the promises that had been
+given in the olden times. More than this, too--each had treasured, as a
+miser hoards his gold, the ever-growing legacy of hate which the
+oppression and contempt of the Spaniards and their meaner descendants
+had heaped up from generation to generation against the long-awaited day
+of vengeance which, as but two or three in that strange company alone
+knew, was now so near at hand.
+
+Ever since I had revealed myself to them in the Hall of Gold they had
+been working for the end in view with the swift, subtle arts known only
+to those of their race, and already, from Quito in the north to Santiago
+in the south, tidings had gone forth that the day of deliverance was
+approaching, and that ere long the Rainbow Banner would be raised by the
+hands of him for whom the Children of the Sun had waited.
+
+Each of the fathers of the people was dressed, as Tupac was, in the
+long-forbidden garb of the ancient nobility, and each as he entered
+stopped in the centre of the hall and paid his homage before he went to
+his seat. Then, when all were seated, I ordered that the strangers
+should be brought in, and they were led into the midst of the silent
+assembly, with their eyes still bandaged. Over Golden Star's head a veil
+had been thrown, hiding her face, for it was my purpose that it should
+not be seen for the present, and how strangely this purpose worked you
+shall soon see.
+
+As she came up the middle of the hall, following Tupac, who was leading
+her as obedient as a little child, I descended from the throne and went
+to meet her, and led her to the seat on my right hand and placed her in
+it. Francis Hartness, the professor and Djama I left standing in the
+middle of the hall, each with one of Tupac's chosen guards beside him.
+When Golden Star was seated, I stood up in front of the throne and said
+to those assembled, speaking in the ancient tongue,--
+
+'Sons of the Blood and fathers of the Oppressed, you know already how
+the promise that was made by our Father the Sun, through the lips of his
+high priest, in the days when first the oppressors came, has been in
+part most faithfully and marvellously fulfilled. I, Vilcaroya--son of
+Huayna-Capac, son of the great Yupanqui Inca, before whose throne-seat I
+am now standing alive in your presence--am he of whom it was said that
+one who should pass from life to life through the shadows of death
+should grasp the sceptre of the divine Manco, and restore the ancient
+glory of the Children of the Sun. And with me, as you know, there was
+another, at whose call and for love of whom I dared the ordeal of the
+death-sleep and swore the oath which I have returned to the world of
+living men to fulfil. I have already given you some proof that I am what
+I say I am, for I have revealed to you secrets which were buried in the
+grave with me and in those faithful hearts which have been pulseless now
+for many generations.
+
+'But now, that all things may be made plain to you, and that no doubts
+may remain in your hearts to hinder the working of our sacred purpose, I
+have brought here before you witnesses of the wonders that have been
+worked--even those who wrought them themselves, that their own lips may
+tell you the story; and with them I have brought yet another witness
+who, though she cannot speak to you in our ancient tongue, of which our
+Father, for his own wise purposes, has deprived her during her long
+sleep, will yet in her own person and even with silent lips be witness
+enough that I have not lied to you. Now let the eyes of the strangers be
+uncovered and their mouths opened that they may see and speak.'
+
+Even as the words left my lips they were obeyed, and at the same time I
+stretched out my right hand and raised the veil from the head of Golden
+Star, and unloosed the bandage from her eyes.
+
+A deep murmur of wonder ran round the hall; a sharp cry of amazement
+broke from Djama's lips, and the two others stared blankly about them.
+Then I raised my left hand to command silence, and, still speaking the
+ancient speech and pointing with my right hand to Golden Star, said,--
+
+'This, O Fathers of the People, is she who drank the death-draught with
+me. This is Cory-Coyllur, daughter of Huayna-Capac, and sister of the
+long-ago murdered Huascar, and my sister, too, since her great father
+was mine also. With her, as the tradition was told to you, I plighted
+the marriage-troth before the altar in the Sanctuary of the Sun, and of
+that troth I would speak to you now. Such marriage is no longer lawful
+in the world to which we have returned, and in token of this our Father
+the Sun has sent this other likeness of Golden Star, who sits upon my
+left hand, to tell me that it may not be; and to make the message surer,
+it has pleased him also to put into my heart a love for her differing
+from, though not greater than that which I have borne for Golden Star,
+and if my Father who has given me this love shall also look with
+kindness upon my longing, then Joyful Star, as I have named her, shall
+be my Coya[C] and my queen, and Golden Star shall be her sister and
+mine, and I doubt not that in his own good time our Father will send her
+a fitting mate, that her heart may not be empty nor her life lonely.'
+
+As I said these last words I saw the eyes of all who were sitting in the
+chairs turn, as if moved by one impulse, and rest on Francis Hartness,
+standing strong and stately in the midst of the little group in the
+middle of the hall, overtopping the others by nearly a span, and crowned
+with his curling golden hair; and as I, too, looked at him, a new
+thought came into my mind, and I spoke aloud again and said,--
+
+'Yes, Brothers of the Blood, I read your thought. The stranger from the
+land which is the greatest of all lands in the world of to-day, is a
+true Son of the Sun, though not of our blood, for his heart is clean and
+his tongue is straight and his arm strong, and perchance it may please
+our Father to bring about that which he has put into our hearts.'
+
+At this another murmur ran round the hall, and every head was bowed in
+assent.
+
+Now all this time the three Englishmen had been standing patiently in
+the midst of the hall, looking about them at its splendours, and waiting
+till I should speak to them, for the professor knew enough of the
+Quichua tongue to follow what I had been saying, and had told the others
+that I was speaking of them. Now I spoke to them in English, and told
+them what I had brought them to the throne-room for, and then I had
+chairs placed for them at top of the hall, to my left hand.
+
+When they had taken their places, I asked the professor to speak in
+Spanish to those assembled, and tell them whether or not the story of my
+return to life was true, and whether or not Golden Star had been found
+where Anda-Huillac and the priests had placed her, and had been, like
+me, restored to life by the arts of Djama his friend. This he did in
+few, straight words, and after him Djama rose at my bidding and told
+them also what he had done. When he had finished I took the Llautu from
+my head and raised it above me with outstretched arms and said in a loud
+voice,--
+
+'If you, O Children of the Blood and Sons of the Ancient Race, believe
+now that I am in truth Vilcaroya, son of Huayna-Capac, and lawful heir
+of the divine Manco, from whom all the Incas of our race draw their
+royal blood, then take me for your lord as my father was the lord of
+your fathers; or if any shall have yet doubt in his heart, let him
+speak now or for ever be silent.'
+
+Then with one accord they rose from their seats and came before me and
+prostrated themselves on the shining pavement of the throne-room, and
+began to chant, in a low, soft tone, the Song of Homage with which of
+old the new-crowned Incas had been hailed, generation after generation,
+Sons of the Sun and lords of life and death throughout the Land of the
+Four Regions.
+
+And now a wondrous thing happened. As I stood there facing the prostrate
+throng, lowering the Llautu on to my head, I heard a low, sharp cry
+beside me on my right hand. I turned half round, and there I saw Golden
+Star staring at me with eyes burning with the light that shone through
+them from her new-awakened soul.
+
+Her hands were clasped to her temples, pushing back her thick, bright
+hair from her forehead. Her face was flushed, and her half-open lips
+were working as though they were striving to shape some long-forgotten
+words. At the instant that the Llautu touched my brows, she rose to her
+feet. Then a cry burst from her lips and went ringing down the hall, and
+the next moment she had thrown herself forward and I had caught her in
+my arms.
+
+As I did so our eyes met, and our hearts looked at each other through
+them. In that one burning glance the mists of the long years were
+melted, all things else were forgotten, and for the moment we stood
+alone--the children of a long-dead generation--in the solitude that our
+strange fate had made about us. Then her lips moved, not dumbly this
+time, and in a voice that woke, who shall say how many memories in my
+heart, she said,--
+
+'Have they awakened us, my lord? Tell me how long we have slept, my
+Vilcaroya. It seems long to me, and I have had strange, dim dreams, and
+thought I was not one, but two, and that one of myselves was your sister
+and the other was your Coya and queen. It was strange, was it not, to
+dream like that?'
+
+'Not so strange but that it may be true, O my sister, Golden Star,' I
+said, my wonder for the moment overcome by a new hope that uprose within
+me at her words. 'Stranger things than that have happened since we fell
+asleep together in the distant days that are no more. See, Ñusta mi,
+here is your other self, the living shape of that sister-soul of yours,
+who has watched over you and cared for you and loved you since you drew
+the first breath of your new life. She cannot speak our tongue, for she
+is the daughter of another age than ours, but she has taught me hers and
+I will speak for you.'
+
+As I said this I took her hands from where they rested on my shoulders,
+and led her to the seat of Joyful Star, who was standing in front of it,
+with one hand on the arm of her chair and the other one clasped to her
+heart, her face white with fear and her eyes wide with wonder.
+
+'What has happened, Vilcaroya?' she said, in a voice so low that it was
+almost a whisper. 'Has her memory come back, and does she believe
+herself to be your--your wife?'
+
+As she forced the last word from her hesitating lips I saw the hot blood
+flow into her cheeks, and a new light that shot like a dart of fire into
+my heart leapt into her eyes.
+
+'No,' I said, with a smile that was quickly answered by one that came
+unawares to her lips. 'She calls herself my sister and me her lord, and
+says that she has dreamed that she is not one but two, and that her
+other sister-self is Vilcaroya's wife and queen. Now, if that dream may
+be the truth, tell her so!'
+
+And with that I took her hand gently from where it rested on the chair
+and laid Golden Star's in it.
+
+'But--I cannot speak your language, and she wouldn't understand me,' she
+said softly, with one swift glance at me and another longer look at
+Golden Star's smiling face, so wondrous like her own.
+
+'There is another speech than that of the tongue,' I answered, 'which
+all men understand.'
+
+'Yes!' she said, and then she drew Golden Star gently to her and kissed
+her.
+
+All this while the Ayllos had remained silent and prostrate before the
+throne, none daring to raise their heads till I bade them, and the three
+Englishmen sat still, hearing what I had said to Joyful Star and her
+answer to it, and yet neither speaking nor rising from their seats, each
+full of his own thoughts and not willing to betray his feelings by any
+rash word that he might speak in the wonder of the moment. But now I
+turned with my heart full of joy and new hope, and said in a voice in
+which my gladness seemed to sing like a bird in the morning sky,--
+
+'Rise up, Brothers of the Blood, and look upon your lord and rejoice
+with him, for our Father the Sun has looked kindly upon him and filled
+all his life with light. He has given back memory and speech to Golden
+Star, his daughter, and put it into the heart of Joyful Star, her other
+sister-self, to love her and to make plain that which might else have
+been dark.'
+
+Then they all rose to their feet and saluted me and paid their homage to
+Golden Star and Joyful Star as well, and then I waved them to their
+seats, and when they had gone I led Golden Star back to her chair, and
+then I called Djama to me, and when he came and stood before me I
+said,--
+
+'You have seen what has happened, and you have heard the words that have
+been said. You see now that there is no need for Golden Star to go to
+England. Therefore it remains but for you and for your friend to take
+the treasure that is yours, and for us to say farewell.'
+
+'And Ruth?' he asked. 'You know, of course, that that will mean farewell
+to her also.'
+
+I could see that he was ill at ease, and that his words were not the
+words that his true thoughts would have spoken. As I looked at him I saw
+that his eyes shifted and wandered from my gaze, and I said coldly,--
+
+'Much has happened since we last spoke of this. It will be for Joyful
+Star herself to say whether she will bid me farewell or not. Is she not
+free to go or stay where she pleases? Say, now, when I shall command the
+treasure to be taken out of the Hall of Gold for you, and where you wish
+it to be placed.'
+
+'I must ask you to give me time to think about that and talk it over
+with the professor,' he said, 'for we have no means of taking such an
+immense amount of gold to the coast and getting it on board ship without
+suspicion.'
+
+'Go, then,' I said, 'and speak with him, but remember that it must be
+done quickly, for ere many days are past there will be war in the land,
+and neither your lives nor your gold will be safe.'
+
+'I will take good care of that,' he said in a tone whose strangeness
+told me more than his words, and with that he turned away and sat down
+beside the professor, with the thoughts that were within his heart still
+unspoken. As soon as he had gone back to his seat I called Francis
+Hartness to me and set him beside me on the right hand of the throne,
+and then I told who he was and showed that he was well skilled in those
+new arts of warfare which had taken the place of our ancient methods,
+and how he had promised to use his knowledge for me and lead my armies
+into battle, hazarding his own life on the chance of our success; and
+when I had said this I named him leader of all those who should range
+themselves under the Rainbow Banner when the day of battle came, and
+bade all present obey his orders and enforce obedience to them, even as
+though his commands were my own.
+
+Then I bade Francis Hartness himself speak all that was in his mind
+freely and without fear of betrayal concerning the war that was soon to
+be waged between the rival factions of our oppressors and the means that
+were to be used to turn their strife to our own account, and this he
+did, speaking in fluent Spanish and in short, clear sentences, as a man
+of action and a soldier should speak.
+
+He told how he had made himself acquainted with the forces on both
+sides, and how, with the help of Tupac, he had sounded the feelings of
+those by whom the fighting would have to be done, and had found them
+willing to leave the service of the schemers who sought to make
+themselves tyrants over the land, and fight for those whose purpose it
+was to restore the ancient rule and give liberty to all to use their
+lives as they thought best and to win for themselves as many of the
+gifts of the All-Father as they were able to do. He told, too, how he
+had sent many messages over the lightning-wires to his own country,
+bidding friends like himself in war to come out as quickly as might be
+to find the fortune that awaited them, yet saying nothing of war but
+only of gold that was to be had for the taking.
+
+When he had finished, I bade Tupac summon all who were present to the
+foot of the throne, and then I spoke to them of the plans that I had
+made with Francis Hartness in all their details, and showed them how
+each, according to his opportunities, could give his help in carrying
+them out, and then, as by this time the night was far spent and there
+was yet work of another sort to do, I sent them back to their seats, and
+calling Ruth and Golden Star to me, I bade them follow me, and led the
+way down the hall and through one of the passages at the end until I
+brought them to a chamber which Tupac and his comrades had already
+prepared for them by my orders, and here I left them to take their rest
+together, promising to return in the morning.
+
+When I got back into the throne-room Djama asked me whither I had taken
+his sister, and I told him what I had done, saying that the hour was now
+too late for us to return to our home on the other side of the valley,
+and that, moreover, it was needful for us to go back to the Hall of Gold
+to make a proper count of the treasure and to let him and the professor
+swear their oaths of secrecy in the presence of the fathers of my
+people.
+
+Then I left him, looking much more ill at ease than such tidings should
+have made him feel, and told Tupac in the ancient tongue to take three
+of his companions and go and do that which it was now time to do. So he
+went and chose his men and departed through the bronze doors by which we
+had entered the hall. After that I named a guard to remain all night in
+the hall, and bade the rest go and put on their everyday clothing, and
+I, too, went back into the chamber behind the throne and changed my
+imperial garments for the others that I had put off.
+
+Then I ordered the torches and candles to be extinguished, all saving a
+few that were left for the guards, and then the eyes of Djama and the
+professor were bandaged afresh, though those of Francis Hartness--he
+being now one of us and devoted to our cause--were left open; and when
+this was done the lanterns were lit and I led the way into the
+ante-chamber of the throne-room, where the bronze doors still stood open
+as Tupac had left them.
+
+I stood by them till the last man had passed out, then I went through
+and closed them. Then I followed the rest and again placed myself at
+their head. But when we reached the end of the straight passage, instead
+of turning the revolving pillar which closed the entrance of the
+winding passage leading to the Hall of Gold, I sought about with my
+lantern on the floor until I found three marks in the shape of a
+triangle in one corner of a great square slab of stone, and, taking a
+long staff which one of the men carried, I placed the end on the
+triangle and calling two others to help me, we bore downwards with all
+our weight, and when we had thrust awhile on the staff the corner of the
+slab sank into the floor and it turned on a diagonal axis until it stood
+upright, leaving a three-cornered space large enough for a man's body to
+pass through easily. Then I made a sign to one of the Ayllos and said,--
+
+'Anahuac, take your lantern down there and light the way down the
+steps.'
+
+'Truly there are no secrets in the land hidden from the eyes of our
+Lord!' he said, glancing round in wonder at the rest, and then he
+lowered himself with his lantern into the hole and disappeared.
+
+Then I bade the rest follow him one by one, and so all went down, I
+going last with Francis Hartness, who helped me to put the stone back
+into its place.
+
+Our way now led along a rough-hewn gallery that sloped gently upwards
+for some twelve hundred paces, and at the end of it there was a little
+chamber measuring some twenty feet each way and having no apparent
+outlet, but in the middle of one of the walls there was another of the
+cunningly-constructed revolving stones which our ancient masons ever
+used to bar their secret ways, and this three of our men, working as I
+told them, turned on its hinge, and through the opening that was thus
+made we passed out in single file to a little rock-walled valley over
+which the stars were shining.
+
+The door was closed behind us, and dust and dirt were rubbed over the
+thin lines which marked where it fitted into the rock, and then we
+extinguished our lanterns and passed out of the valley on to the pampa.
+
+The place where we had come out was about a thousand paces from the
+walls of the Sacsahuaman. We halted on the plain and I gave my last
+orders to the Ayllos. Then we set out in the direction of the Fortress,
+and as we went one by one my followers disappeared silently into the
+half darkness about us till at last only four of them were left, two
+leading Djama and two the professor.
+
+I had been talking of many things with Francis Hartness on the way, and
+showing him how in the olden times we had made use of the secret
+passages such as those he had already seen, and when we saw that we had
+come out by a way different to that which we had entered, he asked me
+the reason of it, and I answered him in a low voice and said,--
+
+'Because the other way is closed. Have patience a little while and you
+shall see why.'
+
+Then we went on our way in silence until we came to the edge of the
+valley in which the Sayacusca stands. Here I halted and whispered a few
+words to the men who were leading Djama and the professor. They slipped
+off their ponchos and threw them over the heads of their prisoners, for
+such the two were now to be for the present. I heard a muffled cry from
+Djama, and I went to him and put my hand on his shoulder and said in a
+whisper,--
+
+'Keep quiet and lie down. These men have knives and will use them at my
+bidding.'
+
+Then they pulled him and the professor down, and they lay quiet, knowing
+that their lives were in my hands, and I lay down on the edge of the
+valley, signing to Francis Hartness to come and lie beside me. Then I
+pointed into the valley and bade him watch. Presently, in the dim light,
+we made out figures moving about the rock, and caught every now and then
+the glint of the star-rays along thin lines of polished metal.
+
+'Rifle barrels!' he whispered. 'What are they doing here? I didn't know
+that your men had any weapons yet.'
+
+'No,' I said, 'those are in the hands of soldiers from Cuzco. The time
+has come sooner than I thought for, and yet not too soon. You will see
+the first blow struck for the freedom of my people before to-morrow's
+sun rises.'
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[C] The queen-consort of the Inca, as distinguished from the many others
+whom the ancient laws allowed him to marry.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+THE TREACHERY OF DJAMA
+
+
+'Wait now for a little while with patience,' I said, laying my hand on
+his shoulder, 'and you shall see a strange thing, a thing that shall
+show you how strong the old traditions are still in the land of the
+Incas. Lie here and do not let yourself be seen till I send a messenger
+for you. It will not be very long.'
+
+He nodded and I rose quietly to my feet and went round the hollow until
+I got the great stone between me and the place where the soldiers were
+standing, and then I went down on my hands and knees and crept quietly
+towards it and climbed up a flight of steps carved in it. This took me
+to the top of the cleft in which is the broken stairway. I climbed down
+this and dropped softly into the hole at the bottom. It was dry now, for
+Tupac had done that which I had bidden him in the throne-room. I felt
+my way down the steps till I came to the wall at the bottom. Then I
+whispered his name, and he answered out of the darkness in the old
+language,--
+
+'I am here, Lord, and all that has been ordered is done.'
+
+I crept towards him along the wall, measuring my way along it with my
+outstretched arms till I knew that I had come to the revolving stone
+which closed the way into the hall. He was standing against it, and one
+of the others was with him. I felt over the door till I found the silver
+socket, and then we opened the door as before with the bar which Tupac
+had brought. Then I went down through the hall and lighted a lantern and
+went into the little chamber where, as before, I changed my clothing for
+the imperial robes, and set the Llautu on my head; but I kept on my belt
+under my cloak, and put two revolvers in it in case I should need them,
+and when I went back into the hall Tupac and the others were lighting
+candles and putting them in the holders round the walls as I had bidden
+them. When this was done I said to him,--
+
+'Go now and bring the others down, first the soldiers with their
+officer, by whose side you must keep closely, and see that your knife
+is ready. Then let Ainu bring the Men of the Blood, and the strangers
+quickly after them, and bid Anahuac and Ainu close the door when the
+last man has entered.'
+
+He bowed his head, and the two went out and left me sitting there on a
+seat built up of blocks of gold before the pyramid, waiting to play my
+part in the scene that was to follow, and strike the first blow in the
+battle that I had come to fight. Presently I heard the rattle of arms
+and the sound of footsteps coming along the passage. I took one of the
+revolvers out of my belt and held it ready under my cloak, and sat still
+and rigid as the effigy of Yupanqui, looking straight before me at the
+entrance at the other end.
+
+Tupac came in first, and close behind him was a Spanish officer with a
+drawn sword in his hand. After him came the soldiers, two and two, with
+their rifles and bayonets. The officer stopped and stared about him,
+blinking with eyes half dazzled by the sudden light and the glitter of
+the gold and jewels which he saw wherever he looked. The same instant I
+saw the gleam of steel in Tupac's hand close to his yellow throat. Then
+he said to him in Spanish,--
+
+'Put up your sword, señor, and come with me and beg your life from the
+Son of the Sun who sits yonder on his throne.'
+
+The Spaniard uttered a loud cry of amazement as his eyes fell upon me,
+for so far he had not seen me, having been too much taken up by the
+splendours of the hall. Then he turned and called to his soldiers, but
+while the cry was still in his throat, Tupac's arm went round his neck
+and the knife-point touched his skin. Then he bade two of the soldiers
+take the sword out of his hand and hold him fast, which they did,
+greatly to his wonder, for he did not know that the betrayer was already
+betrayed. As soon as he was safe, Tupac told the other soldiers to take
+their places along the walls, and they did so in silence, yet wondering
+greatly at all they saw. There were four-and-twenty of them, not
+counting the two who held the officer, all men of Indian blood whom the
+Spaniards[D] had made rather slaves than soldiers to fight their petty
+quarrels for them for little pay and scanty food.
+
+After them came Anahuac and Ainu and the rest of the Men of the Blood,
+bringing with them Djama and the professor blindfolded, and Francis
+Hartness with his eyes unbound. All this time I had neither moved nor
+made a sound, and the soldiers were looking at me almost in terror,
+wondering whether I was truly a man or one of the dead Incas with living
+eyes in his head. As for the Spanish officer, being a coward, as many of
+his sort are, he was already white with fear, and his knees were shaking
+as he stood between the two soldiers who held him. When all had entered,
+Anahuac came and prostrated himself before me and said,--
+
+'The commands of the Son of the Sun are obeyed. All are here, and the
+door is shut.'
+
+Before I answered him, I called Francis Hartness to me and said,--
+
+'Come here and stand by me, my friend, for I shall need your counsel.'
+
+He came and stood by me on my right hand, saying as he looked still
+wonderingly at me,--
+
+'This means treachery, I suppose, and after that, tragedy. Is that why
+you left Ruth and Golden Star in the Fortress? I am afraid you had only
+too much reason to, but I hope, for Ruth's sake, you will do justice
+with as much mercy as you can.'
+
+'You shall see,' I answered. 'But if it were not for her you would see
+justice without mercy.'
+
+Then I bade Anahuac rise, and told him and Tupac to unbind the eyes of
+Djama and the professor and bring them before me.
+
+As Djama's eyes opened to the light, he stared about him in silence for
+a moment. His face was very pale, and his lips were twitching and
+trembling. The professor, too, looked about him, also wondering greatly
+at what he saw; but neither of them spoke till they had been led forward
+and stood before me. Then, while Djama still kept silence, the
+professor, looking from me to Hartness, said in a voice that had much
+wonder, but no fear or sign of guilt, in it,--
+
+'What is this? What does all this mean? What are all these soldiers here
+for, Vilcaroya? I thought it was so important that all this should be
+kept secret? Surely no one has betrayed you already? But no, that can't
+be. Hartness, what does it all mean?'
+
+'It means--first,' I said, speaking very slowly, and not in a loud
+voice, 'that you have been brought here with Laurens Djama to take the
+oath which you agreed to take--never to reveal the secrets of the things
+that you have learned. I ask your pardon for the rude way in which my
+people have brought you, but it was necessary.'
+
+Then I turned to Djama, who was standing silent and motionless, with
+clenched teeth and set face, like one who knows that he stands near his
+doom and has no hope of mercy, and said,--
+
+'Now, Laurens Djama, are you ready to do as you promised to do when I
+told you that I would give you the half of this gold for what you have
+done for me and Golden Star? Are you ready to swear the oath here, in
+the presence of these witnesses, that you swore to me then?'
+
+He drew himself up and looked at me boldly--for he was a brave man
+although his heart was black--and said to me with a hard, harsh laugh in
+his voice,--
+
+'You have been too clever for me, and so I suppose you have the right to
+mock me. There is no need to go on with this farce. The sight of your
+treasures gave me the gold-fever, I suppose, and it drove me mad, as it
+has driven many others mad, and I betrayed you. There is no use saying
+any more. I see that I have been betrayed too, and that my life is in
+your hands, so I need only say that I keep the right of taking it myself
+in my own way.'
+
+'There is no need for that yet,' I said, 'and others are concerned in
+this besides you.'
+
+Then I turned from him to Francis Hartness and said,--
+
+'I cannot speak the Spanish speech, and I would not if I could. Do you
+therefore speak to the Spaniard yonder, and bid him say how he came to
+be here with his soldiers. Tell him, too, that if he lies, or refuses to
+speak, he shall be buried in the gold he came to steal until the weight
+of it crushes his life out. But say to him that if he speaks the truth
+and holds nothing back and does as I shall bid him, he shall have his
+life, and afterwards as much gold as three men can carry.'
+
+So then Francis Hartness turned to the trembling Spaniard and questioned
+him, and he confessed freely as soon as he knew he was not to be killed,
+and told how Djama had gone to the Governor of Cuzco and told him of my
+coming and of a great treasure that he would show him, and of others
+that I knew the secret of and might be made to reveal, and how he had
+bargained that half of all that was found should be his and the other
+half the Governor's, if he would help him to carry it to the coast in
+safety and put it on a steamer. The Spaniard told also how the Governor,
+who was his own father, had only half believed this story, and had
+bidden him bring a company of soldiers to the appointed place and see if
+there was any truth in Djama's story, and, if he found there was, to
+take Djama and all of us prisoners and carry us back to Cuzco, and put
+us into the prison until he could question us the next day.
+
+When he had finished, Djama laughed again and said,--
+
+'There's the honour of a Peruvian! Serve me right for being such a fool
+as to trust to it!'
+
+But I bade him sternly to hold his peace till he should be told to
+speak, and then, when Francis Hartness had told me in English what the
+Spaniard had said, I bade Tupac and Anahuac stand forward and tell of
+their share in what had been done, so that all might understand. They
+told their story in Quichua, and when I translated it into English to
+Francis Hartness I made few words of it, of which the meaning was
+this,--
+
+Ever since Tupac and his comrades had recognised me as their lord, and
+sworn their faith to me, they, and others whom they trusted, had
+industriously spread abroad the news of my coming--though telling
+nothing that would make a traitor able to betray us--and, in proof of
+their story, little wedges of gold, stamped with the ancient symbol of
+the Sun, had been passed from hand to hand as earnest of my promise that
+I would use the hidden treasures of the Incas for the benefit of my
+people, and make money of gold where now there was only silver and
+copper.
+
+By this time, not only had the golden wedges gone far and wide through
+the land, but nearly all the soldiers of the pure Indian blood had been
+won over to my cause, for, as I have said, and as everyone in the
+country knows, these soldiers are treated with great hardness by their
+Spanish masters, who often pay them nothing for many weeks or months
+together, and give them scanty food and hard usage, and cast them into
+prison or flog them and shoot them if they think to do anything to get
+justice. Moreover, there are always factions of men they call
+politicians scheming for power and setting the soldiers fighting against
+one another and against their countrymen for no benefit to themselves.
+So what Francis Hartness had told me on the night that Golden Star had
+come back to life had already begun to come true. More than half the
+garrison of Cuzco had already been won over, and only waited for the
+signal which should bid the whole Indian population of the valley to
+rise and seize the arms and ammunition in the city, and make the
+officers and the Governor and all the officials prisoners.
+
+Anahuac's daughter was a servant in the Governor's house, and this girl
+understood Spanish, though she pretended only to know Quichua and the
+dialect of the people, and she had been set to watch,[E] and Tupac's
+eldest son had also been secretly watching all the comings and goings of
+Djama since we came to Cuzco. In this way his visit to the Governor had
+been made known to me, and then one of the soldiers in the company that
+had been ordered to go with the Governor's son to the Rodadero had told
+Tupac of the order, and I had arranged with him how the surprise was to
+be carried out, and this, as you have seen, had been done with complete
+success.
+
+When I had finished telling this to Hartness I turned to the professor
+and said to him kindly,--
+
+'There has been nothing said that brings any share of the guilt of this
+treason to you, so now, if you will promise me on your faith and honour
+as an Englishman to keep my secrets and obey such commands as I shall
+put upon you for your own safety and that of all of us, you shall go
+free, and you shall have the choice of going back to England or to any
+other country until the war is over, or of staying here under my
+protection until you can go away safely with the treasure which shall
+be yours. But if you go now you cannot take it with you, for in a few
+days from now there will be war throughout the whole land, and it would
+be impossible to take so much treasure to the coast. Now, what do you
+say?'
+
+He thought for a moment and then said,--
+
+'I am not a man of war, as you know Vilcaroya, but I hope I am a man of
+honour. I have never breathed a syllable that could have given anyone an
+inkling of your secret, and I promise you solemnly that I never will.
+What Djama has done distresses me even more than it amazes me. I would
+have staked my life on his honesty, and if you will release him and let
+him come with me--'
+
+'No, no, my friend!' I said, quickly and sternly. 'What you would ask is
+impossible. His aims were deeper and his sin was blacker than it has
+been shown to be here. He did not betray us for gold alone, for he knew
+that I would keep my promise and give him more than he could want. He
+would have given me to my enemies to be killed--it might have been by
+tortures, to make me say where my treasures were hidden--so that he
+might have had Golden Star at his mercy.'
+
+'It was your own fault, curse you! Why did you not give her to me?'
+Djama cried suddenly, breaking loose from the two who held his arms and
+putting his hand to his pistol pocket. The next instant my own revolver
+was out from under my cloak and levelled at his heart.
+
+'Another motion and I will kill you,' I said, 'though so quick a death
+would be too good for you. Tie his hands behind his back and hold him
+faster this time. Give me his pistol.'
+
+Before I had done speaking they had seized him again in spite of his
+struggles, and paying no heed to his cries and imprecations--for by this
+time his long-pent-up passion had broken loose and made him almost mad,
+and when they had given me his pistol I said to him,--
+
+'I told you that Golden Star should be yours if you could win her as an
+honest man. But you sought to steal her as you would have stolen my
+gold. That is enough; keep silence now, or you shall be gagged.'
+
+Then I held out my hand to the professor and said,--
+
+'I will accept your promise, for you are an honest man. There is my
+hand. Now we will be friends as before, and I will answer for your
+safety. Will you go or stay with us?'
+
+'I will stay,' he said, 'for my studies are not completed yet, and
+besides, I am anxious to see what the Inca empire will be like when it
+is restored.'
+
+'I am glad that you say so,' I replied, 'for you are welcome, and you
+shall make your home here always if you will.'
+
+Then I bade them stand the Spanish officer in the professor's place
+beside Djama, and, turning to Francis Hartness, said,--
+
+'These men are worthy of death, for they would have delivered us to
+death, but I cannot kill Djama since Joyful Star might hate me for it,
+and if I do not kill him it would not be justice to kill the Spaniard.
+What shall I do?'
+
+'I see nothing for it,' he said, after thinking awhile, 'but shutting
+them up safely until we have got this business over, and then sending
+them out of the country and forbidding them to come back under pain of
+death. There are plenty of places that they would be perfectly safe in.'
+
+'That is well thought of, my friend,' I said, 'and it shall be done.
+They came for gold and they shall have it. They shall live in it, and
+see gold, and nothing but gold, till the sight of it is hateful to them.
+They shall have a prison of gold, and eat and drink from gold, and sleep
+and walk and sit on gold. Yes, truly, they shall have enough of gold
+before they see the light of day again. Now tell the Spaniard what I
+have said.'
+
+He did so, and at first the wretch's eyes glittered and then grew dim
+when the true meaning of his doom came upon him, for it meant he knew
+not how long an imprisonment with a man who had betrayed his friends,
+and whom, as he had confessed, he would himself have betrayed; and he
+thought, too, that I had only promised him his life and the gold to make
+him speak, and that now I would keep him prisoner and perhaps kill him
+in the end. So he fell on his knees, like the craven that he was, and
+begged for mercy, and told Hartness of my promise, and with Hartness's
+lips I told him only that he must have patience and wait until it was my
+pleasure to do what I had said.
+
+After this I called Tupac and Anahuac and told them what I wished done,
+and they took a score of their men and forthwith began to build, in a
+corner of the hall beside the throne, a chamber measuring some ten feet
+each way, of the oblong blocks of gold which were piled up in the
+pyramid, and while they were doing this I called the soldiers before me
+and told them, speaking in their own dialect, that if they were faithful
+to me until the end of the war, each man should have one ounce weight of
+gold paid to him every month, and one ounce more for each of his
+comrades that he could persuade to join us, and for this night's work I
+would give them each a wedge of gold of the weight of two ounces, which
+was more money than all that they had earned in their lives before; and
+when I had promised this they went on their knees and swore faith to me
+and destruction to their hated Spanish masters.
+
+Then I told them how Francis Hartness would lead them to battle and to
+victory as he had led the soldiers of his own nation, and after that he
+spoke to them in Spanish, and told them what to tell their comrades and
+what was to be done with the arms and ammunition when the signal for the
+rising was given.
+
+All this while Djama and the Spaniard were kept standing watching the
+building of their golden prison-cell. The men worked swiftly, and the
+many hands made the toil light, and they built the walls up very thick
+and strong, fitting the golden bricks closely into each other, and
+making the walls smooth and without hand or foot-hold, so that neither
+could any of the bricks be got out, nor the walls be climbed. The cell
+was divided into two by another wall, and when the walls were finished
+they were about ten feet high, and there was an opening into each cell
+in front, large enough for a man to crawl in on his hands and knees.
+
+When all was ready I said to Djama,--
+
+'There is your house of gold. Go and dwell in it till it shall be safe
+for me to release you. Every day, as I have said, you shall eat and
+drink from plates and cups of gold, and you shall dream of gold until
+this gold-fever of yours is cured.'
+
+'Until I have gone gold-mad, you mean!' he cried, snarling at me like an
+angry dog. 'It is just such a vengeance as a half-civilised savage would
+have thought of. You know as well as I do that I shall go mad in there
+unless I kill myself first.'
+
+'You have your choice!' I said. 'I will make your punishment no lighter.
+If you think to pull the walls down they will fall on you and crush you,
+and you will be buried in gold, and if I am told that you have tried to
+break out, I will put chains of gold on you, so heavy that you shall not
+be able to drag them across your cell; but if you are peaceful and
+patient, all your wants shall be attended to by those that I shall
+appoint, and you shall have everything but liberty and the light of day.
+Now, go in.'
+
+'I won't!' he cried with a curse that ended in a scream. 'I shall go mad
+in there, I tell you, and that is a thousand times worse than death to
+me. I won't! Damn you, I won't!'
+
+'Then you shall be thrust in,' I said.
+
+I made a sign to those who held him, and they, seeing what I meant, took
+him by the body and the legs, and carried him, feet foremost, kicking
+and struggling, towards the hole. Then they thrust him in with his arms
+still bound. But when he was half-way through, I bade one of them loose
+the cords a little, so that he could free himself afterwards. The
+Spaniard made no resistance, and when he was bidden crept, trembling
+like a hound that has been flogged, into his cell, and when they were
+both in I ordered the openings to be built up.
+
+[Illustration: They thrust him in with his arms still bound.
+
+_To face page 205._]
+
+Francis Hartness and the professor had gone away to the other end of the
+hall, not liking to see this, and yet knowing that it would be useless
+to seek to persuade me to more mercy.
+
+'Our work here is done now,' I said, going to them, 'and it would be
+well for us to go back to the fortress and sleep, for the morning is
+near and there will be much work to do before long.'
+
+'I don't think I shall sleep much after what I have seen to-night,' said
+Hartness, 'and if I did sleep I think I should dream of that golden
+prison and those two poor wretches hungering and thirsting for daylight
+and liberty, with the means of buying any luxury the world could give
+them within reach of their hands.'
+
+'Yes,' said the professor, 'it is a curious situation, isn't it?--quite
+apart from the personal interest it has for us. Now, in England or
+America, a room built with walls and floor of solid gold would be a
+luxury that only a millionaire could afford, and he would probably be
+thought a fool for building it, and yet here it is only a prison in
+which a man might well starve to death. Come, let us get away from here.
+I really don't want to hear any more of Djama's ravings than I can help.
+Good heavens! who ever would have thought that a man of his culture and
+learning and strength of mind could possibly have made such a blackguard
+of himself!'
+
+'Well,' said Hartness, with a dry sort of laugh, 'you see he was the
+victim of the two passions that have done most to drive men mad or make
+scoundrels of them since the world began--the love of woman and the lust
+for gold. I don't pretend to understand it myself, because he had gold
+enough promised to him, and there is no telling but that he might have
+won the woman; but there, you never can tell how far any man is mad or
+sane until he's tried.'
+
+'But there was something else, my friend,' I said. 'There was, as you
+say, lust of gold and love of woman; but there was also hate. Why, I
+know not; but though I owe my new life to that man, I have hated him and
+he has hated me since we learnt to know each other as living men. You
+know, too, how, as I told you, Golden Star shrank from him as though he
+had been a poisonous reptile, and yet why should I hate him and yet love
+her who is of the same flesh and blood as he is?'
+
+'I would rather discuss the problem in the open air or at the hacienda
+than here,' said the professor, 'and even then I don't suppose we should
+get much nearer to a solution, for these things are mysteries and mostly
+past finding out. Yet it may be that you and he, the sons of different
+centuries, may actually have embodied in you the differences and the
+antipathies of the two ages and the two races to which you belong. There
+is no telling. But come, let us get out of here, please. I really can't
+stand this any longer.'
+
+'Nor I,' said Hartness. 'For goodness' sake let us go! This is a good
+deal more trying to the nerves than a cavalry charge or a smart
+skirmish.'
+
+'Very well,' I said, 'we will go.'
+
+Then I called to Tupac and bade him tell the soldiers and the rest that
+the night's work was over and it was time to go. We gave each of the
+soldiers his wedge of gold, as I had promised them; and once more I made
+them swear that each would kill any of the others who thought to betray
+us. Then Tupac and Anahuac went and opened the stone door, and we
+returned from the Hall of Gold to the upper earth, leaving Djama and his
+fellow traitor still raving and crying within the walls of their golden
+prison.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[D] The Inca naturally does not distinguish between the modern Peruvians
+and their Spanish ancestors.
+
+[E] This is quite a common thing in Peru, and the Indian women make
+exceedingly clever spies.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+ON THE RODADERO
+
+
+Francis Hartness and I came last out of the passage, and I asked him to
+lead the soldiers out of the hollow and across the plain to the wall of
+the Sacsahuaman, where I would join them, and as soon as they had gone
+out of the hollow and were lost to sight I went to the hole among the
+bushes where the hidden stone was and released the chain and let the
+water flow back into its old place, till the entrance to the Hall of
+Gold was only the same dark, stagnant pool that any wanderer might find
+at the bottom of the cloven stairway.
+
+Then I strewed the earth over the hole, and piled the stones and
+brushwood round and over it as before, and went away to join the others.
+I found them standing in a group in one of the angles of the great
+fortress, and there I spoke to the soldiers again, and told them how
+much depended, both for themselves and for the country, on their
+fidelity, promising them peace and prosperity and freedom if they were
+faithful, and a speedy death if they betrayed me.
+
+After this I told them what story they should tell when they went back
+to the city--how their Indian guide had led them into the entrance to a
+cavern in the mountain, their officer going first and he following, and
+how, when these two were going on with a single light, some two or three
+yards ahead of them a great slab of stone had suddenly fallen down
+between them, closing the passage, and how water had risen up and filled
+the passage at its lower end, forcing them to run back out of it for
+fear of being drowned; and I further gave them permission to bring any
+who disbelieved them to the mouth of the cleft under the Sayacusca and
+show them the water that they would find at the bottom of it, but to
+take good care to send me warning of anyone going there.
+
+This they promised to do, and still full of wonder, and yet pleased with
+the gold they had got and the promises I had made to them, they made a
+loyal farewell, and marched down through the Gate of Sand, and went back
+to the city to tell their story and do the work that I had bidden them
+do.
+
+When they had gone I sent some of my men to see that none of them turned
+back, and dismissed the rest to their homes, saving only Tupac, Anahuac,
+and Ainu and three others who could be trusted in all things; and with
+these we went back into the underground chambers of the fortress by the
+way that we had left them.
+
+When we got back to the throne-room I sent all but Tupac away to remove
+the beasts from the stables and take them to the hacienda, so that the
+next night, under cover of the darkness, they could return and bring us
+food and drink and clothing and other things that we needed, for now
+that matters had gone so far it would not be safe for us to live at the
+hacienda or be seen in any place known to the Spaniards until the time
+was ripe for the striking of the first blow.
+
+When they were gone we ate and drank a little of what we had brought
+with us in the morning, and then lay down, either to sleep or to think
+of the strange things that had happened and of what was now quickly
+coming to pass.
+
+As for me, no sleep came to my eyes, for I knew that when Joyful Star
+awoke I should have to tell her at least something of what her brother
+had done and of what had happened to him, and a grievous task it was,
+you may be sure, when I came to the doing of it, as I did not many hours
+afterwards.
+
+The first thing she asked me when she found that Djama was not with us
+was what had become of him, and then, knowing that sooner or later the
+bitter truth had to be told, I told her as gently as I was able, and
+hiding from her all that I could without lying to her. My words struck
+her dumb with horror and amazement, and if it had not been that Francis
+Hartness and the professor were there, and told her that they had seen
+and heard with their own eyes and ears the truth of all that I said, I
+do not think she would have believed me. But when at last she could no
+longer doubt the story of her brother's crime and treachery, she came to
+me and laid her hand upon my arm, and looked up at me with tearful eyes
+and said,--
+
+'But you will not kill him, Vilcaroya, for my sake, will you? He is my
+brother, you know, after all, though he has made me almost ashamed to
+say so. You must protect yourself, of course, and your people from
+treachery, but you will not kill him, will you?'
+
+'He is alive now,' I said, 'because he is Joyful Star's brother, not
+because I think he is worthy to live, for he would have betrayed one
+life that he gave back, and stained the other with infamy. But I have
+given my word, and he shall live, and when he can do no more harm I will
+pardon him, and he shall go back to his own country in safety. More than
+that I cannot promise even to you.'
+
+'It is all that I can ask for,' she said, 'and more than he could expect
+after what he has done. But, oh! why should he have brought such a shame
+as this upon us?'
+
+'Upon himself only,' I said. It would not be possible for such a thing
+as shame to touch you.'
+
+She looked up at me again and smiled through her tears, as if my words
+had pleased her well, and that smile of hers was more to me than even
+her tears. Then she went back to the little chamber where she had slept,
+and presently returned leading Golden Star by the hand, and then we all
+sat down in the silver seats and talked of the wonderful things that had
+happened, and I told Golden Star all the story of my own return to life,
+and hers, and what I knew of the changes that had happened in the world
+since she and I had said our last words to each other in the Sanctuary
+of the Sun; and then I set her talking with the others, translating for
+her and for them as well as I could, and she, knowing nothing of what
+had happened in the night, and being glad that Evil Eyes, as she called
+Djama in our own speech, had gone away for a long time, was as happy as
+a child amongst us, and soon even Ruth became more cheerful and began to
+try and make her say words of English and repeat her name and the
+professor's and Francis Hartness's after her, for she already loved her
+dearly, and, even in the midst of her own sorrow, she was rejoiced that
+the soul which had slept had been so happily re-awakened in her.
+
+After this, Francis Hartness and I began to talk our plans over again,
+and to discuss the chances of the revolt in Cuzco, and I showed him how,
+with the help of my people, I would the next day cut off all
+communication between the valley and the rest of the country until our
+work was finished there, for I was determined that the first part of the
+empire of my fathers' that I would re-take should be the City of the Sun
+itself and the region that it commanded, since I knew that my people
+still looked upon it as the most sacred spot on earth, and would fight
+better to take it than any other place. And in this plan Francis
+Hartness, looking at the matter as a soldier, also agreed with me.
+
+We thought it best that none of us should show ourselves in the open
+that day, for we knew not what the effect of the soldiers' story and
+their return without their officer might be in Cuzco, for if it had
+become widely known, it would certainly bring many people up to the
+Rodadero to behold the scene of so strange an occurrence. So we spent
+the day in conversation, and, which was more interesting to my
+companions, in exploring the maze of chambers and passages and winding
+galleries which the labour of many thousands of men had wrought out of
+the solid rock in the days of my ancestors, for you must know that in
+those days the fortress of the Sacsahuaman was crowned with a great
+palace, which was the strongest place in all the Land of the Four
+Regions, and so here were stored very great treasures, not only of gold
+and silver and precious stones, but also weapons and armour and most
+finely-woven cloths of the purest wool of the Vicuña, which is softer
+than silk, brilliantly dyed and embroidered with gems and threads of
+gold, and the imperial robes that had been worn by twenty generations of
+Incas, many sets of each, since nothing that had belonged to one Inca
+might ever be used by another after his death.
+
+Among these were found many sets of the royal robes of the Coyas or
+queen-wives of the Incas, and I took Golden Star aside and told her to
+take two of these and to clothe herself in one and Joyful Star in the
+other, so that we might see our two Inca princesses side by side as
+they might have looked in the days of the past, and she fell in with my
+humour, laughing and clapping her hands like a delighted child.
+
+So she took the robes and led Joyful Star away with her to their own
+chamber, talking to her in her soft, musical speech, though she knew she
+could not understand her, and yet making so many pretty signs and
+eloquent gestures that Ruth, forgetting her sorrow for the time,
+comprehended her, and entered into the spirit of the play, and soon they
+came back to us into the throne-room, clad exactly alike, and so
+perfectly resembling each other, save for the contrast of the blue eyes
+and the brown, and the bright hair and the dark, that they could have
+been taken for nothing save twin daughters of the Sun and the fairest of
+his children; and Tupac and the two men that I had kept in the fortress
+to attend to our wants fell on their knees before them as they passed,
+as though they would have worshipped them.
+
+It was at this time, and while we were passing the hours in this
+fashion, that Golden Star did something that gave me great joy and a
+bright hope for the future. I had been telling her of the wonderful
+country that I had returned to life in, and of the marvellous things
+that I had seen there, and this, she knew already, was the country of
+Francis Hartness. So, as he came from such a wonderful land, she
+thought, in the innocence of her old-world simplicity, that he was one
+of a new race of beings that came on to the earth since our days, and
+when I told her he was but human like ourselves, though very strong and
+learned and skilled in many things that we knew nothing of, she said to
+me, just as a sister might say to a brother from whom she had no
+secrets,--
+
+'He is rather, in my eyes, like a son of our Father who has come to
+earth from the Mansions of the Sun; yet I am very glad that he is not,
+and that he is a man such as you are, my brother, and when Joyful Star
+has taught me the speech of her people I will talk with him, and then I
+think life will be better for me, for even now, though I cannot
+understand his words, his voice sounds like music to me, and when he
+looks at me he makes me try to remember something that was in my other
+life, and I have forgotten. What is it, I wonder?'
+
+I looked down into her eyes and saw the untroubled serenity of her soul
+reflected in them. There was no flush on her cheeks, and her lips were
+smiling as they could not have smiled had she known how I could have
+answered that question for her. I stooped and kissed her brow and
+said,--
+
+'I might guess what it is, Golden Star, but I could not tell you. Yet I
+pray that our Father the Sun may put it into the heart of my friend to
+teach you what I see now you can only learn from him.'
+
+More than this I would not tell her, though she questioned me sharply.
+But the next time that Francis Hartness spoke to her through my lips she
+looked up at him, and a little flush came to her cheeks, and a smile to
+her lips, and I saw his eyes brighten, and the colour deepen ever so
+little under the bronze of his skin.
+
+Then I looked at Joyful Star and saw something shining in her eyes too,
+and as she caught my glance she smiled ever so little and said, when I
+had finished speaking for him,--
+
+'Vilcaroya is an excellent interpreter, I've no doubt; but don't you
+think, Captain Hartness, it would be very much more interesting if you
+could talk directly with Her Highness? You know I'm teaching Golden Star
+English, and Vilcaroya is teaching you Quichua--now, I wonder which of
+you will be able to talk to the other first?'
+
+He pulled his moustache and laughed, looking at Golden Star the while,
+and said,--
+
+'Well, Her Highness has the advantage of the easier language and the
+freshest, and I daresay the brightest intellect, but probably for all
+that we shall begin with some delightful jargon of both languages, and
+leave them to sort themselves out as we go on. Still, as you say, it
+will be more interesting than talking through an interpreter.'
+
+'And I hope,' she said, with more meaning in her voice than in her
+words, 'that you will both of you find it as pleasant as it will be
+interesting.'
+
+'Who knows!' he said, catching her meaning and laughing again. 'She is
+most wonderfully like you, Miss Ruth, isn't she?'
+
+'Yes, but--but I am not without hope that you may some day compare us a
+little, just a little, to my disadvantage.'
+
+What Francis Hartness would have said to this I cannot say, though I do
+not think he was displeased by Joyful Star's words, and yet his face
+grew very serious as she spoke. But just then Tupac came and told me
+that Anahuac and Ainu had returned with the beasts, and were now waiting
+outside the bronze doors. From this we learnt that it was already night,
+though, truth to tell, the time had passed so quickly for us that I for
+one thought that it was little more than late afternoon.
+
+Now, as I have said, I was the only one who knew the secret of the
+bronze doors, and so I went back with Tupac and opened them, and, when
+the men had entered, closed them again.
+
+There were twelve of them beside Ainu and Anahuac, and all were laden
+with food and drink and clothing, and our arms and ammunition, two
+repeating rifles and two revolvers for each of us. When the men had laid
+their burdens down, I called Anahuac to me, and asked him if he had any
+news. He bowed himself before me, and then, standing in front of me as I
+sat in one of the seats, he said,--
+
+'Yes, Lord. If the ears of the Son of the Sun are open, his servant will
+fill them with tidings of some moment.'
+
+'Say on,' I said, 'and meanwhile let a meal be prepared for us, for we
+are hungry.'
+
+This I said to Tupac, and Golden Star, hearing it, smiled, and took
+Ruth's hand and led her to the boxes, making signs that they should
+perform the housewife's duties together. Then Anahuac began, and said,--
+
+'The ears of the Children of the Blood have not been closed, nor have
+their eyes slept throughout the Holy City and the Valley of the Sun, and
+they have seen and heard much, and the courage of their hearts has risen
+high, and they are longing for the word of their Lord to break the yoke
+that is upon their necks.
+
+'When the soldiers returned last night and told the story that my Lord
+had put into their mouths, there was great wonder among all the other
+soldiers, and many saw in it a sign that the Son of the Sun is mighty,
+and can do that which he promises. But among the masters who are set
+over the soldiers there was great anger, and they sought, but without
+avail, to keep the news from being made public in the city; but the Men
+of the Blood took care that this should not be so, and to-day all Cuzco
+has been talking of the strange fate of the Coronel Prada, the son of
+Don Antonio Prada, the governor. But Don Antonio himself had gone the
+day before to a hacienda near Oropesa, and messengers have been sent to
+him to tell him the story, and this evening he rode back with all haste
+to the city.
+
+'He has ordered that to-night sentries shall be posted at all the
+approaches to the Rodadero and round the Sayacusca, so that none may
+come or go without his knowledge, and to-morrow he will come himself
+with many officers and two hundred soldiers, and the thing they call
+dynamite, that he may rend the Sayacusca in pieces, and find, as he
+thinks, the place where his son has been hidden.'
+
+'And the soldiers--what of them?' I asked. 'Will they be for us or
+against us?'
+
+'There will be many in the service of my Lord, and if it shall be
+possible there shall be more of these than of the others, for those who
+were in the Hall of Gold last night have been busy in the hope of my
+Lord's further bounty, and many have been tempted with the promise of
+gold and freedom; but still there will be many that may not be trusted,
+and all the officers of the Governor will be Spaniards.'
+
+'And therefore enemies,' I said, when he had finished his story, and
+stood waiting for me to speak.
+
+I told Francis Hartness at once what Anahuac had said, and we debated
+for a short time on what we should do. Then I called Tupac, and he came
+and stood beside Anahuac, and I said to them,--
+
+'These things have happened well for us, and now we must act quickly, so
+that we may take the best advantage of them. When you go hence, take
+with you twenty strips of the scarlet fringe in token of my authority,
+and give these to twenty of the best of the Men of the Blood, and let
+them go with all speed and silence through the towns and villages of the
+valley, and say that the Son of the Sun has come, and is about to
+stretch forth his hand and take that which was his again. Further, let
+every entrance to the valley be closed. Let the bridge over the Great
+Speaker be cut with all speed that may be. Let none pass in or out of
+the gateway of Piquillacta, and let all the mountain paths be broken
+down or blocked, so that none may know what is happening in the valley,
+nor any news be carried hence into the country.
+
+'Let every hacienda, whose master is a Spaniard, be given to the flames,
+but let no one else be injured. Let none of the strangers be hurt, and
+let their goods be sacred. Let all of the sentries who will not serve us
+be disarmed or slain silently by the others, and this before midnight,
+and let those who are for us--who shall come with the Governor
+to-morrow--make ready to do quickly that which shall be commanded them.
+The password for those who are with us will be "Vilcaroya." The rest I
+will do with my own hands and the help of my friend. I have spoken--let
+me be obeyed quickly!'
+
+Then they bent low before me and went to make ready to do what I had
+bidden them.
+
+It was then about eight o'clock at night, and after we had had our
+evening meal we waited until it was nearly eleven, making perfect our
+plans, and then, when Ruth and Golden Star had gone to rest without
+knowing of the work which we had in hand--for we had kept it from them
+lest they should be anxious for us--Francis Hartness and I armed
+ourselves, after I had disguised him as well as I could to make him look
+like an Indian, and we said good-night to the professor and left the
+fortress by the same way that we had left it the night before.
+
+As soon as we got out into the open air we made our way stealthily back
+towards the Rodadero, until I caught sight of a sentry standing near one
+of the carved stones.
+
+'I will go and see whether this is a friend or a foe,' I whispered.
+'Wait here and cover him with your rifle, but do not fire unless you
+hear me whistle.'
+
+'Very well,' he said; 'but take care of yourself, for those Mannlicher
+bullets make a very ugly wound.'
+
+I waved my hand to him in reply, and went away towards the sentry,
+keeping a good lookout for others who might be about. I had in my belt a
+long, heavy-bladed knife, and this I loosened in the sheath as I came
+near to him. I got within earshot of him unseen, and then, rising to my
+feet behind him, I said in a low voice, but loud enough for him to
+hear,--
+
+'Vilcaroya--friend or foe?'
+
+'_Halta! quien va?_'
+
+The words in the hated Spanish speech told me that he was a foe. As he
+faced about, bringing his rifle to the ready, I drew my knife and,
+before he could take aim, sent it whistling through the air with such
+force and so true an aim that it took him in the windpipe and half
+buried its blade in his neck. That was one of the tricks of our old
+warfare which, with many others, I had taken good care not to forget.
+
+He dropped his rifle and clasped his hands to his throat and fell
+without a sound. I crept swiftly forward, pulled the knife out of his
+throat and drove it into his heart. Then I quickly took off his
+cartridge-belt and long coat and cap, and put them on. After that I took
+his rifle and stood in his place for a little while, so that the others
+might see me, and then walked back to where I had left Hartness. When he
+saw me coming, his rifle-barrel moved till it covered me, and he said in
+English,--
+
+'Is that you, Vilcaroya?'
+
+'Yes,' I said. 'The sentry was an enemy, and I have killed him. Now I am
+going to take you prisoner, as though I were the sentry, and so we can
+go together and find the officer who commands the sentries, and take him
+prisoner or kill him.'
+
+'All right,' he said with a laugh. 'I surrender. This isn't quite what
+we call civilised warfare, but I suppose it can't be helped.'
+
+We went back together to the place where the sentry that I had killed
+had stood, and then we saw two or three others coming in towards the
+place, no doubt to see why the other sentry should have left his post. I
+took Hartness's rifle out of his hand, and, catching him by the arm, led
+him to meet the nearest of them, as though I had taken a prisoner.
+Within ten paces of them I halted, and said,--
+
+'Is it Vilcaroya or Prada?'
+
+'Vilcaroya to a friend, Prada to an enemy,' he answered, in the dialect
+in which I had addressed him.
+
+'Then we are friends,' I said, taking off the peaked cap that had
+belonged to the other sentry, and showing him the long, straight, brown
+hair that betokened my race. 'I am he who has come back from the days
+that are dead--Vilcaroya, the son of Huayna-Capac.'
+
+'And I am thy servant, Lord,' he said, bringing his rifle-butt down
+between his feet, and bending his head over the muzzle. 'I am one of
+those who saw the glory of my Lord in the Hall of Gold last night.'
+
+'Then thou art one of the faithful,' I said, 'for none have betrayed the
+secret or earned the swift death that would have been theirs had they
+done so. Now tell me, how many of those who are on guard here to-night
+may be trusted?'
+
+'There are twenty of us here, Lord, not counting the officer in
+command.'
+
+'Nay,' I said, interrupting him, 'there are but nineteen, for he who
+wore this coat and carried this rifle was an enemy, and I have killed
+him, as I would have killed thee hadst thou been an enemy. Now, of these
+nineteen, how many may I trust?'
+
+'There are but five who may not be trusted, not counting the officer,
+and he is a Spaniard, and must be killed.'
+
+'That is good,' I said, for the tone in which he had said these last
+words had pleased me well. 'Now this man with me is my faithful friend,
+and one who will fight well for me and my people. Go on the other side
+of him, and we will take him as a prisoner to the officer. Then thou
+shalt see how Vilcaroya deals with his enemies.'
+
+He bent his head in assent, and took his place beside Hartness, and as
+we marched away Hartness said to me,--
+
+'I don't think I shall have much to teach you in strategy, Vilcaroya,
+but I must say that I would rather have a stand-up fight than this kind
+of thing.'
+
+'It is not like what you have told me of the warfare of the English,' I
+said, 'yet if it has to be it must be. Let us get it over.'
+
+So we marched him between us across the plain, and when we got between
+the wall of the fortress and the carved stone that they called the
+Inca's Seat, we saw the officer who was in command of the sentries
+walking, with two soldiers beside him, from post to post, seeing that
+the sentries were awake and keeping proper watch. We went to meet him,
+and halted ten paces from him at his command. I had told the sentry to
+reply for me, and he answered the officer's hail and said,--
+
+'Vilcaroya!--a prisoner.'
+
+[Illustration: It had smitten him to the heart.
+
+_To face page 228._]
+
+As the first words left his lips the two soldiers repeated the password
+and made with their rifles the movement that is called the salute. My
+knife was already in my hand, and as the officer gave a command in
+Spanish, it flashed once in the starlight and the next instant was
+buried to the hilt in his breast. He fell, as the sentry had done,
+without a cry, for it had smitten him to the heart, dead as though he
+had been struck by a lightning bolt. The others stared at his fallen
+body, dumb with amazement, and I heard Hartness utter a sound that might
+have been one either of horror or of wonder; but I had no time to take
+heed of this, so I instantly ordered the two soldiers to take the
+officer's uniform off his body, and then I said to Hartness,--
+
+'Now, you can speak Spanish and I cannot. Take this Spaniard's uniform
+and his weapons, and make yourself the officer of the guard, and then
+you shall help me to set a trap that the Governor shall find it a hard
+matter to escape from.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+HOW WE TOOK THE CITY OF THE SUN
+
+
+Although Hartness was a much taller and broader man than the Spaniard,
+his long, loose overcoat fitted him well enough for the occasion, and
+when he had put on his shako, and wrapped his scarf about his neck so as
+to hide his fair beard, he was disguised enough to pass in the darkness
+for one of the enemy. We now took the two soldiers who had been with the
+officer and visited all the posts. We found four of the sentries who
+could not return the password and were therefore enemies. These we
+disarmed and bound instead of killing them, for I could see that what I
+had done had pleased my friend but little, though he saw that in such a
+desperate venture as ours it was necessary to use desperate measures.
+
+When we had gone the rounds and made sure of all, we buried the two dead
+men, and took our prisoners into one of the caves under the carved
+stones. Then I posted my men so as to guard all the approaches from the
+city to the Rodadero, and after that I went with Hartness to the hidden
+hole by the Sayacusca, and showed him how the way to the Hall of Gold
+was opened. I did this so that the secret might be in good and safe
+hands if I should fall in battle, and so that he should be able to
+properly protect the welfare of Ruth and Golden Star, and fulfil my
+promises to himself and the professor.
+
+When I had turned the stone and showed him the chain, I pulled it up and
+supported it as I had done before, only this time I used the carbine
+which had belonged to the sentry I had killed, and to the stock of this
+I fastened a long rope which Tupac had hidden there by my orders. This
+rope I stretched out along the ground, hiding it as well as I could, in
+a straight line away from the Sayacusca. The end I led into the entrance
+of one of the many passages or tunnels which ran under the carved
+stones. By the time I had done this the water had all flowed away, and
+Hartness said to me,--
+
+'Are you going to leave the entrance to your treasure-house open like
+that for His Excellency to walk into to-morrow?'
+
+'Yes,' I said, 'but it is only half open. Unless the door below is open
+too there is no way out or in save this and the channel through which
+the waters flow, so that His Excellency will not find much down there.'
+
+'I see,' he said, 'a trap, and not one that I should care to see a
+friend of mine walk into. But you don't mean to drown them all like rats
+in a hole, do you?'
+
+'I cannot tell that yet,' I said. 'If we can take them alive we may do
+so, but unless they yield to us they shall yield to the water. Now,
+everything is ready, and we have only to wait. Come and sleep for a
+little and I will keep watch, and then I will sleep and you shall watch.
+It will not be daylight for six hours yet, and we can do nothing more
+till then.'
+
+We went to the cavern in which I had hidden the end of the rope, and he
+lay down on the soft, clean sand, and, soldier-like, was fast asleep
+almost as soon as he had lain down. I left him there, and made the round
+of the guards and spoke with the men, telling them as much as it was
+necessary for them to know of my plans for the next day, and allowed
+half of them to take two or three hours' rest, with their arms ready at
+hand, while the others watched, and then I went back to Hartness and
+told him to wake me in three hours, and soon was fast asleep in his
+place. He came and woke me at daylight and told me that everything was
+still quiet and that the sentries were all in their places.
+
+Then, when we had breakfasted on the food that we had brought with us
+from the fortress, we called in all the sentries save the two by the
+Gate of Sand, and hid them among the stones and bushes, all within an
+easy rifle-shot of the entrance to the water-cavern. I bade the two I
+had left by the gate tell the Governor that all was well, and, when he
+had ridden by, to mix with the soldiers and tell those who were for me
+to separate from the others as soon as they heard my signal-cry, and
+then to wait for the English captain.
+
+For nearly an hour we sat and watched for the coming of the enemy, and
+then at last we saw a troop of horse come up out of the valley round the
+end of the fortress. After them came some officers on horseback, with
+the Governor riding at their head, and then another troop of horse, in
+all about three hundred men. The first troop, led by the Governor and
+his officers, came on towards the Sayacusca, and the others halted and
+spread themselves out along the ridge that runs round it. When they saw
+the empty hole and the steps leading down into the darkness, they all
+crowded round, peering down into it. Then two lanterns were lighted and
+some of them went down.
+
+They had all dismounted from their horses and were indulging their
+curiosity without suspicion. I waited till they were nearly all in my
+trap, and then came the moment to close it. My long, wailing cry rang
+out loud and shrill through the hollow, and was taken up by my men in
+hiding, and in an instant all was confusion. I heard my name shouted
+from one to the other, and saw more than half of the troopers in the
+hollow leave their ranks and gallop away towards the plain. Then I took
+aim at a trooper who was watching the officer's horses, and fired. The
+bullet struck his horse, and it reared up and threw him, and then fell
+and lay kicking on the ground. At this all the others took fright and
+broke loose and galloped away in all directions. At the same instant the
+rifles of my men began cracking all round, and saddle after saddle was
+emptied as the bullets found their marks.
+
+'I'm going to catch one of those horses,' said Hartness suddenly to me,
+'then I'll ride out and bring those other fellows up and show them what
+to do. That'll be more in my line than this sort of work. Good-bye; you
+will see or hear of me again before long.'
+
+The next moment he was gone, and I had not fired many more shots before
+I saw him, mounted on one of the officers' horses, galloping through the
+hollow towards the ridge. All this time none of my men had shown
+themselves, and the constant stream of shots coming from all sides of
+them had thrown the Governor's troops into utter confusion. The officers
+were shouting orders which no one listened to, the horses were galloping
+wildly about, rearing and plunging with the pain of their wounds, and
+many of the soldiers had already taken to flight, believing, in their
+panic, that the hollow was full of hidden enemies.
+
+We kept up the fire from our hiding-places until we heard shouts and
+cheers coming from the ridge, and I looked and saw Hartness with a drawn
+sword in his hand, leading a body of some hundred and fifty troopers
+down into the hollow.
+
+Now I saw that we should be able to end the battle quickly, so I sent up
+my signal-cry again and called for my own men to come out. Then I pulled
+the rope and released the chain, and ran out towards my men, shouting to
+them to close round the entrance to the water-cavern and shoot all who
+tried to get out. Some three or four sought to escape and were shot, and
+then the rest, seeing my men running at them with the bayonet, and the
+other troopers coming up, led by a stranger, lost heart, and crowded
+back into the cleft, firing their revolvers wildly as they went.
+
+The next moment we heard cries of terror coming up out of the darkness,
+mingled with the rushing of water, and the Governor, followed by about
+six of his officers, came leaping up the steps to find a line of
+bayonets drawn up across the mouth. With the waters surging up behind
+them, and the bayonets in front of them, there was nothing for them but
+surrender or death.
+
+Hartness, who had now dismounted, ordered the men to fall back a pace,
+and, as they did so, he went through the line with his sword in one hand
+and a revolver in the other, and said to the Governor,--
+
+'Señor, will you yield or go back down yonder?'
+
+'We must yield,' said the Governor, 'since there is no choice. But who
+are you, and what are you, an Englishman, doing here in arms against the
+Government?'
+
+'Who I am matters nothing just now,' he replied, 'and as for your
+Government, it no longer exists. That must be enough for you. Now,
+señores, give up your swords and revolvers quietly and no harm shall
+come to you. You, Señor Prada, give your sword to this caballero here,
+who is the Inca Vilcaroya and lawful ruler of this country.'
+
+The Governor turned and stared at me, dumb with amazement at these
+strange words, and all the others stared too, for, like him, they had
+no doubt heard the legend of my strange fate. He drew his sword, and as
+he did so I covered him with my revolver, and extended my hand to take
+it. He held the hilt out to me with a trembling hand. I took it in
+silence, and then I turned from him and said to my men,--
+
+'Bring these Spaniards out and bind them safely, then follow me to the
+Seat of the Incas.'
+
+When they saw that the victory was with us, and that the Governor
+himself was our prisoner, together with many of the chief of his
+officers, those of the soldiers who had not been for me when they came
+were glad enough now to secure themselves by shouting my name and
+obeying my orders, and when I moved away towards the seat, they followed
+me, laughing and cheering, well pleased to see their hated masters
+prisoners in their midst.
+
+The great carved rock which is called the Inca's Seat is, as I have
+already said, a great rounded mass of stone rising up from the plain of
+the Rodadero, and carved into many seats. On the top there are three
+broad seats, the middle one higher than all the rest, and it was here
+that my forefathers had sat to watch the building of the great fortress,
+and sometimes to give audience to their people.
+
+Now I sat on it, and the soldiers drew themselves up round the rock,
+with the prisoners in the midst of them, and I spoke to them, and told
+them freely of the strange things that had happened to me, and how I had
+come back to the Land of the Four Regions to drive out their oppressors
+and restore the just and gentle rule of my ancestors. Then I had the
+Governor brought up and stood before me, and bade Francis Hartness come
+and sit on my right hand and speak to him for me, and by his lips I told
+him that unless the city was surrendered to me before evening he and all
+his officers should die, and all the houses of the Spaniards in the city
+should be given to the flames and no pity shown to any man, woman or
+child of them, for as they had treated my people so I had sworn to treat
+them unless they yielded.
+
+You may think how troubled he was at hearing such words as these, since
+he knew from what he had seen that there was conspiracy and treachery
+among his own men, and he had no knowledge of how far this had gone, or
+which of his men he could trust, and so this man, who but a few hours
+before had been master of the whole valley, and had looked upon the
+Indios, as he called them, as little better than slaves, now answered me
+humbly enough and prayed me not to murder him when he was helpless in my
+power. And to this I answered him that the blood of my people had been
+crying out for many generations against his people, and that this was
+the day not of mercy but of vengeance, and that I would do as I had said
+unless the city were delivered to me.
+
+Then I descended from the seat and mounted the Governor's horse, and
+after I had sent a company of twelve men to ride quickly down to the
+city and go through all the streets, shouting my name as a signal to
+tell my people that all was well, and that the moment for them to rise
+against their oppressors had come, I took my place beside Hartness at
+the head of our little army, and with our prisoners well guarded close
+behind us we set out on our way back to Cuzco.
+
+As we approached the city we heard the sound of the church-bells being
+rung wildly, and looking down, we could see the streets and squares full
+of people, and as we got nearer still we heard the cracking of rifles
+and the shouts and cries of men in conflict.
+
+'There is either a fight or a riot going on down there,' said Hartness
+to me, 'and if many of the soldiers remain faithful to the Government
+there'll be some bloodshed before to-night. Have you any idea how many
+there are?'
+
+'There were more than two thousand soldiers in the city yesterday,' I
+said, 'and out of these more than half have already taken my gold and
+sworn faith to me. Of the rest many are wavering, and when they see we
+have taken the Governor prisoner I think they will come over.'
+
+'Very likely,' he said; 'but how about those machine-guns in the
+barracks? There are three Gatlings and two Maxims, and if they keep
+those and work them properly they'll just sweep the streets and squares
+clear, you know.'
+
+'I have promised fifty pounds' weight of gold for each of them,' I said;
+'and, more than that, there should be no ammunition for them by this
+time if what the sentries told us is true.'
+
+'Yes,' he said, 'if we can get hold of that, or even the best part of
+it, I don't think there will be much danger. However, as everything
+depends on that, I think we had better go straight to the Cuartel first.
+If we have that we have Cuzco.'
+
+We entered the city by the street of El Triunfo, and made our way
+straight to the great Plaza. As we rode along three abreast we were
+greeted by joyful cries from the crowds of Indians who parted to leave a
+way for us through the midst of them. Tupac and his comrades had done
+their work well, and all night the people had been thronging into the
+city from the surrounding country. All the shops and houses of the
+Spaniards were already shut up, and although none knew the truth of what
+was happening, all thought that the revolution had already broken out in
+Cuzco and so had made themselves as safe as they could.
+
+A little way from the entrance to the great square we came upon Tupac at
+the head of some two hundred of the men of San Sebastian, armed with
+knives and guns and pistols of all sorts which they had taken during the
+night from the towns and villages around, where they had been doing the
+work I had bidden them do. He told me that there were more than a
+thousand soldiers in the city waiting only for me to show myself to kill
+their officers and come over to us, and that the others would fight
+without heart, if they fought at all, now that the Governor was
+taken--for half of the people of Cuzco were for the Government and half
+for the Revolution, and so the city would be divided against itself and
+all would be confusion as soon as the fighting began.
+
+He also told me that the official who is called the Sub-Prefect had
+brought out two of the machine-guns and had planted them at each end of
+the terrace in front of the cathedral, and made a proclamation that
+unless everyone left the streets within an hour he would have them
+cleared with bullets.
+
+When I told this to Hartness he said,--
+
+'Then we must have those two guns first. Tell Tupac to break his men up
+into little bands of about half-a-dozen each and send them round into
+all the streets leading to the square, and tell everyone that isn't
+armed to keep out of the way if they don't want to get hurt. Then you
+ride on with the prisoners and a guard of fifty men, and let them be
+ready to shoot sharply. Tell them to aim at the knees and not to empty
+their magazines too fast. I'll look after the guns. They won't fire on
+you for fear of killing the Governor and the rest. Now, forward!'
+
+I did as he said. Tupac's men broke up and disappeared as though by
+magic. I took the reins of the horse on which the Governor was bound and
+bade half-a-dozen of my men to do the same with the others. Then two and
+two we trotted into the square, Tupac running along by my horse's head.
+It was covered with groups of people all talking and looking and
+pointing about them, and on the terrace before the cathedral there were
+two companies of soldiers, one at each end, drawn up behind a
+machine-gun.
+
+As soon as the people saw me ride in with the Governor bound beside me a
+great shout went up and many came running towards me, but I waved them
+back and shouted to them to leave the square and guard all the streets
+leading into it. I did this so that those who understood me, and were
+therefore friends, might escape out of harm's way before the guns began
+to fire.
+
+Then I drew my revolver and put it to the Governor's head and bade Tupac
+tell him to order the men away from the guns, and that if a shot was
+fired he should be the first to die.
+
+So, as there was no help for it, he did so, and called to the officers
+to come down and speak with him, but instead of obeying they shouted
+some orders to their men and I saw them making ready to fire the guns,
+for, as we found out afterwards, they were men who would have joined the
+revolution when it broke out.
+
+But before the guns could be trained on us Hartness's troop swung round
+into the square. The twenty foot soldiers sent a volley along the
+terrace, firing low as he had told them, and killing and wounding nearly
+half of the men at the guns. Then there came a rattling volley from the
+cavalry and another from my own men, and then, with a great shout and a
+clattering of hoofs, Hartness leapt his horse up the steps at the end
+of the terrace, where the street slopes up nearly level with it at the
+back by the cathedral, and charged down on the rear of the enemy just as
+the gun was swung round.
+
+As he did this I led my men round to the other end of the terrace, where
+I saw that the men had begun fighting among themselves, and thus I knew
+that some of them were our friends and were seeking to prevent the
+others from training the gun on us. I halted, and ordered thirty of my
+men to dismount and take the gun, which they did with very little
+trouble, for the others, seeing how they were outnumbered, either threw
+down their arms and ran away, or surrendered. Two of the officers were
+killed and another one taken prisoner.
+
+Meanwhile Hartness had cleared the other end of the terrace, and taken
+the other gun after killing nearly every man who had defended it. But
+scarcely had this been done than we heard the rattle of drums and the
+sound of bugles, and saw two columns of men marching at the double out
+of the Plaza Del Cabildo, where the barracks are, and the other past the
+Church of the Jesuits, which is at the other end of the square.
+
+'Are those friends or enemies, or both?' Hartness asked me, when he had
+ordered the two guns to be trained, one on each of the columns, and sat
+down behind one of them himself.
+
+'If there are friends among them,' I said, 'they know what to do, and
+when they have done it you can fire.'
+
+Even as I spoke the two columns seemed to break up. Scores of men broke
+out of the ranks, shouting my name and cheering, and these all ran
+together towards the fountain in the middle of the square. The rest
+stopped in wonder and confusion, their officers shouting furiously at
+them, and ordering them to fire on the deserters. Some obeyed, others,
+when they saw the guns trained on them, ran away and hid themselves in
+doorways, and then Hartness gave the order to fire.
+
+Instantly every sound was drowned by the terrible voices of the
+machine-guns. Hartness glanced once along the barrel of his, and then
+sent a torrent of bullets full into the middle of the broken column that
+had come down from the Plaza Del Cabildo. Then he moved it a little from
+side to side, and then stopped. When the smoke had drifted away I saw
+that there was not a living being in that corner of the square, only
+huddled heaps of corpses and bodies of animals. Then he turned the gun
+on the other corner into which the other gun was firing, and soon not a
+man or an animal was left alive there also.
+
+When the firing ceased there were none left in the square but those who
+had declared for us. Hartness immediately formed these into two columns.
+He led one of them, with one gun at the head, into the street past the
+Church of the Jesuits, and I led the other with the second gun into the
+other street leading to the Cuartel, and up these two streets we fought
+our way into the Plaza Del Cabildo, in which we could hear more fighting
+already going on.
+
+When we at last gained the square we found a furious fight going on in
+front of the Cuartel between one body of men who were defending the
+building and another that was attacking it, but which of these were
+friends or foes we did not know until Tupac, heedless of the flying
+bullets, ran out shouting in Quichua that Vilcaroya had come. Shouts and
+cheers from the Cuartel soon told us that our friends had got possession
+of it, and after the city was won I learned that when the two columns
+had started, leaving a third drawn up in the square before the Cuartel,
+those who were for us, remembering what I had said about the gold that I
+would give for the machine-guns and the ammunition, had broken their
+ranks and made a rush for the doors to secure the three guns which were
+in the courtyard, and so the fight had begun, they seeking to hold the
+Cuartel against the others until help came.
+
+As soon as I knew which were our enemies, by their bullets coming
+singing about our ears, I had the gun trained on them, and gave the word
+to fire. But no sooner had it begun to rain its tempest of death than we
+heard the other one speak from the other end of the square, and such a
+storm of bullets swept across the Plaza that before many moments had
+passed there was not a man or beast left alive in it.
+
+Then, when the firing ceased again, those who had held the Cuartel, and
+had taken shelter in it as soon as the machine-guns began to play, threw
+open the doors to us and came out to welcome us, and Francis Hartness
+and I clasped hands as victors, and for the time being, at least,
+masters of the ancient City of the Sun, for with the Cuartel we had
+taken all the arms and ammunition stored up in Cuzco, including the
+three Gatling guns and the two Maxims; and more than this, the whole of
+the native population of the valley was in our favour.
+
+The fighting was now over, save for conflicts that were going on in
+different parts of the city between the Spaniards and the Indians, and I
+at once had the Governor brought before me in the Cuartel and told him
+by the lips of Hartness to write a proclamation surrendering the city to
+us and ordering all the officials to come in and make their submission
+before sundown, threatening fire and sack to every Spanish house if it
+was not done. This he did, knowing well what would befall him if he
+refused. At the same time Hartness made a proclamation in my name in
+English and Spanish promising perfect freedom and security to all
+foreign merchants in the region that was under our command.
+
+It was then about mid-day, and when I had given Francis Hartness full
+authority to act in my name as Governor of the city, which, speaking
+fluent Spanish as he did, he could do better than I, I took a guard of
+fifty men and went with Tupac back to the Rodadero, and took ten of the
+men into the Hall of Gold and bade them carry out as much as they could,
+so that I might keep my promise to the soldiers who had been faithful to
+me, and while they were doing this I went with Tupac to Djama's cell and
+found him wailing and crying like a little child, and beating his hands
+on the golden wall of his prison and praying most piteously for a sight
+of the daylight and a breath of the fresh air of heaven.
+
+The Spaniard, when he heard us coming, began to shriek and scream, and I
+bade Tupac tell him that I would gag him for a day and a night if he did
+not cease his cries. But to Djama I told what had happened, and how
+Cuzco was already mine, and promised I would let him out for a little
+while the next day if he would keep silence for half-an-hour, and
+hearing this, he ceased his cries, and I went on to the throne-room to
+take the news of our victory to Ruth and Golden Star.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+QUEEN AND CROWN
+
+
+I found them in the midst of an English lesson which Golden Star was
+taking, sitting, still clad in her Inca costume, between the professor
+and Joyful Star, who also was dressed in the same fashion. They all
+three rose to meet me as I entered the throne-room, and Ruth coming
+forward with both hands outstretched, as she had never done before,
+said,--
+
+'What have you been doing all this time, Vilcaroya, and why are you
+looking so worn and haggard? Have--have you been fighting? And why have
+you come back here alone?'
+
+'Yes,' I answered, taking her hands into mine, and feeling all my blood
+turn to flame as their gentle pressure thrilled along my nerves. 'Yes,
+we have been fighting, and the Lord of Light has fought upon our side,
+for we have gained the victory, and the city is ours.'
+
+'Thank God for that!' she said; 'and that no harm has come to you--or to
+Captain Hartness.'
+
+'What! do you mean to say you have taken Cuzco already?' cried the
+professor. 'How on earth did you manage that so quickly?'
+
+'Because,' I replied, 'as I told you, my father the Sun fought on my
+side and turned the hearts of his children towards me, and so Francis
+Hartness led them to speedy victory, and the hearts of our enemies
+fainted within them, and they have yielded. Now I have come to tell you
+how it happened, and to take Joyful Star back to the city, where she
+shall be hailed as queen.'
+
+Then I sat down with them and told them all, from the taking of the
+Governor and his officers prisoners by the Sayacusca to the capture of
+the Cuartel and the making of Francis Hartness Governor of Cuzco. After
+that I went and put on the imperial robes, which I had now a double
+right to wear, and led them through the gates of bronze into the Hall of
+Gold.
+
+Now, in the joy of my triumph, and the greeting that Ruth had given me,
+I had forgotten to bid her keep silence while going through the hall,
+and when she saw the two cells in the corner built up with blocks of
+gold she stopped and said,--
+
+'Those were not here the other night. What have you had them built up
+like that for?'
+
+And before I could answer, Djama's voice, shrill and trembling, rose out
+of the cell, crying,--
+
+'Ruth, Ruth, I am here! This is my prison. It is a grave of gold. Curse
+the gold! Save me, save me, Ruth, for I am going mad--and I am your
+brother!'
+
+She stopped and took hold of my arm with both her hands, and looked up
+at me. Her face was very pale and her lips were trembling. Yet though
+her voice was low, it was firm as she said to me,--
+
+'I have no brother who is a liar and a traitor to his friends; but,
+Vilcaroya, I had a brother once who was very good and kind to me, and
+for the sake of his goodness and kindness I ask you to treat this--this
+prisoner of yours more gently.'
+
+'Joyful Star can ask nothing to-day that I could refuse,' I said. 'He
+shall be taken out forthwith and lodged with all comfort, though I must
+keep him safely.'
+
+'No, no, not till I am gone!' she whispered, taking Golden Star by the
+arm and leading her towards the passage. But, softly as she had spoken,
+Djama heard her, and in his rage and despair at her words he cried,--
+
+'You--you won't see me! But you will go with your lover, your Indian
+master, who owes his life to me! You will sell yourself for his gold and
+be his wife. Oh, my God!--my sister!'
+
+And then he raved in the madness that came upon him, and his voice rang
+horridly out of his cell and echoed shrilly through the hall and the
+passages about it. I could feel no anger against a man who was helpless
+and my prisoner, so I followed Ruth without speaking; and when we stood
+once more in the sunlight she turned to me with a bright flush on her
+cheeks and great tears in her eyes, and said very softly and sweetly,--
+
+'He is mad, poor Laurens! he must be. That terrible gold has turned his
+brain, or he could never speak to me like that. You will not treat him
+more harshly for it, Vilcaroya, will you, for you know, after all, he
+is--I mean he was my brother, and I loved him very much--once?'
+
+'Yes, he is mad,' I said; 'and yet the lips of madness may speak truth,
+for what am I but what he said?'
+
+'Have you forgotten what you asked me, or what I answered when I kissed
+Golden Star in the throne-room, that you can speak like that?' she said,
+with one swift glance that told me I had not asked in vain.
+
+What more she might have said I know not, but she had said enough to
+set my heart dancing and my blood thrilling with a joy greater than I
+had found in the speedy conquest of the city of my fathers, and just
+then Tupac came to me and said that a sufficient quantity of gold had
+been taken out, and that all was ready to return to the city. Then I
+told him what he was to do with Djama and his fellow-prisoner, and
+ordered Golden Star's litter and the horse for Ruth which we had brought
+with us to be made ready, and also a mule for the professor, and when
+Tupac had returned we set out along the road that leads to the Gate of
+Sand, I riding in the midst of the troop, and Ruth on my left hand and
+Golden Star in her litter on the right.
+
+As we approached the streets, great crowds of my delivered people
+thronged out to welcome us, and when they saw me riding on my black
+horse, dressed in the imperial robes and with the Llautu on my brow,
+they set up a shout of joy and welcome that went ringing along the
+streets and through the squares and all over the city, and so I rode on
+through the bareheaded throngs, who bowed themselves almost to the earth
+before me.
+
+As we were crossing the great Plaza, Ruth looked about her with bright
+cheeks and shining eyes and said to me,--
+
+'Is it not all like a dream, Vilcaroya? Only a few weeks ago you came
+here poor and unknown, and now you are a king come back to your own
+again. Is it not wonderful?'
+
+'Yes,' I said, looking into her eyes with more courage than before; 'but
+something more wonderful even than that has befallen me. Is it not so,
+my queen?'
+
+'Your queen is not crowned yet, your Majesty!' she said, looking down,
+and yet not frowning, as I half feared she would.
+
+'No,' I answered, 'nor shall she be till my work is done, and the whole
+land that was my fathers' is mine to give her, and then all that power
+and gold and love can give her shall be hers.'
+
+'Give me the last and I shall ask no more,' she said softly, chasing
+with that first sweet confession from my heart the last lingering doubt
+of the great blessing that my Father the Sun had bestowed upon me.
+
+Thus we came to the front of the Cuartel, where all the troops were
+already drawn up to do us honour, and Hartness came out to greet us. He
+stopped for an instant, and his cheeks paled a little as he saw Ruth
+riding at my side, already dressed as she would be when she was my
+queen. But then the goodness of his honest heart spoke from his lips,
+and he said, as he held out his hand to me,--
+
+'Welcome, your Majesty! Majesties, I might almost say, I suppose! The
+city is ours and everything is quiet. Some of the officials have come in
+and submitted; others I have had to put under arrest, and runners are
+coming in every minute from the other towns in the valley to say that
+our plans have been carried out perfectly. The rest of our work won't be
+as easy as this has been, but we've made a very good beginning, and, at
+anyrate, I think I can congratulate your Majesty on having made your two
+most important captures.
+
+He looked at Ruth as he said this, and though her fair face flushed
+brightly and her eyes fell, yet she spoke steadily enough when she
+answered him, saying,--
+
+'You can hardly call me one of the spoils of war, I think, Captain
+Hartness, though I confess that I have surrendered at discretion. Now
+give me your hand and help me down, and don't look so disconsolate, for
+you are not nearly as unfortunate as you think. There is an Inca
+princess for you also, a real one, too. I have been teaching Golden Star
+to say your name, and, do you know, she makes it sound just like music
+with that sweet voice of hers. See, here she is, and you shall hear her
+say it.'
+
+I had dismounted meanwhile, and taken Golden Star from her litter, and
+when the people saw her, her name ran swiftly from lip to lip, and a
+great shout of delight rose up from thousands of throats to welcome her
+back to life and the home of her long-dead fathers. Then I took her hand
+and Hartness's, and put hers in his, and said to him,--
+
+'My friend, what I have taken I can in some measure give back to you.
+Here is Joyful Star's sister-soul and living likeness. I have seen her
+newly-awakened soul look out of her eyes with love upon you, as in good
+truth it well might, for you are a true son of the Sun, though not of
+our blood. In the days to come you may learn to love her too, and then
+all will be well.'
+
+'Yes,' said Ruth, coming to his side, 'and better than it could have
+been in any other way. The very Fates themselves seemed to have arranged
+all this, so it is not for mortals to rebel, Captain Hartness.'
+
+He looked at her almost sadly for a moment, and then he laughed a little
+and said,--
+
+'I should be more or less than mortal if I did, Miss Ruth. But mind, if
+I am faithless, remember it is you who have done the most to make me
+so.'
+
+As he said this he took Golden Star's little hand in his own and kissed
+it. As she felt the touch of his lips a new light sprang into her eyes
+and shone and danced there, and she said to me,--
+
+'Why does the Son of the Great People do that, and what have you said to
+him about me, my brother?'
+
+'He has kissed your hand in loving greeting,' I answered, 'and what I
+have said he will no doubt tell you better some day when you can speak
+together.'
+
+The bright blood in her cheeks told me that she had understood me, and
+she turned her head away, but she did not take her hand from Hartness's,
+and so I gave my hand to Ruth and led her into the Cuartel, and Hartness
+and Golden Star followed us hand in hand amidst the cheers of the
+soldiers and the joyful shouts of the people.
+
+That night there were such rejoicings in Cuzco as the City of the Sun
+had not seen since the Spaniards came into the land. I distributed the
+gold among the soldiers as I had promised, giving to each man a piece of
+about two ounces in weight, and they, who had never possessed, even if
+they had ever seen, gold before, kissed it and fondled it in their
+delight, and swore that they would fight for me as long as one of them
+was left alive; and then I spoke to them and told them that they had but
+to be faithful and brave, and their English leader would lead them to
+victory after victory, until the whole land should be ours.
+
+Later on I sent Tupac with many men up to the fortress, and they
+brought down the Golden Throne and the symbols of the Sun and great
+quantities of gold and jewels, and they set the throne in the midst of
+the terrace in front of the cathedral, with silver seats on either side
+of it, on the spot where in the olden time stood the Palace of
+Viracocha; and on the front of the cathedral, over the great doors, they
+fixed the symbols of the Sun, and high above all, between the two
+bell-towers, they placed a great flagstaff.
+
+Before daybreak the next morning the square was thronged with people,
+save for an open space which the soldiers kept before my throne. I took
+my place amidst an utter silence. Ruth and Golden Star sat on my right
+and on my left, and Francis Hartness, with a drawn sword in his hand,
+stood by my throne to the right, and on the terrace behind me, and on
+either side, stood the Men of the Blood, dressed in their ancient and
+long-forbidden costumes, with which I had furnished them out of the
+stores in the secret chambers of the fortress.
+
+No word was spoken and no sound was heard over the whole city, and all
+eyes were turned to the swiftly brightening eastern sky.
+
+The blue changed to silver and the silver to crimson and gold. Then the
+sun, the glorious image of the Lord of Life, uprose in all his sudden
+splendour, and as his rays fell on the great golden jewel-rayed circle
+on the cathedral front, the Rainbow Banner ran swiftly up to the head of
+the flagstaff, and I, rising from my throne, bared my head and, turning
+my face to the rising sun, bowed myself before it, and at the same
+instant every head in the vast assembly was uncovered, and all, save the
+soldiers, fell on their knees and stretched out their hands to heaven in
+silent joy and thankfulness.
+
+Then I lifted up my voice and spoke the ancient Invocation to the Sun
+which generation after generation of my fathers had spoken from the same
+spot at the beginning of the feast of Raymi, and when I had ended this
+the Children of the Blood lifted up their voices after me and sang the
+long-silenced and yet never-forgotten hymn to the Sun, and then,
+standing before the kneeling multitude, I replaced the Llautu on my brow
+and proclaimed myself Inca and supreme Lord of the Land of the Four
+Regions in the name of my long-dead fathers, whose divine right to
+lordship had been preserved in me.
+
+And so I, Vilcaroya, son of Huayna-Capac, first fulfilled the prophecy
+that had been spoken in the Days of Darkness, and so did I come, as had
+been said, from one life into another through the shadow of death and
+the silence of the grave, with her whose love, now changed, though no
+less dear, had nerved me to face the ordeal of the strangest fate that
+had ever befallen one born in mortal shape.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+HOW DJAMA PAID HIS DEBT
+
+
+It is one of the mysteries of this lower life of ours that men, meaning
+to do good in all honesty of heart, may yet do evil in the doing of it,
+and it was thus with me in the hour of my first triumph and rejoicing.
+
+I had pondered long and deeply over the strange treachery of Djama, and
+I had talked of it with Francis Hartness and the professor until I had
+come to see that he was in truth sorely afflicted with that madness
+which is born of the lust of gold, which, as they told me, is a disease
+of the soul that makes timid men rash and mild ones fierce and cunning,
+and may even turn the gentleness of woman into the pitiless rage of
+beasts of prey.
+
+It was through thinking of this that I came to see that I was by no
+means blameless myself for his madness and the treachery that had come
+from it.
+
+In my own days and among my own people gold was held precious only for
+its beauty and its usefulness. We had not learned the art of making it
+into money and buying men's soul and bodies with it, but I had already
+lived enough of my new life to see that now, save for the few, gold was
+all and honour nothing; and knowing this, I should also have known what
+I was doing when I showed Djama the treasures in the Hall of Gold. The
+sight of them had made him mad, and, as my hand had shown them to him,
+the blame of what he had done in his madness was in part mine.
+
+All this I remembered in the hour when my soul was filled with joy and
+my heart warm with love, and I thought how great a pleasure I should
+give to her who had given me the better part of my own joy if I looked
+upon Djama with pity and forgiveness and did an act of mercy as the
+first deed of my new reign.
+
+So, when the ceremonial of my crowning was over, I bade Tupac take some
+of my body-guard and bring him before me from the place where he had
+been lodged after his release from his golden cell, and at the same time
+I quieted the fears of Joyful Star by telling her what was in my heart
+concerning him.
+
+They brought him unbound, but well guarded by soldiers with bayonets on
+their rifles, up the broad avenue which the parted throng had made
+across the square in front of my throne.
+
+I saw him stare wildly about him as he came near, gazing at the splendid
+sun-lit pageant like a man in a dream, or one just awakened into another
+world, as I had been after my long death-sleep. But when he came near,
+and saw me sitting in my royal state with Joyful Star on my right and
+Golden Star on my left, both robed as princesses of the Ancient Blood,
+his face grew dark with passion, and his eyes, losing their wonder,
+gazed in fixed and furious hate at me--the man who was going to give him
+his life, and much more that he had coveted besides.
+
+They placed him between two soldiers before me at the foot of the
+terrace steps above which my throne had been set, and I was about to
+speak and greet him kindly, when his anger already got the better of
+him, and, with a mocking smile on his lips, he said in a loud, rough
+voice that was most unlike his own quiet, even tones,--
+
+'Well, your Majesty, as I suppose you think yourself for the present, I
+expected something like this--to be brought out into the midst of your
+fellow-savages and sentenced like a felon before my own sister and the
+woman who, like yourself, owes her life to me!'
+
+Then he laughed one of his strange, joyless laughs, and went on before I
+could reply,--
+
+'Well, I suppose I mustn't grumble. You have won, and to the victor go
+the spoils. Now that you have apparently bought the girl who was once my
+sister with your gold, and I have given you your own sister-wife back,
+you will be able to try an interesting experiment in your old form of
+matrimony--'
+
+I saw Joyful Star shrink back in her seat and turn her head away from
+him with a little cry as he said these evil words, and they angered me
+so, that--forgetting they were spoken by a man who stood helpless before
+me--I cried,--
+
+'Silence, liar and speaker of evil! or your next words shall be the last
+that human ears shall hear you speak. Are you still mad, or have you
+forgotten that you were once a man?'
+
+He smiled such a smile as you may have seen on the lips of one who has
+died in agony, and said with a swift change in his voice,--
+
+'I beg your Majesty's pardon, and--and the ladies' too. It was a most
+ungentlemanly thing to say, and one should not forget one's manners on
+the threshold of the next world--if there is one. But come, your
+Majesty, you are wasting your valuable time, and keeping all these
+interesting savages of yours waiting. You'll find I shall take it
+quietly enough. What do you propose that it shall be--something with
+boiling oil or red-hot pincers in it?'
+
+I knew that a man who could speak thus, believing that he was about to
+die, must be in a pitiful plight, and so I answered him sternly, and yet
+without anger,--
+
+'Laurens Djama, I have not brought you here to jest with you, nor yet,
+as you think, to condemn you to die, though your life is justly forfeit
+to me and my people, whom you would have betrayed again to their
+oppressors. Now, listen! You brought me back from death to life, and for
+my life I will give you yours, and for Golden Star's I will pay you the
+price agreed on and something more. It was by my foolish act that the
+madness of the gold-hunger came upon you, and for that I will give you
+your freedom; but not now, for that would not be safe for me or my
+people, since you have betrayed us once, and, knowing what you do, might
+do so again. You shall be taken hence to a pleasant and fertile valley,
+where you shall have all freedom, save permission to leave it until this
+war is over and I am undisputed lord of the land of my fathers. Then you
+shall take the wealth that shall be yours and go to your own country,
+or wherever you please, so long as you do not remain in mine, for here
+there is no place for you, since my people do not forgive as easily as I
+do. Now I have spoken; if there is anything more that you can ask, and I
+can give with safety, ask it.'
+
+Most men who had sinned as he had done would have very willingly taken
+such forgiveness, and Laurens Djama might have taken it but for a
+seemingly small thing. While I was speaking to him his eyes had wandered
+from mine and were looking into Golden Star's. As I ceased I felt her
+hands clasping my arm, and heard her voice say tremblingly in our own
+tongue,--
+
+'Save me, my lord and brother, save me! Evil Eyes is looking into my
+heart and turning it cold!'
+
+This Djama saw, though he did not understand her words, and the sight
+brought the madness into his blood again. He shouted with a voice like
+the cry of a wild beast in pain,--
+
+'Curse you! I will have neither life nor liberty from you, but I'll have
+your life for mine, and that will pay me better!'
+
+As the last word left his lips he made a movement so quick that my eyes
+could not follow it. The next instant he had wrenched the rifle from
+the hands of the soldier on his right hand and levelled it at me. Even
+as he did so Joyful Star flung herself with a scream upon my breast and
+Hartness sprang forward from behind my throne-seat.
+
+The rifle flashed. I heard a hissing sound close to my ear and a deep
+groan and the fall of a body behind me. In the same moment Djama was
+seized and flung to the ground, where he lay quite still and silent. I
+rose to my feet, clasping Joyful Star for the first time in my arms, and
+looked round. Hartness stood beside me unharmed, but old Ullullo, the
+first friend that I had made in my new life among my own people, lay
+dead behind my throne with a bullet through his forehead.
+
+I had not forgotten that old training which taught an Inca warrior to
+look on near-approaching death with unmoved eyes and unshaken heart, and
+this was only such a hazard as I had taken a score of times before. I
+bade Hartness lead Ruth and Golden Star into the temple behind us, so
+that they should not see what was about to be done. Then I took my place
+on the throne again and ordered Djama to be raised and stood on his
+feet.
+
+He rose of himself, very pale but calm and strong in his own evil
+strength, fearing nothing, as became a man for whom death had no
+terrors and, it might be, few secrets. We looked each other in the eyes
+in silence, and in the midst of an utter stillness that had fallen on
+the vast throng, until Hartness came back. Then I said,--
+
+'That is enough, Laurens Djama. Choose now what death you will die, but,
+for your own sake and Joyful Star's, choose a quick one.'
+
+Although my voice was as the voice of doom to him, yet he did not quail
+even then, for if his heart was black it was very strong, and fear had
+never entered into it. He drew himself up to the full height of his
+stature and, looking me full in the eyes, he said as quietly as I had
+ever heard him speak,--
+
+'That choice is always mine, whether you give it to me or not. You have
+threatened me with death before and I have told you that you could not
+kill me. Now watch and see if I spoke the truth.'
+
+Then, with a soldier holding each of his arms and two others grasping
+his shoulders, he drew a quick, deep, gasping breath. The blood rushed
+into his face till its pallor became purple. The next instant it became
+deathly white again. His jaw dropped, his eyes grew fixed and blindly
+staring, and then his shape seemed to shrink together like an empty bag,
+and he sank down between those who were holding him.
+
+They pulled him upright again, and his head dropped forward on his
+breast. He was dead--dead as though the Llapa itself had struck him--and
+so Laurens Djama, master of the arts of life and death, passed out of
+the world of living men by the act of his own will, though not of his
+own hand.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+THE RE-KINDLING OF THE SACRED FIRE
+
+
+Now this story of mine is nearly done, for there are but few things left
+for me to tell. It is not for me to write of all the battles that we
+fought after the City of the Sun and the region about it fell into our
+hands, for to do that is a task better fitted to the hands of him who
+led my ever-growing hosts to victory after victory until the whole land
+that had been my fathers' was mine from north to south and from the
+great rivers of the east to the Sea of the Setting Sun, which you now
+call the Pacific Ocean.
+
+It is enough for me to say that I used my gold without stint, and that
+it did all and more than the work I had been told it would do. As we
+marched southward and westward to the sea, army after army left those
+who were fighting between themselves for the ruins of the land and,
+having no real quarrel of their own, ranged themselves under the Rainbow
+Banner and fought with me for freedom and the ancient faith of their
+long-dead fathers, and how city after city welcomed me as I came to give
+it peace and wealth instead of strife and misery.
+
+My unforgotten story and the marvel of my coming back from the days of
+our old-time glories had sped like the leaps of the lightning from
+mountain to mountain and valley to valley, and every man in whose veins
+flowed even the smallest drop of the Sacred Blood threw aside the broken
+fragments of the oppressor's yoke and came to give me his service.
+
+From other countries, too, and from far over the sea, there came men to
+fight for me, men whom Hartness had called from afar by speaking to them
+over the lightning-wires, and they brought ships with them, armed with
+flame and thunder, which the promise of my gold had purchased, and these
+took all the seaports for me, while my ever-growing armies were taking
+the cities of the inland valleys--all of which those who would learn may
+read in the great book which Francis Hartness and the professor, who
+with Joyful Star have helped out these lame words of mine, are writing
+together to tell how the ancient empire of the Incas rose at my call
+and the bidding of my gold--which I doubt not was far stronger than
+I--out of the degradation into which the oppressors had cast it, and has
+even now begun to prosper again with more than its former glory.
+
+But, as I have said, these things are not for me to tell, since I have
+neither the skill nor the knowledge to do so. What I have set down here
+is only the story of my own awakening out of the death-sleep into which
+the arts of the priests of the Sun had cast me with Golden Star, and of
+her return to join me in my new life. I have told of that and of all
+that befell us afterwards, and now there remains only the telling of
+that which fulfilled our strange fates and completed our happiness in
+the new world into which those fates had brought us.
+
+Many weeks passed and grew into months before the oppressors were
+finally subdued and I found myself undisputed lord of all the land, and,
+as I had promised Joyful Star, all this had to come to pass before I
+would ask her to put her hand into mine and take her place beside me as
+my Coya and queen on the throne of Huayna-Capac.
+
+But at length there was peace in the land and we returned from Lima, the
+capital of the Spaniards, where I had been proclaimed and acknowledged
+Inca and Emperor of my ancient domains, to the City of the Sun, which
+many loving and willing hands had cleansed of the abominations of its
+new idolatries and made in some measure fit to receive us, to crown our
+new lives with such happiness as, with the help and blessing of the
+Unnameable, we might be able to bestow upon each other.
+
+The treasures of gold and silver and ornaments of jewels, the rich
+hangings and the sacred and precious emblems had been brought from the
+Hall of Gold and the throne-room beneath the Sacsahuaman and set up in
+the chief temple of the Spaniards, which stands in the place where the
+holy Temple of the Sun once stood and is in great part built of the
+self-same stones.[F]
+
+It was the eve of the Feast of Raymi, or the Coming of the Sun, which in
+the olden time we counted as the beginning of the year, and I had
+determined that this day should witness the restoration of the old order
+and the beginning of my own true happiness--so that night Golden Star
+and I, as became the son and daughter of the Royal Race and Sacred
+Blood, watched and prayed according to the ancient rites--she in a
+chamber of what had once been the House of the Virgins of Sun, and I in
+the purified temple--from the setting of the sun until the first waning
+of the stars in the coming dawn.
+
+Very early in the morning she was brought to me in the temple by
+Tupac-Rayca--whom I had in virtue of his pure blood and noble decent,
+consecrated Villac-Umu or High Priest of the Sun, and who had in turn
+invested such others of the Blood as he thought worthy with the
+subordinate dignities of the holy office. He and his attendants were
+arrayed in the ancient priestly robes and adorned with the sacred
+emblems of their rank, and Golden Star was attired as a royal Virgin of
+the Sun, in garments of white edged with scarlet and decked with
+ornaments of pure gold.
+
+Then we prayed together before the newly-set-up altar, which stood over
+against the eastern window of the Sanctuary, and when that duty was
+ended, and while the growing light was yet dim, there came to us Joyful
+Star, also arrayed as a princess of the Blood, and Francis Hartness,
+whom my thankful people had already named Viracocha, after one of our
+golden-haired hero-gods of the olden time.
+
+After them came all those of the Sacred Race that were left in the
+land--men and matrons, youths and maidens--all dressed in the
+long-forbidden garb of their forefathers, and ranged themselves in two
+silent, orderly ranks down the sides of the Sanctuary, waiting with
+patient eagerness for that which they had been bidden here to see.
+
+Above the altar hung the great golden Emblem of the Sun, upon which the
+radiant glance of the Lord of Light would first fall through the
+circular window in the eastern wall, and on it was a pyramid of wood
+anointed with scented oils; for here was soon to be re-kindled--if our
+Lord the Sun should smile on the new fortunes of his long-suffering
+children--without the aid of human hands, that sacred fire first lit by
+Manco Capac and Mama Occlu, son and daughter of the Sun, and which had
+burnt unquenched through all the ages that had passed from the founding
+to the fall of our ancient empire. Beside it lay a cone-shaped vessel of
+burnished gold, in the depths of which the Sacred Fleece awaited the
+touch that was to change it into flame.
+
+When all were assembled, Tupac-Rayca mounted the steps of the altar,
+and, facing the silent throng, began to speak in the ancient and
+unforgotten tongue and said,--
+
+'Children of the Sun, sons and daughters of those whose ancestors in the
+unremembered days received the divine command to create the empire over
+which they ruled with ever-growing glory until, by the inscrutable
+decrees of the Unnameable, the destroyer and oppressor were permitted to
+come into the land, listen with open ears and thankful hearts to the
+words which our Father shall put into my mouth to say to you!'
+
+All bowed their heads and crossed their hands over their breasts as he
+spoke, and after a little silence he went on,--
+
+'The last of the Villac-Umus who stood where I am standing told your
+fathers and mine of the near-approaching night of gloom and desolation
+that was about to fall upon the Land of the Four Regions. For what sins
+of his children our Father permitted that night to eclipse the bright
+day of their empire we know not, nor is it lawful for us to inquire. Let
+it be enough for us to believe that, grievous as the doom was, it could
+not have been anything save the inflexible justice of the Unnameable.'
+
+Again they bowed their heads, and there was silence for a little space
+until he went on, speaking this time in a gladder voice,--
+
+'But, stern as that justice was, it was yet not untempered with mercy,
+for with the words of doom there came from our Father, by the lips of
+his minister, the holy Anda-Huillac, those words of hope and promise
+which from that day to this have been handed down in secret, yet
+unforgotten, from father to son and from mother to daughter, and which
+now for the first time since then may be spoken openly in the land:--
+
+     '"_To that Son of the Sacred Race who, for honour and faith and
+     love, shall take the hand of a pure virgin of his own holy blood
+     and with her pass fearless through the gate of death into the
+     shadows which lie beyond, shall be given the glory of casting down
+     the oppressor and raising the Rainbow Banner once more above the
+     Golden Throne of the Incas. On that throne he shall sit, and wield
+     power and mete out justice and mercy to the Children of the Sun
+     when the gloom that is now falling upon the Land of the Four
+     Regions shall have passed away in the dawn of a brighter age._"
+
+'Sons and daughters of the long-dead, turn your eyes and see how the
+eastern skies are swiftly brightening with first rays of that
+long-looked-for dawn. This is the morning of our deliverance, for our
+deliverers stand here before us, and with your own eyes you may look
+upon those who, in the strength of their love and faith, dared the doom
+to win the promise, for here in the living flesh stands that Vilcaroya,
+son of the great Huayna-Capac, and there beside him is Golden Star, that
+virgin of the Royal Race who of her own will joined hands with him in
+the wedlock of death, and whose pure soul has dwelt with his in the
+Mansions of the Sun while ten generations of men have lived and died
+awaiting their return to the land.
+
+'To us, more blessed, it has been given to see that which our fathers
+waited for in vain. To us our Lord Vilcaroya and our Lady Golden Star
+have come back from the shadows of death into the light of life and
+glory of victory. Already you have seen the oppressor pay the price of
+life for life, and blood for blood, and shame for shame. You have seen
+our Lord seated on the golden throne of the Divine Manco with the
+Rainbow Banner waving high above him, and now the moment has come for
+you to see the fulfilling of what yet remains of the promise
+unfulfilled. Behold the visible presence of our Father comes near to
+smile once more on his children long left in darkness!'
+
+While he was speaking these last words the light in the eastern sky had
+brightened fast until a sunray leapt over the lower rim of the window
+and shone on the painted ceiling of the Sanctuary. At a sign from
+Tupac-Rayca, Golden Star took up the vessel in which lay the Sacred
+Fleece, and, standing in the middle of the altar on the highest step,
+held it poised in her hands above her head, with her pale, fair face and
+shining eyes upturned towards the window.
+
+Foot by foot the light crept along the roof, broadening and brightening
+as it went, till it touched the western wall. Then, ever followed by the
+anxious eyes of the silent throng, it descended until the great Symbol
+of the Sun flashed and flamed in its radiance. Still lower it sank and
+the burnished vessel that Golden Star held to receive them caught the
+gathering rays and glowed as though filled with liquid fire.
+
+[Illustration: Now the moment for the giving of the Sign had come.
+
+_To face page 280._]
+
+Now the moment for the giving of the Sign had come. A faint wreath of
+pale blue smoke curled upwards from the Sacred Fleece. It grew darker
+and denser, and then a little tongue of flame leapt out from the midst
+of it. At the same instant Tupac seized the vessel and held it upturned
+over the pyramid of wood upon the altar. The burning fleece fell down
+upon the anointed wood, a long shaft of fire shot upward, and, as the
+descending sunrays fell over the face and bosom of Golden Star, the
+voice of Tupac rang out in an exultant chant through the silence,
+saying,--
+
+'Rejoice, Children of the Sun, rejoice! for your Father has once more
+looked in kindness and blessing upon you, and with the radiant glance of
+his eyes he has re-kindled the long-quenched fire which henceforth shall
+burn upon his altar as long as his visible presence shall make bright
+the heavens and beautiful the earth!'
+
+As he ceased, Golden Star's voice rose up clear and sweet, singing the
+first words of the Hymn to the Sun--as I alone of all that throng had
+heard her sing them in the days that were no more. Then the Children of
+the Blood raised their voices too, and out of the fulness of their
+thankful hearts poured forth their first tribute of praise and
+thanksgiving to Him who had broken the yoke of the oppressor and given
+back light and joy and peace to the long-darkened Land of the Four
+Regions.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+When the Hymn to the Sun was ended and the Children of the Blood had
+received the blessing of Tupac, there was yet one more ceremony to be
+performed before the rejoicings of the Feast of Raymi began. There is
+little need for me to tell you what it was. In love as in war I had
+striven and conquered, and now the dearest of my rewards, dearer far
+than wealth or empire, was to be made mine by the free gift of her who
+was herself that which she gave.
+
+Two of the priests brought forth the marriage-font and placed it in
+front of the altar, and Joyful Star stood on the one side of it and I on
+the other and we joined hands across it.
+
+It was a double vessel of gold, formed of two twin cups, and between
+them there was a hole stopped by a golden plug, to which a little chain
+was fastened. The cup on my side was filled with blood-red wine and that
+towards Joyful Star with pure water, crystal clear.
+
+Tupac took our hands in his and parted them, saying as he did so,--
+
+'To meet and to part is the lot of man and woman upon earth, yet when
+two true souls meet and two faithful hearts are joined even death can
+part them but in seeming, for in the bright halls of the Mansions of the
+Sun they shall dwell for ever in the blessed presence of our Father!'
+
+So saying, he joined our hands again, and drawing out the golden plug,
+he pointed to the mingling fluids and went on, speaking now to each of
+us in turn,--
+
+'Here, Vilcaroya Inca, and you, Joyful Star, daughter of a conquering
+race and well-beloved of our Lord, see the emblem of the union between
+you! As the strong red wine colours and strengthens the pure water, so,
+Joyful Star, shall the stronger nature of thy chosen husband colour and
+strengthen thine, and, as the pure water tempers and purifies the wine,
+so, Vilcaroya Inca, shall the gentler and purer nature of her who is
+henceforth thy wife and queen by the rites of our ancient law, soften
+and purify thine according to the will and purpose of the Unnameable,
+who to this end sent man and woman upon earth that together they might
+possess and enjoy it, each helping the other, man making the world
+fruitful and beautiful by his labour, and woman sweetening his toil by
+the reward of her love and her constancy.'
+
+Then he raised his hands above our heads as we bowed them together over
+the emblem of our mingling lives, and said again,--
+
+'Son and daughter, man and wife, who have met from afar, and who in this
+solemn act have sworn in the all-pervading presence of the Unnameable to
+lead each other from this your meeting-place to the dim border of the
+shadow-land which lies between this world and the threshold of the
+Mansions of the Sun, may the blessing of our Father clothe your brows
+with honour and fill your hearts with everlasting love and trust, and
+may He guide your feet to walk in pleasant places from now even to the
+end!'
+
+As he ceased our hands parted, only to meet again a moment later after
+we had stepped aside to yield up our places at the marriage-font to
+Francis Hartness and Golden Star.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[F] This is not quite correct, although a natural mistake on the part of
+the Inca. It is not the Cathedral of Cuzco, but the Church of Santo
+Domingo, which stands on the site of the ancient Temple of the Sun. It
+is by far the finest church in Cuzco. The Cathedral faces the great
+square.
+
+
+
+
+_Coiston and Coy. Limited, Printers, Edinburgh_
+
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+List of corrections:
+
+   "Anahauc" corrected into "Anahuac"
+
+     page 206 and bid Anahauc and Ainu close the door
+     page 208 Anahauc came and prostrated himself
+
+   "ont" corrected into "out"
+
+     page 298 mete ont justice and mercy
+
+   "Ullulo" corrected into "Ullullo"
+
+     page 288:  Ullulo, the first friend
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ROMANCE OF GOLDEN STAR ...***
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+<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Romance of Golden Star ..., by George Chetwynd Griffith</title>
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+<body>
+<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Romance of Golden Star ..., by George
+Chetwynd Griffith, Illustrated by Alfred Pearse</h1>
+<pre>
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre>
+<p>Title: The Romance of Golden Star ...</p>
+<p>Author: George Chetwynd Griffith</p>
+<p>Release Date: December 23, 2006  [eBook #20173]</p>
+<p>Language: English</p>
+<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p>
+<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ROMANCE OF GOLDEN STAR ...***</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>E-text prepared by Wilelmina Maillière<br />
+    and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br />
+    (http://www.pgdp.net/c/)</h3>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<div class='notes'><p>Transcriber's note:</p>
+<p>Some punctuation has been changed to meet contemporary standards.</p>
+<p>Printer's errors: see the list of corrections at the end of the text.</p>
+</div>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="full" />
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h4>THE ROMANCE OF
+GOLDEN STAR ...</h4>
+
+<h5>George [Chetwynd] Griffith[-Jones]</h5>
+
+<p>Reprint Edition 1978 by Arno Press Inc.</p>
+
+<p>Editorial Supervision: MARIE STARECK</p>
+
+<p>Reprinted from a copy in The Library of
+the University of California, Riverside</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_i" id="Page_i">[Pg i]</a></span></p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_ii" id="Page_ii">[Pg ii]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 427px;">
+<a name="Illustration_Hail_Son_of_the_Sun" id="Illustration_Hail_Son_of_the_Sun"></a><img src="images/illus1.jpg" width="427" height="650" alt="Hail, Son of the Sun! -- Page 78." title="Hail, Son of the Sun! -- Page 78." />
+<span class="caption">Hail, Son of the Sun! -- Page 78.</span>
+</div>
+
+
+
+
+
+<h1>THE ROMANCE OF
+GOLDEN STAR ...</h1>
+
+
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="">
+<tr><td align='left'><h4>BY</h4> <h2>GEORGE GRIFFITH</h2> <h4>AUTHOR OF<br /><br />'THE ANGEL OF THE REVOLUTION,' <br />'OLGA ROMANOFF,' 'THE OUTLAWS <br />OF THE AIR,' 'VALDAR THE OFT-BORN,' <br />'BRITON OR BOER?' ETC., ETC.</h4></td><td align='left'><p>'<i>To that Son of the Sacred Race<br />
+who for Honour and Faith and<br />
+Love shall take the hand of a<br />
+pure virgin of his own holy blood<br />
+and with her pass fearless through<br />
+the Gate of Death into the shadows<br />
+which lie beyond shall be given the<br />
+glory of casting out the Oppressor<br />
+and raising the Rainbow Banner<br />
+once more above the Golden Throne<br />
+of the Incas. On that Throne he<br />
+shall sit and wield power and mete<br />
+out justice and mercy to the Children<br />
+of the Sun when the gloom<br />
+that is falling upon the Land of<br />
+the Four Regions shall have passed<br />
+away in the dawn of a brighter age.</i>' <br /><br />
+<span class="smcap">&mdash;The Prophecy contained<br />in the Ancient Legend<br />
+of Vilcaroya-Inca and<br />Golden Star, his Sister-Bride.</span></p></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<h3>ILLUSTRATED..</h3>
+<h3>BY ALFRED PEARSE</h3>
+<h2>LONDON: F. V. WHITE &amp; CO....</h2>
+
+<h2>14 BEDFORD STREET, STRAND, W.C. 1897</h2>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</a></span></p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[Pg iv]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="">
+<tr><td align='center'><b>PROLOGUE</b></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'></td><td align='center'>PAGE</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>HIS HIGHNESS THE MUMMY</td><td align='center'><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>A PHYSIOLOGICAL EXPERIMENT</td><td align='center'><a href="#Page_16">16</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'><b>CHAPTER I</b></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>BACK THROUGH THE SHADOWS</td><td align='center'><a href="#Page_32">32</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'><b>CHAPTER II</b></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>BROTHERS OF THE BLOOD</td><td align='center'><a href="#Page_47">47</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'><b>CHAPTER III</b></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>IN THE HALL OF GOLD</td><td align='center'><a href="#Page_66">66</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'><b>CHAPTER IV</b></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>THE SISTER STARS</td><td align='center'><a href="#Page_86">86</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'><b>CHAPTER V</b></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>HOW DJAMA DID HIS WORK</td><td align='center'><a href="#Page_105">105</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'><b>CHAPTER VI</b></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>THE WAKING OF GOLDEN STAR</td><td align='center'><a href="#Page_124">124</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[Pg vi]</a></span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'><b>CHAPTER VII</b></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>IN THE THRONE-ROOM OF YUPANQUI</td><td align='center'><a href="#Page_145">145</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'><b>CHAPTER VIII</b></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>HOW THE SOUL OF GOLDEN STAR CAME BACK</td><td align='center'><a href="#Page_168">168</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'><b>CHAPTER IX</b></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>THE TREACHERY OF DJAMA</td><td align='center'><a href="#Page_188">188</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'><b>CHAPTER X</b></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>ON THE RODADERO</td><td align='center'><a href="#Page_209">209</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'><b>CHAPTER XI</b></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>HOW WE TOOK THE CITY OF THE SUN</td><td align='center'><a href="#Page_230">230</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'><b>CHAPTER XII</b></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>QUEEN AND CROWN</td><td align='center'><a href="#Page_250">250</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'><b>CHAPTER XIII</b></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>HOW DJAMA PAID HIS DEBT</td><td align='center'><a href="#Page_262">262</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'><b>CHAPTER XIV</b></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>THE RE-KINDLING OF THE SACRED FIRE</td><td align='center'><a href="#Page_271">271</a></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[Pg vii]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2>
+
+<h4>BY</h4>
+
+<h3>ALFRED PEARSE</h3>
+
+
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="">
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='right'>PAGE</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>'HAIL, SON OF THE SUN!'</td><td align='right'><i><a href="#Illustration_Hail_Son_of_the_Sun">Frontispiece</a></i></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>'AM I ONLY DREAMING THAT THE DEATH-SLEEP IS OVER?'</td><td align='right'><a href="#Illustration_Am_I_only_dreaming">26</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>THE DAGGER-POINT DROPPED TILL IT WAS WITHIN AN INCH OF GOLDEN STAR'S BREAST</td><td align='right'><a href="#The_dagger-point_dropped_till_it_was_within_an_inch_of_Golden_Stars_breast">119</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>THEY THRUST HIM IN WITH HIS ARMS STILL BOUND</td><td align='right'><a href="#They_thrust_him_in_with_his_arms_still_bound">205</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>IT HAD SMITTEN HIM TO THE HEART</td><td align='right'><a href="#Illustration_It_had_smitten_him_to_the_heart">228</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>NOW THE MOMENT FOR THE GIVING OF THE SIGN HAD COME</td><td align='right'><a href="#Illustration_Now_the_moment_for_the_giving">280</a></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h1>The Romance of Golden Star</h1>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>PROLOGUE</h2>
+
+
+<h3>I</h3>
+
+<h3>HIS HIGHNESS THE MUMMY</h3>
+
+
+<p>'Ah, what a thing it would be for us if his Inca
+Highness were really only asleep, as he looks to
+be! Just think what he could tell us&mdash;how easily
+he could re-create that lost wonderland of his for
+us, what riddles he could answer, what lies he could
+contradict. And then think of all the lost treasures
+that he could show us the way to. Upon my word,
+if Mephistopheles were to walk into this room just
+now, I think I should be tempted to make a bargain
+with him. Do you know, Djama, I believe I would
+give half the remainder of my own life, whatever
+that may be, to learn the secrets that were once
+locked up in that withered, desiccated brain of his.'</p>
+
+<p>The speaker was one of two men who were
+standing in a large room, half-study, half-museum,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span>
+in a big, old-fashioned house in Maida Vale.
+Wherever the science of arch&aelig;ology was studied,
+Professor Martin Lamson was known as the
+highest living authority on the subject of the
+antiquities of South America. He had just returned
+from a year's relic-hunting in Peru and
+Bolivia, and was enjoying the luxury of unpacking
+his treasures with the almost boyish delight
+which, under such circumstances, comes only to the
+true enthusiast. His companion was a somewhat
+slenderly-built man, of medium height, whose clear,
+olive skin, straight, black hair, and deep blue-black
+eyes betrayed a not very remote Eastern origin.</p>
+
+<p>Dr Laurens Djama was a physiologist, whose
+rapidly-acquired fame&mdash;he was barely thirty-two&mdash;would
+have been considered sounder by his
+professional brethren if it had not been, as they
+thought, impaired by excursions into by-ways of
+science which were believed to lead him perilously
+near to the borders of occultism. Five years before
+he had pulled the professor through a very bad
+attack of the calentura in Panama, where they
+met by the merest traveller's chance, and since
+then they had been fast friends.</p>
+
+<p>They were standing over a long packing-case,
+some seven feet in length and two and a-half in
+breadth, in which lay, at full length, wrapped in
+grave-clothes that had once been gaily coloured,
+but which were now faded and grey with the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span>
+grave-dust, the figure of a man with hands crossed
+over the breast, dead to all appearances, and yet
+so gruesomely lifelike that it seemed hard to believe
+that the broad, muscular chest over which
+the crossed hands lay was not actually heaving
+and falling with the breath of life.</p>
+
+<p>The face had been uncovered. It was that of
+a man still in the early prime of life. The dull
+brown hair was long and thick, the features somewhat
+aquiline, and stamped even in death with an
+almost royal dignity. The skin was of a pale
+bronze, though darkened by the hues of death.
+Yet every detail of the face was so perfect and so
+life-like that, as the professor had said, it seemed
+to be rather the face of a man in a deep sleep
+than that of an Inca prince who must have been
+dead and buried for over three hundred years.
+The closed eyes, though somewhat sunken in
+their sockets, were the eyes of sleep rather than
+of death, and the lids seemed to lie so lightly
+over them that it looked as though one awakening
+touch would raise them.</p>
+
+<p>'It is beyond all question the most perfect
+specimen of a mummy that I have seen,' said
+the doctor, stooping down and drawing his thin,
+nervous fingers very lightly over the dried skin
+of the right cheek. 'On my honour, I simply
+can't believe that His Highness, as you call him,
+ever really went to the other world by any of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span>
+orthodox routes. If you could imagine an absolute
+suspension of all the vital functions induced by the
+influence of something&mdash;some drug or hypnotic
+process unknown to modern science, brought into
+action on a human being in the very prime of his
+vital strength&mdash;then, so far as I can see, the results
+of that influence would be exactly what you see
+here.'</p>
+
+<p>'But surely that can't be anything but a dream.
+How could it be possible to bring all the vital
+functions to a dead stop like that, and yet keep
+them in such a state that it might be possible&mdash;for
+that's what I suppose you are driving at&mdash;to
+start them into activity again, just as one might
+wind up a clock that had been stopped for a few
+weeks and set it going?'</p>
+
+<p>'My dear fellow, the borderland between life
+and death is so utterly unknown to the very best
+of us that there is no telling what frightful possibilities
+there may be lying hidden under the
+shadows that hang over it. You know as well as
+I do that there are perfectly well authenticated
+instances on record of Hindoo Fakirs who have
+allowed themselves to be placed in a state of
+suspended animation and had their tongues turned
+back into their throats, their mouths and noses
+covered with clay, and have been buried in graves
+that have been filled up and had sentries watching
+day and night over them for as long a period as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span>
+six weeks, and then have been dug up and restored
+to perfect health and strength again in a few hours.
+Now, if life can be suspended for six weeks and
+then restored to an organism which, from all
+physiological standpoints, must be regarded as
+inanimate, why not for six years or six hundred
+years, for the matter of that? Given once the
+possibility, which we may assume as proved, of a
+restoration to life after total suspension of animation,
+then it only becomes a question of preservation
+of tissue for more or less indefinite periods.
+Granted that tissue can be so preserved, then,
+given the other possibility already proved, and&mdash;well,
+we will talk about the other possibility
+afterwards. Now, tell me, don't you, as an
+arch&aelig;ologist, see anything peculiar about this
+Inca prince of yours?'</p>
+
+<p>The professor had been looking keenly at his
+friend during the delivery of this curious physiological
+lecture. He seemed as though he were
+trying to read the thoughts that were chasing
+each other through his brain behind the impenetrable
+mask of that smooth, broad forehead
+of his. He looked into his eyes, but saw nothing
+there save a cold, steady light that he had often
+seen before when the doctor was discussing
+subjects that interested him deeply. As for his
+face, it was utterly impassive&mdash;the face of a
+dispassionate scientist quietly discussing the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span>
+possible solution of a problem that had been
+laid before him. Whether his friend was really
+driving at some unheard-of and unearthly solution
+of the problem which he himself had raised,
+or whether he was merely discussing the possible
+issue of some abstract question in physiology,
+he was utterly unable to discover, and so he
+thought it best to confine himself to the matter
+in hand, without hazarding any risky guesses
+that might possibly result in his own confusion.
+So he answered as quietly as he could:</p>
+
+<p>'Yes, I must confess that there are two perhaps
+very important points of difference between this
+and any other Peruvian mummy that I have
+ever seen or heard of.'</p>
+
+<p>'Ah, I thought so,' said Djama, half closing
+his eyes and allowing just the ghost of a smile
+to flit across his lips. 'I thought I knew enough
+about arch&aelig;ology and the science of mummies
+in general to expect you to say that. Now, just
+for the gratification of my own vanity, I should
+like to try and anticipate what you are going
+to say; and if I'm wrong, well, of course, I shall
+only be too happy to be contradicted.'</p>
+
+<p>'Very well,' laughed the professor; 'say on!'</p>
+
+<p>'Well, in the first place, I believe I'm right
+in saying that all Peruvian mummies that have
+so far been discovered have been found in a
+sitting posture, with the legs drawn close up to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span>
+the body by means of bindings and burial-clothes,
+so that the chin rested between the knees, while
+the arms were brought round the legs and folded
+over them. Then, again, these mummies have
+always been found in an upright position, while
+you found this one lying down.'</p>
+
+<p>'Quite so, quite so!' said the professor. 'In
+fact, I may say that no one save myself has
+ever discovered such a mummy as this among
+all the thousands that have been taken out of
+Peruvian burying-places. And now, what is
+your other point?'</p>
+
+<p>'Simply this,' said Djama, kneeling down
+beside the case, and laying his hands over the
+abdomen of the recumbent figure. 'In the case
+of all mummies, whether Egyptian or Peruvian,
+it was the invariable practice of the embalmers
+to take out the intestines and fill the abdominal
+cavity with preservative herbs and spices. Now,
+this has not been done in this case. Look here.'</p>
+
+<p>And deftly and swiftly he moved the dusty,
+half-decayed coverings from the body of the
+mummy, while the professor looked on half-wondering
+and half-frightened for the safety of
+his treasure.</p>
+
+<p>'That has not been done here. You see the
+man's body is as perfect as it was on the day
+he died&mdash;to use a conventional term. Now, am
+I not right?'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>'Yes, yes; perfectly right,' answered the professor,
+who felt himself fast losing his grip of
+the conversation which had taken so strange a
+turn. 'But what has all this got to do with
+the most unique mummy that ever was brought
+from South America? Surely, in the name of
+all that's sacred, you don't mean&mdash;'</p>
+
+<p>'My dear fellow, never mind what I mean for
+the present,' replied Djama, with another of his
+half smiles. 'If I mean anything at all, the meaning
+will keep, and if I don't it doesn't matter.
+Now, do you mind telling me exactly how and
+where you came across this extraordinary specimen
+of&mdash;well, for want of a better term&mdash;we will
+say, Inca embalming?'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes, willingly,' said the professor, glad to
+get back again on to the familiar ground of his
+own experiences. 'I found it almost by accident
+in a little valley about four days' ride to the
+westward of Cuzco. I was on my way to
+Abancay across the Apurimac. My mule had
+fallen lame, and so I got belated. Night came
+on, and somehow we got off the track crossing
+one of the Punas&mdash;those elevated tablelands, you
+know, up among the mountains&mdash;and when the
+mule could go no farther we camped, and the
+next morning I found myself in an almost
+circular valley, completely walled in by enormous
+mountains, save for the narrow, crooked gorge<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span>
+through which we had stumbled by the purest
+accident. The bottom of this valley was filled
+by a little lake, and while I was exploring the
+shores of this I saw, hidden underneath an overhanging
+ledge of rock, a couple of courses of that
+wonderful mortarless masonry which the Incas
+alone seemed to know how to build. I had
+no sooner seen it than all desire of getting to
+Abancay or anywhere else had left me. I made
+my arriero turn the animals loose for the day,
+and then I sent him back to a village we had
+passed through the day before to buy more
+provisions and bring them to me.</p>
+
+<p>'As soon as he had got out of sight I set to
+work to get some of the stones out and see what
+there was behind them. I knew there must be
+something, for the Incas never wasted labour. It
+was hard work, for the stones were fitted together
+as perfectly as the pieces of a Chinese puzzle; but
+at last I got one out and then the rest was easy.
+Behind the stones I found a little chamber hollowed
+out of the rock, perfectly clean and dry, and on the
+floor of this I found, without any other covering
+than what you see there, the mummy of His Highness
+lying on what had once been a bed of soft
+Vicu&ntilde;a skins, as perfect and as lifelike as though
+he had only crept in there twelve hours before,
+and had laid down for a good night's rest.</p>
+
+<p>'You may imagine how delighted I was at such<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span>
+a find. I hardly knew how to contain myself
+until my man came back. I put the stones back
+into their places as well as I could, and when
+Patricio returned the next day I had the animals
+saddled up, and started off in a hurry to Cuzco.
+There I had this case made, bought two extra
+mules, brought them to the valley, packed up
+my mummy, took it back to Cuzco, and from
+there to the railway terminus at Sicuani and
+took it down by train to Arequipa, where I left
+it in safe keeping until I had finished the rest of
+my exploration. Then I went back, took it
+down to Mollendo, got it on board the steamer,
+and here it is.'</p>
+
+<p>'And you didn't find any traces of other treasure-places,
+I suppose, in the valley?' said Djama, who
+had listened with the most perfect attention to
+the professor's story.</p>
+
+<p>'No, I didn't, though I must confess that one
+side of the cave in which I found this was walled
+up with the same kind of masonry as there was
+in front of it; but, to tell you the truth, the
+Peruvian Government has such insane ideas about
+treasure-hunting; and the life of a man who is
+believed to have discovered anything worth stealing
+is worth so little in the wilder districts of the
+interior, that I was afraid of losing the treasure
+I had got, perhaps for the sake of a few little
+gold ornaments which I might have dug out of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span>
+the hill, and so I decided to be content with what
+I'd found.'</p>
+
+<p>'H'm!' said the doctor. 'Well, you may have
+been wise under the circumstances; I daresay you
+were. But we can see about that afterwards.
+Meanwhile there is something else to be talked
+about.'</p>
+
+<p>He stopped suddenly, took a quick turn or two
+up and down the room, with his hands clasped
+behind him and his eyes fixed on the floor. Then
+he went to the door, opened it, looked out, shut
+it and locked it, and then came back again and
+sat down without a word in his chair, staring
+steadily at the impassive face of the mummy in
+the packing-case.</p>
+
+<p>'Why, what's the matter, doctor?' said the
+professor, a trifle sharply. 'You don't suppose I
+am afraid of anyone coming to steal my treasure,
+do you?'</p>
+
+<p>'My dear fellow,' said Djama, looking him
+straight in the eyes, and speaking very slowly,
+as though his mind was doing something else
+besides shaping the thoughts to which he was
+giving utterance, 'I don't for a moment suppose
+that there are thieves about, or that, if there were,
+any burglar with a competent knowledge of his
+profession would think of stealing your mummy,
+priceless as it may prove to be. I locked
+the door because I don't want to be interrupted.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span>
+I want to talk to you about a very important
+matter.'</p>
+
+<p>'And that is?'</p>
+
+<p>'Mephistopheles.'</p>
+
+<p>'<span class="smcap">What</span>?'</p>
+
+<p>'Gently, my friend, gently, don't get excited
+yet. You will want all your nerves soon, I can
+assure you. Yes, I am quite serious. You know
+that in the good old days, when people still believed
+in His Majesty of Darkness, such a speech
+as the one you remember making a short time ago
+was quite enough to call up one of his agents,
+armed with full powers to make contracts and
+do all necessary business.'</p>
+
+<p>'Look here, Laurens, if you go on talking like
+that, I shall begin to think you have gone out of
+your mind.'</p>
+
+<p>'My dear fellow, to be quite candid with you,
+I don't care two pins what you think on that subject.
+I have been called mad too many times for
+that. Now, suppose, just for argument's sake,
+that I were Mephistopheles, and staked my
+diabolic reputation on the statement that in that
+thing you possess a possible key to those lost
+treasures of the Incas, which ten generations of
+men have hunted for in vain, what kind of a
+bargain would you be inclined to make with me
+on the strength of it? Half the rest of your life,
+I think you said, and as that wouldn't be very<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span>
+much good to me, suppose we say the half of
+any treasures we may discover by the help of our
+silent friend there? Eh?&mdash;will that suit you?'</p>
+
+<p>'Are you really serious, Djama, or are you only
+dreaming another of these wild scientific dreams
+of yours?' exclaimed the professor, taking a couple
+of quick strides towards him. 'What connection
+can there possibly be between a mummy, about
+four centuries years old, and the lost treasures of
+the Incas?'</p>
+
+<p>'This man was an Inca, wasn't he?' said the
+doctor, abruptly, 'and one of the highest rank, too,
+from what you have said. He lived just about
+the time of the Conquest, didn't he&mdash;the time
+when the priests stripped their temples, and the
+nobles emptied their palaces of their treasures to
+save them from the Spaniards? Is it not likely
+that he would know where, at anyrate, a great part
+of them was buried? Nay, may he not even have
+known the localities of the lost mines that the
+Incas got their hundredweights of gold from, and
+of the emerald mines which no one has ever been
+able to find? Why, Lamson, if these dead lips
+could speak, I believe they could make you and
+me millionaires in an hour. And why shouldn't
+they speak?'</p>
+
+<p>'Don't talk like that, Djama, for Heaven's sake!
+It is too serious a thing to joke about,' said the
+professor, with a half-frightened glance in his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>
+set and shining eyes. 'I should have thought
+you, of all men, knew enough of the facts of life
+and death not to talk such nonsense as that.'</p>
+
+<p>'Nonsense!' said the physiologist, interrupting
+him almost angrily; 'may I not know enough of
+the facts of life and death, as you call them, to
+know that that is <i>not</i> nonsense? But there, it's
+no use arguing about things like this. Will you
+allow this mummy of yours to be made the
+subject of&mdash;well, we will say, an experiment in
+physiology?'</p>
+
+<p>'What! the finest and most unique huaca that
+was ever brought to Europe&mdash;'</p>
+
+<p>'It would only be made finer still by the experiment,
+even if it failed. I know what you are
+going to say, and I will give you my word of
+honour, and, if you like, I'll pledge you my
+professional reputation, that not a hair of its
+head shall be injured. Let me take it to my
+laboratory, and I promise you solemnly that in a
+week you shall have it back, not as it is now, but
+either the body of your Inca, as perfect as it was
+the day he died, or&mdash;'</p>
+
+<p>He stopped, and looked hard at his friend, as
+if wondering what the effects of his next words
+would be upon him.</p>
+
+<p>'Or what?' asked the professor, almost in a
+whisper.</p>
+
+<p>'Your Inca prince, roused from his three-<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>hundred-year
+sleep, and able to answer your
+questions and guide us to his lost mines and
+treasure houses.'</p>
+
+<p>'Are you in earnest, Djama?' the professor
+whispered, catching him by the arm and looking
+round at the mummy as though he half thought
+that the silent witness in the packing-case might
+be listening to the words which, if it could have
+heard, would have had such a terrible significance
+for it. 'Do you really mean to say in sober
+earnest that there is the remotest chance of your
+science being able to work such a miracle as that?'</p>
+
+<p>'A chance, yes,' replied Djama, steadily. 'It is
+not a certainty, of course, but I believe it to be
+possible. Will you let me try?'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes, you shall try,' answered the professor in a
+voice nothing like as steady as his. 'If any other
+man but you had even hinted at such a thing,
+I would have seen him&mdash;well, in a lunatic asylum
+first. But there, I will trust my Inca to you. It
+seems a fearful thing even to attempt, and yet,
+after all, if it fails there will be no harm done, and
+if it succeeds&mdash;ah, yes, if it succeeds&mdash;it will
+mean&mdash;'</p>
+
+<p>'Endless fame for you, my friend, as the recreator
+of a lost society, and for both of us wealth,
+perhaps beyond counting. But stop a moment&mdash;granted
+success, how shall we talk with our Inca
+<i>revenant</i>? Have I not heard you say that the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span>
+Aymaru dialect of the Quichua tongue is lost as
+completely as the Inca treasures?'</p>
+
+<p>'Not quite, though I believe I am now the only
+white man on earth who understands it.'</p>
+
+<p>'Good! then let me get to work at once, and in
+a week&mdash;well, in a week we shall see.'</p>
+
+
+<h3>II</h3>
+
+<h3>A PHYSIOLOGICAL EXPERIMENT</h3>
+
+<p>Laurens Djama dined with the professor that
+night, and the small hours were growing large
+before they ended the long talk of which their
+strange bargain, and the still stranger experiment
+which was to result from it, formed the subject.
+The next day the packing-case containing the
+mummy was transferred to Djama's laboratory,
+and then for a whole week neither the professor
+nor any of his friends or acquaintances had either
+sight or speech of him.</p>
+
+<p>Every caller at his house in Brondesbury Park
+was politely but firmly denied admittance on professional
+grounds, and three letters and two telegrams
+which the professor had sent to him, after being
+himself denied admittance, remained unanswered.</p>
+
+<p>At last, on the Thursday following the Friday
+on which the mummy had been sent to the
+laboratory, the professor received a telegram<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>
+telling him to come at once to the doctor. Three
+minutes after he had read it he was in a hansom
+and on his way to Kilburn, wondering what it
+was that he was to be brought face to face with
+during the next half hour.</p>
+
+<p>This time there was no denial. The door
+opened as he went up the steps, and the servant
+handed him a note. He tore it open and read,&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>'<i>Come round to the laboratory and make a new
+acquaintance who will yet be an old one.</i>'</p></div>
+
+<p>His heart stood still, and he caught his breath
+sharply as he read the words which told him that
+the unearthly experiment for which he had furnished
+the subject had been successful.</p>
+
+<p>The doctor's laboratory stood apart from the
+house in the long, narrow garden at the back, and
+as he approached the door he stopped for a
+moment, and an almost irresistible impulse to
+go away and have nothing more to do with the
+unholy work in hand took possession of him.
+Then the love of his science and the longing to
+hear the marvels which could only be heard from
+the lips that had been silent for centuries overcame
+his fears, and he went up to the door
+and knocked softly.</p>
+
+<p>It was opened by a haggard, wild-eyed man,
+whom he scarcely recognised as his old friend.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span>
+Djama did not speak; he simply caught hold of
+the sleeve of his coat with a nervous, trembling
+grasp, drew him in, shut the door, and led him
+to a corner of the room where there was a little
+camp bed, curtained all round with thin, transparent
+muslin, through which he could see the
+shape of a man lying under the sheets.</p>
+
+<p>Djama pulled the curtain aside, and said in a
+hoarse whisper,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Look, it has been hard work, and terrible
+work, too, but I have succeeded. Do you see, he
+is breathing!'</p>
+
+<p>The professor stared wide-eyed at the white
+pillow on which lay the head of what, a week
+before, had been his mummy. Now it was the
+head of a living man; the pale bronze of the skin
+was clear and moist with the dew of life; the lips
+were no longer brown and dry, but faintly red and
+slightly parted, and the counterpane, which was
+pulled close up under the chin, was slowly rising
+and falling with the regular rhythm of a sleeper's
+breathing. He looked from the face of him who
+had been dead and was alive again to the face of
+the man whose daring science and perfect skill
+had wrought the unholy miracle, and then he
+shrank back from the bedside, pulling Djama
+with him, and whispering,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Good God, it is even more awful than it is
+wonderful! How did you do it?'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>'That is my secret,' whispered Djama, his dry
+lips shaping themselves into a ghastly smile, 'and
+for all the treasures that that man ever saw, I
+wouldn't tell it to a living soul, or do such hideous
+work again. I tell you I have seen life and death
+fighting together for two days and nights in this
+room&mdash;not, mind you, as they fight on a deathbed,
+but the other way, and I would rather see a
+thousand men die than one more come back out,
+of death into life. You see, he is sleeping now.
+He opened his eyes just before daybreak this
+morning&mdash;that's nearly ten hours ago&mdash;but if I
+lived ten thousand years I should never forget that
+one look he gave me before he shut them again.
+Since then he has slept, and I stood by that
+bed testing his pulse and his breathing for eight
+hours before I wired you. Then I knew he
+would live, and so I sent for you.'</p>
+
+<p>The professor looked at his friend with an
+involuntary and unconquerable aversion rising in
+his heart against him; an aversion that was half
+fear, half horror, and then he remembered that he
+himself had a share in the fearful work which had
+been done&mdash;a work that could not now be undone
+without murder.</p>
+
+<p>With another backward look at the bed, he
+said, in a whisper that was almost a smothered
+groan,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'When will he wake?'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Before Djama could reply, the question was
+answered by a faint rustle, and a low, long-drawn
+sigh from the bed. They looked and
+saw the Inca's face turned towards them, and
+two fever-bright eyes shining through the curtains.</p>
+
+<p>'He is awake already, two hours sooner than
+I expected,' said Djama, in a voice that he
+strove vainly to keep steady. 'Come, now, you
+are the only man on earth who can talk to
+him. Let us see if he has come back to
+reason as well as to life.'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes, I will try,' said the professor, faintly.
+He took a couple of trembling steps. Then
+the lights in the room began to dance, the
+whitewashed walls reeled round him, and he
+pitched forward and fell unconscious by the
+side of the bed.</p>
+
+<p>When he came to himself he was lying on
+the floor of the laboratory, out of sight of the
+bed, behind a great cupboard, glass-doored and
+filled with bottles. Djama was kneeling beside
+him. A strong smell of ammonia dominated
+the other smells peculiar to a laboratory, and
+his brow was wet with the spirit that Djama
+was gently rubbing on it with his hand.</p>
+
+<p>'What have I been doing?' he said, as, with
+the other's assistance, he got up into a sitting
+position and looked stupidly about him. 'It
+isn't true, that is it, I really saw&mdash;Good God<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>
+no, it can't be; it's too horrible. I must have
+dreamt it.'</p>
+
+<p>'Nonsense, my dear fellow, nonsense! I should
+have thought you would have had better nerves
+than that. Come, take a nip of this, and pull
+yourself together. There is nothing so very
+horrible about it for you. Now, if you had had
+the actual work to do&mdash;'</p>
+
+<p>'Then it <i>is</i> true! You really have brought
+him back to life again? That was him I
+saw lying on the bed?' He looked up at
+Djama as he spoke with a half-inquiring, half-frightened
+glance. His voice was weak and
+unsteady, like the voice of a man who has been
+stunned by some terrible shock, and is still
+dazed with the fear and wonder of it.</p>
+
+<p>'Yes, of course it was,' said Djama; 'but I
+can tell you, I should have hesitated before I
+introduced you so suddenly, if I hadn't thought
+that the nerves of an old traveller like you
+would have been a good deal stronger than
+they seem to be. It's a very good job that
+His Highness was only about half conscious
+himself when you collapsed, or you might have
+given him a shock that would have killed him
+again.'</p>
+
+<p>'Again?' said the professor, echoing the last
+word as he got up slowly to his feet. 'That
+sounds queer, doesn't it, to talk of killing a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>
+man <i>again</i>? I am more sorry than I can say
+that I was weak enough to let my feelings
+overcome me in such a ridiculous fashion. However,
+I am all right now. Give me another
+drain of that brandy of yours, and then let us
+talk. Is he still awake?'</p>
+
+<p>'No, he dozed off again almost immediately,
+and you have been here about ten minutes or
+a quarter of an hour. Do you think you can
+stand another look at him?'</p>
+
+<p>'Oh, certainly,' said the professor, who, as a
+matter of fact, felt a trifle ashamed of himself
+and his weakness, and was anxious to do
+something that would restore his credit. He
+followed the doctor out into the laboratory
+again, and stood with him for some moments
+without speaking by the Inca's bedside. He
+was sleeping very quietly, and his breathing
+seemed to be stronger and deeper than it had
+been. He had slightly shifted his position, and
+was lying now half turned on his right side,
+with his right cheek on the pillow.</p>
+
+<p>'You see he has moved,' whispered Djama.
+'That shows that muscular control has been
+re-established. We shall have him walking
+about in a day or so. Ah! he is dreaming,
+and of something pleasant, too. Look at his
+lips moving into a smile. Poor fellow, just
+fancy a man dreaming of things that happened<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>
+three hundred years ago, and waking up to
+find himself in another world. I'll be bound
+he is dreaming about his wife or sweetheart,
+and we shall have to tell him, or rather you
+will, that she has been a mummy for three
+centuries. Look now, his lips are moving; I
+believe he is going to say something. See if
+you can hear what it is?'</p>
+
+<p>The professor stooped down and held his ear
+so close that he could feel on his cheek the
+gentle fanning of the breath that had been
+still for three centuries. Then the Inca's lips
+moved again, and a soft sighing sound came
+from them, and in the midst of it he caught
+the words,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'<i>Cori-Coyllur, Nustallipa, &Ntilde;usta mi!</i>'</p>
+
+<p>Then there came a long, gentle sigh. The
+Inca's lips became still again, shaped into
+a very sweet and almost womanly smile, as
+though his vision had passed and left him in
+a happy, dreamless slumber.</p>
+
+<p>'What did he say?' whispered Djama. 'Were
+you able to understand it?'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes,' said the professor, 'yes, and you were
+right about the subject of his dream. Come away,
+in case we wake him, and I will tell you.'</p>
+
+<p>They went to the other end of the laboratory,
+and the professor went on, still speaking in a low,
+half-whisper,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Poor fellow, I am afraid we have incurred a
+terribly heavy debt to him. What he said meant,
+"Golden Star, my princess, my darling!" So you
+see you were right, but poor Golden Star has been
+dead three hundred years and more&mdash;that is, at
+least, if his Golden Star is the same as the heroine
+of the tradition.'</p>
+
+<p>'What tradition?' asked Djama.</p>
+
+<p>'It's too long a story to tell you now, but if she
+is the same, then our Inca's name is Vilcaroya,
+and he is the hero of the strangest story, and,
+thanks to you, the strangest fate that the wildest
+romancer could imagine. However, the story
+must keep, for I wouldn't spoil it by cutting it
+short. The principal question now is&mdash;what are
+we going to do with him? We can't keep him
+here, of course?'</p>
+
+<p>'No, certainly not,' replied Djama, with knitted
+brows and faintly smiling lips. 'His Highness
+must be cared for in accordance with his rank and
+our expectations. I shall have him taken into the
+house and properly nursed.'</p>
+
+<p>'But what about your sister? You will frighten
+her to death if you take in a living patient that
+has been dead for three hundred years.'</p>
+
+<p>'Not if we manage it properly; there will be no
+need to tell Ruth the story yet, at anyrate. I'll
+tell her that I am going to receive a patient who
+is suffering from a mysterious disease unknown<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>
+to medical science. I'll say I picked him up in
+the Oriental Home in Whitechapel, and have
+brought him here to study him, and you and
+I must smuggle him into the house and put
+him to bed some time when she is out of the way.
+Then I'll instal her as nurse; in fact, she will do
+that for herself; and as there is no chance of her
+learning anything from him, we can break the
+truth to her by degrees, and when His Highness
+is well enough to travel we'll all be off to Peru
+and come back millionaires, if you can only persuade
+him to tell you the secret of his treasure-houses.'</p>
+
+<p>That night the doctor and the professor took
+turns in watching by the bedside of their strange
+patient, whose slumber became lighter and lighter
+until, towards midnight, he got so restless and
+apparently uneasy that Djama considered that
+the time had come to wake him and see if he
+was able to take any nourishment. So he set
+the professor to work, warming some chicken
+broth over a spirit lamp, and mixing a little
+champagne and soda-water in one glass and
+brandy and water in another. Meanwhile, he
+filled a hypodermic syringe with colourless fluid
+out of a little stoppered bottle, and then turned
+the sheet down and injected the contents of the
+syringe under the smooth, bronze skin of the
+Inca's shoulder. He moved slightly at the prick<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>
+of the needle, then he drew two or three deep
+breaths, and suddenly sat up in bed and stared
+about him with wide open eyes, full, as they well
+might be, of inquiring wonder.</p>
+
+<p>The professor, who had turned at the sound of
+the hurried breathing, saw him as he raised himself,
+and heard him say in the clear and somewhat
+high-pitched tone of a dweller among the
+mountains,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Has the morning dawned again for the
+Children of the Sun? Am I truly awake, or
+am I only dreaming that the death-sleep is over?
+Where is Golden Star, and where am I? Tell
+me&mdash;you who have doubtless brought me back to
+the life we forsook together&mdash;was it last night
+or how many nights or moons ago?'</p>
+
+<p>The words came slowly at first, like those of
+a man still on the borderland between sleep and
+waking; but each one was spoken more clearly
+and decisively than the one before it, and the last
+sentence was uttered in the strong, steady tones
+of a man in full possession of his faculties.</p>
+
+<p>'Come here, Lamson,' said Djama, a trifle
+nervously; 'bring the soup with you, and some
+brandy, though I don't think he needs it. Do
+you understand what he said?'</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 392px;">
+<a name="Illustration_Am_I_only_dreaming" id="Illustration_Am_I_only_dreaming"><img src="images/illus2.jpg" width="392" height="600" alt="&quot;Am I only dreaming that the death-sleep is over?&quot; " title="&quot;Am I only dreaming that the death-sleep is over?&quot; " />
+<span class="caption">&quot;Am I only dreaming that the death-sleep is over?&quot; </span>
+</a></div>
+
+<p>'Yes,' replied the professor, coming to the bedside
+with a cup of soup in one hand and a glass
+of brandy and water in the ether. Both hands<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span>
+trembled as he set the cup and the glass down on
+a little table. He looked at the Inca like a man
+looking at a re-embodied spirit, and said to him
+in Quichua,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'I am not he who has brought you back to life,
+but my friend here, who is a great and skilled
+physician, and master of the arts of life and death.
+You are in his house, and safe, for we are friends,
+and have nursed you back to health and waking
+life after your long sleep.'</p>
+
+<p>'But Golden Star,' said the Inca, interrupting
+him with a flash of impatience in his eyes.
+'Where is she&mdash;my bride who went with me
+into the shades of death? Have you not brought
+her, too, back to life?'</p>
+
+<p>The professor stared in silence at the strange
+speaker of these strange words, which told him
+so plainly that the old legend of the death-bridal
+of Vilcaroya-Inca and Golden Star was now no
+legend at all, but a true story which had come
+down almost unchanged from generation to
+generation. Then an infinite pity filled his
+heart for this lonely wanderer from another
+age, whose friends and kindred had been dead
+for centuries, and whose very nation was now
+only a shadowy name on a half-forgotten page
+of history.</p>
+
+<p>'What does he say?' said Djama, breaking in
+upon his reverie. 'I suppose he wants to know<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>
+where he is, and what has become of that sweetheart
+of his he was dreaming about?'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes,' replied the professor; 'but you won't
+understand properly until I have told you the
+story. Poor fellow! I suppose we shall have to
+tell him the ghastly truth. Good Heavens! fancy
+telling a man that his wife has been dead for
+three hundred years or more! Look here, Djama,
+this business can't stop here, you know. What
+a fool I was, after all, not to see if there wasn't
+another chamber beside the one I found him in!
+Of course there must be, and I have no doubt she
+is lying there at this present moment. We shall
+have to go and find her, and you must restore
+her as you have done him. Phew! where is it
+all going to end, I wonder!'</p>
+
+<p>'And suppose we can't find her, or suppose I
+fail, even if I can bring myself to undertake that
+horrible work all over again?' said Djama, looking
+almost fearfully at the Inca, who was still sitting
+up in the bed glancing mutely from one to the
+other, as though waiting for an answer to his
+question. Then, keeping his voice as steady as
+he could, the professor told him the story of his
+resuscitation, addressing him by his own name
+and ending by asking him if he remembered
+when he and Golden Star had devoted themselves
+to die together, as the tradition said they
+had done.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>'Yes, I remember!' said Vilcaroya, with
+brightening eyes and faintly flushing cheeks.
+'How could I forget it? It was when the
+bearded strangers from the north had come
+and taken the usurper Atahuallpa prisoner in
+the midst of his conquering host at Cajamarca.
+It was after the Inca Huascar had been slain
+by stealth with a traitor's knife. It was on the
+night of the feast of Raymi, when our Father the
+Sun had left the Sacred Fleece unkindled, and
+when was fulfilled the prophecy that the night
+should fall over the land of the Children of the
+Sun. Now, tell me, you who speak the language
+of my people, how long have I been sleeping?'</p>
+
+<p>Instead of replying directly, he offered the Inca
+the cup of broth, and asked him first to take the
+nourishment that he must need so greatly after
+his long fast, telling him that it was needful to
+prevent him losing his new-found strength again.
+When he had eaten and drunk a little, then he
+would tell him what he could.</p>
+
+<p>He took the broth and a little bread obediently,
+and while he was eating and drinking, the professor
+translated what he had said to the doctor.
+When he had finished, Djama looked at the Inca,
+sitting there taking food and drink like any other
+human being, and with evident relish, too, and
+said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'That happened in 1532&mdash;three hundred and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>
+sixty-five years ago! It sounds utterly incredible,
+doesn't it, and yet there he is, eating and drinking
+and talking with us just like any other man. I
+can hardly believe the work of my own hands,
+and I am beginning to half wish I had never
+begun it. Just imagine the awful loneliness to
+which we shall have condemned this poor fellow,
+supposing we can't find his Golden Star and restore
+her to him! Still perhaps you had better
+tell him the truth at once. I think he can stand
+it. He has been a long time coming round, but
+I don't think there is much the matter with him
+now.'</p>
+
+<p>Then the professor told Vilcaroya the, to him,
+so terrible truth, that of all men in the world he
+was the most lonely, separated as he was from
+all that he had known and loved by an impassable
+gulf of nearly four long centuries&mdash;that his well-loved
+Golden Star was but a memory known to
+few, a name in a vague tradition; that the resting-place,
+even of her mummy, was unknown, and
+that all that the darkest prophecy could have
+foretold had in very truth fallen upon the land
+of the Incas and the Children of the Sun.</p>
+
+<p>Vilcaroya heard him to the end in silence; then,
+raising his hands to his forehead, he bowed his
+head and said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'It is the will of our Father, foretold by the
+lips of his priests, but other things were foretold<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>
+which shall be fulfilled as well as these. Golden
+Star is not dead; she only sleeps as I did. If I
+have awakened, why shall not she? I know where
+she lies&mdash;where Anda-Huillac swore to me they
+would lay her. Come, let us go! I will take you
+to the place, and you shall restore her to me, warm
+and living and loving as she was when I kissed
+her good-bye in the Sanctuary of the Sun, and
+I will give you treasures of gold and silver and
+jewels such as you have never dreamed of in
+exchange for her.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+<h2>THE STORY OF VILCAROYA</h2>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER I</h3>
+
+<h3>BACK THROUGH THE SHADOWS</h3>
+
+
+<p>As the time passes between dreaming and waking,
+so for me did the long years pass, flowing like a
+smooth and silent stream seen from afar, out of
+the darkness that fell so slowly and so sweetly over
+my eyes that night when I sank into the death-trance
+beside Golden Star, my beloved, in the
+bridal chamber that they made for us in the
+Temple of the Sun, into the light that shone
+into them when they opened upon a scene so
+different, and saw a white, haggard face bending
+over me, and two black, burning eyes looking
+into them.</p>
+
+<p>Then I closed them again and slept, and when I
+woke again there were two faces looking at me,
+both white and full of fear and wonder, and I saw
+two beings who seemed very strange to me, such
+as I had never seen among the Children of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>
+Sun, standing by the couch on which I lay, and
+one of them fell down as though sore stricken,
+and I tried to think what this could mean, and,
+thinking, fell asleep again.</p>
+
+<p>Then I dreamt a long, sweet dream of the days
+that I now know were far past, when I, Vilcaroya,
+son of the great Huayna-Capac, lived in the Land
+of the Four Regions, a prince among princes, a
+warrior and a child of the Sacred Race, whose
+blood had flowed unmixed through many generations
+from the divine fountain of life and light, our
+Father the Sun. I dreamt of Golden Star, and the
+days when I loved her in timid silence, for she was
+the fairest of all our race, and so, as it seemed to
+me, destined to no less a lot than the motherhood
+of a long line of Incas, in whom should live and
+grow to ever greater splendour the glories of the
+race that owned no earthly origin.</p>
+
+<p>I called her in my dream, but she made no
+answer. I saw her lying by my side in that well-remembered
+chamber, with the shadowy forms of
+the priests standing about us as I had seen them
+long before; but, alas! she lay still with closed eyes
+and lips which seemed to have forgotten how
+sweetly they once could smile. I whispered her
+name, mingled with many a loving word, into her
+ear, and still she moved not. I put my arms about
+her and kissed her, and instantly I shrank back
+shivering with a fear unspeakable, for the form<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>
+that should have been so warm and soft and
+yielding, was chilled and pulseless and rigid, as
+though some foul magic had changed it into stone,
+and the lips that should have given me back kiss
+for kiss were still and cold and senseless.</p>
+
+<p>Then I saw, as it seemed with half-closed eyes,
+that dear shape of hers being borne away from me,
+while I, longing to snatch her from the hands of
+those who were robbing me of her, yet lay helpless
+on the couch, without strength to move or speak,
+until all grew dim around me, and I felt myself
+raised by invisible hands, and borne far away
+through the darkness&mdash;and so my dream melted
+away into the night of sleep.</p>
+
+<p>Then, yet again, I woke and saw the two strange
+men that I had seen before, and one came and
+spoke to me kindly in my own tongue, and called
+me by my own name, and gave me food and drink,
+and told me in a few, but to me terrible, words
+that the dreams I had dreamed were dreams
+indeed&mdash;dreams of a time that was long gone by,
+of things that had passed away, perchance for
+ever, and men and women whose names were only
+memories.</p>
+
+<p>Thus did I come from the evening of one age
+into the morning of another, falling asleep in the
+prime of my strength and manhood, and waking
+again even as I had fallen asleep&mdash;though those
+who had closed my eyes had been dead for many<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>
+generations, and the name of our ancient race was
+but a bitter memory to the sons and daughters of
+my own land amidst the mountains.</p>
+
+<p>Then I went forth into the wondrous new world
+into which I had awakened, the world which you
+who read this hold so common, and which I found
+crowded with wonders so many and marvellous
+that if it had not been for the loving care of her
+who guided my first footsteps on my new journey,
+as she might have guided those of a little child,
+my re-awakening reason must soon have been
+quenched in the night of madness.</p>
+
+<p>Many and strange as were the things that
+happened to me during the first days and
+months of my awakening, there is little need that
+I should now write of them at any length. Yet
+something I must say of them in order that the
+still stranger things of which I shall have to tell
+may be the better understood.</p>
+
+<p>And first I must tell of her whose gentle
+hand led me from weakness to strength, and
+guided my unwonted footsteps through the
+mazes of that new wonderland in which I had
+awakened, and from whose lips I learnt the
+first words that I spoke of the strong and
+stately English speech in which I am striving
+so lamely and imperfectly to write down the
+story of my new life.</p>
+
+<p>This was Ruth, the sister of Djama, whose<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>
+smile was the first ray of sunshine that shone
+into my second life, and whose laugh was so
+sweet and gladsome, that when it first sounded
+in my ears, like an echo from the dear dead
+past, I named her forthwith Cusi-Coyllur, which
+in English means Joyful Star&mdash;after that royal
+maiden of my own race who loved the handsome
+rebel Ollantay, and, refusing all others,
+waited for him in the House of the Virgins
+of the Sun until he came in triumph to claim
+her. She came with us to the south, rejecting
+all contrary counsel and braving the labours of
+the long, toilsome journey, so that she might be
+the first woman to welcome Golden Star back
+into the world of life.</p>
+
+<p>Yet what words can I find in this new speech
+that I have yet but half learnt to tell fitly of
+her beauty and sweet graciousness, and of all
+the magic which made her seem in my eyes
+like an angel that had come down from the
+Mansions of the Sun to greet me in a world in
+which I was a stranger? Better that you who
+may read what I write should learn to know her
+for yourself through the sweetness and grace of her
+own words and deeds, as I shall strive, however
+unworthily, to tell of them. So, then, let it be.</p>
+
+<p>But there is another of whom I must say
+something before I go on to tell of my return
+to my own land&mdash;now, alas! mine no longer&mdash;and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span>
+that is Francis Hartness, a captain among the
+warriors of the English, and a friend of him who
+was called the professor, because of his learning&mdash;he
+who had helped Djama to bring me back
+into the world of living men.</p>
+
+<p>He was a man of about thirty years, tall of
+stature and strong of limb, brief of speech and
+straight of tongue, with eyes as blue as the
+skies which shine on Yucay, and hair and beard
+golden and bright as the rays which flow from
+the smile of our Father the Sun. Him we met
+by chance one evening in the square of the town
+which is called Panama, named, they told me,
+after that older city, whence the conquerors of
+my people sailed to ravish the realms of Huayna-Capac.
+There was peace in his own land and
+all the neighbouring countries, and so he was
+journeying to the region which is now called
+South America, where the descendants of the
+Spaniards are nearly always fighting among
+themselves over the spoils of my people, to see
+what work he could find to keep his sword from
+rusting.</p>
+
+<p>As he was greatly skilled in that strange, new
+warfare of flame and thunder and far-smiting
+bolts, which had but begun to be when our
+Father the Sun hid his face from the eyes of
+his children, I took counsel with Joyful Star&mdash;who
+was ever my wisest as well as my most<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>
+faithful guide in all things&mdash;and we together
+told him my story as we went south, and after
+that I had asked him if he would help me in
+the task which I was going to essay, which was
+nothing less than the taking back of the land
+of my fathers, and the raising of the children
+of my people to the ancient glories of that state
+which I alone of living men remembered. To
+this, after some shrewd questioning, he consented&mdash;for
+it was a desperate venture, such as his brave
+heart loved&mdash;and when he had given me his hand
+on it, and promised, after the simple fashion of
+his nation, to be true to me in peace and war,
+I told him of the means that I could employ
+to gain my end, and how I would use that lust
+of gold which had led to the ruin of my people,
+so that it should conquer the children of their
+conquerors and give me back the empire that
+had been my father's.</p>
+
+<p>At Panama we took ship again and travelled
+swiftly and straightly south, driven by that
+wondrous power which had come into the world
+to serve men like a tireless giant since I had
+fallen asleep; and day after day on the southward
+voyage I walked alone up and down the deck,
+or stood gazing, rapt in thought, at the desert
+foreshore along which the steamer was running,
+and at the great masses of the dark brown
+barren mountains, as they towered range beyond<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span>
+range till they overtopped the clouds themselves
+and stood serene and sharply outlined against
+the blue background of the upper sky.</p>
+
+<p>Behind those mighty, rock-built ramparts lay
+the well-loved, well-remembered land over which
+my fathers had ruled in the days of peace, before
+the stranger and the oppressor had come. On
+the other side of them I knew that I was now
+fated to find only the poor fragments of the
+great cities and stately pleasure-houses that I
+had known in all their strength and beauty&mdash;only
+the silent and deserted ruins of the mighty
+fortresses which had guarded the confines of
+our lost empire, and were the portals through
+which the Children of the Sun had marched
+to unvarying conquest.</p>
+
+<p>I thought, too, of the broad, green, level plain
+of Cajamarca, surrounded by its guardian ramparts
+of terraced hills; of the long, verdant valley
+of Cuzco with its hundred towns and villages
+nestling amidst the foliage which shaded their
+streets and squares, and looking out over the
+level fields of the valley and the countless tiers
+of terraces that rose green and gold with maize,
+or glowing with flowers, to the summits of the
+hills; and of that earthly paradise of Yucay,
+wherein the Gardens of the Sun, the golden
+shrines of my ancient faith, and the wondrous
+pleasure-palaces of many generations of Incas had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>
+glowed in almost heavenly beauty, embosomed in
+green and gold and scarlet in the midst of inaccessible
+mountains which themselves were overtopped
+by the mighty peaks of eternal snow
+that I had so often seen glimmering white and
+ghostly in the moonlight, like guardian spirits
+round an enchanted realm, on many a night of
+delicious revelry now far past and lost in the
+swift flood of the years that had rolled by since
+then.</p>
+
+<p>It was to the poor remnants of all these glories
+that I was returning&mdash;returning to find, as they
+had told me, the homes of my ancestors laid waste
+and the descendants of my people the slaves of
+strangers. The desolation which it had taken
+centuries to accomplish would be to me but
+the swift, magical change of a day and a night
+and a morning.</p>
+
+<p>Think, you who read, of the dread and the
+horror of it! I had seen the last day of the stately
+empire of my fathers the Incas! I had fallen
+asleep and I had awakened, and now, on the
+morrow of my sleep, I was coming back to the
+silent and ghastly ruins which the slow, pitiless
+work of the years and centuries had left behind it!</p>
+
+<p>But over the gulf of these same centuries the
+hand of my Father the Sun was swiftly stretched
+out to help and uphold me, for no sooner did I
+again tread that soil which had once been sacred<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>
+to Him, than my fainting heart grew strong with
+the memory of that ancient prophecy which I had
+come to fulfil, and of which this new life of mine
+was of itself a part fulfilment. If one part, and
+that not the least, had already been made good,
+then why not the rest?</p>
+
+<p>Far away behind those towering tiers of
+mountains lay Golden Star in that resting-place
+to which she had been borne with me, sleeping
+soundly in the impassive embrace of their mighty
+arms; and within the safe-keeping of those arms
+lay, too, that uncounted treasure, that vast legacy
+which the long-dead leaders of my people had
+bequeathed to me for the sacred purpose of restoring
+those glories which all men, save myself,
+believed to be but a dream of the distant past,
+that incomparable inheritance of which I was the
+sole lawful heir on earth, and which I was coming
+to share with Golden Star when I had once more
+raised the Rainbow Banner above the restored
+throne of the divine Manco.</p>
+
+<p>As I thought of all this, the blood that had
+lain stagnant through the long years of my
+magical death-sleep began to pulse like living
+fire through my veins. My new life with all its
+marvels became glorified into a waking vision of
+new conquests and re-won empire. The past
+was a dream both sweet and bitter in its vivid
+memories, but still a dream that had been dreamt<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span>
+and was done with. The present and the future
+were realities, golden and glorious with a hope
+justified by the miracle that had made them
+possible. I had learnt enough of the new age in
+which I had awakened to know that the lust of
+gold which had brought the conqueror and the
+oppressor into the land of the Children of the
+Sun burnt every whit as fiercely in the hearts of
+the men who were living now as it had done in
+theirs, and that lust, as I had told Hartness and
+the others, should now work for me and for the
+redemption of my people so that that which had
+been their ruin should yet prove their salvation.</p>
+
+<p>Thus, through the long sunny days and cool,
+starlit nights did I, Vilcaroya, last of the Incas,
+muse and dream until I once more stood in the
+Land of the Four Regions, hale and strong, and
+burning with the ardour of my sacred mission,
+ready to dare and do all things, and to use without
+ruth or scruple that dread power which would
+so soon lie within my hands to fulfil my oath and
+Golden Star's, and to accomplish the work that I
+had come through the shadows of death to do.</p>
+
+<p>So I came back to the shores of that well-loved
+land of mine which, by the reckoning of the new
+time into which I had come, had been for more
+than three hundred years the sport and prey of
+the generations of strangers and oppressors who
+had followed those first conquerors of the Children<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>
+of the Sun, whose coming had sounded the hour
+of doom and ruin through the length and breadth
+of that glorious land of green plains and verdant
+valleys, of terraced hills and towering mountains,
+which had once been our empire and our home.</p>
+
+<p>From the mean coast town of wooden houses
+where the railway begins we travelled ever upward
+over great, grey, sloping deserts, and by rugged
+ravines with steep, broken walls of red earth
+and ragged rock; through range after range of
+mountains that were all strange and hateful to
+me, until we swung round the shoulder of a great
+crag-crowned mountain, and I saw across a vast
+plain, into which range after range of lesser hills
+sloped down, the crystal-white peaks of the snow-mountains
+towering far beyond the clouds into the
+blue sky above them.</p>
+
+<p>Then I knew that I was coming nearer to the
+land that had once been mine, and ere many hours
+had passed we stopped in a great city which still
+bore its old name of Arequipa, the Place of Rest,
+which my own ancestors had given to it. It was
+no longer the place of palaces and pleasure-houses,
+of flowery gardens and leafy woods that I had
+seen it, but above it still gleamed the white snow-fields
+and shining peaks of Charchani and Pichu-Pichu,
+and between the two great white ranges
+still towered the vast, black, snow-crowned cone
+of Misti, the smoke-mountain, rising sheer in its<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span>
+lonely grandeur twelve thousand feet above the
+sloping plain on which the city lay.</p>
+
+<p>As I looked at it again for the first time after so
+many years, I asked the professor, as we all called
+him, if, since I had been asleep, the mountain had
+been rent asunder again as it had been in the
+olden times, long before the Spaniards came to
+seek gold and blood in the Land of the Four
+Regions. He was very learned in such matters,
+even as Djama, his friend, was learned in secrets
+of life and death, and when he told me that the
+fires within it had slept for more years than men
+could remember, I was glad. Yet I said nothing
+of my inward joy, for had I told them all that I
+knew about the valley of black sand and yellow
+rock that was hidden behind the far-off wall of
+snow which shone so whitely against the blue of
+the midway heaven, it might have been many a
+long day before we had again set out on our
+journey towards the place that was the goal at
+once of my hopes and fears.</p>
+
+<p>We stayed seven days in Arequipa, making our
+last preparations for the work that lay before us
+and then we went on again by train to Sicuani, in
+the valley of the Vilca&ntilde;ota. Then from Sicuani
+we journeyed on by road, riding on mules through
+a land that was lovely even in my eyes, though its
+loveliness was to me only the beauty of ruin and
+decay, for this was the heart and centre of that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>
+vanished empire whose glories no living eyes but
+mine had ever seen.</p>
+
+<p>I saw wildernesses where there had been gardens,
+and gaunt, treeless mountains lying bare to the glare
+of the sun. Lakes that had shone encircled with
+gardens now spread out dull and stagnant over
+the neglected fields. A few ragged fragments of
+grey clay walls still rose from the green plain of
+Cacha, where I had last seen, in all its glory of gold
+and rainbow colours, the holy Temple of Viracocha;
+and the great guardian fortress of Piquillacta, which
+I had seen stretching its impregnable length and
+rearing its unscalable height from mountain to
+mountain across the entrance to the once lovely
+valley of Cuzco, lay, a huge ragged mass of towering
+ruins, splendid even in decay.</p>
+
+<p>As we passed through the one half-choked
+portal that still lay open, I thought, with heavy
+heart and bowed-down head, of the great fortress
+as I had seen it in the glory of its pride and
+strength, of the gallant warriors that had defended
+it, and the gay processions that I had
+seen winding in and out of its stately gates,
+making its hoary walls ring with songs and
+laughter, and, farther on, as we rode along the
+valley on that sad and yet eager three days'
+march of ours, I saw, on the hill-spurs about
+me, the black and ragged ruins of the fair cities
+and stately temples and palaces that I had seen<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>
+crowded with happy throngs, bright with gold
+and colours, and so fair and strong that no man
+could have dreamed of the ruin the oppressor
+had brought upon them.</p>
+
+<p>And so, journeying amidst all these sad
+memories through a land which, for me, was
+peopled with the ghosts of my long-dead friends
+and kindred, we came out at length on the
+broad, green Plain of the Oracle, and there
+before me, still nestling under her guardian hills,
+lay, glimmering white and grey under the slanting
+sun-rays, all that was left of what had once
+been Cuzco, the City of the Sun and the home
+of his children. Then, as I lifted my eyes and
+gazed upon it through the rising mist of my
+tears, I bowed my bared head towards it and
+swore, in the sadness and silence of my desolate
+heart, that, to the full extent of the power which
+I believed was soon to be mine, I would take
+life for life and blood for blood, and I would
+give sorrow for sorrow and shame for shame,
+until I had paid to the full the debt which the
+long years of plunder and cruelty and oppression
+had heaped up against those who, from generation
+to generation, had brought this shame and
+ruin on the once bright home of the Children
+of the Sun.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+<h3>CHAPTER II</h3>
+
+<h3>BROTHERS OF THE BLOOD</h3>
+
+
+<p>I shall not weary you who perchance may some
+day read this story of mine by dwelling on the
+sorrow and shame that filled me as I entered
+the foul, unlovely streets, and saw the filthy
+refuse in the squares of the city that I remembered
+so pure and bright and beautiful;
+nor yet by telling of the feelings that possessed
+me when I saw the poor remains of our desecrated
+temples, the places where our vanished
+palaces had stood, and the dismantled ruins of
+that mighty fortress of Sacsahuaman, which
+I had last seen standing palace-crowned and
+throned in all its grandeur high up above the
+city.</p>
+
+<p>All this and more you who read must picture
+for yourselves, for I have greater things to tell of
+than the poor sorrows of a wanderer who had left
+his own age and his own kindred far behind him,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span>
+and who had come back into a strange world to
+find his country a wilderness, and the children of
+his people the slaves of strangers.</p>
+
+<p>It had been settled amongst us that, for the
+purpose for which we had come, it would be
+necessary to hire a house that should be at once
+commodious for our work, sufficiently removed
+from the city for privacy, and capable of defence
+against intruders if need be. The professor, being
+already known in Cuzco as a man of science and
+seeker after antiquities, and possessing, moreover,
+a special permit from the Government in Lima to
+travel and dwell in the interior, and make such
+searches as he thought fit, undertook the business
+of finding such a house. He made many journeys
+in quest of what he sought, and on these journeys
+Djama always accompanied him, since he had to
+see that the house chosen contained a chamber
+suitable for that precious work which he had
+undertaken to do in return for the share of
+treasure that I was to give to him.</p>
+
+<p>And while these two were absent I at times
+wandered about the city with Joyful Star and
+Francis Hartness, who, it was plain to see,
+already looked with eyes of love and longing
+on her beauty, as in good truth I myself could
+have done had I dared, and could I have forgotten
+that older love of mine who still lay cold
+in her death-sleep in the cave by the lake yonder,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span>
+over the mountains to the westward, whither I had
+already cast so many longing glances. But at other
+times I left them to go upon my own ways, for I
+had work on hand which, for the present, did not
+concern them.</p>
+
+<p>I had by this time met and conversed with many
+of my people in their own language, which was that
+of the labouring classes of my own times, and from
+them I had learned that at a village called San
+Sebastian, through which we had passed, about
+two leagues to the south of the city, there still
+dwelt many families of Ayllos&mdash;that is to say,
+the descendants of those of the old noble Inca
+lineage, who had been permitted by their conquerors
+to settle here. So one morning I went to
+visit an old Indian&mdash;as they now called all our
+people&mdash;named Ullullo, with whom I had made
+acquaintance, and at his house I dressed myself
+in the native fashion&mdash;in an old shirt and short
+trousers, with sandals on my feet, and a broad-brimmed,
+fringed hat on my head, and covered
+myself with a faded poncho, and together we
+went on foot to San Sebastian, I looking no
+different from the rest of the Indians who were
+passing to and fro upon the road.</p>
+
+<p>I had already seen, while riding through the
+village, that the people were different to those of
+all other villages that we had come through on
+the way. They were taller of stature, prouder of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>
+carriage, and fairer of face. The blood showed
+red in their cheeks through the light brown of
+their skin, and these signs had told me that if
+any remnant of the pure Inca race was left these
+must be they; and I was soon to have proof that
+it was so, although the children of those who had
+lived in palaces were now dwelling in huts of mud
+and reeds.</p>
+
+<p>Ullullo led me first to the house of a man named
+Tupac Rayca, who was chief among the Indians
+of the town. He was great-grandson of that ill-fated
+Tupac-Amaru, who, as you know, had
+revolted many years before against the oppressors
+of his race, and for this, after being forced to
+watch the torture and murder of his wife in the
+square of Cuzco, had himself been torn limb from
+limb by horses.</p>
+
+<p>We found him alone in a bare room in one of
+the better houses of the village. As he stood up
+to salute us it needed but a glance to tell me that
+in his veins at least the ancient blood of our race
+flowed well nigh as purely as it did in my own.
+Had it not been for the meanness of his clothing
+and the dull, brooding look on his noble features&mdash;the
+stamp of generations of oppression&mdash;I could
+have pictured him with the yellow Llautu<a name="FNanchor_A_" id="FNanchor_A_"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>
+his brow, the golden image of the Sun on his
+girdled tunic, and the rainbow banner in his
+hand, standing amongst the guards of the great
+Huayna-Capac himself.</p>
+
+<p>I asked Ullullo to leave us alone for a little
+while, and when he had gone I stepped forward,
+and, drawing myself up to my full height, I looked
+him in the eyes, and said in the tongue that was
+spoken only by those of the divine Inca race,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Tell me, Tupac-Rayca, does a remnant of the
+Children of the Sun still dwell in the Land of the
+Four Regions, and are they still faithful to the
+traditions of their race, and the faith of their
+ancestors?'</p>
+
+<p>As the words left my lips he staggered back a
+pace or two with his hands clasped to his forehead,
+staring at me from under them as though&mdash;as in
+very truth I was&mdash;some spirit of the past stood
+re-embodied before him. Then, coming forward
+again and scanning me eagerly from head to
+foot, he whispered in the same tongue&mdash;by
+the Lord of Light how those familiar accents
+thrilled my ears as I heard them again after so
+long!</p>
+
+<p>'Who are you&mdash;a stranger&mdash;that comes in the
+image of those long dead, to ask me such a
+question in the tongue that may only be spoken
+when none save those of the Blood are present?'</p>
+
+<p>'One who is of the Blood himself!' I answered,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>
+taking a stride towards him, and stretching out
+my hand. 'Fear not, Tupac-Rayca, son of him
+that suffered, I am a friend, and have come from
+afar to work as a friend with you and others of the
+Blood that may still be left in the land, with a
+great and holy purpose of which you shall know
+ere long.'</p>
+
+<p>He grasped my hand and bowed over it in
+silence for a while. Then he stepped back and
+looked at me again, murmuring,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Can it be so? Has the divine Manco come
+back from the Mansions of the Sun to save the
+remnant of his children, or has Vilcaroya broken
+the bonds of his death-sleep and come to fulfil
+the oath he swore with Golden Star before the
+altar in the Sanctuary? I know all the Children
+of the Blood that are left in the land, and I have
+never seen your face before, yet you are of the
+Blood. Who are you&mdash;Lord?'</p>
+
+<p>The last word seemed forced from his lips by
+some power other than his own will, and it
+sounded most pleasant to me, for it told me
+that, without knowing my name, and seeing me
+only as a stranger, he had recognised the stamp
+of my divine ancestry, and this promised well for
+the progress of the work I had in hand. I
+answered him kindly, and yet as one speaking
+to another who is scarce his equal, and said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'My name matters not now or here, Tupac, for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>
+we are but two, and I might lie to you, and you
+would have no proof of my truth or falsehood.
+But if you will do as I bid you, to-night you
+shall know and all shall be made plain and with
+ample proof. Are you willing to give me your
+aid?'</p>
+
+<p>He picked up a rude hoe that stood in a corner
+of the room, and laying it across his shoulder
+after the manner of one who bears a burden,
+bowed his head and answered,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'The Son of the Sun has but to speak, and I
+and all his slaves will obey.'</p>
+
+<p>What he had done was an act of homage, which,
+in the olden time, was paid only to him who wore
+the imperial Llautu, and proved to me how faithfully
+the old traditions had been preserved in
+secret.</p>
+
+<p>'That is well said, Tupac,' I replied, speaking
+now as a sovereign might speak to a faithful
+subject, 'and in the days to come fear not that
+I shall forget this, your first act of unasked-for
+homage. Now, hear me. Are there twenty men
+of the Blood in this village&mdash;men who are faithful
+and can be trusted even to the death?'</p>
+
+<p>'There are five hundred here, Lord, and as
+many thousands within the valley, whose blood
+has flowed pure from the olden times, unpolluted
+by a single stain of Spanish dirt. What would
+you with them?'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>'I asked not for hundreds or thousands,' I said,
+right glad at heart to hear such good tidings.
+'For the present I need but a score, so do you
+choose me twenty of the noblest blood and the
+best judgment, and an hour before midnight let
+them be with you on the plain behind the
+Sacsahuaman. Let them come well provided
+with torches or candles, and tools, levers, and
+hammers and spades. Tell them what has
+passed between us, but nothing of the guesses
+that you may have made in your own mind
+while we have been talking, and leave the rest
+to me. Can you do that?'</p>
+
+<p>'It shall be done, Lord,' he answered, still
+bending before me with the shaft of the hoe
+across his shoulders, 'and we will wait and toil
+in patience till the Son of the Sun shall please
+to reveal himself to the eyes of his servants.'</p>
+
+<p>'Nor shall you have to wait long,' I said. 'Now
+put that off your back and take my hand again,
+for we are not Inca and servant yet, only two men
+of the Blood, and brothers of a fallen race who are
+joined together to perform a holy work. Now farewell,
+Tupac, till to-night. Choose your companions
+well, and fear not but that your services and your
+faithfulness shall have their due reward.'</p>
+
+<p>He put his hand humbly and tremblingly into
+mine, bowing low over it, and so I left him, standing
+there with bent head, not daring to look up<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>
+until the door closed behind me. Then Ullullo and
+I went back into the city, and as we crossed the
+great square on our way to Ullullo's house, I saw
+my four English friends standing among the
+market people by the fountain in the centre.
+We passed close to them, and I heard my name
+spoken by Joyful Star to her brother, who
+answered her and said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'I daresay we shall find he is making friends
+again with some of these filthy Indian compatriots
+of his.'</p>
+
+<p>I hated him from that moment for his bitter
+words, and swore in my heart that some day he
+should pay for them, for I loved my people, and
+pitied them in their misery and degradation. I
+stopped beside them, and my heart was beating
+hard as I listened for what Joyful Star would say,
+and I have remembered her words, even as I
+have remembered his. She looked at him with
+the light of anger in her eyes and said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'For shame, Laurens! I couldn't have believed
+that you would have said such a thing. If you
+belonged to a race that had been enslaved and
+plundered by these brutes of Spaniards and
+Peruvians for three centuries and a half, do you
+think you would be any better than these poor
+fellows? And, besides, whatever they are, they
+are Vilcaroya's people, and he is our friend.'</p>
+
+<p>I could have fallen on the stones and kissed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span>
+her feet for those sweet words of hers, and I
+moved away quickly for fear I should betray myself,
+and went with a swelling heart and mingled
+tears of love and anger in my eyes to old Ullullo's
+house, where I changed my clothes again, and then,
+as it was nearly dinner time, which, as you know,
+is in the evening in Spanish countries, I went back
+to the house where we were lodging, wondering
+what they would think if they could have understood
+the words that had passed between Tupac-Rayca
+and myself.</p>
+
+<p>When I met them again I saw that they would
+willingly have learned what had become of me
+during the day, but I answered their inquiries by
+telling them nothing more and yet a great deal less
+than the truth, and saying that I had spent the day
+revisiting old scenes, and learning what I could of
+the present condition of my people. This satisfied
+them outwardly at least, though I saw a look in
+Djama's eyes which told me that he suspected
+more of the truth than it suited my purpose to tell
+him.</p>
+
+<p>Then our conversation turned to the matter of
+procuring a house, such as I have spoken of, and
+the professor told me that he had heard of a
+hacienda, well built and solid, and standing in its
+own domain, about three leagues across the valley
+to the westward, on a secluded little plain among
+the hills, which would serve our purpose excellently;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span>
+but the owner of it wished to sell it, and 'with the
+stupidity of these Peruvians,' as he said, would not
+hire it out to us but would only sell it, and the
+price was twenty thousand soles, or dollars of Peru,
+which was two thousand pounds in English money.</p>
+
+<p>'It is a great pity,' said the professor, when he
+had finished telling me about it, 'for it doesn't seem
+as though there was another house in the neighbourhood
+of Cuzco that would suit our purpose, and
+this one would do perfectly.'</p>
+
+<p>'Of course, if the fellow won't let it there's no
+use thinking any more about the matter, for two
+thousand pounds is entirely out of the question.
+It seems to me that the expedition will be quite
+expensive enough without the luxury of buying
+houses at fancy prices.'</p>
+
+<p>It was Djama who spoke. No one else at our
+table could have spoken like that. I heard him in
+silence, for I could not trust myself to speak for the
+anger that was rising within me. I saw Joyful Star
+raise her eyelids and look at him with a swift
+glance that meant much; but she, too, said nothing;
+and then, looking at me, he spoke again and
+said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Of course, if His Highness'&mdash;for so he always
+spoke of me when no strangers were present&mdash;'would
+just unlock one of those treasure-houses of
+his, the matter would be easy enough, but I suppose
+that's outside the contract.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>I still kept silence, knowing as I did what the
+night was to bring forth. But Francis Hartness
+answered for me, and said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'I don't think you can quite put it that way,
+Djama, if you'll excuse me saying so. If I am
+not mistaken, it has been clearly understood
+that the first treasure-house to be unlocked is
+the one that holds Vilcaroya's greatest treasure&mdash;his
+wife&mdash;and what you say seems to suggest&mdash;'</p>
+
+<p>'It is enough!' I said, unconsciously speaking
+in my growing anger in the same imperious tone
+that I had used but a few hours before to Tupac.
+'Let the house be bought. I will charge myself
+with the cost, and I will be the debtor of my
+friends no longer.'</p>
+
+<p>They stared at me as I spoke, for hitherto I
+had spoken to them as a child rather than as
+a man; as an inferior, rather than as an equal. I
+saw a smile that was not pleasant to look upon
+pass swiftly over Djama's mouth, but he kept
+silence, and the professor said to me,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Are you really in earnest, Vilcaroya? You
+know, according to our bargain, we have no
+claim on you until our part of the work is done.
+None of us have any desire to learn your secrets.'</p>
+
+<p>'I am not talking of secrets,' I said, breaking
+into his speech, 'and one of my race does not
+speak to make a liar of himself. What I say
+I can do and will, for I wish the work to begin<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>
+at once. Do you think I have not waited long
+enough for my beloved, my sister and my
+wife?'</p>
+
+<p>'Your what!' cried Joyful Star, rising suddenly
+from her seat, and staring at me with fixed and
+wide-opened eyes. 'Your sister! Oh, Vilcaroya,
+surely this is not true!' and as she said this I
+saw her cheeks grow pale and her lips tremble.</p>
+
+<p>'Yes,' I answered, 'it is true. Why should
+I lie to my new sister and friend, Joyful Star?
+Golden Star was the daughter of my father,
+the great Huayna-Capac, though our mothers
+were not the same.'</p>
+
+<p>I had no time to finish my speech, for with
+a look of unutterable horror in her eyes, which
+pierced me to the heart and seemed to sever it
+in twain, she cried,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Oh, no, no! that is too horrible! I don't want
+to hear any more. I will go back to England
+to-morrow. Laurens, come to my room; I want
+to speak to you at once.'</p>
+
+<p>So saying, she went to the door and opened
+it and went out, followed by her brother, who
+looked at me as he passed me with a look which
+I never forgot or forgave, for it was like the
+words that I had heard him say to her in the
+square.</p>
+
+<p>'What is this?' I said to the professor when
+the door had closed behind them. 'What have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>
+I said or done that Joyful Star should look with
+horror upon me and say such cruel words?'</p>
+
+<p>I saw him exchange glances full of meaning
+with the English soldier before he answered me;
+and then, leaning his arms on the table in front
+of him, he said, in that quiet, calm voice of his,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'My dear Vilcaroya, it is a very strange thing,
+and, as far as Miss Djama is concerned, perhaps,
+a very great pity that this has never come out
+before, for without knowing it you have given
+her a shock that may have very painful consequences.
+No, don't interrupt me now, for the
+sooner I can make you understand the meaning
+of your words to her the better. It is this way:
+we know, of course, that in your day and among
+your people sister-marriage was held to be the
+most sacred of all marriages. We know that
+from such a marriage only might spring the
+wearer of the imperial Borla, but to us the idea
+is so unutterably horrible and revolting that of
+all the crimes that could be committed by one
+of our race that would be the most fearful. It
+cannot even be discussed amongst us, and yet
+you, in the most perfect innocence, have spoken
+of it in the presence&mdash;Good Heavens, Hartness!
+what is to be done? Do you think Miss Djama
+was really in earnest when she talked of going
+back to England to-morrow? It is impossible&mdash;it
+would ruin everything!'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>I kept silence, for my sorrow and wonder were
+too great for words, but I listened eagerly for
+what Francis Hartness would say in reply.</p>
+
+<p>'She was in earnest when she spoke,' he said,
+as quietly as the professor had spoken; 'but, if
+the doctor has as much sense as I give him
+credit for, she will have seen the thing in a
+different light by this time. Of course, she has
+read Prescott, and she really knows as much
+about the marriage customs of the ancient Incas
+as we do. In fact, to tell you the truth'&mdash;and
+as he said this I saw him frown, and an angry
+light came into his eyes that I had never seen
+in them before&mdash;'I really can hardly understand
+how, knowing that as she does know it, she can
+have been as horrified as she certainly was. She
+knows perfectly well that Vilcaroya has come
+at a single step, as it were, from his age into
+ours, and so must have brought all the ideas
+and beliefs of his time and his people with
+him. Depend upon it, a little reflection will
+very soon show her that, horrible and all as
+the idea must naturally have appeared to her
+at the first shock of hearing it, from Vilcaroya's
+point of view there is nothing in it but
+what is perfectly natural and proper. Now, to
+my mind, the matter is much more sad and
+serious for Vilcaroya himself than for anyone
+else.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>As he said this he turned from the professor to
+me and went on, addressing me in a tone so frank
+and kindly that ever afterwards I looked upon
+him as my friend and my brother,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'It's not a pleasant thing for me to say, and it
+must, of course, be a very painful one for you to
+hear; still, it has got to be said some time or
+other, and, unless I am wrong in what I think of
+you, I believe you are man enough to hear it and
+to agree with me that it had better be said now
+than later on, when the saying of it might be
+tenfold more painful both to you and us.'</p>
+
+<p>'Say on,' I said shortly. 'Your tongue is
+straight and your eyes look into mine as those
+of a friend should look. I am listening.'</p>
+
+<p>'I would wish for no better friend than you,
+Vilcaroya, after that, for I know what you mean.
+Now, what I have to say is this. We know, of
+course, that you look upon yourself as doubly
+married to this love of yours, who is dead and,
+like you, may yet be alive again. You are bound
+to her, not only by a marriage which, in the time
+that it took place, was perfectly lawful and natural,
+but also by the oath that you took together. But
+you have come back to the world in another age
+and among another people, and now that form of
+marriage is looked upon by all civilised humanity,
+not only as unlawful, but, as the professor has just
+said, unnatural and horrible beyond conception.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>'Therefore, if Golden Star is restored to life,
+for you to love her, save as a brother, or for you
+to consummate the union which, as you have told
+us, began and ended before the altar of the Sun,
+would be to make not only yourself, but your&mdash;your
+sister, Golden Star, as well, looked upon with
+horror and loathing by every civilised man and
+woman who knew your story. I am speaking
+strongly, because it is necessary.</p>
+
+<p>'You might succeed in all your aims, you might
+realise every ambition of your life, and yet I tell
+you it is Heaven's own truth, that if you took
+Golden Star to sit beside you on the throne of
+the Incas as your wife and queen, you would place
+her upon a pinnacle of infamy which men would
+spit upon and women turn their backs on. The
+reward of all your labours, the price of all your
+treasures, no matter how great they might be,
+would be nothing but a curse that would fall
+heavily on you, but a thousand times more heavily
+on the woman whom you have loved best in all
+the world.'</p>
+
+<p>He stopped, and they both sat and looked at
+me in silence, awaiting for me to answer him. As
+for me, I felt my spirit wandering over a bare
+wilderness where all was dark.</p>
+
+<p>I knew that he had spoken truth, strange as
+the truth seemed to me, for no man could have
+heard his voice and seen the steady light in his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>
+eyes, without knowing that he was a true man,
+and so spoke the truth. The moments passed,
+and I could still find no words to say. Then
+the silence was broken by the opening of the
+door, and Djama came in and said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'My sister wishes you to excuse her coming
+back to the table. Of course, I have explained
+matters to her, and I think she now sees them
+in a different light, but for some reason or other
+she seems strangely shaken. You know how
+extremely sensitive she is, and so, as her doctor,
+as well as her brother, I have sent her to bed.
+She wasn't really fit to come back after what
+has happened, and a night's rest will be the best
+thing in the world for her. I suppose you two
+have explained things to His Highness as
+well, eh?'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes,' I said, rising from my seat. 'It has been
+explained to me. I do not understand all now,
+but I must think, and think alone, so I will go.'</p>
+
+<p>Then I went to Francis Hartness and held out
+my hand to him and said, after the fashion of
+the English,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Good-night, Captain Hartness. You have
+wounded me sorely with your words, yet you
+have spoken them as only a friend could speak
+them. From now till the day of my death or
+yours, Vilcaroya Inca is your friend, and all his
+people are your servants.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Then I took my hand from his, and bowing
+farewell to the others, walked swiftly out of the
+room and got my cloak, and went out into the
+city to think in silence by myself over the strange
+and terrible things that I had heard, and to calm
+my spirit before I went to do the work which, in
+a few hours, would be awaiting me on the hills
+behind the Sacsahuaman.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_" id="Footnote_A_"></a><a href="#FNanchor_A_"><span class="label">[A]</span></a> The yellow Llautu, or fringed turban of wool, worn on the
+brows, was the distinguishing mark of the sacred Inca race. The
+scarlet was worn only by the reigning Inca&mdash;'Son of the Sun.' Its
+fringe, called the 'borla,' was mingled with threads of gold.</p></div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+<h3>CHAPTER III</h3>
+
+<h3>IN THE HALL OF GOLD</h3>
+
+
+<p>I went first to Ullullo's house and changed my
+clothing, so that I might the more easily lose
+myself among the hundreds of Indians about the
+streets of the city, for something told me that
+Djama might make an attempt to discover the
+meaning of what I had said about the house by
+following me and learning, if possible, the secret
+of my movements; for he must have known that,
+being without money as I was, save for the few
+dollars that the professor had lent me, it would
+not be possible for me to do as I had said, unless
+one, at least, of the hiding-places of the old
+treasures was within easy reach so that I could
+take sufficient gold out of it by the next day to
+fulfil my promise.</p>
+
+<p>When I changed my clothes I put a dagger into
+my belt, and a revolver, which Francis Hartness
+had already taught me how to use, into a case<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>
+slung at my hip, and hidden by my jacket and
+the long folds of my poncho. Then I went back
+into the great square, and across it up the street
+in which we had our lodgings. As I passed the
+house I saw Djama standing in the archway
+leading into the courtyard, smoking a cigar. I
+turned and looked him in the face as I went by,
+slouching and trailing my sandalled feet after
+the fashion of the natives. He looked at me, but
+I saw no recognition in his eyes. Then as I
+walked on there came a thought to me.</p>
+
+<p>I hurried to Ullullo's house once more and
+brought him back with me, telling him on the
+way what I wanted him to do for me. When we
+reached the house again we saw Djama standing
+in the courtyard, and Ullullo, doing as I had bid
+him, went in to him, and told him in Spanish,
+which I could not speak, that if he would give
+him ten dollars he should learn the secret of my
+goings and comings, and where I was to find the
+gold with which to pay for the hacienda. Djama
+instantly promised him the money, as I thought
+he would, and Ullullo told him to be at the end
+of the street which is now called El Triunfo at
+eleven o'clock that night. He was to come alone,
+for if anyone came with him he would learn
+nothing. As you will soon see, I had two objects
+to serve in doing this.</p>
+
+<p>When Ullullo came back and told me that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>
+Djama would be there, I bade him wait for me
+at the same place and hour, and then I went away
+alone out of the city and up a path which led
+towards the mountains to the north. There, alone
+and in silence, I communed with my own soul,
+at first in sorrow, yet slowly becoming more and
+more peaceful in heart, even as one who is told
+that he is to die on a certain day first rages
+against his doom and then learns to contemplate
+with calmness that which there is no hope
+of escaping. The words of the professor and
+Francis Hartness had shown me that in the
+world to which I had returned my sister Golden
+Star could now never be my wife and queen, and
+the more I pondered on what they had said, the
+more plainly it appeared to me that this was the
+truth, however bitter it might seem.</p>
+
+<p>Yet there was something else in my heart,
+although at that time I did not dare even to let
+my inmost thoughts dwell upon it, which in some
+way dulled the pain of the blow that had fallen
+upon me, and reconciled me to the parting which
+in one sense must now be eternal. The longer I
+pondered the more deeply did that look of horror
+which I had seen in the eyes of Joyful Star burn
+into my soul, and the more clearly did the words
+that she had spoken ring in my ears. She had
+said that it was horrible and that it was impossible,
+and she was to me as one of those<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>
+bright angels who, according to our ancient faith,
+awaited the heroes and sages of our race in the
+Mansions of the Sun&mdash;a being so far above me
+that I could look upon her only as a mortal
+might look from afar upon a daughter of the
+Celestials.</p>
+
+<p>Thus, musing in silence and solitude on the
+wild mountain-side, now looking back into my
+distant past, and now hazarding a glance into
+the fast-approaching future, the hours slipped by
+quickly for me, and I heard the bells of the
+churches&mdash;bells which they had told me had
+been cast out of the copper and gold and silver
+that our conquerors had taken from our temples
+and palaces&mdash;chiming the half-hour before eleven.</p>
+
+<p>So I turned back to the city, and made haste to
+the place where Djama and Ullullo would be waiting
+for me. I found them there talking together,
+and without discovering myself to Djama, I told
+Ullullo in Quichua to follow me with the Englishman.
+Then I went on swiftly along the rivulet
+of Tullamayo, past the terrace of Rocca Inca, and
+along the smooth, dark wall of what had once
+been the Yachahuasi, or College of the Youths,
+and so out of the city and the gorge of the little
+river Rodadero. Then, with the two still following
+me a few yards behind, I climbed the lower
+terraces of the Colcompata, or the Granaries, where
+the divine Manco built his first palace, and then<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>
+on up the hillside to the Tiupunco, or Gate of
+Sand, which led through the fragments of what
+had once been the outer wall of the great
+fortress, and so on to the little level pampa
+of the Rodadero, which was my meeting-place
+with Tupac.</p>
+
+<p>Now as I went I began to sing one of our
+ancient songs, which was the signal that I had
+agreed upon with Tupac, and presently, one after
+another, silent, stealthy forms crept out from the
+angles of the great zig-zag wall and came towards
+me. One of them, taller than the rest, threw an
+iron bar that he was carrying across his shoulders,
+and came and stood before me with bowed-down
+head, waiting for me to speak. I knew that it
+was Tupac, and I said to him,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Are the Children of the Sun ready to do the
+bidding of his Son?'</p>
+
+<p>'They are, Lord!' he replied. 'Here are twenty
+who have sworn by the heart of the divine Manco
+to do all things lawful and unlawful, even to the
+death, at the bidding of him who shall prove
+himself to be the true heir of the royal Llautu.'</p>
+
+<p>'It is good,' I said, 'and the proof shall soon
+be given. Now, take the stranger yonder; do
+him no harm, but bind his eyes so that he cannot
+see, and tie his hands behind him. Then follow
+me.'</p>
+
+<p>Instantly the stealthy forms closed around<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>
+Djama. Not a word was spoken save his startled,
+angry exclamation, which was soon stifled, and
+then they brought him along after me, I going
+first and Tupac following close behind me. Like
+a string of shadows we moved across the plain
+past the great carved rock which is still called the
+Inca's Seat, and over the ridge of the Sliding
+Stones and down into the valley beyond, which is
+thickly strewn with great rock-masses carved into
+seats, and altars, and baths, and chambers, of
+which no man knows the origin, and which were
+ancient when Manco-Capac and Mama-Occlu first
+came into the land.</p>
+
+<p>The greatest of these is a high white rock
+carved all over into steps and seats and altars
+and basins, which are said to have been made to
+catch the blood of the living sacrifices that were
+offered up here by a race of men whose name has
+been forgotten. It is called in our language the
+Sayacusca, or Tired Stone, for an old tradition
+says that ages ago it was brought from the
+mountains by the toil of ten thousand men, and
+when it reached its present place it rolled over
+and killed three hundred of them, and could never
+be moved again upon its journey.</p>
+
+<p>On the south side of this there is a great cleft
+from the top to the bottom, and up the sides of
+this cleft are the two halves of a stairway, which
+was carved there before some earthquake rent the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>
+stone in twain, and under this is a deep dark pool
+of water. At the entrance to the cleft I stopped
+and beckoned to the others to come round me.
+Then I told them that they were about to see that
+which no man then alive on earth had ever seen,
+and made all swear by the Glory of the Sun that
+each and every one of them would slay without
+pity him who revealed anything seen or heard that
+night, even though he were his own brother, or his
+own father, or his own son. As for Djama, they
+held him there bound and blindfolded amongst
+them, and when he tried to speak they stopped
+his mouth at my bidding, for I had told them that
+I would be answerable for him, since I had brought
+him here for my own purposes.</p>
+
+<p>Then I made two of the men stretch a cord
+tightly across the mouth of the cleft close down to
+the ground, and to the middle of this I tied
+another cord, and stretched it out straight twelve
+foot-lengths from the centre, and here I bade them
+clear away the bushes, and dig. Then axe and
+hoe and spade went to work. In that clear air,
+and under that cloudless sky, the stars gave light
+enough to work by, and soon a space had been
+cleared, and a round hole about three feet across
+was being dug down through the loose, rocky
+soil.</p>
+
+<p>When it was about half the depth of a man
+the spades struck on the solid rock below, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>
+could go no farther. When Tupac told me of
+this, I, who had been standing by the cleft, looking&mdash;full
+of strange thoughts&mdash;down into the dark
+pool of water, called the man who had been digging
+out of the hole, and, taking an iron bar from
+Tupac, I dropped into it.</p>
+
+<p>I sought about the bottom with my hands for a
+few moments till I found the outline of a squared
+stone that had been let into the rock. In the
+centre of this I found a hole, out of which I picked
+the dirt with my dagger. Then, putting the end
+of my iron bar into it, I pulled, and the stone
+turned over on a hinge, leaving an opening half its
+size. Down this I thrust my arm, and found a
+chain of copper which hung down into a deep well
+below. I pulled this with all my strength until
+something gave way at the bottom, then I drew
+the chain up, and cast my iron bar under it across
+the hole. As I did this, I heard the deep,
+smothered roar of waters rushing away far below
+me into the bowels of the earth.</p>
+
+<p>Then I got out of the hole and went back to the
+cleft. I lit a candle and looked down at the pool.
+It was no longer stagnant now, but seething and
+eddying like a whirlpool. I beckoned to Tupac,
+who was standing a little way behind me, and as
+he came and looked over my shoulder I pointed
+down into the dark gulf, out of which the bottom
+was rapidly falling, and said,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'See, the waters are opening the way by which
+the Son of the Sun shall go into his kingdom.
+Watch now, and listen!'</p>
+
+<p>'Son of the Sun and Lord of the Four Regions,
+it is true!' he whispered as the waters eddied
+round faster and faster, and gurgled and rattled
+down into some unknown abyss. Soon they
+vanished altogether, leaving only a dark, black,
+and seemingly fathomless cavern in the place
+where they had been. I waited until the sound
+of the last gurgle had died away in the depths,
+and then I turned to Tupac and said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'The way is open. Tell Ullullo to bring the
+lantern and light it. There must be no other
+light. You and the rest follow me, and let two
+strong men bring the stranger.'</p>
+
+<p>He did as I bade him, and when I had lit the
+lantern I cast its rays about the gulf beneath me
+till I found the continuation of the broken stairway
+above, and then picking my way carefully down
+the dank, slimy steps, I led the way into the
+heart of the rock, the rest following, guided by
+the spreading ray of light in front of me.'</p>
+
+<p>I counted fifty steps, and then stopped and
+turned sharply to the right. The fiftieth step
+ended against a wall of rock, still dripping with
+the water that was running down from the arched
+roof of the chamber. I measured ten spans with
+my hand from the wall where the steps ended,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>
+and made a mark with my dagger on the rock.
+Then from the floor I measured eight spans in a
+line across the mark. Where the eighth span
+ended I made another mark, and with the help
+of my lantern I found a silver socket let into the
+rock. It was a plate with a hole in the centre
+large enough to admit the iron bar which I had
+brought for the purpose. I put it in, and whispering
+to Tupac to help me, we gripped the bar,
+and after two or three hard pulls felt it coming
+towards us.</p>
+
+<p>A great slab of rock, which fitted into the
+wall with all the perfection that our old Inca
+masons could give it, turned on a central hinge,
+leaving a space that two men could have walked
+through abreast.</p>
+
+<p>'Go in,' I said to Tupac, 'and let all follow
+you.'</p>
+
+<p>He obeyed, and standing by the opening with
+a ray of my lantern shooting across it, I watched
+them file past one by one until all had gone in.
+Then I followed, and as I crossed the threshold
+set my shoulder against the edge of the slab and
+pushed it back into its place.</p>
+
+<p>Now I covered my lantern with my poncho
+and cried aloud in the darkness,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Let the torches be got ready, but let no light
+be struck till that which is to be revealed may
+be seen.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>A low murmur answered me, and then, still
+keeping my lantern hidden, I felt my way along
+the wall, treading softly as a mountain lion
+approaching its prey, until I had counted forty
+paces. The fortieth brought me to a doorway,
+through which I turned. Five paces more
+brought me to another turning, ten more to the
+end of the passage, and then I uncovered my
+light and found myself in a little square chamber
+hewn out of the rock and surrounded with stone
+chests covered with lids of copper.</p>
+
+<p>In the centre of the chamber stood a smaller
+one, all of metal. I set my lantern down on one
+of the others so that the light fell across this one;
+then I raised the lid, and there before me lay,
+perfect as they had been on the day when Anda-Huillac,
+last High Priest of the Sun, had laid
+them there, the imperial robes and insignia that
+had last been worn by the ill-fated Huascar, son
+of the great Huayna-Capac.</p>
+
+<p>Quickly throwing off the mean garments that
+I wore, I dressed myself in them. Then, binding
+the golden sandals on my feet, and clasping the
+long mantle emblazoned in gold and jewels with
+the symbols of the Sun and his sister-wife the
+Moon across my shoulders, I wound the scarlet
+Llautu around my head, with the crimson fringe
+of the Borla interlaced with gold falling upon
+my brow, and then, closing the chest, I took up<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>
+my lantern and went back along the passages I
+had traversed.</p>
+
+<p>In the middle of the last one I put my lantern
+down with the glass against the wall, and feeling
+my way into the doorway, which opened on to
+the chamber in which the others were awaiting
+me, I cried, in a voice that echoed strangely
+through the great chamber,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Let the torches be kindled, and let the Children
+of the Sun look upon their Lord!'</p>
+
+<p>I heard a shuffling of feet and a whispering of
+many voices. Then lights were struck, and I
+stepped back quickly into the shadow of the
+doorway. I saw the glow of light grow into a
+glare that was flashed back in a thousand many-coloured
+rays from the walls of the chamber. I
+heard a deep, low cry of wonder, and then I
+strode out into the midst and said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'I am he who went into the shadows at the
+bidding of our Father the Sun, and by his will
+I have returned to bring deliverance to his
+children!'</p>
+
+<p>For one moment of affrighted amazement they
+stared wide-eyed at me standing there before them,
+as though Huayna-Capac himself had returned
+from the Mansions of the Sun to resume his
+sceptre and his crown. Then, with one accord,
+they sank on their knees before me, holding their
+torches above their bent heads and murmuring,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Hail, Son of the Sun and deliverer of his
+children, who hast come to bring the daylight
+back to the long-darkened Land of the Four
+Regions!'</p>
+
+<p>I looked at them and saw Djama standing erect,
+still bound and blindfold, in the midst of them.
+I went through the kneeling forms to him, and
+taking the bandage from his eyes stepped back,
+and while he was blinking at the light of the
+torches, said to him in English,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Look about you, Laurens Djama, and tell me
+if you believe now that I, the friend of the filthy
+Indians whom you despise, can do that which I
+have said?'</p>
+
+<p>He was still half dazzled by the glare of the
+torches and the thousand rays of many colours
+that were flashing about him. Wherever his wondering
+glance fell it saw great golden plates
+covering the walls, thick-set with jewels, and
+in front of him, piled up against the end wall
+of the chamber, a shining heap of gold bars in
+the shape of a pyramid reaching to the roof
+of the chamber, and on either side of this, half
+way up, was a great image of the Sun, like to
+that which in the olden times stood above the altar
+in the sanctuary of the great temple of Cuzco,
+each with its centre fashioned as a human face,
+with great flashing diamonds for eyes, with lips
+of rubies, and long pendants of emeralds hanging<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span>
+from the ears, and all round a hundred curving
+rays of gold edged and lined with jewels.</p>
+
+<p>He stared about him, open-eyed and open-mouthed
+with amazement. Then his eyes fell
+on me, and he started forward and stared me in
+the face for a moment. Then he gasped,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Vilcaroya, is it you, or am I dreaming?
+Where have you brought me to?'</p>
+
+<p>'To one of the treasure-houses that you so
+longed to see,' I said, 'so that you might see and
+believe that I told you no idle tale, and that I
+can perform my promise if you can perform yours.'</p>
+
+<p>Then I turned my back on him and went to
+the foot of the pyramid, and, taking my place
+in front of it, I said to those who still knelt
+before me in silence,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Let those of his children who are faithful
+to their Father the Sun rise and come without
+falsehood in their hearts, and say if they now
+believe that that which was foretold long ago,
+when the darkness fell over the land, has in very
+truth come to pass.'</p>
+
+<p>They rose from their knees and came towards
+me in a half circle, carrying their torches. They
+stopped about five paces from me, looking at
+me through a little space with wondering eyes
+full of worship. Then they bowed their heads
+again, and Tupac came from the midst of them,
+and, casting himself prone at my feet, yet not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>
+daring even to touch my sandals, said in a broken
+voice,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Son of the Sun, heir of heaven and lord of
+earth, we have seen thy wisdom and thy majesty.
+None but one of thy royal line&mdash;nay, none but
+thee, oh, Vilcaroya, son of Huayna-Capac, and
+brother of Huascar, last of the Incas, could have
+known the secret that thou hast brought with
+thee from the past into the present. We are
+thy children and thy slaves, and all the men
+of the Blood that are left in the Land of the
+Four Regions shall hail thee lord as we do, and
+own no other master save thee, Vilcaroya Inca,
+from now until the hour when their father, the
+Lord of Life, shall call them back to the Mansions
+of the Sun. We are thine, and we will serve
+thee, ourselves and our wives and our children,
+as our fathers served thy father in the days when
+there was yet peace and happiness in the land.'</p>
+
+<p>'And if ye are but faithful,' I said, 'and if the
+Lord, my father, who rules the day, and his
+sister, my mother, who rules the night, shall give
+me strength and wisdom to use the power that
+is mine, I will give you back peace and happiness,
+and the stranger and the oppressor shall be driven
+from the land, and the homes of the Children of
+the Sun shall again be full of light. Rise now,
+Tupac, and let ten of the men give their torches
+to the others and make ready to do my bidding.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>He rose, and it was done. Then I called Djama
+to me and said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'What you have seen here to-night is a dream.
+When your eyes open again on the outer world,
+remember what I have said. Your hand has
+brought me from the grave to the throne, and
+you must obey me as these do. Let me but
+know that you have spoken one word, even to
+Joyful Star herself, concerning what you have
+seen here to-night, and I will show you how an
+Inca deals with one who dares to disobey him.
+Keep silence and have patience, and perform
+that which you have promised, and you shall
+go back to your own land loaded with gold and
+jewels. Fail, and the fragments of your body
+shall be sent north and south and east and west
+throughout the Land of the Four Regions, and
+your name shall be one of shame in the ears of
+my people for ever.'</p>
+
+<p>For a moment he looked me in the eyes, and
+I saw his lips moving as though he was striving
+to shape some answer to my words. Then his
+face grew grey, and his knees shook as he stood.
+Then I called to Tupac, and bade him bind his
+eyes again and lead him away, and as soon as
+his sight was taken from him I bade the ten
+men who had given up their torches take off
+their ponchos and fill them with as many of the
+golden bars as each one could carry, and when<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span>
+this was done, I ordered all the torches save one
+to be extinguished. This one I took, and went
+with it into the passage where I had left my
+lantern. Then I dashed it against the wall and
+vanished into the darkness.</p>
+
+<p>I took my lantern, and hiding the light carefully,
+went back to the little chamber, where I
+took off my robes and sandals and the imperial
+Llautu, and put them back into the chest. Then
+I put on my mean attire again and went back into
+the Hall of Gold. Signing to the others to follow
+me, I turned the stone door on its pivot again,
+and watched them file past me as before. Then,
+going out last, I closed the portal after me and
+lighted them up the steps with my lantern.</p>
+
+<p>When we all once more stood in the open air by
+the cleft I went to the hole and released the chain.
+Instantly the roar of waters broke out again, and
+I bade them fill the hole up and put turf over it,
+and trample it down and scatter the bushes over
+it; and that being done, we took our way back
+again across the plain towards the fortress, still
+leading Djama blindfold in our midst.</p>
+
+<p>We took him by the gate of Viracocha into the
+fortress, across its upper part, where the three
+crosses stood, and down on to the zigzag road
+which leads into the eastern part of the city, and
+there we unbound his eyes, and I bade him go to
+the house and make ready to receive me early in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span>
+the morning, telling our friends that I should
+arrive with some packages of Indian merchandise
+and metals from one of my mines, for, as I should
+have told you before, I had come to Cuzco in the
+character of an owner of mines who had lived
+long in Europe and had returned to supervise
+the working of my property.</p>
+
+<p>I and Tupac and his companions then went
+back into the hills, and without entering the city
+made our way by twos and threes into the village
+of San Sebastian. We met at Tupac's house, and
+there I explained to them as much of my plans
+and purposes as I thought fit for them to know,
+and showed them that the time was not yet come
+for them to make use of the treasures that I would
+share with them. But to each man I gave two
+pounds' weight of gold to be left in Tupac's care
+till it could be taken into the cities of the south
+and there changed for silver coins. Then I had a
+list made of their names, and promised them, after
+reminding them of their oaths, that when I once
+more sat on the throne of the divine Manco, their
+fidelity should be well remembered.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning we loaded the gold in bales
+of the coca-leaf, great quantities of which are
+taken every day into Cuzco, upon four mules,
+and these I sent to our house while I went back
+with Ullullo and put on my English clothing.
+Then I followed, and found that the bags of coca<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>
+had already arrived. They were carried up to my
+own room, and there, in the presence of Djama
+and Joyful Star, the professor and Francis Hartness,
+I took out the gold ingots and built them up
+in a pyramid before them.</p>
+
+<p>I could see from their amazement that, whether
+from fear or faith, Djama had obeyed me, and said
+nothing of what he had seen during the night.
+As for me, I said but little. I gave them the gold,
+and that day the professor and Djama, acting as
+my agents, sold it to some of the merchants of
+Cuzco as the product of my mines. The price was
+more than twice as much as was needed for the
+hacienda, so with the rest I discharged my debt
+and made myself once more a free man.</p>
+
+<p>There is no need for me to dwell upon our
+dealings with the owner of the hacienda, and therefore
+it will suffice for me to say, before ten days
+more had passed the purchase-money had been
+paid, we had taken up our abode there, and
+installed Joyful Star as housewife, with faithful
+servants chosen by myself from among the
+Children of the Blood. Djama, who had been
+strangely silent and reserved with all of us since
+the lesson I had taught him in the Hall of Gold,
+had taken possession of the chamber which was
+devoted to his uses, and had put all his apparatus
+in order for the great work that was to be done
+there.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>So on the fourteenth day, such was the power
+of my gold and of my longings, all things were
+ready, and at daybreak on the fifteenth day we
+rode at the head of our little mule train out of
+the courtyard of the hacienda on our way to
+the resting-place of Golden Star.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+<h3>CHAPTER IV</h3>
+
+<h3>THE SISTER STARS</h3>
+
+
+<p>For five long days we travelled slowly and toilfully
+on our way from the valley of Cuzco to that
+other where Golden Star lay sleeping beside the
+lake. Over high plains and pleasant valleys,
+through deep, dark gorges and ravines, to whose
+lowest depths the sun but seldom reaches, and
+then but for an hour or two, along narrow pathways
+cut into the living rock on the mountain side,
+with precipices on one hand falling thousands of
+feet into the dark abysses, where the torrents
+roared and foamed, and on the other the great
+rock-walls of the mountain soaring up into the
+sky yet more thousands of feet above us.</p>
+
+<p>I saw the mighty crests of Saljantai and
+Umantai rising snow-crowned from earth to
+heaven, unchanged in their eternal grandeur since
+the long-distant day on which I had last beheld
+them. I rode with saddened heart past the ruins<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span>
+of Lima Tambo, remembering how fair and stately
+a city it had been in the days before the plunderer
+and the oppressor came. We toiled slowly over
+the great, sharp-ridged range which parts the
+waters of the Vilcamayo from those of the
+Apurimac&mdash;the 'Great Speaker'&mdash;then, descending
+again by the gorge of the river which is
+now called the Rio de la Banca, we came to
+the long bridge which swings in mid-air from
+rock to rock across the chasm through which
+the Great Speaker rolls his swift, roaring
+flood.</p>
+
+<p>Its cables were loosened and its floorway
+broken, for, like all things else in the land, the
+Spaniards had suffered it to fall well nigh to
+ruin; and, as I led Joyful Star across it by the
+hand, I thought of what it had been in the olden
+times, when not a rope or a stick was suffered
+to be out of place, and when the Son of the Sun
+had been borne across it in his golden travelling
+litter, with long processions of his adoring people
+going before and behind him, strewing his way
+with flowers, and waking the echoes of these
+gloomy gorges with the melody of their songs
+and laughter.</p>
+
+<p>From here we journeyed on, ever facing the
+setting sun, for two days more, still winding
+higher and higher up into the mountains, until
+at length, on the third evening, I, riding alone<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>
+many yards in front of the others, found the sign
+that I was looking for&mdash;a rock with three seats
+carved on the top of it&mdash;and turned my mule
+from the track and rode over the rough, stony
+ground up the side of the mountain until what
+looked from the road a single rock-built peak
+opened into two. I beckoned to the others to
+follow me, and when they came up I said to the
+professor,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Do you know where you are now? Have you
+ever been here before?'</p>
+
+<p>He looked about him and shook his head,
+saying,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'This may have been the place where we got
+off the road when my mule gave out, but I don't
+recognise it. Do you mean that we are near the
+valley?'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes,' I said. 'Do you not remember seeing
+yonder two peaks from the shore of the lake
+near where you found me?'</p>
+
+<p>He looked at them for a moment, and then
+said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Yes, I remember them; but they don't look
+the same, and I don't believe I could find my
+way back into the valley from here to save my
+life. It's very strange how I can have forgotten
+it so completely.'</p>
+
+<p>I smiled as he said this, knowing that I had
+brought them purposely many miles out of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>
+way by which he had found the valley by
+accident, for I had no desire that the way should
+be known to any but myself and those I had
+chosen from among the remnant of the Children
+of the Blood. Then I bade them follow me
+again, and once more rode on alone ahead, for,
+as you may well believe, I was too full of my
+own thoughts and hopes and fears to be in any
+mood for conversation, even with Joyful Star herself.
+They, too, talked but little, and as we rode
+on in the deepening gloom amid the solemn
+silence and the gaunt grandeur of the mountains,
+their words became fewer and fewer, till at length
+thought took the place of speech, and the silence
+was broken by no sound save the patter of the
+mules' feet and the rattle of stones under their
+iron-shod hoofs.</p>
+
+<p>Hour after hour I led them on, turning from
+valley to valley on the road that was visible only
+to my own eyes, and ever rising higher and higher
+towards the twin peaks that now stood out dark
+and sharp against the starry sky. At last, when
+our watches were nearly marking ten o'clock, I
+stopped before a cliff covered with bushes and
+creeping grasses, and calling Tupac to me, I
+bade him seek for an opening under these.</p>
+
+<p>He groped about among the bushes for a while,
+and then suddenly, with a short cry of surprise,
+he vanished, as it seemed, through the face of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span>
+rock itself. I dismounted and followed him, and
+found him standing behind the bushes, facing a
+square doorway cut in the rock and lined with
+masonry. Behind it, and closing it completely,
+was a great slab of dressed stone. Down the
+sides of the doorway were two square pillars of
+stone, and in the middle of one, to the left hand,
+three little lines had been cut about a finger's
+breadth apart, but so faintly that only one who
+knew they were there could find them.</p>
+
+<p>I stretched a string across from the middle one
+of these to the right-hand pillar, and where the
+string ended in the centre of the pillar I felt with
+my finger-tips and found a little circle about as
+big round as an English two-shilling piece. Tupac
+had in his hand the iron rod that I had used on
+the Rodadero. I took it from him, and, pressing
+the end against the circle, told him to push with
+me, and, to his wonder, the rod sank, seemingly,
+into the solid stone, forcing out a bolt which had
+been fitted so cunningly into the pillar that the
+end of it looked no more than a circle traced on
+the face of it.</p>
+
+<p>When we had pushed the rod in about six inches
+I bade Tupac help me to pull it round towards the
+door. The pillar turned on a central hinge as we
+did so, and the great stone slab swung back by its
+own weight, which we had thus released, opening
+the entrance to a tunnel high enough for a man<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>
+to walk through erect. This tunnel sloped somewhat
+sharply upwards, and looking up it I could
+see, shining in the clear sky beyond the upper
+entrance, the stars that I knew were reflected in
+the still waters of the little lake by which Golden
+Star was sleeping the sleep out of which we had
+come to wake her.</p>
+
+<p>As the passage was not large enough for the
+mules to go through with their burdens, I bade
+my men unload them and carry their loads
+through into the valley. Then we followed, leading
+our own animals by the bridle, and after us
+the cargo-mules were driven through. The load
+of one of them was a long, narrow case of wood
+like that in which the professor had taken my
+own dead body to London, but this was thickly
+and softly padded inside with wool, and lined
+with white linen, and at one end was a little
+pillow of the softest down, on which the head of
+Golden Star would soon be resting.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as we were all standing outside the
+upper mouth of the tunnel I looked at Joyful Star
+and said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Is not this a fitting resting-place even for the
+daughter of kings? Are not the stars bright in
+the heavens and on the bosom of the lake? Are
+not the mountains great, and strong, and silent?
+Do they not guard her couch well, and does not
+the snowy peak of Umantai yonder point the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>
+straight way to the Mansions of the Sun, where
+the soul of Golden Star is even now waiting for
+the arts of your brother to call it back to earth
+as he called mine?'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes,' she said, looking about her, first at the
+stars and then at the vast shapes of the mountains
+which loomed huge and dim on every side. 'Yes,
+Vilcaroya, it is a good place for sleep, but&mdash;is not
+the world beyond a good place to wake in? Have
+<i>you</i> not found it so?'</p>
+
+<p>I caught the gleam of her eyes in the starlight
+as she looked towards me saying this, and, by the
+glory of the Sun, had we stood alone where we
+were, I might have forgotten all save the knowledge
+that I was the lawful lord of all this land,
+and that she was there in the midst of it with
+me. For the instant I had gone back to my old
+life, with all its old-world thoughts and customs,
+and then, before I could answer her, my dreaming
+soul was called back to the present by the
+cold, quiet voice of her brother saying,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'I don't think that very many would find
+the world an unpleasant place to wake in,
+either for the first or second time, if they could
+also wake up lord of illimitable treasures as
+Vilcaroya here has done. But come, Your
+Highness, and you, professor, it is getting late.
+Don't you think it is time to be thinking about
+camping?'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The matter-of-fact words scattered my dreams
+in an instant, and I woke from them into the
+present. I bade Tupac have the animals tethered
+and fed, and the tents we had brought with us
+pitched in the most sheltered place he could find;
+and while they were doing this, and Djama and
+the others were busy seeing that the work was
+done to their satisfaction, I went to Ruth and said&mdash;my
+words, which I strove so hard to keep steady,
+trembling with I know not how many mingled
+passions,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Will Joyful Star come with me and see the
+place where her sister and mine is lying, waiting
+to come forth and greet her?'</p>
+
+<p>'Your sister, Vilcaroya?' she said, turning her face
+up to me so that the starlight shone upon its fairness
+and lost itself in the lustrous depths of her
+eyes. 'Do you mean your sister only&mdash;not&mdash;your&mdash;'</p>
+
+<p>'No,' I said, 'not my wife, for I have thought
+upon your words and pondered them deeply;
+and though they wounded me sorely at first,
+yet now I see that they were wise and just, like
+all the other words that Joyful Star has spoken
+to me. I have learned that lesson, like many
+others which you have taught me. That bridal of
+ours is already to me a dream of the long-lost
+past, the vision of a time that is dead and a
+people that is no more. When Golden Star
+wakes, if she ever does, I will greet her as a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>
+sister and a friend, as one of my own people
+who has come back to me out of my own
+times, and she shall help me in the work that
+I swore with her to do&mdash;but that is all; and I
+will find others of the Blood who shall sit upon
+the restored throne of my ancestors, and be the
+parents of the generations of Incas that shall
+come after me.'</p>
+
+<p>'What do you mean, Vilcaroya?' she said,
+in a voice that was half angry and half fearful.
+'Do you mean&mdash;no, I cannot say it&mdash;for I am
+sure you do not mean that.'</p>
+
+<p>'How could that be?' I answered, guessing
+her meaning. 'Is it not <i>you</i> who have taught
+me the ways and thoughts of the world into
+which I have come back? No, what I mean
+is that I am not the only one now alive in
+whose veins the old blood of the Incas flows.
+Tupac, yonder, is the son of the son of the son of
+that Tupac-Amaru who died torn asunder in the
+square of Cuzco, because he had dared to raise
+the Rainbow Banner in the Land of the Four
+Regions, and called the Children of the Sun
+to revolt against their oppressors. He, more
+blessed than I who am his lord, has both wife
+and child, and if the prophecy is to be fulfiled,
+and I am to reign in the City of the Sun, then
+I will take his firstborn and instruct him in all
+the lore of our people and the duties of their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span>
+ruler, and if he proves worthy he shall wear
+the Llautu after me.'</p>
+
+<p>She looked up at me again as I ceased speaking,
+just one swift, bright glance that seemed to pierce
+to the most secret depths of my soul, and read
+the unuttered thoughts that were hidden there,
+thoughts which I did not dare to speak even
+to myself in the loneliest hour of my musings.
+Then she looked down again, and side by side
+we walked in silence round the shore of the lake
+until I stopped in front of a great black cliff
+that jutted out from the mountain side and hung
+impending over the dark, still waters of the lake.
+I pointed into the black shadows in which its
+base was hidden, and said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'There lies Golden Star, and there I lay beside
+her through all the long years that were to pass
+from the night when I pledged my troth with
+her before the Altar of the Sun until this night
+when I stand with you, Joyful Star, a new being
+in a new world, before her resting-place.'</p>
+
+<p>'Is it really true?' she said, stopping as she
+spoke, and staring straight before her into the
+darkness. 'Is it really true that you, who are
+standing alive and strong here beside me, lay
+there under that great rock for all those years,
+while ten generations of men and women were
+born, and lived and died, and the whole world
+changed again and again? And is the Golden<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>
+Star lying in there now really the Golden Star
+you have told me so much of, and I have thought
+about until she seems to me more like some
+living friend that I have known and loved, than
+a dead body that has been in the grave for more
+than three hundred years? Is it really true,
+Vilcaroya, or have we all only been dreaming
+some wild dream, like that Frankenstein story
+that I was telling you the other day?'</p>
+
+<p>As she spoke she laid her hand for a moment
+upon my arm, as though to satisfy herself that
+I was really made of human flesh and blood,
+and not a phantom standing beside her in the
+starlit darkness.</p>
+
+<p>Scarce knowing what I did, I laid my own
+hand, warm and strong and firm, upon hers. For
+an instant I felt it tremble beneath mine. I
+would have given all the boundless wealth that
+I knew was mine for the courage to close upon
+it a grasp that it could not have escaped if it
+would. My heart seemed to swell as though
+it would burst in my breast, my tingling blood
+ran fire, and wild words rose choking to my
+lips. Then her hand slipped away from under
+mine. Once more I saw her eyes shine in the
+starlight, and then I knew that I had learned
+the last and greatest lesson that Joyful Star
+could teach me.</p>
+
+<p>I knew now why to think of Golden Star as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>
+my wife and my queen, filled me with the same
+untold horror which I had heard that night thrill
+in the tones of her who stood beside me, for
+now I&mdash;the son of a lost race and a long-past
+age&mdash;loved this daughter of the new time. For
+good or evil, for hope or despair, I was hers
+until I went again, and for the last time, into
+the shadows through which I had already passed,
+and then&mdash;yes, there he was, this tall, stalwart,
+golden-haired son of her own race and her own
+time, whose eyes I had seen looking love into
+hers!</p>
+
+<p>He was coming towards us round the lake
+with his long, easy, swinging strides, this man
+who was already my friend, and who would
+one day be the captain of my armies. For one
+blind moment of madness I thought how completely
+I had him and the others in my power;
+of the lonely, unknown valley where we stood;
+of the men who were already my slaves, and who
+looked upon me as a god. I thought, too, of
+the dark, deep waters of the lake, and the secrets
+that they held for me alone. How well they
+could hide others for me, too! What if Golden
+Star never awoke? Would she not be as well
+lying there in the peace of her endless sleep
+as coming back into the world, perhaps to love
+in vain and to suffer as I was doomed to suffer?</p>
+
+<p>The shadowy forms of the mountains began<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span>
+to waver and reel around me; the stars danced
+up and down in the sky, and a red mist seemed to
+swim before my eyes. Then, through the hoarse,
+dull murmur that was sounding in my ears, I
+heard the sweet, low voice of Joyful Star saying,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Ah, Captain Hartness, I suppose you have
+been wondering what had become of us! I am
+afraid I have been neglecting my household
+duties, and you have been attending to them
+for me, but really I could not resist coming here
+with Vilcaroya. Look, that is where Golden Star
+is lying, in a cave under that great rock down
+there where those dark shadows are. Doesn't
+it look cold and lonely and eerie?'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes,' he answered, with a laugh that did not
+sound to me like his own. 'But I don't suppose
+that matters very much now to Her Highness
+any more than it did to Vilcaroya. But, to
+descend to less romantic matters, I have come
+to tell you that the affairs of our temporary
+household are already in order, supper is ready,
+and we are all ravenously hungry, and I suppose
+you are about the same. This mountain air puts
+an edge on one's appetite like a razor's.'</p>
+
+<p>'Supper&mdash;yes, I had forgotten all about it,
+thinking of poor Golden Star lying there all alone
+in the darkness. Of course, I am desperately
+hungry, now that you remind me of it. Come,
+Vilcaroya, I am sure you are hungry too. Another<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>
+night alone won't matter much to poor Golden
+Star after all these years. You can dream of her
+to-night, as I suppose we all shall, and to-morrow
+we shall see her. Oh, how I wonder what she will
+be really like!'</p>
+
+<p>As Joyful Star said this in a voice that was half
+sad and half merry, she turned away towards
+Francis Hartness, and I followed her with some
+light words on my lips and many heavy thoughts
+in my heart, and we walked together to the tents,
+talking of the things that were to be done on the
+morrow.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning I was afoot before the stars
+had begun to pale in the coming dawn. I had
+not slept for two hours together through the
+night, yet, waking and sleeping, many dreams had
+come to me. I had been back to the past among
+my people, living again that strange old life, with
+all its light and colour and gaiety, which was now
+every day becoming more and more like a vision
+that had been told to me by some other dreamer.</p>
+
+<p>I had talked with Golden Star, seeking to teach
+her the lesson that my dear instructress of the
+new time had taught me, and had awakened half
+mad with the perplexities of my divided love&mdash;the
+love of the past that was dead and of the present
+that was alive. I had seen my sister-bride come
+forth out of her tomb to greet me, clothed in her
+bridal robes, with the dust of the grave in her hair<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span>
+and on her face. I had clasped her in my longing
+arms and kissed the dust from her lips, and while
+I yet held her in my embrace her form had grown
+cold and stiff again. Then, in the agony of my
+sorrow, I had strained her to my breast, and,
+under the pressure of my arms, she had crumbled
+in my grasp and fallen, a little heap of grey bones
+and dusty garments, at my feet.</p>
+
+<p>Once more I had awakened with my gasping
+cry of horror still sounding in my ears, and then,
+not daring to seek sleep again, I had risen and
+gone out to watch for the rest of the night before
+her grave under the rock. There they found me
+when they came from the camp at daybreak. I
+went back with them, and our hasty morning meal
+was eaten and drunk almost in silence, for we were
+all too busy with our thoughts to have leisure for
+conversation, and my friends, knowing how much
+that day's work must mean to me, respected my
+unspoken feelings, and left me to the silent
+company of my own hopes and fears.</p>
+
+<p>Breakfast over, we took our lanterns and tools
+and went to the rock, followed by Tupac and two
+of my men carrying the coffin-like case in which
+Golden Star's body was to be laid. Under the
+rock was a long heap of loose stones which the
+professor had wisely piled up in front of the
+upright courses of masonry through which he had
+broken into my resting-place. He scanned them<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>
+eagerly to see if they had been disturbed since his
+visit, and told us that they had not. Then I bade
+Tupac and the men clear them away, which they
+speedily did, laying bare the courses of stone
+behind them, still standing as the professor had
+re-built them after taking out my body.</p>
+
+<p>A few minutes' more work opened a passage
+large enough for a man to walk in, stooping. As
+if by a common instinct they all stepped aside and
+looked at me. I saw what they meant, and,
+turning the light of my lantern into the entrance,
+I walked back, a living man, into the grave where
+I had lain dead while ten generations of men had
+lived and died. I saw the place where I had lain,
+for a few mouldering scraps and shreds of cloth
+and furs still lay where my bed had been. Then
+I flashed my lantern round the walls of the cavern,
+and on the side along which my own couch had
+been spread by Anda-Huillac and his brother
+priests I found what they had told me to seek
+while I was preparing to fulfil the oath that I had
+sworn with Golden Star.</p>
+
+<p>It was a wedge of stone fitted in to a crevice in
+the wall and left rough and jagged at its outer
+end, so that one who did not know its true purpose
+would have taken it to be nothing more than a
+natural projection in the rough side of the cavern.</p>
+
+<p>With a mallet that I had brought with me I
+struck the end of the wedge softly above and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>
+below until it was loosened in its socket. Then,
+standing to one side, I struck it harder. It
+dropped from its place, and the same instant a
+part of the cavern wall swayed outwards and fell
+with a rumbling crash across the floor.</p>
+
+<p>For a moment I stood breathless and motionless
+on the threshold of Golden Star's grave. Then,
+with trembling hands, I turned the light of my
+lantern into the inner chamber, and as the dust
+that the falling stone had raised fell slowly back
+to the ground I saw through the particles dancing
+in the lantern rays the dim outline of a human
+form lying on a couch of skins.</p>
+
+<p>Still, not daring to set a foot within that sacred
+place, I stood in the doorway and let the light
+fall full upon the figure. A glance showed me
+that so far all was well. No profaning hand had
+disturbed the peace and sanctity of her long
+slumber. She lay there as perfect in form and
+feature as she had lain beside me that night in
+the little chamber in the Sanctuary of the Sun.</p>
+
+<p>Then I thought of Joyful Star. Hers should
+be the first eyes after mine to look upon that dead
+loveliness. So I turned and went out to where
+they were all standing round the outer entrance,
+and, taking no notice of the others, replying
+nothing to their half-whispered questions, I went
+to Ruth and, holding out my hand for her, said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Come, Joyful Star, and see the sister that the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>
+Lord of Life made long ago in the image that
+you now wear.'</p>
+
+<p>She said nothing, but, with a look of wondering
+question, put her hand into mine and I turned to
+lead her to the entrance.</p>
+
+<p>Djama, with a sudden exclamation, took a step
+forward as though he would stop her, but Francis
+Hartness put his hand on his shoulder, saying,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'I think you had better let them go alone.
+There is no fear for your sister with all of us
+here so near; and if what Vilcaroya says is true,
+why should she not see her first?'</p>
+
+<p>Djama drew back, though with no very good
+grace, and I went into the inner chamber, helping
+Ruth over the fallen stones. Then I flashed my
+light on Golden Star's face and said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Did I not tell you truly that the Lord of Life
+made her in the same image as yours?'</p>
+
+<p>I heard her utter a little gasping cry of wonder,
+and then I saw her slip forward on to her knees
+beside Golden Star's pillow, and as the light fell
+upon the two faces&mdash;the living and the dead&mdash;the
+likeness between them was so perfect, save for
+the golden gleam of Joyful Star's hair and the
+lustrous blackness of the tresses that framed my
+dead love's face, that they seemed to me as
+sisters, one watching over the slumbers of the
+other.</p>
+
+<p>'It is more than wonderful, and it is surely more<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span>
+than chance!' said Joyful Star, in a tone that
+was almost a whisper, and turning towards me
+her white face and the eyes into which the loving
+tears of pity were already springing. 'Why did
+you not tell me of this before, Vilcaroya?'</p>
+
+<p>'Because,' I said, 'the arts of the priests might
+not have done for her what they did for me, and
+I might have found here that which your eyes
+should never have looked upon. But now&mdash;is she
+not beautiful, even as you are?'</p>
+
+<p>The bright blood came swiftly back into her
+cheeks as I said this, and, without answering me
+she stooped, and with gentle hands put back the
+tresses from Golden Star's forehead, and, bending
+over her, laid her warm, sweet lips on the cold,
+smooth brow that I had last seen crowned with
+the marriage-garland in our bridal chamber in
+the Sanctuary.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+<h3>CHAPTER V</h3>
+
+<h3>HOW DJAMA DID HIS WORK</h3>
+
+
+<p>I can tell you but little of what followed the
+taking of the body of Golden Star back to the
+hacienda, for neither I nor any of the others,
+save only Djama himself, witnessed the secret
+mysteries of his strange and fearful art. I could
+tell you of their wonder when, after I had bidden
+Tupac bring the case into the cavern and he
+and I and Joyful Star had gently and reverently
+raised her from her couch and laid her in it, we
+carried her out into the daylight. How they
+stood around the open case and looked, half in
+wonder and half in fear, from her dead, cold face
+to the living likeness that was bending over it.
+How they praised her beauty and marvelled at
+the forgotten arts that had preserved so perfect
+a likeness of life in one who for more than three
+centuries and a half had neither drawn breath
+nor known a thrill of feeling.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>I could tell you, too, with what loving and
+anxious care that precious burden was borne over
+plain and valley and mountain in a litter that we
+had brought with us for the purpose, and how at
+last we laid her in all her calm, unconscious loveliness
+on the great table which stood in the middle
+of the chamber in which Djama was to do his
+work. But here my story must cease for the time,
+for Djama made it an unalterable condition that
+he should do the work that only he could do
+in absolute solitude. Only thus, he said, would
+he, or could he, perform the task upon whose
+issue the completion of Golden Star's life on earth,
+if it was ever to be completed, depended.</p>
+
+<p>He told us plainly that a single interruption
+should be fatal to her and all our hopes. He
+would not even permit his sister to enter the
+room until he should call for her. I was bitterly
+loath to yield&mdash;to leave her who had been so dear
+to me powerless and unconscious in the hands of
+a man whom I had already learned to hate,
+although not only did I owe my own new life
+to him, but on him alone rested all my hopes of
+seeing Golden Star once more restored to life and
+health, and the beauty that had been peerless ages
+before Joyful Star had reached the perfection of
+her young womanhood.</p>
+
+<p>How did I know what unholy arts he might
+use to rekindle the long-quenched life-flame in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>
+that fair shape of hers? How could I do more
+than guess vaguely and fearfully at the awful
+mysteries that might be enacted in the silence
+and solitude of that fast-closed chamber in which,
+day and night, he would remain alone with her,
+the living with the dead, like the potter with his
+clay, until it should please him to use the dreadful
+power that was his, and call her back from death
+to life, perhaps&mdash;and oh! how horrible the thought
+was to me!&mdash;to be the slave of the man who,
+by his unearthly art, had made himself the master
+of her new life.</p>
+
+<p>Yet, think of it, brood over it as I would, there
+was no help for it. He, and he alone, could exert
+the power that would loose the bonds of death
+in which she lay enchained. Unless he had his
+will she would remain as she was, perhaps until
+the Last Day came, and the Lord of Life called
+all his children, living and dead, back to the
+Mansions of the Sun; and so we yielded, since
+there was nothing else to be done.</p>
+
+<p>On the evening of the day that we returned
+to the hacienda, he busied himself making the
+last preparations for his work. Then he came out
+of the room and locked the door, and, after eating
+his dinner almost in silence, went to bed, taking
+the key with him, and telling us that on no
+account must he be awakened. All that night
+and the next day and the next night we neither<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span>
+saw nor heard anything of him; but on the morning
+of the second day, the door of his bedroom was
+open and his bed was empty, but the door of
+the room in which Golden Star lay was still
+fast shut and locked.</p>
+
+<p>How the time passed I cannot tell you. Joyful
+Star, seemingly more self-possessed than any of
+us, took up her household duties, and went about
+them with a quick, quiet industry that surprised
+and shamed us. But we three men wandered
+about aimlessly, now alone and now together,
+communing with our own thoughts or talking
+with each other always of the same thing&mdash;of
+what was going on in that chamber, where, as
+we knew from the faint sounds that every now
+and then came through the closed door, the
+master of the arts of life and death was performing
+his awful task.</p>
+
+<p>The first day and night came and went, then
+the second, and still the door remained closed,
+and Djama gave no sign. But the professor
+sought to comfort me and soothe our impatience
+by telling me how long the same work had lasted
+before I was recalled to life. I had sought also
+to distract my thoughts by talking with him and
+Francis Hartness of all that was to be done for
+the deliverance of my people, and the realisation
+of my dreams of empire when Djama's task should
+be over.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>But it was useless, for fear and suspense kept
+my mind bound as though with invisible chains,
+and, do what I would, my thoughts went back
+and back again to dwell upon the unknown secrets
+of that closed and silent room. Then I tried to
+draw Joyful Star into conversation about the
+thoughts which I knew were filling both our
+hearts; but though she listened to me she would
+say nothing herself, and I soon saw that with
+her the subject was forbidden, and the work not
+to be talked of till, in success or failure, it was
+ended.</p>
+
+<p>For the first two nights no sleep came to my
+eyes, but the third night my weariness was too
+much for me, and scarcely had my aching head
+fallen on the pillow than slumber, filled with
+broken dreams and visions of things unutterably
+horrible, came upon me. In the midst of one
+of them&mdash;I know not what it was, save that no
+human words could paint the horror of it&mdash;I
+woke up with a cold, damp hand upon my shoulder,
+and heard Djama's voice, hoarse and trembling,
+saying to me,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Get up and dress, Vilcaroya; I have something
+for you to see and to hear. Make haste, for there
+is not much time to be lost.'</p>
+
+<p>I looked up, and saw him standing by my bed
+with a light in his hand, ghastly pale, and staring
+at me with black, burning eyes, which seemed,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span>
+as they looked into mine, to take my will a
+prisoner, and draw my very soul towards him.</p>
+
+<p>'What is it?' I said, in the broken words of
+one just roused from sleep. 'Is it over&mdash;have
+you succeeded? Is she alive? Have you come
+to take me to her?'</p>
+
+<p>'The work is not done yet,' he said. 'I have
+come for you to see it finished. Make haste,
+I tell you, if you want to see what you have
+been waiting so long for.'</p>
+
+<p>I needed no second bidding. I sprang out of
+bed, and dressed myself with swift, though
+trembling, hands. Then I thrust my feet into a
+pair of soft slippers, such as Djama himself wore,
+and then I followed him from the room out on
+to the balcony that was built round the house
+over the inner courtyard. We went down into
+the court and into the dining-room, and through
+that down a long, narrow passage out of which
+opened the room that had held all our hope
+and fear and wonder for so long.</p>
+
+<p>He unlocked the door, and motioned to me
+to go in. He followed me, and locked the door
+behind us. I looked about the room, which was
+dimly lit by two shaded lamps. The table on which
+we had laid Golden Star was empty. Many
+strangely-shaped things, that I knew not the use
+of were scattered about. The air was hot and
+moist, and filled with a faint, sweet odour. At<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>
+the opposite end from the door, which was covered
+by a screen, I saw in one corner a bath&mdash;from
+which white, steamy fumes were rising&mdash;and in
+the other stood a little, narrow, curtained bed,
+such as I had first awakened in.</p>
+
+<p>Djama caught me by the arm, and half led,
+half dragged me to the bedside. Then with his
+other hand he parted the curtains and pointed
+to the pillow. I felt his burning eyes fixed upon
+me as I looked and saw the sweet fair face of
+Golden Star lying in the midst of her dusky
+tresses, which lay spread out on the pillow,
+cleansed from the dust of the grave, and soft
+and shimmering as silk.</p>
+
+<p>I started forward, and, with my face close to
+hers, scanned every feature, and listened, but in
+vain, for the soft sound of her breathing. Her
+skin was clear and moist; I could see the thin,
+blue veins in her eyelids, and the moisture on her
+lips. I laid my hand gently on her cheek. It
+was soft and smooth, but still cold as death.</p>
+
+<p>Then a fierce, unreasoning anger came into my
+heart. I sprang back and seized Djama by the
+shoulders, and, looking with fierce, hot eyes into
+his, I whispered hoarsely,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Have you brought me here to mock me? She
+is not alive&mdash;she is but a fair image of death.
+Tell me that you have failed and I will strangle
+you, liar and cheat that you are!'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>He looked back steadily into my eyes and
+smiled, and said, in a voice that had not the
+slightest tremor of fear,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'If I fail you may strangle me, and welcome;
+but I have not failed yet, Vilcaroya. It is for
+<i>you</i> to say now whether Golden Star is to
+awake or not.'</p>
+
+<p>'What do you mean?' I said, letting go my
+grip on his shoulders, and recoiling a pace from
+him.</p>
+
+<p>'You shall hear what I mean,' he said. 'But
+you must hear patiently and quietly, and think
+well on what I say, for in your answer to what I
+ask you will also answer the question whether
+Golden Star is to awake to life and health, or to
+be put back in that case yonder and buried, to rot
+away into corruption like any other corpse.'</p>
+
+<p>'Say on, I am listening,' I said. My lips were
+dry, and the grip of a deadly fear seemed to be
+clutching at my heart and draining the last drop
+of blood from it.</p>
+
+<p>'Listen well, then,' he said. He paused for a
+moment as though to collect his thoughts, and
+make words ready to express them. Then he
+went on. 'You see, I have undone the work
+that your priests did three hundred and sixty
+years ago. Your Golden Star is now neither
+dead nor alive. She is lying on the narrow
+borderland that divides life from death, and for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>
+an hour from the time I left this room she will
+remain there&mdash;if I choose. At the end of that
+time she will pass beyond the border, and no
+earthly power, not even mine, could call her back.
+But at any time before the hour has expired I
+can complete the work that I have begun. I can
+bring the breath back to her body; I can set the
+blood flowing through her veins. You shall see
+her eyes open and her lips smile, and you shall
+hear her speak to you as though she had only
+awakened out of sleep. This I can do, and I
+will, if you will do what I am going to ask
+you.'</p>
+
+<p>'What is it?' I whispered. 'Tell me quickly
+that I may know. You are master here. I can
+only listen and obey.'</p>
+
+<p>He smiled as I said this, a smile that it was
+not good for an honest man to look upon, and
+went on, speaking now rapidly and earnestly,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'When I did this work for you, I did it as a
+student and a man of science, who was making
+the greatest experiment of his life. I believed
+that I had solved one, at least, of the secrets of
+life and death. I watched and noted every change
+that came over you. I marked every symptom
+and measured every step of your return from
+death into life, but I did all this as a student
+inquiring into the mysteries of Nature, as an
+observer watching the working out of a great<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>
+problem, and with no more feeling than if I had
+been dissecting a corpse. But this time it has
+been different. I began this work with the cold
+and passionless deliberation of one who toils only
+to learn and to succeed. But afterwards&mdash;come
+here and look at her, and you will understand
+me better. She is a woman, and she is beautiful,
+and here, for two days and two nights, she has
+lain under my hands and my eyes. I have given
+her beauty back to her, and if that beauty is to
+live it must be mine. Do you understand me,
+Vilcaroya?'</p>
+
+<p>What could I say, what could I do to answer
+this man whom I hated, and yet who held the
+power of life and death for Golden Star in his
+hands? The vague fear that had smitten me
+when he began to speak had taken its worst
+shape now. I looked at him with hate and horror
+staring out of my eyes. Again and again I tried
+to speak, but my lips only moved and trembled
+without making any word. But he read my
+thoughts, and smiled that evil smile of his again
+and said, in a low voice which seemed to have the
+echo of a laugh in it,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'I see you hate me, as I have often thought
+you did, and that is why I have brought you
+here to tell you this. That is why I would not
+complete my work till you had sworn, as you yet
+shall do if you would see Golden Star alive again,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span>
+that what I have brought back out of the grave
+shall be mine and mine only.'</p>
+
+<p>These last words of his let loose my anger and
+unchained my tongue. I gripped him by the
+arm, and in a whisper that had a strange hissing
+sound, I said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'But that is <i>not</i> all! What do you think your
+life would be worth if you left her to die? Have
+you forgotten what I said to you in the cave
+beneath the Rodadero? Do you not know that
+this very night I could have you carried, gagged
+and bound, over the mountains and back to the
+grave that we took Golden Star out of? Do you
+not know that I could lay you there with food and
+drink beside you that you could not touch, and a
+lamp whose light would show them to you, and
+then wall up the entrance again, and leave you
+there to think of your fate till you went mad and
+died of hunger and thirst? Do you not know that
+I could chain you to a rock and light a fire about
+you, and watch you burn limb by limb till you
+shrieked your life out in lingering agony? Would
+this be better than going back to your own land
+loaded with treasure that would make you richer
+than you have ever dreamed of being? Now, <i>I</i>
+have spoken, and it is for you to answer me.'</p>
+
+<p>Before I had done speaking he had taken a
+chair and seated himself astride it, with his arms
+resting on the back and his chin on his arms, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span>
+was looking at me with white, set face, and steady,
+dark, shining eyes. When I had finished there
+was a little silence between us, and then he spoke,
+and the first time I ever felt fear in either of my
+lives was when I heard those cold, cruel, carefully-measured
+words of his,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'That is well said, Vilcaroya. I am glad you
+have spoken plainly, for now we understand each
+other; but I don't think you quite realise the
+difference between your power and mine. You
+have, or think you have, the brute force, the
+strength of numbers, and the slavish devotion of
+your people on your side, and you threaten to
+use that power to put me to a lingering and
+torturing death unless I withdraw my demands
+and do as you wish me. In that, however, you
+are quite wrong. I am as much the master of
+my own life as I was once of yours, and still am
+of Golden Star's. Without moving hand or foot
+I could kill myself as I sit here before you, so
+your threats of torture are nothing more than
+empty words. It is only a matter of simple life
+or death. If I live, Golden Star will live. If I
+die, she will never draw the breath of life&mdash;but
+what I have said, I have said. She shall only
+live as my promised wife, bound to me by the
+most sacred oath that you can swear. You cannot
+consummate your own marriage with her,
+because in the modern world that is impossible.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span>
+You are refusing simply because, for some reason
+or other, you dislike me personally, but I don't
+propose that that shall stand in my way. As
+for your treasures, their value has utterly changed
+for me. A week ago, I frankly confess that I
+would have sold my soul, if I thought I had one,
+for them. Now, without her, they would only
+make the world a golden mockery to me, for I
+tell you, Vilcaroya, that I, who have never loved
+living woman yet, love that beautiful shape of
+inanimate flesh as that old sculptor we have told
+you of loved his statue. Every hour that I have
+been alone in this room with her this strange
+love of mine has grown. First it was only scientific
+curiosity, then physical admiration, then
+something else. I don't know what it is, for it
+is beyond the reach of my analysis, but I know
+enough of it to call it love, and I tell you it is
+such love as only a man of my nature and pursuits
+is capable of. Unsatisfied, it would consume
+me and kill me, and I would rather die quickly
+than slowly. Now&mdash;once more&mdash;shall Golden
+Star and I live or die?'</p>
+
+<p>How was I to answer such a speech as this?
+I heard him in silence to the end, my eyes held
+fast by his, and my spirit sinking as though
+beaten down by the pitiless force of those cold
+words of his. And in the meantime a great
+truth had been dawning in my mind. Force<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>
+had ceased to rule in this new world, and intellect
+had taken its throne. I was the inferior
+of this man, whose trained mind was the heir
+of the generations that had toiled and fought
+while I had slept. I was little better than a
+savage before him, and I knew it, and he knew
+it, and, bitter as the thought was to me, yet it
+was only the truth. I was conquered, and
+a new gleam in his eyes told me that he
+had read my thoughts before I had spoken
+them.</p>
+
+<p>Then, while I stood hesitating before him, his
+white, hard-set face softened, and his lips melted
+into a smile that was almost as sweet as a
+woman's. It was that that saved me, for it reminded
+me of Ruth, and the recollection of her
+told me that I loved even as Djama did. The
+very thought of her put new blood into my
+heart. The words of yielding and submission
+died unuttered on my lips. I raised my head,
+which I had bowed down in dejection, and
+looked at him steadily again. Then I said
+slowly, and in the voice of a man who does not
+speak twice,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'I have thought, and I will speak for the last
+time. I will swear by the sacred glory of the
+Lord of Light that Golden Star shall be yours,
+upon two conditions.'</p>
+
+<p>'Conditions!' said he, bringing his dark brows<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span>
+down till they made a straight black line over
+his eyes. 'What are they?'</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 394px;"><a name="The_dagger-point_dropped_till_it_was_within_an_inch_of_Golden_Stars_breast" id="The_dagger-point_dropped_till_it_was_within_an_inch_of_Golden_Stars_breast"></a>
+<img src="images/illus3.jpg" width="394" height="600" alt="The dagger-point dropped till it was within an inch of Golden Star&#39;s breast." title="Am I only dreaming that the death-sleep is over?" />
+<span class="caption">The dagger-point dropped till it was within an inch of Golden Star&#39;s breast.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>'These,' I said. 'You love and I love. First,
+then, you must win the love of Golden Star, and,
+secondly, you must give me your sister, Joyful
+Star, if I can win her love.'</p>
+
+<p>'My sister Ruth to <i>you</i>! Is that your earnest,
+Vilcaroya, or are you only trying my patience?'</p>
+
+<p>The bitter, coldly-spoken words cut into my
+soul as the lash of a whip cuts into the flesh. I
+could have slain him as he sat there sneering at
+me, but it was a time for words, not deeds; and
+so, mastering my anger as best I could, I took
+two swift strides to Golden Star's bedside, and,
+snatching my dagger out of the sheath of the
+belt which I had put on when I had dressed, I
+turned and faced him, and said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'I am not jesting. As you love I love, and by
+the glory and majesty of my Father the Sun I tell
+you if you do not say yes I will do with this
+dagger what all your art will never repair, and
+then, if I must do that, I will kill you too; and
+before to-morrow night has passed Joyful Star
+shall be with me where none can find her. Now,
+what is your answer&mdash;yes, or no?'</p>
+
+<p>He looked at me and then at the dagger hanging
+in my hand, point downwards, over the breast
+of Golden Star. Then his eyes fell upon the still
+loveliness of her face. He knew that if he moved<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span>
+the dagger would fall. His face, flushed a moment
+before, grew grey and pale again at the sound of
+my words, and then I saw that he had not lied
+to me when he said that his life would be worthless
+without her. Twice, thrice, his lips moved
+without shaping a word. Then the words came.
+They were dry and broken and trembling, for
+in the strength of my own love I had now conquered
+my conqueror, and he said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Yes, since it must be so. My sister for your
+sister. Well, I suppose it's a fair exchange. We
+hate each other, you and I, but that's an accident
+of fate. Take away your dagger. I know when
+I am beaten, and I am beaten now. Will you
+swear that oath of yours again?'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes,' I said, 'and you?'</p>
+
+<p>I still kept the dagger within a span of Golden
+Star's heart, for I still had but little trust in his
+faith. He rose from his chair, throwing it over as
+he did so, and stood up and faced me, saying,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'There is no need for oaths either from you or
+me. We have both too much to lose to break
+faith. Put up your dagger and come away, and
+in ten minutes from now you shall hear Golden
+Star draw the first breath of her new life, and
+see her eyes open and look at you. That would
+be worth more than any oath I could swear,
+wouldn't it?'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes,' I said, 'but that is not all or enough. If<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>
+you broke faith with me after that, I should have
+to shed blood&mdash;my sister's and yours. Now I need
+only make her life impossible. I will stop here.
+Go you and wake your sister and bring her here.
+Then we will say more.'</p>
+
+<p>'Bring Ruth here!' he cried, staring at me as
+though he wished, as no doubt he did, that the
+fierce light in his eyes could blast and wither me
+where I stood. 'Bring her here to see what no
+human eyes but mine have ever seen. Bring her
+here to listen to what you have said&mdash;and if her,
+why not Lamson and Hartness as well?'</p>
+
+<p>'You may bring all, if you please,' I said, 'but
+Joyful Star must come, no matter what she hears
+or sees. I have spoken&mdash;now go, or Golden Star
+shall never wake again.'</p>
+
+<p>He took a half pace towards me, with clenched
+hands and set teeth, crouching like a mountain
+lion about to spring on its prey. The dagger
+point dropped till it was only an inch from
+Golden Star's breast. If he had made another
+step I would have driven it home. He read in
+my eyes that I would do so, and he stopped.
+Then he hissed a curse at me through his clenched
+teeth, and turned and walked away towards the
+door. As he reached it he looked back, and saw
+me still standing there with the dagger ready to
+do the work that could never be undone. I
+saw his lips move, but heard no sound.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Then he unlocked the door, went out, and
+locked it after him, leaving me there alone with
+my dead sister-love, whose new life, with all its
+possibilities of love and happiness, or hate and
+misery, I had thrown into the balance of Fate
+in the game that I was playing against him to
+win that other love which had now become tenfold
+more dear to me.</p>
+
+<p>When he had gone I took his chair and put it
+by the side of the bed and sat down, still holding
+my bare dagger in my hand and looking on Golden
+Star's dead loveliness, wondering what it would be
+like when the sunshine of her new life should shine
+upon it, and on whom her first glance would fall,
+or whose name be the first that her lips would
+speak, and as I sat and watched and waited it
+seemed to me as though the ghosts of those long
+dead were taking shape and ranging themselves
+about the bed of her re-awakening as they had
+done about the bed of her falling asleep and
+mine.</p>
+
+<p>I saw Anda-Huillac and his brother priests of
+the Sun standing about me, gazing at me and at
+her with sad and dreamy eyes, like phantoms of
+the past looking upon the realities of the present.
+Then the shape of Anda-Huillac seemed to glide
+towards me. His ghostly eyes looked into mine,
+and a smile of pity and reproach moved his pale
+lips. I felt a cold, soft hand laid upon mine, my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span>
+grasp relaxed and the dagger fell ringing to the
+floor.</p>
+
+<p>The sound awoke me, and my vision vanished.
+How long it had lasted, or whether it was a vision
+of sleep or waking, I know not, but I was awake
+now for I heard the door creek on its hinges. I
+picked the dagger up again and started to my
+feet, and, still guarding Golden Star's bed, I
+turned and faced Djama as he came in, followed
+by the professor and Francis Hartness, with Joyful
+Star between them.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+<h3>CHAPTER VI</h3>
+
+<h3>THE WAKING OF GOLDEN STAR</h3>
+
+
+<p>'There is your royal, would-be lover, Ruth!
+Come, if you don't believe me, you can hear from
+his own lips that upon you, and you alone, depends
+Golden Star's return to life. Is not that
+so, Your Highness?'</p>
+
+<p>It was Djama who said this, and as he said
+it, he caught Joyful Star by the hand and half
+led, half dragged her towards me from between
+the other two. But before he had come half the
+length of the room, Francis Hartness had overtaken
+him in a few swift strides. I saw his hand
+fall heavily on his shoulder, and with his other
+hand he took Ruth's out of his. His blue eyes
+were nearly black with anger, and his bronzed
+face was grey and set and pale with the passion
+that his strong will was holding back, and his
+voice was low and clear, and vibrating like the
+sound of a distant bell when he spoke and said,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'I can't stand that, Djama. Are you forgetting
+that your sister is a woman, and that
+you have brought her into the presence of
+the dead?'</p>
+
+<p>'You must be mad, Laurens!' said Joyful Star,
+before her brother could reply. 'Surely this
+dreadful work of yours has turned your brain.
+Vilcaroya, what does all this mean? Is Golden
+Star dead or alive? Ah, how beautiful she is
+now! No, surely she cannot be dead!'</p>
+
+<p>She had broken away from both her brother
+and Francis Hartness, and as she said the last
+words she was leaning over Golden Star's pillow,
+softly stroking her hair; and then she stooped
+lower and kissed her forehead. Then the others
+came up to the bedside, Francis Hartness and
+Djama in front, and the professor standing silent
+and wondering behind them.</p>
+
+<p>'If Djama won't speak, will you, Vilcaroya?'
+said Hartness, looking at me with eyes that were
+still angry. 'What is that dagger in your hand
+for, and what is the meaning of this story that
+he has been telling me?'</p>
+
+<p>'The meaning is of life or death,' I said.
+'Laurens Djama will not give Golden Star's
+life back to her if I will not swear to give her
+to him when she lives again, and I have sworn
+that he shall not restore her to life unless he
+swears to give Joyful Star to me, for I love<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span>
+her, and will have neither life nor empire without
+her.'</p>
+
+<p>As I listened to my own voice saying these
+bold words, it seemed to me as though another
+were speaking, for, even in that hot moment of
+passion and desperate resolve, I could scarce believe
+them mine. For the instant, I thought
+Hartness would have struck me down where I
+stood, nor could I have used my dagger against
+him, for he was a man and I loved him, though
+I saw now that we both loved the same woman.
+But before either of us could move, Ruth had
+risen erect and come between us, her cheeks
+burning with shame and her eyes aglow with
+anger.</p>
+
+<p>'What!' she said, 'Laurens give me to you,
+Vilcaroya! Don't you know yet that no one
+can give an English girl away except herself,
+and that she only gives herself to the man she
+chooses of her own free will? Do you think I
+am a slave or a human chattel to be bartered
+away like that? Nonsense! And you, Captain
+Hartness, don't look so fiercely at Vilcaroya.
+Remember that he is your friend and mine, or
+has been, and has not the same ideas as we
+have. If he had&mdash;'</p>
+
+<p>'He has,' I said, breaking in upon her speech,
+'since Joyful Star has spoken. He is not her
+lover but her slave, and she has shamed him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span>
+I will eat the words that should never have
+been spoken. Let Golden Star live! I will
+keep my oath and ask nothing in return.'</p>
+
+<p>So the savage within me was tamed, and I, who
+but a few minutes before had been ready to take
+two lives at the prompting of a single word,
+dropped my dagger and stood with bowed head,
+humble as a chidden child before her whose
+lightest word was then my most sacred law. I
+raised my eyes and looked at her to see if my
+words had pleased her. As our eyes met she
+gave me a glance that I would have died to
+win from her, and then, pushing me and Francis
+Hartness gently aside, yet with a force that neither
+of us could have resisted, she took her brother by
+the arm and, leading him to the bedside with one
+hand, she laid the other on Golden Star's brow,
+and said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Laurens, can you really bring her back to life?'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes,' he answered, and I could see that he
+did not dare to raise his eyes to hers, 'but&mdash;'</p>
+
+<p>'But you will only do it for a price, you think.
+For shame! Is that the way you would use
+this terrible power that you possess? Is my
+brother so mean a creature as that? You love
+her, you say, even as she lies there, neither
+dead nor alive? Well, when she lives, she will
+be worthy of any man's love, but only of a
+man's, Laurens, and you would not be a man,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>
+with all your learning and power, if you insisted
+on so mean an advantage as your skill gives
+you. Do you mean to tell me that you can
+look on such a beauty as that, knowing that you
+can restore it to life, and yet ask a price before
+you will do it? Come, Laurens, that is not
+like your old self. Use your power with the
+same generosity that it has been given to you,
+and then win Golden Star like a man if you
+can.'</p>
+
+<p>Where my strength had been vanquished, her
+sweet wisdom conquered. The man who had
+laughed at my threats, and told me without a
+quiver in his voice how he could, and would,
+slay himself rather than I should do what he
+knew I could do, stood humbled and abashed
+before the righteous and yet gently-spoken reproach
+of her who was pleading for the life of
+a sister woman.</p>
+
+<p>I saw Djama's hands meet behind his back,
+and his fingers begin to twine about each other.
+I saw him look from Ruth to Golden Star, from
+the living woman who was his sister to her lifeless
+counterpart. Then came over him one of those
+swift changes of mood which we had so often seen
+before. All the cold cruelty of his long-chained-up
+passion vanished. His face, from being stone,
+became flesh again. The fierce glitter, as of a
+sword's point, died out of his eyes, and they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>
+grew warm and soft again, and his voice was
+almost as sweet and gentle as Ruth's, and strangely
+like it, too, as he answered her and said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'You are right, Ruth. I was not myself. I
+was a brute, unworthy either of love or power.
+Let her die! Good God, I would die myself a
+thousand times rather than do that! I must have
+been out of my senses even to think of such a
+crime for a moment, but if you were a man and
+had lived through what I have lived through
+for the last two days and nights, you would
+understand me, and perhaps forgive me. Yes,
+she shall live. How could I ever have thought
+of letting her die!'</p>
+
+<p>Then he rose from his half-stooping posture
+over the bed, and came to where I stood at
+the foot, and, with his hand outstretched and a
+smile on his lips, said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'You have heard what I have just said,
+Vilcaroya. You have withdrawn your conditions;
+now I will take back mine. It is no use for
+you and me to be enemies. We have had our
+fight, and I confess myself beaten. Now let us
+try to be friends for Ruth's sake and Golden
+Star's, and I promise you that to-morrow morning
+you shall be telling her the story of your
+resurrection and her own.'</p>
+
+<p>For a moment I stared at him in, speechless
+wonder, striving to understand how it could be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>
+that those eyes, which had, but a short time
+before, been glaring hate at me, could now be
+looking so kindly and frankly into mine; and
+how those lips, which had just been sneering so
+coldly and cruelly alike at my love and my
+hate, could shape such friendly and honest-sounding
+words. Then I looked at Ruth,
+asking her with my eyes what she would have
+me do, and in instant obedience to what I saw
+took Djama's hand in mine and said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'So be it! The evil in our hearts has spoken,
+now let the good that is there speak, and let
+us be friends; and, when Golden Star awakes,
+with my lips she shall bless you and her who
+has made peace between us where there was
+strife.'</p>
+
+<p>'Miss Ruth, you really must allow me to
+congratulate you on your success as a peacemaker,'
+said the professor, speaking now for the
+first time since he had come into the room,
+and coming forward to where Joyful Star still
+stood by the bedside. 'It would have been ten
+thousand pities if this&mdash;ah&mdash;this little affair had
+ended any other way, for all of the exquisitely
+perfect subjects&mdash;'</p>
+
+<p>'<i>Subjects</i>, professor?' said Ruth, interrupting
+him with a laugh. 'Do you venture to call
+Golden Star a subject, just as you do those
+awful things in your dissecting-rooms? Look at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>
+her&mdash;a <i>subject</i> indeed! Don't call her that
+again in my hearing, please!'</p>
+
+<p>'Oh, ah, of course, I beg your pardon a
+thousand times, and Her Highness's too. Really,
+I spoke quite thoughtlessly and most improperly.'
+he answered, laughing at her mock displeasure,
+'And now, Djama, since we have had two
+declarations of love and a peacemaking, don't
+you think it would be cruel to keep Her Highness
+waiting any longer on the threshold of her new
+life? Come, Hartness, you and I have no more
+business here at present. Don't you think we
+had better go and wait somewhere else for
+the working of the miracle?'</p>
+
+<p>'Just what I was going to say,' replied
+Hartness, who had gone away a little distance
+from the bed while we were talking, and had
+been standing by the table, seeming to examine
+the strange instruments that were scattered about
+it. 'Of course the doctor will wish to finish his
+work alone.'</p>
+
+<p>'May not Vilcaroya and I stay, Laurens?'
+asked Joyful Star, looking at him with appealing
+eyes. 'You know it will be much better
+for her to see another woman by her when she
+awakes, and then she will recognise Vilcaroya,
+and that will tell her that she is among friends.'</p>
+
+<p>But Djama shook his head and said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'No, Ruth, not yet. There is something else<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span>
+to be done before that&mdash;something, well, something
+that only a medical man ought to see or
+do, and you really must leave me to do it
+alone. You forget, it is not merely a matter
+of waking. She is not alive yet; but if you will
+leave me alone for about half-an-hour, I promise
+you that I will call you and Vilcaroya back before
+she actually wakes.'</p>
+
+<p>'Very well,' she said, moving away from
+the bedside. 'I don't want to pry into your
+mysteries.' Then she turned to me, and said,
+with a faint smile on her lips, 'Vilcaroya, come
+into the dining-room, I have something to say
+to you.'</p>
+
+<p>She went down the room after the professor
+and Francis Hartness, and I followed her with
+beating heart and anxious thoughts, wondering
+what new lesson it was she was about to
+teach me.</p>
+
+<p>Djama closed and locked the door after us.
+She led the way to the dining-room, where
+there was a light burning. It was empty, for
+the others, hearing what she had said to me,
+had gone out into the courtyard. Then she
+turned and faced me with her back to the
+light; but in spite of that I could see that her
+eyes were bright, and her fair face flushed as
+she said to me in a low voice that trembled
+a little,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Vilcaroya, I am going to forget everything
+that was said in the room yonder, and&mdash;and
+you must forget it too. It was no time or
+place for such things to be said, and you and
+Laurens were not yourselves when you said
+them. If you do not forget them, we cannot
+be friends any more. You understand me,
+don't you?'</p>
+
+<p>Gentle and sweetly spoken as the words were,
+they fell upon my heart like snow upon a
+fainting flame; yet I felt that, like all her
+words, they were true and just. I crossed my
+hands on my breast with one of my old-world
+gestures, and, standing so before her with bowed
+head, I said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'The will of Joyful Star is my law. Let
+what I spoke in my madness be forgotten as
+you have said. Who am I that I should say
+such things?&mdash;a poor savage that has wandered
+from his own world into hers, where he is a
+stranger!'</p>
+
+<p>'No, not a savage, Vilcaroya. You must
+never say that word again. How could Golden
+Star's brother be a savage? How could I&mdash;but
+there, we have said enough for the present.
+We have other things to think of now.'</p>
+
+<p>With that she turned away and sat down in
+a long, low chair, resting her cheek upon her
+hand, and looking out of one of the windows<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span>
+at the stars, while I went and stood before
+another to look at the same stars that she was
+looking at, and so we waited in silence until
+the door opened, and we heard Djama's voice
+telling us that the long-expected moment of
+Golden Star's awakening had come at last.</p>
+
+<p>As Joyful Star went to the door I stood aside
+and waited for her to pass me and go out first.
+As she went by our eyes met for a moment, and
+I saw that hers were bright with tears. My heart
+leapt at the sight, and then fell still again and
+well nigh fainting. What had she said to me but
+a few minutes before? How dare I dream that
+those sweet tears could be for me?</p>
+
+<p>I followed her and Djama into the room, but
+half-way between the door and the bed I stopped,
+not daring to go on, held back by some impulse
+I could not name. I saw her lean over the pillow
+for a moment in silence that for me was breathless.
+Then came a soft, sweet sound, and then
+a little cry. Was it her's or Golden Star's?</p>
+
+<p>Djama beckoned to me. I went with swift,
+silent steps to the foot of the little bed, and
+saw Golden Star's eyes wide open and looking
+wonderingly up into Ruth's face, and her red
+lips smiling at her. The miracle had been completed.
+She had awakened her with a kiss.</p>
+
+<p>'Come and give her your welcome back to
+life, Vilcaroya,' she whispered, rising and turning<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span>
+her fair face with its wet cheeks and smiling lips
+towards me. I went and stood over the pillow,
+and laid my trembling lips on Golden Star's
+brow, and then I said, in the words that had
+been the first of my own new life,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'<i>Cori-Coyllur &Ntilde;ustallipa, &Ntilde;usta mi!</i>'</p>
+
+<p>She looked at me, but there was no more
+recognition in her gaze than in that of a newborn
+child, nor was there any answering smile
+upon her lips. Unheeding this for the moment,
+I went on and said, still speaking very gently
+and softly in our own tongue,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Thou art thrice welcome back from the shades
+of night into the bright presence of our Father
+the Sun, oh, Golden Star! Dost thou not
+remember me, Vilcaroya, thy brother, who went
+into the darkness with thee long ago, and has
+been permitted to return before thee that he
+might greet thee and bid thee welcome?'</p>
+
+<p>Her eyes wandered from my face to Joyful
+Star's, and then she smiled again, but no answering
+words came from her parted lips. Now, as
+we looked from one another to her, a great fear
+came into all our hearts, and Ruth gave it
+voice.</p>
+
+<p>'Laurens,' she whispered, laying her hands
+upon his arm, 'what is the matter? Vilcaroya
+spoke at once, didn't he? Why doesn't she
+speak? Oh, surely it can't be that she is&mdash;that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>
+she has come back to life without memory or&mdash;or
+her reason? What is it?'</p>
+
+<p>I waited for Djama's answer as a man might
+wait for words that were to tell him whether he
+was to live or die. He put us both gently away
+from the bed, and then, laying his hand on
+Golden Star's brow, he looked long and steadfastly
+into her eyes. It seemed to me as though
+Ruth and I could hear each other's hearts beating
+and counting off the seconds until he raised his
+head again and said in the slow, even tones of
+the man of science who, for the time, had overcome
+and banished the lover,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Memory, perhaps, even probably; but reason,
+no. These are not the eyes of an imbecile or
+an idiot, but they <i>are</i> the eyes of a child. It is
+possible that when she fully recovers we may
+find her mind a perfect blank&mdash;a virgin page on
+which the story of her new life will have to be
+written.'</p>
+
+<p>'Thank God for that!' she murmured, and I,
+too, echoed her words in my heart, though I did
+not know then how much she meant by them.</p>
+
+<p>Then once more she turned and went to Golden
+Star's pillow, laying her hand upon her brow
+again, and looking fondly for a moment on the
+silent and yet eloquent face that was looking up
+at her. Then she said to her brother,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'But is she well now? I mean, is her physical<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span>
+life certain? Will she live and grow well and
+strong again?'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes,' he answered. 'I have done everything
+that it is in my power to do. I have fulfilled my
+promise to His Highness. The rest is, as it was
+with him, merely a matter of care and nourishment
+and nursing.'</p>
+
+<p>'Then,' she said, with a swift, subtle change
+coming over her manner, 'the care and the
+nursing must be mine, and you two must say
+good-bye to her for the present, until I have
+nursed her back to health. Of course you may
+see her when necessary, as her doctor, but only
+as her doctor, mind. And you, Vilcaroya, must
+possess yourself with what patience you can until
+my part of the work is done as well. Now, go
+away, both of you. I am mistress here for the
+present. Laurens, you go and get ready the
+nourishment that you think she should take, and
+come back in half-an-hour, and tell me how it
+is to be taken.'</p>
+
+<p>It was easy for us to see the deep yet kindly
+meaning of her lightly-spoken words, for in them
+she had told us that Golden Star was now once
+more a living woman. No longer a mummy, or
+a corpse, or a 'subject,' as the professor had
+called her&mdash;no longer an inanimate thing that
+had neither sex nor claim to human rights&mdash;but
+a sister woman of her own kind whose wants<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>
+could only be supplied by her. So we obeyed
+her, and went away, leaving her there to perform
+the most sacred task save one that a loving
+woman could perform.</p>
+
+<p>Djama went to prepare the food that Golden
+Star would soon need, and I went in search of
+the professor and Francis Hartness, and told
+them all that had happened, and then, when
+the professor had gone to bed to finish his
+broken night's rest, I and he who was my rival
+in love, and who was to be my brother-in-arms,
+went out from the courtyard into the <i>patio</i>
+which lay in front of the house, sloping down
+towards the entrance of the little valley in which
+the hacienda lay, and there, walking to and fro
+side by side, we talked long and earnestly of
+many things upon the doing of which my heart
+was set, and which might now be freely entered
+upon, seeing that the first object of our journey
+was already achieved.</p>
+
+<p>Our talk, as you may well believe, was of war
+and not of love, though it would be hard to say
+which of the two at that hour most filled our
+secret thoughts; but, as I have told you, this
+English soldier was a true man, and I trusted
+him, knowing well that though, when the
+imperial Llautu once more encircled my brows,
+I might find courage to seek openly the love of
+her into whose eyes I had already seen him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>
+look with love, yet no falsehood or hatred could
+ever come between us. So I told him freely of
+the treasures that I had only to take from their
+hiding-places to make them mine, and spoke
+once more of the use that I would make of
+them, and took his advice as to the best method
+of that use.</p>
+
+<p>This he was well able to give me, for I soon
+found that since he had resolved to throw in
+his lot with us, he had applied himself diligently
+to the task of studying the work that was to be
+ours, and seeking the best and readiest means of
+doing it. In Lima and Arequipa he had bought
+books and papers from which he had learned,
+as far as could be learned, the resources and
+power of the government of Peru, the number
+of its soldiers and their stations, the names and
+characters of the men who made the government,
+and of those who were opposed to them, seeking,
+as he told me was now ever the case in
+the countries of South America, to overturn
+the government and to take for themselves the
+honours and the profits of rule.</p>
+
+<p>He told me&mdash;which events soon proved to be
+the truth&mdash;that not many months would pass by
+before civil war once more broke out. The
+President and the ministers, who were the tools
+of his tyranny, had oppressed the people with
+grievous burdens till they could endure them no<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>
+longer, and already people in the towns of the
+interior were refusing to pay taxes, and were
+arming themselves in secret and meeting in bands
+among the mountains to practise themselves with
+their weapons, and make ready for the war which
+was so soon to come.</p>
+
+<p>All this, as he soon showed me, was happening
+as though the Fates which rule the world
+had especially prepared it for my coming. The
+people had no leader save a man who had been
+himself a tyrant before, and none trusted him, but
+looked to him only to serve their own ends.
+Those who had the power were hated, and those
+who sought to seize it were distrusted.</p>
+
+<p>But better than all was the utter, and, as far as
+all men, save ourselves, could see, the hopeless
+poverty of the country. Long years of plundering
+had emptied the treasury. Commerce was leaving
+the shores, and industries were languishing throughout
+the land. No man trusted his neighbour, for
+nearly all were in debt, and none could get paid,
+and my own people, the slaves of the children
+of the Spaniards, and the sport of their blind
+and brutal jesting, had borne their heavy burdens
+till their backs were sore, sore as their patient
+hearts were, and they would bear them no
+longer.</p>
+
+<p>From the country which is called Ecuador,
+and which in my other life had been Quito,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span>
+the kingdom of Atahuallpa, to the southern
+confines of Bolivia, which had once been part
+of the Land of the Four Regions, the dominions
+of my own father, all were ready to throw down
+their long-borne burdens and turn and rend their
+oppressors and those whose fathers had robbed
+them of the land that had once been theirs.</p>
+
+<p>I well remember the very words in which
+Francis Hartness told me all this at much
+greater length than I have set it down here;
+and this is what he said when, as the stars were
+paling in the sky above us and the eastern
+mountains were beginning to stand out sharply
+against the growing light of the coming dawn,
+our long talk drew to its close,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'In short, Vilcaroya, if I were given to that
+sort of thing, I could believe that the very Fates
+themselves had conspired to prepare the way
+for you. You have come back to the world
+and to your own country at the very moment
+that these miserable wretches are getting ready
+to tear each other to pieces. The government
+is as hopeless as it is impossible, and the popular
+party, as they call themselves, have neither a
+leader that they can trust, nor money to buy
+weapons and pay their soldiers with. The
+treasury is empty, for, so to speak, almost
+the last dollar had been stolen. The native
+troops have had no regular pay for months, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span>
+I believe they would desert to a regiment if they
+once believed that you are what you are, and
+that you possess, as you do, the means of paying
+them well and honestly for their help.</p>
+
+<p>'And, after all, I don't know that even I, as a
+soldier, could call it desertion under such circumstances.
+You are of their own blood, the son of
+one of their ancient kings. These people, these
+Peruvians, are only mongrel descendants of those
+who have plundered and oppressed them for
+centuries. They owe them no allegiance that is
+worth the name; but you they would hail, not
+only as their lawful king, but almost as a god&mdash;as,
+indeed, they could well be pardoned for doing,
+seeing what a marvellous fate yours has been.</p>
+
+<p>'The only thing to do at present, and the
+only thing in which I see any difficulty, is to
+get into communication with them in such a way
+that they shall come to know you without the
+authorities knowing anything about you or your
+treasures. If that could be done, I think all
+the rest would be easy, and then I believe that
+the moment you raised the flag of the old Incas,
+they would flock to it in thousands, and after
+that it would only be a matter of military
+management and leadership.'</p>
+
+<p>'And if I will charge myself with that, my
+friend,' I said, as he paused for a moment; 'if I
+will promise you that before six more suns have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span>
+risen and set, the news of my coming shall be
+spread far and wide through the land, and yet in
+such a manner that none but the faithful, the
+Children of the Blood themselves, shall know anything
+that could work us harm, will you give me
+the help of your skill and your knowledge of the
+arts of this new warfare which is so strange to me?
+Will you lead my armies to battle against the
+oppressors of my people? Will you help me to
+free this land of my fathers from the yoke of its
+tyrants, and be the war-chieftain of my people, and
+stand by my throne in the days when the Rainbow
+Banner shall once more float over the battlements
+of the Sacsahuaman and the City of the Sun? If
+you will, you shall have riches and power and all
+that the heart of man can desire.'</p>
+
+<p>'Not all, I am afraid, Vilcaroya!' he said, interrupting
+me with a laugh that had but little mirth in
+it. 'Not all; but that would not be in your hands
+to give. Never mind, it is the fortune of war, or
+perhaps I should rather say of love. But for the
+rest, yes. I believe your cause is a just and
+righteous one, and what I can do to help it I will.
+Henceforth we are brothers-in-arms, even though
+we may perhaps be rivals in love. There, you
+have my hand upon it, and with it the word of
+an Englishman who never broke his word yet to
+man or woman.'</p>
+
+<p>How shall I tell you of the great joy with which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span>
+those brave, honest-spoken words of his filled me?
+He, the man whom I had feared most, even as I
+had learned to love him most, was the first to bid
+me hope&mdash;and hope I did now, in spite of all things.
+So, saying nothing, for my heart was too full for
+speech, I put my hand in his, and there, as the
+dawn brightened over the mountains, we clasped
+hands in silence and sealed our compact, and when
+the sun rose swiftly over the now glittering peaks,
+I let go his hand and bowed myself before it, greeting
+it as the bringer of a new day which was to end
+the long night that had fallen over my land and my
+people when the light of my last life was quenched
+in the darkness of my death-sleep.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+<h3>CHAPTER VII</h3>
+
+<h3>IN THE THRONE-ROOM OF YUPANQUI</h3>
+
+
+<p>We saw nothing of Golden Star the next day,
+nor yet for many days afterwards, for, in spite
+of our impatience, Ruth would not permit us to
+do so. What her brother had said had speedily
+proved itself to be true. She had come back to
+life a child-woman. Her body was that of a girl
+of seventeen years&mdash;which was her age when she
+and I had drunk the draught of the death-sleep
+together&mdash;and the kindly Powers that had presided
+over her birth had shaped her in a mould
+of almost perfect womanly beauty, yet, as Djama
+had said, her mind was a virgin page, from which
+the story of her past life had been utterly erased,
+and on whose blank whiteness the story of her
+new life had yet to be written.</p>
+
+<p>Now, on the writing of the first words of this
+story, as Joyful Star told us in her sweetly-serious
+way the night that she had sunk into<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span>
+her first natural slumber, everything might
+depend.</p>
+
+<p>'It is a task,' she had said that night, 'which I
+fear terribly to enter upon, and yet I know that I
+am the only one here who ought to undertake it.
+She will need weeks and months of most careful
+watching, and the sympathy that only another
+woman, and one who loves her as I have already
+learned to do, could give her. No woman ever had
+such a task before, and very few have had so good
+a work to do. There is something, too'&mdash;and here
+I remember how subtle a change came into her
+voice as she said this&mdash;'there is something in this
+wonderful resemblance between us which tells me
+that this is my duty, and I am going to devote
+myself absolutely to it during every hour of her
+waking life until she is able to do without my care.
+I must watch her and care for her as a mother
+does for her child, and you must let me do it
+alone as long as I wish to, just as we had to let
+Laurens do <i>his</i> work alone. Don't you think I
+am right, professor?'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes,' he answered, 'perfectly right, Miss Ruth.
+I am sure everybody will agree with me that Her
+Highness could not be in better hands than yours.
+Indeed, as you say, yours are the only hands in
+which she could possibly be trusted with safety
+to her newly-awakening reason at such an extraordinary
+juncture in her life.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>To this we all agreed willingly enough, and so
+Joyful Star had the big room cleared out and
+installed herself there with all the comforts and
+luxuries that the inexhaustible wealth which was
+now at my command could provide her with, so
+that Golden Star should find her new world as
+beautiful as might be. Meanwhile the professor,
+with a trusty guide that I had provided him with
+from among my own people, plunged afresh into
+his beloved studies with such ardour that he
+seemed to have almost forgotten all else that had
+brought us to Peru.</p>
+
+<p>Francis Hartness had gone with Tupac&mdash;who,
+in the sight of the Spaniards, was only his Indian
+servant and guide&mdash;on a mission of importance to
+the South, where the first rumblings of the coming
+war-storm were already making themselves heard.
+As for Djama, who, as you know, had no more
+interest in the work that now lay before Francis
+Hartness and myself than the professor had, he
+went about for some days gloomy and silent, and
+seemingly ill at ease, like a man who for a time
+has lost his interest in life; and at last&mdash;it was on
+the twentieth day after Golden Star had awakened&mdash;he
+came to me when I was alone in my room
+and said abruptly,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Vilcaroya, do you think I have fairly earned
+my reward for what I have done?'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes,' I said, looking into his eyes and reading,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span>
+though he knew it not, the thoughts that were
+moving in his mind. 'You have done all that
+you promised to do, but we have yet said nothing
+of the price. How much do you ask for?'</p>
+
+<p>'As much as I can get!' he said, with a laugh
+that pleased me but little. 'But, of course, I
+know the work that you yourself have come here
+to do, and I see that it will be expensive, so you
+will find me reasonable.'</p>
+
+<p>'And you, I hope, will not find me ungenerous.
+Do you remember what you saw in the Hall of
+Gold?' As I said this, his self-command left him
+for an instant. I saw his hands close, and his lips
+tremble, and the fierce fire of the gold-lust spring
+into his eyes as he replied,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Yes; how could I forget it?'</p>
+
+<p>'And do you remember, too,' I said, 'the words
+that you heard me speak when I stood before the
+pyramid?'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes,' he replied, with a faint flush coming into
+his pale cheeks. 'It is not likely that I should
+forget them either. Why do you ask?'</p>
+
+<p>'Because,' I said, speaking slowly as a man
+who weighs his words well, 'saving only the sacred
+emblems of the Sun, which it is not lawful for
+me to give away, all that you saw there shall
+belong to you and to him who made it possible
+for you to do what you have done. You will
+share it as you please&mdash;that is no care of mine<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>&mdash;but
+I have conditions to make for my own sake
+and that of my people.'</p>
+
+<p>'What are they?' and as he spoke the flush
+died out of his cheeks again.</p>
+
+<p>'That you shall both swear solemnly to me that,
+come what may, no man shall ever know from
+you where the gold came from, and that, moreover,
+you shall never utter any word of my story
+or Golden Star's where mortal ears can hear it,
+nor give any sign or word to any man or woman
+that shall lead him or her to guess that I am
+what I am, or that my work here is what it is.
+Swear that oath to me and you shall take your
+gold and go in peace. Break it, and the fate
+that I told you of shall be yours. Are you content?'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes,' he said, 'and more than content; and I
+swear to you most solemnly, on my own honour
+and by all that I hold sacred, that I will keep
+your secrets absolutely.'</p>
+
+<p>'No, not here,' I said, breaking into his speech;
+'and more, it is not only your oath that I want.
+There must be witnesses, for this is too great a
+thing to do lightly. To-morrow night we will go
+back to the Hall of Gold, and there you shall
+swear your oaths and they shall be witnessed.'</p>
+
+<p>'Very well,' he said. 'Whenever and wherever
+you like. But now, Vilcaroya, I have something
+else to say to you. Personally, you know,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>
+I have no further interests in Peru, saving one
+only. Your next few years will be stormy ones,
+and though I believe that, with the power you
+have behind you, you will win in the end, yet you
+know as well as I do that you will have to run
+all the risks of a war that may be a very savage
+one before you succeed. You may restore the
+throne of the Incas, and reign upon it, or you
+may be killed in the first battle. You will pardon
+me speaking so plainly, won't you?'</p>
+
+<p>I bowed my head in silence and he went
+on.</p>
+
+<p>'In view of this, then, I am going to propose
+that when we leave Peru&mdash;I mean my sister and
+the professor and myself&mdash;you will allow Ruth
+to take Golden Star to England with her, say,
+for three years or so, in order that her education
+may be carried on to the best advantage. I will
+promise you solemnly that during that time I
+will not speak a word of love to her, or attempt
+to be anything else to her than I am to Ruth,
+and then if you succeed in your aims, as I hope
+you will, we will come back and be Your Majesty's
+guests for a time, and after that we shall see what
+more the kindly Fates may have in store for you
+and me.'</p>
+
+<p>No man ever heard more fairly spoken or
+reasonable-sounding words than these were, and
+yet all the while I listened to them I knew that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>
+they were but used to hide the real thoughts of
+him who was speaking them. Yet what could I
+answer him? Did they not seem to point out
+the best of all courses that could be followed
+for the welfare of Golden Star and the comfort
+of her whose gentle hand was leading her nearer
+every day to the fulfilment of the promise of her
+new life? So, for want of anything better in my
+mind, I answered,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Your words are unwelcome to me, for so long
+a parting would be a great sorrow to me; yet they
+are wise, and that which is most pleasant is not
+always the best to be done.'</p>
+
+<p>'Very well,' he said, 'I quite understand you,
+so we won't say anything more about it until
+then. I suppose I may tell the professor about
+what we are to do to-morrow night?'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes,' I said; 'there will be no harm in that,
+since a share of the gold belongs to him as
+well.'</p>
+
+<p>'And Hartness?'</p>
+
+<p>'He knows already, for I have told him not
+only of the treasures in the Hall of Gold, but of
+many others that will be used in the work that
+he has sworn to do with me.'</p>
+
+<p>Later on that day when the mid-day heat had
+cooled a little, I was walking alone in the garden
+of the hacienda, thinking deeply of what Djama
+had said and striving to find some plan of my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span>
+own that would be as good and yet not make the
+parting that I dreaded needful. I turned, paying
+but little heed to my way, into a winding pathway
+shaded with trees and bordered with grass
+and flowers. I was looking down upon the ground,
+as was my wont, when I heard footsteps near
+me and looked up. I had turned the bend in the
+path, and there, but a few paces from me, stood
+Golden Star and Ruth. I started and made a
+motion as though I would turn back, but Ruth
+immediately beckoned to me smilingly, and
+said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Come and let me introduce you to your
+sister, Vilcaroya. I think it's time you began
+to be friends again. Don't you think she is
+looking wonderfully well and strong, and&mdash;and
+beautiful?'</p>
+
+<p>You may think, but I cannot tell you, of all
+the feelings that rose up within me as I obeyed
+her invitation. It was the first time that I
+had seen Golden Star since the night she had
+awakened. Nay, was it not the first time I
+had seen her as a truly living woman since the
+night of our bridal in the Sanctuary?</p>
+
+<p>She was dressed in garments made after the
+fashion of Ruth's own, of light grey soft stuff,
+and on the glorious wealth of her hair was a
+broad-brimmed straw hat such as Ruth wore.
+Indeed, to look at them both, standing there<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span>
+side by side, they could but have been taken
+for two twin sisters&mdash;daughters of the Day and
+Night&mdash;as my loving fancy called them afterwards&mdash;rather
+than the daughters of different
+peoples, and children of far-parted generations,
+whose hands, as they clasped, bridged the gulf
+between one age of the world and another.</p>
+
+<p>As I approached, Golden Star's eyes looked
+at me with the simple wonder that shines out
+of the eyes of a little child, and like a little
+child she smiled at me, and then she looked
+at Ruth, and made a soft low sound that was
+almost like the cooing of a child.</p>
+
+<p>'She is pleased to see you, Vilcaroya,' said
+Ruth, taking hold of my hand and hers, 'but
+of course she can't say so yet. Now, let me
+teach her to shake hands with you.'</p>
+
+<p>Then she put into mine the soft, warm little
+hand that I had last clasped when we went
+hand in hand to the couch of our long sleep.
+I pressed it gently, looking at her through the
+tears that rose into my eyes, then I raised it to
+my lips and kissed it, and she smiled, and made
+the little soft sound again, and then Ruth put
+her arm around her waist and said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Come, now, you are acquainted, and she likes
+you. This will be a most valuable lesson for her.
+Now, let us have a walk, and you tell me the
+news, if there is any.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>'Most willingly,' I said, 'for I have much
+news to tell.'</p>
+
+<p>So we turned back along the path into the
+quietest part of the garden, I walking by Ruth's
+side. And I told her of all that had passed between
+her brother and me in the morning, and
+of what was to be done on the following night.
+She was looking very serious when I had finished,
+and I could see that many unspoken thoughts
+were working in her mind, and when I had done
+she looked up at me and said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Laurens's plan seems a very good one at first
+sight, but of course we cannot decide upon anything
+until we have thought a good deal more
+about it, and talked it well over amongst ourselves.
+But, at anyrate, it would be several
+weeks yet before I would even think of going
+away with Golden Star, so there is plenty of time
+for that. But to-morrow night&mdash;Listen, Vilcaroya,
+may I ask a very great favour of you?'</p>
+
+<p>'Joyful Star can ask no favour of me,' I said.
+'She can speak, and I can hear and obey.'</p>
+
+<p>'Nonsense, Vilcaroya! I wish you wouldn't
+talk like that,' she answered with pretty petulance.
+'Now, suppose I was to ask you to let
+me see this wonderful treasure-house of yours
+and promise faithfully not to tell anyone about
+it&mdash;would you let me?'</p>
+
+<p>'It is not the best that I can show you,' I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span>
+answered gladly, 'but if you desire to see it, it
+is yours and all that it contains. I can give your
+brother and the professor other gold, and I will
+show you a greater treasure-house than this
+under the Fortress itself.'</p>
+
+<p>'Well,' she laughed, 'I won't say now that I
+won't have it, because the sight of all that gold
+might be too much for me, but I should dearly
+love to come and see it, and I think I might
+venture to bring Golden Star too. She's quite
+well and strong now, and if we are careful of
+her, it can't do her any harm, and it may do her
+good. Shall I bring her?'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes,' I said, 'why not?'</p>
+
+<p>At this moment we saw Djama come walking
+down the path towards us, and at the sight of
+him there came to me, like the stab of a dagger
+of ice, the sudden memory that, at the moment
+I was speaking of my treasure-house under the
+Sacsahuaman, I had heard a gentle rustle behind
+some bushes close by the path, and a
+sound like that of a stealthy tread.</p>
+
+<p>As Djama came near to us I saw the love-light
+flash into his eyes, and a swift flush rise
+into his sallow cheeks. He held out his hand
+and quickened his pace, smiling as sweetly as
+a woman the while. I was facing him a little
+in advance, and I heard behind me a sharp,
+low, shuddering cry of terror that shook my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span>
+heart as I turned to learn its cause. Golden
+Star had thrown her arms round Ruth's neck,
+and was clinging to her, trembling with fear,
+and looking sideways at Djama with eyes fixed
+and wide open with terror.</p>
+
+<p>You have seen how little children will go
+smiling and fearless into the arms of one stranger
+and shrink in hate and terror from another.
+Their sight is keener than it is in after years,
+when the dust of the world's conflict has dulled
+it, and they can see plainly the good and the
+evil that is hidden behind the mask of the face.
+So it was with that child-soul of Golden Star's.
+Though I was now to her as strange as Djama,
+yet she had seen in me only the friend and
+brother who loved her and wished her well, and
+whose heart was clean in her sight; but in
+Djama she had seen at a single glance the evil
+that had only been revealed to me after many
+weeks of watching.</p>
+
+<p>Though I hated him for the fear that he had
+caused her, yet I was glad also, for now I saw
+that the answer to his proposal would be easier
+than I had thought for. As for him, his face
+darkened and his black brows came together,
+and the love-light in his eyes changed to a glare
+of anger; but this was only for an instant. It
+passed more quickly than the thunder-clouds
+melt round the crest of Illampu. He stopped,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span>
+and stood with his head slightly bent and his
+hands spread, palms outward, in the posture of
+one who asks pardon, and said, in a voice that
+had no trace of anger,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Forgive me, Ruth! I am afraid I have
+startled our patient&mdash;or perhaps I should rather
+say yours now. It was something more than
+stupid of me to come upon you suddenly like
+this, without any warning. Of all people in the
+world, I ought to have known better than that.
+But I suppose seeing Vilcaroya already here
+made me forget myself. Did she start like that
+when he came?'</p>
+
+<p>'No,' replied Ruth, still standing with her arm
+where she had thrown it around Golden Star's
+shoulders, and stroking her hair with the other.
+'She&mdash;she saw him farther off than you, and I
+took her towards him, so I suppose the shock
+was not so great. But please go away, both of
+you, now. You see she is terribly frightened,
+and she is trembling as though someone had
+struck her. I must take her into the house and
+get her quiet again, or the consequences may
+be serious.'</p>
+
+<p>Djama turned away without a word, his face
+darkening again as he did so, and with one
+backward glance at Golden Star, who had now
+raised her head from Ruth's breast, and was
+staring after us with fixed, wide-open eyes, I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>
+turned and walked away beside him, neither of
+us speaking a word, for we were both too busy
+with our own thoughts.</p>
+
+<p>That night Francis Hartness and Tupac returned
+from their journey to the South, and as
+the professor was also in the house I told them
+of what I wished done on the following night,
+and bade Tupac make all preparation. The
+next day we all started in the cool of the morning
+to go to the Rodadero as though for a picnic,
+as the people of Cuzco often do, so that there
+might be no suspicion of our true object. We
+all rode upon horses, saving Golden Star, who
+was carried in a hammock litter, that I had had
+made for her, and Tupac, and six of our people
+who came with us as bearers and servants.</p>
+
+<p>We spent the day wandering about among the
+huge ruins of the Sacsahuaman, and exploring
+the wonders of the carved rocks and underground
+passages and altar-places, which have been the
+marvel of every traveller to the hills about
+Cuzco, and all that I knew of the upper
+works I told my companions, and showed them
+as well as I could what the mighty fastness
+had been in the days of its pride and unbroken
+strength.</p>
+
+<p>Then, when the brief twilight came, I bade
+one of our men take the beasts into a chamber
+among the rocks that I had shown him, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span>
+where plenty of fodder had been stored a few
+days before. After this we waited a little
+longer till night fell, and then I bade Tupac
+do what I had bidden him the day before.
+His voice rose shrill and plaintive in the silence,
+chanting a song that you may have heard the
+Indians singing in Peru when returning from
+their labours, and presently, from among the
+rocks on the plain, and from the shadowy
+lines of the Fortress, many silent figures stole
+out and went towards the valley in which the
+Sayacusca stands.</p>
+
+<p>Then I told my companions that all, save those
+of the Blood, must have their eyes bandaged,
+as Djama's had been before, and when they
+had submitted willingly to this, knowing that
+no harm would come to them, we led them
+to the Sayacusca, I leading Ruth by the hand,
+and following the bearers of Golden Star's litter,
+and there the way to the Hall of Gold was
+opened as before, and we entered it, followed
+by a long line of the Children of the Blood.</p>
+
+<p>But I made no halt here, nor did I let my
+companions even see the treasure that was to
+be divided between Djama and the professor
+according to my promise, for I had greater
+marvels in store for them. So, lantern in hand,
+I led the way through a winding gallery behind
+the pyramid of gold of which I told you before.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span>
+At the end of this was a door, formed by a
+revolving stone similar to that at the entrance
+to the hall. This Tupac and another opened
+under my directions, and we entered a long,
+straight passage behind it. At the end was
+a broad flight of stone steps, and at the top
+were two low bronze doors bolted into pillars
+on either side. The doors had no hinges,
+but they turned with the pillars, and no one
+who did not know this, or how the pillars
+turned, could open them. But this secret was
+one of many others that I had brought with
+me from the past, and in a few moments the
+doors were standing open before us.</p>
+
+<p>We passed in, and I closed them behind
+us. Two of my men had come laden with
+great candles and torches, and these I had
+lighted and placed in golden sconces which stood
+out from the walls in the great hall into which
+we had passed through the bronze doors. When
+this had been done, I beckoned to Tupac, and
+went silently with him to the other end of the
+hall, where, on a throne of gold under a canopy
+of silver, sat a silent figure clad in the imperial
+robes, and with a mask of beaten gold over
+its face, according to the ancient custom. It
+was the effigy of the great Yupanqui, father of
+Huayna-Capac, which had been seated here
+since his death, as an emblem of the unbroken<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span>
+sovereignty of his race, giving place in turn to
+his son and grandson on the days that they
+were crowned, and being replaced when the
+ceremony was over.</p>
+
+<p>Now, with Tupac's help I carried the effigy
+into a little chamber behind the throne, and
+there quickly removed my upper clothing and
+dressed myself as I had done before in the
+Hall of Gold, and took my place on the throne.
+Then I bade Tupac lead Joyful Star, with her
+eyes still bandaged, to me. When he had
+placed her before me, I made a sign to him,
+and the bandage fell from her eyes. She turned
+white as death, and staggered back a pace, with
+her hands clasped to her temples, and there she
+stood, staring wide-eyed at me and all the
+splendours about her.</p>
+
+<p>Wherever her gaze wandered it saw nothing
+but gold and silver and gems and rich-dyed
+hangings of silk and wool, whose brilliant hues
+no time could dim. The roof and the upper
+halves of the walls were covered with plates of
+burnished silver. Around the walls, half-way
+between the floor and the ceiling, ran a great
+cornice or ledge of gold, on which stood the
+golden chairs in which were seated the mummies
+of the twenty Incas which I had last seen in the
+Sanctuary of the Sun, looking down through the
+eye-holes in their golden masks.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>From the cornice to the floor hung the bright-hued
+hangings, and against these were ranged
+along the floor on either side threescore seats
+of silver, and the floor was paved with diamond-shaped
+blocks of gold and silver set alternately.
+Behind the throne on which I sat rose from the
+floor to roof a sloping wall of golden ingots, and
+on either hand stood a great golden vase, heaped
+high with unset gems, emeralds and diamonds,
+pearls and sapphires and rubies, precious almost
+beyond price; and on the roof above my throne
+a great, golden image of the Sun, encircled by
+spreading rays of gems, glowed and sparkled in
+the light of the candles and torches.</p>
+
+<p>At last Ruth's wandering gaze became steady
+and rested upon my face, and I looked back into
+her eyes, making no sign until she should speak,
+and sitting motionless as the effigy whose place
+I had taken.</p>
+
+<p>'Where am I?' she said at last in a low,
+faint voice, like one awakening from a dream.
+'And who are you? Surely you cannot be&mdash;and
+yet, yes, you are Vilcaroya! What has
+happened?'</p>
+
+<p>'Nothing more than the granting of Joyful
+Star's request, save that through the treasure-house
+which she asked to see I have brought
+her to a better one. Does it please her?'</p>
+
+<p>'Is it real, Vilcaroya?' she whispered. 'Is all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span>
+this really gold and silver, and are these real
+diamonds and rubies and emeralds, or am I
+only dreaming? Does it please me? What a
+question! I have never even dreamed of anything
+like it. Where are we, Vilcaroya?'</p>
+
+<p>'In the throne-room of the Incas, beneath what
+was once their palace and fortress on the hill of
+Sacsahuaman,' I answered, 'and this is the
+throne of the great Yupanqui, the greatest
+earthly king and conqueror of my race. I sat
+here and crowned myself Inca in the presence of
+Anda-Huillac and the priests and nobles of the
+Land of the Four Regions on the day before
+the night when I drank the death-draught with
+Golden Star.'</p>
+
+<p>'Ah, yes, where is she?' she cried, looking
+round only to see that all the rest had vanished,
+and that she and I were alone in the great hall.
+'What have they done with her, and where are
+Laurens and the others?' she cried, looking fearfully
+and almost mistrustingly at me. 'What
+have you done with them, Vilcaroya?'</p>
+
+<p>'They are safe,' I said. 'Tupac and his men
+have care of them, and they will come back when
+I bid him bring them. But I have need of your
+presence here alone before I do that,' I went on,
+rising from my seat as I spoke. 'Has Joyful
+Star ever sat on a throne?'</p>
+
+<p>'No,' she stammered, staring at me with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span>
+wonder in her eyes. 'You know I haven't.
+Why should you ask?'</p>
+
+<p>'Then sit on mine,' I said, 'for I have something
+to say to you which I can best say and
+you can best hear if we change places. Nay,
+I will take no denial,' I said, drawing her
+by the hand up the steps in front of the throne,
+'for it is not only your&mdash;your friend who is
+asking, but a crowned king in his own palace,
+who is lord of life and death over all who
+enter it.'</p>
+
+<p>Half frightened and half wondering, she submitted
+to my will and allowed me to seat her
+in the chair which no woman had ever sat in
+before. Then I took her hand, and, dropping
+on one knee on the upper step, I said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Joyful Star has taken one queen from me, and
+she alone can give me another to fill her place.
+She is sitting where the great Yupanqui sat when
+he ruled all the land from north to south, and
+from the eastern mountains to the sea, and ere
+long I too shall reign, sole and undisputed lord,
+over a realm wider even than that. Many things
+have been done that Joyful Star knows not of
+since I came back to my country and my
+people. Through all the Land of the Four
+Regions the word has gone forth, with the swiftness
+of thought, that the Son of the Sun has
+returned, and that the heir of the divine<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span>
+Manco has come to deliver his children from
+bondage.<a name="FNanchor_B_" id="FNanchor_B_"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_" class="fnanchor">[B]</a></p>
+
+<p>'Everywhere the tidings have been received
+with joy, and the people are longing to return to
+the allegiance of their fathers, and tread their
+oppressors under foot. Before many days civil
+war will be raging throughout the lands of the
+south, and I have but to set flowing that golden
+stream, one of whose many sources is here, and
+say, "Here is gold and silver in plenty for all
+who will fight under the Rainbow Banner," and
+I shall have armies and fleets to do what I will
+with, and the sway of my sceptre shall reach from
+north to south and sea to sea.</p>
+
+<p>'This I shall do because of my oath; but I
+have brought Joyful Star here to tell her, in the
+most sacred place that is left in the Land of the
+Four Regions, that I shall also do it so that she,
+if she will, may be queen where I am king, and
+sit beside me on my throne, and make my empire
+a paradise by the brightness and the sweetness of
+her presence. I cannot forget, as she bade me do&mdash;for
+the words that I said in the heat of my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span>
+passion are true&mdash;for I love you, Joyful Star,
+and all that I have or shall ever have on earth
+will be worthless to me unless you take it as
+a gift from my hands. Nay, do not speak, for
+now I seek no answer, whether good or evil.
+I have brought you here that I, as a king, might
+kneel at the feet of her whom I would win for
+my queen, and from now until I sit in the sight
+of all the world on the throne of the Four Regions
+no other words of love shall pass my lips. So
+you shall have many days to ponder what I have
+said, and to ask your own heart whether it will
+say "yes" or "no" to me when I stretch out my
+hand from my throne and ask you to come and
+sit beside me and rule my people with me.'</p>
+
+<p>Before she could answer, I stood up and clapped
+my hands, and Tupac with six others, dressed
+now in the forbidden costume of their ancestors,
+entered the hall from the ante-chamber, into
+which they had taken the others, and came
+towards me, bearing wands across their shoulders
+in token of homage, and with heads downbent,
+not daring to look upon my majesty till I bade
+them. I drew Joyful Star from the throne by
+the hand, and seating myself in it, said in the
+ancient tongue,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Let the Children of the Blood enter into the
+presence of their father and their lord, and let
+the strangers be brought in, and the other maiden,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span>
+all with eyes bandaged, and let seats of silver
+be placed to the right and left of the throne,
+one for each of the virgins of the Sun to sit
+upon. Are all things else ready, Tupac-Rayca?'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes, lord,' he answered, stepping out in front
+of the others and falling on his knees, 'and the
+Children of the Blood are waiting to see the glory
+of thy presence and hear the words of wisdom and
+hope from thy lips.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_" id="Footnote_B_"></a><a href="#FNanchor_B_"><span class="label">[B]</span></a> The Inca Indians of the Sierra region possess the same extraordinary
+faculty of transmitting intelligence without apparent
+material means that the Hindoos and the Arabs have. Thus,
+during the last revolution in Peru, the fall of Lima was known to
+the Indians of Bolivia on the southern shore of Lake Titicaca three
+days after it happened, though the telegraph wires were cut and all
+ordinary communications suspended. Without the telegraph this
+would be quite impossible by any means known to Europeans.</p></div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+<h3>CHAPTER VIII</h3>
+
+<h3>HOW THE SOUL OF GOLDEN STAR CAME BACK</h3>
+
+
+<p>When the two chairs had been brought in and
+placed according to my orders, I rose from my
+throne and led Joyful Star to the one on my
+left hand and placed her in it, still silent with
+the wonder and perplexity of what she had seen
+and heard since her eyes were opened. Then,
+seating myself again, I bade Tupac summon the
+Children of the Blood to take their places, and
+presently he ushered them in from the chambers
+that opened out of the great hall on either hand
+at the other end.</p>
+
+<p>There were threescore of them, the heads of
+the families of Ayllos, whose blood was the purest
+and whose descent was most direct from the old
+nobility of my own days. Each of them, too,
+under the outward husk of his forlorn and degraded
+state, had preserved unsullied the ancient
+faith and traditions of the sacred race, and,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span>
+against all appearances, had steadfastly hoped
+for the fulfilment of the promises that had been
+given in the olden times. More than this, too&mdash;each
+had treasured, as a miser hoards his gold,
+the ever-growing legacy of hate which the oppression
+and contempt of the Spaniards and their
+meaner descendants had heaped up from generation
+to generation against the long-awaited day
+of vengeance which, as but two or three in
+that strange company alone knew, was now so
+near at hand.</p>
+
+<p>Ever since I had revealed myself to them in the
+Hall of Gold they had been working for the end in
+view with the swift, subtle arts known only to those
+of their race, and already, from Quito in the north
+to Santiago in the south, tidings had gone forth
+that the day of deliverance was approaching, and
+that ere long the Rainbow Banner would be raised
+by the hands of him for whom the Children of the
+Sun had waited.</p>
+
+<p>Each of the fathers of the people was dressed,
+as Tupac was, in the long-forbidden garb of the
+ancient nobility, and each as he entered stopped in
+the centre of the hall and paid his homage before
+he went to his seat. Then, when all were seated,
+I ordered that the strangers should be brought in,
+and they were led into the midst of the silent
+assembly, with their eyes still bandaged. Over
+Golden Star's head a veil had been thrown, hiding<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span>
+her face, for it was my purpose that it should not
+be seen for the present, and how strangely this
+purpose worked you shall soon see.</p>
+
+<p>As she came up the middle of the hall, following
+Tupac, who was leading her as obedient as
+a little child, I descended from the throne and
+went to meet her, and led her to the seat on
+my right hand and placed her in it. Francis
+Hartness, the professor and Djama I left standing
+in the middle of the hall, each with one
+of Tupac's chosen guards beside him. When
+Golden Star was seated, I stood up in front of
+the throne and said to those assembled, speaking
+in the ancient tongue,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Sons of the Blood and fathers of the Oppressed,
+you know already how the promise that
+was made by our Father the Sun, through the
+lips of his high priest, in the days when first
+the oppressors came, has been in part most
+faithfully and marvellously fulfilled. I, Vilcaroya&mdash;son
+of Huayna-Capac, son of the great
+Yupanqui Inca, before whose throne-seat I am
+now standing alive in your presence&mdash;am he of
+whom it was said that one who should pass
+from life to life through the shadows of death
+should grasp the sceptre of the divine Manco,
+and restore the ancient glory of the Children
+of the Sun. And with me, as you know, there
+was another, at whose call and for love of whom<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span>
+I dared the ordeal of the death-sleep and
+swore the oath which I have returned to the
+world of living men to fulfil. I have already
+given you some proof that I am what I say I
+am, for I have revealed to you secrets which
+were buried in the grave with me and in those
+faithful hearts which have been pulseless now
+for many generations.</p>
+
+<p>'But now, that all things may be made plain
+to you, and that no doubts may remain in your
+hearts to hinder the working of our sacred
+purpose, I have brought here before you witnesses
+of the wonders that have been worked&mdash;even
+those who wrought them themselves, that
+their own lips may tell you the story; and with
+them I have brought yet another witness who,
+though she cannot speak to you in our ancient
+tongue, of which our Father, for his own wise
+purposes, has deprived her during her long sleep,
+will yet in her own person and even with
+silent lips be witness enough that I have not lied
+to you. Now let the eyes of the strangers be
+uncovered and their mouths opened that they
+may see and speak.'</p>
+
+<p>Even as the words left my lips they were
+obeyed, and at the same time I stretched out
+my right hand and raised the veil from the head
+of Golden Star, and unloosed the bandage from
+her eyes.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>A deep murmur of wonder ran round the hall;
+a sharp cry of amazement broke from Djama's
+lips, and the two others stared blankly about
+them. Then I raised my left hand to command
+silence, and, still speaking the ancient speech and
+pointing with my right hand to Golden Star, said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'This, O Fathers of the People, is she who
+drank the death-draught with me. This is Cory-Coyllur,
+daughter of Huayna-Capac, and sister
+of the long-ago murdered Huascar, and my sister,
+too, since her great father was mine also. With
+her, as the tradition was told to you, I plighted
+the marriage-troth before the altar in the
+Sanctuary of the Sun, and of that troth I would
+speak to you now. Such marriage is no longer
+lawful in the world to which we have returned,
+and in token of this our Father the Sun has
+sent this other likeness of Golden Star, who sits
+upon my left hand, to tell me that it may not
+be; and to make the message surer, it has
+pleased him also to put into my heart a love
+for her differing from, though not greater than
+that which I have borne for Golden Star, and
+if my Father who has given me this love shall
+also look with kindness upon my longing, then
+Joyful Star, as I have named her, shall be my
+Coya<a name="FNanchor_C_" id="FNanchor_C_"></a><a href="#Footnote_C_" class="fnanchor">[C]</a> and my queen, and Golden Star shall<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span>
+be her sister and mine, and I doubt not that
+in his own good time our Father will send her
+a fitting mate, that her heart may not be empty
+nor her life lonely.'</p>
+
+<p>As I said these last words I saw the eyes
+of all who were sitting in the chairs turn, as if
+moved by one impulse, and rest on Francis
+Hartness, standing strong and stately in the
+midst of the little group in the middle of the
+hall, overtopping the others by nearly a span,
+and crowned with his curling golden hair; and
+as I, too, looked at him, a new thought came
+into my mind, and I spoke aloud again and
+said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Yes, Brothers of the Blood, I read your
+thought. The stranger from the land which is
+the greatest of all lands in the world of to-day,
+is a true Son of the Sun, though not
+of our blood, for his heart is clean and his
+tongue is straight and his arm strong, and
+perchance it may please our Father to
+bring about that which he has put into our
+hearts.'</p>
+
+<p>At this another murmur ran round the hall,
+and every head was bowed in assent.</p>
+
+<p>Now all this time the three Englishmen had
+been standing patiently in the midst of the
+hall, looking about them at its splendours,
+and waiting till I should speak to them,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span>
+for the professor knew enough of the Quichua
+tongue to follow what I had been saying,
+and had told the others that I was speaking
+of them. Now I spoke to them in English,
+and told them what I had brought them to
+the throne-room for, and then I had chairs
+placed for them at top of the hall, to my left
+hand.</p>
+
+<p>When they had taken their places, I asked
+the professor to speak in Spanish to those
+assembled, and tell them whether or not the
+story of my return to life was true, and whether
+or not Golden Star had been found where Anda-Huillac
+and the priests had placed her, and had
+been, like me, restored to life by the arts
+of Djama his friend. This he did in few,
+straight words, and after him Djama rose
+at my bidding and told them also what he
+had done. When he had finished I took the
+Llautu from my head and raised it above
+me with outstretched arms and said in a loud
+voice,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'If you, O Children of the Blood and Sons
+of the Ancient Race, believe now that I am in
+truth Vilcaroya, son of Huayna-Capac, and lawful
+heir of the divine Manco, from whom all the
+Incas of our race draw their royal blood, then
+take me for your lord as my father was the
+lord of your fathers; or if any shall have yet<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span>
+doubt in his heart, let him speak now or for
+ever be silent.'</p>
+
+<p>Then with one accord they rose from their
+seats and came before me and prostrated themselves
+on the shining pavement of the throne-room,
+and began to chant, in a low, soft tone,
+the Song of Homage with which of old the
+new-crowned Incas had been hailed, generation
+after generation, Sons of the Sun and lords of
+life and death throughout the Land of the Four
+Regions.</p>
+
+<p>And now a wondrous thing happened. As I
+stood there facing the prostrate throng, lowering
+the Llautu on to my head, I heard a low,
+sharp cry beside me on my right hand. I turned
+half round, and there I saw Golden Star staring
+at me with eyes burning with the light that
+shone through them from her new-awakened
+soul.</p>
+
+<p>Her hands were clasped to her temples, pushing
+back her thick, bright hair from her forehead.
+Her face was flushed, and her half-open lips
+were working as though they were striving to
+shape some long-forgotten words. At the instant
+that the Llautu touched my brows, she rose to
+her feet. Then a cry burst from her lips and
+went ringing down the hall, and the next
+moment she had thrown herself forward and I
+had caught her in my arms.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>As I did so our eyes met, and our hearts
+looked at each other through them. In that
+one burning glance the mists of the long years
+were melted, all things else were forgotten, and
+for the moment we stood alone&mdash;the children of
+a long-dead generation&mdash;in the solitude that
+our strange fate had made about us. Then
+her lips moved, not dumbly this time, and in
+a voice that woke, who shall say how many
+memories in my heart, she said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Have they awakened us, my lord? Tell
+me how long we have slept, my Vilcaroya. It
+seems long to me, and I have had strange,
+dim dreams, and thought I was not one, but
+two, and that one of myselves was your sister
+and the other was your Coya and queen.
+It was strange, was it not, to dream like
+that?'</p>
+
+<p>'Not so strange but that it may be true, O
+my sister, Golden Star,' I said, my wonder for
+the moment overcome by a new hope that uprose
+within me at her words. 'Stranger things
+than that have happened since we fell asleep
+together in the distant days that are no more.
+See, &Ntilde;usta mi, here is your other self, the living
+shape of that sister-soul of yours, who has
+watched over you and cared for you and loved
+you since you drew the first breath of your
+new life. She cannot speak our tongue, for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span>
+she is the daughter of another age than ours,
+but she has taught me hers and I will speak
+for you.'</p>
+
+<p>As I said this I took her hands from where
+they rested on my shoulders, and led her to the
+seat of Joyful Star, who was standing in front
+of it, with one hand on the arm of her chair
+and the other one clasped to her heart, her
+face white with fear and her eyes wide with
+wonder.</p>
+
+<p>'What has happened, Vilcaroya?' she said,
+in a voice so low that it was almost a
+whisper. 'Has her memory come back, and
+does she believe herself to be your&mdash;your
+wife?'</p>
+
+<p>As she forced the last word from her
+hesitating lips I saw the hot blood flow
+into her cheeks, and a new light that shot
+like a dart of fire into my heart leapt into her
+eyes.</p>
+
+<p>'No,' I said, with a smile that was quickly
+answered by one that came unawares to her
+lips. 'She calls herself my sister and me her
+lord, and says that she has dreamed that she
+is not one but two, and that her other
+sister-self is Vilcaroya's wife and queen.
+Now, if that dream may be the truth, tell
+her so!'</p>
+
+<p>And with that I took her hand gently from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span>
+where it rested on the chair and laid Golden
+Star's in it.</p>
+
+<p>'But&mdash;I cannot speak your language, and she
+wouldn't understand me,' she said softly, with
+one swift glance at me and another longer look
+at Golden Star's smiling face, so wondrous like
+her own.</p>
+
+<p>'There is another speech than that of the
+tongue,' I answered, 'which all men understand.'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes!' she said, and then she drew Golden
+Star gently to her and kissed her.</p>
+
+<p>All this while the Ayllos had remained silent
+and prostrate before the throne, none daring to
+raise their heads till I bade them, and the three
+Englishmen sat still, hearing what I had said
+to Joyful Star and her answer to it, and yet
+neither speaking nor rising from their seats,
+each full of his own thoughts and not willing
+to betray his feelings by any rash word that he
+might speak in the wonder of the moment.
+But now I turned with my heart full of joy
+and new hope, and said in a voice in which my
+gladness seemed to sing like a bird in the
+morning sky,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Rise up, Brothers of the Blood, and look
+upon your lord and rejoice with him, for our
+Father the Sun has looked kindly upon him
+and filled all his life with light. He has given
+back memory and speech to Golden Star, his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span>
+daughter, and put it into the heart of Joyful
+Star, her other sister-self, to love her and to
+make plain that which might else have been
+dark.'</p>
+
+<p>Then they all rose to their feet and saluted
+me and paid their homage to Golden Star and
+Joyful Star as well, and then I waved them
+to their seats, and when they had gone I led
+Golden Star back to her chair, and then I called
+Djama to me, and when he came and stood
+before me I said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'You have seen what has happened, and you
+have heard the words that have been said.
+You see now that there is no need for
+Golden Star to go to England. Therefore it
+remains but for you and for your friend to
+take the treasure that is yours, and for us to
+say farewell.'</p>
+
+<p>'And Ruth?' he asked. 'You know, of
+course, that that will mean farewell to her
+also.'</p>
+
+<p>I could see that he was ill at ease, and that
+his words were not the words that his true
+thoughts would have spoken. As I looked at
+him I saw that his eyes shifted and wandered
+from my gaze, and I said coldly,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Much has happened since we last spoke of
+this. It will be for Joyful Star herself to say
+whether she will bid me farewell or not. Is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span>
+she not free to go or stay where she pleases?
+Say, now, when I shall command the treasure
+to be taken out of the Hall of Gold for you,
+and where you wish it to be placed.'</p>
+
+<p>'I must ask you to give me time to think
+about that and talk it over with the professor,'
+he said, 'for we have no means of taking
+such an immense amount of gold to the
+coast and getting it on board ship without
+suspicion.'</p>
+
+<p>'Go, then,' I said, 'and speak with him, but
+remember that it must be done quickly, for ere
+many days are past there will be war in the
+land, and neither your lives nor your gold will
+be safe.'</p>
+
+<p>'I will take good care of that,' he said in a
+tone whose strangeness told me more than his
+words, and with that he turned away and sat
+down beside the professor, with the thoughts
+that were within his heart still unspoken. As
+soon as he had gone back to his seat I called
+Francis Hartness to me and set him beside me
+on the right hand of the throne, and then I
+told who he was and showed that he was well
+skilled in those new arts of warfare which had
+taken the place of our ancient methods, and
+how he had promised to use his knowledge for
+me and lead my armies into battle, hazarding
+his own life on the chance of our success; and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span>
+when I had said this I named him leader of all
+those who should range themselves under the
+Rainbow Banner when the day of battle came,
+and bade all present obey his orders and enforce
+obedience to them, even as though his commands
+were my own.</p>
+
+<p>Then I bade Francis Hartness himself speak
+all that was in his mind freely and without fear
+of betrayal concerning the war that was soon
+to be waged between the rival factions of our
+oppressors and the means that were to be used
+to turn their strife to our own account, and this
+he did, speaking in fluent Spanish and in short,
+clear sentences, as a man of action and a
+soldier should speak.</p>
+
+<p>He told how he had made himself acquainted
+with the forces on both sides, and how, with the
+help of Tupac, he had sounded the feelings of
+those by whom the fighting would have to be done,
+and had found them willing to leave the service
+of the schemers who sought to make themselves
+tyrants over the land, and fight for those whose
+purpose it was to restore the ancient rule and
+give liberty to all to use their lives as they thought
+best and to win for themselves as many of the
+gifts of the All-Father as they were able to do.
+He told, too, how he had sent many messages
+over the lightning-wires to his own country,
+bidding friends like himself in war to come out<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span>
+as quickly as might be to find the fortune that
+awaited them, yet saying nothing of war but only
+of gold that was to be had for the taking.</p>
+
+<p>When he had finished, I bade Tupac summon
+all who were present to the foot of the throne,
+and then I spoke to them of the plans that I had
+made with Francis Hartness in all their details,
+and showed them how each, according to his
+opportunities, could give his help in carrying
+them out, and then, as by this time the night
+was far spent and there was yet work of another
+sort to do, I sent them back to their seats, and
+calling Ruth and Golden Star to me, I bade them
+follow me, and led the way down the hall and
+through one of the passages at the end until I
+brought them to a chamber which Tupac and his
+comrades had already prepared for them by my
+orders, and here I left them to take their rest
+together, promising to return in the morning.</p>
+
+<p>When I got back into the throne-room Djama
+asked me whither I had taken his sister, and I
+told him what I had done, saying that the hour
+was now too late for us to return to our home on
+the other side of the valley, and that, moreover,
+it was needful for us to go back to the Hall of
+Gold to make a proper count of the treasure and
+to let him and the professor swear their oaths of
+secrecy in the presence of the fathers of my
+people.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Then I left him, looking much more ill at ease
+than such tidings should have made him feel,
+and told Tupac in the ancient tongue to take three
+of his companions and go and do that which it
+was now time to do. So he went and chose his
+men and departed through the bronze doors by
+which we had entered the hall. After that I
+named a guard to remain all night in the
+hall, and bade the rest go and put on their
+everyday clothing, and I, too, went back into
+the chamber behind the throne and changed
+my imperial garments for the others that I had
+put off.</p>
+
+<p>Then I ordered the torches and candles to be
+extinguished, all saving a few that were left for
+the guards, and then the eyes of Djama and the
+professor were bandaged afresh, though those of
+Francis Hartness&mdash;he being now one of us and
+devoted to our cause&mdash;were left open; and when
+this was done the lanterns were lit and I led the
+way into the ante-chamber of the throne-room,
+where the bronze doors still stood open as Tupac
+had left them.</p>
+
+<p>I stood by them till the last man had passed
+out, then I went through and closed them. Then
+I followed the rest and again placed myself at
+their head. But when we reached the end of the
+straight passage, instead of turning the revolving
+pillar which closed the entrance of the winding<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span>
+passage leading to the Hall of Gold, I sought
+about with my lantern on the floor until I found
+three marks in the shape of a triangle in one
+corner of a great square slab of stone, and, taking
+a long staff which one of the men carried, I
+placed the end on the triangle and calling two
+others to help me, we bore downwards with all
+our weight, and when we had thrust awhile
+on the staff the corner of the slab sank into the
+floor and it turned on a diagonal axis until it
+stood upright, leaving a three-cornered space
+large enough for a man's body to pass through
+easily. Then I made a sign to one of the Ayllos
+and said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Anahuac, take your lantern down there and
+light the way down the steps.'</p>
+
+<p>'Truly there are no secrets in the land hidden
+from the eyes of our Lord!' he said, glancing
+round in wonder at the rest, and then he lowered
+himself with his lantern into the hole and
+disappeared.</p>
+
+<p>Then I bade the rest follow him one by one,
+and so all went down, I going last with Francis
+Hartness, who helped me to put the stone back
+into its place.</p>
+
+<p>Our way now led along a rough-hewn gallery
+that sloped gently upwards for some twelve
+hundred paces, and at the end of it there was
+a little chamber measuring some twenty feet<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span>
+each way and having no apparent outlet, but in
+the middle of one of the walls there was another
+of the cunningly-constructed revolving stones
+which our ancient masons ever used to bar their
+secret ways, and this three of our men, working
+as I told them, turned on its hinge, and through
+the opening that was thus made we passed out in
+single file to a little rock-walled valley over which
+the stars were shining.</p>
+
+<p>The door was closed behind us, and dust and
+dirt were rubbed over the thin lines which marked
+where it fitted into the rock, and then we extinguished
+our lanterns and passed out of the
+valley on to the pampa.</p>
+
+<p>The place where we had come out was about
+a thousand paces from the walls of the Sacsahuaman.
+We halted on the plain and I gave my
+last orders to the Ayllos. Then we set out in the
+direction of the Fortress, and as we went one by
+one my followers disappeared silently into the
+half darkness about us till at last only four of
+them were left, two leading Djama and two the
+professor.</p>
+
+<p>I had been talking of many things with Francis
+Hartness on the way, and showing him how in
+the olden times we had made use of the secret
+passages such as those he had already seen, and
+when we saw that we had come out by a way
+different to that which we had entered, he asked<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span>
+me the reason of it, and I answered him in a low
+voice and said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Because the other way is closed. Have
+patience a little while and you shall see why.'</p>
+
+<p>Then we went on our way in silence until
+we came to the edge of the valley in which
+the Sayacusca stands. Here I halted and
+whispered a few words to the men who were
+leading Djama and the professor. They slipped
+off their ponchos and threw them over the
+heads of their prisoners, for such the two were
+now to be for the present. I heard a muffled
+cry from Djama, and I went to him and put
+my hand on his shoulder and said in a whisper,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Keep quiet and lie down. These men have
+knives and will use them at my bidding.'</p>
+
+<p>Then they pulled him and the professor down,
+and they lay quiet, knowing that their lives
+were in my hands, and I lay down on the edge
+of the valley, signing to Francis Hartness to
+come and lie beside me. Then I pointed into
+the valley and bade him watch. Presently, in
+the dim light, we made out figures moving
+about the rock, and caught every now and then
+the glint of the star-rays along thin lines of
+polished metal.</p>
+
+<p>'Rifle barrels!' he whispered. 'What are
+they doing here? I didn't know that your
+men had any weapons yet.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>'No,' I said, 'those are in the hands of soldiers
+from Cuzco. The time has come sooner than
+I thought for, and yet not too soon. You will
+see the first blow struck for the freedom of my
+people before to-morrow's sun rises.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_C_" id="Footnote_C_"></a><a href="#FNanchor_C_"><span class="label">[C]</span></a> The queen-consort of the Inca, as distinguished from the
+many others whom the ancient laws allowed him to marry.</p></div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+<h3>CHAPTER IX</h3>
+
+<h3>THE TREACHERY OF DJAMA</h3>
+
+
+<p>'Wait now for a little while with patience,' I
+said, laying my hand on his shoulder, 'and
+you shall see a strange thing, a thing that
+shall show you how strong the old traditions
+are still in the land of the Incas. Lie here
+and do not let yourself be seen till I send
+a messenger for you. It will not be very
+long.'</p>
+
+<p>He nodded and I rose quietly to my feet
+and went round the hollow until I got the
+great stone between me and the place where
+the soldiers were standing, and then I went
+down on my hands and knees and crept quietly
+towards it and climbed up a flight of steps
+carved in it. This took me to the top of the
+cleft in which is the broken stairway. I climbed
+down this and dropped softly into the hole at
+the bottom. It was dry now, for Tupac had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span>
+done that which I had bidden him in the
+throne-room. I felt my way down the steps
+till I came to the wall at the bottom. Then I
+whispered his name, and he answered out of the
+darkness in the old language,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'I am here, Lord, and all that has been
+ordered is done.'</p>
+
+<p>I crept towards him along the wall, measuring
+my way along it with my outstretched
+arms till I knew that I had come to the
+revolving stone which closed the way into the
+hall. He was standing against it, and one
+of the others was with him. I felt over the
+door till I found the silver socket, and then
+we opened the door as before with the bar
+which Tupac had brought. Then I went down
+through the hall and lighted a lantern and
+went into the little chamber where, as before,
+I changed my clothing for the imperial robes,
+and set the Llautu on my head; but I kept
+on my belt under my cloak, and put two
+revolvers in it in case I should need them, and
+when I went back into the hall Tupac and
+the others were lighting candles and putting
+them in the holders round the walls as I had
+bidden them. When this was done I said to
+him,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Go now and bring the others down, first the
+soldiers with their officer, by whose side you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span>
+must keep closely, and see that your knife is
+ready. Then let Ainu bring the Men of the
+Blood, and the strangers quickly after them, and
+bid <ins class="correction" title="Transcriber's Note: The original text reads 'Anahauc'">Anahuac</ins> and Ainu close the door when the
+last man has entered.'</p>
+
+<p>He bowed his head, and the two went out
+and left me sitting there on a seat built up of
+blocks of gold before the pyramid, waiting to
+play my part in the scene that was to follow,
+and strike the first blow in the battle that I
+had come to fight. Presently I heard the rattle
+of arms and the sound of footsteps coming along
+the passage. I took one of the revolvers out
+of my belt and held it ready under my cloak,
+and sat still and rigid as the effigy of Yupanqui,
+looking straight before me at the entrance at
+the other end.</p>
+
+<p>Tupac came in first, and close behind him
+was a Spanish officer with a drawn sword in
+his hand. After him came the soldiers, two and
+two, with their rifles and bayonets. The officer
+stopped and stared about him, blinking with
+eyes half dazzled by the sudden light and the
+glitter of the gold and jewels which he saw
+wherever he looked. The same instant I saw
+the gleam of steel in Tupac's hand close to
+his yellow throat. Then he said to him in
+Spanish,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Put up your sword, se&ntilde;or, and come with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span>
+me and beg your life from the Son of the Sun
+who sits yonder on his throne.'</p>
+
+<p>The Spaniard uttered a loud cry of amazement
+as his eyes fell upon me, for so far he
+had not seen me, having been too much taken
+up by the splendours of the hall. Then he
+turned and called to his soldiers, but while the
+cry was still in his throat, Tupac's arm went
+round his neck and the knife-point touched his
+skin. Then he bade two of the soldiers take
+the sword out of his hand and hold him fast,
+which they did, greatly to his wonder, for he did
+not know that the betrayer was already betrayed.
+As soon as he was safe, Tupac told the other
+soldiers to take their places along the walls, and
+they did so in silence, yet wondering greatly at
+all they saw. There were four-and-twenty of
+them, not counting the two who held the officer,
+all men of Indian blood whom the Spaniards<a name="FNanchor_D_" id="FNanchor_D_"></a><a href="#Footnote_D_" class="fnanchor">[D]</a>
+had made rather slaves than soldiers to fight
+their petty quarrels for them for little pay and
+scanty food.</p>
+
+<p>After them came Anahuac and Ainu and the
+rest of the Men of the Blood, bringing with
+them Djama and the professor blindfolded, and
+Francis Hartness with his eyes unbound. All
+this time I had neither moved nor made a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span>
+sound, and the soldiers were looking at me
+almost in terror, wondering whether I was truly
+a man or one of the dead Incas with living eyes
+in his head. As for the Spanish officer, being
+a coward, as many of his sort are, he was
+already white with fear, and his knees were
+shaking as he stood between the two soldiers
+who held him. When all had entered, <ins class="correction" title="Transcriber's Note: The original text reads 'Anahauc'">Anahuac</ins>
+came and prostrated himself before me and
+said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'The commands of the Son of the Sun are
+obeyed. All are here, and the door is shut.'</p>
+
+<p>Before I answered him, I called Francis Hartness
+to me and said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Come here and stand by me, my friend, for
+I shall need your counsel.'</p>
+
+<p>He came and stood by me on my right
+hand, saying as he looked still wonderingly
+at me,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'This means treachery, I suppose, and after
+that, tragedy. Is that why you left Ruth and
+Golden Star in the Fortress? I am afraid you
+had only too much reason to, but I hope, for
+Ruth's sake, you will do justice with as much
+mercy as you can.'</p>
+
+<p>'You shall see,' I answered. 'But if it
+were not for her you would see justice without
+mercy.'</p>
+
+<p>Then I bade Anahuac rise, and told him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span>
+and Tupac to unbind the eyes of Djama and
+the professor and bring them before me.</p>
+
+<p>As Djama's eyes opened to the light, he
+stared about him in silence for a moment. His
+face was very pale, and his lips were twitching
+and trembling. The professor, too, looked about
+him, also wondering greatly at what he saw;
+but neither of them spoke till they had been
+led forward and stood before me. Then, while
+Djama still kept silence, the professor, looking
+from me to Hartness, said in a voice that had
+much wonder, but no fear or sign of guilt,
+in it,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'What is this? What does all this mean?
+What are all these soldiers here for, Vilcaroya?
+I thought it was so important that all this
+should be kept secret? Surely no one has
+betrayed you already? But no, that can't be.
+Hartness, what does it all mean?'</p>
+
+<p>'It means&mdash;first,' I said, speaking very slowly,
+and not in a loud voice, 'that you have been
+brought here with Laurens Djama to take the
+oath which you agreed to take&mdash;never to reveal
+the secrets of the things that you have learned.
+I ask your pardon for the rude way in which
+my people have brought you, but it was
+necessary.'</p>
+
+<p>Then I turned to Djama, who was standing
+silent and motionless, with clenched teeth and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span>
+set face, like one who knows that he stands
+near his doom and has no hope of mercy,
+and said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Now, Laurens Djama, are you ready to do
+as you promised to do when I told you that I
+would give you the half of this gold for what
+you have done for me and Golden Star? Are
+you ready to swear the oath here, in the
+presence of these witnesses, that you swore to
+me then?'</p>
+
+<p>He drew himself up and looked at me boldly&mdash;for
+he was a brave man although his heart
+was black&mdash;and said to me with a hard, harsh
+laugh in his voice,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'You have been too clever for me, and so I
+suppose you have the right to mock me. There
+is no need to go on with this farce. The sight
+of your treasures gave me the gold-fever, I
+suppose, and it drove me mad, as it has driven
+many others mad, and I betrayed you. There
+is no use saying any more. I see that I
+have been betrayed too, and that my life is
+in your hands, so I need only say that I
+keep the right of taking it myself in my own
+way.'</p>
+
+<p>'There is no need for that yet,' I said, 'and
+others are concerned in this besides you.'</p>
+
+<p>Then I turned from him to Francis Hartness
+and said,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'I cannot speak the Spanish speech, and I
+would not if I could. Do you therefore speak
+to the Spaniard yonder, and bid him say how
+he came to be here with his soldiers. Tell
+him, too, that if he lies, or refuses to speak, he
+shall be buried in the gold he came to steal
+until the weight of it crushes his life out. But
+say to him that if he speaks the truth and
+holds nothing back and does as I shall bid him,
+he shall have his life, and afterwards as much
+gold as three men can carry.'</p>
+
+<p>So then Francis Hartness turned to the
+trembling Spaniard and questioned him, and he
+confessed freely as soon as he knew he was
+not to be killed, and told how Djama had gone
+to the Governor of Cuzco and told him of my
+coming and of a great treasure that he would
+show him, and of others that I knew the secret
+of and might be made to reveal, and how he
+had bargained that half of all that was found
+should be his and the other half the Governor's,
+if he would help him to carry it to the coast
+in safety and put it on a steamer. The Spaniard
+told also how the Governor, who was his own
+father, had only half believed this story, and
+had bidden him bring a company of soldiers
+to the appointed place and see if there was
+any truth in Djama's story, and, if he found
+there was, to take Djama and all of us prisoners<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span>
+and carry us back to Cuzco, and put us into
+the prison until he could question us the next
+day.</p>
+
+<p>When he had finished, Djama laughed again
+and said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'There's the honour of a Peruvian! Serve
+me right for being such a fool as to trust
+to it!'</p>
+
+<p>But I bade him sternly to hold his peace
+till he should be told to speak, and then, when
+Francis Hartness had told me in English what
+the Spaniard had said, I bade Tupac and
+Anahuac stand forward and tell of their share
+in what had been done, so that all might
+understand. They told their story in Quichua,
+and when I translated it into English to Francis
+Hartness I made few words of it, of which the
+meaning was this,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>Ever since Tupac and his comrades had
+recognised me as their lord, and sworn their
+faith to me, they, and others whom they
+trusted, had industriously spread abroad the
+news of my coming&mdash;though telling nothing
+that would make a traitor able to betray us&mdash;and,
+in proof of their story, little wedges of
+gold, stamped with the ancient symbol of the
+Sun, had been passed from hand to hand as
+earnest of my promise that I would use the
+hidden treasures of the Incas for the benefit of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span>
+my people, and make money of gold where
+now there was only silver and copper.</p>
+
+<p>By this time, not only had the golden wedges
+gone far and wide through the land, but
+nearly all the soldiers of the pure Indian blood
+had been won over to my cause, for, as I have
+said, and as everyone in the country knows,
+these soldiers are treated with great hardness
+by their Spanish masters, who often pay them
+nothing for many weeks or months together,
+and give them scanty food and hard usage,
+and cast them into prison or flog them and
+shoot them if they think to do anything to
+get justice. Moreover, there are always factions
+of men they call politicians scheming
+for power and setting the soldiers fighting
+against one another and against their countrymen
+for no benefit to themselves. So what
+Francis Hartness had told me on the night
+that Golden Star had come back to life had
+already begun to come true. More than
+half the garrison of Cuzco had already been
+won over, and only waited for the signal
+which should bid the whole Indian population
+of the valley to rise and seize the arms
+and ammunition in the city, and make the
+officers and the Governor and all the officials
+prisoners.</p>
+
+<p>Anahuac's daughter was a servant in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span>
+Governor's house, and this girl understood
+Spanish, though she pretended only to know
+Quichua and the dialect of the people, and she
+had been set to watch,<a name="FNanchor_E_" id="FNanchor_E_"></a><a href="#Footnote_E_" class="fnanchor">[E]</a> and Tupac's eldest
+son had also been secretly watching all the
+comings and goings of Djama since we came
+to Cuzco. In this way his visit to the Governor
+had been made known to me, and then one
+of the soldiers in the company that had been
+ordered to go with the Governor's son to the
+Rodadero had told Tupac of the order, and I
+had arranged with him how the surprise was
+to be carried out, and this, as you have seen,
+had been done with complete success.</p>
+
+<p>When I had finished telling this to Hartness
+I turned to the professor and said to him
+kindly,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'There has been nothing said that brings
+any share of the guilt of this treason to you,
+so now, if you will promise me on your faith
+and honour as an Englishman to keep my
+secrets and obey such commands as I shall
+put upon you for your own safety and
+that of all of us, you shall go free, and you
+shall have the choice of going back to England
+or to any other country until the war is over,
+or of staying here under my protection until<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span>
+you can go away safely with the treasure which
+shall be yours. But if you go now you cannot
+take it with you, for in a few days from
+now there will be war throughout the whole
+land, and it would be impossible to take so
+much treasure to the coast. Now, what do you
+say?'</p>
+
+<p>He thought for a moment and then said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'I am not a man of war, as you know
+Vilcaroya, but I hope I am a man of honour.
+I have never breathed a syllable that could
+have given anyone an inkling of your secret,
+and I promise you solemnly that I never will.
+What Djama has done distresses me even more
+than it amazes me. I would have staked my
+life on his honesty, and if you will release him
+and let him come with me&mdash;'</p>
+
+<p>'No, no, my friend!' I said, quickly and
+sternly. 'What you would ask is impossible.
+His aims were deeper and his sin was blacker
+than it has been shown to be here. He did
+not betray us for gold alone, for he knew that
+I would keep my promise and give him more
+than he could want. He would have given me
+to my enemies to be killed&mdash;it might have been
+by tortures, to make me say where my treasures
+were hidden&mdash;so that he might have had Golden
+Star at his mercy.'</p>
+
+<p>'It was your own fault, curse you! Why<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span>
+did you not give her to me?' Djama cried
+suddenly, breaking loose from the two who held
+his arms and putting his hand to his pistol
+pocket. The next instant my own revolver
+was out from under my cloak and levelled at
+his heart.</p>
+
+<p>'Another motion and I will kill you,' I said,
+'though so quick a death would be too good
+for you. Tie his hands behind his back and
+hold him faster this time. Give me his pistol.'</p>
+
+<p>Before I had done speaking they had seized
+him again in spite of his struggles, and paying
+no heed to his cries and imprecations&mdash;for by
+this time his long-pent-up passion had broken
+loose and made him almost mad, and when
+they had given me his pistol I said to him,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'I told you that Golden Star should be yours
+if you could win her as an honest man. But
+you sought to steal her as you would have
+stolen my gold. That is enough; keep silence
+now, or you shall be gagged.'</p>
+
+<p>Then I held out my hand to the professor
+and said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'I will accept your promise, for you are an
+honest man. There is my hand. Now we
+will be friends as before, and I will answer
+for your safety. Will you go or stay with us?'</p>
+
+<p>'I will stay,' he said, 'for my studies are not
+completed yet, and besides, I am anxious to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span>
+see what the Inca empire will be like when it
+is restored.'</p>
+
+<p>'I am glad that you say so,' I replied, 'for
+you are welcome, and you shall make your
+home here always if you will.'</p>
+
+<p>Then I bade them stand the Spanish officer
+in the professor's place beside Djama, and,
+turning to Francis Hartness, said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'These men are worthy of death, for they
+would have delivered us to death, but I cannot
+kill Djama since Joyful Star might hate
+me for it, and if I do not kill him it would
+not be justice to kill the Spaniard. What
+shall I do?'</p>
+
+<p>'I see nothing for it,' he said, after thinking
+awhile, 'but shutting them up safely until
+we have got this business over, and then sending
+them out of the country and forbidding them
+to come back under pain of death. There are
+plenty of places that they would be perfectly
+safe in.'</p>
+
+<p>'That is well thought of, my friend,' I said,
+'and it shall be done. They came for gold and
+they shall have it. They shall live in it, and
+see gold, and nothing but gold, till the sight of
+it is hateful to them. They shall have a prison
+of gold, and eat and drink from gold, and sleep
+and walk and sit on gold. Yes, truly, they
+shall have enough of gold before they see the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span>
+light of day again. Now tell the Spaniard what
+I have said.'</p>
+
+<p>He did so, and at first the wretch's eyes glittered
+and then grew dim when the true meaning of his
+doom came upon him, for it meant he knew
+not how long an imprisonment with a man who
+had betrayed his friends, and whom, as he had
+confessed, he would himself have betrayed; and
+he thought, too, that I had only promised him
+his life and the gold to make him speak, and that
+now I would keep him prisoner and perhaps kill
+him in the end. So he fell on his knees, like
+the craven that he was, and begged for mercy,
+and told Hartness of my promise, and with
+Hartness's lips I told him only that he must
+have patience and wait until it was my pleasure
+to do what I had said.</p>
+
+<p>After this I called Tupac and Anahuac and
+told them what I wished done, and they took a
+score of their men and forthwith began to build, in
+a corner of the hall beside the throne, a chamber
+measuring some ten feet each way, of the oblong
+blocks of gold which were piled up in the pyramid,
+and while they were doing this I called the soldiers
+before me and told them, speaking in their own
+dialect, that if they were faithful to me until the
+end of the war, each man should have one ounce
+weight of gold paid to him every month, and one
+ounce more for each of his comrades that he could<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span>
+persuade to join us, and for this night's work I
+would give them each a wedge of gold of the
+weight of two ounces, which was more money
+than all that they had earned in their lives
+before; and when I had promised this they
+went on their knees and swore faith to me and
+destruction to their hated Spanish masters.</p>
+
+<p>Then I told them how Francis Hartness would
+lead them to battle and to victory as he had led
+the soldiers of his own nation, and after that he
+spoke to them in Spanish, and told them what
+to tell their comrades and what was to be done
+with the arms and ammunition when the signal
+for the rising was given.</p>
+
+<p>All this while Djama and the Spaniard were
+kept standing watching the building of their
+golden prison-cell. The men worked swiftly,
+and the many hands made the toil light, and
+they built the walls up very thick and strong,
+fitting the golden bricks closely into each other,
+and making the walls smooth and without hand
+or foot-hold, so that neither could any of the
+bricks be got out, nor the walls be climbed.
+The cell was divided into two by another wall,
+and when the walls were finished they were
+about ten feet high, and there was an opening
+into each cell in front, large enough for a man
+to crawl in on his hands and knees.</p>
+
+<p>When all was ready I said to Djama,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'There is your house of gold. Go and dwell
+in it till it shall be safe for me to release you.
+Every day, as I have said, you shall eat and
+drink from plates and cups of gold, and you
+shall dream of gold until this gold-fever of
+yours is cured.'</p>
+
+<p>'Until I have gone gold-mad, you mean!' he
+cried, snarling at me like an angry dog. 'It is
+just such a vengeance as a half-civilised savage
+would have thought of. You know as well as
+I do that I shall go mad in there unless I kill
+myself first.'</p>
+
+<p>'You have your choice!' I said. 'I will make
+your punishment no lighter. If you think to
+pull the walls down they will fall on you and
+crush you, and you will be buried in gold, and
+if I am told that you have tried to break out, I
+will put chains of gold on you, so heavy
+that you shall not be able to drag them across
+your cell; but if you are peaceful and patient,
+all your wants shall be attended to by those
+that I shall appoint, and you shall have everything
+but liberty and the light of day. Now,
+go in.'</p>
+
+<p>'I won't!' he cried with a curse that ended in
+a scream. 'I shall go mad in there, I tell you,
+and that is a thousand times worse than death
+to me. I won't! Damn you, I won't!'</p>
+
+<p>'Then you shall be thrust in,' I said.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>I made a sign to those who held him, and they,
+seeing what I meant, took him by the body and
+the legs, and carried him, feet foremost, kicking
+and struggling, towards the hole. Then they thrust
+him in with his arms still bound. But when he
+was half-way through, I bade one of them loose
+the cords a little, so that he could free himself
+afterwards. The Spaniard made no resistance,
+and when he was bidden crept, trembling like a
+hound that has been flogged, into his cell, and
+when they were both in I ordered the openings
+to be built up.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 395px;"><a name="They_thrust_him_in_with_his_arms_still_bound" id="They_thrust_him_in_with_his_arms_still_bound"></a>
+<img src="images/illus4.jpg" width="395" height="600" alt="They thrust him in with his arms still bound." title="They thrust him in with his arms still bound." />
+<span class="caption">They thrust him in with his arms still bound.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Francis Hartness and the professor had gone
+away to the other end of the hall, not liking to
+see this, and yet knowing that it would be useless
+to seek to persuade me to more mercy.</p>
+
+<p>'Our work here is done now,' I said, going to
+them, 'and it would be well for us to go back
+to the fortress and sleep, for the morning is
+near and there will be much work to do before
+long.'</p>
+
+<p>'I don't think I shall sleep much after what I
+have seen to-night,' said Hartness, 'and if I did
+sleep I think I should dream of that golden prison
+and those two poor wretches hungering and thirsting
+for daylight and liberty, with the means of
+buying any luxury the world could give them
+within reach of their hands.'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes,' said the professor, 'it is a curious situa<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span>tion,
+isn't it?&mdash;quite apart from the personal
+interest it has for us. Now, in England or
+America, a room built with walls and floor of
+solid gold would be a luxury that only a
+millionaire could afford, and he would probably
+be thought a fool for building it, and yet here
+it is only a prison in which a man might well
+starve to death. Come, let us get away from
+here. I really don't want to hear any more of
+Djama's ravings than I can help. Good heavens!
+who ever would have thought that a man of
+his culture and learning and strength of mind
+could possibly have made such a blackguard of
+himself!'</p>
+
+<p>'Well,' said Hartness, with a dry sort of laugh,
+'you see he was the victim of the two passions
+that have done most to drive men mad or make
+scoundrels of them since the world began&mdash;the
+love of woman and the lust for gold. I don't
+pretend to understand it myself, because he had
+gold enough promised to him, and there is no
+telling but that he might have won the woman;
+but there, you never can tell how far any man is
+mad or sane until he's tried.'</p>
+
+<p>'But there was something else, my friend,' I
+said. 'There was, as you say, lust of gold and
+love of woman; but there was also hate. Why,
+I know not; but though I owe my new life to
+that man, I have hated him and he has hated me<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span>
+since we learnt to know each other as living men.
+You know, too, how, as I told you, Golden Star
+shrank from him as though he had been a poisonous
+reptile, and yet why should I hate him and
+yet love her who is of the same flesh and blood
+as he is?'</p>
+
+<p>'I would rather discuss the problem in the
+open air or at the hacienda than here,' said the
+professor, 'and even then I don't suppose we
+should get much nearer to a solution, for these
+things are mysteries and mostly past finding out.
+Yet it may be that you and he, the sons of
+different centuries, may actually have embodied
+in you the differences and the antipathies of
+the two ages and the two races to which you
+belong. There is no telling. But come, let us
+get out of here, please. I really can't stand this
+any longer.'</p>
+
+<p>'Nor I,' said Hartness. 'For goodness' sake
+let us go! This is a good deal more trying to
+the nerves than a cavalry charge or a smart
+skirmish.'</p>
+
+<p>'Very well,' I said, 'we will go.'</p>
+
+<p>Then I called to Tupac and bade him tell the
+soldiers and the rest that the night's work was
+over and it was time to go. We gave each of the
+soldiers his wedge of gold, as I had promised
+them; and once more I made them swear that
+each would kill any of the others who thought<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span>
+to betray us. Then Tupac and Anahuac went
+and opened the stone door, and we returned
+from the Hall of Gold to the upper earth,
+leaving Djama and his fellow traitor still raving
+and crying within the walls of their golden
+prison.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_D_" id="Footnote_D_"></a><a href="#FNanchor_D_"><span class="label">[D]</span></a> The Inca naturally does not distinguish between the modern
+Peruvians and their Spanish ancestors.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_E_" id="Footnote_E_"></a><a href="#FNanchor_E_"><span class="label">[E]</span></a> This is quite a common thing in Peru, and the Indian women
+make exceedingly clever spies.</p></div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+<h3>CHAPTER X</h3>
+
+<h3>ON THE RODADERO</h3>
+
+
+<p>Francis Hartness and I came last out of
+the passage, and I asked him to lead the
+soldiers out of the hollow and across the plain
+to the wall of the Sacsahuaman, where I would
+join them, and as soon as they had gone out
+of the hollow and were lost to sight I went
+to the hole among the bushes where the hidden
+stone was and released the chain and let
+the water flow back into its old place, till the
+entrance to the Hall of Gold was only the
+same dark, stagnant pool that any wanderer
+might find at the bottom of the cloven stairway.</p>
+
+<p>Then I strewed the earth over the hole, and
+piled the stones and brushwood round and
+over it as before, and went away to join the
+others. I found them standing in a group in
+one of the angles of the great fortress, and there<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span>
+I spoke to the soldiers again, and told them
+how much depended, both for themselves and
+for the country, on their fidelity, promising
+them peace and prosperity and freedom if they
+were faithful, and a speedy death if they betrayed
+me.</p>
+
+<p>After this I told them what story they should
+tell when they went back to the city&mdash;how
+their Indian guide had led them into the
+entrance to a cavern in the mountain, their
+officer going first and he following, and how,
+when these two were going on with a single
+light, some two or three yards ahead of them
+a great slab of stone had suddenly fallen down
+between them, closing the passage, and how
+water had risen up and filled the passage at
+its lower end, forcing them to run back out of
+it for fear of being drowned; and I further
+gave them permission to bring any who disbelieved
+them to the mouth of the cleft
+under the Sayacusca and show them the water
+that they would find at the bottom of it, but to
+take good care to send me warning of anyone
+going there.</p>
+
+<p>This they promised to do, and still full of
+wonder, and yet pleased with the gold they had
+got and the promises I had made to them, they
+made a loyal farewell, and marched down
+through the Gate of Sand, and went back to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span>
+the city to tell their story and do the work
+that I had bidden them do.</p>
+
+<p>When they had gone I sent some of my men
+to see that none of them turned back, and dismissed
+the rest to their homes, saving only
+Tupac, Anahuac, and Ainu and three others
+who could be trusted in all things; and with
+these we went back into the underground
+chambers of the fortress by the way that we
+had left them.</p>
+
+<p>When we got back to the throne-room I
+sent all but Tupac away to remove the beasts
+from the stables and take them to the hacienda,
+so that the next night, under cover of the
+darkness, they could return and bring us food
+and drink and clothing and other things that
+we needed, for now that matters had gone so
+far it would not be safe for us to live at the
+hacienda or be seen in any place known to the
+Spaniards until the time was ripe for the striking
+of the first blow.</p>
+
+<p>When they were gone we ate and drank a
+little of what we had brought with us in the
+morning, and then lay down, either to sleep or
+to think of the strange things that had happened
+and of what was now quickly coming to
+pass.</p>
+
+<p>As for me, no sleep came to my eyes, for
+I knew that when Joyful Star awoke I should<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span>
+have to tell her at least something of what her
+brother had done and of what had happened
+to him, and a grievous task it was, you may
+be sure, when I came to the doing of it, as I
+did not many hours afterwards.</p>
+
+<p>The first thing she asked me when she found
+that Djama was not with us was what had
+become of him, and then, knowing that sooner
+or later the bitter truth had to be told, I told
+her as gently as I was able, and hiding from
+her all that I could without lying to her. My
+words struck her dumb with horror and amazement,
+and if it had not been that Francis
+Hartness and the professor were there, and told
+her that they had seen and heard with their
+own eyes and ears the truth of all that I said,
+I do not think she would have believed me.
+But when at last she could no longer doubt
+the story of her brother's crime and treachery,
+she came to me and laid her hand upon my
+arm, and looked up at me with tearful eyes
+and said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'But you will not kill him, Vilcaroya, for my
+sake, will you? He is my brother, you know,
+after all, though he has made me almost ashamed
+to say so. You must protect yourself, of course,
+and your people from treachery, but you will
+not kill him, will you?'</p>
+
+<p>'He is alive now,' I said, 'because he is Joy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span>ful
+Star's brother, not because I think he is
+worthy to live, for he would have betrayed one
+life that he gave back, and stained the other
+with infamy. But I have given my word, and
+he shall live, and when he can do no more
+harm I will pardon him, and he shall go back
+to his own country in safety. More than that
+I cannot promise even to you.'</p>
+
+<p>'It is all that I can ask for,' she said, 'and
+more than he could expect after what he has
+done. But, oh! why should he have brought
+such a shame as this upon us?'</p>
+
+<p>'Upon himself only,' I said. It would not be
+possible for such a thing as shame to touch you.'</p>
+
+<p>She looked up at me again and smiled through
+her tears, as if my words had pleased her well,
+and that smile of hers was more to me than
+even her tears. Then she went back to the little
+chamber where she had slept, and presently
+returned leading Golden Star by the hand, and
+then we all sat down in the silver seats and
+talked of the wonderful things that had happened,
+and I told Golden Star all the story of my own
+return to life, and hers, and what I knew of
+the changes that had happened in the world since
+she and I had said our last words to each
+other in the Sanctuary of the Sun; and then
+I set her talking with the others, translating
+for her and for them as well as I could, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span>
+she, knowing nothing of what had happened in
+the night, and being glad that Evil Eyes, as
+she called Djama in our own speech, had gone
+away for a long time, was as happy as a child
+amongst us, and soon even Ruth became more
+cheerful and began to try and make her say
+words of English and repeat her name and the
+professor's and Francis Hartness's after her, for
+she already loved her dearly, and, even in the
+midst of her own sorrow, she was rejoiced that
+the soul which had slept had been so happily
+re-awakened in her.</p>
+
+<p>After this, Francis Hartness and I began to
+talk our plans over again, and to discuss the
+chances of the revolt in Cuzco, and I showed him
+how, with the help of my people, I would the next
+day cut off all communication between the valley
+and the rest of the country until our work was
+finished there, for I was determined that the
+first part of the empire of my fathers' that I
+would re-take should be the City of the Sun
+itself and the region that it commanded, since I
+knew that my people still looked upon it as the
+most sacred spot on earth, and would fight better
+to take it than any other place. And in this
+plan Francis Hartness, looking at the matter as
+a soldier, also agreed with me.</p>
+
+<p>We thought it best that none of us should show
+ourselves in the open that day, for we knew not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span>
+what the effect of the soldiers' story and their
+return without their officer might be in Cuzco, for
+if it had become widely known, it would certainly
+bring many people up to the Rodadero to behold
+the scene of so strange an occurrence. So we
+spent the day in conversation, and, which was
+more interesting to my companions, in exploring
+the maze of chambers and passages and winding
+galleries which the labour of many thousands of
+men had wrought out of the solid rock in the
+days of my ancestors, for you must know that in
+those days the fortress of the Sacsahuaman was
+crowned with a great palace, which was the
+strongest place in all the Land of the Four
+Regions, and so here were stored very great
+treasures, not only of gold and silver and precious
+stones, but also weapons and armour and most
+finely-woven cloths of the purest wool of the
+Vicu&ntilde;a, which is softer than silk, brilliantly dyed
+and embroidered with gems and threads of gold,
+and the imperial robes that had been worn by
+twenty generations of Incas, many sets of each,
+since nothing that had belonged to one Inca
+might ever be used by another after his death.</p>
+
+<p>Among these were found many sets of the
+royal robes of the Coyas or queen-wives of the
+Incas, and I took Golden Star aside and told her
+to take two of these and to clothe herself in one
+and Joyful Star in the other, so that we might<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span>
+see our two Inca princesses side by side as they
+might have looked in the days of the past, and
+she fell in with my humour, laughing and clapping
+her hands like a delighted child.</p>
+
+<p>So she took the robes and led Joyful Star away
+with her to their own chamber, talking to her in
+her soft, musical speech, though she knew she
+could not understand her, and yet making so
+many pretty signs and eloquent gestures that
+Ruth, forgetting her sorrow for the time, comprehended
+her, and entered into the spirit of the play,
+and soon they came back to us into the throne-room,
+clad exactly alike, and so perfectly resembling
+each other, save for the contrast of the blue
+eyes and the brown, and the bright hair and the
+dark, that they could have been taken for nothing
+save twin daughters of the Sun and the fairest of
+his children; and Tupac and the two men that
+I had kept in the fortress to attend to our
+wants fell on their knees before them as they
+passed, as though they would have worshipped
+them.</p>
+
+<p>It was at this time, and while we were passing
+the hours in this fashion, that Golden Star did
+something that gave me great joy and a bright
+hope for the future. I had been telling her of
+the wonderful country that I had returned to life
+in, and of the marvellous things that I had seen
+there, and this, she knew already, was the country<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span>
+of Francis Hartness. So, as he came from such
+a wonderful land, she thought, in the innocence
+of her old-world simplicity, that he was one of
+a new race of beings that came on to the earth
+since our days, and when I told her he was but
+human like ourselves, though very strong and
+learned and skilled in many things that we
+knew nothing of, she said to me, just as a sister
+might say to a brother from whom she had no
+secrets,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'He is rather, in my eyes, like a son of our
+Father who has come to earth from the Mansions
+of the Sun; yet I am very glad that he is not,
+and that he is a man such as you are, my brother,
+and when Joyful Star has taught me the speech
+of her people I will talk with him, and then I
+think life will be better for me, for even now,
+though I cannot understand his words, his voice
+sounds like music to me, and when he looks at
+me he makes me try to remember something
+that was in my other life, and I have forgotten.
+What is it, I wonder?'</p>
+
+<p>I looked down into her eyes and saw the untroubled
+serenity of her soul reflected in them.
+There was no flush on her cheeks, and her lips
+were smiling as they could not have smiled had
+she known how I could have answered that
+question for her. I stooped and kissed her
+brow and said,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'I might guess what it is, Golden Star, but
+I could not tell you. Yet I pray that our
+Father the Sun may put it into the heart
+of my friend to teach you what I see now you
+can only learn from him.'</p>
+
+<p>More than this I would not tell her, though
+she questioned me sharply. But the next time
+that Francis Hartness spoke to her through my
+lips she looked up at him, and a little flush
+came to her cheeks, and a smile to her lips,
+and I saw his eyes brighten, and the colour
+deepen ever so little under the bronze of his
+skin.</p>
+
+<p>Then I looked at Joyful Star and saw something
+shining in her eyes too, and as she caught
+my glance she smiled ever so little and said,
+when I had finished speaking for him,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Vilcaroya is an excellent interpreter, I've no
+doubt; but don't you think, Captain Hartness,
+it would be very much more interesting if you
+could talk directly with Her Highness? You
+know I'm teaching Golden Star English, and
+Vilcaroya is teaching you Quichua&mdash;now, I
+wonder which of you will be able to talk to
+the other first?'</p>
+
+<p>He pulled his moustache and laughed, looking
+at Golden Star the while, and said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Well, Her Highness has the advantage of
+the easier language and the freshest, and I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span>
+daresay the brightest intellect, but probably
+for all that we shall begin with some delightful
+jargon of both languages, and leave them to
+sort themselves out as we go on. Still, as you
+say, it will be more interesting than talking
+through an interpreter.'</p>
+
+<p>'And I hope,' she said, with more meaning
+in her voice than in her words, 'that you
+will both of you find it as pleasant as it
+will be interesting.'</p>
+
+<p>'Who knows!' he said, catching her meaning
+and laughing again. 'She is most wonderfully
+like you, Miss Ruth, isn't she?'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes, but&mdash;but I am not without hope that
+you may some day compare us a little, just a
+little, to my disadvantage.'</p>
+
+<p>What Francis Hartness would have said to
+this I cannot say, though I do not think he
+was displeased by Joyful Star's words, and yet
+his face grew very serious as she spoke. But
+just then Tupac came and told me that Anahuac
+and Ainu had returned with the beasts, and
+were now waiting outside the bronze doors.
+From this we learnt that it was already night,
+though, truth to tell, the time had passed so
+quickly for us that I for one thought that it
+was little more than late afternoon.</p>
+
+<p>Now, as I have said, I was the only one who
+knew the secret of the bronze doors, and so I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span>
+went back with Tupac and opened them, and,
+when the men had entered, closed them
+again.</p>
+
+<p>There were twelve of them beside Ainu and
+Anahuac, and all were laden with food and
+drink and clothing, and our arms and ammunition,
+two repeating rifles and two revolvers for
+each of us. When the men had laid their
+burdens down, I called Anahuac to me, and
+asked him if he had any news. He bowed
+himself before me, and then, standing in front
+of me as I sat in one of the seats, he
+said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Yes, Lord. If the ears of the Son of the
+Sun are open, his servant will fill them with
+tidings of some moment.'</p>
+
+<p>'Say on,' I said, 'and meanwhile let a meal
+be prepared for us, for we are hungry.'</p>
+
+<p>This I said to Tupac, and Golden Star, hearing
+it, smiled, and took Ruth's hand and led
+her to the boxes, making signs that they should
+perform the housewife's duties together. Then
+Anahuac began, and said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'The ears of the Children of the Blood have
+not been closed, nor have their eyes slept
+throughout the Holy City and the Valley of the
+Sun, and they have seen and heard much, and
+the courage of their hearts has risen high,
+and they are longing for the word of their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span>
+Lord to break the yoke that is upon their
+necks.</p>
+
+<p>'When the soldiers returned last night and
+told the story that my Lord had put into their
+mouths, there was great wonder among all the
+other soldiers, and many saw in it a sign that
+the Son of the Sun is mighty, and can do that
+which he promises. But among the masters
+who are set over the soldiers there was great
+anger, and they sought, but without avail, to
+keep the news from being made public in the
+city; but the Men of the Blood took care that
+this should not be so, and to-day all Cuzco has
+been talking of the strange fate of the Coronel
+Prada, the son of Don Antonio Prada, the
+governor. But Don Antonio himself had gone
+the day before to a hacienda near Oropesa, and
+messengers have been sent to him to tell him the
+story, and this evening he rode back with all
+haste to the city.</p>
+
+<p>'He has ordered that to-night sentries shall
+be posted at all the approaches to the Rodadero
+and round the Sayacusca, so that none may
+come or go without his knowledge, and to-morrow
+he will come himself with many officers
+and two hundred soldiers, and the thing they
+call dynamite, that he may rend the Sayacusca
+in pieces, and find, as he thinks, the place where
+his son has been hidden.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>'And the soldiers&mdash;what of them?' I asked.
+'Will they be for us or against us?'</p>
+
+<p>'There will be many in the service of my
+Lord, and if it shall be possible there shall be
+more of these than of the others, for those who
+were in the Hall of Gold last night have been
+busy in the hope of my Lord's further bounty,
+and many have been tempted with the promise
+of gold and freedom; but still there will be
+many that may not be trusted, and all the
+officers of the Governor will be Spaniards.'</p>
+
+<p>'And therefore enemies,' I said, when he had
+finished his story, and stood waiting for me to
+speak.</p>
+
+<p>I told Francis Hartness at once what Anahuac
+had said, and we debated for a short time on
+what we should do. Then I called Tupac, and
+he came and stood beside Anahuac, and I said
+to them,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'These things have happened well for us, and
+now we must act quickly, so that we may take
+the best advantage of them. When you go
+hence, take with you twenty strips of the scarlet
+fringe in token of my authority, and give these
+to twenty of the best of the Men of the Blood,
+and let them go with all speed and silence
+through the towns and villages of the valley,
+and say that the Son of the Sun has come,
+and is about to stretch forth his hand and take<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span>
+that which was his again. Further, let every
+entrance to the valley be closed. Let the bridge
+over the Great Speaker be cut with all speed
+that may be. Let none pass in or out of the
+gateway of Piquillacta, and let all the mountain
+paths be broken down or blocked, so that
+none may know what is happening in the
+valley, nor any news be carried hence into the
+country.</p>
+
+<p>'Let every hacienda, whose master is a
+Spaniard, be given to the flames, but let no
+one else be injured. Let none of the strangers
+be hurt, and let their goods be sacred. Let all
+of the sentries who will not serve us be disarmed
+or slain silently by the others, and this
+before midnight, and let those who are for us&mdash;who
+shall come with the Governor to-morrow&mdash;make
+ready to do quickly that which shall be
+commanded them. The password for those who
+are with us will be "Vilcaroya." The rest I will
+do with my own hands and the help of my
+friend. I have spoken&mdash;let me be obeyed
+quickly!'</p>
+
+<p>Then they bent low before me and went to
+make ready to do what I had bidden them.</p>
+
+<p>It was then about eight o'clock at night, and
+after we had had our evening meal we waited
+until it was nearly eleven, making perfect our
+plans, and then, when Ruth and Golden Star had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span>
+gone to rest without knowing of the work which
+we had in hand&mdash;for we had kept it from them
+lest they should be anxious for us&mdash;Francis
+Hartness and I armed ourselves, after I had
+disguised him as well as I could to make him
+look like an Indian, and we said good-night to
+the professor and left the fortress by the same
+way that we had left it the night before.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as we got out into the open air we
+made our way stealthily back towards the
+Rodadero, until I caught sight of a sentry
+standing near one of the carved stones.</p>
+
+<p>'I will go and see whether this is a friend or
+a foe,' I whispered. 'Wait here and cover him
+with your rifle, but do not fire unless you hear
+me whistle.'</p>
+
+<p>'Very well,' he said; 'but take care of yourself,
+for those Mannlicher bullets make a very
+ugly wound.'</p>
+
+<p>I waved my hand to him in reply, and went
+away towards the sentry, keeping a good lookout
+for others who might be about. I had in
+my belt a long, heavy-bladed knife, and this I
+loosened in the sheath as I came near to him.
+I got within earshot of him unseen, and then,
+rising to my feet behind him, I said in a low
+voice, but loud enough for him to hear,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Vilcaroya&mdash;friend or foe?'</p>
+
+<p>'<i>Halta! quien va?</i>'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The words in the hated Spanish speech told
+me that he was a foe. As he faced about,
+bringing his rifle to the ready, I drew my knife
+and, before he could take aim, sent it whistling
+through the air with such force and so true an
+aim that it took him in the windpipe and half
+buried its blade in his neck. That was one
+of the tricks of our old warfare which, with
+many others, I had taken good care not to
+forget.</p>
+
+<p>He dropped his rifle and clasped his hands
+to his throat and fell without a sound. I crept
+swiftly forward, pulled the knife out of his throat
+and drove it into his heart. Then I quickly took
+off his cartridge-belt and long coat and cap, and
+put them on. After that I took his rifle and
+stood in his place for a little while, so that the
+others might see me, and then walked back to
+where I had left Hartness. When he saw me
+coming, his rifle-barrel moved till it covered me,
+and he said in English,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Is that you, Vilcaroya?'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes,' I said. 'The sentry was an enemy, and
+I have killed him. Now I am going to take you
+prisoner, as though I were the sentry, and so we
+can go together and find the officer who commands
+the sentries, and take him prisoner or
+kill him.'</p>
+
+<p>'All right,' he said with a laugh. 'I surrender.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span>
+This isn't quite what we call civilised warfare,
+but I suppose it can't be helped.'</p>
+
+<p>We went back together to the place where the
+sentry that I had killed had stood, and then we
+saw two or three others coming in towards the
+place, no doubt to see why the other sentry should
+have left his post. I took Hartness's rifle out of
+his hand, and, catching him by the arm, led him
+to meet the nearest of them, as though I had
+taken a prisoner. Within ten paces of them I
+halted, and said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Is it Vilcaroya or Prada?'</p>
+
+<p>'Vilcaroya to a friend, Prada to an enemy,' he
+answered, in the dialect in which I had addressed
+him.</p>
+
+<p>'Then we are friends,' I said, taking off the
+peaked cap that had belonged to the other sentry,
+and showing him the long, straight, brown hair
+that betokened my race. 'I am he who has
+come back from the days that are dead&mdash;Vilcaroya,
+the son of Huayna-Capac.'</p>
+
+<p>'And I am thy servant, Lord,' he said, bringing
+his rifle-butt down between his feet, and bending
+his head over the muzzle. 'I am one of those
+who saw the glory of my Lord in the Hall of
+Gold last night.'</p>
+
+<p>'Then thou art one of the faithful,' I said,
+'for none have betrayed the secret or earned the
+swift death that would have been theirs had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span>
+they done so. Now tell me, how many of
+those who are on guard here to-night may be
+trusted?'</p>
+
+<p>'There are twenty of us here, Lord, not counting
+the officer in command.'</p>
+
+<p>'Nay,' I said, interrupting him, 'there are but
+nineteen, for he who wore this coat and carried
+this rifle was an enemy, and I have killed him,
+as I would have killed thee hadst thou been an
+enemy. Now, of these nineteen, how many may
+I trust?'</p>
+
+<p>'There are but five who may not be trusted, not
+counting the officer, and he is a Spaniard, and
+must be killed.'</p>
+
+<p>'That is good,' I said, for the tone in which he
+had said these last words had pleased me well.
+'Now this man with me is my faithful friend, and
+one who will fight well for me and my people.
+Go on the other side of him, and we will take him
+as a prisoner to the officer. Then thou shalt see
+how Vilcaroya deals with his enemies.'</p>
+
+<p>He bent his head in assent, and took his place
+beside Hartness, and as we marched away Hartness
+said to me,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'I don't think I shall have much to teach you
+in strategy, Vilcaroya, but I must say that I would
+rather have a stand-up fight than this kind of
+thing.'</p>
+
+<p>'It is not like what you have told me of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span>
+warfare of the English,' I said, 'yet if it has to be
+it must be. Let us get it over.'</p>
+
+<p>So we marched him between us across the plain,
+and when we got between the wall of the fortress
+and the carved stone that they called the Inca's
+Seat, we saw the officer who was in command of
+the sentries walking, with two soldiers beside him,
+from post to post, seeing that the sentries were
+awake and keeping proper watch. We went to
+meet him, and halted ten paces from him at his
+command. I had told the sentry to reply for me,
+and he answered the officer's hail and said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Vilcaroya!&mdash;a prisoner.'</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 397px;"><a name="Illustration_It_had_smitten_him_to_the_heart" id="Illustration_It_had_smitten_him_to_the_heart"></a>
+<img src="images/illus5.jpg" width="397" height="600" alt="It had smitten him to the heart." title="It had smitten him to the heart." />
+<span class="caption">It had smitten him to the heart.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>As the first words left his lips the two soldiers
+repeated the password and made with their rifles
+the movement that is called the salute. My knife
+was already in my hand, and as the officer gave
+a command in Spanish, it flashed once in the
+starlight and the next instant was buried to the
+hilt in his breast. He fell, as the sentry had done,
+without a cry, for it had smitten him to the heart,
+dead as though he had been struck by a lightning
+bolt. The others stared at his fallen body, dumb
+with amazement, and I heard Hartness utter a
+sound that might have been one either of horror
+or of wonder; but I had no time to take heed
+of this, so I instantly ordered the two soldiers
+to take the officer's uniform off his body, and then
+I said to Hartness,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Now, you can speak Spanish and I cannot.
+Take this Spaniard's uniform and his weapons,
+and make yourself the officer of the guard, and
+then you shall help me to set a trap that the
+Governor shall find it a hard matter to escape
+from.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+<h3>CHAPTER XI</h3>
+
+<h3>HOW WE TOOK THE CITY OF THE SUN</h3>
+
+
+<p>Although Hartness was a much taller and
+broader man than the Spaniard, his long, loose
+overcoat fitted him well enough for the occasion,
+and when he had put on his shako, and wrapped
+his scarf about his neck so as to hide his fair beard,
+he was disguised enough to pass in the darkness
+for one of the enemy. We now took the two
+soldiers who had been with the officer and visited
+all the posts. We found four of the sentries who
+could not return the password and were therefore
+enemies. These we disarmed and bound instead
+of killing them, for I could see that what I had
+done had pleased my friend but little, though he
+saw that in such a desperate venture as ours it
+was necessary to use desperate measures.</p>
+
+<p>When we had gone the rounds and made sure
+of all, we buried the two dead men, and took our
+prisoners into one of the caves under the carved<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span>
+stones. Then I posted my men so as to guard all
+the approaches from the city to the Rodadero, and
+after that I went with Hartness to the hidden hole
+by the Sayacusca, and showed him how the way to
+the Hall of Gold was opened. I did this so that
+the secret might be in good and safe hands if I
+should fall in battle, and so that he should be able
+to properly protect the welfare of Ruth and Golden
+Star, and fulfil my promises to himself and the
+professor.</p>
+
+<p>When I had turned the stone and showed him
+the chain, I pulled it up and supported it as I had
+done before, only this time I used the carbine
+which had belonged to the sentry I had killed, and
+to the stock of this I fastened a long rope which
+Tupac had hidden there by my orders. This rope
+I stretched out along the ground, hiding it as well
+as I could, in a straight line away from the
+Sayacusca. The end I led into the entrance of one
+of the many passages or tunnels which ran under
+the carved stones. By the time I had done this the
+water had all flowed away, and Hartness said
+to me,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Are you going to leave the entrance to your
+treasure-house open like that for His Excellency
+to walk into to-morrow?'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes,' I said, 'but it is only half open. Unless
+the door below is open too there is no way out or
+in save this and the channel through which the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span>
+waters flow, so that His Excellency will not find
+much down there.'</p>
+
+<p>'I see,' he said, 'a trap, and not one that I
+should care to see a friend of mine walk into.
+But you don't mean to drown them all like rats
+in a hole, do you?'</p>
+
+<p>'I cannot tell that yet,' I said. 'If we can take
+them alive we may do so, but unless they yield to
+us they shall yield to the water. Now, everything
+is ready, and we have only to wait. Come and
+sleep for a little and I will keep watch, and then
+I will sleep and you shall watch. It will not be
+daylight for six hours yet, and we can do nothing
+more till then.'</p>
+
+<p>We went to the cavern in which I had hidden the
+end of the rope, and he lay down on the soft, clean
+sand, and, soldier-like, was fast asleep almost as
+soon as he had lain down. I left him there, and
+made the round of the guards and spoke with
+the men, telling them as much as it was necessary
+for them to know of my plans for the next day,
+and allowed half of them to take two or three
+hours' rest, with their arms ready at hand, while
+the others watched, and then I went back to
+Hartness and told him to wake me in three
+hours, and soon was fast asleep in his place.
+He came and woke me at daylight and told
+me that everything was still quiet and that the
+sentries were all in their places.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Then, when we had breakfasted on the food
+that we had brought with us from the fortress,
+we called in all the sentries save the two by
+the Gate of Sand, and hid them among the
+stones and bushes, all within an easy rifle-shot
+of the entrance to the water-cavern. I bade
+the two I had left by the gate tell the Governor
+that all was well, and, when he had ridden by,
+to mix with the soldiers and tell those who were
+for me to separate from the others as soon as
+they heard my signal-cry, and then to wait for
+the English captain.</p>
+
+<p>For nearly an hour we sat and watched for
+the coming of the enemy, and then at last we
+saw a troop of horse come up out of the valley
+round the end of the fortress. After them came
+some officers on horseback, with the Governor
+riding at their head, and then another troop of
+horse, in all about three hundred men. The first
+troop, led by the Governor and his officers, came
+on towards the Sayacusca, and the others halted
+and spread themselves out along the ridge that
+runs round it. When they saw the empty hole
+and the steps leading down into the darkness,
+they all crowded round, peering down into it.
+Then two lanterns were lighted and some of
+them went down.</p>
+
+<p>They had all dismounted from their horses and
+were indulging their curiosity without suspicion.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span>
+I waited till they were nearly all in my trap,
+and then came the moment to close it. My
+long, wailing cry rang out loud and shrill
+through the hollow, and was taken up by my
+men in hiding, and in an instant all was confusion.
+I heard my name shouted from one
+to the other, and saw more than half of the
+troopers in the hollow leave their ranks and
+gallop away towards the plain. Then I took
+aim at a trooper who was watching the officer's
+horses, and fired. The bullet struck his horse,
+and it reared up and threw him, and then fell
+and lay kicking on the ground. At this all the
+others took fright and broke loose and galloped
+away in all directions. At the same instant the
+rifles of my men began cracking all round, and
+saddle after saddle was emptied as the bullets
+found their marks.</p>
+
+<p>'I'm going to catch one of those horses,' said
+Hartness suddenly to me, 'then I'll ride out and
+bring those other fellows up and show them
+what to do. That'll be more in my line than
+this sort of work. Good-bye; you will see or
+hear of me again before long.'</p>
+
+<p>The next moment he was gone, and I had
+not fired many more shots before I saw him,
+mounted on one of the officers' horses, galloping
+through the hollow towards the ridge. All this
+time none of my men had shown themselves,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span>
+and the constant stream of shots coming from
+all sides of them had thrown the Governor's
+troops into utter confusion. The officers were
+shouting orders which no one listened to, the
+horses were galloping wildly about, rearing and
+plunging with the pain of their wounds, and
+many of the soldiers had already taken to flight,
+believing, in their panic, that the hollow was full
+of hidden enemies.</p>
+
+<p>We kept up the fire from our hiding-places
+until we heard shouts and cheers coming from
+the ridge, and I looked and saw Hartness with
+a drawn sword in his hand, leading a body of
+some hundred and fifty troopers down into the
+hollow.</p>
+
+<p>Now I saw that we should be able to end the
+battle quickly, so I sent up my signal-cry again
+and called for my own men to come out. Then
+I pulled the rope and released the chain, and
+ran out towards my men, shouting to them to
+close round the entrance to the water-cavern
+and shoot all who tried to get out. Some three
+or four sought to escape and were shot, and
+then the rest, seeing my men running at them
+with the bayonet, and the other troopers coming
+up, led by a stranger, lost heart, and crowded
+back into the cleft, firing their revolvers wildly
+as they went.</p>
+
+<p>The next moment we heard cries of terror<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span>
+coming up out of the darkness, mingled with
+the rushing of water, and the Governor, followed
+by about six of his officers, came leaping up the
+steps to find a line of bayonets drawn up across
+the mouth. With the waters surging up behind
+them, and the bayonets in front of them,
+there was nothing for them but surrender or
+death.</p>
+
+<p>Hartness, who had now dismounted, ordered
+the men to fall back a pace, and, as they did so,
+he went through the line with his sword in one
+hand and a revolver in the other, and said to the
+Governor,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Se&ntilde;or, will you yield or go back down
+yonder?'</p>
+
+<p>'We must yield,' said the Governor, 'since
+there is no choice. But who are you, and what
+are you, an Englishman, doing here in arms
+against the Government?'</p>
+
+<p>'Who I am matters nothing just now,' he
+replied, 'and as for your Government, it no longer
+exists. That must be enough for you. Now,
+se&ntilde;ores, give up your swords and revolvers quietly
+and no harm shall come to you. You, Se&ntilde;or
+Prada, give your sword to this caballero here,
+who is the Inca Vilcaroya and lawful ruler of
+this country.'</p>
+
+<p>The Governor turned and stared at me, dumb
+with amazement at these strange words, and all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span>
+the others stared too, for, like him, they had no
+doubt heard the legend of my strange fate. He
+drew his sword, and as he did so I covered him
+with my revolver, and extended my hand to take
+it. He held the hilt out to me with a trembling
+hand. I took it in silence, and then I turned
+from him and said to my men,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Bring these Spaniards out and bind them
+safely, then follow me to the Seat of the
+Incas.'</p>
+
+<p>When they saw that the victory was with us,
+and that the Governor himself was our prisoner,
+together with many of the chief of his officers,
+those of the soldiers who had not been for me
+when they came were glad enough now to secure
+themselves by shouting my name and obeying my
+orders, and when I moved away towards the seat,
+they followed me, laughing and cheering, well
+pleased to see their hated masters prisoners in
+their midst.</p>
+
+<p>The great carved rock which is called the Inca's
+Seat is, as I have already said, a great rounded
+mass of stone rising up from the plain of the
+Rodadero, and carved into many seats. On the
+top there are three broad seats, the middle one
+higher than all the rest, and it was here that my
+forefathers had sat to watch the building of the
+great fortress, and sometimes to give audience to
+their people.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Now I sat on it, and the soldiers drew themselves
+up round the rock, with the prisoners in the
+midst of them, and I spoke to them, and told
+them freely of the strange things that had
+happened to me, and how I had come back to
+the Land of the Four Regions to drive out their
+oppressors and restore the just and gentle rule
+of my ancestors. Then I had the Governor
+brought up and stood before me, and bade Francis
+Hartness come and sit on my right hand and
+speak to him for me, and by his lips I told him
+that unless the city was surrendered to me before
+evening he and all his officers should die, and all
+the houses of the Spaniards in the city should be
+given to the flames and no pity shown to any
+man, woman or child of them, for as they had
+treated my people so I had sworn to treat them
+unless they yielded.</p>
+
+<p>You may think how troubled he was at hearing
+such words as these, since he knew from what he
+had seen that there was conspiracy and treachery
+among his own men, and he had no knowledge of
+how far this had gone, or which of his men he
+could trust, and so this man, who but a few hours
+before had been master of the whole valley, and
+had looked upon the Indios, as he called them,
+as little better than slaves, now answered me
+humbly enough and prayed me not to murder
+him when he was helpless in my power. And to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span>
+this I answered him that the blood of my
+people had been crying out for many generations
+against his people, and that this was the
+day not of mercy but of vengeance, and that I
+would do as I had said unless the city were
+delivered to me.</p>
+
+<p>Then I descended from the seat and mounted
+the Governor's horse, and after I had sent a
+company of twelve men to ride quickly down to
+the city and go through all the streets, shouting
+my name as a signal to tell my people that all
+was well, and that the moment for them to rise
+against their oppressors had come, I took my
+place beside Hartness at the head of our little
+army, and with our prisoners well guarded close
+behind us we set out on our way back to
+Cuzco.</p>
+
+<p>As we approached the city we heard the sound
+of the church-bells being rung wildly, and looking
+down, we could see the streets and squares full of
+people, and as we got nearer still we heard the
+cracking of rifles and the shouts and cries of men
+in conflict.</p>
+
+<p>'There is either a fight or a riot going on down
+there,' said Hartness to me, 'and if many of the
+soldiers remain faithful to the Government there'll
+be some bloodshed before to-night. Have you
+any idea how many there are?'</p>
+
+<p>'There were more than two thousand soldiers in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span>
+the city yesterday,' I said, 'and out of these
+more than half have already taken my gold
+and sworn faith to me. Of the rest many are
+wavering, and when they see we have taken
+the Governor prisoner I think they will come
+over.'</p>
+
+<p>'Very likely,' he said; 'but how about those
+machine-guns in the barracks? There are
+three Gatlings and two Maxims, and if they
+keep those and work them properly they'll
+just sweep the streets and squares clear, you
+know.'</p>
+
+<p>'I have promised fifty pounds' weight of gold
+for each of them,' I said; 'and, more than
+that, there should be no ammunition for them
+by this time if what the sentries told us is
+true.'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes,' he said, 'if we can get hold of that, or
+even the best part of it, I don't think there will
+be much danger. However, as everything depends
+on that, I think we had better go straight to
+the Cuartel first. If we have that we have
+Cuzco.'</p>
+
+<p>We entered the city by the street of El Triunfo,
+and made our way straight to the great Plaza.
+As we rode along three abreast we were greeted
+by joyful cries from the crowds of Indians who
+parted to leave a way for us through the midst
+of them. Tupac and his comrades had done<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span>
+their work well, and all night the people had
+been thronging into the city from the surrounding
+country. All the shops and houses of the
+Spaniards were already shut up, and although
+none knew the truth of what was happening, all
+thought that the revolution had already broken
+out in Cuzco and so had made themselves as
+safe as they could.</p>
+
+<p>A little way from the entrance to the great
+square we came upon Tupac at the head of
+some two hundred of the men of San Sebastian,
+armed with knives and guns and pistols of all
+sorts which they had taken during the night from
+the towns and villages around, where they had
+been doing the work I had bidden them do.
+He told me that there were more than a thousand
+soldiers in the city waiting only for me to show
+myself to kill their officers and come over to
+us, and that the others would fight without heart,
+if they fought at all, now that the Governor was
+taken&mdash;for half of the people of Cuzco were for
+the Government and half for the Revolution, and
+so the city would be divided against itself and
+all would be confusion as soon as the fighting
+began.</p>
+
+<p>He also told me that the official who is called
+the Sub-Prefect had brought out two of the
+machine-guns and had planted them at each
+end of the terrace in front of the cathedral, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span>
+made a proclamation that unless everyone left
+the streets within an hour he would have them
+cleared with bullets.</p>
+
+<p>When I told this to Hartness he said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Then we must have those two guns first.
+Tell Tupac to break his men up into little
+bands of about half-a-dozen each and send
+them round into all the streets leading to the
+square, and tell everyone that isn't armed to
+keep out of the way if they don't want to
+get hurt. Then you ride on with the prisoners
+and a guard of fifty men, and let them be ready
+to shoot sharply. Tell them to aim at the knees
+and not to empty their magazines too fast. I'll
+look after the guns. They won't fire on you for
+fear of killing the Governor and the rest. Now,
+forward!'</p>
+
+<p>I did as he said. Tupac's men broke up and
+disappeared as though by magic. I took the
+reins of the horse on which the Governor was
+bound and bade half-a-dozen of my men to do
+the same with the others. Then two and two
+we trotted into the square, Tupac running along
+by my horse's head. It was covered with groups
+of people all talking and looking and pointing
+about them, and on the terrace before the
+cathedral there were two companies of soldiers,
+one at each end, drawn up behind a machine-gun.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>As soon as the people saw me ride in with the
+Governor bound beside me a great shout went
+up and many came running towards me, but I
+waved them back and shouted to them to leave
+the square and guard all the streets leading
+into it. I did this so that those who understood
+me, and were therefore friends, might
+escape out of harm's way before the guns began
+to fire.</p>
+
+<p>Then I drew my revolver and put it to the
+Governor's head and bade Tupac tell him to
+order the men away from the guns, and
+that if a shot was fired he should be the first
+to die.</p>
+
+<p>So, as there was no help for it, he did so, and
+called to the officers to come down and speak
+with him, but instead of obeying they shouted
+some orders to their men and I saw them making
+ready to fire the guns, for, as we found out afterwards,
+they were men who would have joined the
+revolution when it broke out.</p>
+
+<p>But before the guns could be trained on us
+Hartness's troop swung round into the square.
+The twenty foot soldiers sent a volley along the
+terrace, firing low as he had told them, and
+killing and wounding nearly half of the men at
+the guns. Then there came a rattling volley from
+the cavalry and another from my own men, and
+then, with a great shout and a clattering of hoofs,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span>
+Hartness leapt his horse up the steps at the end
+of the terrace, where the street slopes up nearly
+level with it at the back by the cathedral, and
+charged down on the rear of the enemy just as
+the gun was swung round.</p>
+
+<p>As he did this I led my men round to the other
+end of the terrace, where I saw that the men had
+begun fighting among themselves, and thus I
+knew that some of them were our friends and
+were seeking to prevent the others from training
+the gun on us. I halted, and ordered thirty of
+my men to dismount and take the gun, which
+they did with very little trouble, for the others,
+seeing how they were outnumbered, either threw
+down their arms and ran away, or surrendered.
+Two of the officers were killed and another one
+taken prisoner.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile Hartness had cleared the other end
+of the terrace, and taken the other gun after killing
+nearly every man who had defended it. But
+scarcely had this been done than we heard the
+rattle of drums and the sound of bugles, and saw
+two columns of men marching at the double out
+of the Plaza Del Cabildo, where the barracks
+are, and the other past the Church of the
+Jesuits, which is at the other end of the
+square.</p>
+
+<p>'Are those friends or enemies, or both?' Hartness
+asked me, when he had ordered the two guns<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span>
+to be trained, one on each of the columns, and sat
+down behind one of them himself.</p>
+
+<p>'If there are friends among them,' I said, 'they
+know what to do, and when they have done it
+you can fire.'</p>
+
+<p>Even as I spoke the two columns seemed to
+break up. Scores of men broke out of the ranks,
+shouting my name and cheering, and these all
+ran together towards the fountain in the middle
+of the square. The rest stopped in wonder and
+confusion, their officers shouting furiously at them,
+and ordering them to fire on the deserters. Some
+obeyed, others, when they saw the guns trained
+on them, ran away and hid themselves in doorways,
+and then Hartness gave the order to
+fire.</p>
+
+<p>Instantly every sound was drowned by the
+terrible voices of the machine-guns. Hartness
+glanced once along the barrel of his, and then
+sent a torrent of bullets full into the middle of
+the broken column that had come down from the
+Plaza Del Cabildo. Then he moved it a little
+from side to side, and then stopped. When the
+smoke had drifted away I saw that there was not
+a living being in that corner of the square, only
+huddled heaps of corpses and bodies of animals.
+Then he turned the gun on the other corner into
+which the other gun was firing, and soon not a
+man or an animal was left alive there also.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>When the firing ceased there were none left in
+the square but those who had declared for us.
+Hartness immediately formed these into two
+columns. He led one of them, with one gun at
+the head, into the street past the Church of the
+Jesuits, and I led the other with the second gun
+into the other street leading to the Cuartel, and
+up these two streets we fought our way into the
+Plaza Del Cabildo, in which we could hear more
+fighting already going on.</p>
+
+<p>When we at last gained the square we found a
+furious fight going on in front of the Cuartel
+between one body of men who were defending the
+building and another that was attacking it, but
+which of these were friends or foes we did not
+know until Tupac, heedless of the flying bullets,
+ran out shouting in Quichua that Vilcaroya had
+come. Shouts and cheers from the Cuartel soon
+told us that our friends had got possession of it,
+and after the city was won I learned that when
+the two columns had started, leaving a third drawn
+up in the square before the Cuartel, those who
+were for us, remembering what I had said about
+the gold that I would give for the machine-guns
+and the ammunition, had broken their ranks and
+made a rush for the doors to secure the three guns
+which were in the courtyard, and so the fight had
+begun, they seeking to hold the Cuartel against
+the others until help came.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>As soon as I knew which were our enemies, by
+their bullets coming singing about our ears, I had
+the gun trained on them, and gave the word to
+fire. But no sooner had it begun to rain its
+tempest of death than we heard the other one
+speak from the other end of the square, and such
+a storm of bullets swept across the Plaza that
+before many moments had passed there was not
+a man or beast left alive in it.</p>
+
+<p>Then, when the firing ceased again, those who
+had held the Cuartel, and had taken shelter in it
+as soon as the machine-guns began to play, threw
+open the doors to us and came out to welcome us,
+and Francis Hartness and I clasped hands as
+victors, and for the time being, at least, masters of
+the ancient City of the Sun, for with the Cuartel
+we had taken all the arms and ammunition stored
+up in Cuzco, including the three Gatling guns
+and the two Maxims; and more than this, the
+whole of the native population of the valley was
+in our favour.</p>
+
+<p>The fighting was now over, save for conflicts
+that were going on in different parts of the city
+between the Spaniards and the Indians, and I at
+once had the Governor brought before me in the
+Cuartel and told him by the lips of Hartness to
+write a proclamation surrendering the city to us
+and ordering all the officials to come in and make
+their submission before sundown, threatening fire<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span>
+and sack to every Spanish house if it was not
+done. This he did, knowing well what would
+befall him if he refused. At the same time Hartness
+made a proclamation in my name in English
+and Spanish promising perfect freedom and
+security to all foreign merchants in the region
+that was under our command.</p>
+
+<p>It was then about mid-day, and when I had
+given Francis Hartness full authority to act in my
+name as Governor of the city, which, speaking
+fluent Spanish as he did, he could do better than
+I, I took a guard of fifty men and went with
+Tupac back to the Rodadero, and took ten of
+the men into the Hall of Gold and bade them
+carry out as much as they could, so that I might
+keep my promise to the soldiers who had been
+faithful to me, and while they were doing this
+I went with Tupac to Djama's cell and found
+him wailing and crying like a little child, and
+beating his hands on the golden wall of his
+prison and praying most piteously for a sight of
+the daylight and a breath of the fresh air of
+heaven.</p>
+
+<p>The Spaniard, when he heard us coming, began
+to shriek and scream, and I bade Tupac tell him
+that I would gag him for a day and a night if he
+did not cease his cries. But to Djama I told
+what had happened, and how Cuzco was already
+mine, and promised I would let him out for a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span>
+little while the next day if he would keep silence
+for half-an-hour, and hearing this, he ceased
+his cries, and I went on to the throne-room to
+take the news of our victory to Ruth and Golden
+Star.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+<h3>CHAPTER XII</h3>
+
+<h3>QUEEN AND CROWN</h3>
+
+
+<p>I found them in the midst of an English lesson
+which Golden Star was taking, sitting, still clad
+in her Inca costume, between the professor and
+Joyful Star, who also was dressed in the same
+fashion. They all three rose to meet me as
+I entered the throne-room, and Ruth coming
+forward with both hands outstretched, as she had
+never done before, said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'What have you been doing all this time,
+Vilcaroya, and why are you looking so worn
+and haggard? Have&mdash;have you been fighting?
+And why have you come back here alone?'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes,' I answered, taking her hands into mine,
+and feeling all my blood turn to flame as their
+gentle pressure thrilled along my nerves. 'Yes,
+we have been fighting, and the Lord of Light
+has fought upon our side, for we have gained
+the victory, and the city is ours.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>'Thank God for that!' she said; 'and that
+no harm has come to you&mdash;or to Captain
+Hartness.'</p>
+
+<p>'What! do you mean to say you have taken
+Cuzco already?' cried the professor. 'How on
+earth did you manage that so quickly?'</p>
+
+<p>'Because,' I replied, 'as I told you, my father
+the Sun fought on my side and turned the
+hearts of his children towards me, and so Francis
+Hartness led them to speedy victory, and the
+hearts of our enemies fainted within them, and
+they have yielded. Now I have come to tell
+you how it happened, and to take Joyful Star
+back to the city, where she shall be hailed as
+queen.'</p>
+
+<p>Then I sat down with them and told them all,
+from the taking of the Governor and his officers
+prisoners by the Sayacusca to the capture of the
+Cuartel and the making of Francis Hartness
+Governor of Cuzco. After that I went and put
+on the imperial robes, which I had now a
+double right to wear, and led them through the
+gates of bronze into the Hall of Gold.</p>
+
+<p>Now, in the joy of my triumph, and the
+greeting that Ruth had given me, I had forgotten
+to bid her keep silence while going
+through the hall, and when she saw the two
+cells in the corner built up with blocks of gold
+she stopped and said,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Those were not here the other night. What
+have you had them built up like that for?'</p>
+
+<p>And before I could answer, Djama's voice, shrill
+and trembling, rose out of the cell, crying,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Ruth, Ruth, I am here! This is my prison.
+It is a grave of gold. Curse the gold! Save
+me, save me, Ruth, for I am going mad&mdash;and I
+am your brother!'</p>
+
+<p>She stopped and took hold of my arm with
+both her hands, and looked up at me. Her face
+was very pale and her lips were trembling. Yet
+though her voice was low, it was firm as she
+said to me,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'I have no brother who is a liar and a traitor
+to his friends; but, Vilcaroya, I had a brother
+once who was very good and kind to me, and
+for the sake of his goodness and kindness I ask
+you to treat this&mdash;this prisoner of yours more
+gently.'</p>
+
+<p>'Joyful Star can ask nothing to-day that I
+could refuse,' I said. 'He shall be taken out
+forthwith and lodged with all comfort, though
+I must keep him safely.'</p>
+
+<p>'No, no, not till I am gone!' she whispered,
+taking Golden Star by the arm and leading her
+towards the passage. But, softly as she had
+spoken, Djama heard her, and in his rage and
+despair at her words he cried,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'You&mdash;you won't see me! But you will go<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span>
+with your lover, your Indian master, who owes
+his life to me! You will sell yourself for
+his gold and be his wife. Oh, my God!&mdash;my
+sister!'</p>
+
+<p>And then he raved in the madness that came
+upon him, and his voice rang horridly out of
+his cell and echoed shrilly through the hall and
+the passages about it. I could feel no anger
+against a man who was helpless and my prisoner,
+so I followed Ruth without speaking; and when
+we stood once more in the sunlight she turned
+to me with a bright flush on her cheeks and
+great tears in her eyes, and said very softly and
+sweetly,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'He is mad, poor Laurens! he must be. That
+terrible gold has turned his brain, or he could
+never speak to me like that. You will not treat
+him more harshly for it, Vilcaroya, will you, for
+you know, after all, he is&mdash;I mean he was my
+brother, and I loved him very much&mdash;once?'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes, he is mad,' I said; 'and yet the lips
+of madness may speak truth, for what am I but
+what he said?'</p>
+
+<p>'Have you forgotten what you asked me, or
+what I answered when I kissed Golden Star in
+the throne-room, that you can speak like that?'
+she said, with one swift glance that told me I
+had not asked in vain.</p>
+
+<p>What more she might have said I know not,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span>
+but she had said enough to set my heart dancing
+and my blood thrilling with a joy greater than
+I had found in the speedy conquest of the city
+of my fathers, and just then Tupac came to me
+and said that a sufficient quantity of gold had
+been taken out, and that all was ready to return
+to the city. Then I told him what he was
+to do with Djama and his fellow-prisoner, and
+ordered Golden Star's litter and the horse for
+Ruth which we had brought with us to be made
+ready, and also a mule for the professor, and
+when Tupac had returned we set out along the
+road that leads to the Gate of Sand, I riding in
+the midst of the troop, and Ruth on my left
+hand and Golden Star in her litter on the
+right.</p>
+
+<p>As we approached the streets, great crowds of
+my delivered people thronged out to welcome us,
+and when they saw me riding on my black horse,
+dressed in the imperial robes and with the Llautu
+on my brow, they set up a shout of joy and
+welcome that went ringing along the streets and
+through the squares and all over the city, and
+so I rode on through the bareheaded throngs,
+who bowed themselves almost to the earth
+before me.</p>
+
+<p>As we were crossing the great Plaza, Ruth
+looked about her with bright cheeks and shining
+eyes and said to me,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Is it not all like a dream, Vilcaroya? Only a
+few weeks ago you came here poor and unknown,
+and now you are a king come back to your own
+again. Is it not wonderful?'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes,' I said, looking into her eyes with more
+courage than before; 'but something more wonderful
+even than that has befallen me. Is it not
+so, my queen?'</p>
+
+<p>'Your queen is not crowned yet, your Majesty!'
+she said, looking down, and yet not frowning, as
+I half feared she would.</p>
+
+<p>'No,' I answered, 'nor shall she be till my work
+is done, and the whole land that was my fathers'
+is mine to give her, and then all that power and
+gold and love can give her shall be hers.'</p>
+
+<p>'Give me the last and I shall ask no more,' she
+said softly, chasing with that first sweet confession
+from my heart the last lingering doubt of the great
+blessing that my Father the Sun had bestowed
+upon me.</p>
+
+<p>Thus we came to the front of the Cuartel, where
+all the troops were already drawn up to do us
+honour, and Hartness came out to greet us. He
+stopped for an instant, and his cheeks paled a
+little as he saw Ruth riding at my side, already
+dressed as she would be when she was my queen.
+But then the goodness of his honest heart spoke
+from his lips, and he said, as he held out his
+hand to me,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Welcome, your Majesty! Majesties, I might
+almost say, I suppose! The city is ours and
+everything is quiet. Some of the officials have
+come in and submitted; others I have had to put
+under arrest, and runners are coming in every
+minute from the other towns in the valley to say
+that our plans have been carried out perfectly.
+The rest of our work won't be as easy as this
+has been, but we've made a very good beginning,
+and, at anyrate, I think I can congratulate
+your Majesty on having made your two most
+important captures.</p>
+
+<p>He looked at Ruth as he said this, and though
+her fair face flushed brightly and her eyes fell, yet
+she spoke steadily enough when she answered
+him, saying,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'You can hardly call me one of the spoils of war,
+I think, Captain Hartness, though I confess that I
+have surrendered at discretion. Now give me your
+hand and help me down, and don't look so disconsolate,
+for you are not nearly as unfortunate as you
+think. There is an Inca princess for you also, a
+real one, too. I have been teaching Golden Star
+to say your name, and, do you know, she makes it
+sound just like music with that sweet voice of
+hers. See, here she is, and you shall hear her
+say it.'</p>
+
+<p>I had dismounted meanwhile, and taken Golden
+Star from her litter, and when the people saw her,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span>
+her name ran swiftly from lip to lip, and a great
+shout of delight rose up from thousands of throats
+to welcome her back to life and the home of her
+long-dead fathers. Then I took her hand and
+Hartness's, and put hers in his, and said to
+him,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'My friend, what I have taken I can in some
+measure give back to you. Here is Joyful Star's
+sister-soul and living likeness. I have seen her
+newly-awakened soul look out of her eyes with
+love upon you, as in good truth it well might,
+for you are a true son of the Sun, though not of
+our blood. In the days to come you may learn to
+love her too, and then all will be well.'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes,' said Ruth, coming to his side, 'and better
+than it could have been in any other way. The
+very Fates themselves seemed to have arranged
+all this, so it is not for mortals to rebel, Captain
+Hartness.'</p>
+
+<p>He looked at her almost sadly for a moment,
+and then he laughed a little and said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'I should be more or less than mortal if I did,
+Miss Ruth. But mind, if I am faithless, remember
+it is you who have done the most to
+make me so.'</p>
+
+<p>As he said this he took Golden Star's little hand
+in his own and kissed it. As she felt the touch of
+his lips a new light sprang into her eyes and
+shone and danced there, and she said to me,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Why does the Son of the Great People do that,
+and what have you said to him about me, my
+brother?'</p>
+
+<p>'He has kissed your hand in loving greeting,'
+I answered, 'and what I have said he will no
+doubt tell you better some day when you can
+speak together.'</p>
+
+<p>The bright blood in her cheeks told me that
+she had understood me, and she turned her head
+away, but she did not take her hand from
+Hartness's, and so I gave my hand to Ruth and
+led her into the Cuartel, and Hartness and Golden
+Star followed us hand in hand amidst the cheers
+of the soldiers and the joyful shouts of the
+people.</p>
+
+<p>That night there were such rejoicings in Cuzco
+as the City of the Sun had not seen since the
+Spaniards came into the land. I distributed the
+gold among the soldiers as I had promised, giving
+to each man a piece of about two ounces in weight,
+and they, who had never possessed, even if they
+had ever seen, gold before, kissed it and fondled
+it in their delight, and swore that they would fight
+for me as long as one of them was left alive;
+and then I spoke to them and told them that they
+had but to be faithful and brave, and their English
+leader would lead them to victory after victory,
+until the whole land should be ours.</p>
+
+<p>Later on I sent Tupac with many men up to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span>
+the fortress, and they brought down the Golden
+Throne and the symbols of the Sun and great
+quantities of gold and jewels, and they set the
+throne in the midst of the terrace in front of the
+cathedral, with silver seats on either side of it,
+on the spot where in the olden time stood the
+Palace of Viracocha; and on the front of the
+cathedral, over the great doors, they fixed the
+symbols of the Sun, and high above all, between
+the two bell-towers, they placed a great
+flagstaff.</p>
+
+<p>Before daybreak the next morning the square
+was thronged with people, save for an open
+space which the soldiers kept before my throne.
+I took my place amidst an utter silence. Ruth
+and Golden Star sat on my right and on my
+left, and Francis Hartness, with a drawn sword
+in his hand, stood by my throne to the right,
+and on the terrace behind me, and on either
+side, stood the Men of the Blood, dressed in
+their ancient and long-forbidden costumes, with
+which I had furnished them out of the stores in
+the secret chambers of the fortress.</p>
+
+<p>No word was spoken and no sound was heard
+over the whole city, and all eyes were turned to
+the swiftly brightening eastern sky.</p>
+
+<p>The blue changed to silver and the silver to
+crimson and gold. Then the sun, the glorious
+image of the Lord of Life, uprose in all his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span>
+sudden splendour, and as his rays fell on the
+great golden jewel-rayed circle on the cathedral
+front, the Rainbow Banner ran swiftly up to
+the head of the flagstaff, and I, rising from
+my throne, bared my head and, turning my
+face to the rising sun, bowed myself before
+it, and at the same instant every head in
+the vast assembly was uncovered, and all, save
+the soldiers, fell on their knees and stretched
+out their hands to heaven in silent joy and
+thankfulness.</p>
+
+<p>Then I lifted up my voice and spoke the
+ancient Invocation to the Sun which generation
+after generation of my fathers had spoken from
+the same spot at the beginning of the feast of
+Raymi, and when I had ended this the Children
+of the Blood lifted up their voices after me and
+sang the long-silenced and yet never-forgotten
+hymn to the Sun, and then, standing before the
+kneeling multitude, I replaced the Llautu on
+my brow and proclaimed myself Inca and
+supreme Lord of the Land of the Four Regions
+in the name of my long-dead fathers, whose
+divine right to lordship had been preserved in
+me.</p>
+
+<p>And so I, Vilcaroya, son of Huayna-Capac,
+first fulfilled the prophecy that had been spoken
+in the Days of Darkness, and so did I come, as
+had been said, from one life into another through<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span>
+the shadow of death and the silence of the grave,
+with her whose love, now changed, though no
+less dear, had nerved me to face the ordeal of
+the strangest fate that had ever befallen one
+born in mortal shape.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+<h3>CHAPTER XIII</h3>
+
+<h3>HOW DJAMA PAID HIS DEBT</h3>
+
+
+<p>It is one of the mysteries of this lower life of
+ours that men, meaning to do good in all
+honesty of heart, may yet do evil in the doing
+of it, and it was thus with me in the hour of
+my first triumph and rejoicing.</p>
+
+<p>I had pondered long and deeply over the
+strange treachery of Djama, and I had talked
+of it with Francis Hartness and the professor
+until I had come to see that he was in
+truth sorely afflicted with that madness which
+is born of the lust of gold, which, as they
+told me, is a disease of the soul that makes
+timid men rash and mild ones fierce and
+cunning, and may even turn the gentleness
+of woman into the pitiless rage of beasts of
+prey.</p>
+
+<p>It was through thinking of this that I came
+to see that I was by no means blameless myself<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span>
+for his madness and the treachery that had
+come from it.</p>
+
+<p>In my own days and among my own people
+gold was held precious only for its beauty and
+its usefulness. We had not learned the art of
+making it into money and buying men's soul
+and bodies with it, but I had already lived enough
+of my new life to see that now, save for the few,
+gold was all and honour nothing; and knowing
+this, I should also have known what I was
+doing when I showed Djama the treasures in
+the Hall of Gold. The sight of them had made
+him mad, and, as my hand had shown them to
+him, the blame of what he had done in his madness
+was in part mine.</p>
+
+<p>All this I remembered in the hour when my
+soul was filled with joy and my heart warm with
+love, and I thought how great a pleasure I should
+give to her who had given me the better part of
+my own joy if I looked upon Djama with pity
+and forgiveness and did an act of mercy as the
+first deed of my new reign.</p>
+
+<p>So, when the ceremonial of my crowning was
+over, I bade Tupac take some of my body-guard
+and bring him before me from the place where
+he had been lodged after his release from his
+golden cell, and at the same time I quieted
+the fears of Joyful Star by telling her what
+was in my heart concerning him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>They brought him unbound, but well guarded
+by soldiers with bayonets on their rifles, up
+the broad avenue which the parted throng had
+made across the square in front of my throne.</p>
+
+<p>I saw him stare wildly about him as he came
+near, gazing at the splendid sun-lit pageant like
+a man in a dream, or one just awakened into
+another world, as I had been after my long
+death-sleep. But when he came near, and saw
+me sitting in my royal state with Joyful Star
+on my right and Golden Star on my left, both
+robed as princesses of the Ancient Blood, his
+face grew dark with passion, and his eyes,
+losing their wonder, gazed in fixed and furious
+hate at me&mdash;the man who was going to give
+him his life, and much more that he had coveted
+besides.</p>
+
+<p>They placed him between two soldiers before
+me at the foot of the terrace steps above which
+my throne had been set, and I was about to
+speak and greet him kindly, when his anger
+already got the better of him, and, with a
+mocking smile on his lips, he said in a loud,
+rough voice that was most unlike his own quiet,
+even tones,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Well, your Majesty, as I suppose you think
+yourself for the present, I expected something
+like this&mdash;to be brought out into the midst of
+your fellow-savages and sentenced like a felon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span>
+before my own sister and the woman who, like
+yourself, owes her life to me!'</p>
+
+<p>Then he laughed one of his strange, joyless
+laughs, and went on before I could reply,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Well, I suppose I mustn't grumble. You
+have won, and to the victor go the spoils.
+Now that you have apparently bought the girl
+who was once my sister with your gold, and
+I have given you your own sister-wife back,
+you will be able to try an interesting experiment
+in your old form of matrimony&mdash;'</p>
+
+<p>I saw Joyful Star shrink back in her seat
+and turn her head away from him with a little
+cry as he said these evil words, and they
+angered me so, that&mdash;forgetting they were
+spoken by a man who stood helpless before
+me&mdash;I cried,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Silence, liar and speaker of evil! or your
+next words shall be the last that human ears
+shall hear you speak. Are you still mad, or
+have you forgotten that you were once a man?'</p>
+
+<p>He smiled such a smile as you may have
+seen on the lips of one who has died in agony,
+and said with a swift change in his voice,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'I beg your Majesty's pardon, and&mdash;and the
+ladies' too. It was a most ungentlemanly thing
+to say, and one should not forget one's manners
+on the threshold of the next world&mdash;if there
+is one. But come, your Majesty, you are<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span>
+wasting your valuable time, and keeping all
+these interesting savages of yours waiting.
+You'll find I shall take it quietly enough.
+What do you propose that it shall be&mdash;something
+with boiling oil or red-hot pincers in it?'</p>
+
+<p>I knew that a man who could speak thus,
+believing that he was about to die, must be in
+a pitiful plight, and so I answered him sternly,
+and yet without anger,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Laurens Djama, I have not brought you
+here to jest with you, nor yet, as you think,
+to condemn you to die, though your life is
+justly forfeit to me and my people, whom you
+would have betrayed again to their oppressors.
+Now, listen! You brought me back from
+death to life, and for my life I will give you
+yours, and for Golden Star's I will pay you
+the price agreed on and something more. It
+was by my foolish act that the madness of
+the gold-hunger came upon you, and for that
+I will give you your freedom; but not now,
+for that would not be safe for me or my people,
+since you have betrayed us once, and, knowing
+what you do, might do so again. You shall
+be taken hence to a pleasant and fertile valley,
+where you shall have all freedom, save permission
+to leave it until this war is over and
+I am undisputed lord of the land of my fathers.
+Then you shall take the wealth that shall be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span>
+yours and go to your own country, or wherever
+you please, so long as you do not remain
+in mine, for here there is no place for you,
+since my people do not forgive as easily as I
+do. Now I have spoken; if there is anything
+more that you can ask, and I can give with
+safety, ask it.'</p>
+
+<p>Most men who had sinned as he had done
+would have very willingly taken such forgiveness,
+and Laurens Djama might have taken it
+but for a seemingly small thing. While I was
+speaking to him his eyes had wandered from
+mine and were looking into Golden Star's. As
+I ceased I felt her hands clasping my arm, and
+heard her voice say tremblingly in our own
+tongue,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Save me, my lord and brother, save me!
+Evil Eyes is looking into my heart and turning
+it cold!'</p>
+
+<p>This Djama saw, though he did not understand
+her words, and the sight brought the madness
+into his blood again. He shouted with a
+voice like the cry of a wild beast in pain,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Curse you! I will have neither life nor
+liberty from you, but I'll have your life for mine,
+and that will pay me better!'</p>
+
+<p>As the last word left his lips he made a movement
+so quick that my eyes could not follow it.
+The next instant he had wrenched the rifle from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span>
+the hands of the soldier on his right hand and
+levelled it at me. Even as he did so Joyful
+Star flung herself with a scream upon my
+breast and Hartness sprang forward from behind
+my throne-seat.</p>
+
+<p>The rifle flashed. I heard a hissing sound
+close to my ear and a deep groan and the fall
+of a body behind me. In the same moment
+Djama was seized and flung to the ground,
+where he lay quite still and silent. I rose to
+my feet, clasping Joyful Star for the first time
+in my arms, and looked round. Hartness stood
+beside me unharmed, but old <ins class="correction" title="Transcriber's Note: The original text reads 'Ullulo'">Ullullo</ins>, the first
+friend that I had made in my new life among
+my own people, lay dead behind my throne with
+a bullet through his forehead.</p>
+
+<p>I had not forgotten that old training which
+taught an Inca warrior to look on near-approaching
+death with unmoved eyes and unshaken heart,
+and this was only such a hazard as I had taken
+a score of times before. I bade Hartness lead
+Ruth and Golden Star into the temple behind
+us, so that they should not see what was about
+to be done. Then I took my place on the
+throne again and ordered Djama to be raised
+and stood on his feet.</p>
+
+<p>He rose of himself, very pale but calm and
+strong in his own evil strength, fearing nothing,
+as became a man for whom death had no terrors<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span>
+and, it might be, few secrets. We looked each
+other in the eyes in silence, and in the midst
+of an utter stillness that had fallen on the vast
+throng, until Hartness came back. Then I
+said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'That is enough, Laurens Djama. Choose
+now what death you will die, but, for your own
+sake and Joyful Star's, choose a quick one.'</p>
+
+<p>Although my voice was as the voice of doom
+to him, yet he did not quail even then, for if his
+heart was black it was very strong, and fear had
+never entered into it. He drew himself up to the
+full height of his stature and, looking me full in
+the eyes, he said as quietly as I had ever heard
+him speak,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'That choice is always mine, whether you give
+it to me or not. You have threatened me with
+death before and I have told you that you could
+not kill me. Now watch and see if I spoke the
+truth.'</p>
+
+<p>Then, with a soldier holding each of his arms
+and two others grasping his shoulders, he drew
+a quick, deep, gasping breath. The blood rushed
+into his face till its pallor became purple. The
+next instant it became deathly white again. His
+jaw dropped, his eyes grew fixed and blindly
+staring, and then his shape seemed to shrink
+together like an empty bag, and he sank down
+between those who were holding him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>They pulled him upright again, and his head
+dropped forward on his breast. He was dead&mdash;dead
+as though the Llapa itself had struck him&mdash;and
+so Laurens Djama, master of the arts of life
+and death, passed out of the world of living men
+by the act of his own will, though not of his own
+hand.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+<h3>CHAPTER XIV</h3>
+
+<h3>THE RE-KINDLING OF THE SACRED FIRE</h3>
+
+
+<p>Now this story of mine is nearly done, for
+there are but few things left for me to tell. It
+is not for me to write of all the battles that
+we fought after the City of the Sun and the
+region about it fell into our hands, for to do
+that is a task better fitted to the hands of him
+who led my ever-growing hosts to victory after
+victory until the whole land that had been my
+fathers' was mine from north to south and from
+the great rivers of the east to the Sea of the
+Setting Sun, which you now call the Pacific
+Ocean.</p>
+
+<p>It is enough for me to say that I used my
+gold without stint, and that it did all and more
+than the work I had been told it would do. As
+we marched southward and westward to the sea,
+army after army left those who were fighting
+between themselves for the ruins of the land<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span>
+and, having no real quarrel of their own, ranged
+themselves under the Rainbow Banner and
+fought with me for freedom and the ancient
+faith of their long-dead fathers, and how city
+after city welcomed me as I came to give
+it peace and wealth instead of strife and
+misery.</p>
+
+<p>My unforgotten story and the marvel of my
+coming back from the days of our old-time
+glories had sped like the leaps of the lightning
+from mountain to mountain and valley to valley,
+and every man in whose veins flowed even the
+smallest drop of the Sacred Blood threw aside
+the broken fragments of the oppressor's yoke
+and came to give me his service.</p>
+
+<p>From other countries, too, and from far over
+the sea, there came men to fight for me, men
+whom Hartness had called from afar by speaking
+to them over the lightning-wires, and they
+brought ships with them, armed with flame and
+thunder, which the promise of my gold had
+purchased, and these took all the seaports for
+me, while my ever-growing armies were taking
+the cities of the inland valleys&mdash;all of which
+those who would learn may read in the great
+book which Francis Hartness and the professor,
+who with Joyful Star have helped out these lame
+words of mine, are writing together to tell how
+the ancient empire of the Incas rose at my call<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span>
+and the bidding of my gold&mdash;which I doubt
+not was far stronger than I&mdash;out of the degradation
+into which the oppressors had cast it,
+and has even now begun to prosper again with
+more than its former glory.</p>
+
+<p>But, as I have said, these things are not for me
+to tell, since I have neither the skill nor the knowledge
+to do so. What I have set down here is
+only the story of my own awakening out of the
+death-sleep into which the arts of the priests of
+the Sun had cast me with Golden Star, and of
+her return to join me in my new life. I have
+told of that and of all that befell us afterwards,
+and now there remains only the telling
+of that which fulfilled our strange fates and
+completed our happiness in the new world into
+which those fates had brought us.</p>
+
+<p>Many weeks passed and grew into months
+before the oppressors were finally subdued and
+I found myself undisputed lord of all the land,
+and, as I had promised Joyful Star, all this had
+to come to pass before I would ask her to put
+her hand into mine and take her place beside
+me as my Coya and queen on the throne of
+Huayna-Capac.</p>
+
+<p>But at length there was peace in the land and
+we returned from Lima, the capital of the Spaniards,
+where I had been proclaimed and acknowledged
+Inca and Emperor of my ancient domains, to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span>
+the City of the Sun, which many loving and
+willing hands had cleansed of the abominations
+of its new idolatries and made in some measure
+fit to receive us, to crown our new lives with
+such happiness as, with the help and blessing of
+the Unnameable, we might be able to bestow
+upon each other.</p>
+
+<p>The treasures of gold and silver and ornaments
+of jewels, the rich hangings and the sacred and
+precious emblems had been brought from the
+Hall of Gold and the throne-room beneath the
+Sacsahuaman and set up in the chief temple
+of the Spaniards, which stands in the place
+where the holy Temple of the Sun once
+stood and is in great part built of the self-same
+stones.<a name="FNanchor_F_" id="FNanchor_F_"></a><a href="#Footnote_F_" class="fnanchor">[F]</a></p>
+
+<p>It was the eve of the Feast of Raymi, or the
+Coming of the Sun, which in the olden time we
+counted as the beginning of the year, and I had
+determined that this day should witness the
+restoration of the old order and the beginning
+of my own true happiness&mdash;so that night
+Golden Star and I, as became the son and
+daughter of the Royal Race and Sacred Blood,
+watched and prayed according to the ancient<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span>
+rites&mdash;she in a chamber of what had once been
+the House of the Virgins of Sun, and I in the
+purified temple&mdash;from the setting of the sun
+until the first waning of the stars in the coming
+dawn.</p>
+
+<p>Very early in the morning she was brought to
+me in the temple by Tupac-Rayca&mdash;whom I had
+in virtue of his pure blood and noble decent,
+consecrated Villac-Umu or High Priest of the Sun,
+and who had in turn invested such others of the
+Blood as he thought worthy with the subordinate
+dignities of the holy office. He and his attendants
+were arrayed in the ancient priestly robes
+and adorned with the sacred emblems of their
+rank, and Golden Star was attired as a royal
+Virgin of the Sun, in garments of white edged
+with scarlet and decked with ornaments of pure
+gold.</p>
+
+<p>Then we prayed together before the newly-set-up
+altar, which stood over against the eastern
+window of the Sanctuary, and when that duty was
+ended, and while the growing light was yet dim,
+there came to us Joyful Star, also arrayed as a
+princess of the Blood, and Francis Hartness,
+whom my thankful people had already named
+Viracocha, after one of our golden-haired hero-gods
+of the olden time.</p>
+
+<p>After them came all those of the Sacred Race
+that were left in the land&mdash;men and matrons,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span>
+youths and maidens&mdash;all dressed in the long-forbidden
+garb of their forefathers, and ranged
+themselves in two silent, orderly ranks down
+the sides of the Sanctuary, waiting with patient
+eagerness for that which they had been bidden
+here to see.</p>
+
+<p>Above the altar hung the great golden Emblem
+of the Sun, upon which the radiant glance of
+the Lord of Light would first fall through the
+circular window in the eastern wall, and on it
+was a pyramid of wood anointed with scented
+oils; for here was soon to be re-kindled&mdash;if our
+Lord the Sun should smile on the new fortunes
+of his long-suffering children&mdash;without the aid
+of human hands, that sacred fire first lit by
+Manco Capac and Mama Occlu, son and
+daughter of the Sun, and which had burnt unquenched
+through all the ages that had passed
+from the founding to the fall of our ancient
+empire. Beside it lay a cone-shaped vessel of
+burnished gold, in the depths of which the
+Sacred Fleece awaited the touch that was to
+change it into flame.</p>
+
+<p>When all were assembled, Tupac-Rayca mounted
+the steps of the altar, and, facing the silent throng,
+began to speak in the ancient and unforgotten
+tongue and said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Children of the Sun, sons and daughters of
+those whose ancestors in the unremembered days<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span>
+received the divine command to create the empire
+over which they ruled with ever-growing glory
+until, by the inscrutable decrees of the Unnameable,
+the destroyer and oppressor were permitted
+to come into the land, listen with open ears
+and thankful hearts to the words which our
+Father shall put into my mouth to say to
+you!'</p>
+
+<p>All bowed their heads and crossed their hands
+over their breasts as he spoke, and after a little
+silence he went on,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'The last of the Villac-Umus who stood where
+I am standing told your fathers and mine of the
+near-approaching night of gloom and desolation
+that was about to fall upon the Land of the Four
+Regions. For what sins of his children our Father
+permitted that night to eclipse the bright day
+of their empire we know not, nor is it lawful for
+us to inquire. Let it be enough for us to believe
+that, grievous as the doom was, it could not have
+been anything save the inflexible justice of the
+Unnameable.'</p>
+
+<p>Again they bowed their heads, and there was
+silence for a little space until he went on, speaking
+this time in a gladder voice,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'But, stern as that justice was, it was yet
+not untempered with mercy, for with the words
+of doom there came from our Father, by the
+lips of his minister, the holy Anda-Huillac,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span>
+those words of hope and promise which from
+that day to this have been handed down in
+secret, yet unforgotten, from father to son and
+from mother to daughter, and which now for
+the first time since then may be spoken openly
+in the land:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>'"<i>To that Son of the Sacred Race who, for
+honour and faith and love, shall take the hand
+of a pure virgin of his own holy blood and with
+her pass fearless through the gate of death into
+the shadows which lie beyond, shall be given the
+glory of casting down the oppressor and raising
+the Rainbow Banner once more above the Golden
+Throne of the Incas. On that throne he shall sit,
+and wield power and mete <ins class="correction" title="Transcriber's Note: The original text reads 'ont'">out</ins> justice and mercy
+to the Children of the Sun when the gloom that is
+now falling upon the Land of the Four Regions
+shall have passed away in the dawn of a brighter
+age.</i>"</p></div>
+
+<p>'Sons and daughters of the long-dead, turn
+your eyes and see how the eastern skies are
+swiftly brightening with first rays of that long-looked-for
+dawn. This is the morning of our
+deliverance, for our deliverers stand here before
+us, and with your own eyes you may look upon
+those who, in the strength of their love and
+faith, dared the doom to win the promise, for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span>
+here in the living flesh stands that Vilcaroya,
+son of the great Huayna-Capac, and there
+beside him is Golden Star, that virgin of the
+Royal Race who of her own will joined hands
+with him in the wedlock of death, and whose
+pure soul has dwelt with his in the Mansions
+of the Sun while ten generations of men
+have lived and died awaiting their return to
+the land.</p>
+
+<p>'To us, more blessed, it has been given to see
+that which our fathers waited for in vain. To
+us our Lord Vilcaroya and our Lady Golden Star
+have come back from the shadows of death into
+the light of life and glory of victory. Already
+you have seen the oppressor pay the price of life
+for life, and blood for blood, and shame for shame.
+You have seen our Lord seated on the golden
+throne of the Divine Manco with the Rainbow
+Banner waving high above him, and now the
+moment has come for you to see the fulfilling of
+what yet remains of the promise unfulfilled.
+Behold the visible presence of our Father comes
+near to smile once more on his children long left
+in darkness!'</p>
+
+<p>While he was speaking these last words the
+light in the eastern sky had brightened fast
+until a sunray leapt over the lower rim of the
+window and shone on the painted ceiling of the
+Sanctuary. At a sign from Tupac-Rayca,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span>
+Golden Star took up the vessel in which lay
+the Sacred Fleece, and, standing in the middle
+of the altar on the highest step, held it poised
+in her hands above her head, with her pale,
+fair face and shining eyes upturned towards the
+window.</p>
+
+<p>Foot by foot the light crept along the roof,
+broadening and brightening as it went, till it
+touched the western wall. Then, ever followed
+by the anxious eyes of the silent throng, it
+descended until the great Symbol of the Sun
+flashed and flamed in its radiance. Still lower
+it sank and the burnished vessel that Golden
+Star held to receive them caught the gathering
+rays and glowed as though filled with liquid
+fire.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 396px;"><a name="Illustration_Now_the_moment_for_the_giving" id="Illustration_Now_the_moment_for_the_giving"></a>
+<img src="images/illus6.jpg" width="396" height="600" alt="Now the moment for the giving of the Sign had come." title="" />
+<span class="caption">Now the moment for the giving of the Sign had come.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Now the moment for the giving of the Sign
+had come. A faint wreath of pale blue smoke
+curled upwards from the Sacred Fleece. It grew
+darker and denser, and then a little tongue of
+flame leapt out from the midst of it. At the
+same instant Tupac seized the vessel and held
+it upturned over the pyramid of wood upon
+the altar. The burning fleece fell down upon
+the anointed wood, a long shaft of fire shot
+upward, and, as the descending sunrays fell over
+the face and bosom of Golden Star, the voice
+of Tupac rang out in an exultant chant through
+the silence, saying,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Rejoice, Children of the Sun, rejoice! for
+your Father has once more looked in kindness
+and blessing upon you, and with the radiant
+glance of his eyes he has re-kindled the
+long-quenched fire which henceforth shall burn
+upon his altar as long as his visible presence
+shall make bright the heavens and beautiful the
+earth!'</p>
+
+<p>As he ceased, Golden Star's voice rose up
+clear and sweet, singing the first words of the
+Hymn to the Sun&mdash;as I alone of all that throng
+had heard her sing them in the days that were
+no more. Then the Children of the Blood raised
+their voices too, and out of the fulness of their
+thankful hearts poured forth their first tribute
+of praise and thanksgiving to Him who had
+broken the yoke of the oppressor and given
+back light and joy and peace to the long-darkened
+Land of the Four Regions.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>When the Hymn to the Sun was ended and
+the Children of the Blood had received the
+blessing of Tupac, there was yet one more
+ceremony to be performed before the rejoicings
+of the Feast of Raymi began. There is little
+need for me to tell you what it was. In love
+as in war I had striven and conquered, and now
+the dearest of my rewards, dearer far than
+wealth or empire, was to be made mine by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span>
+the free gift of her who was herself that which
+she gave.</p>
+
+<p>Two of the priests brought forth the
+marriage-font and placed it in front of the
+altar, and Joyful Star stood on the one side
+of it and I on the other and we joined hands
+across it.</p>
+
+<p>It was a double vessel of gold, formed of
+two twin cups, and between them there was
+a hole stopped by a golden plug, to which
+a little chain was fastened. The cup on my
+side was filled with blood-red wine and that
+towards Joyful Star with pure water, crystal
+clear.</p>
+
+<p>Tupac took our hands in his and parted them,
+saying as he did so,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'To meet and to part is the lot of man and
+woman upon earth, yet when two true souls
+meet and two faithful hearts are joined even
+death can part them but in seeming, for in
+the bright halls of the Mansions of the Sun
+they shall dwell for ever in the blessed presence
+of our Father!'</p>
+
+<p>So saying, he joined our hands again, and
+drawing out the golden plug, he pointed to the
+mingling fluids and went on, speaking now to
+each of us in turn,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Here, Vilcaroya Inca, and you, Joyful Star,
+daughter of a conquering race and well-beloved<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span>
+of our Lord, see the emblem of the union between
+you! As the strong red wine colours and
+strengthens the pure water, so, Joyful Star, shall
+the stronger nature of thy chosen husband colour
+and strengthen thine, and, as the pure water
+tempers and purifies the wine, so, Vilcaroya
+Inca, shall the gentler and purer nature of her
+who is henceforth thy wife and queen by the
+rites of our ancient law, soften and purify thine
+according to the will and purpose of the Unnameable,
+who to this end sent man and woman
+upon earth that together they might possess
+and enjoy it, each helping the other, man
+making the world fruitful and beautiful by his
+labour, and woman sweetening his toil by the
+reward of her love and her constancy.'</p>
+
+<p>Then he raised his hands above our heads
+as we bowed them together over the emblem
+of our mingling lives, and said again,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Son and daughter, man and wife, who have
+met from afar, and who in this solemn act
+have sworn in the all-pervading presence of
+the Unnameable to lead each other from this
+your meeting-place to the dim border of the
+shadow-land which lies between this world
+and the threshold of the Mansions of the Sun,
+may the blessing of our Father clothe your
+brows with honour and fill your hearts with
+everlasting love and trust, and may He guide<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span>
+your feet to walk in pleasant places from now
+even to the end!'</p>
+
+<p>As he ceased our hands parted, only to meet
+again a moment later after we had stepped
+aside to yield up our places at the marriage-font
+to Francis Hartness and Golden Star.</p>
+
+<h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_F_" id="Footnote_F_"></a><a href="#FNanchor_F_"><span class="label">[F]</span></a> This is not quite correct, although a natural mistake on the part
+of the Inca. It is not the Cathedral of Cuzco, but the Church of
+Santo Domingo, which stands on the site of the ancient Temple of
+the Sun. It is by far the finest church in Cuzco. The Cathedral
+faces the great square.</p></div>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>THE END</h2>
+
+
+<p><i>Coiston and Coy. Limited, Printers, Edinburgh</i></p>
+
+<div class= 'notes'>
+<p>Transcriber's note:</p>
+
+<p>List of corrections:</p>
+
+
+<ol><li><p>"Anahauc" corrected into "Anahuac"</p>
+
+<p>page 206 and bid Anahauc and Ainu close the door</p>
+<p>page 208 Anahauc came and prostrated himself</p></li>
+
+<li><p>"Ullulo" corrected into "Ullullo"</p>
+
+
+
+<p>page 288:  Ullulo, the first friend</p></li>
+
+<li><p>"ont" corrected into "out"</p>
+
+<p>page 298 mete ont justice and mercy</p></li></ol>
+</div>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="full" />
+<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ROMANCE OF GOLDEN STAR ...***</p>
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@@ -0,0 +1,6953 @@
+The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Romance of Golden Star ..., by George
+Chetwynd Griffith, Illustrated by Alfred Pearse
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: The Romance of Golden Star ...
+
+
+Author: George Chetwynd Griffith
+
+
+
+Release Date: December 23, 2006  [eBook #20173]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ROMANCE OF GOLDEN STAR ...***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Wilelmina Maillière and the Project Gutenberg Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net/c/)
+
+
+
+Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
+      file which includes the original illustrations.
+      See 20173-h.htm or 20173-h.zip:
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/0/1/7/20173/20173-h/20173-h.htm)
+      or
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/0/1/7/20173/20173-h.zip)
+
+
+Transcriber's note:
+
+      Some punctuation has been changed to meet contemporary standards.
+
+      Printer's errors: see the list of corrections at the end of the
+      text.
+
+
+
+
+
+THE ROMANCE OF GOLDEN STAR ...
+
+by
+
+GEORGE [CHETWYND] GRIFFITH[-JONES]
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Reprint Edition 1978 by Arno Press Inc.
+Reprinted from a copy in The Library of the University of California,
+Riverside
+Editorial Supervision: Marie Stareck
+
+
+
+
+THE ROMANCE OF GOLDEN STAR
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Hail, Son of the Sun!
+
+_Page 78._
+
+THE ROMANCE OF GOLDEN STAR.
+
+_Frontispiece._]
+
+
+
+
+THE ROMANCE OF GOLDEN STAR ...
+
+by
+
+GEORGE GRIFFITH
+
+Author of
+'The Angel of the Revolution,'
+'Olga Romanoff,' 'The Outlaws
+of the Air,' 'Valdar the Oft-Born,'
+'Briton or Boer?' Etc., Etc.
+
+Illustrated by Alfred Pearse
+
+
+
+
+_'To that Son of the Sacred Race
+who for Honour and Faith and
+Love shall take the hand of a
+pure virgin of his own holy blood
+and with her pass fearless through
+the Gate of Death into the shadows
+which lie beyond shall be given the
+glory of casting out the Oppressor
+and raising the Rainbow Banner
+once more above the Golden Throne
+of the Incas. On that Throne he
+shall sit and wield power and mete
+out justice and mercy to the Children
+of the Sun when the gloom
+that is falling upon the Land of
+the Four Regions shall have passed
+away in the dawn of a brighter
+age.'_
+
+--THE PROPHECY CONTAINED
+IN THE ANCIENT LEGEND
+OF VILCAROYA-INCA AND
+GOLDEN STAR, HIS SISTER-BRIDE.
+
+
+London: F. V. White & Co....
+14 Bedford Street, Strand, W.C. 1897
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+PROLOGUE
+
+                                                         PAGE
+
+HIS HIGHNESS THE MUMMY                                      1
+
+A PHYSIOLOGICAL EXPERIMENT                                 16
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+BACK THROUGH THE SHADOWS                                   32
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+BROTHERS OF THE BLOOD                                      47
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+IN THE HALL OF GOLD                                        66
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+THE SISTER STARS                                           86
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+HOW DJAMA DID HIS WORK                                    105
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+THE WAKING OF GOLDEN STAR                                 124
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+IN THE THRONE-ROOM OF YUPANQUI                            145
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+HOW THE SOUL OF GOLDEN STAR CAME BACK                     168
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+THE TREACHERY OF DJAMA                                    188
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+ON THE RODADERO                                           209
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+HOW WE TOOK THE CITY OF THE SUN                           230
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+QUEEN AND CROWN                                           250
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+HOW DJAMA PAID HIS DEBT                                   262
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+THE RE-KINDLING OF THE SACRED FIRE                        271
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+BY
+
+ALFRED PEARSE
+
+                                                             PAGE
+
+'HAIL, SON OF THE SUN!'                           _Frontispiece_
+
+'AM I ONLY DREAMING THAT THE DEATH-SLEEP IS OVER?'             26
+
+THE DAGGER-POINT DROPPED TILL IT WAS WITHIN AN INCH
+OF GOLDEN STAR'S BREAST                                       119
+
+THEY THRUST HIM IN WITH HIS ARMS STILL BOUND                  205
+
+IT HAD SMITTEN HIM TO THE HEART                               228
+
+NOW THE MOMENT FOR THE GIVING OF THE SIGN HAD COME            280
+
+
+
+
+The Romance of Golden Star
+
+
+
+
+PROLOGUE
+
+
+I
+
+HIS HIGHNESS THE MUMMY
+
+
+'Ah, what a thing it would be for us if his Inca Highness were really
+only asleep, as he looks to be! Just think what he could tell us--how
+easily he could re-create that lost wonderland of his for us, what
+riddles he could answer, what lies he could contradict. And then think
+of all the lost treasures that he could show us the way to. Upon my
+word, if Mephistopheles were to walk into this room just now, I think I
+should be tempted to make a bargain with him. Do you know, Djama, I
+believe I would give half the remainder of my own life, whatever that
+may be, to learn the secrets that were once locked up in that withered,
+desiccated brain of his.'
+
+The speaker was one of two men who were standing in a large room,
+half-study, half-museum, in a big, old-fashioned house in Maida Vale.
+Wherever the science of archaeology was studied, Professor Martin Lamson
+was known as the highest living authority on the subject of the
+antiquities of South America. He had just returned from a year's
+relic-hunting in Peru and Bolivia, and was enjoying the luxury of
+unpacking his treasures with the almost boyish delight which, under such
+circumstances, comes only to the true enthusiast. His companion was a
+somewhat slenderly-built man, of medium height, whose clear, olive skin,
+straight, black hair, and deep blue-black eyes betrayed a not very
+remote Eastern origin.
+
+Dr Laurens Djama was a physiologist, whose rapidly-acquired fame--he was
+barely thirty-two--would have been considered sounder by his
+professional brethren if it had not been, as they thought, impaired by
+excursions into by-ways of science which were believed to lead him
+perilously near to the borders of occultism. Five years before he had
+pulled the professor through a very bad attack of the calentura in
+Panama, where they met by the merest traveller's chance, and since then
+they had been fast friends.
+
+They were standing over a long packing-case, some seven feet in length
+and two and a-half in breadth, in which lay, at full length, wrapped in
+grave-clothes that had once been gaily coloured, but which were now
+faded and grey with the grave-dust, the figure of a man with hands
+crossed over the breast, dead to all appearances, and yet so gruesomely
+lifelike that it seemed hard to believe that the broad, muscular chest
+over which the crossed hands lay was not actually heaving and falling
+with the breath of life.
+
+The face had been uncovered. It was that of a man still in the early
+prime of life. The dull brown hair was long and thick, the features
+somewhat aquiline, and stamped even in death with an almost royal
+dignity. The skin was of a pale bronze, though darkened by the hues of
+death. Yet every detail of the face was so perfect and so life-like
+that, as the professor had said, it seemed to be rather the face of a
+man in a deep sleep than that of an Inca prince who must have been dead
+and buried for over three hundred years. The closed eyes, though
+somewhat sunken in their sockets, were the eyes of sleep rather than of
+death, and the lids seemed to lie so lightly over them that it looked as
+though one awakening touch would raise them.
+
+'It is beyond all question the most perfect specimen of a mummy that I
+have seen,' said the doctor, stooping down and drawing his thin, nervous
+fingers very lightly over the dried skin of the right cheek. 'On my
+honour, I simply can't believe that His Highness, as you call him, ever
+really went to the other world by any of the orthodox routes. If you
+could imagine an absolute suspension of all the vital functions induced
+by the influence of something--some drug or hypnotic process unknown to
+modern science, brought into action on a human being in the very prime
+of his vital strength--then, so far as I can see, the results of that
+influence would be exactly what you see here.'
+
+'But surely that can't be anything but a dream. How could it be possible
+to bring all the vital functions to a dead stop like that, and yet keep
+them in such a state that it might be possible--for that's what I
+suppose you are driving at--to start them into activity again, just as
+one might wind up a clock that had been stopped for a few weeks and set
+it going?'
+
+'My dear fellow, the borderland between life and death is so utterly
+unknown to the very best of us that there is no telling what frightful
+possibilities there may be lying hidden under the shadows that hang over
+it. You know as well as I do that there are perfectly well authenticated
+instances on record of Hindoo Fakirs who have allowed themselves to be
+placed in a state of suspended animation and had their tongues turned
+back into their throats, their mouths and noses covered with clay, and
+have been buried in graves that have been filled up and had sentries
+watching day and night over them for as long a period as six weeks, and
+then have been dug up and restored to perfect health and strength again
+in a few hours. Now, if life can be suspended for six weeks and then
+restored to an organism which, from all physiological standpoints, must
+be regarded as inanimate, why not for six years or six hundred years,
+for the matter of that? Given once the possibility, which we may assume
+as proved, of a restoration to life after total suspension of animation,
+then it only becomes a question of preservation of tissue for more or
+less indefinite periods. Granted that tissue can be so preserved, then,
+given the other possibility already proved, and--well, we will talk
+about the other possibility afterwards. Now, tell me, don't you, as an
+archaeologist, see anything peculiar about this Inca prince of yours?'
+
+The professor had been looking keenly at his friend during the delivery
+of this curious physiological lecture. He seemed as though he were
+trying to read the thoughts that were chasing each other through his
+brain behind the impenetrable mask of that smooth, broad forehead of
+his. He looked into his eyes, but saw nothing there save a cold, steady
+light that he had often seen before when the doctor was discussing
+subjects that interested him deeply. As for his face, it was utterly
+impassive--the face of a dispassionate scientist quietly discussing the
+possible solution of a problem that had been laid before him. Whether
+his friend was really driving at some unheard-of and unearthly solution
+of the problem which he himself had raised, or whether he was merely
+discussing the possible issue of some abstract question in physiology,
+he was utterly unable to discover, and so he thought it best to confine
+himself to the matter in hand, without hazarding any risky guesses that
+might possibly result in his own confusion. So he answered as quietly as
+he could:
+
+'Yes, I must confess that there are two perhaps very important points of
+difference between this and any other Peruvian mummy that I have ever
+seen or heard of.'
+
+'Ah, I thought so,' said Djama, half closing his eyes and allowing just
+the ghost of a smile to flit across his lips. 'I thought I knew enough
+about archaeology and the science of mummies in general to expect you to
+say that. Now, just for the gratification of my own vanity, I should
+like to try and anticipate what you are going to say; and if I'm wrong,
+well, of course, I shall only be too happy to be contradicted.'
+
+'Very well,' laughed the professor; 'say on!'
+
+'Well, in the first place, I believe I'm right in saying that all
+Peruvian mummies that have so far been discovered have been found in a
+sitting posture, with the legs drawn close up to the body by means of
+bindings and burial-clothes, so that the chin rested between the knees,
+while the arms were brought round the legs and folded over them. Then,
+again, these mummies have always been found in an upright position,
+while you found this one lying down.'
+
+'Quite so, quite so!' said the professor. 'In fact, I may say that no
+one save myself has ever discovered such a mummy as this among all the
+thousands that have been taken out of Peruvian burying-places. And now,
+what is your other point?'
+
+'Simply this,' said Djama, kneeling down beside the case, and laying his
+hands over the abdomen of the recumbent figure. 'In the case of all
+mummies, whether Egyptian or Peruvian, it was the invariable practice of
+the embalmers to take out the intestines and fill the abdominal cavity
+with preservative herbs and spices. Now, this has not been done in this
+case. Look here.'
+
+And deftly and swiftly he moved the dusty, half-decayed coverings from
+the body of the mummy, while the professor looked on half-wondering and
+half-frightened for the safety of his treasure.
+
+'That has not been done here. You see the man's body is as perfect as it
+was on the day he died--to use a conventional term. Now, am I not
+right?'
+
+'Yes, yes; perfectly right,' answered the professor, who felt himself
+fast losing his grip of the conversation which had taken so strange a
+turn. 'But what has all this got to do with the most unique mummy that
+ever was brought from South America? Surely, in the name of all that's
+sacred, you don't mean--'
+
+'My dear fellow, never mind what I mean for the present,' replied Djama,
+with another of his half smiles. 'If I mean anything at all, the meaning
+will keep, and if I don't it doesn't matter. Now, do you mind telling me
+exactly how and where you came across this extraordinary specimen
+of--well, for want of a better term--we will say, Inca embalming?'
+
+'Yes, willingly,' said the professor, glad to get back again on to the
+familiar ground of his own experiences. 'I found it almost by accident
+in a little valley about four days' ride to the westward of Cuzco. I was
+on my way to Abancay across the Apurimac. My mule had fallen lame, and
+so I got belated. Night came on, and somehow we got off the track
+crossing one of the Punas--those elevated tablelands, you know, up among
+the mountains--and when the mule could go no farther we camped, and the
+next morning I found myself in an almost circular valley, completely
+walled in by enormous mountains, save for the narrow, crooked gorge
+through which we had stumbled by the purest accident. The bottom of this
+valley was filled by a little lake, and while I was exploring the shores
+of this I saw, hidden underneath an overhanging ledge of rock, a couple
+of courses of that wonderful mortarless masonry which the Incas alone
+seemed to know how to build. I had no sooner seen it than all desire of
+getting to Abancay or anywhere else had left me. I made my arriero turn
+the animals loose for the day, and then I sent him back to a village we
+had passed through the day before to buy more provisions and bring them
+to me.
+
+'As soon as he had got out of sight I set to work to get some of the
+stones out and see what there was behind them. I knew there must be
+something, for the Incas never wasted labour. It was hard work, for the
+stones were fitted together as perfectly as the pieces of a Chinese
+puzzle; but at last I got one out and then the rest was easy. Behind the
+stones I found a little chamber hollowed out of the rock, perfectly
+clean and dry, and on the floor of this I found, without any other
+covering than what you see there, the mummy of His Highness lying on
+what had once been a bed of soft Vicuna skins, as perfect and as
+lifelike as though he had only crept in there twelve hours before, and
+had laid down for a good night's rest.
+
+'You may imagine how delighted I was at such a find. I hardly knew how
+to contain myself until my man came back. I put the stones back into
+their places as well as I could, and when Patricio returned the next day
+I had the animals saddled up, and started off in a hurry to Cuzco. There
+I had this case made, bought two extra mules, brought them to the
+valley, packed up my mummy, took it back to Cuzco, and from there to the
+railway terminus at Sicuani and took it down by train to Arequipa, where
+I left it in safe keeping until I had finished the rest of my
+exploration. Then I went back, took it down to Mollendo, got it on board
+the steamer, and here it is.'
+
+'And you didn't find any traces of other treasure-places, I suppose, in
+the valley?' said Djama, who had listened with the most perfect
+attention to the professor's story.
+
+'No, I didn't, though I must confess that one side of the cave in which
+I found this was walled up with the same kind of masonry as there was in
+front of it; but, to tell you the truth, the Peruvian Government has
+such insane ideas about treasure-hunting; and the life of a man who is
+believed to have discovered anything worth stealing is worth so little
+in the wilder districts of the interior, that I was afraid of losing the
+treasure I had got, perhaps for the sake of a few little gold ornaments
+which I might have dug out of the hill, and so I decided to be content
+with what I'd found.'
+
+'H'm!' said the doctor. 'Well, you may have been wise under the
+circumstances; I daresay you were. But we can see about that afterwards.
+Meanwhile there is something else to be talked about.'
+
+He stopped suddenly, took a quick turn or two up and down the room, with
+his hands clasped behind him and his eyes fixed on the floor. Then he
+went to the door, opened it, looked out, shut it and locked it, and then
+came back again and sat down without a word in his chair, staring
+steadily at the impassive face of the mummy in the packing-case.
+
+'Why, what's the matter, doctor?' said the professor, a trifle sharply.
+'You don't suppose I am afraid of anyone coming to steal my treasure, do
+you?'
+
+'My dear fellow,' said Djama, looking him straight in the eyes, and
+speaking very slowly, as though his mind was doing something else
+besides shaping the thoughts to which he was giving utterance, 'I don't
+for a moment suppose that there are thieves about, or that, if there
+were, any burglar with a competent knowledge of his profession would
+think of stealing your mummy, priceless as it may prove to be. I locked
+the door because I don't want to be interrupted. I want to talk to you
+about a very important matter.'
+
+'And that is?'
+
+'Mephistopheles.'
+
+'WHAT?'
+
+'Gently, my friend, gently, don't get excited yet. You will want all
+your nerves soon, I can assure you. Yes, I am quite serious. You know
+that in the good old days, when people still believed in His Majesty of
+Darkness, such a speech as the one you remember making a short time ago
+was quite enough to call up one of his agents, armed with full powers to
+make contracts and do all necessary business.'
+
+'Look here, Laurens, if you go on talking like that, I shall begin to
+think you have gone out of your mind.'
+
+'My dear fellow, to be quite candid with you, I don't care two pins what
+you think on that subject. I have been called mad too many times for
+that. Now, suppose, just for argument's sake, that I were
+Mephistopheles, and staked my diabolic reputation on the statement that
+in that thing you possess a possible key to those lost treasures of the
+Incas, which ten generations of men have hunted for in vain, what kind
+of a bargain would you be inclined to make with me on the strength of
+it? Half the rest of your life, I think you said, and as that wouldn't
+be very much good to me, suppose we say the half of any treasures we
+may discover by the help of our silent friend there? Eh?--will that suit
+you?'
+
+'Are you really serious, Djama, or are you only dreaming another of
+these wild scientific dreams of yours?' exclaimed the professor, taking
+a couple of quick strides towards him. 'What connection can there
+possibly be between a mummy, about four centuries years old, and the
+lost treasures of the Incas?'
+
+'This man was an Inca, wasn't he?' said the doctor, abruptly, 'and one
+of the highest rank, too, from what you have said. He lived just about
+the time of the Conquest, didn't he--the time when the priests stripped
+their temples, and the nobles emptied their palaces of their treasures
+to save them from the Spaniards? Is it not likely that he would know
+where, at anyrate, a great part of them was buried? Nay, may he not even
+have known the localities of the lost mines that the Incas got their
+hundredweights of gold from, and of the emerald mines which no one has
+ever been able to find? Why, Lamson, if these dead lips could speak, I
+believe they could make you and me millionaires in an hour. And why
+shouldn't they speak?'
+
+'Don't talk like that, Djama, for Heaven's sake! It is too serious a
+thing to joke about,' said the professor, with a half-frightened glance
+in his set and shining eyes. 'I should have thought you, of all men,
+knew enough of the facts of life and death not to talk such nonsense as
+that.'
+
+'Nonsense!' said the physiologist, interrupting him almost angrily; 'may
+I not know enough of the facts of life and death, as you call them, to
+know that that is _not_ nonsense? But there, it's no use arguing about
+things like this. Will you allow this mummy of yours to be made the
+subject of--well, we will say, an experiment in physiology?'
+
+'What! the finest and most unique huaca that was ever brought to
+Europe--'
+
+'It would only be made finer still by the experiment, even if it failed.
+I know what you are going to say, and I will give you my word of honour,
+and, if you like, I'll pledge you my professional reputation, that not a
+hair of its head shall be injured. Let me take it to my laboratory, and
+I promise you solemnly that in a week you shall have it back, not as it
+is now, but either the body of your Inca, as perfect as it was the day
+he died, or--'
+
+He stopped, and looked hard at his friend, as if wondering what the
+effects of his next words would be upon him.
+
+'Or what?' asked the professor, almost in a whisper.
+
+'Your Inca prince, roused from his three-hundred-year sleep, and able
+to answer your questions and guide us to his lost mines and treasure
+houses.'
+
+'Are you in earnest, Djama?' the professor whispered, catching him by
+the arm and looking round at the mummy as though he half thought that
+the silent witness in the packing-case might be listening to the words
+which, if it could have heard, would have had such a terrible
+significance for it. 'Do you really mean to say in sober earnest that
+there is the remotest chance of your science being able to work such a
+miracle as that?'
+
+'A chance, yes,' replied Djama, steadily. 'It is not a certainty, of
+course, but I believe it to be possible. Will you let me try?'
+
+'Yes, you shall try,' answered the professor in a voice nothing like as
+steady as his. 'If any other man but you had even hinted at such a
+thing, I would have seen him--well, in a lunatic asylum first. But
+there, I will trust my Inca to you. It seems a fearful thing even to
+attempt, and yet, after all, if it fails there will be no harm done, and
+if it succeeds--ah, yes, if it succeeds--it will mean--'
+
+'Endless fame for you, my friend, as the recreator of a lost society,
+and for both of us wealth, perhaps beyond counting. But stop a
+moment--granted success, how shall we talk with our Inca _revenant_?
+Have I not heard you say that the Aymaru dialect of the Quichua tongue
+is lost as completely as the Inca treasures?'
+
+'Not quite, though I believe I am now the only white man on earth who
+understands it.'
+
+'Good! then let me get to work at once, and in a week--well, in a week
+we shall see.'
+
+
+II
+
+A PHYSIOLOGICAL EXPERIMENT
+
+Laurens Djama dined with the professor that night, and the small hours
+were growing large before they ended the long talk of which their
+strange bargain, and the still stranger experiment which was to result
+from it, formed the subject. The next day the packing-case containing
+the mummy was transferred to Djama's laboratory, and then for a whole
+week neither the professor nor any of his friends or acquaintances had
+either sight or speech of him.
+
+Every caller at his house in Brondesbury Park was politely but firmly
+denied admittance on professional grounds, and three letters and two
+telegrams which the professor had sent to him, after being himself
+denied admittance, remained unanswered.
+
+At last, on the Thursday following the Friday on which the mummy had
+been sent to the laboratory, the professor received a telegram telling
+him to come at once to the doctor. Three minutes after he had read it he
+was in a hansom and on his way to Kilburn, wondering what it was that he
+was to be brought face to face with during the next half hour.
+
+This time there was no denial. The door opened as he went up the steps,
+and the servant handed him a note. He tore it open and read,--
+
+     '_Come round to the laboratory and make a new acquaintance who will
+     yet be an old one._'
+
+His heart stood still, and he caught his breath sharply as he read the
+words which told him that the unearthly experiment for which he had
+furnished the subject had been successful.
+
+The doctor's laboratory stood apart from the house in the long, narrow
+garden at the back, and as he approached the door he stopped for a
+moment, and an almost irresistible impulse to go away and have nothing
+more to do with the unholy work in hand took possession of him. Then the
+love of his science and the longing to hear the marvels which could only
+be heard from the lips that had been silent for centuries overcame his
+fears, and he went up to the door and knocked softly.
+
+It was opened by a haggard, wild-eyed man, whom he scarcely recognised
+as his old friend. Djama did not speak; he simply caught hold of the
+sleeve of his coat with a nervous, trembling grasp, drew him in, shut
+the door, and led him to a corner of the room where there was a little
+camp bed, curtained all round with thin, transparent muslin, through
+which he could see the shape of a man lying under the sheets.
+
+Djama pulled the curtain aside, and said in a hoarse whisper,--
+
+'Look, it has been hard work, and terrible work, too, but I have
+succeeded. Do you see, he is breathing!'
+
+The professor stared wide-eyed at the white pillow on which lay the head
+of what, a week before, had been his mummy. Now it was the head of a
+living man; the pale bronze of the skin was clear and moist with the dew
+of life; the lips were no longer brown and dry, but faintly red and
+slightly parted, and the counterpane, which was pulled close up under
+the chin, was slowly rising and falling with the regular rhythm of a
+sleeper's breathing. He looked from the face of him who had been dead
+and was alive again to the face of the man whose daring science and
+perfect skill had wrought the unholy miracle, and then he shrank back
+from the bedside, pulling Djama with him, and whispering,--
+
+'Good God, it is even more awful than it is wonderful! How did you do
+it?'
+
+'That is my secret,' whispered Djama, his dry lips shaping themselves
+into a ghastly smile, 'and for all the treasures that that man ever saw,
+I wouldn't tell it to a living soul, or do such hideous work again. I
+tell you I have seen life and death fighting together for two days and
+nights in this room--not, mind you, as they fight on a deathbed, but the
+other way, and I would rather see a thousand men die than one more come
+back out, of death into life. You see, he is sleeping now. He opened his
+eyes just before daybreak this morning--that's nearly ten hours ago--but
+if I lived ten thousand years I should never forget that one look he
+gave me before he shut them again. Since then he has slept, and I stood
+by that bed testing his pulse and his breathing for eight hours before I
+wired you. Then I knew he would live, and so I sent for you.'
+
+The professor looked at his friend with an involuntary and unconquerable
+aversion rising in his heart against him; an aversion that was half
+fear, half horror, and then he remembered that he himself had a share in
+the fearful work which had been done--a work that could not now be
+undone without murder.
+
+With another backward look at the bed, he said, in a whisper that was
+almost a smothered groan,--
+
+'When will he wake?'
+
+Before Djama could reply, the question was answered by a faint rustle,
+and a low, long-drawn sigh from the bed. They looked and saw the Inca's
+face turned towards them, and two fever-bright eyes shining through the
+curtains.
+
+'He is awake already, two hours sooner than I expected,' said Djama, in
+a voice that he strove vainly to keep steady. 'Come, now, you are the
+only man on earth who can talk to him. Let us see if he has come back to
+reason as well as to life.'
+
+'Yes, I will try,' said the professor, faintly. He took a couple of
+trembling steps. Then the lights in the room began to dance, the
+whitewashed walls reeled round him, and he pitched forward and fell
+unconscious by the side of the bed.
+
+When he came to himself he was lying on the floor of the laboratory, out
+of sight of the bed, behind a great cupboard, glass-doored and filled
+with bottles. Djama was kneeling beside him. A strong smell of ammonia
+dominated the other smells peculiar to a laboratory, and his brow was
+wet with the spirit that Djama was gently rubbing on it with his hand.
+
+'What have I been doing?' he said, as, with the other's assistance, he
+got up into a sitting position and looked stupidly about him. 'It isn't
+true, that is it, I really saw--Good God no, it can't be; it's too
+horrible. I must have dreamt it.'
+
+'Nonsense, my dear fellow, nonsense! I should have thought you would
+have had better nerves than that. Come, take a nip of this, and pull
+yourself together. There is nothing so very horrible about it for you.
+Now, if you had had the actual work to do--'
+
+'Then it _is_ true! You really have brought him back to life again? That
+was him I saw lying on the bed?' He looked up at Djama as he spoke with
+a half-inquiring, half-frightened glance. His voice was weak and
+unsteady, like the voice of a man who has been stunned by some terrible
+shock, and is still dazed with the fear and wonder of it.
+
+'Yes, of course it was,' said Djama; 'but I can tell you, I should have
+hesitated before I introduced you so suddenly, if I hadn't thought that
+the nerves of an old traveller like you would have been a good deal
+stronger than they seem to be. It's a very good job that His Highness
+was only about half conscious himself when you collapsed, or you might
+have given him a shock that would have killed him again.'
+
+'Again?' said the professor, echoing the last word as he got up slowly
+to his feet. 'That sounds queer, doesn't it, to talk of killing a man
+_again_? I am more sorry than I can say that I was weak enough to let my
+feelings overcome me in such a ridiculous fashion. However, I am all
+right now. Give me another drain of that brandy of yours, and then let
+us talk. Is he still awake?'
+
+'No, he dozed off again almost immediately, and you have been here about
+ten minutes or a quarter of an hour. Do you think you can stand another
+look at him?'
+
+'Oh, certainly,' said the professor, who, as a matter of fact, felt a
+trifle ashamed of himself and his weakness, and was anxious to do
+something that would restore his credit. He followed the doctor out into
+the laboratory again, and stood with him for some moments without
+speaking by the Inca's bedside. He was sleeping very quietly, and his
+breathing seemed to be stronger and deeper than it had been. He had
+slightly shifted his position, and was lying now half turned on his
+right side, with his right cheek on the pillow.
+
+'You see he has moved,' whispered Djama. 'That shows that muscular
+control has been re-established. We shall have him walking about in a
+day or so. Ah! he is dreaming, and of something pleasant, too. Look at
+his lips moving into a smile. Poor fellow, just fancy a man dreaming of
+things that happened three hundred years ago, and waking up to find
+himself in another world. I'll be bound he is dreaming about his wife or
+sweetheart, and we shall have to tell him, or rather you will, that she
+has been a mummy for three centuries. Look now, his lips are moving; I
+believe he is going to say something. See if you can hear what it is?'
+
+The professor stooped down and held his ear so close that he could feel
+on his cheek the gentle fanning of the breath that had been still for
+three centuries. Then the Inca's lips moved again, and a soft sighing
+sound came from them, and in the midst of it he caught the words,--
+
+'_Cori-Coyllur, Nustallipa, Nusta mi!_'
+
+Then there came a long, gentle sigh. The Inca's lips became still again,
+shaped into a very sweet and almost womanly smile, as though his vision
+had passed and left him in a happy, dreamless slumber.
+
+'What did he say?' whispered Djama. 'Were you able to understand it?'
+
+'Yes,' said the professor, 'yes, and you were right about the subject of
+his dream. Come away, in case we wake him, and I will tell you.'
+
+They went to the other end of the laboratory, and the professor went on,
+still speaking in a low, half-whisper,--
+
+'Poor fellow, I am afraid we have incurred a terribly heavy debt to him.
+What he said meant, "Golden Star, my princess, my darling!" So you see
+you were right, but poor Golden Star has been dead three hundred years
+and more--that is, at least, if his Golden Star is the same as the
+heroine of the tradition.'
+
+'What tradition?' asked Djama.
+
+'It's too long a story to tell you now, but if she is the same, then our
+Inca's name is Vilcaroya, and he is the hero of the strangest story,
+and, thanks to you, the strangest fate that the wildest romancer could
+imagine. However, the story must keep, for I wouldn't spoil it by
+cutting it short. The principal question now is--what are we going to do
+with him? We can't keep him here, of course?'
+
+'No, certainly not,' replied Djama, with knitted brows and faintly
+smiling lips. 'His Highness must be cared for in accordance with his
+rank and our expectations. I shall have him taken into the house and
+properly nursed.'
+
+'But what about your sister? You will frighten her to death if you take
+in a living patient that has been dead for three hundred years.'
+
+'Not if we manage it properly; there will be no need to tell Ruth the
+story yet, at anyrate. I'll tell her that I am going to receive a
+patient who is suffering from a mysterious disease unknown to medical
+science. I'll say I picked him up in the Oriental Home in Whitechapel,
+and have brought him here to study him, and you and I must smuggle him
+into the house and put him to bed some time when she is out of the way.
+Then I'll instal her as nurse; in fact, she will do that for herself;
+and as there is no chance of her learning anything from him, we can
+break the truth to her by degrees, and when His Highness is well enough
+to travel we'll all be off to Peru and come back millionaires, if you
+can only persuade him to tell you the secret of his treasure-houses.'
+
+That night the doctor and the professor took turns in watching by the
+bedside of their strange patient, whose slumber became lighter and
+lighter until, towards midnight, he got so restless and apparently
+uneasy that Djama considered that the time had come to wake him and see
+if he was able to take any nourishment. So he set the professor to work,
+warming some chicken broth over a spirit lamp, and mixing a little
+champagne and soda-water in one glass and brandy and water in another.
+Meanwhile, he filled a hypodermic syringe with colourless fluid out of a
+little stoppered bottle, and then turned the sheet down and injected the
+contents of the syringe under the smooth, bronze skin of the Inca's
+shoulder. He moved slightly at the prick of the needle, then he drew
+two or three deep breaths, and suddenly sat up in bed and stared about
+him with wide open eyes, full, as they well might be, of inquiring
+wonder.
+
+The professor, who had turned at the sound of the hurried breathing, saw
+him as he raised himself, and heard him say in the clear and somewhat
+high-pitched tone of a dweller among the mountains,--
+
+'Has the morning dawned again for the Children of the Sun? Am I truly
+awake, or am I only dreaming that the death-sleep is over? Where is
+Golden Star, and where am I? Tell me--you who have doubtless brought me
+back to the life we forsook together--was it last night or how many
+nights or moons ago?'
+
+The words came slowly at first, like those of a man still on the
+borderland between sleep and waking; but each one was spoken more
+clearly and decisively than the one before it, and the last sentence was
+uttered in the strong, steady tones of a man in full possession of his
+faculties.
+
+'Come here, Lamson,' said Djama, a trifle nervously; 'bring the soup
+with you, and some brandy, though I don't think he needs it. Do you
+understand what he said?'
+
+[Illustration: "Am I only dreaming that the death-sleep is over?"
+
+_To face page 26._]
+
+'Yes,' replied the professor, coming to the bedside with a cup of soup
+in one hand and a glass of brandy and water in the ether. Both hands
+trembled as he set the cup and the glass down on a little table. He
+looked at the Inca like a man looking at a re-embodied spirit, and said
+to him in Quichua,--
+
+'I am not he who has brought you back to life, but my friend here, who
+is a great and skilled physician, and master of the arts of life and
+death. You are in his house, and safe, for we are friends, and have
+nursed you back to health and waking life after your long sleep.'
+
+'But Golden Star,' said the Inca, interrupting him with a flash of
+impatience in his eyes. 'Where is she--my bride who went with me into
+the shades of death? Have you not brought her, too, back to life?'
+
+The professor stared in silence at the strange speaker of these strange
+words, which told him so plainly that the old legend of the death-bridal
+of Vilcaroya-Inca and Golden Star was now no legend at all, but a true
+story which had come down almost unchanged from generation to
+generation. Then an infinite pity filled his heart for this lonely
+wanderer from another age, whose friends and kindred had been dead for
+centuries, and whose very nation was now only a shadowy name on a
+half-forgotten page of history.
+
+'What does he say?' said Djama, breaking in upon his reverie. 'I suppose
+he wants to know where he is, and what has become of that sweetheart of
+his he was dreaming about?'
+
+'Yes,' replied the professor; 'but you won't understand properly until I
+have told you the story. Poor fellow! I suppose we shall have to tell
+him the ghastly truth. Good Heavens! fancy telling a man that his wife
+has been dead for three hundred years or more! Look here, Djama, this
+business can't stop here, you know. What a fool I was, after all, not to
+see if there wasn't another chamber beside the one I found him in! Of
+course there must be, and I have no doubt she is lying there at this
+present moment. We shall have to go and find her, and you must restore
+her as you have done him. Phew! where is it all going to end, I wonder!'
+
+'And suppose we can't find her, or suppose I fail, even if I can bring
+myself to undertake that horrible work all over again?' said Djama,
+looking almost fearfully at the Inca, who was still sitting up in the
+bed glancing mutely from one to the other, as though waiting for an
+answer to his question. Then, keeping his voice as steady as he could,
+the professor told him the story of his resuscitation, addressing him by
+his own name and ending by asking him if he remembered when he and
+Golden Star had devoted themselves to die together, as the tradition
+said they had done.
+
+'Yes, I remember!' said Vilcaroya, with brightening eyes and faintly
+flushing cheeks. 'How could I forget it? It was when the bearded
+strangers from the north had come and taken the usurper Atahuallpa
+prisoner in the midst of his conquering host at Cajamarca. It was after
+the Inca Huascar had been slain by stealth with a traitor's knife. It
+was on the night of the feast of Raymi, when our Father the Sun had left
+the Sacred Fleece unkindled, and when was fulfilled the prophecy that
+the night should fall over the land of the Children of the Sun. Now,
+tell me, you who speak the language of my people, how long have I been
+sleeping?'
+
+Instead of replying directly, he offered the Inca the cup of broth, and
+asked him first to take the nourishment that he must need so greatly
+after his long fast, telling him that it was needful to prevent him
+losing his new-found strength again. When he had eaten and drunk a
+little, then he would tell him what he could.
+
+He took the broth and a little bread obediently, and while he was eating
+and drinking, the professor translated what he had said to the doctor.
+When he had finished, Djama looked at the Inca, sitting there taking
+food and drink like any other human being, and with evident relish, too,
+and said,--
+
+'That happened in 1532--three hundred and sixty-five years ago! It
+sounds utterly incredible, doesn't it, and yet there he is, eating and
+drinking and talking with us just like any other man. I can hardly
+believe the work of my own hands, and I am beginning to half wish I had
+never begun it. Just imagine the awful loneliness to which we shall have
+condemned this poor fellow, supposing we can't find his Golden Star and
+restore her to him! Still perhaps you had better tell him the truth at
+once. I think he can stand it. He has been a long time coming round, but
+I don't think there is much the matter with him now.'
+
+Then the professor told Vilcaroya the, to him, so terrible truth, that
+of all men in the world he was the most lonely, separated as he was from
+all that he had known and loved by an impassable gulf of nearly four
+long centuries--that his well-loved Golden Star was but a memory known
+to few, a name in a vague tradition; that the resting-place, even of her
+mummy, was unknown, and that all that the darkest prophecy could have
+foretold had in very truth fallen upon the land of the Incas and the
+Children of the Sun.
+
+Vilcaroya heard him to the end in silence; then, raising his hands to
+his forehead, he bowed his head and said,--
+
+'It is the will of our Father, foretold by the lips of his priests, but
+other things were foretold which shall be fulfilled as well as these.
+Golden Star is not dead; she only sleeps as I did. If I have awakened,
+why shall not she? I know where she lies--where Anda-Huillac swore to me
+they would lay her. Come, let us go! I will take you to the place, and
+you shall restore her to me, warm and living and loving as she was when
+I kissed her good-bye in the Sanctuary of the Sun, and I will give you
+treasures of gold and silver and jewels such as you have never dreamed
+of in exchange for her.'
+
+
+
+
+THE STORY OF VILCAROYA
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+BACK THROUGH THE SHADOWS
+
+
+As the time passes between dreaming and waking, so for me did the long
+years pass, flowing like a smooth and silent stream seen from afar, out
+of the darkness that fell so slowly and so sweetly over my eyes that
+night when I sank into the death-trance beside Golden Star, my beloved,
+in the bridal chamber that they made for us in the Temple of the Sun,
+into the light that shone into them when they opened upon a scene so
+different, and saw a white, haggard face bending over me, and two black,
+burning eyes looking into them.
+
+Then I closed them again and slept, and when I woke again there were two
+faces looking at me, both white and full of fear and wonder, and I saw
+two beings who seemed very strange to me, such as I had never seen among
+the Children of the Sun, standing by the couch on which I lay, and one
+of them fell down as though sore stricken, and I tried to think what
+this could mean, and, thinking, fell asleep again.
+
+Then I dreamt a long, sweet dream of the days that I now know were far
+past, when I, Vilcaroya, son of the great Huayna-Capac, lived in the
+Land of the Four Regions, a prince among princes, a warrior and a child
+of the Sacred Race, whose blood had flowed unmixed through many
+generations from the divine fountain of life and light, our Father the
+Sun. I dreamt of Golden Star, and the days when I loved her in timid
+silence, for she was the fairest of all our race, and so, as it seemed
+to me, destined to no less a lot than the motherhood of a long line of
+Incas, in whom should live and grow to ever greater splendour the
+glories of the race that owned no earthly origin.
+
+I called her in my dream, but she made no answer. I saw her lying by my
+side in that well-remembered chamber, with the shadowy forms of the
+priests standing about us as I had seen them long before; but, alas! she
+lay still with closed eyes and lips which seemed to have forgotten how
+sweetly they once could smile. I whispered her name, mingled with many a
+loving word, into her ear, and still she moved not. I put my arms about
+her and kissed her, and instantly I shrank back shivering with a fear
+unspeakable, for the form that should have been so warm and soft and
+yielding, was chilled and pulseless and rigid, as though some foul magic
+had changed it into stone, and the lips that should have given me back
+kiss for kiss were still and cold and senseless.
+
+Then I saw, as it seemed with half-closed eyes, that dear shape of hers
+being borne away from me, while I, longing to snatch her from the hands
+of those who were robbing me of her, yet lay helpless on the couch,
+without strength to move or speak, until all grew dim around me, and I
+felt myself raised by invisible hands, and borne far away through the
+darkness--and so my dream melted away into the night of sleep.
+
+Then, yet again, I woke and saw the two strange men that I had seen
+before, and one came and spoke to me kindly in my own tongue, and called
+me by my own name, and gave me food and drink, and told me in a few, but
+to me terrible, words that the dreams I had dreamed were dreams
+indeed--dreams of a time that was long gone by, of things that had
+passed away, perchance for ever, and men and women whose names were only
+memories.
+
+Thus did I come from the evening of one age into the morning of another,
+falling asleep in the prime of my strength and manhood, and waking again
+even as I had fallen asleep--though those who had closed my eyes had
+been dead for many generations, and the name of our ancient race was
+but a bitter memory to the sons and daughters of my own land amidst the
+mountains.
+
+Then I went forth into the wondrous new world into which I had awakened,
+the world which you who read this hold so common, and which I found
+crowded with wonders so many and marvellous that if it had not been for
+the loving care of her who guided my first footsteps on my new journey,
+as she might have guided those of a little child, my re-awakening reason
+must soon have been quenched in the night of madness.
+
+Many and strange as were the things that happened to me during the first
+days and months of my awakening, there is little need that I should now
+write of them at any length. Yet something I must say of them in order
+that the still stranger things of which I shall have to tell may be the
+better understood.
+
+And first I must tell of her whose gentle hand led me from weakness to
+strength, and guided my unwonted footsteps through the mazes of that new
+wonderland in which I had awakened, and from whose lips I learnt the
+first words that I spoke of the strong and stately English speech in
+which I am striving so lamely and imperfectly to write down the story of
+my new life.
+
+This was Ruth, the sister of Djama, whose smile was the first ray of
+sunshine that shone into my second life, and whose laugh was so sweet
+and gladsome, that when it first sounded in my ears, like an echo from
+the dear dead past, I named her forthwith Cusi-Coyllur, which in English
+means Joyful Star--after that royal maiden of my own race who loved the
+handsome rebel Ollantay, and, refusing all others, waited for him in the
+House of the Virgins of the Sun until he came in triumph to claim her.
+She came with us to the south, rejecting all contrary counsel and
+braving the labours of the long, toilsome journey, so that she might be
+the first woman to welcome Golden Star back into the world of life.
+
+Yet what words can I find in this new speech that I have yet but half
+learnt to tell fitly of her beauty and sweet graciousness, and of all
+the magic which made her seem in my eyes like an angel that had come
+down from the Mansions of the Sun to greet me in a world in which I was
+a stranger? Better that you who may read what I write should learn to
+know her for yourself through the sweetness and grace of her own words
+and deeds, as I shall strive, however unworthily, to tell of them. So,
+then, let it be.
+
+But there is another of whom I must say something before I go on to tell
+of my return to my own land--now, alas! mine no longer--and that is
+Francis Hartness, a captain among the warriors of the English, and a
+friend of him who was called the professor, because of his learning--he
+who had helped Djama to bring me back into the world of living men.
+
+He was a man of about thirty years, tall of stature and strong of limb,
+brief of speech and straight of tongue, with eyes as blue as the skies
+which shine on Yucay, and hair and beard golden and bright as the rays
+which flow from the smile of our Father the Sun. Him we met by chance
+one evening in the square of the town which is called Panama, named,
+they told me, after that older city, whence the conquerors of my people
+sailed to ravish the realms of Huayna-Capac. There was peace in his own
+land and all the neighbouring countries, and so he was journeying to the
+region which is now called South America, where the descendants of the
+Spaniards are nearly always fighting among themselves over the spoils of
+my people, to see what work he could find to keep his sword from
+rusting.
+
+As he was greatly skilled in that strange, new warfare of flame and
+thunder and far-smiting bolts, which had but begun to be when our Father
+the Sun hid his face from the eyes of his children, I took counsel with
+Joyful Star--who was ever my wisest as well as my most faithful guide
+in all things--and we together told him my story as we went south, and
+after that I had asked him if he would help me in the task which I was
+going to essay, which was nothing less than the taking back of the land
+of my fathers, and the raising of the children of my people to the
+ancient glories of that state which I alone of living men remembered. To
+this, after some shrewd questioning, he consented--for it was a
+desperate venture, such as his brave heart loved--and when he had given
+me his hand on it, and promised, after the simple fashion of his nation,
+to be true to me in peace and war, I told him of the means that I could
+employ to gain my end, and how I would use that lust of gold which had
+led to the ruin of my people, so that it should conquer the children of
+their conquerors and give me back the empire that had been my father's.
+
+At Panama we took ship again and travelled swiftly and straightly south,
+driven by that wondrous power which had come into the world to serve men
+like a tireless giant since I had fallen asleep; and day after day on
+the southward voyage I walked alone up and down the deck, or stood
+gazing, rapt in thought, at the desert foreshore along which the steamer
+was running, and at the great masses of the dark brown barren mountains,
+as they towered range beyond range till they overtopped the clouds
+themselves and stood serene and sharply outlined against the blue
+background of the upper sky.
+
+Behind those mighty, rock-built ramparts lay the well-loved,
+well-remembered land over which my fathers had ruled in the days of
+peace, before the stranger and the oppressor had come. On the other side
+of them I knew that I was now fated to find only the poor fragments of
+the great cities and stately pleasure-houses that I had known in all
+their strength and beauty--only the silent and deserted ruins of the
+mighty fortresses which had guarded the confines of our lost empire, and
+were the portals through which the Children of the Sun had marched to
+unvarying conquest.
+
+I thought, too, of the broad, green, level plain of Cajamarca,
+surrounded by its guardian ramparts of terraced hills; of the long,
+verdant valley of Cuzco with its hundred towns and villages nestling
+amidst the foliage which shaded their streets and squares, and looking
+out over the level fields of the valley and the countless tiers of
+terraces that rose green and gold with maize, or glowing with flowers,
+to the summits of the hills; and of that earthly paradise of Yucay,
+wherein the Gardens of the Sun, the golden shrines of my ancient faith,
+and the wondrous pleasure-palaces of many generations of Incas had
+glowed in almost heavenly beauty, embosomed in green and gold and
+scarlet in the midst of inaccessible mountains which themselves were
+overtopped by the mighty peaks of eternal snow that I had so often seen
+glimmering white and ghostly in the moonlight, like guardian spirits
+round an enchanted realm, on many a night of delicious revelry now far
+past and lost in the swift flood of the years that had rolled by since
+then.
+
+It was to the poor remnants of all these glories that I was
+returning--returning to find, as they had told me, the homes of my
+ancestors laid waste and the descendants of my people the slaves of
+strangers. The desolation which it had taken centuries to accomplish
+would be to me but the swift, magical change of a day and a night and a
+morning.
+
+Think, you who read, of the dread and the horror of it! I had seen the
+last day of the stately empire of my fathers the Incas! I had fallen
+asleep and I had awakened, and now, on the morrow of my sleep, I was
+coming back to the silent and ghastly ruins which the slow, pitiless
+work of the years and centuries had left behind it!
+
+But over the gulf of these same centuries the hand of my Father the Sun
+was swiftly stretched out to help and uphold me, for no sooner did I
+again tread that soil which had once been sacred to Him, than my
+fainting heart grew strong with the memory of that ancient prophecy
+which I had come to fulfil, and of which this new life of mine was of
+itself a part fulfilment. If one part, and that not the least, had
+already been made good, then why not the rest?
+
+Far away behind those towering tiers of mountains lay Golden Star in
+that resting-place to which she had been borne with me, sleeping soundly
+in the impassive embrace of their mighty arms; and within the
+safe-keeping of those arms lay, too, that uncounted treasure, that vast
+legacy which the long-dead leaders of my people had bequeathed to me for
+the sacred purpose of restoring those glories which all men, save
+myself, believed to be but a dream of the distant past, that
+incomparable inheritance of which I was the sole lawful heir on earth,
+and which I was coming to share with Golden Star when I had once more
+raised the Rainbow Banner above the restored throne of the divine Manco.
+
+As I thought of all this, the blood that had lain stagnant through the
+long years of my magical death-sleep began to pulse like living fire
+through my veins. My new life with all its marvels became glorified into
+a waking vision of new conquests and re-won empire. The past was a dream
+both sweet and bitter in its vivid memories, but still a dream that had
+been dreamt and was done with. The present and the future were
+realities, golden and glorious with a hope justified by the miracle that
+had made them possible. I had learnt enough of the new age in which I
+had awakened to know that the lust of gold which had brought the
+conqueror and the oppressor into the land of the Children of the Sun
+burnt every whit as fiercely in the hearts of the men who were living
+now as it had done in theirs, and that lust, as I had told Hartness and
+the others, should now work for me and for the redemption of my people
+so that that which had been their ruin should yet prove their salvation.
+
+Thus, through the long sunny days and cool, starlit nights did I,
+Vilcaroya, last of the Incas, muse and dream until I once more stood in
+the Land of the Four Regions, hale and strong, and burning with the
+ardour of my sacred mission, ready to dare and do all things, and to use
+without ruth or scruple that dread power which would so soon lie within
+my hands to fulfil my oath and Golden Star's, and to accomplish the work
+that I had come through the shadows of death to do.
+
+So I came back to the shores of that well-loved land of mine which, by
+the reckoning of the new time into which I had come, had been for more
+than three hundred years the sport and prey of the generations of
+strangers and oppressors who had followed those first conquerors of the
+Children of the Sun, whose coming had sounded the hour of doom and ruin
+through the length and breadth of that glorious land of green plains and
+verdant valleys, of terraced hills and towering mountains, which had
+once been our empire and our home.
+
+From the mean coast town of wooden houses where the railway begins we
+travelled ever upward over great, grey, sloping deserts, and by rugged
+ravines with steep, broken walls of red earth and ragged rock; through
+range after range of mountains that were all strange and hateful to me,
+until we swung round the shoulder of a great crag-crowned mountain, and
+I saw across a vast plain, into which range after range of lesser hills
+sloped down, the crystal-white peaks of the snow-mountains towering far
+beyond the clouds into the blue sky above them.
+
+Then I knew that I was coming nearer to the land that had once been
+mine, and ere many hours had passed we stopped in a great city which
+still bore its old name of Arequipa, the Place of Rest, which my own
+ancestors had given to it. It was no longer the place of palaces and
+pleasure-houses, of flowery gardens and leafy woods that I had seen it,
+but above it still gleamed the white snow-fields and shining peaks of
+Charchani and Pichu-Pichu, and between the two great white ranges still
+towered the vast, black, snow-crowned cone of Misti, the smoke-mountain,
+rising sheer in its lonely grandeur twelve thousand feet above the
+sloping plain on which the city lay.
+
+As I looked at it again for the first time after so many years, I asked
+the professor, as we all called him, if, since I had been asleep, the
+mountain had been rent asunder again as it had been in the olden times,
+long before the Spaniards came to seek gold and blood in the Land of the
+Four Regions. He was very learned in such matters, even as Djama, his
+friend, was learned in secrets of life and death, and when he told me
+that the fires within it had slept for more years than men could
+remember, I was glad. Yet I said nothing of my inward joy, for had I
+told them all that I knew about the valley of black sand and yellow rock
+that was hidden behind the far-off wall of snow which shone so whitely
+against the blue of the midway heaven, it might have been many a long
+day before we had again set out on our journey towards the place that
+was the goal at once of my hopes and fears.
+
+We stayed seven days in Arequipa, making our last preparations for the
+work that lay before us and then we went on again by train to Sicuani,
+in the valley of the Vilcanota. Then from Sicuani we journeyed on by
+road, riding on mules through a land that was lovely even in my eyes,
+though its loveliness was to me only the beauty of ruin and decay, for
+this was the heart and centre of that vanished empire whose glories no
+living eyes but mine had ever seen.
+
+I saw wildernesses where there had been gardens, and gaunt, treeless
+mountains lying bare to the glare of the sun. Lakes that had shone
+encircled with gardens now spread out dull and stagnant over the
+neglected fields. A few ragged fragments of grey clay walls still rose
+from the green plain of Cacha, where I had last seen, in all its glory
+of gold and rainbow colours, the holy Temple of Viracocha; and the great
+guardian fortress of Piquillacta, which I had seen stretching its
+impregnable length and rearing its unscalable height from mountain to
+mountain across the entrance to the once lovely valley of Cuzco, lay, a
+huge ragged mass of towering ruins, splendid even in decay.
+
+As we passed through the one half-choked portal that still lay open, I
+thought, with heavy heart and bowed-down head, of the great fortress as
+I had seen it in the glory of its pride and strength, of the gallant
+warriors that had defended it, and the gay processions that I had seen
+winding in and out of its stately gates, making its hoary walls ring
+with songs and laughter, and, farther on, as we rode along the valley on
+that sad and yet eager three days' march of ours, I saw, on the
+hill-spurs about me, the black and ragged ruins of the fair cities and
+stately temples and palaces that I had seen crowded with happy throngs,
+bright with gold and colours, and so fair and strong that no man could
+have dreamed of the ruin the oppressor had brought upon them.
+
+And so, journeying amidst all these sad memories through a land which,
+for me, was peopled with the ghosts of my long-dead friends and kindred,
+we came out at length on the broad, green Plain of the Oracle, and there
+before me, still nestling under her guardian hills, lay, glimmering
+white and grey under the slanting sun-rays, all that was left of what
+had once been Cuzco, the City of the Sun and the home of his children.
+Then, as I lifted my eyes and gazed upon it through the rising mist of
+my tears, I bowed my bared head towards it and swore, in the sadness and
+silence of my desolate heart, that, to the full extent of the power
+which I believed was soon to be mine, I would take life for life and
+blood for blood, and I would give sorrow for sorrow and shame for shame,
+until I had paid to the full the debt which the long years of plunder
+and cruelty and oppression had heaped up against those who, from
+generation to generation, had brought this shame and ruin on the once
+bright home of the Children of the Sun.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+BROTHERS OF THE BLOOD
+
+
+I shall not weary you who perchance may some day read this story of mine
+by dwelling on the sorrow and shame that filled me as I entered the
+foul, unlovely streets, and saw the filthy refuse in the squares of the
+city that I remembered so pure and bright and beautiful; nor yet by
+telling of the feelings that possessed me when I saw the poor remains of
+our desecrated temples, the places where our vanished palaces had stood,
+and the dismantled ruins of that mighty fortress of Sacsahuaman, which I
+had last seen standing palace-crowned and throned in all its grandeur
+high up above the city.
+
+All this and more you who read must picture for yourselves, for I have
+greater things to tell of than the poor sorrows of a wanderer who had
+left his own age and his own kindred far behind him, and who had come
+back into a strange world to find his country a wilderness, and the
+children of his people the slaves of strangers.
+
+It had been settled amongst us that, for the purpose for which we had
+come, it would be necessary to hire a house that should be at once
+commodious for our work, sufficiently removed from the city for privacy,
+and capable of defence against intruders if need be. The professor,
+being already known in Cuzco as a man of science and seeker after
+antiquities, and possessing, moreover, a special permit from the
+Government in Lima to travel and dwell in the interior, and make such
+searches as he thought fit, undertook the business of finding such a
+house. He made many journeys in quest of what he sought, and on these
+journeys Djama always accompanied him, since he had to see that the
+house chosen contained a chamber suitable for that precious work which
+he had undertaken to do in return for the share of treasure that I was
+to give to him.
+
+And while these two were absent I at times wandered about the city with
+Joyful Star and Francis Hartness, who, it was plain to see, already
+looked with eyes of love and longing on her beauty, as in good truth I
+myself could have done had I dared, and could I have forgotten that
+older love of mine who still lay cold in her death-sleep in the cave by
+the lake yonder, over the mountains to the westward, whither I had
+already cast so many longing glances. But at other times I left them to
+go upon my own ways, for I had work on hand which, for the present, did
+not concern them.
+
+I had by this time met and conversed with many of my people in their own
+language, which was that of the labouring classes of my own times, and
+from them I had learned that at a village called San Sebastian, through
+which we had passed, about two leagues to the south of the city, there
+still dwelt many families of Ayllos--that is to say, the descendants of
+those of the old noble Inca lineage, who had been permitted by their
+conquerors to settle here. So one morning I went to visit an old
+Indian--as they now called all our people--named Ullullo, with whom I
+had made acquaintance, and at his house I dressed myself in the native
+fashion--in an old shirt and short trousers, with sandals on my feet,
+and a broad-brimmed, fringed hat on my head, and covered myself with a
+faded poncho, and together we went on foot to San Sebastian, I looking
+no different from the rest of the Indians who were passing to and fro
+upon the road.
+
+I had already seen, while riding through the village, that the people
+were different to those of all other villages that we had come through
+on the way. They were taller of stature, prouder of carriage, and
+fairer of face. The blood showed red in their cheeks through the light
+brown of their skin, and these signs had told me that if any remnant of
+the pure Inca race was left these must be they; and I was soon to have
+proof that it was so, although the children of those who had lived in
+palaces were now dwelling in huts of mud and reeds.
+
+Ullullo led me first to the house of a man named Tupac Rayca, who was
+chief among the Indians of the town. He was great-grandson of that
+ill-fated Tupac-Amaru, who, as you know, had revolted many years before
+against the oppressors of his race, and for this, after being forced to
+watch the torture and murder of his wife in the square of Cuzco, had
+himself been torn limb from limb by horses.
+
+We found him alone in a bare room in one of the better houses of the
+village. As he stood up to salute us it needed but a glance to tell me
+that in his veins at least the ancient blood of our race flowed well
+nigh as purely as it did in my own. Had it not been for the meanness of
+his clothing and the dull, brooding look on his noble features--the
+stamp of generations of oppression--I could have pictured him with the
+yellow Llautu[A] on his brow, the golden image of the Sun on his
+girdled tunic, and the rainbow banner in his hand, standing amongst the
+guards of the great Huayna-Capac himself.
+
+I asked Ullullo to leave us alone for a little while, and when he had
+gone I stepped forward, and, drawing myself up to my full height, I
+looked him in the eyes, and said in the tongue that was spoken only by
+those of the divine Inca race,--
+
+'Tell me, Tupac-Rayca, does a remnant of the Children of the Sun still
+dwell in the Land of the Four Regions, and are they still faithful to
+the traditions of their race, and the faith of their ancestors?'
+
+As the words left my lips he staggered back a pace or two with his hands
+clasped to his forehead, staring at me from under them as though--as in
+very truth I was--some spirit of the past stood re-embodied before him.
+Then, coming forward again and scanning me eagerly from head to foot, he
+whispered in the same tongue--by the Lord of Light how those familiar
+accents thrilled my ears as I heard them again after so long!
+
+'Who are you--a stranger--that comes in the image of those long dead, to
+ask me such a question in the tongue that may only be spoken when none
+save those of the Blood are present?'
+
+'One who is of the Blood himself!' I answered, taking a stride towards
+him, and stretching out my hand. 'Fear not, Tupac-Rayca, son of him that
+suffered, I am a friend, and have come from afar to work as a friend
+with you and others of the Blood that may still be left in the land,
+with a great and holy purpose of which you shall know ere long.'
+
+He grasped my hand and bowed over it in silence for a while. Then he
+stepped back and looked at me again, murmuring,--
+
+'Can it be so? Has the divine Manco come back from the Mansions of the
+Sun to save the remnant of his children, or has Vilcaroya broken the
+bonds of his death-sleep and come to fulfil the oath he swore with
+Golden Star before the altar in the Sanctuary? I know all the Children
+of the Blood that are left in the land, and I have never seen your face
+before, yet you are of the Blood. Who are you--Lord?'
+
+The last word seemed forced from his lips by some power other than his
+own will, and it sounded most pleasant to me, for it told me that,
+without knowing my name, and seeing me only as a stranger, he had
+recognised the stamp of my divine ancestry, and this promised well for
+the progress of the work I had in hand. I answered him kindly, and yet
+as one speaking to another who is scarce his equal, and said,--
+
+'My name matters not now or here, Tupac, for we are but two, and I
+might lie to you, and you would have no proof of my truth or falsehood.
+But if you will do as I bid you, to-night you shall know and all shall
+be made plain and with ample proof. Are you willing to give me your
+aid?'
+
+He picked up a rude hoe that stood in a corner of the room, and laying
+it across his shoulder after the manner of one who bears a burden, bowed
+his head and answered,--
+
+'The Son of the Sun has but to speak, and I and all his slaves will
+obey.'
+
+What he had done was an act of homage, which, in the olden time, was
+paid only to him who wore the imperial Llautu, and proved to me how
+faithfully the old traditions had been preserved in secret.
+
+'That is well said, Tupac,' I replied, speaking now as a sovereign might
+speak to a faithful subject, 'and in the days to come fear not that I
+shall forget this, your first act of unasked-for homage. Now, hear me.
+Are there twenty men of the Blood in this village--men who are faithful
+and can be trusted even to the death?'
+
+'There are five hundred here, Lord, and as many thousands within the
+valley, whose blood has flowed pure from the olden times, unpolluted by
+a single stain of Spanish dirt. What would you with them?'
+
+'I asked not for hundreds or thousands,' I said, right glad at heart to
+hear such good tidings. 'For the present I need but a score, so do you
+choose me twenty of the noblest blood and the best judgment, and an hour
+before midnight let them be with you on the plain behind the
+Sacsahuaman. Let them come well provided with torches or candles, and
+tools, levers, and hammers and spades. Tell them what has passed between
+us, but nothing of the guesses that you may have made in your own mind
+while we have been talking, and leave the rest to me. Can you do that?'
+
+'It shall be done, Lord,' he answered, still bending before me with the
+shaft of the hoe across his shoulders, 'and we will wait and toil in
+patience till the Son of the Sun shall please to reveal himself to the
+eyes of his servants.'
+
+'Nor shall you have to wait long,' I said. 'Now put that off your back
+and take my hand again, for we are not Inca and servant yet, only two
+men of the Blood, and brothers of a fallen race who are joined together
+to perform a holy work. Now farewell, Tupac, till to-night. Choose your
+companions well, and fear not but that your services and your
+faithfulness shall have their due reward.'
+
+He put his hand humbly and tremblingly into mine, bowing low over it,
+and so I left him, standing there with bent head, not daring to look up
+until the door closed behind me. Then Ullullo and I went back into the
+city, and as we crossed the great square on our way to Ullullo's house,
+I saw my four English friends standing among the market people by the
+fountain in the centre. We passed close to them, and I heard my name
+spoken by Joyful Star to her brother, who answered her and said,--
+
+'I daresay we shall find he is making friends again with some of these
+filthy Indian compatriots of his.'
+
+I hated him from that moment for his bitter words, and swore in my heart
+that some day he should pay for them, for I loved my people, and pitied
+them in their misery and degradation. I stopped beside them, and my
+heart was beating hard as I listened for what Joyful Star would say, and
+I have remembered her words, even as I have remembered his. She looked
+at him with the light of anger in her eyes and said,--
+
+'For shame, Laurens! I couldn't have believed that you would have said
+such a thing. If you belonged to a race that had been enslaved and
+plundered by these brutes of Spaniards and Peruvians for three centuries
+and a half, do you think you would be any better than these poor
+fellows? And, besides, whatever they are, they are Vilcaroya's people,
+and he is our friend.'
+
+I could have fallen on the stones and kissed her feet for those sweet
+words of hers, and I moved away quickly for fear I should betray myself,
+and went with a swelling heart and mingled tears of love and anger in my
+eyes to old Ullullo's house, where I changed my clothes again, and then,
+as it was nearly dinner time, which, as you know, is in the evening in
+Spanish countries, I went back to the house where we were lodging,
+wondering what they would think if they could have understood the words
+that had passed between Tupac-Rayca and myself.
+
+When I met them again I saw that they would willingly have learned what
+had become of me during the day, but I answered their inquiries by
+telling them nothing more and yet a great deal less than the truth, and
+saying that I had spent the day revisiting old scenes, and learning what
+I could of the present condition of my people. This satisfied them
+outwardly at least, though I saw a look in Djama's eyes which told me
+that he suspected more of the truth than it suited my purpose to tell
+him.
+
+Then our conversation turned to the matter of procuring a house, such as
+I have spoken of, and the professor told me that he had heard of a
+hacienda, well built and solid, and standing in its own domain, about
+three leagues across the valley to the westward, on a secluded little
+plain among the hills, which would serve our purpose excellently; but
+the owner of it wished to sell it, and 'with the stupidity of these
+Peruvians,' as he said, would not hire it out to us but would only sell
+it, and the price was twenty thousand soles, or dollars of Peru, which
+was two thousand pounds in English money.
+
+'It is a great pity,' said the professor, when he had finished telling
+me about it, 'for it doesn't seem as though there was another house in
+the neighbourhood of Cuzco that would suit our purpose, and this one
+would do perfectly.'
+
+'Of course, if the fellow won't let it there's no use thinking any more
+about the matter, for two thousand pounds is entirely out of the
+question. It seems to me that the expedition will be quite expensive
+enough without the luxury of buying houses at fancy prices.'
+
+It was Djama who spoke. No one else at our table could have spoken like
+that. I heard him in silence, for I could not trust myself to speak for
+the anger that was rising within me. I saw Joyful Star raise her eyelids
+and look at him with a swift glance that meant much; but she, too, said
+nothing; and then, looking at me, he spoke again and said,--
+
+'Of course, if His Highness'--for so he always spoke of me when no
+strangers were present--'would just unlock one of those treasure-houses
+of his, the matter would be easy enough, but I suppose that's outside
+the contract.'
+
+I still kept silence, knowing as I did what the night was to bring
+forth. But Francis Hartness answered for me, and said,--
+
+'I don't think you can quite put it that way, Djama, if you'll excuse me
+saying so. If I am not mistaken, it has been clearly understood that the
+first treasure-house to be unlocked is the one that holds Vilcaroya's
+greatest treasure--his wife--and what you say seems to suggest--'
+
+'It is enough!' I said, unconsciously speaking in my growing anger in
+the same imperious tone that I had used but a few hours before to Tupac.
+'Let the house be bought. I will charge myself with the cost, and I will
+be the debtor of my friends no longer.'
+
+They stared at me as I spoke, for hitherto I had spoken to them as a
+child rather than as a man; as an inferior, rather than as an equal. I
+saw a smile that was not pleasant to look upon pass swiftly over Djama's
+mouth, but he kept silence, and the professor said to me,--
+
+'Are you really in earnest, Vilcaroya? You know, according to our
+bargain, we have no claim on you until our part of the work is done.
+None of us have any desire to learn your secrets.'
+
+'I am not talking of secrets,' I said, breaking into his speech, 'and
+one of my race does not speak to make a liar of himself. What I say I
+can do and will, for I wish the work to begin at once. Do you think I
+have not waited long enough for my beloved, my sister and my wife?'
+
+'Your what!' cried Joyful Star, rising suddenly from her seat, and
+staring at me with fixed and wide-opened eyes. 'Your sister! Oh,
+Vilcaroya, surely this is not true!' and as she said this I saw her
+cheeks grow pale and her lips tremble.
+
+'Yes,' I answered, 'it is true. Why should I lie to my new sister and
+friend, Joyful Star? Golden Star was the daughter of my father, the
+great Huayna-Capac, though our mothers were not the same.'
+
+I had no time to finish my speech, for with a look of unutterable horror
+in her eyes, which pierced me to the heart and seemed to sever it in
+twain, she cried,--
+
+'Oh, no, no! that is too horrible! I don't want to hear any more. I will
+go back to England to-morrow. Laurens, come to my room; I want to speak
+to you at once.'
+
+So saying, she went to the door and opened it and went out, followed by
+her brother, who looked at me as he passed me with a look which I never
+forgot or forgave, for it was like the words that I had heard him say to
+her in the square.
+
+'What is this?' I said to the professor when the door had closed behind
+them. 'What have I said or done that Joyful Star should look with
+horror upon me and say such cruel words?'
+
+I saw him exchange glances full of meaning with the English soldier
+before he answered me; and then, leaning his arms on the table in front
+of him, he said, in that quiet, calm voice of his,--
+
+'My dear Vilcaroya, it is a very strange thing, and, as far as Miss
+Djama is concerned, perhaps, a very great pity that this has never come
+out before, for without knowing it you have given her a shock that may
+have very painful consequences. No, don't interrupt me now, for the
+sooner I can make you understand the meaning of your words to her the
+better. It is this way: we know, of course, that in your day and among
+your people sister-marriage was held to be the most sacred of all
+marriages. We know that from such a marriage only might spring the
+wearer of the imperial Borla, but to us the idea is so unutterably
+horrible and revolting that of all the crimes that could be committed by
+one of our race that would be the most fearful. It cannot even be
+discussed amongst us, and yet you, in the most perfect innocence, have
+spoken of it in the presence--Good Heavens, Hartness! what is to be
+done? Do you think Miss Djama was really in earnest when she talked of
+going back to England to-morrow? It is impossible--it would ruin
+everything!'
+
+I kept silence, for my sorrow and wonder were too great for words, but I
+listened eagerly for what Francis Hartness would say in reply.
+
+'She was in earnest when she spoke,' he said, as quietly as the
+professor had spoken; 'but, if the doctor has as much sense as I give
+him credit for, she will have seen the thing in a different light by
+this time. Of course, she has read Prescott, and she really knows as
+much about the marriage customs of the ancient Incas as we do. In fact,
+to tell you the truth'--and as he said this I saw him frown, and an
+angry light came into his eyes that I had never seen in them before--'I
+really can hardly understand how, knowing that as she does know it, she
+can have been as horrified as she certainly was. She knows perfectly
+well that Vilcaroya has come at a single step, as it were, from his age
+into ours, and so must have brought all the ideas and beliefs of his
+time and his people with him. Depend upon it, a little reflection will
+very soon show her that, horrible and all as the idea must naturally
+have appeared to her at the first shock of hearing it, from Vilcaroya's
+point of view there is nothing in it but what is perfectly natural and
+proper. Now, to my mind, the matter is much more sad and serious for
+Vilcaroya himself than for anyone else.'
+
+As he said this he turned from the professor to me and went on,
+addressing me in a tone so frank and kindly that ever afterwards I
+looked upon him as my friend and my brother,--
+
+'It's not a pleasant thing for me to say, and it must, of course, be a
+very painful one for you to hear; still, it has got to be said some time
+or other, and, unless I am wrong in what I think of you, I believe you
+are man enough to hear it and to agree with me that it had better be
+said now than later on, when the saying of it might be tenfold more
+painful both to you and us.'
+
+'Say on,' I said shortly. 'Your tongue is straight and your eyes look
+into mine as those of a friend should look. I am listening.'
+
+'I would wish for no better friend than you, Vilcaroya, after that, for
+I know what you mean. Now, what I have to say is this. We know, of
+course, that you look upon yourself as doubly married to this love of
+yours, who is dead and, like you, may yet be alive again. You are bound
+to her, not only by a marriage which, in the time that it took place,
+was perfectly lawful and natural, but also by the oath that you took
+together. But you have come back to the world in another age and among
+another people, and now that form of marriage is looked upon by all
+civilised humanity, not only as unlawful, but, as the professor has just
+said, unnatural and horrible beyond conception.
+
+'Therefore, if Golden Star is restored to life, for you to love her,
+save as a brother, or for you to consummate the union which, as you have
+told us, began and ended before the altar of the Sun, would be to make
+not only yourself, but your--your sister, Golden Star, as well, looked
+upon with horror and loathing by every civilised man and woman who knew
+your story. I am speaking strongly, because it is necessary.
+
+'You might succeed in all your aims, you might realise every ambition of
+your life, and yet I tell you it is Heaven's own truth, that if you took
+Golden Star to sit beside you on the throne of the Incas as your wife
+and queen, you would place her upon a pinnacle of infamy which men would
+spit upon and women turn their backs on. The reward of all your labours,
+the price of all your treasures, no matter how great they might be,
+would be nothing but a curse that would fall heavily on you, but a
+thousand times more heavily on the woman whom you have loved best in all
+the world.'
+
+He stopped, and they both sat and looked at me in silence, awaiting for
+me to answer him. As for me, I felt my spirit wandering over a bare
+wilderness where all was dark.
+
+I knew that he had spoken truth, strange as the truth seemed to me, for
+no man could have heard his voice and seen the steady light in his
+eyes, without knowing that he was a true man, and so spoke the truth.
+The moments passed, and I could still find no words to say. Then the
+silence was broken by the opening of the door, and Djama came in and
+said,--
+
+'My sister wishes you to excuse her coming back to the table. Of course,
+I have explained matters to her, and I think she now sees them in a
+different light, but for some reason or other she seems strangely
+shaken. You know how extremely sensitive she is, and so, as her doctor,
+as well as her brother, I have sent her to bed. She wasn't really fit to
+come back after what has happened, and a night's rest will be the best
+thing in the world for her. I suppose you two have explained things to
+His Highness as well, eh?'
+
+'Yes,' I said, rising from my seat. 'It has been explained to me. I do
+not understand all now, but I must think, and think alone, so I will
+go.'
+
+Then I went to Francis Hartness and held out my hand to him and said,
+after the fashion of the English,--
+
+'Good-night, Captain Hartness. You have wounded me sorely with your
+words, yet you have spoken them as only a friend could speak them. From
+now till the day of my death or yours, Vilcaroya Inca is your friend,
+and all his people are your servants.'
+
+Then I took my hand from his, and bowing farewell to the others, walked
+swiftly out of the room and got my cloak, and went out into the city to
+think in silence by myself over the strange and terrible things that I
+had heard, and to calm my spirit before I went to do the work which, in
+a few hours, would be awaiting me on the hills behind the Sacsahuaman.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[A] The yellow Llautu, or fringed turban of wool, worn on the brows, was
+the distinguishing mark of the sacred Inca race. The scarlet was worn
+only by the reigning Inca--'Son of the Sun.' Its fringe, called the
+'borla,' was mingled with threads of gold.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+IN THE HALL OF GOLD
+
+
+I went first to Ullullo's house and changed my clothing, so that I might
+the more easily lose myself among the hundreds of Indians about the
+streets of the city, for something told me that Djama might make an
+attempt to discover the meaning of what I had said about the house by
+following me and learning, if possible, the secret of my movements; for
+he must have known that, being without money as I was, save for the few
+dollars that the professor had lent me, it would not be possible for me
+to do as I had said, unless one, at least, of the hiding-places of the
+old treasures was within easy reach so that I could take sufficient gold
+out of it by the next day to fulfil my promise.
+
+When I changed my clothes I put a dagger into my belt, and a revolver,
+which Francis Hartness had already taught me how to use, into a case
+slung at my hip, and hidden by my jacket and the long folds of my
+poncho. Then I went back into the great square, and across it up the
+street in which we had our lodgings. As I passed the house I saw Djama
+standing in the archway leading into the courtyard, smoking a cigar. I
+turned and looked him in the face as I went by, slouching and trailing
+my sandalled feet after the fashion of the natives. He looked at me, but
+I saw no recognition in his eyes. Then as I walked on there came a
+thought to me.
+
+I hurried to Ullullo's house once more and brought him back with me,
+telling him on the way what I wanted him to do for me. When we reached
+the house again we saw Djama standing in the courtyard, and Ullullo,
+doing as I had bid him, went in to him, and told him in Spanish, which I
+could not speak, that if he would give him ten dollars he should learn
+the secret of my goings and comings, and where I was to find the gold
+with which to pay for the hacienda. Djama instantly promised him the
+money, as I thought he would, and Ullullo told him to be at the end of
+the street which is now called El Triunfo at eleven o'clock that night.
+He was to come alone, for if anyone came with him he would learn
+nothing. As you will soon see, I had two objects to serve in doing this.
+
+When Ullullo came back and told me that Djama would be there, I bade
+him wait for me at the same place and hour, and then I went away alone
+out of the city and up a path which led towards the mountains to the
+north. There, alone and in silence, I communed with my own soul, at
+first in sorrow, yet slowly becoming more and more peaceful in heart,
+even as one who is told that he is to die on a certain day first rages
+against his doom and then learns to contemplate with calmness that which
+there is no hope of escaping. The words of the professor and Francis
+Hartness had shown me that in the world to which I had returned my
+sister Golden Star could now never be my wife and queen, and the more I
+pondered on what they had said, the more plainly it appeared to me that
+this was the truth, however bitter it might seem.
+
+Yet there was something else in my heart, although at that time I did
+not dare even to let my inmost thoughts dwell upon it, which in some way
+dulled the pain of the blow that had fallen upon me, and reconciled me
+to the parting which in one sense must now be eternal. The longer I
+pondered the more deeply did that look of horror which I had seen in the
+eyes of Joyful Star burn into my soul, and the more clearly did the
+words that she had spoken ring in my ears. She had said that it was
+horrible and that it was impossible, and she was to me as one of those
+bright angels who, according to our ancient faith, awaited the heroes
+and sages of our race in the Mansions of the Sun--a being so far above
+me that I could look upon her only as a mortal might look from afar upon
+a daughter of the Celestials.
+
+Thus, musing in silence and solitude on the wild mountain-side, now
+looking back into my distant past, and now hazarding a glance into the
+fast-approaching future, the hours slipped by quickly for me, and I
+heard the bells of the churches--bells which they had told me had been
+cast out of the copper and gold and silver that our conquerors had taken
+from our temples and palaces--chiming the half-hour before eleven.
+
+So I turned back to the city, and made haste to the place where Djama
+and Ullullo would be waiting for me. I found them there talking
+together, and without discovering myself to Djama, I told Ullullo in
+Quichua to follow me with the Englishman. Then I went on swiftly along
+the rivulet of Tullamayo, past the terrace of Rocca Inca, and along the
+smooth, dark wall of what had once been the Yachahuasi, or College of
+the Youths, and so out of the city and the gorge of the little river
+Rodadero. Then, with the two still following me a few yards behind, I
+climbed the lower terraces of the Colcompata, or the Granaries, where
+the divine Manco built his first palace, and then on up the hillside to
+the Tiupunco, or Gate of Sand, which led through the fragments of what
+had once been the outer wall of the great fortress, and so on to the
+little level pampa of the Rodadero, which was my meeting-place with
+Tupac.
+
+Now as I went I began to sing one of our ancient songs, which was the
+signal that I had agreed upon with Tupac, and presently, one after
+another, silent, stealthy forms crept out from the angles of the great
+zig-zag wall and came towards me. One of them, taller than the rest,
+threw an iron bar that he was carrying across his shoulders, and came
+and stood before me with bowed-down head, waiting for me to speak. I
+knew that it was Tupac, and I said to him,--
+
+'Are the Children of the Sun ready to do the bidding of his Son?'
+
+'They are, Lord!' he replied. 'Here are twenty who have sworn by the
+heart of the divine Manco to do all things lawful and unlawful, even to
+the death, at the bidding of him who shall prove himself to be the true
+heir of the royal Llautu.'
+
+'It is good,' I said, 'and the proof shall soon be given. Now, take the
+stranger yonder; do him no harm, but bind his eyes so that he cannot
+see, and tie his hands behind him. Then follow me.'
+
+Instantly the stealthy forms closed around Djama. Not a word was spoken
+save his startled, angry exclamation, which was soon stifled, and then
+they brought him along after me, I going first and Tupac following close
+behind me. Like a string of shadows we moved across the plain past the
+great carved rock which is still called the Inca's Seat, and over the
+ridge of the Sliding Stones and down into the valley beyond, which is
+thickly strewn with great rock-masses carved into seats, and altars, and
+baths, and chambers, of which no man knows the origin, and which were
+ancient when Manco-Capac and Mama-Occlu first came into the land.
+
+The greatest of these is a high white rock carved all over into steps
+and seats and altars and basins, which are said to have been made to
+catch the blood of the living sacrifices that were offered up here by a
+race of men whose name has been forgotten. It is called in our language
+the Sayacusca, or Tired Stone, for an old tradition says that ages ago
+it was brought from the mountains by the toil of ten thousand men, and
+when it reached its present place it rolled over and killed three
+hundred of them, and could never be moved again upon its journey.
+
+On the south side of this there is a great cleft from the top to the
+bottom, and up the sides of this cleft are the two halves of a stairway,
+which was carved there before some earthquake rent the stone in twain,
+and under this is a deep dark pool of water. At the entrance to the
+cleft I stopped and beckoned to the others to come round me. Then I told
+them that they were about to see that which no man then alive on earth
+had ever seen, and made all swear by the Glory of the Sun that each and
+every one of them would slay without pity him who revealed anything seen
+or heard that night, even though he were his own brother, or his own
+father, or his own son. As for Djama, they held him there bound and
+blindfolded amongst them, and when he tried to speak they stopped his
+mouth at my bidding, for I had told them that I would be answerable for
+him, since I had brought him here for my own purposes.
+
+Then I made two of the men stretch a cord tightly across the mouth of
+the cleft close down to the ground, and to the middle of this I tied
+another cord, and stretched it out straight twelve foot-lengths from the
+centre, and here I bade them clear away the bushes, and dig. Then axe
+and hoe and spade went to work. In that clear air, and under that
+cloudless sky, the stars gave light enough to work by, and soon a space
+had been cleared, and a round hole about three feet across was being dug
+down through the loose, rocky soil.
+
+When it was about half the depth of a man the spades struck on the solid
+rock below, and could go no farther. When Tupac told me of this, I, who
+had been standing by the cleft, looking--full of strange thoughts--down
+into the dark pool of water, called the man who had been digging out of
+the hole, and, taking an iron bar from Tupac, I dropped into it.
+
+I sought about the bottom with my hands for a few moments till I found
+the outline of a squared stone that had been let into the rock. In the
+centre of this I found a hole, out of which I picked the dirt with my
+dagger. Then, putting the end of my iron bar into it, I pulled, and the
+stone turned over on a hinge, leaving an opening half its size. Down
+this I thrust my arm, and found a chain of copper which hung down into a
+deep well below. I pulled this with all my strength until something gave
+way at the bottom, then I drew the chain up, and cast my iron bar under
+it across the hole. As I did this, I heard the deep, smothered roar of
+waters rushing away far below me into the bowels of the earth.
+
+Then I got out of the hole and went back to the cleft. I lit a candle
+and looked down at the pool. It was no longer stagnant now, but seething
+and eddying like a whirlpool. I beckoned to Tupac, who was standing a
+little way behind me, and as he came and looked over my shoulder I
+pointed down into the dark gulf, out of which the bottom was rapidly
+falling, and said,--
+
+'See, the waters are opening the way by which the Son of the Sun shall
+go into his kingdom. Watch now, and listen!'
+
+'Son of the Sun and Lord of the Four Regions, it is true!' he whispered
+as the waters eddied round faster and faster, and gurgled and rattled
+down into some unknown abyss. Soon they vanished altogether, leaving
+only a dark, black, and seemingly fathomless cavern in the place where
+they had been. I waited until the sound of the last gurgle had died away
+in the depths, and then I turned to Tupac and said,--
+
+'The way is open. Tell Ullullo to bring the lantern and light it. There
+must be no other light. You and the rest follow me, and let two strong
+men bring the stranger.'
+
+He did as I bade him, and when I had lit the lantern I cast its rays
+about the gulf beneath me till I found the continuation of the broken
+stairway above, and then picking my way carefully down the dank, slimy
+steps, I led the way into the heart of the rock, the rest following,
+guided by the spreading ray of light in front of me.'
+
+I counted fifty steps, and then stopped and turned sharply to the right.
+The fiftieth step ended against a wall of rock, still dripping with the
+water that was running down from the arched roof of the chamber. I
+measured ten spans with my hand from the wall where the steps ended,
+and made a mark with my dagger on the rock. Then from the floor I
+measured eight spans in a line across the mark. Where the eighth span
+ended I made another mark, and with the help of my lantern I found a
+silver socket let into the rock. It was a plate with a hole in the
+centre large enough to admit the iron bar which I had brought for the
+purpose. I put it in, and whispering to Tupac to help me, we gripped the
+bar, and after two or three hard pulls felt it coming towards us.
+
+A great slab of rock, which fitted into the wall with all the perfection
+that our old Inca masons could give it, turned on a central hinge,
+leaving a space that two men could have walked through abreast.
+
+'Go in,' I said to Tupac, 'and let all follow you.'
+
+He obeyed, and standing by the opening with a ray of my lantern shooting
+across it, I watched them file past one by one until all had gone in.
+Then I followed, and as I crossed the threshold set my shoulder against
+the edge of the slab and pushed it back into its place.
+
+Now I covered my lantern with my poncho and cried aloud in the
+darkness,--
+
+'Let the torches be got ready, but let no light be struck till that
+which is to be revealed may be seen.'
+
+A low murmur answered me, and then, still keeping my lantern hidden, I
+felt my way along the wall, treading softly as a mountain lion
+approaching its prey, until I had counted forty paces. The fortieth
+brought me to a doorway, through which I turned. Five paces more brought
+me to another turning, ten more to the end of the passage, and then I
+uncovered my light and found myself in a little square chamber hewn out
+of the rock and surrounded with stone chests covered with lids of
+copper.
+
+In the centre of the chamber stood a smaller one, all of metal. I set my
+lantern down on one of the others so that the light fell across this
+one; then I raised the lid, and there before me lay, perfect as they had
+been on the day when Anda-Huillac, last High Priest of the Sun, had laid
+them there, the imperial robes and insignia that had last been worn by
+the ill-fated Huascar, son of the great Huayna-Capac.
+
+Quickly throwing off the mean garments that I wore, I dressed myself in
+them. Then, binding the golden sandals on my feet, and clasping the long
+mantle emblazoned in gold and jewels with the symbols of the Sun and his
+sister-wife the Moon across my shoulders, I wound the scarlet Llautu
+around my head, with the crimson fringe of the Borla interlaced with
+gold falling upon my brow, and then, closing the chest, I took up my
+lantern and went back along the passages I had traversed.
+
+In the middle of the last one I put my lantern down with the glass
+against the wall, and feeling my way into the doorway, which opened on
+to the chamber in which the others were awaiting me, I cried, in a voice
+that echoed strangely through the great chamber,--
+
+'Let the torches be kindled, and let the Children of the Sun look upon
+their Lord!'
+
+I heard a shuffling of feet and a whispering of many voices. Then lights
+were struck, and I stepped back quickly into the shadow of the doorway.
+I saw the glow of light grow into a glare that was flashed back in a
+thousand many-coloured rays from the walls of the chamber. I heard a
+deep, low cry of wonder, and then I strode out into the midst and
+said,--
+
+'I am he who went into the shadows at the bidding of our Father the Sun,
+and by his will I have returned to bring deliverance to his children!'
+
+For one moment of affrighted amazement they stared wide-eyed at me
+standing there before them, as though Huayna-Capac himself had returned
+from the Mansions of the Sun to resume his sceptre and his crown. Then,
+with one accord, they sank on their knees before me, holding their
+torches above their bent heads and murmuring,--
+
+'Hail, Son of the Sun and deliverer of his children, who hast come to
+bring the daylight back to the long-darkened Land of the Four Regions!'
+
+I looked at them and saw Djama standing erect, still bound and
+blindfold, in the midst of them. I went through the kneeling forms to
+him, and taking the bandage from his eyes stepped back, and while he was
+blinking at the light of the torches, said to him in English,--
+
+'Look about you, Laurens Djama, and tell me if you believe now that I,
+the friend of the filthy Indians whom you despise, can do that which I
+have said?'
+
+He was still half dazzled by the glare of the torches and the thousand
+rays of many colours that were flashing about him. Wherever his
+wondering glance fell it saw great golden plates covering the walls,
+thick-set with jewels, and in front of him, piled up against the end
+wall of the chamber, a shining heap of gold bars in the shape of a
+pyramid reaching to the roof of the chamber, and on either side of this,
+half way up, was a great image of the Sun, like to that which in the
+olden times stood above the altar in the sanctuary of the great temple
+of Cuzco, each with its centre fashioned as a human face, with great
+flashing diamonds for eyes, with lips of rubies, and long pendants of
+emeralds hanging from the ears, and all round a hundred curving rays of
+gold edged and lined with jewels.
+
+He stared about him, open-eyed and open-mouthed with amazement. Then his
+eyes fell on me, and he started forward and stared me in the face for a
+moment. Then he gasped,--
+
+'Vilcaroya, is it you, or am I dreaming? Where have you brought me to?'
+
+'To one of the treasure-houses that you so longed to see,' I said, 'so
+that you might see and believe that I told you no idle tale, and that I
+can perform my promise if you can perform yours.'
+
+Then I turned my back on him and went to the foot of the pyramid, and,
+taking my place in front of it, I said to those who still knelt before
+me in silence,--
+
+'Let those of his children who are faithful to their Father the Sun rise
+and come without falsehood in their hearts, and say if they now believe
+that that which was foretold long ago, when the darkness fell over the
+land, has in very truth come to pass.'
+
+They rose from their knees and came towards me in a half circle,
+carrying their torches. They stopped about five paces from me, looking
+at me through a little space with wondering eyes full of worship. Then
+they bowed their heads again, and Tupac came from the midst of them,
+and, casting himself prone at my feet, yet not daring even to touch my
+sandals, said in a broken voice,--
+
+'Son of the Sun, heir of heaven and lord of earth, we have seen thy
+wisdom and thy majesty. None but one of thy royal line--nay, none but
+thee, oh, Vilcaroya, son of Huayna-Capac, and brother of Huascar, last
+of the Incas, could have known the secret that thou hast brought with
+thee from the past into the present. We are thy children and thy slaves,
+and all the men of the Blood that are left in the Land of the Four
+Regions shall hail thee lord as we do, and own no other master save
+thee, Vilcaroya Inca, from now until the hour when their father, the
+Lord of Life, shall call them back to the Mansions of the Sun. We are
+thine, and we will serve thee, ourselves and our wives and our children,
+as our fathers served thy father in the days when there was yet peace
+and happiness in the land.'
+
+'And if ye are but faithful,' I said, 'and if the Lord, my father, who
+rules the day, and his sister, my mother, who rules the night, shall
+give me strength and wisdom to use the power that is mine, I will give
+you back peace and happiness, and the stranger and the oppressor shall
+be driven from the land, and the homes of the Children of the Sun shall
+again be full of light. Rise now, Tupac, and let ten of the men give
+their torches to the others and make ready to do my bidding.'
+
+He rose, and it was done. Then I called Djama to me and said,--
+
+'What you have seen here to-night is a dream. When your eyes open again
+on the outer world, remember what I have said. Your hand has brought me
+from the grave to the throne, and you must obey me as these do. Let me
+but know that you have spoken one word, even to Joyful Star herself,
+concerning what you have seen here to-night, and I will show you how an
+Inca deals with one who dares to disobey him. Keep silence and have
+patience, and perform that which you have promised, and you shall go
+back to your own land loaded with gold and jewels. Fail, and the
+fragments of your body shall be sent north and south and east and west
+throughout the Land of the Four Regions, and your name shall be one of
+shame in the ears of my people for ever.'
+
+For a moment he looked me in the eyes, and I saw his lips moving as
+though he was striving to shape some answer to my words. Then his face
+grew grey, and his knees shook as he stood. Then I called to Tupac, and
+bade him bind his eyes again and lead him away, and as soon as his sight
+was taken from him I bade the ten men who had given up their torches
+take off their ponchos and fill them with as many of the golden bars as
+each one could carry, and when this was done, I ordered all the torches
+save one to be extinguished. This one I took, and went with it into the
+passage where I had left my lantern. Then I dashed it against the wall
+and vanished into the darkness.
+
+I took my lantern, and hiding the light carefully, went back to the
+little chamber, where I took off my robes and sandals and the imperial
+Llautu, and put them back into the chest. Then I put on my mean attire
+again and went back into the Hall of Gold. Signing to the others to
+follow me, I turned the stone door on its pivot again, and watched them
+file past me as before. Then, going out last, I closed the portal after
+me and lighted them up the steps with my lantern.
+
+When we all once more stood in the open air by the cleft I went to the
+hole and released the chain. Instantly the roar of waters broke out
+again, and I bade them fill the hole up and put turf over it, and
+trample it down and scatter the bushes over it; and that being done, we
+took our way back again across the plain towards the fortress, still
+leading Djama blindfold in our midst.
+
+We took him by the gate of Viracocha into the fortress, across its upper
+part, where the three crosses stood, and down on to the zigzag road
+which leads into the eastern part of the city, and there we unbound his
+eyes, and I bade him go to the house and make ready to receive me early
+in the morning, telling our friends that I should arrive with some
+packages of Indian merchandise and metals from one of my mines, for, as
+I should have told you before, I had come to Cuzco in the character of
+an owner of mines who had lived long in Europe and had returned to
+supervise the working of my property.
+
+I and Tupac and his companions then went back into the hills, and
+without entering the city made our way by twos and threes into the
+village of San Sebastian. We met at Tupac's house, and there I explained
+to them as much of my plans and purposes as I thought fit for them to
+know, and showed them that the time was not yet come for them to make
+use of the treasures that I would share with them. But to each man I
+gave two pounds' weight of gold to be left in Tupac's care till it could
+be taken into the cities of the south and there changed for silver
+coins. Then I had a list made of their names, and promised them, after
+reminding them of their oaths, that when I once more sat on the throne
+of the divine Manco, their fidelity should be well remembered.
+
+The next morning we loaded the gold in bales of the coca-leaf, great
+quantities of which are taken every day into Cuzco, upon four mules, and
+these I sent to our house while I went back with Ullullo and put on my
+English clothing. Then I followed, and found that the bags of coca had
+already arrived. They were carried up to my own room, and there, in the
+presence of Djama and Joyful Star, the professor and Francis Hartness, I
+took out the gold ingots and built them up in a pyramid before them.
+
+I could see from their amazement that, whether from fear or faith, Djama
+had obeyed me, and said nothing of what he had seen during the night. As
+for me, I said but little. I gave them the gold, and that day the
+professor and Djama, acting as my agents, sold it to some of the
+merchants of Cuzco as the product of my mines. The price was more than
+twice as much as was needed for the hacienda, so with the rest I
+discharged my debt and made myself once more a free man.
+
+There is no need for me to dwell upon our dealings with the owner of the
+hacienda, and therefore it will suffice for me to say, before ten days
+more had passed the purchase-money had been paid, we had taken up our
+abode there, and installed Joyful Star as housewife, with faithful
+servants chosen by myself from among the Children of the Blood. Djama,
+who had been strangely silent and reserved with all of us since the
+lesson I had taught him in the Hall of Gold, had taken possession of the
+chamber which was devoted to his uses, and had put all his apparatus in
+order for the great work that was to be done there.
+
+So on the fourteenth day, such was the power of my gold and of my
+longings, all things were ready, and at daybreak on the fifteenth day we
+rode at the head of our little mule train out of the courtyard of the
+hacienda on our way to the resting-place of Golden Star.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+THE SISTER STARS
+
+
+For five long days we travelled slowly and toilfully on our way from the
+valley of Cuzco to that other where Golden Star lay sleeping beside the
+lake. Over high plains and pleasant valleys, through deep, dark gorges
+and ravines, to whose lowest depths the sun but seldom reaches, and then
+but for an hour or two, along narrow pathways cut into the living rock
+on the mountain side, with precipices on one hand falling thousands of
+feet into the dark abysses, where the torrents roared and foamed, and on
+the other the great rock-walls of the mountain soaring up into the sky
+yet more thousands of feet above us.
+
+I saw the mighty crests of Saljantai and Umantai rising snow-crowned
+from earth to heaven, unchanged in their eternal grandeur since the
+long-distant day on which I had last beheld them. I rode with saddened
+heart past the ruins of Lima Tambo, remembering how fair and stately a
+city it had been in the days before the plunderer and the oppressor
+came. We toiled slowly over the great, sharp-ridged range which parts
+the waters of the Vilcamayo from those of the Apurimac--the 'Great
+Speaker'--then, descending again by the gorge of the river which is now
+called the Rio de la Banca, we came to the long bridge which swings in
+mid-air from rock to rock across the chasm through which the Great
+Speaker rolls his swift, roaring flood.
+
+Its cables were loosened and its floorway broken, for, like all things
+else in the land, the Spaniards had suffered it to fall well nigh to
+ruin; and, as I led Joyful Star across it by the hand, I thought of what
+it had been in the olden times, when not a rope or a stick was suffered
+to be out of place, and when the Son of the Sun had been borne across it
+in his golden travelling litter, with long processions of his adoring
+people going before and behind him, strewing his way with flowers, and
+waking the echoes of these gloomy gorges with the melody of their songs
+and laughter.
+
+From here we journeyed on, ever facing the setting sun, for two days
+more, still winding higher and higher up into the mountains, until at
+length, on the third evening, I, riding alone many yards in front of
+the others, found the sign that I was looking for--a rock with three
+seats carved on the top of it--and turned my mule from the track and
+rode over the rough, stony ground up the side of the mountain until what
+looked from the road a single rock-built peak opened into two. I
+beckoned to the others to follow me, and when they came up I said to the
+professor,--
+
+'Do you know where you are now? Have you ever been here before?'
+
+He looked about him and shook his head, saying,--
+
+'This may have been the place where we got off the road when my mule
+gave out, but I don't recognise it. Do you mean that we are near the
+valley?'
+
+'Yes,' I said. 'Do you not remember seeing yonder two peaks from the
+shore of the lake near where you found me?'
+
+He looked at them for a moment, and then said,--
+
+'Yes, I remember them; but they don't look the same, and I don't believe
+I could find my way back into the valley from here to save my life. It's
+very strange how I can have forgotten it so completely.'
+
+I smiled as he said this, knowing that I had brought them purposely many
+miles out of the way by which he had found the valley by accident, for
+I had no desire that the way should be known to any but myself and those
+I had chosen from among the remnant of the Children of the Blood. Then I
+bade them follow me again, and once more rode on alone ahead, for, as
+you may well believe, I was too full of my own thoughts and hopes and
+fears to be in any mood for conversation, even with Joyful Star herself.
+They, too, talked but little, and as we rode on in the deepening gloom
+amid the solemn silence and the gaunt grandeur of the mountains, their
+words became fewer and fewer, till at length thought took the place of
+speech, and the silence was broken by no sound save the patter of the
+mules' feet and the rattle of stones under their iron-shod hoofs.
+
+Hour after hour I led them on, turning from valley to valley on the road
+that was visible only to my own eyes, and ever rising higher and higher
+towards the twin peaks that now stood out dark and sharp against the
+starry sky. At last, when our watches were nearly marking ten o'clock, I
+stopped before a cliff covered with bushes and creeping grasses, and
+calling Tupac to me, I bade him seek for an opening under these.
+
+He groped about among the bushes for a while, and then suddenly, with a
+short cry of surprise, he vanished, as it seemed, through the face of
+the rock itself. I dismounted and followed him, and found him standing
+behind the bushes, facing a square doorway cut in the rock and lined
+with masonry. Behind it, and closing it completely, was a great slab of
+dressed stone. Down the sides of the doorway were two square pillars of
+stone, and in the middle of one, to the left hand, three little lines
+had been cut about a finger's breadth apart, but so faintly that only
+one who knew they were there could find them.
+
+I stretched a string across from the middle one of these to the
+right-hand pillar, and where the string ended in the centre of the
+pillar I felt with my finger-tips and found a little circle about as big
+round as an English two-shilling piece. Tupac had in his hand the iron
+rod that I had used on the Rodadero. I took it from him, and, pressing
+the end against the circle, told him to push with me, and, to his
+wonder, the rod sank, seemingly, into the solid stone, forcing out a
+bolt which had been fitted so cunningly into the pillar that the end of
+it looked no more than a circle traced on the face of it.
+
+When we had pushed the rod in about six inches I bade Tupac help me to
+pull it round towards the door. The pillar turned on a central hinge as
+we did so, and the great stone slab swung back by its own weight, which
+we had thus released, opening the entrance to a tunnel high enough for a
+man to walk through erect. This tunnel sloped somewhat sharply upwards,
+and looking up it I could see, shining in the clear sky beyond the upper
+entrance, the stars that I knew were reflected in the still waters of
+the little lake by which Golden Star was sleeping the sleep out of which
+we had come to wake her.
+
+As the passage was not large enough for the mules to go through with
+their burdens, I bade my men unload them and carry their loads through
+into the valley. Then we followed, leading our own animals by the
+bridle, and after us the cargo-mules were driven through. The load of
+one of them was a long, narrow case of wood like that in which the
+professor had taken my own dead body to London, but this was thickly and
+softly padded inside with wool, and lined with white linen, and at one
+end was a little pillow of the softest down, on which the head of Golden
+Star would soon be resting.
+
+As soon as we were all standing outside the upper mouth of the tunnel I
+looked at Joyful Star and said,--
+
+'Is not this a fitting resting-place even for the daughter of kings? Are
+not the stars bright in the heavens and on the bosom of the lake? Are
+not the mountains great, and strong, and silent? Do they not guard her
+couch well, and does not the snowy peak of Umantai yonder point the
+straight way to the Mansions of the Sun, where the soul of Golden Star
+is even now waiting for the arts of your brother to call it back to
+earth as he called mine?'
+
+'Yes,' she said, looking about her, first at the stars and then at the
+vast shapes of the mountains which loomed huge and dim on every side.
+'Yes, Vilcaroya, it is a good place for sleep, but--is not the world
+beyond a good place to wake in? Have _you_ not found it so?'
+
+I caught the gleam of her eyes in the starlight as she looked towards me
+saying this, and, by the glory of the Sun, had we stood alone where we
+were, I might have forgotten all save the knowledge that I was the
+lawful lord of all this land, and that she was there in the midst of it
+with me. For the instant I had gone back to my old life, with all its
+old-world thoughts and customs, and then, before I could answer her, my
+dreaming soul was called back to the present by the cold, quiet voice of
+her brother saying,--
+
+'I don't think that very many would find the world an unpleasant place
+to wake in, either for the first or second time, if they could also wake
+up lord of illimitable treasures as Vilcaroya here has done. But come,
+Your Highness, and you, professor, it is getting late. Don't you think
+it is time to be thinking about camping?'
+
+The matter-of-fact words scattered my dreams in an instant, and I woke
+from them into the present. I bade Tupac have the animals tethered and
+fed, and the tents we had brought with us pitched in the most sheltered
+place he could find; and while they were doing this, and Djama and the
+others were busy seeing that the work was done to their satisfaction, I
+went to Ruth and said--my words, which I strove so hard to keep steady,
+trembling with I know not how many mingled passions,--
+
+'Will Joyful Star come with me and see the place where her sister and
+mine is lying, waiting to come forth and greet her?'
+
+'Your sister, Vilcaroya?' she said, turning her face up to me so that
+the starlight shone upon its fairness and lost itself in the lustrous
+depths of her eyes. 'Do you mean your sister only--not--your--'
+
+'No,' I said, 'not my wife, for I have thought upon your words and
+pondered them deeply; and though they wounded me sorely at first, yet
+now I see that they were wise and just, like all the other words that
+Joyful Star has spoken to me. I have learned that lesson, like many
+others which you have taught me. That bridal of ours is already to me a
+dream of the long-lost past, the vision of a time that is dead and a
+people that is no more. When Golden Star wakes, if she ever does, I will
+greet her as a sister and a friend, as one of my own people who has
+come back to me out of my own times, and she shall help me in the work
+that I swore with her to do--but that is all; and I will find others of
+the Blood who shall sit upon the restored throne of my ancestors, and be
+the parents of the generations of Incas that shall come after me.'
+
+'What do you mean, Vilcaroya?' she said, in a voice that was half angry
+and half fearful. 'Do you mean--no, I cannot say it--for I am sure you
+do not mean that.'
+
+'How could that be?' I answered, guessing her meaning. 'Is it not _you_
+who have taught me the ways and thoughts of the world into which I have
+come back? No, what I mean is that I am not the only one now alive in
+whose veins the old blood of the Incas flows. Tupac, yonder, is the son
+of the son of the son of that Tupac-Amaru who died torn asunder in the
+square of Cuzco, because he had dared to raise the Rainbow Banner in the
+Land of the Four Regions, and called the Children of the Sun to revolt
+against their oppressors. He, more blessed than I who am his lord, has
+both wife and child, and if the prophecy is to be fulfiled, and I am to
+reign in the City of the Sun, then I will take his firstborn and
+instruct him in all the lore of our people and the duties of their
+ruler, and if he proves worthy he shall wear the Llautu after me.'
+
+She looked up at me again as I ceased speaking, just one swift, bright
+glance that seemed to pierce to the most secret depths of my soul, and
+read the unuttered thoughts that were hidden there, thoughts which I did
+not dare to speak even to myself in the loneliest hour of my musings.
+Then she looked down again, and side by side we walked in silence round
+the shore of the lake until I stopped in front of a great black cliff
+that jutted out from the mountain side and hung impending over the dark,
+still waters of the lake. I pointed into the black shadows in which its
+base was hidden, and said,--
+
+'There lies Golden Star, and there I lay beside her through all the long
+years that were to pass from the night when I pledged my troth with her
+before the Altar of the Sun until this night when I stand with you,
+Joyful Star, a new being in a new world, before her resting-place.'
+
+'Is it really true?' she said, stopping as she spoke, and staring
+straight before her into the darkness. 'Is it really true that you, who
+are standing alive and strong here beside me, lay there under that great
+rock for all those years, while ten generations of men and women were
+born, and lived and died, and the whole world changed again and again?
+And is the Golden Star lying in there now really the Golden Star you
+have told me so much of, and I have thought about until she seems to me
+more like some living friend that I have known and loved, than a dead
+body that has been in the grave for more than three hundred years? Is it
+really true, Vilcaroya, or have we all only been dreaming some wild
+dream, like that Frankenstein story that I was telling you the other
+day?'
+
+As she spoke she laid her hand for a moment upon my arm, as though to
+satisfy herself that I was really made of human flesh and blood, and not
+a phantom standing beside her in the starlit darkness.
+
+Scarce knowing what I did, I laid my own hand, warm and strong and firm,
+upon hers. For an instant I felt it tremble beneath mine. I would have
+given all the boundless wealth that I knew was mine for the courage to
+close upon it a grasp that it could not have escaped if it would. My
+heart seemed to swell as though it would burst in my breast, my tingling
+blood ran fire, and wild words rose choking to my lips. Then her hand
+slipped away from under mine. Once more I saw her eyes shine in the
+starlight, and then I knew that I had learned the last and greatest
+lesson that Joyful Star could teach me.
+
+I knew now why to think of Golden Star as my wife and my queen, filled
+me with the same untold horror which I had heard that night thrill in
+the tones of her who stood beside me, for now I--the son of a lost race
+and a long-past age--loved this daughter of the new time. For good or
+evil, for hope or despair, I was hers until I went again, and for the
+last time, into the shadows through which I had already passed, and
+then--yes, there he was, this tall, stalwart, golden-haired son of her
+own race and her own time, whose eyes I had seen looking love into hers!
+
+He was coming towards us round the lake with his long, easy, swinging
+strides, this man who was already my friend, and who would one day be
+the captain of my armies. For one blind moment of madness I thought how
+completely I had him and the others in my power; of the lonely, unknown
+valley where we stood; of the men who were already my slaves, and who
+looked upon me as a god. I thought, too, of the dark, deep waters of the
+lake, and the secrets that they held for me alone. How well they could
+hide others for me, too! What if Golden Star never awoke? Would she not
+be as well lying there in the peace of her endless sleep as coming back
+into the world, perhaps to love in vain and to suffer as I was doomed to
+suffer?
+
+The shadowy forms of the mountains began to waver and reel around me;
+the stars danced up and down in the sky, and a red mist seemed to swim
+before my eyes. Then, through the hoarse, dull murmur that was sounding
+in my ears, I heard the sweet, low voice of Joyful Star saying,--
+
+'Ah, Captain Hartness, I suppose you have been wondering what had become
+of us! I am afraid I have been neglecting my household duties, and you
+have been attending to them for me, but really I could not resist coming
+here with Vilcaroya. Look, that is where Golden Star is lying, in a cave
+under that great rock down there where those dark shadows are. Doesn't
+it look cold and lonely and eerie?'
+
+'Yes,' he answered, with a laugh that did not sound to me like his own.
+'But I don't suppose that matters very much now to Her Highness any more
+than it did to Vilcaroya. But, to descend to less romantic matters, I
+have come to tell you that the affairs of our temporary household are
+already in order, supper is ready, and we are all ravenously hungry, and
+I suppose you are about the same. This mountain air puts an edge on
+one's appetite like a razor's.'
+
+'Supper--yes, I had forgotten all about it, thinking of poor Golden Star
+lying there all alone in the darkness. Of course, I am desperately
+hungry, now that you remind me of it. Come, Vilcaroya, I am sure you are
+hungry too. Another night alone won't matter much to poor Golden Star
+after all these years. You can dream of her to-night, as I suppose we
+all shall, and to-morrow we shall see her. Oh, how I wonder what she
+will be really like!'
+
+As Joyful Star said this in a voice that was half sad and half merry,
+she turned away towards Francis Hartness, and I followed her with some
+light words on my lips and many heavy thoughts in my heart, and we
+walked together to the tents, talking of the things that were to be done
+on the morrow.
+
+The next morning I was afoot before the stars had begun to pale in the
+coming dawn. I had not slept for two hours together through the night,
+yet, waking and sleeping, many dreams had come to me. I had been back to
+the past among my people, living again that strange old life, with all
+its light and colour and gaiety, which was now every day becoming more
+and more like a vision that had been told to me by some other dreamer.
+
+I had talked with Golden Star, seeking to teach her the lesson that my
+dear instructress of the new time had taught me, and had awakened half
+mad with the perplexities of my divided love--the love of the past that
+was dead and of the present that was alive. I had seen my sister-bride
+come forth out of her tomb to greet me, clothed in her bridal robes,
+with the dust of the grave in her hair and on her face. I had clasped
+her in my longing arms and kissed the dust from her lips, and while I
+yet held her in my embrace her form had grown cold and stiff again.
+Then, in the agony of my sorrow, I had strained her to my breast, and,
+under the pressure of my arms, she had crumbled in my grasp and fallen,
+a little heap of grey bones and dusty garments, at my feet.
+
+Once more I had awakened with my gasping cry of horror still sounding in
+my ears, and then, not daring to seek sleep again, I had risen and gone
+out to watch for the rest of the night before her grave under the rock.
+There they found me when they came from the camp at daybreak. I went
+back with them, and our hasty morning meal was eaten and drunk almost in
+silence, for we were all too busy with our thoughts to have leisure for
+conversation, and my friends, knowing how much that day's work must mean
+to me, respected my unspoken feelings, and left me to the silent company
+of my own hopes and fears.
+
+Breakfast over, we took our lanterns and tools and went to the rock,
+followed by Tupac and two of my men carrying the coffin-like case in
+which Golden Star's body was to be laid. Under the rock was a long heap
+of loose stones which the professor had wisely piled up in front of the
+upright courses of masonry through which he had broken into my
+resting-place. He scanned them eagerly to see if they had been
+disturbed since his visit, and told us that they had not. Then I bade
+Tupac and the men clear them away, which they speedily did, laying bare
+the courses of stone behind them, still standing as the professor had
+re-built them after taking out my body.
+
+A few minutes' more work opened a passage large enough for a man to walk
+in, stooping. As if by a common instinct they all stepped aside and
+looked at me. I saw what they meant, and, turning the light of my
+lantern into the entrance, I walked back, a living man, into the grave
+where I had lain dead while ten generations of men had lived and died. I
+saw the place where I had lain, for a few mouldering scraps and shreds
+of cloth and furs still lay where my bed had been. Then I flashed my
+lantern round the walls of the cavern, and on the side along which my
+own couch had been spread by Anda-Huillac and his brother priests I
+found what they had told me to seek while I was preparing to fulfil the
+oath that I had sworn with Golden Star.
+
+It was a wedge of stone fitted in to a crevice in the wall and left
+rough and jagged at its outer end, so that one who did not know its true
+purpose would have taken it to be nothing more than a natural projection
+in the rough side of the cavern.
+
+With a mallet that I had brought with me I struck the end of the wedge
+softly above and below until it was loosened in its socket. Then,
+standing to one side, I struck it harder. It dropped from its place, and
+the same instant a part of the cavern wall swayed outwards and fell with
+a rumbling crash across the floor.
+
+For a moment I stood breathless and motionless on the threshold of
+Golden Star's grave. Then, with trembling hands, I turned the light of
+my lantern into the inner chamber, and as the dust that the falling
+stone had raised fell slowly back to the ground I saw through the
+particles dancing in the lantern rays the dim outline of a human form
+lying on a couch of skins.
+
+Still, not daring to set a foot within that sacred place, I stood in the
+doorway and let the light fall full upon the figure. A glance showed me
+that so far all was well. No profaning hand had disturbed the peace and
+sanctity of her long slumber. She lay there as perfect in form and
+feature as she had lain beside me that night in the little chamber in
+the Sanctuary of the Sun.
+
+Then I thought of Joyful Star. Hers should be the first eyes after mine
+to look upon that dead loveliness. So I turned and went out to where
+they were all standing round the outer entrance, and, taking no notice
+of the others, replying nothing to their half-whispered questions, I
+went to Ruth and, holding out my hand for her, said,--
+
+'Come, Joyful Star, and see the sister that the Lord of Life made long
+ago in the image that you now wear.'
+
+She said nothing, but, with a look of wondering question, put her hand
+into mine and I turned to lead her to the entrance.
+
+Djama, with a sudden exclamation, took a step forward as though he would
+stop her, but Francis Hartness put his hand on his shoulder, saying,--
+
+'I think you had better let them go alone. There is no fear for your
+sister with all of us here so near; and if what Vilcaroya says is true,
+why should she not see her first?'
+
+Djama drew back, though with no very good grace, and I went into the
+inner chamber, helping Ruth over the fallen stones. Then I flashed my
+light on Golden Star's face and said,--
+
+'Did I not tell you truly that the Lord of Life made her in the same
+image as yours?'
+
+I heard her utter a little gasping cry of wonder, and then I saw her
+slip forward on to her knees beside Golden Star's pillow, and as the
+light fell upon the two faces--the living and the dead--the likeness
+between them was so perfect, save for the golden gleam of Joyful Star's
+hair and the lustrous blackness of the tresses that framed my dead
+love's face, that they seemed to me as sisters, one watching over the
+slumbers of the other.
+
+'It is more than wonderful, and it is surely more than chance!' said
+Joyful Star, in a tone that was almost a whisper, and turning towards me
+her white face and the eyes into which the loving tears of pity were
+already springing. 'Why did you not tell me of this before, Vilcaroya?'
+
+'Because,' I said, 'the arts of the priests might not have done for her
+what they did for me, and I might have found here that which your eyes
+should never have looked upon. But now--is she not beautiful, even as
+you are?'
+
+The bright blood came swiftly back into her cheeks as I said this, and,
+without answering me she stooped, and with gentle hands put back the
+tresses from Golden Star's forehead, and, bending over her, laid her
+warm, sweet lips on the cold, smooth brow that I had last seen crowned
+with the marriage-garland in our bridal chamber in the Sanctuary.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+HOW DJAMA DID HIS WORK
+
+
+I can tell you but little of what followed the taking of the body of
+Golden Star back to the hacienda, for neither I nor any of the others,
+save only Djama himself, witnessed the secret mysteries of his strange
+and fearful art. I could tell you of their wonder when, after I had
+bidden Tupac bring the case into the cavern and he and I and Joyful Star
+had gently and reverently raised her from her couch and laid her in it,
+we carried her out into the daylight. How they stood around the open
+case and looked, half in wonder and half in fear, from her dead, cold
+face to the living likeness that was bending over it. How they praised
+her beauty and marvelled at the forgotten arts that had preserved so
+perfect a likeness of life in one who for more than three centuries and
+a half had neither drawn breath nor known a thrill of feeling.
+
+I could tell you, too, with what loving and anxious care that precious
+burden was borne over plain and valley and mountain in a litter that we
+had brought with us for the purpose, and how at last we laid her in all
+her calm, unconscious loveliness on the great table which stood in the
+middle of the chamber in which Djama was to do his work. But here my
+story must cease for the time, for Djama made it an unalterable
+condition that he should do the work that only he could do in absolute
+solitude. Only thus, he said, would he, or could he, perform the task
+upon whose issue the completion of Golden Star's life on earth, if it
+was ever to be completed, depended.
+
+He told us plainly that a single interruption should be fatal to her and
+all our hopes. He would not even permit his sister to enter the room
+until he should call for her. I was bitterly loath to yield--to leave
+her who had been so dear to me powerless and unconscious in the hands of
+a man whom I had already learned to hate, although not only did I owe my
+own new life to him, but on him alone rested all my hopes of seeing
+Golden Star once more restored to life and health, and the beauty that
+had been peerless ages before Joyful Star had reached the perfection of
+her young womanhood.
+
+How did I know what unholy arts he might use to rekindle the
+long-quenched life-flame in that fair shape of hers? How could I do
+more than guess vaguely and fearfully at the awful mysteries that might
+be enacted in the silence and solitude of that fast-closed chamber in
+which, day and night, he would remain alone with her, the living with
+the dead, like the potter with his clay, until it should please him to
+use the dreadful power that was his, and call her back from death to
+life, perhaps--and oh! how horrible the thought was to me!--to be the
+slave of the man who, by his unearthly art, had made himself the master
+of her new life.
+
+Yet, think of it, brood over it as I would, there was no help for it.
+He, and he alone, could exert the power that would loose the bonds of
+death in which she lay enchained. Unless he had his will she would
+remain as she was, perhaps until the Last Day came, and the Lord of Life
+called all his children, living and dead, back to the Mansions of the
+Sun; and so we yielded, since there was nothing else to be done.
+
+On the evening of the day that we returned to the hacienda, he busied
+himself making the last preparations for his work. Then he came out of
+the room and locked the door, and, after eating his dinner almost in
+silence, went to bed, taking the key with him, and telling us that on no
+account must he be awakened. All that night and the next day and the
+next night we neither saw nor heard anything of him; but on the morning
+of the second day, the door of his bedroom was open and his bed was
+empty, but the door of the room in which Golden Star lay was still fast
+shut and locked.
+
+How the time passed I cannot tell you. Joyful Star, seemingly more
+self-possessed than any of us, took up her household duties, and went
+about them with a quick, quiet industry that surprised and shamed us.
+But we three men wandered about aimlessly, now alone and now together,
+communing with our own thoughts or talking with each other always of the
+same thing--of what was going on in that chamber, where, as we knew from
+the faint sounds that every now and then came through the closed door,
+the master of the arts of life and death was performing his awful task.
+
+The first day and night came and went, then the second, and still the
+door remained closed, and Djama gave no sign. But the professor sought
+to comfort me and soothe our impatience by telling me how long the same
+work had lasted before I was recalled to life. I had sought also to
+distract my thoughts by talking with him and Francis Hartness of all
+that was to be done for the deliverance of my people, and the
+realisation of my dreams of empire when Djama's task should be over.
+
+But it was useless, for fear and suspense kept my mind bound as though
+with invisible chains, and, do what I would, my thoughts went back and
+back again to dwell upon the unknown secrets of that closed and silent
+room. Then I tried to draw Joyful Star into conversation about the
+thoughts which I knew were filling both our hearts; but though she
+listened to me she would say nothing herself, and I soon saw that with
+her the subject was forbidden, and the work not to be talked of till, in
+success or failure, it was ended.
+
+For the first two nights no sleep came to my eyes, but the third night
+my weariness was too much for me, and scarcely had my aching head fallen
+on the pillow than slumber, filled with broken dreams and visions of
+things unutterably horrible, came upon me. In the midst of one of
+them--I know not what it was, save that no human words could paint the
+horror of it--I woke up with a cold, damp hand upon my shoulder, and
+heard Djama's voice, hoarse and trembling, saying to me,--
+
+'Get up and dress, Vilcaroya; I have something for you to see and to
+hear. Make haste, for there is not much time to be lost.'
+
+I looked up, and saw him standing by my bed with a light in his hand,
+ghastly pale, and staring at me with black, burning eyes, which seemed,
+as they looked into mine, to take my will a prisoner, and draw my very
+soul towards him.
+
+'What is it?' I said, in the broken words of one just roused from sleep.
+'Is it over--have you succeeded? Is she alive? Have you come to take me
+to her?'
+
+'The work is not done yet,' he said. 'I have come for you to see it
+finished. Make haste, I tell you, if you want to see what you have been
+waiting so long for.'
+
+I needed no second bidding. I sprang out of bed, and dressed myself with
+swift, though trembling, hands. Then I thrust my feet into a pair of
+soft slippers, such as Djama himself wore, and then I followed him from
+the room out on to the balcony that was built round the house over the
+inner courtyard. We went down into the court and into the dining-room,
+and through that down a long, narrow passage out of which opened the
+room that had held all our hope and fear and wonder for so long.
+
+He unlocked the door, and motioned to me to go in. He followed me, and
+locked the door behind us. I looked about the room, which was dimly lit
+by two shaded lamps. The table on which we had laid Golden Star was
+empty. Many strangely-shaped things, that I knew not the use of were
+scattered about. The air was hot and moist, and filled with a faint,
+sweet odour. At the opposite end from the door, which was covered by a
+screen, I saw in one corner a bath--from which white, steamy fumes were
+rising--and in the other stood a little, narrow, curtained bed, such as
+I had first awakened in.
+
+Djama caught me by the arm, and half led, half dragged me to the
+bedside. Then with his other hand he parted the curtains and pointed to
+the pillow. I felt his burning eyes fixed upon me as I looked and saw
+the sweet fair face of Golden Star lying in the midst of her dusky
+tresses, which lay spread out on the pillow, cleansed from the dust of
+the grave, and soft and shimmering as silk.
+
+I started forward, and, with my face close to hers, scanned every
+feature, and listened, but in vain, for the soft sound of her breathing.
+Her skin was clear and moist; I could see the thin, blue veins in her
+eyelids, and the moisture on her lips. I laid my hand gently on her
+cheek. It was soft and smooth, but still cold as death.
+
+Then a fierce, unreasoning anger came into my heart. I sprang back and
+seized Djama by the shoulders, and, looking with fierce, hot eyes into
+his, I whispered hoarsely,--
+
+'Have you brought me here to mock me? She is not alive--she is but a
+fair image of death. Tell me that you have failed and I will strangle
+you, liar and cheat that you are!'
+
+He looked back steadily into my eyes and smiled, and said, in a voice
+that had not the slightest tremor of fear,--
+
+'If I fail you may strangle me, and welcome; but I have not failed yet,
+Vilcaroya. It is for _you_ to say now whether Golden Star is to awake or
+not.'
+
+'What do you mean?' I said, letting go my grip on his shoulders, and
+recoiling a pace from him.
+
+'You shall hear what I mean,' he said. 'But you must hear patiently and
+quietly, and think well on what I say, for in your answer to what I ask
+you will also answer the question whether Golden Star is to awake to
+life and health, or to be put back in that case yonder and buried, to
+rot away into corruption like any other corpse.'
+
+'Say on, I am listening,' I said. My lips were dry, and the grip of a
+deadly fear seemed to be clutching at my heart and draining the last
+drop of blood from it.
+
+'Listen well, then,' he said. He paused for a moment as though to
+collect his thoughts, and make words ready to express them. Then he went
+on. 'You see, I have undone the work that your priests did three hundred
+and sixty years ago. Your Golden Star is now neither dead nor alive. She
+is lying on the narrow borderland that divides life from death, and for
+an hour from the time I left this room she will remain there--if I
+choose. At the end of that time she will pass beyond the border, and no
+earthly power, not even mine, could call her back. But at any time
+before the hour has expired I can complete the work that I have begun. I
+can bring the breath back to her body; I can set the blood flowing
+through her veins. You shall see her eyes open and her lips smile, and
+you shall hear her speak to you as though she had only awakened out of
+sleep. This I can do, and I will, if you will do what I am going to ask
+you.'
+
+'What is it?' I whispered. 'Tell me quickly that I may know. You are
+master here. I can only listen and obey.'
+
+He smiled as I said this, a smile that it was not good for an honest man
+to look upon, and went on, speaking now rapidly and earnestly,--
+
+'When I did this work for you, I did it as a student and a man of
+science, who was making the greatest experiment of his life. I believed
+that I had solved one, at least, of the secrets of life and death. I
+watched and noted every change that came over you. I marked every
+symptom and measured every step of your return from death into life, but
+I did all this as a student inquiring into the mysteries of Nature, as
+an observer watching the working out of a great problem, and with no
+more feeling than if I had been dissecting a corpse. But this time it
+has been different. I began this work with the cold and passionless
+deliberation of one who toils only to learn and to succeed. But
+afterwards--come here and look at her, and you will understand me
+better. She is a woman, and she is beautiful, and here, for two days and
+two nights, she has lain under my hands and my eyes. I have given her
+beauty back to her, and if that beauty is to live it must be mine. Do
+you understand me, Vilcaroya?'
+
+What could I say, what could I do to answer this man whom I hated, and
+yet who held the power of life and death for Golden Star in his hands?
+The vague fear that had smitten me when he began to speak had taken its
+worst shape now. I looked at him with hate and horror staring out of my
+eyes. Again and again I tried to speak, but my lips only moved and
+trembled without making any word. But he read my thoughts, and smiled
+that evil smile of his again and said, in a low voice which seemed to
+have the echo of a laugh in it,--
+
+'I see you hate me, as I have often thought you did, and that is why I
+have brought you here to tell you this. That is why I would not complete
+my work till you had sworn, as you yet shall do if you would see Golden
+Star alive again, that what I have brought back out of the grave shall
+be mine and mine only.'
+
+These last words of his let loose my anger and unchained my tongue. I
+gripped him by the arm, and in a whisper that had a strange hissing
+sound, I said,--
+
+'But that is _not_ all! What do you think your life would be worth if
+you left her to die? Have you forgotten what I said to you in the cave
+beneath the Rodadero? Do you not know that this very night I could have
+you carried, gagged and bound, over the mountains and back to the grave
+that we took Golden Star out of? Do you not know that I could lay you
+there with food and drink beside you that you could not touch, and a
+lamp whose light would show them to you, and then wall up the entrance
+again, and leave you there to think of your fate till you went mad and
+died of hunger and thirst? Do you not know that I could chain you to a
+rock and light a fire about you, and watch you burn limb by limb till
+you shrieked your life out in lingering agony? Would this be better than
+going back to your own land loaded with treasure that would make you
+richer than you have ever dreamed of being? Now, _I_ have spoken, and it
+is for you to answer me.'
+
+Before I had done speaking he had taken a chair and seated himself
+astride it, with his arms resting on the back and his chin on his arms,
+and was looking at me with white, set face, and steady, dark, shining
+eyes. When I had finished there was a little silence between us, and
+then he spoke, and the first time I ever felt fear in either of my lives
+was when I heard those cold, cruel, carefully-measured words of his,--
+
+'That is well said, Vilcaroya. I am glad you have spoken plainly, for
+now we understand each other; but I don't think you quite realise the
+difference between your power and mine. You have, or think you have, the
+brute force, the strength of numbers, and the slavish devotion of your
+people on your side, and you threaten to use that power to put me to a
+lingering and torturing death unless I withdraw my demands and do as you
+wish me. In that, however, you are quite wrong. I am as much the master
+of my own life as I was once of yours, and still am of Golden Star's.
+Without moving hand or foot I could kill myself as I sit here before
+you, so your threats of torture are nothing more than empty words. It is
+only a matter of simple life or death. If I live, Golden Star will live.
+If I die, she will never draw the breath of life--but what I have said,
+I have said. She shall only live as my promised wife, bound to me by the
+most sacred oath that you can swear. You cannot consummate your own
+marriage with her, because in the modern world that is impossible. You
+are refusing simply because, for some reason or other, you dislike me
+personally, but I don't propose that that shall stand in my way. As for
+your treasures, their value has utterly changed for me. A week ago, I
+frankly confess that I would have sold my soul, if I thought I had one,
+for them. Now, without her, they would only make the world a golden
+mockery to me, for I tell you, Vilcaroya, that I, who have never loved
+living woman yet, love that beautiful shape of inanimate flesh as that
+old sculptor we have told you of loved his statue. Every hour that I
+have been alone in this room with her this strange love of mine has
+grown. First it was only scientific curiosity, then physical admiration,
+then something else. I don't know what it is, for it is beyond the reach
+of my analysis, but I know enough of it to call it love, and I tell you
+it is such love as only a man of my nature and pursuits is capable of.
+Unsatisfied, it would consume me and kill me, and I would rather die
+quickly than slowly. Now--once more--shall Golden Star and I live or
+die?'
+
+How was I to answer such a speech as this? I heard him in silence to the
+end, my eyes held fast by his, and my spirit sinking as though beaten
+down by the pitiless force of those cold words of his. And in the
+meantime a great truth had been dawning in my mind. Force had ceased to
+rule in this new world, and intellect had taken its throne. I was the
+inferior of this man, whose trained mind was the heir of the generations
+that had toiled and fought while I had slept. I was little better than a
+savage before him, and I knew it, and he knew it, and, bitter as the
+thought was to me, yet it was only the truth. I was conquered, and a new
+gleam in his eyes told me that he had read my thoughts before I had
+spoken them.
+
+Then, while I stood hesitating before him, his white, hard-set face
+softened, and his lips melted into a smile that was almost as sweet as a
+woman's. It was that that saved me, for it reminded me of Ruth, and the
+recollection of her told me that I loved even as Djama did. The very
+thought of her put new blood into my heart. The words of yielding and
+submission died unuttered on my lips. I raised my head, which I had
+bowed down in dejection, and looked at him steadily again. Then I said
+slowly, and in the voice of a man who does not speak twice,--
+
+'I have thought, and I will speak for the last time. I will swear by the
+sacred glory of the Lord of Light that Golden Star shall be yours, upon
+two conditions.'
+
+'Conditions!' said he, bringing his dark brows down till they made a
+straight black line over his eyes. 'What are they?'
+
+[Illustration: The dagger-point dropped till it was within an inch of
+Golden Star's breast.
+
+_To face page 119._]
+
+'These,' I said. 'You love and I love. First, then, you must win the
+love of Golden Star, and, secondly, you must give me your sister, Joyful
+Star, if I can win her love.'
+
+'My sister Ruth to _you_! Is that your earnest, Vilcaroya, or are you
+only trying my patience?'
+
+The bitter, coldly-spoken words cut into my soul as the lash of a whip
+cuts into the flesh. I could have slain him as he sat there sneering at
+me, but it was a time for words, not deeds; and so, mastering my anger
+as best I could, I took two swift strides to Golden Star's bedside, and,
+snatching my dagger out of the sheath of the belt which I had put on
+when I had dressed, I turned and faced him, and said,--
+
+'I am not jesting. As you love I love, and by the glory and majesty of
+my Father the Sun I tell you if you do not say yes I will do with this
+dagger what all your art will never repair, and then, if I must do that,
+I will kill you too; and before to-morrow night has passed Joyful Star
+shall be with me where none can find her. Now, what is your answer--yes,
+or no?'
+
+He looked at me and then at the dagger hanging in my hand, point
+downwards, over the breast of Golden Star. Then his eyes fell upon the
+still loveliness of her face. He knew that if he moved the dagger would
+fall. His face, flushed a moment before, grew grey and pale again at the
+sound of my words, and then I saw that he had not lied to me when he
+said that his life would be worthless without her. Twice, thrice, his
+lips moved without shaping a word. Then the words came. They were dry
+and broken and trembling, for in the strength of my own love I had now
+conquered my conqueror, and he said,--
+
+'Yes, since it must be so. My sister for your sister. Well, I suppose
+it's a fair exchange. We hate each other, you and I, but that's an
+accident of fate. Take away your dagger. I know when I am beaten, and I
+am beaten now. Will you swear that oath of yours again?'
+
+'Yes,' I said, 'and you?'
+
+I still kept the dagger within a span of Golden Star's heart, for I
+still had but little trust in his faith. He rose from his chair,
+throwing it over as he did so, and stood up and faced me, saying,--
+
+'There is no need for oaths either from you or me. We have both too much
+to lose to break faith. Put up your dagger and come away, and in ten
+minutes from now you shall hear Golden Star draw the first breath of her
+new life, and see her eyes open and look at you. That would be worth
+more than any oath I could swear, wouldn't it?'
+
+'Yes,' I said, 'but that is not all or enough. If you broke faith with
+me after that, I should have to shed blood--my sister's and yours. Now I
+need only make her life impossible. I will stop here. Go you and wake
+your sister and bring her here. Then we will say more.'
+
+'Bring Ruth here!' he cried, staring at me as though he wished, as no
+doubt he did, that the fierce light in his eyes could blast and wither
+me where I stood. 'Bring her here to see what no human eyes but mine
+have ever seen. Bring her here to listen to what you have said--and if
+her, why not Lamson and Hartness as well?'
+
+'You may bring all, if you please,' I said, 'but Joyful Star must come,
+no matter what she hears or sees. I have spoken--now go, or Golden Star
+shall never wake again.'
+
+He took a half pace towards me, with clenched hands and set teeth,
+crouching like a mountain lion about to spring on its prey. The dagger
+point dropped till it was only an inch from Golden Star's breast. If he
+had made another step I would have driven it home. He read in my eyes
+that I would do so, and he stopped. Then he hissed a curse at me through
+his clenched teeth, and turned and walked away towards the door. As he
+reached it he looked back, and saw me still standing there with the
+dagger ready to do the work that could never be undone. I saw his lips
+move, but heard no sound.
+
+Then he unlocked the door, went out, and locked it after him, leaving me
+there alone with my dead sister-love, whose new life, with all its
+possibilities of love and happiness, or hate and misery, I had thrown
+into the balance of Fate in the game that I was playing against him to
+win that other love which had now become tenfold more dear to me.
+
+When he had gone I took his chair and put it by the side of the bed and
+sat down, still holding my bare dagger in my hand and looking on Golden
+Star's dead loveliness, wondering what it would be like when the
+sunshine of her new life should shine upon it, and on whom her first
+glance would fall, or whose name be the first that her lips would speak,
+and as I sat and watched and waited it seemed to me as though the ghosts
+of those long dead were taking shape and ranging themselves about the
+bed of her re-awakening as they had done about the bed of her falling
+asleep and mine.
+
+I saw Anda-Huillac and his brother priests of the Sun standing about me,
+gazing at me and at her with sad and dreamy eyes, like phantoms of the
+past looking upon the realities of the present. Then the shape of
+Anda-Huillac seemed to glide towards me. His ghostly eyes looked into
+mine, and a smile of pity and reproach moved his pale lips. I felt a
+cold, soft hand laid upon mine, my grasp relaxed and the dagger fell
+ringing to the floor.
+
+The sound awoke me, and my vision vanished. How long it had lasted, or
+whether it was a vision of sleep or waking, I know not, but I was awake
+now for I heard the door creek on its hinges. I picked the dagger up
+again and started to my feet, and, still guarding Golden Star's bed, I
+turned and faced Djama as he came in, followed by the professor and
+Francis Hartness, with Joyful Star between them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+THE WAKING OF GOLDEN STAR
+
+
+'There is your royal, would-be lover, Ruth! Come, if you don't believe
+me, you can hear from his own lips that upon you, and you alone, depends
+Golden Star's return to life. Is not that so, Your Highness?'
+
+It was Djama who said this, and as he said it, he caught Joyful Star by
+the hand and half led, half dragged her towards me from between the
+other two. But before he had come half the length of the room, Francis
+Hartness had overtaken him in a few swift strides. I saw his hand fall
+heavily on his shoulder, and with his other hand he took Ruth's out of
+his. His blue eyes were nearly black with anger, and his bronzed face
+was grey and set and pale with the passion that his strong will was
+holding back, and his voice was low and clear, and vibrating like the
+sound of a distant bell when he spoke and said,--
+
+'I can't stand that, Djama. Are you forgetting that your sister is a
+woman, and that you have brought her into the presence of the dead?'
+
+'You must be mad, Laurens!' said Joyful Star, before her brother could
+reply. 'Surely this dreadful work of yours has turned your brain.
+Vilcaroya, what does all this mean? Is Golden Star dead or alive? Ah,
+how beautiful she is now! No, surely she cannot be dead!'
+
+She had broken away from both her brother and Francis Hartness, and as
+she said the last words she was leaning over Golden Star's pillow,
+softly stroking her hair; and then she stooped lower and kissed her
+forehead. Then the others came up to the bedside, Francis Hartness and
+Djama in front, and the professor standing silent and wondering behind
+them.
+
+'If Djama won't speak, will you, Vilcaroya?' said Hartness, looking at
+me with eyes that were still angry. 'What is that dagger in your hand
+for, and what is the meaning of this story that he has been telling me?'
+
+'The meaning is of life or death,' I said. 'Laurens Djama will not give
+Golden Star's life back to her if I will not swear to give her to him
+when she lives again, and I have sworn that he shall not restore her to
+life unless he swears to give Joyful Star to me, for I love her, and
+will have neither life nor empire without her.'
+
+As I listened to my own voice saying these bold words, it seemed to me
+as though another were speaking, for, even in that hot moment of passion
+and desperate resolve, I could scarce believe them mine. For the
+instant, I thought Hartness would have struck me down where I stood, nor
+could I have used my dagger against him, for he was a man and I loved
+him, though I saw now that we both loved the same woman. But before
+either of us could move, Ruth had risen erect and come between us, her
+cheeks burning with shame and her eyes aglow with anger.
+
+'What!' she said, 'Laurens give me to you, Vilcaroya! Don't you know yet
+that no one can give an English girl away except herself, and that she
+only gives herself to the man she chooses of her own free will? Do you
+think I am a slave or a human chattel to be bartered away like that?
+Nonsense! And you, Captain Hartness, don't look so fiercely at
+Vilcaroya. Remember that he is your friend and mine, or has been, and
+has not the same ideas as we have. If he had--'
+
+'He has,' I said, breaking in upon her speech, 'since Joyful Star has
+spoken. He is not her lover but her slave, and she has shamed him. I
+will eat the words that should never have been spoken. Let Golden Star
+live! I will keep my oath and ask nothing in return.'
+
+So the savage within me was tamed, and I, who but a few minutes before
+had been ready to take two lives at the prompting of a single word,
+dropped my dagger and stood with bowed head, humble as a chidden child
+before her whose lightest word was then my most sacred law. I raised my
+eyes and looked at her to see if my words had pleased her. As our eyes
+met she gave me a glance that I would have died to win from her, and
+then, pushing me and Francis Hartness gently aside, yet with a force
+that neither of us could have resisted, she took her brother by the arm
+and, leading him to the bedside with one hand, she laid the other on
+Golden Star's brow, and said,--
+
+'Laurens, can you really bring her back to life?'
+
+'Yes,' he answered, and I could see that he did not dare to raise his
+eyes to hers, 'but--'
+
+'But you will only do it for a price, you think. For shame! Is that the
+way you would use this terrible power that you possess? Is my brother so
+mean a creature as that? You love her, you say, even as she lies there,
+neither dead nor alive? Well, when she lives, she will be worthy of any
+man's love, but only of a man's, Laurens, and you would not be a man,
+with all your learning and power, if you insisted on so mean an
+advantage as your skill gives you. Do you mean to tell me that you can
+look on such a beauty as that, knowing that you can restore it to life,
+and yet ask a price before you will do it? Come, Laurens, that is not
+like your old self. Use your power with the same generosity that it has
+been given to you, and then win Golden Star like a man if you can.'
+
+Where my strength had been vanquished, her sweet wisdom conquered. The
+man who had laughed at my threats, and told me without a quiver in his
+voice how he could, and would, slay himself rather than I should do what
+he knew I could do, stood humbled and abashed before the righteous and
+yet gently-spoken reproach of her who was pleading for the life of a
+sister woman.
+
+I saw Djama's hands meet behind his back, and his fingers begin to twine
+about each other. I saw him look from Ruth to Golden Star, from the
+living woman who was his sister to her lifeless counterpart. Then came
+over him one of those swift changes of mood which we had so often seen
+before. All the cold cruelty of his long-chained-up passion vanished.
+His face, from being stone, became flesh again. The fierce glitter, as
+of a sword's point, died out of his eyes, and they grew warm and soft
+again, and his voice was almost as sweet and gentle as Ruth's, and
+strangely like it, too, as he answered her and said,--
+
+'You are right, Ruth. I was not myself. I was a brute, unworthy either
+of love or power. Let her die! Good God, I would die myself a thousand
+times rather than do that! I must have been out of my senses even to
+think of such a crime for a moment, but if you were a man and had lived
+through what I have lived through for the last two days and nights, you
+would understand me, and perhaps forgive me. Yes, she shall live. How
+could I ever have thought of letting her die!'
+
+Then he rose from his half-stooping posture over the bed, and came to
+where I stood at the foot, and, with his hand outstretched and a smile
+on his lips, said,--
+
+'You have heard what I have just said, Vilcaroya. You have withdrawn
+your conditions; now I will take back mine. It is no use for you and me
+to be enemies. We have had our fight, and I confess myself beaten. Now
+let us try to be friends for Ruth's sake and Golden Star's, and I
+promise you that to-morrow morning you shall be telling her the story of
+your resurrection and her own.'
+
+For a moment I stared at him in, speechless wonder, striving to
+understand how it could be that those eyes, which had, but a short time
+before, been glaring hate at me, could now be looking so kindly and
+frankly into mine; and how those lips, which had just been sneering so
+coldly and cruelly alike at my love and my hate, could shape such
+friendly and honest-sounding words. Then I looked at Ruth, asking her
+with my eyes what she would have me do, and in instant obedience to what
+I saw took Djama's hand in mine and said,--
+
+'So be it! The evil in our hearts has spoken, now let the good that is
+there speak, and let us be friends; and, when Golden Star awakes, with
+my lips she shall bless you and her who has made peace between us where
+there was strife.'
+
+'Miss Ruth, you really must allow me to congratulate you on your success
+as a peacemaker,' said the professor, speaking now for the first time
+since he had come into the room, and coming forward to where Joyful Star
+still stood by the bedside. 'It would have been ten thousand pities if
+this--ah--this little affair had ended any other way, for all of the
+exquisitely perfect subjects--'
+
+'_Subjects_, professor?' said Ruth, interrupting him with a laugh. 'Do
+you venture to call Golden Star a subject, just as you do those awful
+things in your dissecting-rooms? Look at her--a _subject_ indeed! Don't
+call her that again in my hearing, please!'
+
+'Oh, ah, of course, I beg your pardon a thousand times, and Her
+Highness's too. Really, I spoke quite thoughtlessly and most
+improperly.' he answered, laughing at her mock displeasure, 'And now,
+Djama, since we have had two declarations of love and a peacemaking,
+don't you think it would be cruel to keep Her Highness waiting any
+longer on the threshold of her new life? Come, Hartness, you and I have
+no more business here at present. Don't you think we had better go and
+wait somewhere else for the working of the miracle?'
+
+'Just what I was going to say,' replied Hartness, who had gone away a
+little distance from the bed while we were talking, and had been
+standing by the table, seeming to examine the strange instruments that
+were scattered about it. 'Of course the doctor will wish to finish his
+work alone.'
+
+'May not Vilcaroya and I stay, Laurens?' asked Joyful Star, looking at
+him with appealing eyes. 'You know it will be much better for her to see
+another woman by her when she awakes, and then she will recognise
+Vilcaroya, and that will tell her that she is among friends.'
+
+But Djama shook his head and said,--
+
+'No, Ruth, not yet. There is something else to be done before
+that--something, well, something that only a medical man ought to see or
+do, and you really must leave me to do it alone. You forget, it is not
+merely a matter of waking. She is not alive yet; but if you will leave
+me alone for about half-an-hour, I promise you that I will call you and
+Vilcaroya back before she actually wakes.'
+
+'Very well,' she said, moving away from the bedside. 'I don't want to
+pry into your mysteries.' Then she turned to me, and said, with a faint
+smile on her lips, 'Vilcaroya, come into the dining-room, I have
+something to say to you.'
+
+She went down the room after the professor and Francis Hartness, and I
+followed her with beating heart and anxious thoughts, wondering what new
+lesson it was she was about to teach me.
+
+Djama closed and locked the door after us. She led the way to the
+dining-room, where there was a light burning. It was empty, for the
+others, hearing what she had said to me, had gone out into the
+courtyard. Then she turned and faced me with her back to the light; but
+in spite of that I could see that her eyes were bright, and her fair
+face flushed as she said to me in a low voice that trembled a little,--
+
+'Vilcaroya, I am going to forget everything that was said in the room
+yonder, and--and you must forget it too. It was no time or place for
+such things to be said, and you and Laurens were not yourselves when you
+said them. If you do not forget them, we cannot be friends any more. You
+understand me, don't you?'
+
+Gentle and sweetly spoken as the words were, they fell upon my heart
+like snow upon a fainting flame; yet I felt that, like all her words,
+they were true and just. I crossed my hands on my breast with one of my
+old-world gestures, and, standing so before her with bowed head, I
+said,--
+
+'The will of Joyful Star is my law. Let what I spoke in my madness be
+forgotten as you have said. Who am I that I should say such things?--a
+poor savage that has wandered from his own world into hers, where he is
+a stranger!'
+
+'No, not a savage, Vilcaroya. You must never say that word again. How
+could Golden Star's brother be a savage? How could I--but there, we have
+said enough for the present. We have other things to think of now.'
+
+With that she turned away and sat down in a long, low chair, resting her
+cheek upon her hand, and looking out of one of the windows at the
+stars, while I went and stood before another to look at the same stars
+that she was looking at, and so we waited in silence until the door
+opened, and we heard Djama's voice telling us that the long-expected
+moment of Golden Star's awakening had come at last.
+
+As Joyful Star went to the door I stood aside and waited for her to pass
+me and go out first. As she went by our eyes met for a moment, and I saw
+that hers were bright with tears. My heart leapt at the sight, and then
+fell still again and well nigh fainting. What had she said to me but a
+few minutes before? How dare I dream that those sweet tears could be for
+me?
+
+I followed her and Djama into the room, but half-way between the door
+and the bed I stopped, not daring to go on, held back by some impulse I
+could not name. I saw her lean over the pillow for a moment in silence
+that for me was breathless. Then came a soft, sweet sound, and then a
+little cry. Was it her's or Golden Star's?
+
+Djama beckoned to me. I went with swift, silent steps to the foot of the
+little bed, and saw Golden Star's eyes wide open and looking wonderingly
+up into Ruth's face, and her red lips smiling at her. The miracle had
+been completed. She had awakened her with a kiss.
+
+'Come and give her your welcome back to life, Vilcaroya,' she whispered,
+rising and turning her fair face with its wet cheeks and smiling lips
+towards me. I went and stood over the pillow, and laid my trembling lips
+on Golden Star's brow, and then I said, in the words that had been the
+first of my own new life,--
+
+'_Cori-Coyllur Nustallipa, Nusta mi!_'
+
+She looked at me, but there was no more recognition in her gaze than in
+that of a newborn child, nor was there any answering smile upon her
+lips. Unheeding this for the moment, I went on and said, still speaking
+very gently and softly in our own tongue,--
+
+'Thou art thrice welcome back from the shades of night into the bright
+presence of our Father the Sun, oh, Golden Star! Dost thou not remember
+me, Vilcaroya, thy brother, who went into the darkness with thee long
+ago, and has been permitted to return before thee that he might greet
+thee and bid thee welcome?'
+
+Her eyes wandered from my face to Joyful Star's, and then she smiled
+again, but no answering words came from her parted lips. Now, as we
+looked from one another to her, a great fear came into all our hearts,
+and Ruth gave it voice.
+
+'Laurens,' she whispered, laying her hands upon his arm, 'what is the
+matter? Vilcaroya spoke at once, didn't he? Why doesn't she speak? Oh,
+surely it can't be that she is--that she has come back to life without
+memory or--or her reason? What is it?'
+
+I waited for Djama's answer as a man might wait for words that were to
+tell him whether he was to live or die. He put us both gently away from
+the bed, and then, laying his hand on Golden Star's brow, he looked long
+and steadfastly into her eyes. It seemed to me as though Ruth and I
+could hear each other's hearts beating and counting off the seconds
+until he raised his head again and said in the slow, even tones of the
+man of science who, for the time, had overcome and banished the lover,--
+
+'Memory, perhaps, even probably; but reason, no. These are not the eyes
+of an imbecile or an idiot, but they _are_ the eyes of a child. It is
+possible that when she fully recovers we may find her mind a perfect
+blank--a virgin page on which the story of her new life will have to be
+written.'
+
+'Thank God for that!' she murmured, and I, too, echoed her words in my
+heart, though I did not know then how much she meant by them.
+
+Then once more she turned and went to Golden Star's pillow, laying her
+hand upon her brow again, and looking fondly for a moment on the silent
+and yet eloquent face that was looking up at her. Then she said to her
+brother,--
+
+'But is she well now? I mean, is her physical life certain? Will she
+live and grow well and strong again?'
+
+'Yes,' he answered. 'I have done everything that it is in my power to
+do. I have fulfilled my promise to His Highness. The rest is, as it was
+with him, merely a matter of care and nourishment and nursing.'
+
+'Then,' she said, with a swift, subtle change coming over her manner,
+'the care and the nursing must be mine, and you two must say good-bye to
+her for the present, until I have nursed her back to health. Of course
+you may see her when necessary, as her doctor, but only as her doctor,
+mind. And you, Vilcaroya, must possess yourself with what patience you
+can until my part of the work is done as well. Now, go away, both of
+you. I am mistress here for the present. Laurens, you go and get ready
+the nourishment that you think she should take, and come back in
+half-an-hour, and tell me how it is to be taken.'
+
+It was easy for us to see the deep yet kindly meaning of her
+lightly-spoken words, for in them she had told us that Golden Star was
+now once more a living woman. No longer a mummy, or a corpse, or a
+'subject,' as the professor had called her--no longer an inanimate thing
+that had neither sex nor claim to human rights--but a sister woman of
+her own kind whose wants could only be supplied by her. So we obeyed
+her, and went away, leaving her there to perform the most sacred task
+save one that a loving woman could perform.
+
+Djama went to prepare the food that Golden Star would soon need, and I
+went in search of the professor and Francis Hartness, and told them all
+that had happened, and then, when the professor had gone to bed to
+finish his broken night's rest, I and he who was my rival in love, and
+who was to be my brother-in-arms, went out from the courtyard into the
+_patio_ which lay in front of the house, sloping down towards the
+entrance of the little valley in which the hacienda lay, and there,
+walking to and fro side by side, we talked long and earnestly of many
+things upon the doing of which my heart was set, and which might now be
+freely entered upon, seeing that the first object of our journey was
+already achieved.
+
+Our talk, as you may well believe, was of war and not of love, though it
+would be hard to say which of the two at that hour most filled our
+secret thoughts; but, as I have told you, this English soldier was a
+true man, and I trusted him, knowing well that though, when the imperial
+Llautu once more encircled my brows, I might find courage to seek openly
+the love of her into whose eyes I had already seen him look with love,
+yet no falsehood or hatred could ever come between us. So I told him
+freely of the treasures that I had only to take from their hiding-places
+to make them mine, and spoke once more of the use that I would make of
+them, and took his advice as to the best method of that use.
+
+This he was well able to give me, for I soon found that since he had
+resolved to throw in his lot with us, he had applied himself diligently
+to the task of studying the work that was to be ours, and seeking the
+best and readiest means of doing it. In Lima and Arequipa he had bought
+books and papers from which he had learned, as far as could be learned,
+the resources and power of the government of Peru, the number of its
+soldiers and their stations, the names and characters of the men who
+made the government, and of those who were opposed to them, seeking, as
+he told me was now ever the case in the countries of South America, to
+overturn the government and to take for themselves the honours and the
+profits of rule.
+
+He told me--which events soon proved to be the truth--that not many
+months would pass by before civil war once more broke out. The President
+and the ministers, who were the tools of his tyranny, had oppressed the
+people with grievous burdens till they could endure them no longer, and
+already people in the towns of the interior were refusing to pay taxes,
+and were arming themselves in secret and meeting in bands among the
+mountains to practise themselves with their weapons, and make ready for
+the war which was so soon to come.
+
+All this, as he soon showed me, was happening as though the Fates which
+rule the world had especially prepared it for my coming. The people had
+no leader save a man who had been himself a tyrant before, and none
+trusted him, but looked to him only to serve their own ends. Those who
+had the power were hated, and those who sought to seize it were
+distrusted.
+
+But better than all was the utter, and, as far as all men, save
+ourselves, could see, the hopeless poverty of the country. Long years of
+plundering had emptied the treasury. Commerce was leaving the shores,
+and industries were languishing throughout the land. No man trusted his
+neighbour, for nearly all were in debt, and none could get paid, and my
+own people, the slaves of the children of the Spaniards, and the sport
+of their blind and brutal jesting, had borne their heavy burdens till
+their backs were sore, sore as their patient hearts were, and they would
+bear them no longer.
+
+From the country which is called Ecuador, and which in my other life had
+been Quito, the kingdom of Atahuallpa, to the southern confines of
+Bolivia, which had once been part of the Land of the Four Regions, the
+dominions of my own father, all were ready to throw down their
+long-borne burdens and turn and rend their oppressors and those whose
+fathers had robbed them of the land that had once been theirs.
+
+I well remember the very words in which Francis Hartness told me all
+this at much greater length than I have set it down here; and this is
+what he said when, as the stars were paling in the sky above us and the
+eastern mountains were beginning to stand out sharply against the
+growing light of the coming dawn, our long talk drew to its close,--
+
+'In short, Vilcaroya, if I were given to that sort of thing, I could
+believe that the very Fates themselves had conspired to prepare the way
+for you. You have come back to the world and to your own country at the
+very moment that these miserable wretches are getting ready to tear each
+other to pieces. The government is as hopeless as it is impossible, and
+the popular party, as they call themselves, have neither a leader that
+they can trust, nor money to buy weapons and pay their soldiers with.
+The treasury is empty, for, so to speak, almost the last dollar had been
+stolen. The native troops have had no regular pay for months, and I
+believe they would desert to a regiment if they once believed that you
+are what you are, and that you possess, as you do, the means of paying
+them well and honestly for their help.
+
+'And, after all, I don't know that even I, as a soldier, could call it
+desertion under such circumstances. You are of their own blood, the son
+of one of their ancient kings. These people, these Peruvians, are only
+mongrel descendants of those who have plundered and oppressed them for
+centuries. They owe them no allegiance that is worth the name; but you
+they would hail, not only as their lawful king, but almost as a god--as,
+indeed, they could well be pardoned for doing, seeing what a marvellous
+fate yours has been.
+
+'The only thing to do at present, and the only thing in which I see any
+difficulty, is to get into communication with them in such a way that
+they shall come to know you without the authorities knowing anything
+about you or your treasures. If that could be done, I think all the rest
+would be easy, and then I believe that the moment you raised the flag of
+the old Incas, they would flock to it in thousands, and after that it
+would only be a matter of military management and leadership.'
+
+'And if I will charge myself with that, my friend,' I said, as he paused
+for a moment; 'if I will promise you that before six more suns have
+risen and set, the news of my coming shall be spread far and wide
+through the land, and yet in such a manner that none but the faithful,
+the Children of the Blood themselves, shall know anything that could
+work us harm, will you give me the help of your skill and your knowledge
+of the arts of this new warfare which is so strange to me? Will you lead
+my armies to battle against the oppressors of my people? Will you help
+me to free this land of my fathers from the yoke of its tyrants, and be
+the war-chieftain of my people, and stand by my throne in the days when
+the Rainbow Banner shall once more float over the battlements of the
+Sacsahuaman and the City of the Sun? If you will, you shall have riches
+and power and all that the heart of man can desire.'
+
+'Not all, I am afraid, Vilcaroya!' he said, interrupting me with a laugh
+that had but little mirth in it. 'Not all; but that would not be in your
+hands to give. Never mind, it is the fortune of war, or perhaps I should
+rather say of love. But for the rest, yes. I believe your cause is a
+just and righteous one, and what I can do to help it I will. Henceforth
+we are brothers-in-arms, even though we may perhaps be rivals in love.
+There, you have my hand upon it, and with it the word of an Englishman
+who never broke his word yet to man or woman.'
+
+How shall I tell you of the great joy with which those brave,
+honest-spoken words of his filled me? He, the man whom I had feared
+most, even as I had learned to love him most, was the first to bid me
+hope--and hope I did now, in spite of all things. So, saying nothing,
+for my heart was too full for speech, I put my hand in his, and there,
+as the dawn brightened over the mountains, we clasped hands in silence
+and sealed our compact, and when the sun rose swiftly over the now
+glittering peaks, I let go his hand and bowed myself before it, greeting
+it as the bringer of a new day which was to end the long night that had
+fallen over my land and my people when the light of my last life was
+quenched in the darkness of my death-sleep.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+IN THE THRONE-ROOM OF YUPANQUI
+
+
+We saw nothing of Golden Star the next day, nor yet for many days
+afterwards, for, in spite of our impatience, Ruth would not permit us to
+do so. What her brother had said had speedily proved itself to be true.
+She had come back to life a child-woman. Her body was that of a girl of
+seventeen years--which was her age when she and I had drunk the draught
+of the death-sleep together--and the kindly Powers that had presided
+over her birth had shaped her in a mould of almost perfect womanly
+beauty, yet, as Djama had said, her mind was a virgin page, from which
+the story of her past life had been utterly erased, and on whose blank
+whiteness the story of her new life had yet to be written.
+
+Now, on the writing of the first words of this story, as Joyful Star
+told us in her sweetly-serious way the night that she had sunk into her
+first natural slumber, everything might depend.
+
+'It is a task,' she had said that night, 'which I fear terribly to enter
+upon, and yet I know that I am the only one here who ought to undertake
+it. She will need weeks and months of most careful watching, and the
+sympathy that only another woman, and one who loves her as I have
+already learned to do, could give her. No woman ever had such a task
+before, and very few have had so good a work to do. There is something,
+too'--and here I remember how subtle a change came into her voice as she
+said this--'there is something in this wonderful resemblance between us
+which tells me that this is my duty, and I am going to devote myself
+absolutely to it during every hour of her waking life until she is able
+to do without my care. I must watch her and care for her as a mother
+does for her child, and you must let me do it alone as long as I wish
+to, just as we had to let Laurens do _his_ work alone. Don't you think I
+am right, professor?'
+
+'Yes,' he answered, 'perfectly right, Miss Ruth. I am sure everybody
+will agree with me that Her Highness could not be in better hands than
+yours. Indeed, as you say, yours are the only hands in which she could
+possibly be trusted with safety to her newly-awakening reason at such an
+extraordinary juncture in her life.'
+
+To this we all agreed willingly enough, and so Joyful Star had the big
+room cleared out and installed herself there with all the comforts and
+luxuries that the inexhaustible wealth which was now at my command could
+provide her with, so that Golden Star should find her new world as
+beautiful as might be. Meanwhile the professor, with a trusty guide that
+I had provided him with from among my own people, plunged afresh into
+his beloved studies with such ardour that he seemed to have almost
+forgotten all else that had brought us to Peru.
+
+Francis Hartness had gone with Tupac--who, in the sight of the
+Spaniards, was only his Indian servant and guide--on a mission of
+importance to the South, where the first rumblings of the coming
+war-storm were already making themselves heard. As for Djama, who, as
+you know, had no more interest in the work that now lay before Francis
+Hartness and myself than the professor had, he went about for some days
+gloomy and silent, and seemingly ill at ease, like a man who for a time
+has lost his interest in life; and at last--it was on the twentieth day
+after Golden Star had awakened--he came to me when I was alone in my
+room and said abruptly,--
+
+'Vilcaroya, do you think I have fairly earned my reward for what I have
+done?'
+
+'Yes,' I said, looking into his eyes and reading, though he knew it
+not, the thoughts that were moving in his mind. 'You have done all that
+you promised to do, but we have yet said nothing of the price. How much
+do you ask for?'
+
+'As much as I can get!' he said, with a laugh that pleased me but
+little. 'But, of course, I know the work that you yourself have come
+here to do, and I see that it will be expensive, so you will find me
+reasonable.'
+
+'And you, I hope, will not find me ungenerous. Do you remember what you
+saw in the Hall of Gold?' As I said this, his self-command left him for
+an instant. I saw his hands close, and his lips tremble, and the fierce
+fire of the gold-lust spring into his eyes as he replied,--
+
+'Yes; how could I forget it?'
+
+'And do you remember, too,' I said, 'the words that you heard me speak
+when I stood before the pyramid?'
+
+'Yes,' he replied, with a faint flush coming into his pale cheeks. 'It
+is not likely that I should forget them either. Why do you ask?'
+
+'Because,' I said, speaking slowly as a man who weighs his words well,
+'saving only the sacred emblems of the Sun, which it is not lawful for
+me to give away, all that you saw there shall belong to you and to him
+who made it possible for you to do what you have done. You will share it
+as you please--that is no care of mine--but I have conditions to make
+for my own sake and that of my people.'
+
+'What are they?' and as he spoke the flush died out of his cheeks again.
+
+'That you shall both swear solemnly to me that, come what may, no man
+shall ever know from you where the gold came from, and that, moreover,
+you shall never utter any word of my story or Golden Star's where mortal
+ears can hear it, nor give any sign or word to any man or woman that
+shall lead him or her to guess that I am what I am, or that my work here
+is what it is. Swear that oath to me and you shall take your gold and go
+in peace. Break it, and the fate that I told you of shall be yours. Are
+you content?'
+
+'Yes,' he said, 'and more than content; and I swear to you most
+solemnly, on my own honour and by all that I hold sacred, that I will
+keep your secrets absolutely.'
+
+'No, not here,' I said, breaking into his speech; 'and more, it is not
+only your oath that I want. There must be witnesses, for this is too
+great a thing to do lightly. To-morrow night we will go back to the Hall
+of Gold, and there you shall swear your oaths and they shall be
+witnessed.'
+
+'Very well,' he said. 'Whenever and wherever you like. But now,
+Vilcaroya, I have something else to say to you. Personally, you know, I
+have no further interests in Peru, saving one only. Your next few years
+will be stormy ones, and though I believe that, with the power you have
+behind you, you will win in the end, yet you know as well as I do that
+you will have to run all the risks of a war that may be a very savage
+one before you succeed. You may restore the throne of the Incas, and
+reign upon it, or you may be killed in the first battle. You will pardon
+me speaking so plainly, won't you?'
+
+I bowed my head in silence and he went on.
+
+'In view of this, then, I am going to propose that when we leave Peru--I
+mean my sister and the professor and myself--you will allow Ruth to take
+Golden Star to England with her, say, for three years or so, in order
+that her education may be carried on to the best advantage. I will
+promise you solemnly that during that time I will not speak a word of
+love to her, or attempt to be anything else to her than I am to Ruth,
+and then if you succeed in your aims, as I hope you will, we will come
+back and be Your Majesty's guests for a time, and after that we shall
+see what more the kindly Fates may have in store for you and me.'
+
+No man ever heard more fairly spoken or reasonable-sounding words than
+these were, and yet all the while I listened to them I knew that they
+were but used to hide the real thoughts of him who was speaking them.
+Yet what could I answer him? Did they not seem to point out the best of
+all courses that could be followed for the welfare of Golden Star and
+the comfort of her whose gentle hand was leading her nearer every day to
+the fulfilment of the promise of her new life? So, for want of anything
+better in my mind, I answered,--
+
+'Your words are unwelcome to me, for so long a parting would be a great
+sorrow to me; yet they are wise, and that which is most pleasant is not
+always the best to be done.'
+
+'Very well,' he said, 'I quite understand you, so we won't say anything
+more about it until then. I suppose I may tell the professor about what
+we are to do to-morrow night?'
+
+'Yes,' I said; 'there will be no harm in that, since a share of the gold
+belongs to him as well.'
+
+'And Hartness?'
+
+'He knows already, for I have told him not only of the treasures in the
+Hall of Gold, but of many others that will be used in the work that he
+has sworn to do with me.'
+
+Later on that day when the mid-day heat had cooled a little, I was
+walking alone in the garden of the hacienda, thinking deeply of what
+Djama had said and striving to find some plan of my own that would be
+as good and yet not make the parting that I dreaded needful. I turned,
+paying but little heed to my way, into a winding pathway shaded with
+trees and bordered with grass and flowers. I was looking down upon the
+ground, as was my wont, when I heard footsteps near me and looked up. I
+had turned the bend in the path, and there, but a few paces from me,
+stood Golden Star and Ruth. I started and made a motion as though I
+would turn back, but Ruth immediately beckoned to me smilingly, and
+said,--
+
+'Come and let me introduce you to your sister, Vilcaroya. I think it's
+time you began to be friends again. Don't you think she is looking
+wonderfully well and strong, and--and beautiful?'
+
+You may think, but I cannot tell you, of all the feelings that rose up
+within me as I obeyed her invitation. It was the first time that I had
+seen Golden Star since the night she had awakened. Nay, was it not the
+first time I had seen her as a truly living woman since the night of our
+bridal in the Sanctuary?
+
+She was dressed in garments made after the fashion of Ruth's own, of
+light grey soft stuff, and on the glorious wealth of her hair was a
+broad-brimmed straw hat such as Ruth wore. Indeed, to look at them both,
+standing there side by side, they could but have been taken for two
+twin sisters--daughters of the Day and Night--as my loving fancy called
+them afterwards--rather than the daughters of different peoples, and
+children of far-parted generations, whose hands, as they clasped,
+bridged the gulf between one age of the world and another.
+
+As I approached, Golden Star's eyes looked at me with the simple wonder
+that shines out of the eyes of a little child, and like a little child
+she smiled at me, and then she looked at Ruth, and made a soft low sound
+that was almost like the cooing of a child.
+
+'She is pleased to see you, Vilcaroya,' said Ruth, taking hold of my
+hand and hers, 'but of course she can't say so yet. Now, let me teach
+her to shake hands with you.'
+
+Then she put into mine the soft, warm little hand that I had last
+clasped when we went hand in hand to the couch of our long sleep. I
+pressed it gently, looking at her through the tears that rose into my
+eyes, then I raised it to my lips and kissed it, and she smiled, and
+made the little soft sound again, and then Ruth put her arm around her
+waist and said,--
+
+'Come, now, you are acquainted, and she likes you. This will be a most
+valuable lesson for her. Now, let us have a walk, and you tell me the
+news, if there is any.'
+
+'Most willingly,' I said, 'for I have much news to tell.'
+
+So we turned back along the path into the quietest part of the garden, I
+walking by Ruth's side. And I told her of all that had passed between
+her brother and me in the morning, and of what was to be done on the
+following night. She was looking very serious when I had finished, and I
+could see that many unspoken thoughts were working in her mind, and when
+I had done she looked up at me and said,--
+
+'Laurens's plan seems a very good one at first sight, but of course we
+cannot decide upon anything until we have thought a good deal more about
+it, and talked it well over amongst ourselves. But, at anyrate, it would
+be several weeks yet before I would even think of going away with Golden
+Star, so there is plenty of time for that. But to-morrow night--Listen,
+Vilcaroya, may I ask a very great favour of you?'
+
+'Joyful Star can ask no favour of me,' I said. 'She can speak, and I can
+hear and obey.'
+
+'Nonsense, Vilcaroya! I wish you wouldn't talk like that,' she answered
+with pretty petulance. 'Now, suppose I was to ask you to let me see this
+wonderful treasure-house of yours and promise faithfully not to tell
+anyone about it--would you let me?'
+
+'It is not the best that I can show you,' I answered gladly, 'but if
+you desire to see it, it is yours and all that it contains. I can give
+your brother and the professor other gold, and I will show you a greater
+treasure-house than this under the Fortress itself.'
+
+'Well,' she laughed, 'I won't say now that I won't have it, because the
+sight of all that gold might be too much for me, but I should dearly
+love to come and see it, and I think I might venture to bring Golden
+Star too. She's quite well and strong now, and if we are careful of her,
+it can't do her any harm, and it may do her good. Shall I bring her?'
+
+'Yes,' I said, 'why not?'
+
+At this moment we saw Djama come walking down the path towards us, and
+at the sight of him there came to me, like the stab of a dagger of ice,
+the sudden memory that, at the moment I was speaking of my
+treasure-house under the Sacsahuaman, I had heard a gentle rustle behind
+some bushes close by the path, and a sound like that of a stealthy
+tread.
+
+As Djama came near to us I saw the love-light flash into his eyes, and a
+swift flush rise into his sallow cheeks. He held out his hand and
+quickened his pace, smiling as sweetly as a woman the while. I was
+facing him a little in advance, and I heard behind me a sharp, low,
+shuddering cry of terror that shook my heart as I turned to learn its
+cause. Golden Star had thrown her arms round Ruth's neck, and was
+clinging to her, trembling with fear, and looking sideways at Djama with
+eyes fixed and wide open with terror.
+
+You have seen how little children will go smiling and fearless into the
+arms of one stranger and shrink in hate and terror from another. Their
+sight is keener than it is in after years, when the dust of the world's
+conflict has dulled it, and they can see plainly the good and the evil
+that is hidden behind the mask of the face. So it was with that
+child-soul of Golden Star's. Though I was now to her as strange as
+Djama, yet she had seen in me only the friend and brother who loved her
+and wished her well, and whose heart was clean in her sight; but in
+Djama she had seen at a single glance the evil that had only been
+revealed to me after many weeks of watching.
+
+Though I hated him for the fear that he had caused her, yet I was glad
+also, for now I saw that the answer to his proposal would be easier than
+I had thought for. As for him, his face darkened and his black brows
+came together, and the love-light in his eyes changed to a glare of
+anger; but this was only for an instant. It passed more quickly than the
+thunder-clouds melt round the crest of Illampu. He stopped, and stood
+with his head slightly bent and his hands spread, palms outward, in the
+posture of one who asks pardon, and said, in a voice that had no trace
+of anger,--
+
+'Forgive me, Ruth! I am afraid I have startled our patient--or perhaps I
+should rather say yours now. It was something more than stupid of me to
+come upon you suddenly like this, without any warning. Of all people in
+the world, I ought to have known better than that. But I suppose seeing
+Vilcaroya already here made me forget myself. Did she start like that
+when he came?'
+
+'No,' replied Ruth, still standing with her arm where she had thrown it
+around Golden Star's shoulders, and stroking her hair with the other.
+'She--she saw him farther off than you, and I took her towards him, so I
+suppose the shock was not so great. But please go away, both of you,
+now. You see she is terribly frightened, and she is trembling as though
+someone had struck her. I must take her into the house and get her quiet
+again, or the consequences may be serious.'
+
+Djama turned away without a word, his face darkening again as he did so,
+and with one backward glance at Golden Star, who had now raised her head
+from Ruth's breast, and was staring after us with fixed, wide-open eyes,
+I turned and walked away beside him, neither of us speaking a word, for
+we were both too busy with our own thoughts.
+
+That night Francis Hartness and Tupac returned from their journey to the
+South, and as the professor was also in the house I told them of what I
+wished done on the following night, and bade Tupac make all preparation.
+The next day we all started in the cool of the morning to go to the
+Rodadero as though for a picnic, as the people of Cuzco often do, so
+that there might be no suspicion of our true object. We all rode upon
+horses, saving Golden Star, who was carried in a hammock litter, that I
+had had made for her, and Tupac, and six of our people who came with us
+as bearers and servants.
+
+We spent the day wandering about among the huge ruins of the
+Sacsahuaman, and exploring the wonders of the carved rocks and
+underground passages and altar-places, which have been the marvel of
+every traveller to the hills about Cuzco, and all that I knew of the
+upper works I told my companions, and showed them as well as I could
+what the mighty fastness had been in the days of its pride and unbroken
+strength.
+
+Then, when the brief twilight came, I bade one of our men take the
+beasts into a chamber among the rocks that I had shown him, and where
+plenty of fodder had been stored a few days before. After this we waited
+a little longer till night fell, and then I bade Tupac do what I had
+bidden him the day before. His voice rose shrill and plaintive in the
+silence, chanting a song that you may have heard the Indians singing in
+Peru when returning from their labours, and presently, from among the
+rocks on the plain, and from the shadowy lines of the Fortress, many
+silent figures stole out and went towards the valley in which the
+Sayacusca stands.
+
+Then I told my companions that all, save those of the Blood, must have
+their eyes bandaged, as Djama's had been before, and when they had
+submitted willingly to this, knowing that no harm would come to them, we
+led them to the Sayacusca, I leading Ruth by the hand, and following the
+bearers of Golden Star's litter, and there the way to the Hall of Gold
+was opened as before, and we entered it, followed by a long line of the
+Children of the Blood.
+
+But I made no halt here, nor did I let my companions even see the
+treasure that was to be divided between Djama and the professor
+according to my promise, for I had greater marvels in store for them.
+So, lantern in hand, I led the way through a winding gallery behind the
+pyramid of gold of which I told you before. At the end of this was a
+door, formed by a revolving stone similar to that at the entrance to the
+hall. This Tupac and another opened under my directions, and we entered
+a long, straight passage behind it. At the end was a broad flight of
+stone steps, and at the top were two low bronze doors bolted into
+pillars on either side. The doors had no hinges, but they turned with
+the pillars, and no one who did not know this, or how the pillars
+turned, could open them. But this secret was one of many others that I
+had brought with me from the past, and in a few moments the doors were
+standing open before us.
+
+We passed in, and I closed them behind us. Two of my men had come laden
+with great candles and torches, and these I had lighted and placed in
+golden sconces which stood out from the walls in the great hall into
+which we had passed through the bronze doors. When this had been done, I
+beckoned to Tupac, and went silently with him to the other end of the
+hall, where, on a throne of gold under a canopy of silver, sat a silent
+figure clad in the imperial robes, and with a mask of beaten gold over
+its face, according to the ancient custom. It was the effigy of the
+great Yupanqui, father of Huayna-Capac, which had been seated here since
+his death, as an emblem of the unbroken sovereignty of his race, giving
+place in turn to his son and grandson on the days that they were
+crowned, and being replaced when the ceremony was over.
+
+Now, with Tupac's help I carried the effigy into a little chamber behind
+the throne, and there quickly removed my upper clothing and dressed
+myself as I had done before in the Hall of Gold, and took my place on
+the throne. Then I bade Tupac lead Joyful Star, with her eyes still
+bandaged, to me. When he had placed her before me, I made a sign to him,
+and the bandage fell from her eyes. She turned white as death, and
+staggered back a pace, with her hands clasped to her temples, and there
+she stood, staring wide-eyed at me and all the splendours about her.
+
+Wherever her gaze wandered it saw nothing but gold and silver and gems
+and rich-dyed hangings of silk and wool, whose brilliant hues no time
+could dim. The roof and the upper halves of the walls were covered with
+plates of burnished silver. Around the walls, half-way between the floor
+and the ceiling, ran a great cornice or ledge of gold, on which stood
+the golden chairs in which were seated the mummies of the twenty Incas
+which I had last seen in the Sanctuary of the Sun, looking down through
+the eye-holes in their golden masks.
+
+From the cornice to the floor hung the bright-hued hangings, and against
+these were ranged along the floor on either side threescore seats of
+silver, and the floor was paved with diamond-shaped blocks of gold and
+silver set alternately. Behind the throne on which I sat rose from the
+floor to roof a sloping wall of golden ingots, and on either hand stood
+a great golden vase, heaped high with unset gems, emeralds and diamonds,
+pearls and sapphires and rubies, precious almost beyond price; and on
+the roof above my throne a great, golden image of the Sun, encircled by
+spreading rays of gems, glowed and sparkled in the light of the candles
+and torches.
+
+At last Ruth's wandering gaze became steady and rested upon my face, and
+I looked back into her eyes, making no sign until she should speak, and
+sitting motionless as the effigy whose place I had taken.
+
+'Where am I?' she said at last in a low, faint voice, like one awakening
+from a dream. 'And who are you? Surely you cannot be--and yet, yes, you
+are Vilcaroya! What has happened?'
+
+'Nothing more than the granting of Joyful Star's request, save that
+through the treasure-house which she asked to see I have brought her to
+a better one. Does it please her?'
+
+'Is it real, Vilcaroya?' she whispered. 'Is all this really gold and
+silver, and are these real diamonds and rubies and emeralds, or am I
+only dreaming? Does it please me? What a question! I have never even
+dreamed of anything like it. Where are we, Vilcaroya?'
+
+'In the throne-room of the Incas, beneath what was once their palace and
+fortress on the hill of Sacsahuaman,' I answered, 'and this is the
+throne of the great Yupanqui, the greatest earthly king and conqueror of
+my race. I sat here and crowned myself Inca in the presence of
+Anda-Huillac and the priests and nobles of the Land of the Four Regions
+on the day before the night when I drank the death-draught with Golden
+Star.'
+
+'Ah, yes, where is she?' she cried, looking round only to see that all
+the rest had vanished, and that she and I were alone in the great hall.
+'What have they done with her, and where are Laurens and the others?'
+she cried, looking fearfully and almost mistrustingly at me. 'What have
+you done with them, Vilcaroya?'
+
+'They are safe,' I said. 'Tupac and his men have care of them, and they
+will come back when I bid him bring them. But I have need of your
+presence here alone before I do that,' I went on, rising from my seat as
+I spoke. 'Has Joyful Star ever sat on a throne?'
+
+'No,' she stammered, staring at me with wonder in her eyes. 'You know I
+haven't. Why should you ask?'
+
+'Then sit on mine,' I said, 'for I have something to say to you which I
+can best say and you can best hear if we change places. Nay, I will take
+no denial,' I said, drawing her by the hand up the steps in front of the
+throne, 'for it is not only your--your friend who is asking, but a
+crowned king in his own palace, who is lord of life and death over all
+who enter it.'
+
+Half frightened and half wondering, she submitted to my will and allowed
+me to seat her in the chair which no woman had ever sat in before. Then
+I took her hand, and, dropping on one knee on the upper step, I said,--
+
+'Joyful Star has taken one queen from me, and she alone can give me
+another to fill her place. She is sitting where the great Yupanqui sat
+when he ruled all the land from north to south, and from the eastern
+mountains to the sea, and ere long I too shall reign, sole and
+undisputed lord, over a realm wider even than that. Many things have
+been done that Joyful Star knows not of since I came back to my country
+and my people. Through all the Land of the Four Regions the word has
+gone forth, with the swiftness of thought, that the Son of the Sun has
+returned, and that the heir of the divine Manco has come to deliver his
+children from bondage.[B]
+
+'Everywhere the tidings have been received with joy, and the people are
+longing to return to the allegiance of their fathers, and tread their
+oppressors under foot. Before many days civil war will be raging
+throughout the lands of the south, and I have but to set flowing that
+golden stream, one of whose many sources is here, and say, "Here is gold
+and silver in plenty for all who will fight under the Rainbow Banner,"
+and I shall have armies and fleets to do what I will with, and the sway
+of my sceptre shall reach from north to south and sea to sea.
+
+'This I shall do because of my oath; but I have brought Joyful Star here
+to tell her, in the most sacred place that is left in the Land of the
+Four Regions, that I shall also do it so that she, if she will, may be
+queen where I am king, and sit beside me on my throne, and make my
+empire a paradise by the brightness and the sweetness of her presence. I
+cannot forget, as she bade me do--for the words that I said in the heat
+of my passion are true--for I love you, Joyful Star, and all that I
+have or shall ever have on earth will be worthless to me unless you take
+it as a gift from my hands. Nay, do not speak, for now I seek no answer,
+whether good or evil. I have brought you here that I, as a king, might
+kneel at the feet of her whom I would win for my queen, and from now
+until I sit in the sight of all the world on the throne of the Four
+Regions no other words of love shall pass my lips. So you shall have
+many days to ponder what I have said, and to ask your own heart whether
+it will say "yes" or "no" to me when I stretch out my hand from my
+throne and ask you to come and sit beside me and rule my people with
+me.'
+
+Before she could answer, I stood up and clapped my hands, and Tupac with
+six others, dressed now in the forbidden costume of their ancestors,
+entered the hall from the ante-chamber, into which they had taken the
+others, and came towards me, bearing wands across their shoulders in
+token of homage, and with heads downbent, not daring to look upon my
+majesty till I bade them. I drew Joyful Star from the throne by the
+hand, and seating myself in it, said in the ancient tongue,--
+
+'Let the Children of the Blood enter into the presence of their father
+and their lord, and let the strangers be brought in, and the other
+maiden, all with eyes bandaged, and let seats of silver be placed to
+the right and left of the throne, one for each of the virgins of the Sun
+to sit upon. Are all things else ready, Tupac-Rayca?'
+
+'Yes, lord,' he answered, stepping out in front of the others and
+falling on his knees, 'and the Children of the Blood are waiting to see
+the glory of thy presence and hear the words of wisdom and hope from thy
+lips.'
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[B] The Inca Indians of the Sierra region possess the same extraordinary
+faculty of transmitting intelligence without apparent material means
+that the Hindoos and the Arabs have. Thus, during the last revolution in
+Peru, the fall of Lima was known to the Indians of Bolivia on the
+southern shore of Lake Titicaca three days after it happened, though the
+telegraph wires were cut and all ordinary communications suspended.
+Without the telegraph this would be quite impossible by any means known
+to Europeans.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+HOW THE SOUL OF GOLDEN STAR CAME BACK
+
+
+When the two chairs had been brought in and placed according to my
+orders, I rose from my throne and led Joyful Star to the one on my left
+hand and placed her in it, still silent with the wonder and perplexity
+of what she had seen and heard since her eyes were opened. Then, seating
+myself again, I bade Tupac summon the Children of the Blood to take
+their places, and presently he ushered them in from the chambers that
+opened out of the great hall on either hand at the other end.
+
+There were threescore of them, the heads of the families of Ayllos,
+whose blood was the purest and whose descent was most direct from the
+old nobility of my own days. Each of them, too, under the outward husk
+of his forlorn and degraded state, had preserved unsullied the ancient
+faith and traditions of the sacred race, and, against all appearances,
+had steadfastly hoped for the fulfilment of the promises that had been
+given in the olden times. More than this, too--each had treasured, as a
+miser hoards his gold, the ever-growing legacy of hate which the
+oppression and contempt of the Spaniards and their meaner descendants
+had heaped up from generation to generation against the long-awaited day
+of vengeance which, as but two or three in that strange company alone
+knew, was now so near at hand.
+
+Ever since I had revealed myself to them in the Hall of Gold they had
+been working for the end in view with the swift, subtle arts known only
+to those of their race, and already, from Quito in the north to Santiago
+in the south, tidings had gone forth that the day of deliverance was
+approaching, and that ere long the Rainbow Banner would be raised by the
+hands of him for whom the Children of the Sun had waited.
+
+Each of the fathers of the people was dressed, as Tupac was, in the
+long-forbidden garb of the ancient nobility, and each as he entered
+stopped in the centre of the hall and paid his homage before he went to
+his seat. Then, when all were seated, I ordered that the strangers
+should be brought in, and they were led into the midst of the silent
+assembly, with their eyes still bandaged. Over Golden Star's head a veil
+had been thrown, hiding her face, for it was my purpose that it should
+not be seen for the present, and how strangely this purpose worked you
+shall soon see.
+
+As she came up the middle of the hall, following Tupac, who was leading
+her as obedient as a little child, I descended from the throne and went
+to meet her, and led her to the seat on my right hand and placed her in
+it. Francis Hartness, the professor and Djama I left standing in the
+middle of the hall, each with one of Tupac's chosen guards beside him.
+When Golden Star was seated, I stood up in front of the throne and said
+to those assembled, speaking in the ancient tongue,--
+
+'Sons of the Blood and fathers of the Oppressed, you know already how
+the promise that was made by our Father the Sun, through the lips of his
+high priest, in the days when first the oppressors came, has been in
+part most faithfully and marvellously fulfilled. I, Vilcaroya--son of
+Huayna-Capac, son of the great Yupanqui Inca, before whose throne-seat I
+am now standing alive in your presence--am he of whom it was said that
+one who should pass from life to life through the shadows of death
+should grasp the sceptre of the divine Manco, and restore the ancient
+glory of the Children of the Sun. And with me, as you know, there was
+another, at whose call and for love of whom I dared the ordeal of the
+death-sleep and swore the oath which I have returned to the world of
+living men to fulfil. I have already given you some proof that I am what
+I say I am, for I have revealed to you secrets which were buried in the
+grave with me and in those faithful hearts which have been pulseless now
+for many generations.
+
+'But now, that all things may be made plain to you, and that no doubts
+may remain in your hearts to hinder the working of our sacred purpose, I
+have brought here before you witnesses of the wonders that have been
+worked--even those who wrought them themselves, that their own lips may
+tell you the story; and with them I have brought yet another witness
+who, though she cannot speak to you in our ancient tongue, of which our
+Father, for his own wise purposes, has deprived her during her long
+sleep, will yet in her own person and even with silent lips be witness
+enough that I have not lied to you. Now let the eyes of the strangers be
+uncovered and their mouths opened that they may see and speak.'
+
+Even as the words left my lips they were obeyed, and at the same time I
+stretched out my right hand and raised the veil from the head of Golden
+Star, and unloosed the bandage from her eyes.
+
+A deep murmur of wonder ran round the hall; a sharp cry of amazement
+broke from Djama's lips, and the two others stared blankly about them.
+Then I raised my left hand to command silence, and, still speaking the
+ancient speech and pointing with my right hand to Golden Star, said,--
+
+'This, O Fathers of the People, is she who drank the death-draught with
+me. This is Cory-Coyllur, daughter of Huayna-Capac, and sister of the
+long-ago murdered Huascar, and my sister, too, since her great father
+was mine also. With her, as the tradition was told to you, I plighted
+the marriage-troth before the altar in the Sanctuary of the Sun, and of
+that troth I would speak to you now. Such marriage is no longer lawful
+in the world to which we have returned, and in token of this our Father
+the Sun has sent this other likeness of Golden Star, who sits upon my
+left hand, to tell me that it may not be; and to make the message surer,
+it has pleased him also to put into my heart a love for her differing
+from, though not greater than that which I have borne for Golden Star,
+and if my Father who has given me this love shall also look with
+kindness upon my longing, then Joyful Star, as I have named her, shall
+be my Coya[C] and my queen, and Golden Star shall be her sister and
+mine, and I doubt not that in his own good time our Father will send her
+a fitting mate, that her heart may not be empty nor her life lonely.'
+
+As I said these last words I saw the eyes of all who were sitting in the
+chairs turn, as if moved by one impulse, and rest on Francis Hartness,
+standing strong and stately in the midst of the little group in the
+middle of the hall, overtopping the others by nearly a span, and crowned
+with his curling golden hair; and as I, too, looked at him, a new
+thought came into my mind, and I spoke aloud again and said,--
+
+'Yes, Brothers of the Blood, I read your thought. The stranger from the
+land which is the greatest of all lands in the world of to-day, is a
+true Son of the Sun, though not of our blood, for his heart is clean and
+his tongue is straight and his arm strong, and perchance it may please
+our Father to bring about that which he has put into our hearts.'
+
+At this another murmur ran round the hall, and every head was bowed in
+assent.
+
+Now all this time the three Englishmen had been standing patiently in
+the midst of the hall, looking about them at its splendours, and waiting
+till I should speak to them, for the professor knew enough of the
+Quichua tongue to follow what I had been saying, and had told the others
+that I was speaking of them. Now I spoke to them in English, and told
+them what I had brought them to the throne-room for, and then I had
+chairs placed for them at top of the hall, to my left hand.
+
+When they had taken their places, I asked the professor to speak in
+Spanish to those assembled, and tell them whether or not the story of my
+return to life was true, and whether or not Golden Star had been found
+where Anda-Huillac and the priests had placed her, and had been, like
+me, restored to life by the arts of Djama his friend. This he did in
+few, straight words, and after him Djama rose at my bidding and told
+them also what he had done. When he had finished I took the Llautu from
+my head and raised it above me with outstretched arms and said in a loud
+voice,--
+
+'If you, O Children of the Blood and Sons of the Ancient Race, believe
+now that I am in truth Vilcaroya, son of Huayna-Capac, and lawful heir
+of the divine Manco, from whom all the Incas of our race draw their
+royal blood, then take me for your lord as my father was the lord of
+your fathers; or if any shall have yet doubt in his heart, let him
+speak now or for ever be silent.'
+
+Then with one accord they rose from their seats and came before me and
+prostrated themselves on the shining pavement of the throne-room, and
+began to chant, in a low, soft tone, the Song of Homage with which of
+old the new-crowned Incas had been hailed, generation after generation,
+Sons of the Sun and lords of life and death throughout the Land of the
+Four Regions.
+
+And now a wondrous thing happened. As I stood there facing the prostrate
+throng, lowering the Llautu on to my head, I heard a low, sharp cry
+beside me on my right hand. I turned half round, and there I saw Golden
+Star staring at me with eyes burning with the light that shone through
+them from her new-awakened soul.
+
+Her hands were clasped to her temples, pushing back her thick, bright
+hair from her forehead. Her face was flushed, and her half-open lips
+were working as though they were striving to shape some long-forgotten
+words. At the instant that the Llautu touched my brows, she rose to her
+feet. Then a cry burst from her lips and went ringing down the hall, and
+the next moment she had thrown herself forward and I had caught her in
+my arms.
+
+As I did so our eyes met, and our hearts looked at each other through
+them. In that one burning glance the mists of the long years were
+melted, all things else were forgotten, and for the moment we stood
+alone--the children of a long-dead generation--in the solitude that our
+strange fate had made about us. Then her lips moved, not dumbly this
+time, and in a voice that woke, who shall say how many memories in my
+heart, she said,--
+
+'Have they awakened us, my lord? Tell me how long we have slept, my
+Vilcaroya. It seems long to me, and I have had strange, dim dreams, and
+thought I was not one, but two, and that one of myselves was your sister
+and the other was your Coya and queen. It was strange, was it not, to
+dream like that?'
+
+'Not so strange but that it may be true, O my sister, Golden Star,' I
+said, my wonder for the moment overcome by a new hope that uprose within
+me at her words. 'Stranger things than that have happened since we fell
+asleep together in the distant days that are no more. See, Nusta mi,
+here is your other self, the living shape of that sister-soul of yours,
+who has watched over you and cared for you and loved you since you drew
+the first breath of your new life. She cannot speak our tongue, for she
+is the daughter of another age than ours, but she has taught me hers and
+I will speak for you.'
+
+As I said this I took her hands from where they rested on my shoulders,
+and led her to the seat of Joyful Star, who was standing in front of it,
+with one hand on the arm of her chair and the other one clasped to her
+heart, her face white with fear and her eyes wide with wonder.
+
+'What has happened, Vilcaroya?' she said, in a voice so low that it was
+almost a whisper. 'Has her memory come back, and does she believe
+herself to be your--your wife?'
+
+As she forced the last word from her hesitating lips I saw the hot blood
+flow into her cheeks, and a new light that shot like a dart of fire into
+my heart leapt into her eyes.
+
+'No,' I said, with a smile that was quickly answered by one that came
+unawares to her lips. 'She calls herself my sister and me her lord, and
+says that she has dreamed that she is not one but two, and that her
+other sister-self is Vilcaroya's wife and queen. Now, if that dream may
+be the truth, tell her so!'
+
+And with that I took her hand gently from where it rested on the chair
+and laid Golden Star's in it.
+
+'But--I cannot speak your language, and she wouldn't understand me,' she
+said softly, with one swift glance at me and another longer look at
+Golden Star's smiling face, so wondrous like her own.
+
+'There is another speech than that of the tongue,' I answered, 'which
+all men understand.'
+
+'Yes!' she said, and then she drew Golden Star gently to her and kissed
+her.
+
+All this while the Ayllos had remained silent and prostrate before the
+throne, none daring to raise their heads till I bade them, and the three
+Englishmen sat still, hearing what I had said to Joyful Star and her
+answer to it, and yet neither speaking nor rising from their seats, each
+full of his own thoughts and not willing to betray his feelings by any
+rash word that he might speak in the wonder of the moment. But now I
+turned with my heart full of joy and new hope, and said in a voice in
+which my gladness seemed to sing like a bird in the morning sky,--
+
+'Rise up, Brothers of the Blood, and look upon your lord and rejoice
+with him, for our Father the Sun has looked kindly upon him and filled
+all his life with light. He has given back memory and speech to Golden
+Star, his daughter, and put it into the heart of Joyful Star, her other
+sister-self, to love her and to make plain that which might else have
+been dark.'
+
+Then they all rose to their feet and saluted me and paid their homage to
+Golden Star and Joyful Star as well, and then I waved them to their
+seats, and when they had gone I led Golden Star back to her chair, and
+then I called Djama to me, and when he came and stood before me I
+said,--
+
+'You have seen what has happened, and you have heard the words that have
+been said. You see now that there is no need for Golden Star to go to
+England. Therefore it remains but for you and for your friend to take
+the treasure that is yours, and for us to say farewell.'
+
+'And Ruth?' he asked. 'You know, of course, that that will mean farewell
+to her also.'
+
+I could see that he was ill at ease, and that his words were not the
+words that his true thoughts would have spoken. As I looked at him I saw
+that his eyes shifted and wandered from my gaze, and I said coldly,--
+
+'Much has happened since we last spoke of this. It will be for Joyful
+Star herself to say whether she will bid me farewell or not. Is she not
+free to go or stay where she pleases? Say, now, when I shall command the
+treasure to be taken out of the Hall of Gold for you, and where you wish
+it to be placed.'
+
+'I must ask you to give me time to think about that and talk it over
+with the professor,' he said, 'for we have no means of taking such an
+immense amount of gold to the coast and getting it on board ship without
+suspicion.'
+
+'Go, then,' I said, 'and speak with him, but remember that it must be
+done quickly, for ere many days are past there will be war in the land,
+and neither your lives nor your gold will be safe.'
+
+'I will take good care of that,' he said in a tone whose strangeness
+told me more than his words, and with that he turned away and sat down
+beside the professor, with the thoughts that were within his heart still
+unspoken. As soon as he had gone back to his seat I called Francis
+Hartness to me and set him beside me on the right hand of the throne,
+and then I told who he was and showed that he was well skilled in those
+new arts of warfare which had taken the place of our ancient methods,
+and how he had promised to use his knowledge for me and lead my armies
+into battle, hazarding his own life on the chance of our success; and
+when I had said this I named him leader of all those who should range
+themselves under the Rainbow Banner when the day of battle came, and
+bade all present obey his orders and enforce obedience to them, even as
+though his commands were my own.
+
+Then I bade Francis Hartness himself speak all that was in his mind
+freely and without fear of betrayal concerning the war that was soon to
+be waged between the rival factions of our oppressors and the means that
+were to be used to turn their strife to our own account, and this he
+did, speaking in fluent Spanish and in short, clear sentences, as a man
+of action and a soldier should speak.
+
+He told how he had made himself acquainted with the forces on both
+sides, and how, with the help of Tupac, he had sounded the feelings of
+those by whom the fighting would have to be done, and had found them
+willing to leave the service of the schemers who sought to make
+themselves tyrants over the land, and fight for those whose purpose it
+was to restore the ancient rule and give liberty to all to use their
+lives as they thought best and to win for themselves as many of the
+gifts of the All-Father as they were able to do. He told, too, how he
+had sent many messages over the lightning-wires to his own country,
+bidding friends like himself in war to come out as quickly as might be
+to find the fortune that awaited them, yet saying nothing of war but
+only of gold that was to be had for the taking.
+
+When he had finished, I bade Tupac summon all who were present to the
+foot of the throne, and then I spoke to them of the plans that I had
+made with Francis Hartness in all their details, and showed them how
+each, according to his opportunities, could give his help in carrying
+them out, and then, as by this time the night was far spent and there
+was yet work of another sort to do, I sent them back to their seats, and
+calling Ruth and Golden Star to me, I bade them follow me, and led the
+way down the hall and through one of the passages at the end until I
+brought them to a chamber which Tupac and his comrades had already
+prepared for them by my orders, and here I left them to take their rest
+together, promising to return in the morning.
+
+When I got back into the throne-room Djama asked me whither I had taken
+his sister, and I told him what I had done, saying that the hour was now
+too late for us to return to our home on the other side of the valley,
+and that, moreover, it was needful for us to go back to the Hall of Gold
+to make a proper count of the treasure and to let him and the professor
+swear their oaths of secrecy in the presence of the fathers of my
+people.
+
+Then I left him, looking much more ill at ease than such tidings should
+have made him feel, and told Tupac in the ancient tongue to take three
+of his companions and go and do that which it was now time to do. So he
+went and chose his men and departed through the bronze doors by which we
+had entered the hall. After that I named a guard to remain all night in
+the hall, and bade the rest go and put on their everyday clothing, and
+I, too, went back into the chamber behind the throne and changed my
+imperial garments for the others that I had put off.
+
+Then I ordered the torches and candles to be extinguished, all saving a
+few that were left for the guards, and then the eyes of Djama and the
+professor were bandaged afresh, though those of Francis Hartness--he
+being now one of us and devoted to our cause--were left open; and when
+this was done the lanterns were lit and I led the way into the
+ante-chamber of the throne-room, where the bronze doors still stood open
+as Tupac had left them.
+
+I stood by them till the last man had passed out, then I went through
+and closed them. Then I followed the rest and again placed myself at
+their head. But when we reached the end of the straight passage, instead
+of turning the revolving pillar which closed the entrance of the
+winding passage leading to the Hall of Gold, I sought about with my
+lantern on the floor until I found three marks in the shape of a
+triangle in one corner of a great square slab of stone, and, taking a
+long staff which one of the men carried, I placed the end on the
+triangle and calling two others to help me, we bore downwards with all
+our weight, and when we had thrust awhile on the staff the corner of the
+slab sank into the floor and it turned on a diagonal axis until it stood
+upright, leaving a three-cornered space large enough for a man's body to
+pass through easily. Then I made a sign to one of the Ayllos and said,--
+
+'Anahuac, take your lantern down there and light the way down the
+steps.'
+
+'Truly there are no secrets in the land hidden from the eyes of our
+Lord!' he said, glancing round in wonder at the rest, and then he
+lowered himself with his lantern into the hole and disappeared.
+
+Then I bade the rest follow him one by one, and so all went down, I
+going last with Francis Hartness, who helped me to put the stone back
+into its place.
+
+Our way now led along a rough-hewn gallery that sloped gently upwards
+for some twelve hundred paces, and at the end of it there was a little
+chamber measuring some twenty feet each way and having no apparent
+outlet, but in the middle of one of the walls there was another of the
+cunningly-constructed revolving stones which our ancient masons ever
+used to bar their secret ways, and this three of our men, working as I
+told them, turned on its hinge, and through the opening that was thus
+made we passed out in single file to a little rock-walled valley over
+which the stars were shining.
+
+The door was closed behind us, and dust and dirt were rubbed over the
+thin lines which marked where it fitted into the rock, and then we
+extinguished our lanterns and passed out of the valley on to the pampa.
+
+The place where we had come out was about a thousand paces from the
+walls of the Sacsahuaman. We halted on the plain and I gave my last
+orders to the Ayllos. Then we set out in the direction of the Fortress,
+and as we went one by one my followers disappeared silently into the
+half darkness about us till at last only four of them were left, two
+leading Djama and two the professor.
+
+I had been talking of many things with Francis Hartness on the way, and
+showing him how in the olden times we had made use of the secret
+passages such as those he had already seen, and when we saw that we had
+come out by a way different to that which we had entered, he asked me
+the reason of it, and I answered him in a low voice and said,--
+
+'Because the other way is closed. Have patience a little while and you
+shall see why.'
+
+Then we went on our way in silence until we came to the edge of the
+valley in which the Sayacusca stands. Here I halted and whispered a few
+words to the men who were leading Djama and the professor. They slipped
+off their ponchos and threw them over the heads of their prisoners, for
+such the two were now to be for the present. I heard a muffled cry from
+Djama, and I went to him and put my hand on his shoulder and said in a
+whisper,--
+
+'Keep quiet and lie down. These men have knives and will use them at my
+bidding.'
+
+Then they pulled him and the professor down, and they lay quiet, knowing
+that their lives were in my hands, and I lay down on the edge of the
+valley, signing to Francis Hartness to come and lie beside me. Then I
+pointed into the valley and bade him watch. Presently, in the dim light,
+we made out figures moving about the rock, and caught every now and then
+the glint of the star-rays along thin lines of polished metal.
+
+'Rifle barrels!' he whispered. 'What are they doing here? I didn't know
+that your men had any weapons yet.'
+
+'No,' I said, 'those are in the hands of soldiers from Cuzco. The time
+has come sooner than I thought for, and yet not too soon. You will see
+the first blow struck for the freedom of my people before to-morrow's
+sun rises.'
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[C] The queen-consort of the Inca, as distinguished from the many others
+whom the ancient laws allowed him to marry.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+THE TREACHERY OF DJAMA
+
+
+'Wait now for a little while with patience,' I said, laying my hand on
+his shoulder, 'and you shall see a strange thing, a thing that shall
+show you how strong the old traditions are still in the land of the
+Incas. Lie here and do not let yourself be seen till I send a messenger
+for you. It will not be very long.'
+
+He nodded and I rose quietly to my feet and went round the hollow until
+I got the great stone between me and the place where the soldiers were
+standing, and then I went down on my hands and knees and crept quietly
+towards it and climbed up a flight of steps carved in it. This took me
+to the top of the cleft in which is the broken stairway. I climbed down
+this and dropped softly into the hole at the bottom. It was dry now, for
+Tupac had done that which I had bidden him in the throne-room. I felt
+my way down the steps till I came to the wall at the bottom. Then I
+whispered his name, and he answered out of the darkness in the old
+language,--
+
+'I am here, Lord, and all that has been ordered is done.'
+
+I crept towards him along the wall, measuring my way along it with my
+outstretched arms till I knew that I had come to the revolving stone
+which closed the way into the hall. He was standing against it, and one
+of the others was with him. I felt over the door till I found the silver
+socket, and then we opened the door as before with the bar which Tupac
+had brought. Then I went down through the hall and lighted a lantern and
+went into the little chamber where, as before, I changed my clothing for
+the imperial robes, and set the Llautu on my head; but I kept on my belt
+under my cloak, and put two revolvers in it in case I should need them,
+and when I went back into the hall Tupac and the others were lighting
+candles and putting them in the holders round the walls as I had bidden
+them. When this was done I said to him,--
+
+'Go now and bring the others down, first the soldiers with their
+officer, by whose side you must keep closely, and see that your knife
+is ready. Then let Ainu bring the Men of the Blood, and the strangers
+quickly after them, and bid Anahuac and Ainu close the door when the
+last man has entered.'
+
+He bowed his head, and the two went out and left me sitting there on a
+seat built up of blocks of gold before the pyramid, waiting to play my
+part in the scene that was to follow, and strike the first blow in the
+battle that I had come to fight. Presently I heard the rattle of arms
+and the sound of footsteps coming along the passage. I took one of the
+revolvers out of my belt and held it ready under my cloak, and sat still
+and rigid as the effigy of Yupanqui, looking straight before me at the
+entrance at the other end.
+
+Tupac came in first, and close behind him was a Spanish officer with a
+drawn sword in his hand. After him came the soldiers, two and two, with
+their rifles and bayonets. The officer stopped and stared about him,
+blinking with eyes half dazzled by the sudden light and the glitter of
+the gold and jewels which he saw wherever he looked. The same instant I
+saw the gleam of steel in Tupac's hand close to his yellow throat. Then
+he said to him in Spanish,--
+
+'Put up your sword, senor, and come with me and beg your life from the
+Son of the Sun who sits yonder on his throne.'
+
+The Spaniard uttered a loud cry of amazement as his eyes fell upon me,
+for so far he had not seen me, having been too much taken up by the
+splendours of the hall. Then he turned and called to his soldiers, but
+while the cry was still in his throat, Tupac's arm went round his neck
+and the knife-point touched his skin. Then he bade two of the soldiers
+take the sword out of his hand and hold him fast, which they did,
+greatly to his wonder, for he did not know that the betrayer was already
+betrayed. As soon as he was safe, Tupac told the other soldiers to take
+their places along the walls, and they did so in silence, yet wondering
+greatly at all they saw. There were four-and-twenty of them, not
+counting the two who held the officer, all men of Indian blood whom the
+Spaniards[D] had made rather slaves than soldiers to fight their petty
+quarrels for them for little pay and scanty food.
+
+After them came Anahuac and Ainu and the rest of the Men of the Blood,
+bringing with them Djama and the professor blindfolded, and Francis
+Hartness with his eyes unbound. All this time I had neither moved nor
+made a sound, and the soldiers were looking at me almost in terror,
+wondering whether I was truly a man or one of the dead Incas with living
+eyes in his head. As for the Spanish officer, being a coward, as many of
+his sort are, he was already white with fear, and his knees were shaking
+as he stood between the two soldiers who held him. When all had entered,
+Anahuac came and prostrated himself before me and said,--
+
+'The commands of the Son of the Sun are obeyed. All are here, and the
+door is shut.'
+
+Before I answered him, I called Francis Hartness to me and said,--
+
+'Come here and stand by me, my friend, for I shall need your counsel.'
+
+He came and stood by me on my right hand, saying as he looked still
+wonderingly at me,--
+
+'This means treachery, I suppose, and after that, tragedy. Is that why
+you left Ruth and Golden Star in the Fortress? I am afraid you had only
+too much reason to, but I hope, for Ruth's sake, you will do justice
+with as much mercy as you can.'
+
+'You shall see,' I answered. 'But if it were not for her you would see
+justice without mercy.'
+
+Then I bade Anahuac rise, and told him and Tupac to unbind the eyes of
+Djama and the professor and bring them before me.
+
+As Djama's eyes opened to the light, he stared about him in silence for
+a moment. His face was very pale, and his lips were twitching and
+trembling. The professor, too, looked about him, also wondering greatly
+at what he saw; but neither of them spoke till they had been led forward
+and stood before me. Then, while Djama still kept silence, the
+professor, looking from me to Hartness, said in a voice that had much
+wonder, but no fear or sign of guilt, in it,--
+
+'What is this? What does all this mean? What are all these soldiers here
+for, Vilcaroya? I thought it was so important that all this should be
+kept secret? Surely no one has betrayed you already? But no, that can't
+be. Hartness, what does it all mean?'
+
+'It means--first,' I said, speaking very slowly, and not in a loud
+voice, 'that you have been brought here with Laurens Djama to take the
+oath which you agreed to take--never to reveal the secrets of the things
+that you have learned. I ask your pardon for the rude way in which my
+people have brought you, but it was necessary.'
+
+Then I turned to Djama, who was standing silent and motionless, with
+clenched teeth and set face, like one who knows that he stands near his
+doom and has no hope of mercy, and said,--
+
+'Now, Laurens Djama, are you ready to do as you promised to do when I
+told you that I would give you the half of this gold for what you have
+done for me and Golden Star? Are you ready to swear the oath here, in
+the presence of these witnesses, that you swore to me then?'
+
+He drew himself up and looked at me boldly--for he was a brave man
+although his heart was black--and said to me with a hard, harsh laugh in
+his voice,--
+
+'You have been too clever for me, and so I suppose you have the right to
+mock me. There is no need to go on with this farce. The sight of your
+treasures gave me the gold-fever, I suppose, and it drove me mad, as it
+has driven many others mad, and I betrayed you. There is no use saying
+any more. I see that I have been betrayed too, and that my life is in
+your hands, so I need only say that I keep the right of taking it myself
+in my own way.'
+
+'There is no need for that yet,' I said, 'and others are concerned in
+this besides you.'
+
+Then I turned from him to Francis Hartness and said,--
+
+'I cannot speak the Spanish speech, and I would not if I could. Do you
+therefore speak to the Spaniard yonder, and bid him say how he came to
+be here with his soldiers. Tell him, too, that if he lies, or refuses to
+speak, he shall be buried in the gold he came to steal until the weight
+of it crushes his life out. But say to him that if he speaks the truth
+and holds nothing back and does as I shall bid him, he shall have his
+life, and afterwards as much gold as three men can carry.'
+
+So then Francis Hartness turned to the trembling Spaniard and questioned
+him, and he confessed freely as soon as he knew he was not to be killed,
+and told how Djama had gone to the Governor of Cuzco and told him of my
+coming and of a great treasure that he would show him, and of others
+that I knew the secret of and might be made to reveal, and how he had
+bargained that half of all that was found should be his and the other
+half the Governor's, if he would help him to carry it to the coast in
+safety and put it on a steamer. The Spaniard told also how the Governor,
+who was his own father, had only half believed this story, and had
+bidden him bring a company of soldiers to the appointed place and see if
+there was any truth in Djama's story, and, if he found there was, to
+take Djama and all of us prisoners and carry us back to Cuzco, and put
+us into the prison until he could question us the next day.
+
+When he had finished, Djama laughed again and said,--
+
+'There's the honour of a Peruvian! Serve me right for being such a fool
+as to trust to it!'
+
+But I bade him sternly to hold his peace till he should be told to
+speak, and then, when Francis Hartness had told me in English what the
+Spaniard had said, I bade Tupac and Anahuac stand forward and tell of
+their share in what had been done, so that all might understand. They
+told their story in Quichua, and when I translated it into English to
+Francis Hartness I made few words of it, of which the meaning was
+this,--
+
+Ever since Tupac and his comrades had recognised me as their lord, and
+sworn their faith to me, they, and others whom they trusted, had
+industriously spread abroad the news of my coming--though telling
+nothing that would make a traitor able to betray us--and, in proof of
+their story, little wedges of gold, stamped with the ancient symbol of
+the Sun, had been passed from hand to hand as earnest of my promise that
+I would use the hidden treasures of the Incas for the benefit of my
+people, and make money of gold where now there was only silver and
+copper.
+
+By this time, not only had the golden wedges gone far and wide through
+the land, but nearly all the soldiers of the pure Indian blood had been
+won over to my cause, for, as I have said, and as everyone in the
+country knows, these soldiers are treated with great hardness by their
+Spanish masters, who often pay them nothing for many weeks or months
+together, and give them scanty food and hard usage, and cast them into
+prison or flog them and shoot them if they think to do anything to get
+justice. Moreover, there are always factions of men they call
+politicians scheming for power and setting the soldiers fighting against
+one another and against their countrymen for no benefit to themselves.
+So what Francis Hartness had told me on the night that Golden Star had
+come back to life had already begun to come true. More than half the
+garrison of Cuzco had already been won over, and only waited for the
+signal which should bid the whole Indian population of the valley to
+rise and seize the arms and ammunition in the city, and make the
+officers and the Governor and all the officials prisoners.
+
+Anahuac's daughter was a servant in the Governor's house, and this girl
+understood Spanish, though she pretended only to know Quichua and the
+dialect of the people, and she had been set to watch,[E] and Tupac's
+eldest son had also been secretly watching all the comings and goings of
+Djama since we came to Cuzco. In this way his visit to the Governor had
+been made known to me, and then one of the soldiers in the company that
+had been ordered to go with the Governor's son to the Rodadero had told
+Tupac of the order, and I had arranged with him how the surprise was to
+be carried out, and this, as you have seen, had been done with complete
+success.
+
+When I had finished telling this to Hartness I turned to the professor
+and said to him kindly,--
+
+'There has been nothing said that brings any share of the guilt of this
+treason to you, so now, if you will promise me on your faith and honour
+as an Englishman to keep my secrets and obey such commands as I shall
+put upon you for your own safety and that of all of us, you shall go
+free, and you shall have the choice of going back to England or to any
+other country until the war is over, or of staying here under my
+protection until you can go away safely with the treasure which shall
+be yours. But if you go now you cannot take it with you, for in a few
+days from now there will be war throughout the whole land, and it would
+be impossible to take so much treasure to the coast. Now, what do you
+say?'
+
+He thought for a moment and then said,--
+
+'I am not a man of war, as you know Vilcaroya, but I hope I am a man of
+honour. I have never breathed a syllable that could have given anyone an
+inkling of your secret, and I promise you solemnly that I never will.
+What Djama has done distresses me even more than it amazes me. I would
+have staked my life on his honesty, and if you will release him and let
+him come with me--'
+
+'No, no, my friend!' I said, quickly and sternly. 'What you would ask is
+impossible. His aims were deeper and his sin was blacker than it has
+been shown to be here. He did not betray us for gold alone, for he knew
+that I would keep my promise and give him more than he could want. He
+would have given me to my enemies to be killed--it might have been by
+tortures, to make me say where my treasures were hidden--so that he
+might have had Golden Star at his mercy.'
+
+'It was your own fault, curse you! Why did you not give her to me?'
+Djama cried suddenly, breaking loose from the two who held his arms and
+putting his hand to his pistol pocket. The next instant my own revolver
+was out from under my cloak and levelled at his heart.
+
+'Another motion and I will kill you,' I said, 'though so quick a death
+would be too good for you. Tie his hands behind his back and hold him
+faster this time. Give me his pistol.'
+
+Before I had done speaking they had seized him again in spite of his
+struggles, and paying no heed to his cries and imprecations--for by this
+time his long-pent-up passion had broken loose and made him almost mad,
+and when they had given me his pistol I said to him,--
+
+'I told you that Golden Star should be yours if you could win her as an
+honest man. But you sought to steal her as you would have stolen my
+gold. That is enough; keep silence now, or you shall be gagged.'
+
+Then I held out my hand to the professor and said,--
+
+'I will accept your promise, for you are an honest man. There is my
+hand. Now we will be friends as before, and I will answer for your
+safety. Will you go or stay with us?'
+
+'I will stay,' he said, 'for my studies are not completed yet, and
+besides, I am anxious to see what the Inca empire will be like when it
+is restored.'
+
+'I am glad that you say so,' I replied, 'for you are welcome, and you
+shall make your home here always if you will.'
+
+Then I bade them stand the Spanish officer in the professor's place
+beside Djama, and, turning to Francis Hartness, said,--
+
+'These men are worthy of death, for they would have delivered us to
+death, but I cannot kill Djama since Joyful Star might hate me for it,
+and if I do not kill him it would not be justice to kill the Spaniard.
+What shall I do?'
+
+'I see nothing for it,' he said, after thinking awhile, 'but shutting
+them up safely until we have got this business over, and then sending
+them out of the country and forbidding them to come back under pain of
+death. There are plenty of places that they would be perfectly safe in.'
+
+'That is well thought of, my friend,' I said, 'and it shall be done.
+They came for gold and they shall have it. They shall live in it, and
+see gold, and nothing but gold, till the sight of it is hateful to them.
+They shall have a prison of gold, and eat and drink from gold, and sleep
+and walk and sit on gold. Yes, truly, they shall have enough of gold
+before they see the light of day again. Now tell the Spaniard what I
+have said.'
+
+He did so, and at first the wretch's eyes glittered and then grew dim
+when the true meaning of his doom came upon him, for it meant he knew
+not how long an imprisonment with a man who had betrayed his friends,
+and whom, as he had confessed, he would himself have betrayed; and he
+thought, too, that I had only promised him his life and the gold to make
+him speak, and that now I would keep him prisoner and perhaps kill him
+in the end. So he fell on his knees, like the craven that he was, and
+begged for mercy, and told Hartness of my promise, and with Hartness's
+lips I told him only that he must have patience and wait until it was my
+pleasure to do what I had said.
+
+After this I called Tupac and Anahuac and told them what I wished done,
+and they took a score of their men and forthwith began to build, in a
+corner of the hall beside the throne, a chamber measuring some ten feet
+each way, of the oblong blocks of gold which were piled up in the
+pyramid, and while they were doing this I called the soldiers before me
+and told them, speaking in their own dialect, that if they were faithful
+to me until the end of the war, each man should have one ounce weight of
+gold paid to him every month, and one ounce more for each of his
+comrades that he could persuade to join us, and for this night's work I
+would give them each a wedge of gold of the weight of two ounces, which
+was more money than all that they had earned in their lives before; and
+when I had promised this they went on their knees and swore faith to me
+and destruction to their hated Spanish masters.
+
+Then I told them how Francis Hartness would lead them to battle and to
+victory as he had led the soldiers of his own nation, and after that he
+spoke to them in Spanish, and told them what to tell their comrades and
+what was to be done with the arms and ammunition when the signal for the
+rising was given.
+
+All this while Djama and the Spaniard were kept standing watching the
+building of their golden prison-cell. The men worked swiftly, and the
+many hands made the toil light, and they built the walls up very thick
+and strong, fitting the golden bricks closely into each other, and
+making the walls smooth and without hand or foot-hold, so that neither
+could any of the bricks be got out, nor the walls be climbed. The cell
+was divided into two by another wall, and when the walls were finished
+they were about ten feet high, and there was an opening into each cell
+in front, large enough for a man to crawl in on his hands and knees.
+
+When all was ready I said to Djama,--
+
+'There is your house of gold. Go and dwell in it till it shall be safe
+for me to release you. Every day, as I have said, you shall eat and
+drink from plates and cups of gold, and you shall dream of gold until
+this gold-fever of yours is cured.'
+
+'Until I have gone gold-mad, you mean!' he cried, snarling at me like an
+angry dog. 'It is just such a vengeance as a half-civilised savage would
+have thought of. You know as well as I do that I shall go mad in there
+unless I kill myself first.'
+
+'You have your choice!' I said. 'I will make your punishment no lighter.
+If you think to pull the walls down they will fall on you and crush you,
+and you will be buried in gold, and if I am told that you have tried to
+break out, I will put chains of gold on you, so heavy that you shall not
+be able to drag them across your cell; but if you are peaceful and
+patient, all your wants shall be attended to by those that I shall
+appoint, and you shall have everything but liberty and the light of day.
+Now, go in.'
+
+'I won't!' he cried with a curse that ended in a scream. 'I shall go mad
+in there, I tell you, and that is a thousand times worse than death to
+me. I won't! Damn you, I won't!'
+
+'Then you shall be thrust in,' I said.
+
+I made a sign to those who held him, and they, seeing what I meant, took
+him by the body and the legs, and carried him, feet foremost, kicking
+and struggling, towards the hole. Then they thrust him in with his arms
+still bound. But when he was half-way through, I bade one of them loose
+the cords a little, so that he could free himself afterwards. The
+Spaniard made no resistance, and when he was bidden crept, trembling
+like a hound that has been flogged, into his cell, and when they were
+both in I ordered the openings to be built up.
+
+[Illustration: They thrust him in with his arms still bound.
+
+_To face page 205._]
+
+Francis Hartness and the professor had gone away to the other end of the
+hall, not liking to see this, and yet knowing that it would be useless
+to seek to persuade me to more mercy.
+
+'Our work here is done now,' I said, going to them, 'and it would be
+well for us to go back to the fortress and sleep, for the morning is
+near and there will be much work to do before long.'
+
+'I don't think I shall sleep much after what I have seen to-night,' said
+Hartness, 'and if I did sleep I think I should dream of that golden
+prison and those two poor wretches hungering and thirsting for daylight
+and liberty, with the means of buying any luxury the world could give
+them within reach of their hands.'
+
+'Yes,' said the professor, 'it is a curious situation, isn't it?--quite
+apart from the personal interest it has for us. Now, in England or
+America, a room built with walls and floor of solid gold would be a
+luxury that only a millionaire could afford, and he would probably be
+thought a fool for building it, and yet here it is only a prison in
+which a man might well starve to death. Come, let us get away from here.
+I really don't want to hear any more of Djama's ravings than I can help.
+Good heavens! who ever would have thought that a man of his culture and
+learning and strength of mind could possibly have made such a blackguard
+of himself!'
+
+'Well,' said Hartness, with a dry sort of laugh, 'you see he was the
+victim of the two passions that have done most to drive men mad or make
+scoundrels of them since the world began--the love of woman and the lust
+for gold. I don't pretend to understand it myself, because he had gold
+enough promised to him, and there is no telling but that he might have
+won the woman; but there, you never can tell how far any man is mad or
+sane until he's tried.'
+
+'But there was something else, my friend,' I said. 'There was, as you
+say, lust of gold and love of woman; but there was also hate. Why, I
+know not; but though I owe my new life to that man, I have hated him and
+he has hated me since we learnt to know each other as living men. You
+know, too, how, as I told you, Golden Star shrank from him as though he
+had been a poisonous reptile, and yet why should I hate him and yet love
+her who is of the same flesh and blood as he is?'
+
+'I would rather discuss the problem in the open air or at the hacienda
+than here,' said the professor, 'and even then I don't suppose we should
+get much nearer to a solution, for these things are mysteries and mostly
+past finding out. Yet it may be that you and he, the sons of different
+centuries, may actually have embodied in you the differences and the
+antipathies of the two ages and the two races to which you belong. There
+is no telling. But come, let us get out of here, please. I really can't
+stand this any longer.'
+
+'Nor I,' said Hartness. 'For goodness' sake let us go! This is a good
+deal more trying to the nerves than a cavalry charge or a smart
+skirmish.'
+
+'Very well,' I said, 'we will go.'
+
+Then I called to Tupac and bade him tell the soldiers and the rest that
+the night's work was over and it was time to go. We gave each of the
+soldiers his wedge of gold, as I had promised them; and once more I made
+them swear that each would kill any of the others who thought to betray
+us. Then Tupac and Anahuac went and opened the stone door, and we
+returned from the Hall of Gold to the upper earth, leaving Djama and his
+fellow traitor still raving and crying within the walls of their golden
+prison.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[D] The Inca naturally does not distinguish between the modern Peruvians
+and their Spanish ancestors.
+
+[E] This is quite a common thing in Peru, and the Indian women make
+exceedingly clever spies.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+ON THE RODADERO
+
+
+Francis Hartness and I came last out of the passage, and I asked him to
+lead the soldiers out of the hollow and across the plain to the wall of
+the Sacsahuaman, where I would join them, and as soon as they had gone
+out of the hollow and were lost to sight I went to the hole among the
+bushes where the hidden stone was and released the chain and let the
+water flow back into its old place, till the entrance to the Hall of
+Gold was only the same dark, stagnant pool that any wanderer might find
+at the bottom of the cloven stairway.
+
+Then I strewed the earth over the hole, and piled the stones and
+brushwood round and over it as before, and went away to join the others.
+I found them standing in a group in one of the angles of the great
+fortress, and there I spoke to the soldiers again, and told them how
+much depended, both for themselves and for the country, on their
+fidelity, promising them peace and prosperity and freedom if they were
+faithful, and a speedy death if they betrayed me.
+
+After this I told them what story they should tell when they went back
+to the city--how their Indian guide had led them into the entrance to a
+cavern in the mountain, their officer going first and he following, and
+how, when these two were going on with a single light, some two or three
+yards ahead of them a great slab of stone had suddenly fallen down
+between them, closing the passage, and how water had risen up and filled
+the passage at its lower end, forcing them to run back out of it for
+fear of being drowned; and I further gave them permission to bring any
+who disbelieved them to the mouth of the cleft under the Sayacusca and
+show them the water that they would find at the bottom of it, but to
+take good care to send me warning of anyone going there.
+
+This they promised to do, and still full of wonder, and yet pleased with
+the gold they had got and the promises I had made to them, they made a
+loyal farewell, and marched down through the Gate of Sand, and went back
+to the city to tell their story and do the work that I had bidden them
+do.
+
+When they had gone I sent some of my men to see that none of them turned
+back, and dismissed the rest to their homes, saving only Tupac, Anahuac,
+and Ainu and three others who could be trusted in all things; and with
+these we went back into the underground chambers of the fortress by the
+way that we had left them.
+
+When we got back to the throne-room I sent all but Tupac away to remove
+the beasts from the stables and take them to the hacienda, so that the
+next night, under cover of the darkness, they could return and bring us
+food and drink and clothing and other things that we needed, for now
+that matters had gone so far it would not be safe for us to live at the
+hacienda or be seen in any place known to the Spaniards until the time
+was ripe for the striking of the first blow.
+
+When they were gone we ate and drank a little of what we had brought
+with us in the morning, and then lay down, either to sleep or to think
+of the strange things that had happened and of what was now quickly
+coming to pass.
+
+As for me, no sleep came to my eyes, for I knew that when Joyful Star
+awoke I should have to tell her at least something of what her brother
+had done and of what had happened to him, and a grievous task it was,
+you may be sure, when I came to the doing of it, as I did not many hours
+afterwards.
+
+The first thing she asked me when she found that Djama was not with us
+was what had become of him, and then, knowing that sooner or later the
+bitter truth had to be told, I told her as gently as I was able, and
+hiding from her all that I could without lying to her. My words struck
+her dumb with horror and amazement, and if it had not been that Francis
+Hartness and the professor were there, and told her that they had seen
+and heard with their own eyes and ears the truth of all that I said, I
+do not think she would have believed me. But when at last she could no
+longer doubt the story of her brother's crime and treachery, she came to
+me and laid her hand upon my arm, and looked up at me with tearful eyes
+and said,--
+
+'But you will not kill him, Vilcaroya, for my sake, will you? He is my
+brother, you know, after all, though he has made me almost ashamed to
+say so. You must protect yourself, of course, and your people from
+treachery, but you will not kill him, will you?'
+
+'He is alive now,' I said, 'because he is Joyful Star's brother, not
+because I think he is worthy to live, for he would have betrayed one
+life that he gave back, and stained the other with infamy. But I have
+given my word, and he shall live, and when he can do no more harm I will
+pardon him, and he shall go back to his own country in safety. More than
+that I cannot promise even to you.'
+
+'It is all that I can ask for,' she said, 'and more than he could expect
+after what he has done. But, oh! why should he have brought such a shame
+as this upon us?'
+
+'Upon himself only,' I said. It would not be possible for such a thing
+as shame to touch you.'
+
+She looked up at me again and smiled through her tears, as if my words
+had pleased her well, and that smile of hers was more to me than even
+her tears. Then she went back to the little chamber where she had slept,
+and presently returned leading Golden Star by the hand, and then we all
+sat down in the silver seats and talked of the wonderful things that had
+happened, and I told Golden Star all the story of my own return to life,
+and hers, and what I knew of the changes that had happened in the world
+since she and I had said our last words to each other in the Sanctuary
+of the Sun; and then I set her talking with the others, translating for
+her and for them as well as I could, and she, knowing nothing of what
+had happened in the night, and being glad that Evil Eyes, as she called
+Djama in our own speech, had gone away for a long time, was as happy as
+a child amongst us, and soon even Ruth became more cheerful and began to
+try and make her say words of English and repeat her name and the
+professor's and Francis Hartness's after her, for she already loved her
+dearly, and, even in the midst of her own sorrow, she was rejoiced that
+the soul which had slept had been so happily re-awakened in her.
+
+After this, Francis Hartness and I began to talk our plans over again,
+and to discuss the chances of the revolt in Cuzco, and I showed him how,
+with the help of my people, I would the next day cut off all
+communication between the valley and the rest of the country until our
+work was finished there, for I was determined that the first part of the
+empire of my fathers' that I would re-take should be the City of the Sun
+itself and the region that it commanded, since I knew that my people
+still looked upon it as the most sacred spot on earth, and would fight
+better to take it than any other place. And in this plan Francis
+Hartness, looking at the matter as a soldier, also agreed with me.
+
+We thought it best that none of us should show ourselves in the open
+that day, for we knew not what the effect of the soldiers' story and
+their return without their officer might be in Cuzco, for if it had
+become widely known, it would certainly bring many people up to the
+Rodadero to behold the scene of so strange an occurrence. So we spent
+the day in conversation, and, which was more interesting to my
+companions, in exploring the maze of chambers and passages and winding
+galleries which the labour of many thousands of men had wrought out of
+the solid rock in the days of my ancestors, for you must know that in
+those days the fortress of the Sacsahuaman was crowned with a great
+palace, which was the strongest place in all the Land of the Four
+Regions, and so here were stored very great treasures, not only of gold
+and silver and precious stones, but also weapons and armour and most
+finely-woven cloths of the purest wool of the Vicuna, which is softer
+than silk, brilliantly dyed and embroidered with gems and threads of
+gold, and the imperial robes that had been worn by twenty generations of
+Incas, many sets of each, since nothing that had belonged to one Inca
+might ever be used by another after his death.
+
+Among these were found many sets of the royal robes of the Coyas or
+queen-wives of the Incas, and I took Golden Star aside and told her to
+take two of these and to clothe herself in one and Joyful Star in the
+other, so that we might see our two Inca princesses side by side as
+they might have looked in the days of the past, and she fell in with my
+humour, laughing and clapping her hands like a delighted child.
+
+So she took the robes and led Joyful Star away with her to their own
+chamber, talking to her in her soft, musical speech, though she knew she
+could not understand her, and yet making so many pretty signs and
+eloquent gestures that Ruth, forgetting her sorrow for the time,
+comprehended her, and entered into the spirit of the play, and soon they
+came back to us into the throne-room, clad exactly alike, and so
+perfectly resembling each other, save for the contrast of the blue eyes
+and the brown, and the bright hair and the dark, that they could have
+been taken for nothing save twin daughters of the Sun and the fairest of
+his children; and Tupac and the two men that I had kept in the fortress
+to attend to our wants fell on their knees before them as they passed,
+as though they would have worshipped them.
+
+It was at this time, and while we were passing the hours in this
+fashion, that Golden Star did something that gave me great joy and a
+bright hope for the future. I had been telling her of the wonderful
+country that I had returned to life in, and of the marvellous things
+that I had seen there, and this, she knew already, was the country of
+Francis Hartness. So, as he came from such a wonderful land, she
+thought, in the innocence of her old-world simplicity, that he was one
+of a new race of beings that came on to the earth since our days, and
+when I told her he was but human like ourselves, though very strong and
+learned and skilled in many things that we knew nothing of, she said to
+me, just as a sister might say to a brother from whom she had no
+secrets,--
+
+'He is rather, in my eyes, like a son of our Father who has come to
+earth from the Mansions of the Sun; yet I am very glad that he is not,
+and that he is a man such as you are, my brother, and when Joyful Star
+has taught me the speech of her people I will talk with him, and then I
+think life will be better for me, for even now, though I cannot
+understand his words, his voice sounds like music to me, and when he
+looks at me he makes me try to remember something that was in my other
+life, and I have forgotten. What is it, I wonder?'
+
+I looked down into her eyes and saw the untroubled serenity of her soul
+reflected in them. There was no flush on her cheeks, and her lips were
+smiling as they could not have smiled had she known how I could have
+answered that question for her. I stooped and kissed her brow and
+said,--
+
+'I might guess what it is, Golden Star, but I could not tell you. Yet I
+pray that our Father the Sun may put it into the heart of my friend to
+teach you what I see now you can only learn from him.'
+
+More than this I would not tell her, though she questioned me sharply.
+But the next time that Francis Hartness spoke to her through my lips she
+looked up at him, and a little flush came to her cheeks, and a smile to
+her lips, and I saw his eyes brighten, and the colour deepen ever so
+little under the bronze of his skin.
+
+Then I looked at Joyful Star and saw something shining in her eyes too,
+and as she caught my glance she smiled ever so little and said, when I
+had finished speaking for him,--
+
+'Vilcaroya is an excellent interpreter, I've no doubt; but don't you
+think, Captain Hartness, it would be very much more interesting if you
+could talk directly with Her Highness? You know I'm teaching Golden Star
+English, and Vilcaroya is teaching you Quichua--now, I wonder which of
+you will be able to talk to the other first?'
+
+He pulled his moustache and laughed, looking at Golden Star the while,
+and said,--
+
+'Well, Her Highness has the advantage of the easier language and the
+freshest, and I daresay the brightest intellect, but probably for all
+that we shall begin with some delightful jargon of both languages, and
+leave them to sort themselves out as we go on. Still, as you say, it
+will be more interesting than talking through an interpreter.'
+
+'And I hope,' she said, with more meaning in her voice than in her
+words, 'that you will both of you find it as pleasant as it will be
+interesting.'
+
+'Who knows!' he said, catching her meaning and laughing again. 'She is
+most wonderfully like you, Miss Ruth, isn't she?'
+
+'Yes, but--but I am not without hope that you may some day compare us a
+little, just a little, to my disadvantage.'
+
+What Francis Hartness would have said to this I cannot say, though I do
+not think he was displeased by Joyful Star's words, and yet his face
+grew very serious as she spoke. But just then Tupac came and told me
+that Anahuac and Ainu had returned with the beasts, and were now waiting
+outside the bronze doors. From this we learnt that it was already night,
+though, truth to tell, the time had passed so quickly for us that I for
+one thought that it was little more than late afternoon.
+
+Now, as I have said, I was the only one who knew the secret of the
+bronze doors, and so I went back with Tupac and opened them, and, when
+the men had entered, closed them again.
+
+There were twelve of them beside Ainu and Anahuac, and all were laden
+with food and drink and clothing, and our arms and ammunition, two
+repeating rifles and two revolvers for each of us. When the men had laid
+their burdens down, I called Anahuac to me, and asked him if he had any
+news. He bowed himself before me, and then, standing in front of me as I
+sat in one of the seats, he said,--
+
+'Yes, Lord. If the ears of the Son of the Sun are open, his servant will
+fill them with tidings of some moment.'
+
+'Say on,' I said, 'and meanwhile let a meal be prepared for us, for we
+are hungry.'
+
+This I said to Tupac, and Golden Star, hearing it, smiled, and took
+Ruth's hand and led her to the boxes, making signs that they should
+perform the housewife's duties together. Then Anahuac began, and said,--
+
+'The ears of the Children of the Blood have not been closed, nor have
+their eyes slept throughout the Holy City and the Valley of the Sun, and
+they have seen and heard much, and the courage of their hearts has risen
+high, and they are longing for the word of their Lord to break the yoke
+that is upon their necks.
+
+'When the soldiers returned last night and told the story that my Lord
+had put into their mouths, there was great wonder among all the other
+soldiers, and many saw in it a sign that the Son of the Sun is mighty,
+and can do that which he promises. But among the masters who are set
+over the soldiers there was great anger, and they sought, but without
+avail, to keep the news from being made public in the city; but the Men
+of the Blood took care that this should not be so, and to-day all Cuzco
+has been talking of the strange fate of the Coronel Prada, the son of
+Don Antonio Prada, the governor. But Don Antonio himself had gone the
+day before to a hacienda near Oropesa, and messengers have been sent to
+him to tell him the story, and this evening he rode back with all haste
+to the city.
+
+'He has ordered that to-night sentries shall be posted at all the
+approaches to the Rodadero and round the Sayacusca, so that none may
+come or go without his knowledge, and to-morrow he will come himself
+with many officers and two hundred soldiers, and the thing they call
+dynamite, that he may rend the Sayacusca in pieces, and find, as he
+thinks, the place where his son has been hidden.'
+
+'And the soldiers--what of them?' I asked. 'Will they be for us or
+against us?'
+
+'There will be many in the service of my Lord, and if it shall be
+possible there shall be more of these than of the others, for those who
+were in the Hall of Gold last night have been busy in the hope of my
+Lord's further bounty, and many have been tempted with the promise of
+gold and freedom; but still there will be many that may not be trusted,
+and all the officers of the Governor will be Spaniards.'
+
+'And therefore enemies,' I said, when he had finished his story, and
+stood waiting for me to speak.
+
+I told Francis Hartness at once what Anahuac had said, and we debated
+for a short time on what we should do. Then I called Tupac, and he came
+and stood beside Anahuac, and I said to them,--
+
+'These things have happened well for us, and now we must act quickly, so
+that we may take the best advantage of them. When you go hence, take
+with you twenty strips of the scarlet fringe in token of my authority,
+and give these to twenty of the best of the Men of the Blood, and let
+them go with all speed and silence through the towns and villages of the
+valley, and say that the Son of the Sun has come, and is about to
+stretch forth his hand and take that which was his again. Further, let
+every entrance to the valley be closed. Let the bridge over the Great
+Speaker be cut with all speed that may be. Let none pass in or out of
+the gateway of Piquillacta, and let all the mountain paths be broken
+down or blocked, so that none may know what is happening in the valley,
+nor any news be carried hence into the country.
+
+'Let every hacienda, whose master is a Spaniard, be given to the flames,
+but let no one else be injured. Let none of the strangers be hurt, and
+let their goods be sacred. Let all of the sentries who will not serve us
+be disarmed or slain silently by the others, and this before midnight,
+and let those who are for us--who shall come with the Governor
+to-morrow--make ready to do quickly that which shall be commanded them.
+The password for those who are with us will be "Vilcaroya." The rest I
+will do with my own hands and the help of my friend. I have spoken--let
+me be obeyed quickly!'
+
+Then they bent low before me and went to make ready to do what I had
+bidden them.
+
+It was then about eight o'clock at night, and after we had had our
+evening meal we waited until it was nearly eleven, making perfect our
+plans, and then, when Ruth and Golden Star had gone to rest without
+knowing of the work which we had in hand--for we had kept it from them
+lest they should be anxious for us--Francis Hartness and I armed
+ourselves, after I had disguised him as well as I could to make him look
+like an Indian, and we said good-night to the professor and left the
+fortress by the same way that we had left it the night before.
+
+As soon as we got out into the open air we made our way stealthily back
+towards the Rodadero, until I caught sight of a sentry standing near one
+of the carved stones.
+
+'I will go and see whether this is a friend or a foe,' I whispered.
+'Wait here and cover him with your rifle, but do not fire unless you
+hear me whistle.'
+
+'Very well,' he said; 'but take care of yourself, for those Mannlicher
+bullets make a very ugly wound.'
+
+I waved my hand to him in reply, and went away towards the sentry,
+keeping a good lookout for others who might be about. I had in my belt a
+long, heavy-bladed knife, and this I loosened in the sheath as I came
+near to him. I got within earshot of him unseen, and then, rising to my
+feet behind him, I said in a low voice, but loud enough for him to
+hear,--
+
+'Vilcaroya--friend or foe?'
+
+'_Halta! quien va?_'
+
+The words in the hated Spanish speech told me that he was a foe. As he
+faced about, bringing his rifle to the ready, I drew my knife and,
+before he could take aim, sent it whistling through the air with such
+force and so true an aim that it took him in the windpipe and half
+buried its blade in his neck. That was one of the tricks of our old
+warfare which, with many others, I had taken good care not to forget.
+
+He dropped his rifle and clasped his hands to his throat and fell
+without a sound. I crept swiftly forward, pulled the knife out of his
+throat and drove it into his heart. Then I quickly took off his
+cartridge-belt and long coat and cap, and put them on. After that I took
+his rifle and stood in his place for a little while, so that the others
+might see me, and then walked back to where I had left Hartness. When he
+saw me coming, his rifle-barrel moved till it covered me, and he said in
+English,--
+
+'Is that you, Vilcaroya?'
+
+'Yes,' I said. 'The sentry was an enemy, and I have killed him. Now I am
+going to take you prisoner, as though I were the sentry, and so we can
+go together and find the officer who commands the sentries, and take him
+prisoner or kill him.'
+
+'All right,' he said with a laugh. 'I surrender. This isn't quite what
+we call civilised warfare, but I suppose it can't be helped.'
+
+We went back together to the place where the sentry that I had killed
+had stood, and then we saw two or three others coming in towards the
+place, no doubt to see why the other sentry should have left his post. I
+took Hartness's rifle out of his hand, and, catching him by the arm, led
+him to meet the nearest of them, as though I had taken a prisoner.
+Within ten paces of them I halted, and said,--
+
+'Is it Vilcaroya or Prada?'
+
+'Vilcaroya to a friend, Prada to an enemy,' he answered, in the dialect
+in which I had addressed him.
+
+'Then we are friends,' I said, taking off the peaked cap that had
+belonged to the other sentry, and showing him the long, straight, brown
+hair that betokened my race. 'I am he who has come back from the days
+that are dead--Vilcaroya, the son of Huayna-Capac.'
+
+'And I am thy servant, Lord,' he said, bringing his rifle-butt down
+between his feet, and bending his head over the muzzle. 'I am one of
+those who saw the glory of my Lord in the Hall of Gold last night.'
+
+'Then thou art one of the faithful,' I said, 'for none have betrayed the
+secret or earned the swift death that would have been theirs had they
+done so. Now tell me, how many of those who are on guard here to-night
+may be trusted?'
+
+'There are twenty of us here, Lord, not counting the officer in
+command.'
+
+'Nay,' I said, interrupting him, 'there are but nineteen, for he who
+wore this coat and carried this rifle was an enemy, and I have killed
+him, as I would have killed thee hadst thou been an enemy. Now, of these
+nineteen, how many may I trust?'
+
+'There are but five who may not be trusted, not counting the officer,
+and he is a Spaniard, and must be killed.'
+
+'That is good,' I said, for the tone in which he had said these last
+words had pleased me well. 'Now this man with me is my faithful friend,
+and one who will fight well for me and my people. Go on the other side
+of him, and we will take him as a prisoner to the officer. Then thou
+shalt see how Vilcaroya deals with his enemies.'
+
+He bent his head in assent, and took his place beside Hartness, and as
+we marched away Hartness said to me,--
+
+'I don't think I shall have much to teach you in strategy, Vilcaroya,
+but I must say that I would rather have a stand-up fight than this kind
+of thing.'
+
+'It is not like what you have told me of the warfare of the English,' I
+said, 'yet if it has to be it must be. Let us get it over.'
+
+So we marched him between us across the plain, and when we got between
+the wall of the fortress and the carved stone that they called the
+Inca's Seat, we saw the officer who was in command of the sentries
+walking, with two soldiers beside him, from post to post, seeing that
+the sentries were awake and keeping proper watch. We went to meet him,
+and halted ten paces from him at his command. I had told the sentry to
+reply for me, and he answered the officer's hail and said,--
+
+'Vilcaroya!--a prisoner.'
+
+[Illustration: It had smitten him to the heart.
+
+_To face page 228._]
+
+As the first words left his lips the two soldiers repeated the password
+and made with their rifles the movement that is called the salute. My
+knife was already in my hand, and as the officer gave a command in
+Spanish, it flashed once in the starlight and the next instant was
+buried to the hilt in his breast. He fell, as the sentry had done,
+without a cry, for it had smitten him to the heart, dead as though he
+had been struck by a lightning bolt. The others stared at his fallen
+body, dumb with amazement, and I heard Hartness utter a sound that might
+have been one either of horror or of wonder; but I had no time to take
+heed of this, so I instantly ordered the two soldiers to take the
+officer's uniform off his body, and then I said to Hartness,--
+
+'Now, you can speak Spanish and I cannot. Take this Spaniard's uniform
+and his weapons, and make yourself the officer of the guard, and then
+you shall help me to set a trap that the Governor shall find it a hard
+matter to escape from.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+HOW WE TOOK THE CITY OF THE SUN
+
+
+Although Hartness was a much taller and broader man than the Spaniard,
+his long, loose overcoat fitted him well enough for the occasion, and
+when he had put on his shako, and wrapped his scarf about his neck so as
+to hide his fair beard, he was disguised enough to pass in the darkness
+for one of the enemy. We now took the two soldiers who had been with the
+officer and visited all the posts. We found four of the sentries who
+could not return the password and were therefore enemies. These we
+disarmed and bound instead of killing them, for I could see that what I
+had done had pleased my friend but little, though he saw that in such a
+desperate venture as ours it was necessary to use desperate measures.
+
+When we had gone the rounds and made sure of all, we buried the two dead
+men, and took our prisoners into one of the caves under the carved
+stones. Then I posted my men so as to guard all the approaches from the
+city to the Rodadero, and after that I went with Hartness to the hidden
+hole by the Sayacusca, and showed him how the way to the Hall of Gold
+was opened. I did this so that the secret might be in good and safe
+hands if I should fall in battle, and so that he should be able to
+properly protect the welfare of Ruth and Golden Star, and fulfil my
+promises to himself and the professor.
+
+When I had turned the stone and showed him the chain, I pulled it up and
+supported it as I had done before, only this time I used the carbine
+which had belonged to the sentry I had killed, and to the stock of this
+I fastened a long rope which Tupac had hidden there by my orders. This
+rope I stretched out along the ground, hiding it as well as I could, in
+a straight line away from the Sayacusca. The end I led into the entrance
+of one of the many passages or tunnels which ran under the carved
+stones. By the time I had done this the water had all flowed away, and
+Hartness said to me,--
+
+'Are you going to leave the entrance to your treasure-house open like
+that for His Excellency to walk into to-morrow?'
+
+'Yes,' I said, 'but it is only half open. Unless the door below is open
+too there is no way out or in save this and the channel through which
+the waters flow, so that His Excellency will not find much down there.'
+
+'I see,' he said, 'a trap, and not one that I should care to see a
+friend of mine walk into. But you don't mean to drown them all like rats
+in a hole, do you?'
+
+'I cannot tell that yet,' I said. 'If we can take them alive we may do
+so, but unless they yield to us they shall yield to the water. Now,
+everything is ready, and we have only to wait. Come and sleep for a
+little and I will keep watch, and then I will sleep and you shall watch.
+It will not be daylight for six hours yet, and we can do nothing more
+till then.'
+
+We went to the cavern in which I had hidden the end of the rope, and he
+lay down on the soft, clean sand, and, soldier-like, was fast asleep
+almost as soon as he had lain down. I left him there, and made the round
+of the guards and spoke with the men, telling them as much as it was
+necessary for them to know of my plans for the next day, and allowed
+half of them to take two or three hours' rest, with their arms ready at
+hand, while the others watched, and then I went back to Hartness and
+told him to wake me in three hours, and soon was fast asleep in his
+place. He came and woke me at daylight and told me that everything was
+still quiet and that the sentries were all in their places.
+
+Then, when we had breakfasted on the food that we had brought with us
+from the fortress, we called in all the sentries save the two by the
+Gate of Sand, and hid them among the stones and bushes, all within an
+easy rifle-shot of the entrance to the water-cavern. I bade the two I
+had left by the gate tell the Governor that all was well, and, when he
+had ridden by, to mix with the soldiers and tell those who were for me
+to separate from the others as soon as they heard my signal-cry, and
+then to wait for the English captain.
+
+For nearly an hour we sat and watched for the coming of the enemy, and
+then at last we saw a troop of horse come up out of the valley round the
+end of the fortress. After them came some officers on horseback, with
+the Governor riding at their head, and then another troop of horse, in
+all about three hundred men. The first troop, led by the Governor and
+his officers, came on towards the Sayacusca, and the others halted and
+spread themselves out along the ridge that runs round it. When they saw
+the empty hole and the steps leading down into the darkness, they all
+crowded round, peering down into it. Then two lanterns were lighted and
+some of them went down.
+
+They had all dismounted from their horses and were indulging their
+curiosity without suspicion. I waited till they were nearly all in my
+trap, and then came the moment to close it. My long, wailing cry rang
+out loud and shrill through the hollow, and was taken up by my men in
+hiding, and in an instant all was confusion. I heard my name shouted
+from one to the other, and saw more than half of the troopers in the
+hollow leave their ranks and gallop away towards the plain. Then I took
+aim at a trooper who was watching the officer's horses, and fired. The
+bullet struck his horse, and it reared up and threw him, and then fell
+and lay kicking on the ground. At this all the others took fright and
+broke loose and galloped away in all directions. At the same instant the
+rifles of my men began cracking all round, and saddle after saddle was
+emptied as the bullets found their marks.
+
+'I'm going to catch one of those horses,' said Hartness suddenly to me,
+'then I'll ride out and bring those other fellows up and show them what
+to do. That'll be more in my line than this sort of work. Good-bye; you
+will see or hear of me again before long.'
+
+The next moment he was gone, and I had not fired many more shots before
+I saw him, mounted on one of the officers' horses, galloping through the
+hollow towards the ridge. All this time none of my men had shown
+themselves, and the constant stream of shots coming from all sides of
+them had thrown the Governor's troops into utter confusion. The officers
+were shouting orders which no one listened to, the horses were galloping
+wildly about, rearing and plunging with the pain of their wounds, and
+many of the soldiers had already taken to flight, believing, in their
+panic, that the hollow was full of hidden enemies.
+
+We kept up the fire from our hiding-places until we heard shouts and
+cheers coming from the ridge, and I looked and saw Hartness with a drawn
+sword in his hand, leading a body of some hundred and fifty troopers
+down into the hollow.
+
+Now I saw that we should be able to end the battle quickly, so I sent up
+my signal-cry again and called for my own men to come out. Then I pulled
+the rope and released the chain, and ran out towards my men, shouting to
+them to close round the entrance to the water-cavern and shoot all who
+tried to get out. Some three or four sought to escape and were shot, and
+then the rest, seeing my men running at them with the bayonet, and the
+other troopers coming up, led by a stranger, lost heart, and crowded
+back into the cleft, firing their revolvers wildly as they went.
+
+The next moment we heard cries of terror coming up out of the darkness,
+mingled with the rushing of water, and the Governor, followed by about
+six of his officers, came leaping up the steps to find a line of
+bayonets drawn up across the mouth. With the waters surging up behind
+them, and the bayonets in front of them, there was nothing for them but
+surrender or death.
+
+Hartness, who had now dismounted, ordered the men to fall back a pace,
+and, as they did so, he went through the line with his sword in one hand
+and a revolver in the other, and said to the Governor,--
+
+'Senor, will you yield or go back down yonder?'
+
+'We must yield,' said the Governor, 'since there is no choice. But who
+are you, and what are you, an Englishman, doing here in arms against the
+Government?'
+
+'Who I am matters nothing just now,' he replied, 'and as for your
+Government, it no longer exists. That must be enough for you. Now,
+senores, give up your swords and revolvers quietly and no harm shall
+come to you. You, Senor Prada, give your sword to this caballero here,
+who is the Inca Vilcaroya and lawful ruler of this country.'
+
+The Governor turned and stared at me, dumb with amazement at these
+strange words, and all the others stared too, for, like him, they had
+no doubt heard the legend of my strange fate. He drew his sword, and as
+he did so I covered him with my revolver, and extended my hand to take
+it. He held the hilt out to me with a trembling hand. I took it in
+silence, and then I turned from him and said to my men,--
+
+'Bring these Spaniards out and bind them safely, then follow me to the
+Seat of the Incas.'
+
+When they saw that the victory was with us, and that the Governor
+himself was our prisoner, together with many of the chief of his
+officers, those of the soldiers who had not been for me when they came
+were glad enough now to secure themselves by shouting my name and
+obeying my orders, and when I moved away towards the seat, they followed
+me, laughing and cheering, well pleased to see their hated masters
+prisoners in their midst.
+
+The great carved rock which is called the Inca's Seat is, as I have
+already said, a great rounded mass of stone rising up from the plain of
+the Rodadero, and carved into many seats. On the top there are three
+broad seats, the middle one higher than all the rest, and it was here
+that my forefathers had sat to watch the building of the great fortress,
+and sometimes to give audience to their people.
+
+Now I sat on it, and the soldiers drew themselves up round the rock,
+with the prisoners in the midst of them, and I spoke to them, and told
+them freely of the strange things that had happened to me, and how I had
+come back to the Land of the Four Regions to drive out their oppressors
+and restore the just and gentle rule of my ancestors. Then I had the
+Governor brought up and stood before me, and bade Francis Hartness come
+and sit on my right hand and speak to him for me, and by his lips I told
+him that unless the city was surrendered to me before evening he and all
+his officers should die, and all the houses of the Spaniards in the city
+should be given to the flames and no pity shown to any man, woman or
+child of them, for as they had treated my people so I had sworn to treat
+them unless they yielded.
+
+You may think how troubled he was at hearing such words as these, since
+he knew from what he had seen that there was conspiracy and treachery
+among his own men, and he had no knowledge of how far this had gone, or
+which of his men he could trust, and so this man, who but a few hours
+before had been master of the whole valley, and had looked upon the
+Indios, as he called them, as little better than slaves, now answered me
+humbly enough and prayed me not to murder him when he was helpless in my
+power. And to this I answered him that the blood of my people had been
+crying out for many generations against his people, and that this was
+the day not of mercy but of vengeance, and that I would do as I had said
+unless the city were delivered to me.
+
+Then I descended from the seat and mounted the Governor's horse, and
+after I had sent a company of twelve men to ride quickly down to the
+city and go through all the streets, shouting my name as a signal to
+tell my people that all was well, and that the moment for them to rise
+against their oppressors had come, I took my place beside Hartness at
+the head of our little army, and with our prisoners well guarded close
+behind us we set out on our way back to Cuzco.
+
+As we approached the city we heard the sound of the church-bells being
+rung wildly, and looking down, we could see the streets and squares full
+of people, and as we got nearer still we heard the cracking of rifles
+and the shouts and cries of men in conflict.
+
+'There is either a fight or a riot going on down there,' said Hartness
+to me, 'and if many of the soldiers remain faithful to the Government
+there'll be some bloodshed before to-night. Have you any idea how many
+there are?'
+
+'There were more than two thousand soldiers in the city yesterday,' I
+said, 'and out of these more than half have already taken my gold and
+sworn faith to me. Of the rest many are wavering, and when they see we
+have taken the Governor prisoner I think they will come over.'
+
+'Very likely,' he said; 'but how about those machine-guns in the
+barracks? There are three Gatlings and two Maxims, and if they keep
+those and work them properly they'll just sweep the streets and squares
+clear, you know.'
+
+'I have promised fifty pounds' weight of gold for each of them,' I said;
+'and, more than that, there should be no ammunition for them by this
+time if what the sentries told us is true.'
+
+'Yes,' he said, 'if we can get hold of that, or even the best part of
+it, I don't think there will be much danger. However, as everything
+depends on that, I think we had better go straight to the Cuartel first.
+If we have that we have Cuzco.'
+
+We entered the city by the street of El Triunfo, and made our way
+straight to the great Plaza. As we rode along three abreast we were
+greeted by joyful cries from the crowds of Indians who parted to leave a
+way for us through the midst of them. Tupac and his comrades had done
+their work well, and all night the people had been thronging into the
+city from the surrounding country. All the shops and houses of the
+Spaniards were already shut up, and although none knew the truth of what
+was happening, all thought that the revolution had already broken out in
+Cuzco and so had made themselves as safe as they could.
+
+A little way from the entrance to the great square we came upon Tupac at
+the head of some two hundred of the men of San Sebastian, armed with
+knives and guns and pistols of all sorts which they had taken during the
+night from the towns and villages around, where they had been doing the
+work I had bidden them do. He told me that there were more than a
+thousand soldiers in the city waiting only for me to show myself to kill
+their officers and come over to us, and that the others would fight
+without heart, if they fought at all, now that the Governor was
+taken--for half of the people of Cuzco were for the Government and half
+for the Revolution, and so the city would be divided against itself and
+all would be confusion as soon as the fighting began.
+
+He also told me that the official who is called the Sub-Prefect had
+brought out two of the machine-guns and had planted them at each end of
+the terrace in front of the cathedral, and made a proclamation that
+unless everyone left the streets within an hour he would have them
+cleared with bullets.
+
+When I told this to Hartness he said,--
+
+'Then we must have those two guns first. Tell Tupac to break his men up
+into little bands of about half-a-dozen each and send them round into
+all the streets leading to the square, and tell everyone that isn't
+armed to keep out of the way if they don't want to get hurt. Then you
+ride on with the prisoners and a guard of fifty men, and let them be
+ready to shoot sharply. Tell them to aim at the knees and not to empty
+their magazines too fast. I'll look after the guns. They won't fire on
+you for fear of killing the Governor and the rest. Now, forward!'
+
+I did as he said. Tupac's men broke up and disappeared as though by
+magic. I took the reins of the horse on which the Governor was bound and
+bade half-a-dozen of my men to do the same with the others. Then two and
+two we trotted into the square, Tupac running along by my horse's head.
+It was covered with groups of people all talking and looking and
+pointing about them, and on the terrace before the cathedral there were
+two companies of soldiers, one at each end, drawn up behind a
+machine-gun.
+
+As soon as the people saw me ride in with the Governor bound beside me a
+great shout went up and many came running towards me, but I waved them
+back and shouted to them to leave the square and guard all the streets
+leading into it. I did this so that those who understood me, and were
+therefore friends, might escape out of harm's way before the guns began
+to fire.
+
+Then I drew my revolver and put it to the Governor's head and bade Tupac
+tell him to order the men away from the guns, and that if a shot was
+fired he should be the first to die.
+
+So, as there was no help for it, he did so, and called to the officers
+to come down and speak with him, but instead of obeying they shouted
+some orders to their men and I saw them making ready to fire the guns,
+for, as we found out afterwards, they were men who would have joined the
+revolution when it broke out.
+
+But before the guns could be trained on us Hartness's troop swung round
+into the square. The twenty foot soldiers sent a volley along the
+terrace, firing low as he had told them, and killing and wounding nearly
+half of the men at the guns. Then there came a rattling volley from the
+cavalry and another from my own men, and then, with a great shout and a
+clattering of hoofs, Hartness leapt his horse up the steps at the end
+of the terrace, where the street slopes up nearly level with it at the
+back by the cathedral, and charged down on the rear of the enemy just as
+the gun was swung round.
+
+As he did this I led my men round to the other end of the terrace, where
+I saw that the men had begun fighting among themselves, and thus I knew
+that some of them were our friends and were seeking to prevent the
+others from training the gun on us. I halted, and ordered thirty of my
+men to dismount and take the gun, which they did with very little
+trouble, for the others, seeing how they were outnumbered, either threw
+down their arms and ran away, or surrendered. Two of the officers were
+killed and another one taken prisoner.
+
+Meanwhile Hartness had cleared the other end of the terrace, and taken
+the other gun after killing nearly every man who had defended it. But
+scarcely had this been done than we heard the rattle of drums and the
+sound of bugles, and saw two columns of men marching at the double out
+of the Plaza Del Cabildo, where the barracks are, and the other past the
+Church of the Jesuits, which is at the other end of the square.
+
+'Are those friends or enemies, or both?' Hartness asked me, when he had
+ordered the two guns to be trained, one on each of the columns, and sat
+down behind one of them himself.
+
+'If there are friends among them,' I said, 'they know what to do, and
+when they have done it you can fire.'
+
+Even as I spoke the two columns seemed to break up. Scores of men broke
+out of the ranks, shouting my name and cheering, and these all ran
+together towards the fountain in the middle of the square. The rest
+stopped in wonder and confusion, their officers shouting furiously at
+them, and ordering them to fire on the deserters. Some obeyed, others,
+when they saw the guns trained on them, ran away and hid themselves in
+doorways, and then Hartness gave the order to fire.
+
+Instantly every sound was drowned by the terrible voices of the
+machine-guns. Hartness glanced once along the barrel of his, and then
+sent a torrent of bullets full into the middle of the broken column that
+had come down from the Plaza Del Cabildo. Then he moved it a little from
+side to side, and then stopped. When the smoke had drifted away I saw
+that there was not a living being in that corner of the square, only
+huddled heaps of corpses and bodies of animals. Then he turned the gun
+on the other corner into which the other gun was firing, and soon not a
+man or an animal was left alive there also.
+
+When the firing ceased there were none left in the square but those who
+had declared for us. Hartness immediately formed these into two columns.
+He led one of them, with one gun at the head, into the street past the
+Church of the Jesuits, and I led the other with the second gun into the
+other street leading to the Cuartel, and up these two streets we fought
+our way into the Plaza Del Cabildo, in which we could hear more fighting
+already going on.
+
+When we at last gained the square we found a furious fight going on in
+front of the Cuartel between one body of men who were defending the
+building and another that was attacking it, but which of these were
+friends or foes we did not know until Tupac, heedless of the flying
+bullets, ran out shouting in Quichua that Vilcaroya had come. Shouts and
+cheers from the Cuartel soon told us that our friends had got possession
+of it, and after the city was won I learned that when the two columns
+had started, leaving a third drawn up in the square before the Cuartel,
+those who were for us, remembering what I had said about the gold that I
+would give for the machine-guns and the ammunition, had broken their
+ranks and made a rush for the doors to secure the three guns which were
+in the courtyard, and so the fight had begun, they seeking to hold the
+Cuartel against the others until help came.
+
+As soon as I knew which were our enemies, by their bullets coming
+singing about our ears, I had the gun trained on them, and gave the word
+to fire. But no sooner had it begun to rain its tempest of death than we
+heard the other one speak from the other end of the square, and such a
+storm of bullets swept across the Plaza that before many moments had
+passed there was not a man or beast left alive in it.
+
+Then, when the firing ceased again, those who had held the Cuartel, and
+had taken shelter in it as soon as the machine-guns began to play, threw
+open the doors to us and came out to welcome us, and Francis Hartness
+and I clasped hands as victors, and for the time being, at least,
+masters of the ancient City of the Sun, for with the Cuartel we had
+taken all the arms and ammunition stored up in Cuzco, including the
+three Gatling guns and the two Maxims; and more than this, the whole of
+the native population of the valley was in our favour.
+
+The fighting was now over, save for conflicts that were going on in
+different parts of the city between the Spaniards and the Indians, and I
+at once had the Governor brought before me in the Cuartel and told him
+by the lips of Hartness to write a proclamation surrendering the city to
+us and ordering all the officials to come in and make their submission
+before sundown, threatening fire and sack to every Spanish house if it
+was not done. This he did, knowing well what would befall him if he
+refused. At the same time Hartness made a proclamation in my name in
+English and Spanish promising perfect freedom and security to all
+foreign merchants in the region that was under our command.
+
+It was then about mid-day, and when I had given Francis Hartness full
+authority to act in my name as Governor of the city, which, speaking
+fluent Spanish as he did, he could do better than I, I took a guard of
+fifty men and went with Tupac back to the Rodadero, and took ten of the
+men into the Hall of Gold and bade them carry out as much as they could,
+so that I might keep my promise to the soldiers who had been faithful to
+me, and while they were doing this I went with Tupac to Djama's cell and
+found him wailing and crying like a little child, and beating his hands
+on the golden wall of his prison and praying most piteously for a sight
+of the daylight and a breath of the fresh air of heaven.
+
+The Spaniard, when he heard us coming, began to shriek and scream, and I
+bade Tupac tell him that I would gag him for a day and a night if he did
+not cease his cries. But to Djama I told what had happened, and how
+Cuzco was already mine, and promised I would let him out for a little
+while the next day if he would keep silence for half-an-hour, and
+hearing this, he ceased his cries, and I went on to the throne-room to
+take the news of our victory to Ruth and Golden Star.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+QUEEN AND CROWN
+
+
+I found them in the midst of an English lesson which Golden Star was
+taking, sitting, still clad in her Inca costume, between the professor
+and Joyful Star, who also was dressed in the same fashion. They all
+three rose to meet me as I entered the throne-room, and Ruth coming
+forward with both hands outstretched, as she had never done before,
+said,--
+
+'What have you been doing all this time, Vilcaroya, and why are you
+looking so worn and haggard? Have--have you been fighting? And why have
+you come back here alone?'
+
+'Yes,' I answered, taking her hands into mine, and feeling all my blood
+turn to flame as their gentle pressure thrilled along my nerves. 'Yes,
+we have been fighting, and the Lord of Light has fought upon our side,
+for we have gained the victory, and the city is ours.'
+
+'Thank God for that!' she said; 'and that no harm has come to you--or to
+Captain Hartness.'
+
+'What! do you mean to say you have taken Cuzco already?' cried the
+professor. 'How on earth did you manage that so quickly?'
+
+'Because,' I replied, 'as I told you, my father the Sun fought on my
+side and turned the hearts of his children towards me, and so Francis
+Hartness led them to speedy victory, and the hearts of our enemies
+fainted within them, and they have yielded. Now I have come to tell you
+how it happened, and to take Joyful Star back to the city, where she
+shall be hailed as queen.'
+
+Then I sat down with them and told them all, from the taking of the
+Governor and his officers prisoners by the Sayacusca to the capture of
+the Cuartel and the making of Francis Hartness Governor of Cuzco. After
+that I went and put on the imperial robes, which I had now a double
+right to wear, and led them through the gates of bronze into the Hall of
+Gold.
+
+Now, in the joy of my triumph, and the greeting that Ruth had given me,
+I had forgotten to bid her keep silence while going through the hall,
+and when she saw the two cells in the corner built up with blocks of
+gold she stopped and said,--
+
+'Those were not here the other night. What have you had them built up
+like that for?'
+
+And before I could answer, Djama's voice, shrill and trembling, rose out
+of the cell, crying,--
+
+'Ruth, Ruth, I am here! This is my prison. It is a grave of gold. Curse
+the gold! Save me, save me, Ruth, for I am going mad--and I am your
+brother!'
+
+She stopped and took hold of my arm with both her hands, and looked up
+at me. Her face was very pale and her lips were trembling. Yet though
+her voice was low, it was firm as she said to me,--
+
+'I have no brother who is a liar and a traitor to his friends; but,
+Vilcaroya, I had a brother once who was very good and kind to me, and
+for the sake of his goodness and kindness I ask you to treat this--this
+prisoner of yours more gently.'
+
+'Joyful Star can ask nothing to-day that I could refuse,' I said. 'He
+shall be taken out forthwith and lodged with all comfort, though I must
+keep him safely.'
+
+'No, no, not till I am gone!' she whispered, taking Golden Star by the
+arm and leading her towards the passage. But, softly as she had spoken,
+Djama heard her, and in his rage and despair at her words he cried,--
+
+'You--you won't see me! But you will go with your lover, your Indian
+master, who owes his life to me! You will sell yourself for his gold and
+be his wife. Oh, my God!--my sister!'
+
+And then he raved in the madness that came upon him, and his voice rang
+horridly out of his cell and echoed shrilly through the hall and the
+passages about it. I could feel no anger against a man who was helpless
+and my prisoner, so I followed Ruth without speaking; and when we stood
+once more in the sunlight she turned to me with a bright flush on her
+cheeks and great tears in her eyes, and said very softly and sweetly,--
+
+'He is mad, poor Laurens! he must be. That terrible gold has turned his
+brain, or he could never speak to me like that. You will not treat him
+more harshly for it, Vilcaroya, will you, for you know, after all, he
+is--I mean he was my brother, and I loved him very much--once?'
+
+'Yes, he is mad,' I said; 'and yet the lips of madness may speak truth,
+for what am I but what he said?'
+
+'Have you forgotten what you asked me, or what I answered when I kissed
+Golden Star in the throne-room, that you can speak like that?' she said,
+with one swift glance that told me I had not asked in vain.
+
+What more she might have said I know not, but she had said enough to
+set my heart dancing and my blood thrilling with a joy greater than I
+had found in the speedy conquest of the city of my fathers, and just
+then Tupac came to me and said that a sufficient quantity of gold had
+been taken out, and that all was ready to return to the city. Then I
+told him what he was to do with Djama and his fellow-prisoner, and
+ordered Golden Star's litter and the horse for Ruth which we had brought
+with us to be made ready, and also a mule for the professor, and when
+Tupac had returned we set out along the road that leads to the Gate of
+Sand, I riding in the midst of the troop, and Ruth on my left hand and
+Golden Star in her litter on the right.
+
+As we approached the streets, great crowds of my delivered people
+thronged out to welcome us, and when they saw me riding on my black
+horse, dressed in the imperial robes and with the Llautu on my brow,
+they set up a shout of joy and welcome that went ringing along the
+streets and through the squares and all over the city, and so I rode on
+through the bareheaded throngs, who bowed themselves almost to the earth
+before me.
+
+As we were crossing the great Plaza, Ruth looked about her with bright
+cheeks and shining eyes and said to me,--
+
+'Is it not all like a dream, Vilcaroya? Only a few weeks ago you came
+here poor and unknown, and now you are a king come back to your own
+again. Is it not wonderful?'
+
+'Yes,' I said, looking into her eyes with more courage than before; 'but
+something more wonderful even than that has befallen me. Is it not so,
+my queen?'
+
+'Your queen is not crowned yet, your Majesty!' she said, looking down,
+and yet not frowning, as I half feared she would.
+
+'No,' I answered, 'nor shall she be till my work is done, and the whole
+land that was my fathers' is mine to give her, and then all that power
+and gold and love can give her shall be hers.'
+
+'Give me the last and I shall ask no more,' she said softly, chasing
+with that first sweet confession from my heart the last lingering doubt
+of the great blessing that my Father the Sun had bestowed upon me.
+
+Thus we came to the front of the Cuartel, where all the troops were
+already drawn up to do us honour, and Hartness came out to greet us. He
+stopped for an instant, and his cheeks paled a little as he saw Ruth
+riding at my side, already dressed as she would be when she was my
+queen. But then the goodness of his honest heart spoke from his lips,
+and he said, as he held out his hand to me,--
+
+'Welcome, your Majesty! Majesties, I might almost say, I suppose! The
+city is ours and everything is quiet. Some of the officials have come in
+and submitted; others I have had to put under arrest, and runners are
+coming in every minute from the other towns in the valley to say that
+our plans have been carried out perfectly. The rest of our work won't be
+as easy as this has been, but we've made a very good beginning, and, at
+anyrate, I think I can congratulate your Majesty on having made your two
+most important captures.
+
+He looked at Ruth as he said this, and though her fair face flushed
+brightly and her eyes fell, yet she spoke steadily enough when she
+answered him, saying,--
+
+'You can hardly call me one of the spoils of war, I think, Captain
+Hartness, though I confess that I have surrendered at discretion. Now
+give me your hand and help me down, and don't look so disconsolate, for
+you are not nearly as unfortunate as you think. There is an Inca
+princess for you also, a real one, too. I have been teaching Golden Star
+to say your name, and, do you know, she makes it sound just like music
+with that sweet voice of hers. See, here she is, and you shall hear her
+say it.'
+
+I had dismounted meanwhile, and taken Golden Star from her litter, and
+when the people saw her, her name ran swiftly from lip to lip, and a
+great shout of delight rose up from thousands of throats to welcome her
+back to life and the home of her long-dead fathers. Then I took her hand
+and Hartness's, and put hers in his, and said to him,--
+
+'My friend, what I have taken I can in some measure give back to you.
+Here is Joyful Star's sister-soul and living likeness. I have seen her
+newly-awakened soul look out of her eyes with love upon you, as in good
+truth it well might, for you are a true son of the Sun, though not of
+our blood. In the days to come you may learn to love her too, and then
+all will be well.'
+
+'Yes,' said Ruth, coming to his side, 'and better than it could have
+been in any other way. The very Fates themselves seemed to have arranged
+all this, so it is not for mortals to rebel, Captain Hartness.'
+
+He looked at her almost sadly for a moment, and then he laughed a little
+and said,--
+
+'I should be more or less than mortal if I did, Miss Ruth. But mind, if
+I am faithless, remember it is you who have done the most to make me
+so.'
+
+As he said this he took Golden Star's little hand in his own and kissed
+it. As she felt the touch of his lips a new light sprang into her eyes
+and shone and danced there, and she said to me,--
+
+'Why does the Son of the Great People do that, and what have you said to
+him about me, my brother?'
+
+'He has kissed your hand in loving greeting,' I answered, 'and what I
+have said he will no doubt tell you better some day when you can speak
+together.'
+
+The bright blood in her cheeks told me that she had understood me, and
+she turned her head away, but she did not take her hand from Hartness's,
+and so I gave my hand to Ruth and led her into the Cuartel, and Hartness
+and Golden Star followed us hand in hand amidst the cheers of the
+soldiers and the joyful shouts of the people.
+
+That night there were such rejoicings in Cuzco as the City of the Sun
+had not seen since the Spaniards came into the land. I distributed the
+gold among the soldiers as I had promised, giving to each man a piece of
+about two ounces in weight, and they, who had never possessed, even if
+they had ever seen, gold before, kissed it and fondled it in their
+delight, and swore that they would fight for me as long as one of them
+was left alive; and then I spoke to them and told them that they had but
+to be faithful and brave, and their English leader would lead them to
+victory after victory, until the whole land should be ours.
+
+Later on I sent Tupac with many men up to the fortress, and they
+brought down the Golden Throne and the symbols of the Sun and great
+quantities of gold and jewels, and they set the throne in the midst of
+the terrace in front of the cathedral, with silver seats on either side
+of it, on the spot where in the olden time stood the Palace of
+Viracocha; and on the front of the cathedral, over the great doors, they
+fixed the symbols of the Sun, and high above all, between the two
+bell-towers, they placed a great flagstaff.
+
+Before daybreak the next morning the square was thronged with people,
+save for an open space which the soldiers kept before my throne. I took
+my place amidst an utter silence. Ruth and Golden Star sat on my right
+and on my left, and Francis Hartness, with a drawn sword in his hand,
+stood by my throne to the right, and on the terrace behind me, and on
+either side, stood the Men of the Blood, dressed in their ancient and
+long-forbidden costumes, with which I had furnished them out of the
+stores in the secret chambers of the fortress.
+
+No word was spoken and no sound was heard over the whole city, and all
+eyes were turned to the swiftly brightening eastern sky.
+
+The blue changed to silver and the silver to crimson and gold. Then the
+sun, the glorious image of the Lord of Life, uprose in all his sudden
+splendour, and as his rays fell on the great golden jewel-rayed circle
+on the cathedral front, the Rainbow Banner ran swiftly up to the head of
+the flagstaff, and I, rising from my throne, bared my head and, turning
+my face to the rising sun, bowed myself before it, and at the same
+instant every head in the vast assembly was uncovered, and all, save the
+soldiers, fell on their knees and stretched out their hands to heaven in
+silent joy and thankfulness.
+
+Then I lifted up my voice and spoke the ancient Invocation to the Sun
+which generation after generation of my fathers had spoken from the same
+spot at the beginning of the feast of Raymi, and when I had ended this
+the Children of the Blood lifted up their voices after me and sang the
+long-silenced and yet never-forgotten hymn to the Sun, and then,
+standing before the kneeling multitude, I replaced the Llautu on my brow
+and proclaimed myself Inca and supreme Lord of the Land of the Four
+Regions in the name of my long-dead fathers, whose divine right to
+lordship had been preserved in me.
+
+And so I, Vilcaroya, son of Huayna-Capac, first fulfilled the prophecy
+that had been spoken in the Days of Darkness, and so did I come, as had
+been said, from one life into another through the shadow of death and
+the silence of the grave, with her whose love, now changed, though no
+less dear, had nerved me to face the ordeal of the strangest fate that
+had ever befallen one born in mortal shape.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+HOW DJAMA PAID HIS DEBT
+
+
+It is one of the mysteries of this lower life of ours that men, meaning
+to do good in all honesty of heart, may yet do evil in the doing of it,
+and it was thus with me in the hour of my first triumph and rejoicing.
+
+I had pondered long and deeply over the strange treachery of Djama, and
+I had talked of it with Francis Hartness and the professor until I had
+come to see that he was in truth sorely afflicted with that madness
+which is born of the lust of gold, which, as they told me, is a disease
+of the soul that makes timid men rash and mild ones fierce and cunning,
+and may even turn the gentleness of woman into the pitiless rage of
+beasts of prey.
+
+It was through thinking of this that I came to see that I was by no
+means blameless myself for his madness and the treachery that had come
+from it.
+
+In my own days and among my own people gold was held precious only for
+its beauty and its usefulness. We had not learned the art of making it
+into money and buying men's soul and bodies with it, but I had already
+lived enough of my new life to see that now, save for the few, gold was
+all and honour nothing; and knowing this, I should also have known what
+I was doing when I showed Djama the treasures in the Hall of Gold. The
+sight of them had made him mad, and, as my hand had shown them to him,
+the blame of what he had done in his madness was in part mine.
+
+All this I remembered in the hour when my soul was filled with joy and
+my heart warm with love, and I thought how great a pleasure I should
+give to her who had given me the better part of my own joy if I looked
+upon Djama with pity and forgiveness and did an act of mercy as the
+first deed of my new reign.
+
+So, when the ceremonial of my crowning was over, I bade Tupac take some
+of my body-guard and bring him before me from the place where he had
+been lodged after his release from his golden cell, and at the same time
+I quieted the fears of Joyful Star by telling her what was in my heart
+concerning him.
+
+They brought him unbound, but well guarded by soldiers with bayonets on
+their rifles, up the broad avenue which the parted throng had made
+across the square in front of my throne.
+
+I saw him stare wildly about him as he came near, gazing at the splendid
+sun-lit pageant like a man in a dream, or one just awakened into another
+world, as I had been after my long death-sleep. But when he came near,
+and saw me sitting in my royal state with Joyful Star on my right and
+Golden Star on my left, both robed as princesses of the Ancient Blood,
+his face grew dark with passion, and his eyes, losing their wonder,
+gazed in fixed and furious hate at me--the man who was going to give him
+his life, and much more that he had coveted besides.
+
+They placed him between two soldiers before me at the foot of the
+terrace steps above which my throne had been set, and I was about to
+speak and greet him kindly, when his anger already got the better of
+him, and, with a mocking smile on his lips, he said in a loud, rough
+voice that was most unlike his own quiet, even tones,--
+
+'Well, your Majesty, as I suppose you think yourself for the present, I
+expected something like this--to be brought out into the midst of your
+fellow-savages and sentenced like a felon before my own sister and the
+woman who, like yourself, owes her life to me!'
+
+Then he laughed one of his strange, joyless laughs, and went on before I
+could reply,--
+
+'Well, I suppose I mustn't grumble. You have won, and to the victor go
+the spoils. Now that you have apparently bought the girl who was once my
+sister with your gold, and I have given you your own sister-wife back,
+you will be able to try an interesting experiment in your old form of
+matrimony--'
+
+I saw Joyful Star shrink back in her seat and turn her head away from
+him with a little cry as he said these evil words, and they angered me
+so, that--forgetting they were spoken by a man who stood helpless before
+me--I cried,--
+
+'Silence, liar and speaker of evil! or your next words shall be the last
+that human ears shall hear you speak. Are you still mad, or have you
+forgotten that you were once a man?'
+
+He smiled such a smile as you may have seen on the lips of one who has
+died in agony, and said with a swift change in his voice,--
+
+'I beg your Majesty's pardon, and--and the ladies' too. It was a most
+ungentlemanly thing to say, and one should not forget one's manners on
+the threshold of the next world--if there is one. But come, your
+Majesty, you are wasting your valuable time, and keeping all these
+interesting savages of yours waiting. You'll find I shall take it
+quietly enough. What do you propose that it shall be--something with
+boiling oil or red-hot pincers in it?'
+
+I knew that a man who could speak thus, believing that he was about to
+die, must be in a pitiful plight, and so I answered him sternly, and yet
+without anger,--
+
+'Laurens Djama, I have not brought you here to jest with you, nor yet,
+as you think, to condemn you to die, though your life is justly forfeit
+to me and my people, whom you would have betrayed again to their
+oppressors. Now, listen! You brought me back from death to life, and for
+my life I will give you yours, and for Golden Star's I will pay you the
+price agreed on and something more. It was by my foolish act that the
+madness of the gold-hunger came upon you, and for that I will give you
+your freedom; but not now, for that would not be safe for me or my
+people, since you have betrayed us once, and, knowing what you do, might
+do so again. You shall be taken hence to a pleasant and fertile valley,
+where you shall have all freedom, save permission to leave it until this
+war is over and I am undisputed lord of the land of my fathers. Then you
+shall take the wealth that shall be yours and go to your own country,
+or wherever you please, so long as you do not remain in mine, for here
+there is no place for you, since my people do not forgive as easily as I
+do. Now I have spoken; if there is anything more that you can ask, and I
+can give with safety, ask it.'
+
+Most men who had sinned as he had done would have very willingly taken
+such forgiveness, and Laurens Djama might have taken it but for a
+seemingly small thing. While I was speaking to him his eyes had wandered
+from mine and were looking into Golden Star's. As I ceased I felt her
+hands clasping my arm, and heard her voice say tremblingly in our own
+tongue,--
+
+'Save me, my lord and brother, save me! Evil Eyes is looking into my
+heart and turning it cold!'
+
+This Djama saw, though he did not understand her words, and the sight
+brought the madness into his blood again. He shouted with a voice like
+the cry of a wild beast in pain,--
+
+'Curse you! I will have neither life nor liberty from you, but I'll have
+your life for mine, and that will pay me better!'
+
+As the last word left his lips he made a movement so quick that my eyes
+could not follow it. The next instant he had wrenched the rifle from
+the hands of the soldier on his right hand and levelled it at me. Even
+as he did so Joyful Star flung herself with a scream upon my breast and
+Hartness sprang forward from behind my throne-seat.
+
+The rifle flashed. I heard a hissing sound close to my ear and a deep
+groan and the fall of a body behind me. In the same moment Djama was
+seized and flung to the ground, where he lay quite still and silent. I
+rose to my feet, clasping Joyful Star for the first time in my arms, and
+looked round. Hartness stood beside me unharmed, but old Ullullo, the
+first friend that I had made in my new life among my own people, lay
+dead behind my throne with a bullet through his forehead.
+
+I had not forgotten that old training which taught an Inca warrior to
+look on near-approaching death with unmoved eyes and unshaken heart, and
+this was only such a hazard as I had taken a score of times before. I
+bade Hartness lead Ruth and Golden Star into the temple behind us, so
+that they should not see what was about to be done. Then I took my place
+on the throne again and ordered Djama to be raised and stood on his
+feet.
+
+He rose of himself, very pale but calm and strong in his own evil
+strength, fearing nothing, as became a man for whom death had no
+terrors and, it might be, few secrets. We looked each other in the eyes
+in silence, and in the midst of an utter stillness that had fallen on
+the vast throng, until Hartness came back. Then I said,--
+
+'That is enough, Laurens Djama. Choose now what death you will die, but,
+for your own sake and Joyful Star's, choose a quick one.'
+
+Although my voice was as the voice of doom to him, yet he did not quail
+even then, for if his heart was black it was very strong, and fear had
+never entered into it. He drew himself up to the full height of his
+stature and, looking me full in the eyes, he said as quietly as I had
+ever heard him speak,--
+
+'That choice is always mine, whether you give it to me or not. You have
+threatened me with death before and I have told you that you could not
+kill me. Now watch and see if I spoke the truth.'
+
+Then, with a soldier holding each of his arms and two others grasping
+his shoulders, he drew a quick, deep, gasping breath. The blood rushed
+into his face till its pallor became purple. The next instant it became
+deathly white again. His jaw dropped, his eyes grew fixed and blindly
+staring, and then his shape seemed to shrink together like an empty bag,
+and he sank down between those who were holding him.
+
+They pulled him upright again, and his head dropped forward on his
+breast. He was dead--dead as though the Llapa itself had struck him--and
+so Laurens Djama, master of the arts of life and death, passed out of
+the world of living men by the act of his own will, though not of his
+own hand.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+THE RE-KINDLING OF THE SACRED FIRE
+
+
+Now this story of mine is nearly done, for there are but few things left
+for me to tell. It is not for me to write of all the battles that we
+fought after the City of the Sun and the region about it fell into our
+hands, for to do that is a task better fitted to the hands of him who
+led my ever-growing hosts to victory after victory until the whole land
+that had been my fathers' was mine from north to south and from the
+great rivers of the east to the Sea of the Setting Sun, which you now
+call the Pacific Ocean.
+
+It is enough for me to say that I used my gold without stint, and that
+it did all and more than the work I had been told it would do. As we
+marched southward and westward to the sea, army after army left those
+who were fighting between themselves for the ruins of the land and,
+having no real quarrel of their own, ranged themselves under the Rainbow
+Banner and fought with me for freedom and the ancient faith of their
+long-dead fathers, and how city after city welcomed me as I came to give
+it peace and wealth instead of strife and misery.
+
+My unforgotten story and the marvel of my coming back from the days of
+our old-time glories had sped like the leaps of the lightning from
+mountain to mountain and valley to valley, and every man in whose veins
+flowed even the smallest drop of the Sacred Blood threw aside the broken
+fragments of the oppressor's yoke and came to give me his service.
+
+From other countries, too, and from far over the sea, there came men to
+fight for me, men whom Hartness had called from afar by speaking to them
+over the lightning-wires, and they brought ships with them, armed with
+flame and thunder, which the promise of my gold had purchased, and these
+took all the seaports for me, while my ever-growing armies were taking
+the cities of the inland valleys--all of which those who would learn may
+read in the great book which Francis Hartness and the professor, who
+with Joyful Star have helped out these lame words of mine, are writing
+together to tell how the ancient empire of the Incas rose at my call
+and the bidding of my gold--which I doubt not was far stronger than
+I--out of the degradation into which the oppressors had cast it, and has
+even now begun to prosper again with more than its former glory.
+
+But, as I have said, these things are not for me to tell, since I have
+neither the skill nor the knowledge to do so. What I have set down here
+is only the story of my own awakening out of the death-sleep into which
+the arts of the priests of the Sun had cast me with Golden Star, and of
+her return to join me in my new life. I have told of that and of all
+that befell us afterwards, and now there remains only the telling of
+that which fulfilled our strange fates and completed our happiness in
+the new world into which those fates had brought us.
+
+Many weeks passed and grew into months before the oppressors were
+finally subdued and I found myself undisputed lord of all the land, and,
+as I had promised Joyful Star, all this had to come to pass before I
+would ask her to put her hand into mine and take her place beside me as
+my Coya and queen on the throne of Huayna-Capac.
+
+But at length there was peace in the land and we returned from Lima, the
+capital of the Spaniards, where I had been proclaimed and acknowledged
+Inca and Emperor of my ancient domains, to the City of the Sun, which
+many loving and willing hands had cleansed of the abominations of its
+new idolatries and made in some measure fit to receive us, to crown our
+new lives with such happiness as, with the help and blessing of the
+Unnameable, we might be able to bestow upon each other.
+
+The treasures of gold and silver and ornaments of jewels, the rich
+hangings and the sacred and precious emblems had been brought from the
+Hall of Gold and the throne-room beneath the Sacsahuaman and set up in
+the chief temple of the Spaniards, which stands in the place where the
+holy Temple of the Sun once stood and is in great part built of the
+self-same stones.[F]
+
+It was the eve of the Feast of Raymi, or the Coming of the Sun, which in
+the olden time we counted as the beginning of the year, and I had
+determined that this day should witness the restoration of the old order
+and the beginning of my own true happiness--so that night Golden Star
+and I, as became the son and daughter of the Royal Race and Sacred
+Blood, watched and prayed according to the ancient rites--she in a
+chamber of what had once been the House of the Virgins of Sun, and I in
+the purified temple--from the setting of the sun until the first waning
+of the stars in the coming dawn.
+
+Very early in the morning she was brought to me in the temple by
+Tupac-Rayca--whom I had in virtue of his pure blood and noble decent,
+consecrated Villac-Umu or High Priest of the Sun, and who had in turn
+invested such others of the Blood as he thought worthy with the
+subordinate dignities of the holy office. He and his attendants were
+arrayed in the ancient priestly robes and adorned with the sacred
+emblems of their rank, and Golden Star was attired as a royal Virgin of
+the Sun, in garments of white edged with scarlet and decked with
+ornaments of pure gold.
+
+Then we prayed together before the newly-set-up altar, which stood over
+against the eastern window of the Sanctuary, and when that duty was
+ended, and while the growing light was yet dim, there came to us Joyful
+Star, also arrayed as a princess of the Blood, and Francis Hartness,
+whom my thankful people had already named Viracocha, after one of our
+golden-haired hero-gods of the olden time.
+
+After them came all those of the Sacred Race that were left in the
+land--men and matrons, youths and maidens--all dressed in the
+long-forbidden garb of their forefathers, and ranged themselves in two
+silent, orderly ranks down the sides of the Sanctuary, waiting with
+patient eagerness for that which they had been bidden here to see.
+
+Above the altar hung the great golden Emblem of the Sun, upon which the
+radiant glance of the Lord of Light would first fall through the
+circular window in the eastern wall, and on it was a pyramid of wood
+anointed with scented oils; for here was soon to be re-kindled--if our
+Lord the Sun should smile on the new fortunes of his long-suffering
+children--without the aid of human hands, that sacred fire first lit by
+Manco Capac and Mama Occlu, son and daughter of the Sun, and which had
+burnt unquenched through all the ages that had passed from the founding
+to the fall of our ancient empire. Beside it lay a cone-shaped vessel of
+burnished gold, in the depths of which the Sacred Fleece awaited the
+touch that was to change it into flame.
+
+When all were assembled, Tupac-Rayca mounted the steps of the altar,
+and, facing the silent throng, began to speak in the ancient and
+unforgotten tongue and said,--
+
+'Children of the Sun, sons and daughters of those whose ancestors in the
+unremembered days received the divine command to create the empire over
+which they ruled with ever-growing glory until, by the inscrutable
+decrees of the Unnameable, the destroyer and oppressor were permitted to
+come into the land, listen with open ears and thankful hearts to the
+words which our Father shall put into my mouth to say to you!'
+
+All bowed their heads and crossed their hands over their breasts as he
+spoke, and after a little silence he went on,--
+
+'The last of the Villac-Umus who stood where I am standing told your
+fathers and mine of the near-approaching night of gloom and desolation
+that was about to fall upon the Land of the Four Regions. For what sins
+of his children our Father permitted that night to eclipse the bright
+day of their empire we know not, nor is it lawful for us to inquire. Let
+it be enough for us to believe that, grievous as the doom was, it could
+not have been anything save the inflexible justice of the Unnameable.'
+
+Again they bowed their heads, and there was silence for a little space
+until he went on, speaking this time in a gladder voice,--
+
+'But, stern as that justice was, it was yet not untempered with mercy,
+for with the words of doom there came from our Father, by the lips of
+his minister, the holy Anda-Huillac, those words of hope and promise
+which from that day to this have been handed down in secret, yet
+unforgotten, from father to son and from mother to daughter, and which
+now for the first time since then may be spoken openly in the land:--
+
+     '"_To that Son of the Sacred Race who, for honour and faith and
+     love, shall take the hand of a pure virgin of his own holy blood
+     and with her pass fearless through the gate of death into the
+     shadows which lie beyond, shall be given the glory of casting down
+     the oppressor and raising the Rainbow Banner once more above the
+     Golden Throne of the Incas. On that throne he shall sit, and wield
+     power and mete out justice and mercy to the Children of the Sun
+     when the gloom that is now falling upon the Land of the Four
+     Regions shall have passed away in the dawn of a brighter age._"
+
+'Sons and daughters of the long-dead, turn your eyes and see how the
+eastern skies are swiftly brightening with first rays of that
+long-looked-for dawn. This is the morning of our deliverance, for our
+deliverers stand here before us, and with your own eyes you may look
+upon those who, in the strength of their love and faith, dared the doom
+to win the promise, for here in the living flesh stands that Vilcaroya,
+son of the great Huayna-Capac, and there beside him is Golden Star, that
+virgin of the Royal Race who of her own will joined hands with him in
+the wedlock of death, and whose pure soul has dwelt with his in the
+Mansions of the Sun while ten generations of men have lived and died
+awaiting their return to the land.
+
+'To us, more blessed, it has been given to see that which our fathers
+waited for in vain. To us our Lord Vilcaroya and our Lady Golden Star
+have come back from the shadows of death into the light of life and
+glory of victory. Already you have seen the oppressor pay the price of
+life for life, and blood for blood, and shame for shame. You have seen
+our Lord seated on the golden throne of the Divine Manco with the
+Rainbow Banner waving high above him, and now the moment has come for
+you to see the fulfilling of what yet remains of the promise
+unfulfilled. Behold the visible presence of our Father comes near to
+smile once more on his children long left in darkness!'
+
+While he was speaking these last words the light in the eastern sky had
+brightened fast until a sunray leapt over the lower rim of the window
+and shone on the painted ceiling of the Sanctuary. At a sign from
+Tupac-Rayca, Golden Star took up the vessel in which lay the Sacred
+Fleece, and, standing in the middle of the altar on the highest step,
+held it poised in her hands above her head, with her pale, fair face and
+shining eyes upturned towards the window.
+
+Foot by foot the light crept along the roof, broadening and brightening
+as it went, till it touched the western wall. Then, ever followed by the
+anxious eyes of the silent throng, it descended until the great Symbol
+of the Sun flashed and flamed in its radiance. Still lower it sank and
+the burnished vessel that Golden Star held to receive them caught the
+gathering rays and glowed as though filled with liquid fire.
+
+[Illustration: Now the moment for the giving of the Sign had come.
+
+_To face page 280._]
+
+Now the moment for the giving of the Sign had come. A faint wreath of
+pale blue smoke curled upwards from the Sacred Fleece. It grew darker
+and denser, and then a little tongue of flame leapt out from the midst
+of it. At the same instant Tupac seized the vessel and held it upturned
+over the pyramid of wood upon the altar. The burning fleece fell down
+upon the anointed wood, a long shaft of fire shot upward, and, as the
+descending sunrays fell over the face and bosom of Golden Star, the
+voice of Tupac rang out in an exultant chant through the silence,
+saying,--
+
+'Rejoice, Children of the Sun, rejoice! for your Father has once more
+looked in kindness and blessing upon you, and with the radiant glance of
+his eyes he has re-kindled the long-quenched fire which henceforth shall
+burn upon his altar as long as his visible presence shall make bright
+the heavens and beautiful the earth!'
+
+As he ceased, Golden Star's voice rose up clear and sweet, singing the
+first words of the Hymn to the Sun--as I alone of all that throng had
+heard her sing them in the days that were no more. Then the Children of
+the Blood raised their voices too, and out of the fulness of their
+thankful hearts poured forth their first tribute of praise and
+thanksgiving to Him who had broken the yoke of the oppressor and given
+back light and joy and peace to the long-darkened Land of the Four
+Regions.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+When the Hymn to the Sun was ended and the Children of the Blood had
+received the blessing of Tupac, there was yet one more ceremony to be
+performed before the rejoicings of the Feast of Raymi began. There is
+little need for me to tell you what it was. In love as in war I had
+striven and conquered, and now the dearest of my rewards, dearer far
+than wealth or empire, was to be made mine by the free gift of her who
+was herself that which she gave.
+
+Two of the priests brought forth the marriage-font and placed it in
+front of the altar, and Joyful Star stood on the one side of it and I on
+the other and we joined hands across it.
+
+It was a double vessel of gold, formed of two twin cups, and between
+them there was a hole stopped by a golden plug, to which a little chain
+was fastened. The cup on my side was filled with blood-red wine and that
+towards Joyful Star with pure water, crystal clear.
+
+Tupac took our hands in his and parted them, saying as he did so,--
+
+'To meet and to part is the lot of man and woman upon earth, yet when
+two true souls meet and two faithful hearts are joined even death can
+part them but in seeming, for in the bright halls of the Mansions of the
+Sun they shall dwell for ever in the blessed presence of our Father!'
+
+So saying, he joined our hands again, and drawing out the golden plug,
+he pointed to the mingling fluids and went on, speaking now to each of
+us in turn,--
+
+'Here, Vilcaroya Inca, and you, Joyful Star, daughter of a conquering
+race and well-beloved of our Lord, see the emblem of the union between
+you! As the strong red wine colours and strengthens the pure water, so,
+Joyful Star, shall the stronger nature of thy chosen husband colour and
+strengthen thine, and, as the pure water tempers and purifies the wine,
+so, Vilcaroya Inca, shall the gentler and purer nature of her who is
+henceforth thy wife and queen by the rites of our ancient law, soften
+and purify thine according to the will and purpose of the Unnameable,
+who to this end sent man and woman upon earth that together they might
+possess and enjoy it, each helping the other, man making the world
+fruitful and beautiful by his labour, and woman sweetening his toil by
+the reward of her love and her constancy.'
+
+Then he raised his hands above our heads as we bowed them together over
+the emblem of our mingling lives, and said again,--
+
+'Son and daughter, man and wife, who have met from afar, and who in this
+solemn act have sworn in the all-pervading presence of the Unnameable to
+lead each other from this your meeting-place to the dim border of the
+shadow-land which lies between this world and the threshold of the
+Mansions of the Sun, may the blessing of our Father clothe your brows
+with honour and fill your hearts with everlasting love and trust, and
+may He guide your feet to walk in pleasant places from now even to the
+end!'
+
+As he ceased our hands parted, only to meet again a moment later after
+we had stepped aside to yield up our places at the marriage-font to
+Francis Hartness and Golden Star.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[F] This is not quite correct, although a natural mistake on the part of
+the Inca. It is not the Cathedral of Cuzco, but the Church of Santo
+Domingo, which stands on the site of the ancient Temple of the Sun. It
+is by far the finest church in Cuzco. The Cathedral faces the great
+square.
+
+
+
+
+_Coiston and Coy. Limited, Printers, Edinburgh_
+
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+List of corrections:
+
+   "Anahauc" corrected into "Anahuac"
+
+     page 206 and bid Anahauc and Ainu close the door
+     page 208 Anahauc came and prostrated himself
+
+   "ont" corrected into "out"
+
+     page 298 mete ont justice and mercy
+
+   "Ullulo" corrected into "Ullullo"
+
+     page 288:  Ullulo, the first friend
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ROMANCE OF GOLDEN STAR ...***
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