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| author | www-data <www-data@mail.pglaf.org> | 2026-08-02 10:39:56 -0700 |
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| committer | www-data <www-data@mail.pglaf.org> | 2026-08-02 10:39:56 -0700 |
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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9f57f44 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,13 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text +*.htm text +*.html text +*.png binary +*.jpg binary +*.svg text +*.pdf binary +*.bmp binary +*.zip binary +*.midi binary +*.mp3 binary diff --git a/79257-0.txt b/79257-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..cddec55 --- /dev/null +++ b/79257-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8831 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 79257 *** + + + + + THE + SUN VIRGIN + + + + +BOOKS BY THOMAS DIXON + + THE SUN VIRGIN + THE LOVE COMPLEX + THE BLACK HOOD + THE MAN IN GRAY + A MAN OF THE PEOPLE + (A Play) + THE WAY OF A MAN + THE FALL OF A NATION + THE FOOLISH VIRGIN + THE VICTIM + THE SOUTHERNER + THE SINS OF THE FATHER + THE LEOPARD’S SPOTS + THE CLANSMAN + (The Birth of a Nation) + THE TRAITOR + THE ONE WOMAN + COMRADES + THE ROOT OF EVIL + THE LIFE WORTH LIVING + + + + + THE + SUN VIRGIN + + BY THOMAS DIXON + + [Illustration] + + NEW YORK + HORACE LIVERIGHT: 1929 + + + + + _Copyright_ : 1929 : _by_ + THOMAS DIXON + + _Printed in the United States_ + + + + + _Dedicated to_ + AUGUSTO B. LEGUÍA + PRESIDENT OF PERU + WITH ADMIRATION + + + + +CONTENTS + + CHAPTER I + CHAPTER II + CHAPTER III + CHAPTER IV + CHAPTER V + CHAPTER VI + CHAPTER VII + CHAPTER VIII + CHAPTER IX + CHAPTER X + CHAPTER XI + CHAPTER XII + CHAPTER XIII + CHAPTER XIV + CHAPTER XV + CHAPTER XVI + CHAPTER XVII + CHAPTER XVIII + CHAPTER XIX + CHAPTER XX + CHAPTER XXI + CHAPTER XXII + CHAPTER XXIII + CHAPTER XXIV + CHAPTER XXV + CHAPTER XXVI + CHAPTER XXVII + CHAPTER XXVIII + CHAPTER XXIX + CHAPTER XXX + CHAPTER XXXI + CHAPTER XXXII + CHAPTER XXXIII + + + + +THE SUN VIRGIN + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +The brilliant young ruler of Spain, Charles V, had just extended his +empire over the half of Europe, and his _Conquistadores_ were +planting the flag in Mexico and Darien. + +A threatening rabble of ragged seamen stood before the governor’s +office in Panama. The news had spread from tavern to tavern that a +sailor, left behind with Pizarro, on the Island of Gallo--where the +bold adventurer had halted temporarily in his quest for gold and +glory--had got a message past Almagro’s keen eye that had reached His +Excellency. The knave had concealed the writing in a ball of cotton +sent as a specimen of South Sea goods to the governor’s wife. + +Now that the ugly news of their suffering was out they would snap their +fingers in Almagro’s face and add their voices to the clamor for an end +of folly. + +The leader of the mob was haranguing his comrades as the friends of +Pizarro’s unfortunate expedition approached. Molina, the cavalier, +led Father Luque and the Chief Justice, Gaspar Espinosa, into the +governor’s house while Almagro stopped within earshot of the crowd. + +At sight of Almagro the orator grinned. Pizarro’s partner was not a +man of impressive appearance. Of small stature, quick and nervous in +movement, wiry, weather-beaten and ill-favored at best, he had lost an +eye in a fight with the Indians on the first voyage to the South. The +deep hollow left below his forehead had given to his face a peculiarly +sinister expression. There was about him a suggestion of the grotesque +until his bronzed features lighted with animation as he talked. At the +end of a speech he had a way of boring a questioner through with his +one eye that was especially disquieting--if he spoke to an enemy. Its +steady light was now focused on the speaker. + +“Remember, Comrades,” the orator shouted, “that we were dragged by +Pizarro into the wilderness of the South to die of hunger. The cry of +a Kingdom of Gold was a cheat from the start. The golden country was +always just ahead. We never saw it. The little yellow metal found was +sent back here as molasses to catch more flies. Stand together now and +let the governor know the truth--” + +Almagro suddenly appeared, lifted his single eye to the orator’s face +and a dead silence followed. + +The little man spoke with deadly deliberation. + +“No whine from cowards in the governor’s ears to-day, swine! Hardship? +suffering? danger? _Por Dios!_ Did you go on a pleasure jaunt? You +enlisted as a soldier. A soldier’s business is to die. Open your mouth +at this hearing--if you dare. I will not answer you. No--God’s light! +I’ll spit you with my sword and roast you in hellfire!” + +Before the orator could recover from the shock of his threat, Almagro +swung on his heel and followed his friends into the governor’s house. + +A hurried council was held before their entrance into the audience +chamber. In spite of rumors of the hostility of the authorities the +managers of the expedition were not without hope. Espinosa, the secret +backer of the enterprise, had sought the aid of his beautiful sister +Teresa. She had won her lover, Alonso de Molina, to the cause. Molina +was not only the most popular young cavalier who had come from Spain +in the suite of the new governor, Don Pedro de los Rios; he was an +intimate friend of His Excellency. + +Father Luque seized Almagro’s arm. + +“I am going to ask you, Diego, to keep your temper at this hearing and +allow our new advocate to do all the talking.” + +A smile played around the one eye. + +“Not a word from me, Father Luque. I have already spoken.” + +The governor lifted his brows in angry surprise at the appearance of +the new champion of an expedition he had fully resolved to doom. + +“You appear before me, Alonso de Molina,” he grumbled, “in behalf of +these madmen who have already exhausted the patience of the king’s +servants?” + +“I do, Your Excellency,” was the firm reply. “I hold that they have +given good evidence on which to base their faith in the enterprise.” + +“And what, pray? A few yards of cloth and a few gold trinkets. A +hundred raids here in Darien have each yielded more. Scores of men have +been sacrificed on these two crazy voyages to the South, and they are +no nearer this myth of a Kingdom of Gold than three years ago when the +mad scheme was first launched.” + +“Yet, Your Excellency will recall the fact,” Molina soothed, “that our +sovereign expressed a command that you should lend every reasonable aid +to the expeditions of the South Sea--” + +“Every reasonable aid--yes!” the governor continued. “I have done more +than reason demands. I will no longer permit the senseless sacrifice +of our men to the obstinacy of Pizarro and his associates. The whole +scheme is insanity. I have decided. I will issue orders to my trusted +officer, Tafur, to sail at once with two ships for the Island of Gallo +and bring back every Spaniard whom he shall find still alive.” + +Molina attempted to speak and the governor stopped him with an angry +gesture. + +“No more. An end now to this nonsense!” + +Molina bit his lips and then smiled: + +“I was only about to ask of Your Excellency permission to accompany +Tafur on this voyage?” + +Molina bowed to the governor. Rios twisted in his chair and finally +answered: + +“Provided, Señor, that you agree to return with the ships.” + +“I agree,” was the prompt answer. + +Almagro seized the young cavalier’s hand and whispered: + +“I expect to see you leading an army in the new Kingdom, young man!” + +“You may, for all of that,” Molina answered tersely with a snap of +his strong jaw. He did not like the governor’s humor. The man had not +conducted himself as a fair executive; he had acted merely the rôle of +a tyrant executing a predetermined decision. + +Father Luque wrote a letter to Pizarro which Almagro signed with his +cross-mark, advising him to hold his ground until a favorable turn of +fortune. They would stay in Panama and with Espinosa work with tireless +energy to reverse the decision. + +Molina placed the letter in his doublet and sailed with Tafur for the +Island of Gallo. The more he heard of Francisco Pizarro the greater +became his curiosity to see and talk with the man who had kept Panama +in a state of turmoil for more than three years. And all for a dream. +No fool could work this miracle. + +The man towards whom he sailed was never in all his eventful career in +graver need of succor. The island on which he and his men had landed to +await supplies proved a barren waste of misery. They found themselves +prisoners without hope of relief unless it should come from Panama. +Each day was a struggle with starvation. The men sent out on foraging +expeditions had begun to conceal what food they found against the final +day of a living death. The only food now upon which the commander could +depend was found in the scrawny crabs and shellfish picked up on the +shores. + +And it was the rainy season. Storm after storm swept the island and +deluged them with rain for days. Their clothes were in tatters and +there was nothing out of which they could make more. There was not an +animal on the island large enough to furnish a skin to cover their +nakedness; the rude huts which they had built had been torn down and +scattered to the winds, and the rain beat on their half naked bodies +with fury. The spirit of adventure had died long since. They waited +in sullen terror, and they watched the sea with feverish eyes for the +sight of sails. + +Finally they were rewarded. + +Tafur’s ships at last crept across the horizon from the North, and a +shout of delirium swept the huddled groups on the beach. They ate like +ravenous beasts the food set before them. + +Molina delivered the letter to Pizarro and studied the man while Ruiz, +his faithful pilot, read its message aloud. Tall, lean, straight, sun +and wind-tanned, the adventurer stood with taut muscles as he listened +to the fated words. By the deep gravity of his countenance the younger +man could see that he was facing the supreme hour of life. As the +purport of the message dawned on his mind, Molina saw his nostrils +dilate, the grim mouth relax into a smile and his deep-set eyes flash +with joy. His decision was instantaneous. He would not beg a single +coward to stay. But there were a few choice spirits to whom he could +appeal. He would hold them with ties of loyal steel and let Tafur +take the rest of his mottled crew to hell if he liked. He called his +followers in a final conference before allowing them to embark. Most of +them stared with hostile eyes for they already had begun to curse him +for their sufferings. + +He drew his sword and faced the crowd with an exultant look. Stooping, +he traced a line in the sand from east to west, and in clear tones +called: + +“Soldiers of Spain! On the south side of this line are hunger, +nakedness, storms, suffering, and death; on the north side lie ease and +pleasure, drink and idleness in Panama. Choose! Choose each man what +best becomes a brave Castilian! For my part, _I_ go to the south!” + +Pizarro stepped across the line to be immediately followed by Ruiz, +Pedro de Candia and eleven others of his men. Molina roused from the +spell under which the man’s simple eloquence had held him to find +himself among the volunteers. Pizarro grasped his hand and pressed it +fiercely: + +“I am honored, Señor Alonso de Molina, by this act of approval from a +brave spirit. But I cannot allow you to remain on this grim watch. You +have influence in Panama. Hence I ask you to return with my good pilot +and bring back a ship for our enterprise.” + +The young cavalier bowed. + +“I have taken service under your banner, Francisco Pizarro, and go +where you command.” + +Again the two men clasped hands. Turning to the group who had pledged +anew their lives to his cause, he called aloud each name: + +“Bartholome Ruiz, Cristoval de Peralta, Pedro de Candia, Domingo de +Sonia Luce, Nicolas de Ribera, Francisco de Cuellor, Alonso de Molina, +Pedro Alear, Garcia de Jerez, Anton de Carrion, Alonso Briceno, Martin +de Paz, and Juan de la Torre, you have this day written your names on +the scroll of fame. I salute you my friends, my comrades!” + +He grasped each hand in turn and felt repaid for every hour of pain and +hunger, in their loyalty. + +Tafur angrily faced the group and demanded that they embark in +obedience to the commands of their governor. They laughed at his rage. + +“Your act,” he snarled, “is sheer madness involving death of every man +among you.” + +“Perhaps,” Pizarro answered. “We understand. We have chosen death +before desertion. Say this to the governor. We demand only that you +leave us one of your ships in which to pursue our voyage.” + +“God’s light!” shouted Tafur, “I like your impudence. Leave you a ship? +Not a shred of a single sail. Stay here and rot in your damned folly if +you will. I’ll have no part in it.” + +The only concession Pizarro could wring from him was to land a limited +supply of the food which he had brought to their rescue. + +And then the adventurer with eleven of his followers stood on the +shore and watched the ships spread their wings and disappear beyond +the northern horizon. A dozen men, with scant food, without clothing, +almost unarmed, with no knowledge of the land to which they were bound, +without tools, without shelter, without a vessel for transport, took +their place on a lonely island in the ocean--resolved to find and +conquer a mighty empire. They might fail; but their failure would be +attended by no governor’s rebuke: they would win, or die. + +To Pizarro it was the supreme crisis. And he exulted. Had he faltered, +compromised, or returned, it would have been the end of his dreams. +These dreams had now ceased to be dreams--they had become the living +realities of life. There could be no turning back from to-day; every +bridge was burnt behind--before lay glory or death. + +He immediately decided to abandon the Island of Gallo. Twenty-five +leagues to the north lay the little island of Gorgona, but five leagues +from the mainland and uninhabited. But it was an advantageous spot. +It was high and heavily timbered. The woods abounded in pheasants and +the plains with rabbits. With their crossbows the men could get a fair +supply of game without loss of powder, and cool streams supplied good +water. + +By Pizarro’s orders the men constructed a raft on which they managed on +a fair day to float with favorable currents to this island. They built +rude huts and began the long siege of waiting for Molina’s return. +The one horror from which they suffered most was the bite of swarming +mosquitoes. So desperate was the pests’ attack that at times it was +necessary for the sufferers to bury their bodies completely in the sand +until a breeze brought relief. + +Through months of desolate waiting, Pizarro’s stout spirit was the +inspiration of every follower. Freebooters and adventurers though they +were, in this time of trial they watched the stars, tried once more to +find the face of God, and in the night winds to hear His voice. Pizarro +encouraged them in religious devotions. Without fail they said their +morning prayers, and as the twilight deepened, chanted their hymns to +the Virgin. And they celebrated punctually each festival of the Church. +Pizarro was using every means at his command and every ounce of his +indomitable character to make his enterprise a holy crusade under the +banners of Castile. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +On the arrival at Panama, Ruiz and Molina found Almagro and Father +Luque and a council of war was called in the library of their financial +backer, Espinosa, the alcalde mayor. + +Molina arrived before the hour fixed to report in person to Teresa. She +had been a girl of reserve, her high-strung, sensitive nature firmly +held in check by a strong mentality, and her lover had called her cold. +But to-night he watched her eyes kindle with tenderness and enthusiasm +as he told the story of Pizarro and his men. And when he told of +crossing the line with the handful who had volunteered, she threw her +arms around his neck and kissed his lips with unwonted fervor. Her +exquisite body trembled against his own and with passion and tenderness +he returned her kiss. + +“My knight! My knight of beautiful chivalry!” she breathed. + +“Hardly that, sweet,” he smiled. “There’s nothing about Francisco +Pizarro to suggest tilting knights. He brings a man back to earth--to +things stern and real; to things that mean life and death. But there’s +more than gold lust in the hearts of the dozen men with him. They are +the conquerors of a new world. They are the builders of empire. Men +may call them mad, but theirs is the madness that makes history.” + +“I am proud of you, my Alonso,” she interrupted. She studied a moment, +gazing out the window at the open sea. Then, “I’m going back with you. +I shall join his army when he marches.” + +“You?” + +“Yes.” + +“Nonsense, child. Your place is in the shelter of your brother’s home +until I can take you to our own.” + +“I go!” she stated fiercely. “I too feel the stir of a new world--” + +“But you’re a woman--the woman of my many dreams. I’ll hear no such +madness!” + +“I’ve as much right to madness as any man. If good Queen Isabel rode +beside Ferdinand into battle, surely I may act as page to my knight in +his adventure.” + +Molina laughed outright at her talk. The silly idea would pass. He +chose to ignore it. He looked at her tenderly. + +“And now, my Teresa, I confess. I fought the enterprise of Pizarro +because to join him meant a long wait for you. My weakness shames me, +but I may breathe it now--” + +She watched him through tears and once more embraced him fiercely. He +responded, and they stood in trembling ecstasy. And then through her +tears she whispered: + +“I shall _not_ be separated from you. I’m going.” + +Once more he laughed at her whim and released her as he turned sharply +at the clank of Almagro’s sword at the door. Bidding her farewell, he +hastened to join Espinosa in welcome to Ruiz, Father Luque and Almagro. + +The little man with one eye fairly danced as he walked. He was in high +fettle. Francisco Pizarro had done what Almagro had urged him to do. He +had hung on. But he had done more. He had made of his act a ceremony +that fired the imagination. + +“Sometimes,” Almagro confided to Molina, “I suspect and hate that man. +But it’s joy to follow Pizarro. He _leads_!” + +The conference fell to work without delay. The case was desperate, but +Pizarro’s daring deed had aided it mightily. It was not a question of +fighting the governor to the last ditch; the only problem was how to +do it. At Father Luque’s suggestion they resolved to go at once to his +house and find the official mind. They would fix no formal hearing to +be packed with cowards. They would go at once and beard the lion in his +den. Pizarro’s spirit reached even across intervening sea. + +They were not long in finding the governor’s mind. His Excellency wore +it on his sleeve and his sleeve was rolled up for the fight. + +“You are wasting your breath,” he fairly shouted as they pressed about +him. “I’ve sacrificed the last ship and the last man to Francisco +Pizarro’s insane obstinacy. I need these ships and I need these men, +and I need them here.” + +“But Your Excellency must remember,” Father Luque interrupted, “that +you were specifically instructed by the Crown, in taking office, to +aid Pizarro’s enterprise.” + +“Not specifically, _padre_,” Rios corrected, “but merely +incidentally. I was specifically instructed to reorganize this colony +in harmony with the ideals and principles of Spanish civilization. I +was specifically instructed to bring the former governor, Pedrarias, +to justice and put an end to his career. The old devil had money and +influence enough to win in his trial. How much he paid into the pockets +of the judges, I know not, but he was allowed to go free and unscathed. +He was not only acquitted at his trial here, but he has so corrupted +the council of Panama that they have given him a license to establish +a slave market in the city under my very nose, where he is selling at +public auction thousands of helpless natives of Nicaragua. To carry out +effectively my royal commands I must equip an army, invade Nicaragua, +arrest him and put a stop to his infamies. And I’ll not be hampered by +madmen’s ambitions.” + +“I approve Your Excellency’s intentions towards Pedrarias,” Father +Luque suavely replied, “but we must not forget that Francisco Pizarro +and his brave followers are soldiers of Castile. They are carrying the +banners of Spain and the Cross of Christ. However mad their enterprise, +it is for the glory of the Crown.” + +Father Luque then paused, drew himself erect and added in solemn tones: + +“I warn Your Excellency, Don Pedro de los Rios, that if you dare to +leave Pizarro and his men to die on a lonely isle in the Southern Sea, +I’ll see to it that you answer to the Court of Spain for this act!” + +“Dare! _Dare_ did you say?” roared the governor. + +“I have said it,” was the sober answer. + +Rios mopped his brow and sank low in his chair, his face a black mask +of helpless rage. Molina, Almagro, and Ruiz pressed him in the name of +God and King for a ship of rescue. + +He held a stubborn silence and allowed his tormentors to exhaust their +arguments before he spoke. He shot a fiery glance at Father Luque. + +“The only concession I will make to your clamor,” he growled at last, +“is to allow you to equip, at your own expense, a single ship of +rescue, with barely hands enough to work her sails. I’ll give positive +orders to Francisco Pizarro to report to me in Panama within six +months.” + +Molina heard the verdict with deep emotion. It was given with ugly +reluctance. He drew the group of his associates into a hurried +conference outside the governor’s house. + +“There is not a moment to be lost, my friends. He may change his mind +to-morrow.” + +“I agree with you,” Espinosa answered. “The money is ready. We must +build a small vessel, equip her with stores and a supply of arms and +ammunition and start at the earliest possible moment.” + + * * * * * + +At last the little ship tugged at her anchor ready for the rescue. +Ruiz, her pilot, was in high spirits. + +“Our captain will be heartsick for a moment,” he whispered to Molina, +“at this poor response to his challenge of service for the King, but +he will find a way to win.” + +Ruiz’s sharp voice rang out in command to his sailors to lift the +anchor. The chains began to rattle into the locker when Molina saw to +his amazement a canoe swing alongside. A package of clothing was flung +on deck and in a moment he confronted a slender figure in a dark cloak. +Behind the upheld folds the white teeth of Teresa flashed a smile. + +“I told you, my Alonso, that I would go!” + +The cavalier lifted his hand and Ruiz ordered the anchor dropped. + +“And I told you, sweet, that it could not be.” + +For half an hour the quarrel raged. At the end Molina lifted Teresa in +his arms, lowered her into the canoe and ordered the oarsmen to the +landing. At the door of her brother’s house, he opened his arms for +their farewell. + +The girl’s figure stiffened. + +“So, I am your slave to be ordered about at your will. We shall see.” + +“Your blessing, sweet; the ship is ready.” + +Again he opened his arms, but she only stormed in anger, and turned to +enter the house. + +“Go if you will,” she snapped, “and the devil go with you. You will not +dare speak to me again!” + +The red slowly mounted the young cavalier’s face. He turned on his heel +and took three quick steps before he felt her arms about his neck. + +“Forgive, my Alonso, I love you. I love you more than life. This +parting is as death. Promise that my image only shall be in your heart +until we meet again.” + +“I promise, my own.” + +He pressed her in a long tender embrace, kissed her lips and ran to the +water’s edge. + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +Through seven dragging months Pizarro and his dauntless little band had +watched and waited for a sail on the northern horizon. Seven months +that passed as seven years, and never were brave men put to harder +test. In spite of every effort of their leader to fan the flames of +faith in God, their hearts at times grew cold with the sickening sense +of failure. Could they meet their foes in battle, it had been easy to +fight and win or die; but this loneliness of a living death, this fight +with invisible foes in far-off Panama was more than human flesh and +blood could bear. + +Two of his men lay nigh unto death. The captain tended their ills with +care. He saved for them the choicest food. He cheered their drooping +spirits with stories of his battles, for he knew the signs--their weary +souls were sick with waiting. + +Seated by their side Pizarro heard the shout of his men on the beach. +There was no mistaking that shout. It rang in accents of a joy that was +almost delirious. + +He leaped to his feet. + +“Ships! Ships! Lift up your heads, my comrades, and _live_!” + +The two sinking soldiers smiled for the first time in dreary weeks, +and their captain knew that they would live. They were too feeble to +be lifted aboard the little ship and Pizarro left them in charge of +friendly Indians from Gallo who had shared his lot on the island. He +promised to call for them on his return. They smiled again bravely at +the parting: + +“Go with God!” + +“Go with God!” + +When the others had been safely led aboard, Pizarro eagerly asked for +the rest of their fleet. + +“’Twas all the governor would allow us,” Molina answered. + +“It passes belief!” the leader groaned. + +“Yet ’tis true,” Ruiz sighed. + +“And what of Almagro?” + +“The fiery little devil stays to fight the governor for another ship +and more men. Rios refused him passage,” Molina promptly answered. + +Ruiz’ prophecy proved true. From the moment Pizarro felt the deck of +a ship beneath his feet and found himself in command of his dream, he +was himself again. His keen, deep eyes swept the shores of the mainland +with new hope. He had yet time to explore the country before the six +months could expire. He determined to sail southward for Tumbez, the +city of the great empire so often described by the Indians. If he could +find this rich city, his dreams would become a living fact. He could +not be longer denied his rights. + +The wind blew a light breeze from the south. They made slow gain, +beating steadily against it. Still, the weather was good, they were +comfortable, and they made progress. They passed the Island of Gallo +and watched its shore line vanish on the horizon, without regrets. In +four days they passed Point Pasado, the limit of former voyages, and +Ruiz gayly swung the prow of his little ship into the unknown seas +never before plowed by the keel of a European vessel. + +The shore line became less steep and rugged. The grounds sloped gently +toward the water and spread out into vast plains of sand with streams +of water showing patches of rare richness and beauty. Cottages dotted +the shores and the smoke of villages could be seen on the hills. + +After twenty days the adventurers rounded the point of St. Helena and +swept into the beautiful waters of the Gulf of Guayaquil. The shores +were studded with villages, and a narrow strip of green bordered the +sea and stretched back to the foot of the giant mountain range whose +peaks were lost among the stars. They gazed in awe at the mighty dome +of Chimborazo and far beyond saw Cotopox belching clouds of smoke and +lava through a sea of snow-clad mountains. + +Following the direction of their Indian guides they came to anchor near +the island of Santa Clara at the entrance of the bay of Tumbez. Early +next morning they stood across the bay toward the city whose houses +could now be seen. + +Halfway across, Pizarro encountered a fleet of _balsas_ carrying +warriors to subdue a rebellious island. He invited the chiefs to come +on board his ship. The Peruvians were amazed at the sight of their own +people with the strangers. The Indians with Pizarro explained their +presence. They had joined the Spaniards on a former voyage and were +enthusiastic in praise of the white men as a marvelous race of beings. +Pizarro persuaded the chiefs to return to Tumbez, report their arrival +and provision the vessel with stores. He also expressed his desire to +enter into friendly relations with the people. + +The natives crowded the shores and listened with eagerness to the +story told by the chiefs. They gazed in wonder and awe on the strange +floating house in the bay, and marveled at the white wings folded so +snugly on its back. + +But the governor of the district heard the news with grave misgivings. +Evidently the strangers _were_ of a race of superior beings, if +not indeed gods. He hastened to greet them with the most friendly +hospitality. _Balsas_ were loaded with bananas, plantains, yucca, +corn, sweet potatoes, pineapples, cocoanuts and other rich products. He +also sent game and fish, and, what was most marvelous of all, a number +of live llamas of which Pizarro had seen rude drawings while serving +under Balboa. + +Every man on board the ship crowded about the curious animals, which +reminded them of diminutive camels. They felt the thick coating of wool +and hair which accounted for the specimens of woolen cloth which they +had seen on a former voyage. + +With the _balsas_ the governor sent as his ambassador and +spokesman a Peruvian nobleman wearing huge ornaments of gold attached +to his ears. The rich costume and the deference paid him by his +attendants at once marked his high rank. + +Pizarro received him with every mark of honor, showed him the ship, its +equipment, its guns, sails, stores and crew. The Peruvian, through the +native interpreter, asked some questions. Studying Pizarro keenly he +inquired: + +“From where have you come and why to our shores?” + +The Spaniard bowed. + +“As vassal of a great prince, the greatest and most powerful in the +world, I am come to assert his supremacy, and teach your people the +religion of Jesus Christ the only true God.” + +The prince listened with respectful attention but made no answer. That +any other ruler could be greater than his was, of course, absurd. It +would be a waste of time to argue such a point. But if the Spaniards +had any god greater than their own, he held himself a philosopher ready +to be shown the light. + +He accepted Pizarro’s invitation to dine and enjoyed the meal. He +praised the Spanish wine and invited Pizarro to visit Tumbez. + +The captain presented him with an iron hatchet which he had greatly +admired. The use of iron was unknown to the natives. + +Pizarro returned the courtesy of the official call by dispatching +ashore Alonso de Molina with one of the native interpreters and a coal +black negro servant who had been brought from Panama--one of the first +fruits of the Las Casas traffic in slaves from Africa. + +The negro, whose name was Congo, carried a present of pigs and +chickens, animals as yet unknown in the country. + +Molina was immediately surrounded on landing by a mob of curious +people. The young women admired his long beard, and he received +proposals of marriage on the spot. + +They were amazed at the color of Congo. They utterly refused to believe +it was his own, and tried to rub it off with their hands. + +While they were still chatting and laughing over his black skin, the +young rooster which he carried, suddenly crowed. The sound was received +by shrieks, followed by a hundred curious questions. And then the crowd +suddenly fell back in awe before an exquisite girl arrayed in spotless +white who passed close to Molina. Murmurs of deep excitement swept the +throng. + +“A virgin of the Sun!” + +“She will surely die for it!” + +“A thousand pities!” + +“And ’tis Yma, first of all the dancers of the temple at Quito!” + +The girl, her fine eyes sparkling with wonder and anticipation, pressed +closer. She looked admiringly at Molina. Then she took the rooster from +Congo’s hand, stroked his neck and looked at a native interpreter. + +“Ask the beautiful white stranger what this queer fowl has said.” + +The interpreter repeated the question to Molina. The cavalier studied +the vision of beauty for a moment, disturbed by the deep tenderness of +her gaze, smiled and answered: + +“He says that you are very beautiful.” + +The interpreter translated. The girl smiled--a ravishing smile. But a +guard carrying a spear seized her arm and led her away. + +Not, however, until her appealing eyes had flashed their message; and +once more had distressed and thrilled Molina. There was something +delightfully disturbing in the way she had searched his face--a sort +of joyous worship that made him feel that he had forgotten Teresa in +permitting it. But certainly he could not have forbidden it. He was +possessed with a curious presentiment that he would see her again, +that there was danger in their meeting--but also he trembled with +anticipation. For Yma _was_ beautiful. + +He turned quickly to the interpreter, who had witnessed the scene in a +sort of fascinated terror, and asked: + +“Who is she?” + +“First of all the dancers at the Temple of the Sun at Quito.” + +The cavalier threw a startled look at the white retreating figure. She +stopped, lifted her hand and waved to him her farewell. + +Molina was escorted to the palace of the _curaca_ and found him +living in state. Sentinels guarded the door and his reception room was +decorated with huge vases of pure gold, while the latches and door +trimmings were of solid silver. He inspected the fortress of stones and +was shown their cathedral building, a stone-walled Temple of the Sun. +From a parapet of its wall he caught again the flutter of that white +arm and recognized the girl who had dared the weight of tradition to +speak to him. She was near, and once more the thought disturbed him +delightfully. + +He was taken inside the building and was fairly blinded by its +decorations, blazing with gold and silver. The sun’s rays fell on them +in a way that seemed to double their light. But nowhere did he see Yma. + +When Pizarro received the report of his messenger, it seemed so wild he +could not fully credit the story. + +“Sir Knight,” he said gravely, “I fear the tales of chivalry in which +you once reveled have touched your mind.” + +He must select a more sober observer. He accordingly commissioned Pedro +de Candia to confirm or deny the weird tale. + +De Candia was sent ashore dressed in full armor, with sword at his side +and arquebus on his shoulder. The natives were further astounded at +his armor on which the sun’s rays gleamed with weird effects. They had +heard from their chiefs of his wonderful gun. They begged him to let it +speak to them. + +The soldier set up a wooden board for a mark, took aim and fired the +musket. The explosion shivered the board and struck terror into all +who stood near. The people fled in wild confusion, and many of those +nearest the scene fell on their faces. A few drew near to Candia and +gazed on him with the awe and reverence of worshipers. + +The soldier laughed at their fears, and they showered him with +hospitalities. They conducted him through the outer fortress surrounded +by triple walls of heavy stone. They led him into the inner shrine of +the Temple of the Sun. He saw its walls literally plated with gold +and silver. The heavy vessels used by the priest were all in solid, +massive gold. To the stunned vision of the soldier they last of all +revealed the artificial garden of the Sun God adjoining the Temple. Its +shrubbery, fruits, and flowers were all wrought in pure gold and silver. + +Candia’s report more than confirmed Molina’s. It threw the adventurers +into a state of mad excitement. They gathered about their leader with +flushed faces. + +Pizarro spoke in the awed tones of a religious enthusiast. + +“Friends and comrades: Our eyes have now seen the glory of which we +have dreamed. Others can no longer call us madmen. Thousands will flock +to our banners. We dare not lift a hand in conquest of this great +Kingdom to-day, but God has crowned our sufferings and trials with +success. The natives have received us as demigods and heaven points +the way to our sure triumph. We will return with a mighty fleet and +army.” + +A shout rent the air. The Peruvians in their _balsas_ swarming +about the ship mistook the cries for a farewell cheer. They lifted +their hands and called a joyous answer. Little could their simple minds +know the real meaning of the yell from the little ship’s deck. + +Pizarro drew Molina aside. + +“Señor Alonso de Molina,” he began in grave tones, “you shall be our +first ambassador to the court of Peru.” + +The young cavalier flushed and bowed. + +“I send you with this full rank. You know, of course, that our army is +not yet recruited to make good your credentials. You must go to the +court of their monarch as a scout and spy. Your life will be in your +own hands and God’s.” + +“I understand,” was the firm response. + +“Before my return I shall expect you to explore the Kingdom, find the +number of its people, the power and resources of its ruler and the +strength of its army. I wish a map of the roads and the location of its +forts. Report to me on the arrival of our fleet.” + +The cavalier’s figure stiffened. + +“I’ll do my best--” + +In a few minutes, he stood beside the rail with a native interpreter +and Congo, his servant, ready to depart on his important and dangerous +mission. There was no need to launch a boat to set him ashore. A fleet +of _balsas_ again surrounded the ship bringing, with best wishes +from the governor, a fresh supply of food for their voyage. Pizarro +delivered his final message to the people. + +He joyously promised them a speedy return! + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +The governor of Tumbez received Molina with royal honors, insisting +on giving a festival of days to celebrate his coming. The cavalier +declined with reluctance. + +“I am instructed, Your Excellency, to report at once to your sovereign +as the accredited ambassador of Spain.” + +The _curaca_ gave swift orders to his attendants, and within half +an hour, two splendid litters draped in scarlet cloth, trimmed in gold, +drew up before the door. Four stalwart men held the bars of each sedan. + +The governor led Molina to his seat and ordered his baggage placed in a +plain litter to follow the two of gorgeous draperies. + +Congo hung back and grinned his embarrassment at the sight of his chair +of state. An attendant led him to the seat. He refused to get in. + +Molina laughed. + +“Take your seat, Congo,” the master ordered. “It is the custom of the +country.” + +In spite of urging from all sides the negro still balked. Amid shouts +of friendliness they caught and lifted him to his seat in the royal +conveyance. + +As the cortège of bearers and guards were about to start on the +journey to the court at Quito, a barefooted, barelegged athlete dashed +up to the governor and whispered a message. The _curaca_ waved to +a group of native soldiers lounging across the way and in a few minutes +a litter veiled heavily in deep purple drew up behind the baggage train. + +Molina inquired the meaning of the message and the reason for the veil +which concealed his fellow passenger. + +The governor was loath to reply but in answer to the inquiry of the +interpreter quietly answered: + +“A prisoner under sentence of death goes with your train to the capital +for execution.” + +Molina glanced at Congo. He was leaning back in state, and had failed +to catch the ominous announcement. But, seeing the guards of his litter +throw a startled look at the veiled seat, he called the interpreter and +asked the meaning of the stir. When the solemn words were repeated he +rolled his eyes toward the purple draperies, leaped from his seat and +ran for his life. + +The guards at Molina’s command rushed to catch him. The black man ran +in leaps and bounds. With each frantic leap he breathed a prayer. He +reached the water’s edge and was about to dive when the guard caught +him. Four men dragged him back to his seat. + +Molina confronted him with rage. + +“What ails you, fool?” + +“My seat’s too high,” was the trembling answer. “They’re carrying me to +my funeral!” + +“Nonsense,” his master reassured. “You’ve nothing to do with their +laws. We live under the laws of Spain.” + +Congo’s fear allayed, the procession started forward at a swift pace. +Outside the city they struck the great paved highway of the empire +leading northward. + +At nightfall they stopped at a rest house and ate a sumptuous meal +served with choice wines. The attendants wore the royal ensign which +denoted their service of the monarch. The rest house was not a tavern +run for gain, but a contribution of the crown to the convenience and +comfort of the traveling public. + +The cavalier marveled at its perfect appointments. His interpreter +showed him the royal granaries adjoining the house--full to +overflowing, against a day of need, with bread for the people. He tried +in vain to learn the character of the crime committed by the convict in +their train being carried on the last stretch of the journey of life. +But all lips were dumb. + +The only answer given was plainly a formula repeated many times before: + +“Only the Lord of the Sun in his palace at Quito can explain.” + +Arrived at Quito, the young ambassador was received with acclaim. +The knowledge of his coming had been proclaimed long before. Molina +understood now the meaning of the swift athletes who passed his train +from time to time. They were the royal mail carriers. He had seen them +meet on the highway, whisper a message and dart away on the smooth road +in opposite directions. A runner was required to travel at high speed +for five hundred yards and his message was taken and relayed to the +next man. They covered in this way three hundred miles in a day. + +Passing over the stone-paved streets of a large city, through massed +thousands of well-dressed excited people, the litters were borne into +the spacious courtyard of the royal palace. Molina gazed with wonder on +the stone walls. Many of the bowlders used in its structure were ten +feet long and four feet high, and undoubtedly weighed many tons. + +The monarch’s chamberlain, arrayed in a robe of gorgeous blue, clasped +with gold fastenings, bade Molina welcome in the name of his master and +conducted him to an apartment a single flight above ground. + +The Spaniard studied the solid masonry of the walls of his apartment +with increasing interest. They had been ground smooth on their +inner surfaces. The bowlders were of unequal size and shape and yet +fitted perfectly without the use of mortar. The finest point of his +knife could not find a crevice in their seams. Narrow windows near +the ceiling admitted light by day, and huge tapers of tallow stood +sentinels for the night. + +To his amazement he heard the splash of water through a doorway, and +entered to find a bathroom with a spacious pool fed by a sparkling +stream. Certainly these people were centuries advanced in the +development of life when compared to the semi-savage Indians of Darien +and Panama. A stone seat circled the room on which were laid towels +of cotton cloth. On the ledge of stone through which the stream of +water poured into the pool were placed goblets of solid gold on which +were wrought with skill the heads of jaguars. In one corner sat a huge +flagon of silver filled with a choice fermented drink and beside it +stood two cups. + +The Spaniard tasted the liquor and his eyes sparkled at the fine mellow +quality of the drink. It sharpened his wits, and beyond doubt he was +going to need the talents of a diplomat of the first rank. + +The chamberlain entered after an hour with a message from his master. + +“Our Lord of the Sun regrets that you arrived too late to dine with +him in state this evening and begs you to accept such service in your +apartment as his handmaidens can provide.” + +Molina bowed his thanks. The nobleman waved his hand and a procession +of fair serving maids entered bearing cushions, cloths, steaming dishes +of llama meat, potatoes, fruits and wines. The food was spread on a +low table of wooden sections placed in the middle of the room. A huge +cushion was placed beside the board for Molina. The interpreter, being +a native, was not supposed to sit at the ambassador’s table. + +When every want of his guest had been provided for, the chamberlain +bowed and said: + +“When you have refreshed yourself, our lord will receive you in the +throne room. I will return within the hour.” + +In vain Molina begged to know the name of the unfortunate prisoner who +had accompanied his train. Again he heard the formal answer: + +“Only the Lord of the Sun may explain.” + +The Spaniard determined to ask the monarch. The incident was +disquieting. The chamberlain was careful, however, to satisfy his +natural curiosity to know the name of the monarch. + +“You are now in the palace of our Lord the Inca, Atahualpa, supreme +ruler of the northern half of the Kingdom of the Four Corners of the +World. His brother Huascar rules at Cuzco, the capital of the South. +For the first time in history there are two Incas. This by the will of +their great father Huyna Capac, who so loved the beautiful mother of +our Lord of the Sun, that their second son, Atahualpa, was made equal +in power to the lawful heir Huascar.” + +Molina listened carefully. _Two_ Incas! Two Incas might breed +jealousy. And jealousy might breed--The young cavalier’s heart beat +exultantly. + +An hour later the chamberlain entered with a group of noblemen and +led Molina into the throne room. The magnificent hall, lighted by a +thousand candles hanging in clusters from the beams of the wide-set +roof, presented a scene of splendor. The walls were covered with plates +of gold. The great beams that supported the roof were likewise sheathed +in beaten gold. + +At the end of the hall on a throne of gold, set with pearls and +emeralds, was the Inca, surrounded by his wives. His mother, the +dowager queen, stood beside him. From the wall behind the throne, +projecting into the room above the head of the ruler, was an immense +plate of gold, representing the sun, a human face from which radiated +rays in all directions. These rays were heavily studded with hundreds +of precious stones. On the forehead of the face was set a huge emerald +whose deep green light gave to it an expression of sinister power. + +The Inca was a man of commanding presence in the full strength of an +athletic youth, thirty years of age. His lips were full, his features +regular, his nose long and finely shaped. The eyes possessed the slant +of the Orient and looked out fearlessly. There was no sign of beard +on his smooth face. Centuries of plucking had left the Peruvian race +without a beard. Within no one’s memory had beard on the human face +been known. + +A cloak of plaited gold hung loosely on his shoulders, its collar +trimmed in jewels, rising three inches above his shoulders. His head +was covered with a cone-shaped crown of gold tipped with scarlet +feathers. Pendants of emeralds hung from his ears to his shoulders. +Beneath the cone-shaped crown, projected to the eyebrows the scarlet +_borla_ fringe, the supreme emblem of his power, symbol of both +human and divine attributes. He was both sovereign and God to his +people. In the center of the crown blazed the sign of the sun, and +on his breast he wore the same emblem which had been wrought in the +form of his own features by the royal goldsmith on the occasion of his +coronation. In his right hand he held a jeweled scepter. + +He waved his scepter and the vast crowd of splendidly dressed nobles, +accompanied by their wives and daughters, fell on their faces and rose +with a low murmur of applause. + +The chamberlain conducted the Spaniard to the foot of the throne, and +Atahualpa rose with simple dignity and presented his visitor to his +stately mother, a woman of rare beauty, at this time about forty-five +years of age. His queen he presented with due formality and waved an +introduction to his other wives. + +The Inca’s mother, with a gracious smile, placed a jewel-set chair +beside the throne and the Inca seated Molina and then resumed his own +place on the throne. + +Again the ruler lifted his scepter and the musicians concealed in the +foliage of artificial trees wrought in gold and silver began to render +an enchanting call to dance. The great curtains at the end of the hall +parted, and a hundred torch bearers entered and pressed the crowd back +against the walls, clearing the space before the throne for the dancers. + +At the shrill call of a trumpet five hundred dancing girls swept +gracefully into the cleared space led by an exquisite creature, whom +Molina instantly recognized as she bowed before the Inca. The Sun +Virgin Yma who had spoken to him in Tumbez! A frown clouded his brow +for a moment at an ugly thought. He dismissed it as foolish. She could +have preceded his train, of course, in a swifter one. + +Her arms and legs were bare; the whole body above the waistline bare +except for a delicate brassiere of meshed gold that covered her +breasts. Around her waist was wound a scarlet girdle to which was bound +a close-fitting loin cloth. From a jewel-set leather belt in which the +girdle ended hung strings of pearls that formed a skirt falling to the +upper calves of the legs. + +The five hundred Virgins of the Sun whose dance she led were all +dressed in similar fashion except that the brassieres were of meshed +silver and the skirts of tiny linked chains of silver. + +Through a maze of sensuous rhythmic motion, Yma led her shining +sisters, pausing at the end of each set to bow before the Inca. + +Never in Europe had the Spaniard witnessed a scene of such dazzling +beauty. No monarch of Spain ever had witnessed such magnificence. And +no other court could rival that of Spain. + +But Molina watched the spectacle with a sense of foreboding. This Inca +seemed a mighty monarch. And he could but hope that his commander +would not sail until the expeditionary fleet was an armada and the +expeditionary army invincible. + +But Molina’s fears were forgotten in his admiration for Yma. With +every approach to the throne her lustrous eyes sought his in a strange +yearning appeal that moved him profoundly. There could be no mistaking +her deep interest. That, he had seen at a glance on their meeting at +Tumbez. Then he had attributed it only to her curiosity at seeing for +the first time a full-bearded white man. His unusually fair complexion +in startling contrast with the coal black of his servant had, perhaps, +added to the fascination. But now he saw something else. + +Her gleaming teeth, her raven hair and her lithe, exquisite body held +him spellbound. There was something about her that called him. Had he +seen her eyes dimmed by tears as she swept close in the last dance? He +was sure of this, yet could find no reason for tears in such triumphant +revelry. + +The dance ended with a crash of trumpets and the five hundred Virgins +of the Sun, with lingering glances at the stranger seated beside their +sovereign, slowly marched through the great curtains and disappeared in +the depths of the adjoining temple. + +Yma alone remained. And Molina saw that she was terrified. She stood +before the Inca trembling, her eyes streaming with tears, her beautiful +arms outstretched in pleading. But the monarch’s face was hard. Her +tears, for him, had no meaning. With a low moan she sank to her knees +and buried her face in abject pleading for mercy. + +What, Molina wondered, had she done? + +The Inca waved to his guards. Two stalwarts lifted the prostrate figure +and tenderly supported her while the ruler spoke a brief sentence that +sent a shiver through the crowd of nobles. + +Molina gripped the arm of his interpreter fiercely: + +“Quick! what is it? what did he say?” + +“That Yma, first of all the Virgins of the Sun, must die. The priests +of the temple will throw her into a vault and wall her up alive.” + +“In God’s name--why?” + +“She has broken her vows. She has spoken to a man without the +permission of the Inca. The Sun Virgins are the nominal brides of the +monarch.” + +Molina recalled the guard who had led her away at Tumbez. He +remembered, with racing pulses, his meeting with her. _She_ was +the mystery behind the veiled litter. + +“God! And they mocked her death by commanding her to lead this dance?” +he sternly asked. + +“No. She begged the privilege of dancing for you. She outdid herself +to-night--” + +Molina’s decision was instantaneous. He sprang from his seat, seized +the girl and led the trembling figure before the Inca. + +The monarch’s brow clouded with quick anger. He lifted his scepter and +turned toward his soldiers. + +But the dowager queen bent close to her son. + +“Wait,” she whispered. “The girl loves the stranger. Use her. We can +learn his secrets and purposes through her.” + +The scepter was lowered slowly. Atahualpa turned toward the Spaniard, +his royal visage stern. + +“Why have you interfered?” he asked. + +“I beg of Your Majesty the life of this unhappy girl. In the +excitement that swept the people of Tumbez at sight of our ship, +and of the strange, bearded beings who sailed it, we were called +messengers from heaven. They thought us more than men. They called us +_god_-men. Surely, she might be forgiven that she forgot her vow +in such an excited hour. Will Your Majesty ask her if she thought me +human?” + +The Inca’s eyes narrowed. He spoke to the terror-stricken girl. + +Her answer was an awed whisper, half addressed to Molina and half +spoken to her Lord of the Sun. + +“I believed he was a god. I believe so now. I am dedicated to the +service of the gods. I had no thought of sin.” + +A new advocate suddenly appeared on the scene. A slender youth wearing +the insignia of the highest rank rushed through the crowd of nobles and +dared to seize the Inca in his pleading. + +“Atahualpa, glorious brother, you will not doom her to die. I love her. +Always I’ve loved her. If she dies, you kill me also!” + +The Inca threw the youth roughly from him. He rebuked him sternly. + +“Silence, boy! How dare you press me! Back to your guard before I send +you to a dungeon.” + +But Toparca remained. Once more he pleaded. + +“Kill! Kill me if you like,” he begged, “but spare her--” + +The Inca beckoned to a guard, who led the trembling youth through the +crowd of excited, murmuring courtiers. Yma’s eyes followed Toparca +with a look of tender pity. + +The dowager queen mother frowned. The boy’s unhappy love for the Sun +Virgin so suddenly revealed had again roused the wrath of the ruler. +But she pressed her scheme. + +“Use her!” she said, and her low whisper was tense. “Release her from +her vows and give her to the stranger. Allot to him a house. With four +maidens to assist, let her preside. The end is sure. We will cure the +lovesickness of Toparca and Yma will deliver this god-man into our +hands. We must know the real meaning of his presence among us.” + +The Inca smiled, and nodded his assent. + +He turned to Molina and spoke in tones of genuine good will. + +“I accept your plea for the girl and extend to you the hospitality of +my kingdom. She is yours. She will select a retinue of servants and +minister to your comfort!” + +Yma prostrated herself before the Inca, murmuring her worshipful +thanks. She rose with a joyous laugh and gazed long and tenderly at +Molina. + +“My glorious god-man,” she cried through tears of joy, “I worship you. +My life is yours.” + +The young cavalier started. He thought of Teresa. There was no +mistaking the look in the girl’s eyes. She had made no effort to +conceal it. The tones in which she laid her life at his feet left no +doubt of her meaning. + +There was no help for it. He had saved her. Now he must play the game +and wait--and he trembled at thought of the future; trembled with a +nameless dread--and anticipation. + +With a graceful bow to the ruler he turned to the smiling girl and +followed her to his new home. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +Francisco Pizarro again found himself riding at anchor in the harbor of +Panama. The people had long since given him up as lost, sure that their +worst fears had been realized. They believed he had perished at sea in +the cockle-shell they called a ship, had died of starvation or had been +killed by savage natives. + +But he had returned, and with the stride and airs of a conqueror. He +bore live specimens of the Peruvian sheep and beasts of burden called +llamas. He displayed pieces of finely woven woolen cloth, some of it of +rarely beautiful colors. He had gold and silver vessels of exquisite +workmanship and he told a story of the splendors of Tumbez that +thrilled his hearers. Pedro de Candia was the eyewitness who confirmed +his tale. + +The alcalde mayor gave a banquet to Pizarro and his associates--Luque, +Almagro, and Candia. + +The only frown at the banquet table was on Teresa’s face. She heard +their stories with suppressed excitement and increasing pain. She broke +her silence at last in bitter reproaches to Pizarro. + +“And you, my brave Captain, whose praises I have sung and whose battles +I have fought in Panama, repay me by leaving my lover alone to perish +among savages. I cannot forgive you!” + +A moment’s dead silence followed the tearful outbreak. Pizarro rose, +crossed to her chair, and gently laid his big hand on the mass of dark +brown hair. + +“Have no fear, my Teresa. You sent me a brave knight. No braver, no +fairer, no wiser has come out of Spain. I sent him on a dangerous and +important mission because he was the only man of our company fitted for +the delicate task. He has personality. He has tact. He is handsome, +courtly, gracious, skillful. And he makes friends.” + +“Always among the women!” + +The whole company roared with laughter in which Pizarro joined. + +“I’ll stake my life, dear lady, on his undying loyalty to you. His last +words to me were a message of love.” + +In spite of his assurance, it was plain to see she had been little +comforted. + +“And when do you return?” she asked in a sad small voice. + +“When it shall please God to give us ships and men for our great +undertaking.” + +“And we’ll get them now, never fear!” little Almagro exploded. + +But Teresa listened and watched with grave misgivings. She knew that +her brother had been disturbed deeply by rumors from the governor’s +house. + +Father Luque arranged the hearing at noon two days later. Rios had +refused curtly to appoint an earlier date. + +Pizarro told the story of his sufferings during the eighteen months +he and his band had waited and of their triumphant landing at Tumbez, +and asked the governor for a license to build a fleet and recruit an +adequate expedition for the conquest. + +“And from whom do you expect the money necessary for such an +undertaking?” Rios asked brusquely. + +Espinosa, the alcalde mayor, lifted his brows. + +“I will be responsible, Your Excellency, for the funds needed.” + +“And whence will you draw recruits for your army of conquest?” the +governor asked in a tone so hostile, Pizarro held his answer for a +moment until his passion subsided. Almagro squirmed in a frantic desire +to shout his resentment. + +“Five thousand men will answer my call in Darien, Panama, and +Nicaragua,” Pizarro answered quietly. + +“So, you have the effrontery,” the governor growled, “to ask that I +place this great army of men and a fleet of ships at your command while +I remain in Panama with a few ragamuffins to sustain my authority? +I will do nothing of the sort! I will not build a rival state at +the expense of my own. To what mad heights will your ambition soar, +Francisco Pizarro? Your demands are even a greater madness than the +silly dreams you have told for the past five years on which you have +squandered hundreds of lives. I will permit the sacrifice of no more +men for your cheap display of a few gold and silver toys and Indian +sheep!” + +The thing behind the governor’s frown was out at last. He was jealous +of Pizarro, and no argument could move him from his hostile decision. + +Father Luque rose to add his voice to the plea of his associates, but +Pizarro seized him and scowled. + +“Not another word. We will not grovel before such petty jealousy.” + +They left the governor immediately. + +At the council which followed Almagro angrily proposed to build their +ships and sail without the governor’s approval or aid. + +But Espinosa shook his head. + +“We dare not move without a charter from the government, gentlemen.” + +“Has a free man no longer the right to breathe without a license?” the +fiery little adventurer scolded. + +“He has not!” the chief justice promptly answered. “More and more our +governments are regulating every detail of life. The concentration +of power in the hands of ruling kings has brought us to this state. +This man’s word, conceived in the meanest spirit of jealousy and low +ambition, is still the law in Panama. We must face the facts.” + +“And let the toil, sacrifice, and faith of years go for naught?” +Almagro flared. “Shall we stand idle while others leap in and seize +our prize? _Por las entrañas de Dios_, I’ll strangle the upstart +first!” + +Father Luque lifted his hand in disapproval, both of the blasphemy and +the threat of murder. + +“There’s a way, gentlemen, and we must take it.” + +He spoke with the conviction of a man who had carefully weighed +his plan. His associates drew close and waited in silence until he +continued. + +“Our remedy will mean delay. But I have the firm faith that in it we +will find a sure triumph. We are soldiers of Spain. We are working +for the Crown. We are extending the boundaries of the Empire of our +Sovereign, Charles V. Our glory will be his; our success his. He is +more interested than any man on earth. We’ll take our cause to the +Emperor and ask of him a royal charter.” + +Almagro leaped to his feet and shouted: + +“And make the pig in his Panama sty eat dirt.” + +The approval was unanimous. It was the one move which Rios would least +suspect and in his stubborn pride was sure to ignore as another dream +of fools. + +The plan was discussed in detail. The man on whom the choice of +ambassador to the Court of Charles fell at once--Father Luque--could +not leave his duties at Panama. Espinosa had been chief justice under +Pedrarias and his many enemies at the court rendered his selection +unwise. + +Pizarro and Almagro were not only unlettered soldiers, but it was known +of all men that both were born out of wedlock and had lived the lives +of nameless waifs in Spain. Pizarro had been abandoned in Truxillo by +the humble peasant girl who gave him birth. + +While a tiny boy he had earned a scant living by tending pigs; had +slept with them and had saved himself from starvation more than once by +nursing their friendly mother. He had never been to court even as a +kitchen scullion; he had never looked on royalty. + +Almagro was small of stature, ugly in features, and much disfigured +by the loss of his eye. Besides, his quick temper and easily roused +passions made his selection a thing beyond discussion. + +Father Luque suggested that they appoint the Licentiate Corroll, a +reputable lawyer about to return to Spain on public business. + +Almagro flung himself from his chair with a snort of disapproval. + +“God’s wounds, no!” he shouted. “He’ll forget us in his own business. +One of us must go. One whose heart and soul is in the work. I’ve +quarreled with Francisco Pizarro as I shall again. But I like his ways. +No court can frighten him. I’ve seen him in close quarters. No man can +tell the king the story of our adventures as well as he who led us. To +hell with his lack of learning and his sad birth! He’s a man for all +that, a strong man, and a leader. I ask Francisco Pizarro to go for us +to the court of the Emperor!” + +The one eye flashed its light into his comrade’s face and waited for +the answer. But Pizarro was loath to accept the grave responsibility. + +“Frankly, my friends,” he concluded his objections, “I’d rather lead a +dozen expeditions into the wilderness against wild beasts and savages, +but--” He paused and drew his fine figure erect--“if you think that I +am the man to entrust with this mission, I will go.” + +Father Luque was doubtful, yet no better choice seemed possible and +he acquiesced. He placed a hand on the shoulder of Pizarro, another on +Almagro’s shaggy head and earnestly prayed: + +“God grant, my children, that one of you may never defraud the other of +his blessing!” + +Pizarro solemnly promised to consult the interests of his partners +equally with his own. + +It was not until early in the spring that he sailed--the spring of +1528. He took with him Pedro de Candia as a living witness, two natives +of Peru to train as interpreters, three live llamas, and specimens of +fine cloth, and vases of gold and silver. + +He arrived early in the summer at Seville, the port from which he had +sailed for the New World more than twenty years before, an obscure +common soldier. + +The people heard him with deep interest and excitement. The news of his +arrival and mission to the court spread over the city with remarkable +swiftness. His dreams were coming true. + +On the day he was packing for the journey to the court a loud knock +on his door accompanied by the terror-stricken voice of the landlord +announced the arrival of a servant of the king. Pizarro smiled at what +he thought was the quick response of an eager Crown and opened the door +with pride. + +He was dumfounded to discover that the servant of the king was a common +bailiff charged with his arrest on a warrant sworn out by a certain +lawyer, Encisco, who had come to grief at Darien during Pizarro’s +first expedition with Ojeda. Encisco accused the bold adventurer of +ruining him by having Balboa ship him back to Spain. Pizarro saw the +fine hand of Rios in this warrant. + +Instead of an audience with His Majesty, Charles V, the ambassador +found himself that night talking from the inside of an iron cage to the +turnkey of a jail. He promptly sent Pedro de Candia with a message to +the Emperor. + +The moment Charles heard, he dispatched a courier with orders for +Pizarro’s release and an invitation to present himself immediately. + +From the depths of despair the prisoner was lifted to the heights. Of +the royal courier the soldier of fortune asked eagerly news of the +sovereign, his character, and of his achievements and triumphs. Buried +in the depths of the Isthmus of Panama and the trackless seas that +wash its shores, he had heard little of Europe. To him the Emperor was +merely a name to be spoken with awe. Now he must appear before this +august presence with his future in his hands. On the turn of a little +finger for him rested the issues of life or death. + +The courier was deeply impressed by the tall, bronzed man from the +wilderness, and described his royal master with enthusiasm as they +journeyed to Toledo. + +“Know this, Señor, that His Majesty is yet a very young man. Although +his fame fills the world he is but twenty-eight years of age, a man +of unusual strength of character, born the heir of four great royal +houses. He wears the crowns of Austria, the Netherlands, Aragon and +Castile, and he’s just been called to be the ruler of Germany. At the +age of fifteen the crown of Charlemagne was placed on his head at +Aix-la-Chapelle. He owns the kingdoms of Naples and the two Sicilies +and is about to depart for one of his palaces in Italy. + +“He has just defeated Francis I, King of France, and taken him +prisoner. He is too great for petty thoughts and petty grudges. Win his +favor and you may have what you wish for the asking.” + +Pizarro lifted his head with elation. He thought of Rios with contempt +and threw off fear. He could talk to a great man in a language that +he could understand. He must keep his poise amid the splendors of the +Emperor’s court and say the right word. + +As the cavalcade approached Toledo across the desolate stretch of +parched sands, the proud old city, set on its seven hills, loomed +suddenly in grandeur beyond the yellow waters of the Tagus. The rising +sun touched with splendor the towers of the cathedral and the ramparts +of the royal Alcazar in which Charles held his court. He had rebuilt +the old palace-fortress in a style befitting his new power. Somewhere, +beneath the pile of the cathedral, moved the archbishop of Toledo, +supreme ruler of the Church in Spain. His authority was second only to +that of the Emperor, and his hand had been felt more than once in the +affairs of the New World. A word that might offend the prelate would be +a fatal mistake. + +At the Alcantara bridge Pizarro paused to await the arrival of Candia +in charge of his precious llamas, and the treasures of Peru. On the +high hill above the bridgehead loomed the great rectangular fortified +convent and beyond it the towers of the city. Throngs were passing +over the highway, across the bridge. Vast clouds of dust filled the +skies from the plains. The capital of Spain at this time boasted of a +population of two hundred thousand people. + +Something in the contagious excitement of the throngs pushing, shoving, +jostling, shouting as they passed over the bridge, caught the heart of +the adventurer from the outlands. For more than twenty years he had +lived in the far wilderness. The crowded life of the city that loomed +above frightened him. + +A moment of panic seized him. What if he lost his head before the +august presence of the young Emperor, whose fame had reached the limits +of the earth? The results would be tragic. It would mean the loss of +all his years of toil. It would mean the end of his hopes. Encisco and +Rios would secure his rearrest. A man in jail in Spain at his age of +fifty-five would be doomed! The records of court were vain imaginings. +Once there, prisoners languished in dungeons and died without trial, +their very existence forgotten. Luckily for him the fame of Cortez’ +conquest of Mexico had stirred Spain, and the Emperor was interested in +the possibilities of Peru. + +In spite of his iron will Pizarro’s panic grew at these thoughts until +a shout from Pedro de Candia reminded him that he was the leader of a +great cause. On his shoulders rested the responsibility of success or +failure. He lifted his stalwart figure and rode across the Alcantara +bridge with as high head as the royal courier who accompanied him. + +They threaded the narrow, winding, gloomy streets and reached the +triangular plaza of Zocodoro without mishap. And here the ambassador +was grateful for the guidance of the courier. No stranger could have +found his way through the labyrinth of crooked streets without a guide. + +Pizarro protested at stopping in the tavern beside the square. He +wished to pass straight on to the Alcazar and see His Majesty without +delay. + +The courier laughed. + +“It will yet be hours, Señor, before His Majesty rises. On awakening +about eight, it is his habit to eat in bed a royal meal of spiced +chicken and beer, turn over and sleep again for several hours. It +would be unwise to see him until he has had his mid-day repast, a more +leisurely and substantial feast. Woe betide the man who interrupts +a meal of Charles V. He is not only the greatest potentate of the +world--he is the greatest eater of all time.” + +It was past two o’clock when Pizarro finally stood before the audience +chamber of the Emperor. + +The courier gave him friendly advice. + +“Show His Majesty your llamas and woolen cloth first. He is keenly +interested in developing his textiles. Then your golden vessels. He +needs gold. The _Cortes_ will grant him no money for foreign wars. +He has just beaten the King of France, but a new war looms. The Pope +will soon crown him Emperor of Italy, but he must defend his title. +The Sultan of Turkey is mobilizing another army to march on Vienna and +he must defend his crown of Austria.” + +Pizarro murmured his thanks and suddenly found himself before the +Emperor and his gracious young queen, Isabella of Portugal--whom he had +married but two years before--the robed Archbishop of Toledo, and a +throng of courtiers. + +He trembled for an instant, but recovered his poise in the details of +exhibiting the live llamas, at whose odd shape the court was greatly +amused. Charles felt the quality of their wool with keen interest. The +fine fabrics of cloth woven from their clip he studied carefully, and +whispered to the queen: + +“There may be more in this than all the gold of the Indies.” + +She nodded her approval. + +The specimens of gold and silver manufacture he examined carefully, +with enthusiastic praise for their workmanship and solid weight. + +“And now, Francisco Pizarro, the court will hear your plea. Speak fully +and openly.” + +Pizarro approached the royal group with firm step and told his story in +the plain crisp words of a soldier, a man who had played the leading +rôle in the drama which he unfolded. He made no attempt at eloquence, +but felt from the moment he began that his personality had made an +appeal to the Emperor. His life and future were in his own hands. +He realized at moments a strangling consciousness of the fact, and +breathed a voiceless prayer for the right words. + +He told of his strange adventures on land and sea, his long, cruel +training in Darien and Panama, his struggles in forests, his +shipwrecks, his battles with savages, his comrades dropping by his +side, and yet ever pressing on, the banners of Spain upheld. With +resistless pathos he told of the sufferings on the Islands of Gallo and +Gorgona, the hunger, the loneliness of long months, the desertion by +his colonial governor, the deathless determination of his handful of +followers to extend the Empire or die, and of Molina, now plunged in +the vast unknown of Peru. + +When at length he saw the young Emperor’s eyes swimming in tears, he +bowed and withdrew into the crowd. + +His Majesty rose, smiled, called Pizarro to his side and seized his +hand: + +“As a true soldier of Spain you have honored our banners with your +faith and loyalty. I will commend your cause to the Council of the +Indies. Your petition for a royal charter is granted. In my absence in +Italy the Council will work out its details. I shall expect great deeds +of you, Francisco Pizarro!” + +The friendly courier gripped the adventurer’s hand as he passed from +the royal presence. + +“A great speech, Señor! I couldn’t have done better myself.” + +Pizarro’s dark face lighted with a puzzled smile. + +“But this Council of the Indies!” + +The courier shook his head in a gesture of pity. + +“God help you, once in their hands. A bunch of snails. A pity His +Majesty is leaving for Italy. You’re in for a siege. The Queen is your +hope.” + +Pizarro hurried to his room at the tavern with a proud sense of +triumph. And back of it forebodings of a struggle with the Council. +As the sun set the adventurer looked out at the glowing, shimmering +splendor of royal Toledo, absorbed in dreams of the far land of +mystery, of the gallant young cavalier somewhere in its vast and +bizarre expanse, and of Teresa, who yearned for her lover. + +And his eyes were wet with glad tears. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +Molina found himself in a house whose appointments were amazing. Built +of cement, high on the side of a cliff, its comforts exceeded anything +he had known in the new world. Its walls were dry, the furnishings +adequate for every want, and the view from the terrace on which his +room opened, one of entrancing beauty. Below lay the city of Quito, its +huge palaces and fortresses of stone flashing in the tropic sun, and +beyond in the distance the snowy peaks of the Andes. + +The only thing he missed was the use of glass. The windows were closed +by wooden shutters or were merely open spaces through which light and +ventilation passed. The even temperature of the altitude at which the +city was built made this but a slight inconvenience. + +The beds were of bamboo slat that yielded as a spring. A heavy mattress +of wool was covered by clean cotton sheets finely spun and woven. +The best wool blankets were on every bed. The table service--plates, +cups, knives, bowls and pitchers--was of gold. The food served under +Yma’s watchful eye was deliciously cooked, the bread of corn meal most +palatable and satisfying. The llama mutton was done to please the +palate of a king. Large, white potatoes roasted through and through +were dry and mealy and to him a thing unseen or tasted before on any +table in the outside world. + +A golden bowl was filled with bananas, pineapples, plums, cocoanuts and +mangoes. + +The swift feet of voiceless serving maids scarcely made a sound as they +moved through the halls and rooms at their tasks. + +As the shadows of evening fell, Yma led her new master into the court +about which the house was built. A fountain splashed in the center. +In huge earthen pots dazzling flowers bloomed and an orchestra of +soft-stringed instruments made weird music. + +The table for the evening meal was set beside the fountain. Yma took +her place at its head and presided with simple grace. Her orders +were silently and swiftly obeyed. She watched Molina with keen eyes, +anticipating his every want. And when he sighed with satisfaction at +the close, she smiled and asked through his interpreter: + +“My Lord is pleased?” + +“Delighted, dear Virgin of the Sun. You work wonders.” + +“And I have another--” + +She waved her bare arm and from a room opening on the court, swept a +chorus of dancing girls who circled the table in number after number of +graceful dances. Their lithe young bodies seemed the incarnation of the +soft strains of the hidden music. + +The Sun Virgin watched the effect on the Spaniard with an interest +that was half pain and half joy. The girls were dressed exactly as +the chorus of five hundred at his royal reception, except that the +skirt of silver spangles was a little shorter and the dancers had been +selected with more care, each one a marvel of sensuous beauty. Each one +a smiling challenge to the man before whom they swept. + +But there was no look of jealousy in Yma’s lustrous eyes. To her simple +mind she was celebrating a festival of love. Her Lord was worthy of +the best the Sun God could give. She had selected these girls with the +pride of an expert. + +A look of care clouded her brow at Molina’s lack of interest. Not +exactly bored, yet he lifted his eyes to the stars sometimes with a +far-off expression as if his mind were in another world. + +“My Lord is not happy?” she asked plaintively. + +“Oh, yes,” he responded cordially, “but I was just wondering if your +people dance all the time?” + +“They work sometimes, but they manage to dance every night--” + +“Every night?” + +“And why not? They are carefree. They are happy. Their feet rejoice.” + +“I see!” he laughed. + +The table cleared, and the last dance ended, Molina bade his charming +hostess good-night and retired to his room. + +He opened the window, blew out the taper and sat watching the full moon +flood the valley with the glory of its tropic light. + +The rich delicate food, the splash of water, the sigh of music and +the swaying of the beautiful bodies had found him at last. It thrilled +him and he tingled with the delight its sensuous effect produced. He +thought of Yma and he caught his breath. + +Yet he was sick for the girl he loved in Panama. He wondered if she +missed him with the sharp pain that he felt to-night? How little he +had dreamed at their parting how long it would be before he saw her +again. The waiting now might be an eternity. He regretted his carrying +her back to her home. Suppose his captain failed to build his fleet +and recruit his army? Then he was trapped for life. The way across +the trackless wilderness and mountain barriers could not be made +alone. Only a madman would dream of taking it. A sense of intolerable +loneliness caught his heart. + +A soft footfall echoed within the room and he turned in amazement to +see a vision of unearthly beauty standing before him. The moon’s rays +lighted her white robe with a shimmer of silk. She came close and her +dark eyes glowed with flaming tenderness. + +She stretched toward him her bare arms. He stood, rooted and +fascinated. The lithe arms encircled him and drew him to her, against +firm breasts. His senses swam. For one red instant he crushed her to +him. Teresa--! He broke away, his brow cold with starting sweat. Then +he led her to her room and closed the door. + +But she returned with the interpreter, her face flushed, her eyes dim +with tears. + +“Surely my Lord understands that I am his wife by command of the Inca, +whose word is the law of God?” + +“I--I can’t quite understand. I--” + +“But I adore you, my god-man. I am all yours, soul and body--” + +Molina turned away, avoiding her gaze. He was silent. Yma spoke again. + +“Am I ugly?” + +“You are very beautiful, dear Virgin of the Sun.” + +“But you dislike me?” + +“No.” The cavalier turned, faced her and said slowly, “I love another +in Panama.” + +Yma stared a moment in surprise and laughed happily. + +“Then I can be second. You will love us both!” + +The Spaniard shook his head. + +“But the Inca has many wives,” the soft voice pleaded. “The three +thousand Virgins of the Sun are called his brides. You are surely a +god-man--even greater than our Lord--you are fairer than the sky at +dawn. Surely you may have as many brides as you like?” + +Again, her nearness set him trembling. But he set his jaw. + +“It is not permitted to a Christian, dear Yma.” + +She looked at him in hurt amazement, turned slowly and left him, her +shoulders drooping. + +For an hour the cavalier stood before his open window and watched the +moonlit valley shimmering below. He had spoken his vows and he loved +the girl he left behind in Panama, and yet the beauty he had just +denied himself half maddened him. He turned and started for the door +Yma had closed behind her. And then he thought again of the high-strung +Spanish girl to whom he had given his word. He had spoken his vows. He +was yet a Cavalier of Spain. + +He walked back to the window and stood, his head bowed in the moonlight. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +Pizarro’s fears of the Council of the Indies were more than justified +by the events which followed the departure of the Emperor for Italy. + +For more than six months the restless adventurer was forced to cool his +heels in the anteroom of the council chamber. And with each day his +slender means sank under the strain of his expenses and futile efforts +at bribery. + +He thought of Molina with vague misgivings. He thought of Almagro with +distinct and painful fears. The impulsive firebrand had more than once +threatened to organize an expedition of his own and defy all authority +until the deed was done. He had sworn they would all then fight to +recognize such an achievement. And if Almagro once got the ships and +the men, he might elude the opposition, do the great deed and achieve +the immortality Pizarro had dreamed for himself. + +The more he thought it over, and the longer the delay, the more +unbearable became the strain. + +Again he found himself in a position where he must risk all by a leap +over the heads of petty officials to the source of power. He dreaded +the chance of mishap but had to face it. If he appealed to the Queen +and she referred him back to the Council, they would drive him out of +Toledo. The Emperor was now in Austria recruiting an army for war on +the Sultan, and had forgotten the llamas and the golden vessels. + +He decided to appeal to the Queen. And in spite of his fears, her +gracious young Majesty received him cordially and expressed surprise +at the delay of the Council of the Indies. She immediately ordered the +execution of the capitulations with Pizarro defining his office, powers +and privileges in Peru. They were generous beyond his wildest hopes. + +The royal charter granted the right of discovery and conquest in the +province of Peru which was to be called New Castile. He was made +the governor and captain general of the province with the title of +Adelantado and Alquacil Mayor for life, at a handsome salary. He was +given the right to build fortresses and govern them, to assign Indians +to labor under the provision of law and exercise all the powers and +prerogatives of a Viceroy of the Crown. + +Almagro was made commander of the fortress of Tumbez with the rank and +privilege of an hidalgo. Father Luque was made Bishop of Tumbez and +Protector of the Indians in Peru. + +All salaries were to be drawn from the revenues of the conquered +territory. The conquerors must, in short, pay their own expenses and +give the Crown one-fifth of their spoils. + +Ruiz received the title of Grand Pilot of the Southern Seas, de +Candia was made Commander of the Artillery and the remaining +faithful followers on the Island of Gallo were made hidalgos and +_cavalieros_. + +Pizarro protested at the unequal distribution of honors between himself +and his partner, Almagro. But the Council was obdurate in refusing to +divide authority. Such division had always been a source of jealousy +and bitterness. Pizarro was compelled to take all or allow a court +favorite from Toledo to take his place. So he risked the wrath of +Almagro and accepted the honors. + +The charter provided that Pizarro should obey the Spanish laws of +good government and the protection of the native populations. He was +ordered to carry in his expedition of conquest a required number of +ecclesiastics devoted to the service and conversion of the Indians. +With these churchmen he agreed to confer on all important questions of +policy and the conduct of government. + +In order to make good the charter he was required within six months to +raise and equip a force of two hundred and fifty soldiers which the +Crown agreed to arm. All other expenses were to be borne by Pizarro and +his associates. He must be prepared within six months of his arrival at +Panama to sail on his expedition. + +The adventurer was honored with the habit of Santiago and authorized to +claim armorial bearings. + +On receiving his papers under the great seal of the Crown, he hastened +to his native town of Truxillo. Here he had grown, among scenes of +squalor and poverty whose memories were burned into his soul. Here he +had lived, a miserable outcast, without the love of father or mother, +suffering at times the pangs of hunger. And yet the heart of the +man, now fifty-five years old, turned fondly back to the home of his +childhood. There was something of stern pride in his desire to show his +appointment as a viceroy of the Emperor Charles V to the people who had +once looked on him as the veriest trash. There was more of boyish pride +in his home and a genuine desire to lead its people to fame and fortune +under his banner. + +He sought at once his brothers and found them all eager to enlist. +Three of these brothers were also illegitimate. Francis Martin de +Alcantara was related to him by the mother’s side only. Two others, +Gonzalo and Juan Pizarro, were descended from his father’s side. They +were all poor and proud as they were poor, and their eagerness for gain +was in proportion to their poverty. + +Hernando, his older brother, was a legitimate son, a man of fine +figure, repulsive features, and violent character. Arrogant, proud, +jealous and revengeful, he soon acquired over Francisco an influence +that was to have its effect on the expedition. Pathetic was the love +which Francisco bore these men who had not given to him a thought since +he disappeared from Truxillo a quarter of a century before! + +In the late spring of 1530 their squadron of three vessels anchored +at Nombre de Dios on the Isthmus of Panama. Here Pizarro found his +associates Luque and Almagro impatiently awaiting his long-delayed +arrival. + +When the little one-eyed man heard the provision of the charter which +gave to his partner all the honor and powers of government, his fury +was boundless. He openly taxed Pizarro with treachery. + +“Am I nothing as compared with you?” he shouted. “Am I thus to be +dishonored before the world as your lackey and not your equal? Did we +not both swear on the missal in the Church at Panama to share alike in +both the perils and rewards of the enterprise? Yet in spite of your +solemn oath you put this shame upon me!” + +Pizarro was deeply distressed at the anger of his partner. He sought +with all his powers of persuasion to explain his apparent betrayal of +trust. He swore to Almagro that he was forced to choose the supreme +power for himself or see it pass to a vain, incompetent favorite of the +Court who would have ruled them both. He slipped his arm around the +little man, led him aside and begged him to be calm. + +“Don’t forget, my partner,” he pleaded, “that my honors are yours as +well as mine. I seized them as a sacred trust for us both. All that I +have will ever be yours for the asking.” + +Almagro’s quick temper responded to this assurance and the quarrel +would have been healed but for the stupid and arrogant interference +of Hernando Pizarro. From the moment of their first meeting the +venomous older brother had shown his scorn for the one-eyed +adventurer. Almagro’s claims were scouted as ridiculous and he was +held a contemptible impediment to Francisco’s career. This attitude +Almagro resented with a violence that boded ill for the future of the +enterprise. His friends, and they were many, heartily joined him in +his hatred of Hernando. + +On the way across the Isthmus to Panama the breach widened. The +overbearing conduct of the leader’s brother was a thing not to be +endured by veterans of the wilderness. Francisco Pizarro’s apparent +betrayal of trust was enough without the insults of his vain, brutal +brother. + +At Panama, Almagro announced his break with the Pizarros, and began +the purchase of ships and recruiting of men for an expedition of his +own. Luque and Espinosa now rushed into the breach that must be healed +at all hazards or the enterprise would be lost and a rival step in +to reap the fruit of six years’ suffering and toil. A working truce +was patched up between the partners. Pizarro agreed to surrender to +Almagro the honor and dignity of Adelantado, and petition the Emperor +to confirm his rival in the office. He promised to apply for a separate +government for Almagro the moment he should be established in his. He +also solemnly agreed to give no office to either of his brothers until +his partner was satisfied. + +“Come, man,” he pleaded, “the empire we seek is big enough for all.” + +The little man was ready to give his hand in full reconciliation with +his veteran associate when his one eye rested on Hernando Pizarro’s +dark sneering face and he was in the air again. He finally accepted the +promises of Francisco when the controversy between the three associates +was rewritten. The spoils should be divided into three equal shares, +after the fifth interest of the Crown had been deducted, one share for +Francisco Pizarro, one for Diego de Almagro and one for Father Luque +representing Espinosa. + +But the final healing touch was given by Teresa’s soft hand. She led +Almagro to a seat overlooking the Bay of Panama and pleaded with him +through her tears. + +“You like my Alonso, do you not, Captain?” she asked earnestly. + +“As fine a young cavalier as ever came out of Spain!” was the quick +answer. + +“Then you will have pity on the girl who loves him and sail without +delay. He has been there alone for more than two years--” + +Almagro’s one eye glittered as a smile played about his rugged face. He +rose and bowed low before her. + +“Your tears are all that’s needed, dear lady. I’ll shake hands with +the old pirate once more, hold my nose when his brother draws near and +sail to find your sweetheart. I’d have done it anyhow in the end urged +by your brother and Father Luque. Now, I’ll show you how quick I am in +action.” + +He was good as his word. The ships were found quickly. The vessels at +Nombre de Dios on the Atlantic were sold at a good price and three were +provided at Panama to take their places. + +But the quarrel of the partners and the continued opposition of the +governor had rendered recruiting difficult. + +Rios feared the man who was now viceroy. + +Instead of a fleet of big ships and five thousand men of which Molina +had dreamed, Pizarro commanded three small vessels and only 180 men, +with twenty-seven horses. He left Almagro to follow with more ships +and men, and boldly sailed early in January, 1531, for the coast of +Peru. With this small force he would begin operations and trust to the +reports he would send back, for recruits. + +On the second day out Pizarro was amazed to see standing before him +in his cabin a slender youth dressed in a shimmering coat of mail. He +gazed for a moment in surprise unable to place the name or features of +his young soldier. + +A low ripple of laughter betrayed her sex and the chief recognized +Teresa. He leaped up in anger and alarm. + +“What madness is this, Donna Teresa!” he exclaimed. + +“The same madness which I have caught from you, Your Excellency,” the +slender knight replied. + +The grizzled veteran smiled at the first royal salutation which he had +yet received. He had not fully realized that he was now sailing the +Southern Sea, in his own domain and a viceroy of Charles V. + +“Your brother to whom we owe so much will follow and give me trouble +for this, dear lady.” + +“Nonsense. My brother knows that good Queen Isabel rode to battle with +King Ferdinand. My coat of mail is patterned precisely after the one +she wore as she sat her horse beside the King. I like your high spirit +of adventure, Your Excellency. I’ll ride with your Castilian horse, +and my only complaint will be that we are so slow. Because, Your +Excellency, I go to my lover, and women on journeys of love laugh at +danger, flout the elements, and challenge death itself. So lead me, my +Pizarro; our destinies are cast.” + +And the conquistador smiled in admiration as the little fleet flew +southward. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +The Sun Virgin stood beside the terrace wall of Molina’s house gazing +sadly over the city of Quito at the setting sun. Days had passed and +the man she worshiped had not yielded. Almost, it was true, but his +troubled eyes and firm mouth had held her aloof. Her heart was heavy. +It was unthinkable that he should continue forever to repulse her. + +The healing beauty of the tropic sunset stole over her at last and +brought a smile. Song birds softly twittered their evening prayers from +the branches of orchids. Brightly tinted humming birds were hurrying +from cup to cup sipping their nightcaps. Parrots, chattering, swung +from limb to limb of the trees. + +Over all slowly settled the full glory of the sinking sun, touching +fruits, flowers and birds with subtle magic. The girl watched the +widening splendors with a throb of hope. Never had God painted a more +marvelous canvas in the skies than that on which her hungry eyes gazed. +On the horizon above the darkening line of the hills loomed a growing +mountain of soft white clouds. The sun, slowly sinking, shot through +them the miracles of a thousand colors. In their hearts, hot orange; on +the fringes gold, bright and flaming. The sky, a magnificent canopy of +crimson from horizon to horizon--slowly faded into the purple glories +of the Orient. + +“An omen!” The girl smiled and turned into the house. + +Yma had scarcely reached her room before the doorman entered it to +announce a visitor. + +“Toparca?” she asked with trembling eagerness. + +The guard nodded. + +“Tell him to await me in the court beside the fountain.” + +When she appeared, fully dressed, the youth was pacing the paved floor +restlessly. + +“You have heard something?” she asked in a quick whisper. + +“Yes. The chief priest has demanded a Council of State. It is now in +session. The chief priest, the Inca, the queen, the dowager mother are +there. They are trying the stranger for his life. If you would save it, +you must act quickly!” + +“And you who love me bring this message?” she cried tenderly. + +“Yes--” + +She could only stare, but her eyes shone in misty gratitude. + +“Oh, Yma, beloved,” he choked, “have you become the stranger’s bride?” + +“No, Toparca. He loves another. He has repulsed me cruelly.” + +The youth stared bewildered. + +“How could he be so blind before your dazzling beauty?” + +“He does not see with your eyes.” + +“I’m sorry you grieve, my Yma. I’d give you your heart’s desire, if +I could. Yet I rejoice you are not his. And I shall pray our Sun God +daily to keep you until I shall claim you as my own. When I am of age +the Inca will grant my prayers--if you will only wait and love me, +dear?” + +The girl pressed her fingers to his lips in a tender gesture and +hurried to the door. + +“Come, we’ve no time to lose. You must help me.” + +The boy obtained admission to the royal council chamber of his brother +without delay, and concealed Yma behind the folds of the curtained +doorway. + +The chief priest was speaking sternly: + +“I repeat my warning to you, Lord of the Sun. This man is a spy sent +among us to learn the strength of your kingdom. Your illustrious +father first heard of their skirting our coast in this very room, the +night he made his will, and divided the kingdom between you and your +brother Huascar. The Priests from Cuzco threatened and raved in vain. +And strange to say an earthquake shook the palace and a volcano burst +into eruption. Your father, Huyna Capac, defied the double warning and +reaffirmed his decree in favor of your mother, his beloved Pacha.” + +The Priest paused and bowed to the stately Dowager Queen. + +“He made you the Inca of the Northern Kingdom in spite of all croakings +from Cuzco. But I warn you, Lord of the Sun, your father confessed to +me in secret that in these strange beings who walk the earth in shining +shells, carrying thunderbolts in their hands, he foresaw the doom of +the empire. I vote for the man’s death to-night.” + +The dowager studied the high priest with a frown. The Inca lifted his +eyes to the queen who refused to act without his lead. + +“I wait your decision, my Lord,” she humbly said. + +The Inca’s slanting eyes narrowed in a piercing glance at his mother. + +“But if this strange god-man is endowed with such power can we not use +him? Two Incas cannot rule. A war between us now threatens. If the +stranger will give to me his magic, I can win if these tales of his +prowess be true--” + +“That depends,” his mother interrupted, “on the charms of Yma. If she +wins his love, he will fight for us--” + +“But will she win?” + +“If he resists her charms he is truly a god. She is the most beautiful +Virgin of the Sun in the history of the Kingdom.” + +Yma pressed Toparca’s hand and whispered: + +“Now, lead me to the Inca--” + +The youth tremblingly led the girl before the royal Council, and +faltered: + +“The Sun Virgin has an important message, Atahualpa.” + +The girl threw Toparca a look of pity and faced the frowning ruler. + +“I have come, my Lord of the Sun, to announce my triumph. The stranger +is mine. He loves me and takes me as his bride.” + +Toparca rushed from the room. + +The Council voted life to Molina, who was at the moment alone in his +apartment, a prey to fears of the future. + +While on the great uncharted sea, the little fleet, like an approaching +cloud, flew southward and neared Tumbez. + +Empires lay on the scales and a woman’s lie had turned the balance. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +When Yma discovered that Molina could not be taken through the mere +sight of her beauty or the voluptuous appeal of her lovely body, by a +quick intuition she changed her method. + +She would make her presence free from all attempt at allurement. She +would work a charm of habit so subtle that he could not arm himself +against it. Never once, after the first night of offered surrender, did +she hint of love. She was simply a slave to the bidding of her master. +His commands were her joy; her service an act of worship. + +Her first suggestion for his daily life was so sensible he agreed +immediately. He must master the Quicha language, the spoken word of +the Inca Empire. She would learn to speak his tongue and together they +could train others. + +The Spaniard found her new ways harder to resist than the more obvious +one with which she began. Through the long hours of their study of the +languages she was ever modest, gentle and worshipful. + +Her attitude of worship was the one restful thing about her. It was +a strange experience for the cavalier. The sense of being regarded +as a god was a queer feeling. It reacted on his conscience and his +outlook on life. It held him to ideals. He could not afford now to act +as common clay. The girl’s worship was an incense that glorified life. +It gave him strength to resist the lure of her body. It brought to his +loneliest hours of longing for Teresa a new strength. And yet, it was +this very attitude that, to an extent, weakened him. It was easier +for his conscience, but it maddened his masculinity. Yma’s strategy +was subtle. Molina’s ideals struggled with his inclinations. If she +threw her beautiful arms around his neck now--and he tacitly hoped she +would--the battle would be a hard one. + +As the days passed and no sign of an invasion of the kingdom appeared, +the Inca’s fears passed. He allowed his strange guest complete liberty +to go and come as he pleased. + +Yma planned a journey of inspection of the kingdom to which Molina +eagerly agreed. It would give him the opportunity to map the country, +locate its roads and forts, gauge the number of its inhabitants, and +estimate the strength of its resources and armies. To the girl it meant +the glory of moonlit nights in the tropics amid scenes of surpassing +splendor. His heart would be of stone if it did not melt at visions she +would show to him. + +The highways were a source of endless wonder to Molina. The litters on +which they were swiftly borne passed over endless miles of wide, paved +roads, such roads as Europe had never seen or the world known since the +days of the Roman Empire. + +Yma led him first over the highway of the Grand Plateau between the +first ranges of the Andes. They climbed swiftly into the clouds. +Across trackless sierras of dazzling snow the trail was never lost. +Tunnels ran through miles of solid rock. Rivers were crossed over +slender suspension bridges that spanned gorges miles in depth. Mountain +crests were scaled by hewn stairways cut into the rocks. Narrow ravines +of almost fathomless depths were filled with solid masonry to meet the +level of the tunnels. + +“How long, my Yma, is this miraculous roadway?” Molina asked as they +began the descent into the great plateau. + +“Two thousand miles, Señor,” was the quick reply. + +He laughed at the quaint way her lips framed the Spanish “señor.” + +They stopped at a post resthouse perched on the cliff to enjoy the +grandeur of the view. Molina never tired inspecting the huge granaries +of these stations. He always found them not more than five miles apart. +These were not only for the use of the traveling public, but were the +homes of the post runners who carried the royal mails with such swift +efficiency. + +These runners, called _chasquis_, were young athletes selected for +their speed and fidelity. In addition to the delivery of the royal mail +they also carried delicacies for the table of the Inca and his nobles: +fish, fresh from the sea and streams, and fruits and game. Molina could +recall no such institution in all Europe. + +In the great plateau he found the kingdom of the Inca in its full +development, a complete system of civilization more highly organized +than life in Spain. All labor was for the common good. No man could +accumulate more than his needs. There could be no poverty. There was +no want. No man might better his lot, or leave the place of his birth +without the summons or consent of the Inca. Every man, not assigned to +duty in the army or the public works, was required to till the soil. +The Inca himself set the example at the spring festival by entering the +fields and spading the soil. + +Agriculture had developed in the most marvelous ways. Arid spaces were +watered by a system of aqueducts conveying swift streams of pure water +from the mountain heights. The mountain sides were terraced for miles +in height. These terraces were covered with rich soil carried and +hauled by hand. Potatoes, corn, and vegetables grew in rich profusion. + +Each man’s crop, when harvested, was divided into three portions: one +for the Inca, one for the Temple of the Sun, and one for the man who +toiled. The portion of the Inca was stored in the royal granaries +against any possible day of want. From these storehouses, all public +servants, the army, and the miners were supplied. The labor required +to till the soil was light, when evenly distributed. The people held +no fear of the future. They literally had become children of the sun. +Their chief pleasure was the dance. When night softly fell from the +tropic skies, the lights of a thousand feasts and dances gleamed in the +valleys. + +An overseer was set over a group of ten families. A controller ruled a +hundred families. A lieutenant-governor ruled five thousand families, +a governor ten thousand, and a viceroy had the oversight of a province +consisting of forty thousand families. Each officer reported to his +superior and the viceroy went several times a year to report in person +to his emperor, the Inca. + +Secret agents traveled continuously, incognito, over the kingdom, +inspected each village, noted the conduct of its officers, and reported +to the sovereign. + +Crimes were rare, but when committed were met with swift, dire +punishment. Murder, adultery, rape, incest and similar violations +of the moral code were punishable by death. Only a governor could +pronounce a death sentence, with the right of appeal to the highest +authorities. + +Theft was punished in a unique manner. If the culprit stole from want +the official responsible for his condition must pay the penalty. The +thief was then provided with land, clothing, food, and all necessities. +If such a man still would steal, he was executed immediately. + +The men did the heavy work, the women assisting in seedtime and +harvest. In addition to her house-work, while men tilled the fields and +worked the mines, the women made shoes, cloth and clothes for their +families. + +Immoral women were not permitted to live within a village. Their heads +were shaven and they were driven into the forests. If a respectable +wife spoke to such a woman she suffered the same penalty. There were +no brothels in Peru. There were no public drinking places, no brawls +over drink or women. + +The fishing off the coast and in the rivers and streams was free to +all, but only the Inca or his wardens were allowed to kill game. + +The standard type of dwelling was of the simplest form suitable to the +tropics--small buildings of adobe brick, thatched with straw. Large +families had two rooms, small ones but a single room. Wooden chairs +and tables, an open fireplace with cooking pots and pans and a bed, +slightly elevated from the floor, completed the ordinary outfit. + +Corn, potatoes, and llama mutton were the staple foods. The people ate +but two meals a day, one in the forenoon and one at sunset. + +Their principal drink was a beer made from corn and a more highly +developed whisky which was called _sora_. They had early learned +the magic qualities of the coca shrub and chewed its leaves as a sort +of tobacco. Its effects were stimulating to a high degree. By chewing +these leaves, from which the modern drug of cocaine is distilled, a +workman could labor a day without food, unconscious of fatigue. Tobacco +was used only in the form of snuff. + +The travelers reached a large village at a most exciting moment. The +entire population had gathered on the green. + +“What is it?” Molina asked of his fair guide. + +The girl laughed gayly. + +“Come. It’s the marriage festival day. Every boy and girl in Peru must +be married, the boy before the age of twenty-four, the girl before the +age of twenty.” + +“And if they do not?” + +“The controller makes them marry.” + +“I see!” the cavalier exclaimed. + +“On this day in every village of the kingdom the boys and girls gather +on the greens and claim their mates. They must choose their mates from +their own community. Both the parents and the bride and groom must +consent....” + +“But unless they find a mate, the controller will arrange it for them?” + +“By all means, Señor. They must marry.” + +She looked meaningly at Molina, and he, unable to meet her gaze--half +yearning, half amused--turned away. + +They went to an excited group of people. The controller was in action. +A stubborn youth had refused to marry, though twenty-four years of age. +Again Molina avoided her look. + +The unmarried girls of the village were set before the recalcitrant. +They laughed and shouted at his stubborn folly. The official commanded +that he take one, love her and rear a family. + +He angrily refused. + +“Damn all women!” he exploded. + +A chorus of shrill laughter greeted the explosion. + +The controller walked sedately before the row of smiling girls, +selected one, seized the youth’s hand, placed the girl’s in his and +proclaimed them man and wife. He announced their honeymoon of a year’s +leisure and sent them to the community house to begin it. Each newly +wedded couple were allowed a year’s exemption from any toil. + +“So that’s the way it’s done in Peru?” Molina laughed; but his laughter +was nervous. + +“Yes, Señor,” Yma demurely answered. “If a man will not do his duty, he +must be made to do it.” + +Her dark eyes held him for the instant, and he felt hot blood suffuse +his face. + +He turned away and watched moodily, while the crowds gathered +everywhere at the doors of the newlyweds. Song and dance and feasting +would last for days. The last census had put the population at more +than twelve million. + +Molina sought the controller and asked at length of their marriage +customs. He was curious about the penalty of death fixed for the crime +of incest. + +“Is it not strange,” he asked the official, “that you enforce such a +law in an empire whose ruler is commanded to marry his sister?” + +“Not at all, Señor,” he gravely explained. “We know the dangers of +incestuous marriages. The Inca of the South is required to marry his +sister that the heir to the throne may ever be the purest strain of +royal blood. After the birth of the prince, he no longer lives as the +husband of the queen. He has many wives. Neither the common people nor +the nobles are permitted this violation of natural laws commanded of +the royal family. Huyna Capac, the monarch who divided the kingdom, +began a new line of Incas by marrying the Queen of Quito. Atahualpa +is his son by the new royal line born of a union without incest. We +know that Atahualpa is the better man and Huascar will yet yield the +southern kingdom to his brother.” + +He had scarcely finished his speech when a royal runner bounded to his +side and delivered a _quipa_ message bearing the imperial seal of +Atahualpa. + +The official read with frowning brow. + +“You have bad news?” Yma asked. + +“The worst,” he answered addressing Molina. “Civil war!--the first +our empire has ever known. But it had to come. Atahualpa is marching +on Cuzco and bids you join his camp at once. He asks your aid against +Huascar.” + +To the courier who bore the message of war, Molina said: + +“Tell your monarch that I obey his summons and will join his standard +without delay.” + +Yma’s face was radiant. She came impulsively to Molina and kissed +him on the mouth. In the excitement of the moment he returned it +with passionate eagerness, and trembled as the wave of swift warmth +overspread him. Yma smiled. + +“My glorious god-man will lead his army to victory....” + +Rushing his litters with fresh carriers Molina hurried to the camp of +the Inca. He tried, feebly, to leave Yma behind, but she refused to +seek safety in Quito. In answer to Molina’s protest her voice quivered. + +“I am your slave. My place is by your side.” + +He did not object. He found the Inca at Ambato, sixty miles from his +capital, confronted by an army from the South. + +Atahualpa was the idol of his men. He had served in more than one +campaign with his illustrious father. The democratic manner of the +young ruler had endeared him to his soldiers. In the crisis he found +himself surrounded by the ablest officers of the old régime, who had +lived at Quito since the death of Huyna Capac. + +The Inca called Molina to a council of war with his two generals, +Quizquiz and Challcuchima. The strength and position of the enemy were +duly reported and Molina advised that they join battle at sunrise. + +The scene was set at the foot of the towering peak of Chimborazo. The +Spaniard’s blood leaped at the sight of Atahualpa’s host drawn up in +line of battle. The strength of their equipment amazed him. Without +cavalry, swords or muskets, they still carried weapons, that, used +_en masse_, made sure impressive results. + +They had developed nearly every weapon known of man before the +invention of gunpowder. Only their swords and lances lacked the hard +edge of steel. (In this, the sword of the cavalier, wrought by master +hands at Toledo, was easily the superior weapon.) Yet as both armies +were without steel, the advantage was with neither. + +Bows, arrows, lances, darts, battle-axes and slings were ready. + +The weapons of the commander were tipped with gold and silver and the +gorgeous costumes of the army gave to the scene a festive color. The +mass of the soldiers wore the dress of their provinces; and the gay +plumage of their local uniforms added to the gala character of the host. + +Beneath his gay coloring each soldier wore a close tunic of heavily +quilted cotton, strong enough to withstand the thrust of an arrow, +dart, or lance, and tough enough to break the force of the hardest +stone hurled by the sling. + +Each company carried its banner and above all floated the imperial +standard with the device of the rainbow, the ensign of the Incas, +proclaiming their kinship with sun and sky. + +From sunrise to sunset the battle raged. As the sun sank, the army of +the South gave way, and their retreat became a rout. Atahualpa swept +over the bloody field strewn with the dead. + +He pressed his advantage without pause until he reached the gates of +the capital town of the province of Canaris, which had sided with his +brother. The Inca drew up his army, entered the place in triumph, razed +every house to the ground and put the inhabitants to the sword. He sent +his army into every district of the offending province and laid the +country waste. At length bands of children led by old men and women met +him bearing green branches in their hands praying for mercy. But the +young conqueror, deaf to all appeals, spared no man capable of bearing +arms. + +The terror spread by his stern revenge on the treacherous province +opened the gates of every city before him for miles. At the roadway +leading across the Andes to the hot springs at Caxamalca, the Inca +paused, detached a small division of the army, led it across the +mountains, and established the imperial headquarters at Caxamalca. The +women of his court accompanied the monarch and Molina sent Yma with +them. Atahualpa refused the cavalier’s plea to lead a division into +battle. But he attached the stranger to the staff of his two generals +and asked for his best advice in every council of war. + +From Caxamalca, whose approaches were strongly fortified, Atahualpa +could advance on Cuzco if his army were victorious, or retreat to Quito +if it met defeat. + +The main army moved rapidly along the great highway that leads from +Quito to Cuzco. They crossed the river Apurimac and were within +striking distance of Huascar’s capital before the ruler of the South +moved to check the advance. Atahualpa’s priests in the Temple of the +Sun consulted the oracles, made sacrifices, read the signs, and advised +him to wait. + +Meanwhile, advised by his generals of the peril of his capital Huascar +raised a levy of recruits with all speed, reënforced his lines and met +the invaders on the plains of Quipaypan. The battle ground had been +carefully selected by Molina and approved by Quizquiz and Challcuchima. +Both armies fought with desperation. Not merely a battle was at +stake--an empire was the prize. + +Atahualpa’s men were flushed with the victory of Ambato and Huascar’s +fought under the personal leadership of their Inca. An hour before +sunset the field was piled with heaps of the dead and dying. Huascar’s +lines again broke in wild disorder and his army fled. A thousand of his +faithful noblemen rallied about his person too late to save him from +capture. He was taken prisoner and the victorious generals of the North +marched into the capital and occupied it in the name of their emperor, +proclaiming him sole ruler of the Kingdom of the Four Corners of the +World. + +Atahualpa immediately called a meeting of all the nobles in Cuzco to +advise with him on the future of the empire. At this conference the +wily young Inca, now supreme, arrested the ringleaders who had urged +his brother to war and executed them. + +His triumph was now complete, and he had taken steps to insure a future +peace. Huascar, the weakling, he sent to the fortress at Xauxa to be +held pending his abdication of the throne. + +While still celebrating his triumph in Cuzco and preparing the capital +for his formal entry with the Queen and Dowager Mother, a royal courier +dashed into the palace and proclaimed: + +“The strange white men, carrying thunderbolts, and with queer animals, +which they ride, have again landed at Tumbez!” + +The Inca left his ablest general, Challcuchima in command of Cuzco, +surrounded himself with a strong guard, and hurried to his headquarters +at Caxamalca. From Molina he carefully guarded this news, carrying him +in his train a virtual prisoner. + +Riding in his litter, Atahualpa remembered the prophecy made to his +father and wondered. Evening came, and he looked at the battlements of +the Andes, towering in the quiet hush of day. Beyond them the sun was +setting. Its rays struck the eternal snows of the peaks, and the snows +became as blood. + + + + +CHAPTER X + + +The pilot Ruiz had held a steady course from Panama for the Bay of +Tumbez. But, swept out of it by head winds and adverse currents, he was +compelled to anchor in the Bay of St. Matthew, many miles north of his +destination. + +Pizarro put his forces ashore and ordered his ships to keep in touch +with his signals. Marching southward he discovered a large village, +assaulted and captured it, and secured a rich spoil of gold and silver +vessels and many emeralds of great value. + +The road became a waste of desert sands, drifting and yielding +underfoot and blinding his men as they breasted the wind. The glare of +the full equatorial sun was almost unbearable. + +The bravest scout of his forces was a slender girl on a white horse +always leading the van. Others dreamed of gold, she of a gallant lover +deserted for more than two years in a tropic wilderness of the South. + +A strange plague of ulcers swept the little army with extraordinary +severity. Many died and received of their priests burial with the white +sands of the desert as their shrouds. + +Pizarro halted at the Gulf of Guayaquil and received a deputation of +chiefs from the Island of Puna off the Bay of Tumbez. They invited him +to their shores and offered safe passage on their _balsas_. + +In spite of the warnings of his interpreters Pizarro decided to accept +the invitation. He immediately dispatched all three of the ships back +to Panama with the treasure which he had taken, and a call for recruits. + +His little army was embarked on the huge _balsas_ of the islanders +and safely landed. They camped on a good site selected by the chiefs +and every soldier was provided with comfortable quarters. He resolved +to remain till the end of the rainy season when the arrival of +reënforcements would make his descent on Tumbez in ships an easy task. + +The _curaca_ of Tumbez no sooner heard of the arrival of the +friendly strangers who had visited their city two years before than +he sent a delegation of armed men and invited the Spaniards to the +mainland. The visitors, on the day of their landing, warned Pizarro of +the treachery of his hosts, having discovered a secret meeting of the +chiefs to organize an insurrection. + +The Spaniard acted promptly. He surrounded the meeting, took prisoners +the chiefs and turned them over to the officer from Tumbez. He claimed +supreme authority over the island and its inhabitants, and immediately +put them to death. + +The people, enraged by the act, armed themselves and attacked Pizarro +in thousands. The islanders rushed forward in confused masses and were +cut down by Hernando Pizarro at the head of his cavalry. + +Francisco Pizarro refused to permit Teresa to expose herself in the +battle. + +The sound of muskets did deadly work among the confused charging hosts. +They were thrown into a panic at the first roaring volley; and the wild +charge of Hernando Pizarro’s steel-clad horses completed the rout. The +islanders fled into woods and disappeared. + +Four Spaniards had been killed and many wounded, among the wounded +Hernando Pizarro. The natives had been beaten, but remained ugly +enemies. They hung on the edge of the forests, cut off stragglers and +kept the Spanish camp in continuous alarm. + +At this crisis Pizarro sighted two vessels from Panama. The ships +brought a new captain, destined to make history. They were commanded by +Hernando de Soto and carried a hundred volunteers with many horses. + +The leader decided to embark at once for Tumbez. The interpreters had +informed him that the empire had been divided and exhausted by a bloody +civil war between the two brothers who were rivals for the throne. The +moment was opportune for his invasion. A small army of Spaniards might +accomplish a miracle under such conditions. + +On landing at Tumbez, Pizarro was astonished to learn that one of his +_balsas_, which had preceded him, loaded with baggage in charge +of three of his men, had been captured by natives when it touched the +shore. All three of the soldiers had been dragged into the brush and +killed. Another _balsa_, loaded with his own effects, was barely +saved by Hernando Pizarro’s charge of cavalry through the mud of the +beach at low tide. The horses plunged in slime to the saddle girths but +drove the attacking party to cover. + +Pizarro was dumfounded at his reception. He had left the place with +mutual expressions of high and friendly regard, promising a speedy +return. It seemed impossible that news of his first attack on a village +in the far north could have reached Tumbez. + +He was still further amazed on entering the city to find it a complete +wreck. But four or five private dwellings were left standing. The roof +of the great Temple of the Sun had been burned. Only its walls remained +and the interior had been stripped of all treasure. + +The invaders were dismayed. The scene of utter desolation brought to +the bold commander a moment of misgiving. What had happened? If he had +to march through such scenes of ruin, why march at all? Could it be +possible that the monarch of whom he had heard so much was a man of +military genius? The ruins of Tumbez pointed to such a possibility. Yet +the idea seemed preposterous. No ruler of millions could thus begin the +destruction of his possessions to starve an army whose strength he had +not tested. There must be another explanation. He hastened to find it, +and he had need of haste. Tumbez had been the cry of every man on the +way. He had never tired telling of its glories. His men began to throw +sullen looks and laugh in ways that were disturbing. + +“God’s light!” he heard a grizzled veteran growl. “And this is the +glory of Peru! This the city of gold and silver, where even the trees +are made of precious metal! Give me a tavern in Panama with a good +drink of liquor. I can doze and dream there with less trouble.” + +Pizarro dispatched scouting parties through the surrounding territory +and brought in a few captives. Among his prisoners he luckily found the +_curaca_ of Tumbez. + +When arraigned and asked an explanation of the attack on his men, the +governor pleaded ignorance of the occurrence. It could only have been +the folly of desperate stragglers or army deserters acting on their +own initiative. During the civil war Tumbez had been stripped of its +defenders who were serving in the army of Atahualpa, now supreme lord +of all the empire. In their absence the fierce tribes of Puna, who had +lured him to their island to destroy him, had attacked Tumbez and laid +it in ruins. + +The Spaniard was not sure of the truth of the explanation. There was +still a chance that the city had been destroyed to prevent its capture +by his men. The violence of his first attack in the north might, +after all, have inspired this method of accomplishing his ruin. The +_curaca_ offered his humble submission and promised the loyalty of +his people. + +Pizarro accepted the surrender and determined at once on a new policy. +A people who could destroy a city and withdraw before an invasion were +a force to be reckoned with. His only sane policy in meeting such a +situation was to use strategy. He must advance with care. He must +disarm fear. He must make the natives his friends. + +Urged by Teresa, the commander made of the governor the most searching +inquiries as to the fate of Alonso de Molina. + +“The reports are contradictory,” the _curaca_ apologized. “Some +say that he died of the plague. Others that he died in battles of the +civil war. Still others claim that he lost his life in a struggle over +a beautiful girl. The truth we know not.” + +“He’s lying, Your Excellency,” Teresa muttered. + +“Perhaps so, my child,” he soothed. “We’ll yet find the truth, never +fear.” + +The news of Molina’s death Teresa did not believe for a moment. Others +were more easily convinced, and the word spread quickly through the +camp. It was an ominous opening of the campaign. The golden city of +their dreams was a blackened ruin, the first three men who touched +shore had been killed, and now the news had come that the gallant +cavalier Alonso de Molina had perished somewhere in the depths of +Peru’s endless jungles. + +The leader saw with clear vision that it would be impossible to make +his headquarters at Tumbez. There would be a mutiny. A curse was on the +place. He must move his men for new advances or lose control of them. + +He left a small garrison to guard the sick, and boldly began to +reconnoiter the interior. His soldiers were instructed, under penalty +of death, that they should not lift a hand against a native unless +attacked, and in that case, to use every effort to make peace at the +earliest moment. They should neither attack nor rob. He would go always +as a messenger of peace and good will. + +Keeping to the coast line with his main division he sent Hernando de +Soto with a troop of his horsemen to explore the edges of the sierras. + +His new policy was a success. The natives met his friendly advances in +the kindliest spirit, and the fame of his genial temper spread far and +wide. The people were consumed with curiosity to see the strange beings +of whose prowess they had heard so much. They now welcomed him with +open hospitality. They quartered his troops in their houses or in the +royal post stations and provided them with the best food. + +At every stop the invaders issued a proclamation, in the name of the +Holy Vicar of God, and his emperor, Charles V, requiring the obedience +of the people as vassals to his royal master. + +As the natives had no idea what he was talking about, they received his +announcements with good humor, and their submission was duly recorded +by the notary. + +The invader selected the site of his first settlement in the rich +valley of Tangarala on the banks of a river that opened on the sea. +Here he concentrated all of his forces, built a church, an arsenal, +a storehouse, a courthouse and fortress; and a town government was +organized with a full staff of officials. + +When the fortress had been completed and his power established he used +for the first time a clause of his charter which established chattel +slavery. Under the right of _repartimiento_ he allotted to each +colonist a number of the natives needed to assist him in his work. The +land had been staked out before this provision for labor had been made. + +Here, Pizarro waited in vain for further reënforcements from Panama and +finally made the bold decision to invade a kingdom of twelve million +people with an active force of less than two hundred men. There were +dangers ahead, and dangers in further delay. His men were growing +restless and the younger blades were ready for mischief if not employed +on bold adventures. He could not afford to wait for more men. + +He left fifty to garrison San Miguel. With them remained the royal +treasurer, the inspector of metals, and all the officers of the Crown. +Antonio Navarro was made commander of the fortress. + +Pizarro then struck boldly into the heart of the country in the +direction of the reported camp of the Inca. If his army was too small +to fight he still counted on his powers of strategy. He could at least +meet the sovereign and offer his men in the service of the imperial +army. + +He had been informed that the Inca was at Caxamalca beyond the first +_cordillera_ of the Andes. He inquired at every stop for news of +Molina. + +Five months had passed since the day of his ill-fated landing at +Tumbez and he was still unable to gain an adequate idea of the number +of people in the empire or the positions of the main units of the +native army. From his interpreters he had learned that more than three +hundred thousand men were enrolled in the standing army. This might be +a gross exaggeration, or it might be an underestimate of the truth. The +only way to find out was to march into the camp of the ruler. + +Only the bravest of adventurers, the conquerors of the sixteenth +century, could have conceived or dared to execute this move. Pizarro +was a gambler first and last. All he asked was half a chance, and he +played for the highest stakes. Dangers and difficulty spurred him to +the greatest reach of achievement. His faith in the fulfillment of +his mad dream had become, after seven years of toil, struggle and +disappointment, an obsession. His confidence now was supreme. The odds +against him were overwhelming, but the fact only spurred him to greater +daring. + +As his little band advanced through the foothills it became entangled +in a jungle almost impenetrable. Shadows steamed with poisonous vapors, +mingled with the perfume of gorgeous flowers. Hundreds of parrots +mocked from the trees. Monkeys chattered and squealed. Snakes slipped +by and struck from points of vantage. Alligators, lying on the banks +of sluggish streams, snapped their jaws with fatal aim. A man sank in +a deadly morass and disappeared before the terror-stricken eyes of his +comrades. + +Pizarro was compelled to halt and spend the night in the jungle, +determined now to retreat and find a better way in a flank movement +toward the mountain ranges. + +His men were for the moment overwhelmed with the weird atmosphere of +the tropic jungles. The coloring was terrifying. It struck them with +resistless force. They had just moved from the sterile wastes of the +seacoast, a barren desert of sand, except for the verdure along the +streams. And now a smothering wilderness burst in their faces. On +its rich background were splashed great sheets and huge bouquets of +unbelievable colors, daubs of lurid yellow, crimson, blue and dazzling +white. Such colors used by an artist on canvas might drive a beholder +to violence; their combined effect in the jungle was one of positive +terror. It made the flesh creep. Its beauty was unearthly. + +The bare stalk of a tree shot straight into the air without leaf or +limb to end in a cluster of giant buttercups, each half a foot across; +the _lignum vitæ_ was covered with myriads of tiny flowers the +color of wisteria; the royal poinciana towered in flaming glory among +a dozen others. One variety in particular seemed to break into endless +billows of honey-yellow as far as the eye could penetrate. + +And swinging through all and over all were the orchids. The white +variety Teresa named “The Tears of the Virgin.” A startling red variety +she named “The Seventh Deadly Sin.” Another “The Annunciation,” +and still another, “The Bride of Christ.” And yellow varieties of +daffodils waved everywhere in thousands. + +The feet of the invaders sank into masses of rotting leaves that seemed +but half developed before being pushed to death by the surge of endless +new life. And back of it all, pervading all, hovered the soul of the +jungle, a thing of terror indescribable, yet fascinating--a beauty +haunted with lurking death! + +To Teresa the experience was one of rich emotion and uplifting faith. +Beyond the language of reason, she yet felt its kinship with the wild +beat of her heart for the man she loved. + +On the following day Pizarro devoutly thanked God to find his way back +to the open world with the loss of so few of his men. + +A half day’s march on leaving the jungle brought him in sight of +orchards laden with strange Indian fruits and fields of yellow grain. +The adventurer suddenly found himself among a people who had developed +the arts of agriculture to a point of beauty and fruitfulness beyond +anything known in Europe. They marched through a veritable paradise. + +And everywhere the Peruvians received them with kindness. Their +“allotment” of natives was yet too novel an event to have made any +impression on the interior. In fact it had not yet fully dawned on the +simple people “allotted” that they were held as slaves. Their labor in +assisting the wonderful beings who had come had been freely given as a +sort of welcoming hospitality. And acting under strict orders of their +leader the Spaniards vied with each other in winning the good opinion +of all the people along the line of march. + +In every village of any size was found a royal commissary, whose wide +halls and stored grain gave unusual comforts. Their every want was thus +supplied by the generous government against which they were marching. + +The uniform politeness of these receptions by the royal officials, +however, began, at length, to excite Pizarro’s suspicion. It was +too smooth to be spontaneous. He had a growing conviction that his +receptions had been arranged from Caxamalca. He now moved cautiously, +preceded by swift scouts. + +The richer the cultivated fields became, the denser the prosperous +population that watched his progress, and the more restless grew a +portion of his followers. On reaching the road which turned from the +main highway leading from Quito to Cuzco to cross the _cordillera_ +to Caxamalca he halted his troops for a few days’ refreshment and a +council of his officers. + +It was now plain to all that they were penetrating the heart of a +great, prosperous empire of a strong, united, happy people. The +evidence of wealth and power was gradually sapping the nerve of some +of his followers. Murmurs of fear and discontent had reached his ears +daily. The enterprise on which he had now embarked called for a united +front. His men must be of one mind. To a man they must be fired with +faith in their leader and his sure triumph. + +When Cortez faced such a situation on his landing in Mexico he had +burned his own ships and ordered his men forward. Pizarro was now deep +in the interior of a strange, powerful kingdom with but a handful of +men under his command and they indifferently equipped. His little +army numbered but one hundred and seventy-eight and he possessed but +four muskets, the one weapon that struck terror to the natives. His +swords were of the best steel, his lances strong and the riders of his +sixty-seven horses wore the best mail and carried every weapon except +the new firearms. His artillery under Pedro de Candia consisted of two +small mountain cannon carried on the back of sure footed mules. But he +must cure discontent or his daring march would end in disaster. The +longer he lingered in the village at the parting of the ways, the more +lowering became the glances of some of his men. Discontent, of course, +was a mild word for their troubles. They were scared. The farther they +got into this rich, mysterious kingdom the farther they were from home, +and the longer the tramp to possible safety. + +An officer suggested to Pizarro the plan of a swift march down the +great highway against the rich capital of Cuzco. The story of its +dazzling temples and palaces they had heard at every stop. + +The grizzled commander, fifty-seven years of age, faced his comrades +with a frown: + +“Surely you cannot advise this madness. Declare war and march for +the capture of a great city without knowledge of its defenses or the +size of the army we will encounter on the way? And leave in our rear +the emperor of the realm with an army to cut off our retreat? No, +gentlemen, we have set out to find the Inca and present ourselves at +his court. We’ll face the issue and cast our fortunes and lives on the +outcome. Call the men together!” + +A trumpet summoned the soldiers and Pizarro faced them calmly. His +voice was smooth and genial with no hint of the gravity of the +situation. + +“Soldiers,” he began slowly, “we have come now to the parting of the +ways in more senses than one. Before us lies the road to Caxamalca +where the sovereign of the kingdom is encamped with his army. Its size +we do not know. + +“Let no man enter on this daring final march unless sure in his heart +of success. We have left a weak garrison at San Miguel. More men are +keenly needed there. If there is one among you who has a doubt of the +wisdom of my order to march at once to Caxamalca, he may now volunteer +to reënforce the garrison of Navarro with full honors of a soldier. +Those who wish may now return to San Miguel and have the same allotment +of land and natives as given to those who are there. All who wish to +follow me on this dangerous and unknown road will see the matter to an +end.” + +But nine men faltered and chose to return, four from the infantry and +five from the cavalry. The remaining one hundred and sixty-nine crowded +about their leader and shouted: + +“Forward!” + +Pizarro had cleared his camp of discontent and advanced with closed +ranks. His army was now a unit and its heart beat with a single +stroke, the stroke of the heart of its commander. + +At Zaran the _curaca_ received him with kindness and quartered his +troops as usual in the royal commissary. The governor could give him no +information as to the exact spot of the Inca’s camp but had heard that +a division of the army lay at Caxas, a village among the hills at no +great distance. + +The leader sent a strong force of scouts forward under Hernando de Soto +to reconnoiter the ground, determine the size of the army before them +and their disposition towards the visitors. The commander urged Teresa +to remain in camp, but as he did not forbid her joining De Soto, she +was in the van of the party when they rode gayly forward towards Caxas. + +The course of empire meant little to her. She was nearing, now, the +man she loved--her kingdom and her conquest. And she was making good +her proud boast to Pizarro. She was laughing at danger, flouting the +elements, and challenging death itself. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + +The news of the landing of the strangers at Tumbez, coming at the +moment of his triumph, profoundly disturbed Atahualpa. He sent back +urgent commands that the number of the invaders be reported to his +summer capital at Caxamalca without delay. + +He entered the city in triumph to the loud acclaim of the people, +hastened to his palace, and summoned Yma. He told her the startling +news of the arrival of the white invaders. + +Her face blanched and she caught her breath in a low sob. The Inca +bored her with his commanding eyes: + +“Tell me the whole truth now? You are a daughter of the Sun. I have +spared your life in the service of your God, your sovereign, and your +country. Dare I trust your god-man with this secret? He will learn it, +yes, but I have yet time to make sure that the dangerous knowledge he +possesses of our army and defenses shall not be given the invaders. +Answer me truthfully as you value your life.” + +Her wits were clear in a moment. The first news had stunned. She must +fight now to save Molina. Unless she convinced the Inca of his love and +loyalty he would be put to death before the sun rose. The coming of +Pizarro sounded the death knell of her own hopes unless she could win +his love before he heard the news. And she must keep her wits now and +fight both foes. She meant to fight--and she meant to win. + +“Answer me truthfully as you value your life!” Atahualpa sternly +repeated. + +“By all I hold dear and sacred, my Lord of the Sun, the stranger is +your loyal friend as he is my beloved!” the girl sobbed. + +“See to it then. If he dares to leave without my command, I have posted +guards along every roadway with orders to kill him on sight. And if he +goes, you die the moment I hear it.” + +“He will not go, my Lord,” the small voice assured him. + +Yma returned to Molina’s house on swift feet. She warned each waiting +maid to guard the secret of the landing of the invaders at Tumbez. +She determined to take Congo with Molina on a journey she had long +planned to a shrine in the mountains overhanging the city. An important +fortress crowned the summit of the range and he was deeply interested +in every work of defense. And there, in the vastness of the ranges, +she would attack, for she was interested in every work of _his_ +defense. + +Her voice was casual as she broached the subject to the cavalier. + +“Now that the people are making their feasts over the Inca’s triumph I +will take you to see the fortress hidden on the summit of the mountain. +You will go, Señor?” + +Her most insinuating utterance of the word “señor” again brought a +laugh from Molina. + +“My dear Señorita, I accept your thoughtful invitation with joy.” + +“Congo may carry our luncheon, and we will spend the whole day.” + +Yma gained permission for Molina to inspect the fortress and promised +to return in time to make the descent before sunset. She would visit an +old friend who lived a little way down the opposite cliff. + +While Molina examined and sketched at leisure the fortress whose stone +walls would have done credit to a European engineer, Yma scrambled down +a narrow pathway to the old love shrine that clung to the cliffs on the +side of a gorge at the bottom of which roared a river’s torrent. + +A love witch of the old days had chosen the spot for its magnificent +views, its uncanny setting, and its appeal to the superstitions of the +race. The shrine was built of beautifully fitted stones in the same +style as the walls of the fortress. + +The priest was an old, wrinkled man of an age beyond the memory of any +inhabitant of Caxamalca. He was famed for the wisdom of his advice to +the lovelorn, and his charms were held in high esteem by maidens as far +as Quito. Not one in the Inca’s train had failed to pay him tribute. +Until now Yma had felt it sacrilege to speak her secret to the old +conjuror. Now that she felt the shadows of a tragedy creeping toward +her, she was a child again. She knew instinctively that he made his +living by peddling silly advice to fools and yet--who could know the +full truth of love? He might, in his long life of patient waiting, of +fasting and prayer, have found a key that would unlock her lover’s +heart. + +The girl was on the alert for his sharp tricks in taking the last +treasure she possessed. He was noted not only for his sage advice, but +was famous for the high prices he managed to get for it. She determined +to give him a taste of his own medicine. His eyes were failing. She +had high hopes of getting his advice and saving at least a part of her +jewels. + +She told him of her hopeless love for the fair god-man and begged help. +His advice would cost her six emeralds of good value. He felt the +stones and dropped them in his huge pocket. He commanded her to stand +before him. He measured her matchless figure silhouetted in the doorway +and felt the rounded lines of her arms. + +“For you, wondrous Virgin of the Sun, the way is plain. Take him by +storm. Circle him with your arms and smother him with your love. He +cannot resist you.” + +Yma frowned. The old flatterer had chosen the simple device of an +appeal to her vanity. She had been cheated. She nestled close to his +side, slipped her hand gently into his pocket and removed her gems. As +she stood in the doorway about to go, the old man laughed in cracked +tones and said: + +“Of course, the charm that never fails, advice or no advice, is one I +cannot give for less than twelve emeralds of good form and value.” + +“Twelve, dear father?” Yma breathed. + +“’Tis much I grant you,” the old man sighed, “but this magic charm, +made of the teeth of a serpent, if worn around the neck has never +failed.” + +The girl seized the charm, placed the twelve jewels in his claws, +waited for him to put them in his pocket, and knelt again beside the +treasures. Pressing close with one hand she seized his and pressed it, +murmuring her thanks while she carefully found her jewels, rose, and +turned from the shrine. + +She laughed aloud at the folly of it all and yet it might work! She +had felt instinctively that any effort to take Molina by storm would +be a failure, yet many days had passed since the night she counted her +wedding day. He had surely grown fond of her. They had studied the +languages. He had taught her--and she had grown proficient in the use +of his shining sword. They had spent many intimate hours together, and +he had held her in his arms. She had felt the fierce warmth of his +passion. He was not made of stone. The old man’s love charm was a fake, +of course, but his advice might be worth many precious stones. She +placed the charm carefully about her neck. The longer she thought of +it, the wilder beat her pulse, the deeper was the flush on her cheeks +and the swifter grew her step. + +She would act to-night. She would be the first to tell him the truth of +his captain’s arrival and the danger of his position. She would save +him at all hazards--but she meant to save him for herself first. + +Arrived at the fortress she sent Congo down the mountain with orders +to her maids for a feast of unusual luxury. He would be hungry after +the long day in the mountains. + +She took the luncheon and led Molina to a huge stone of smooth, flat +surface hidden by the boughs of trees in a densely shaded glen. She +spread the food on a cloth and both ate ravenously. + +Yma rose and languidly stretched her figure to its height. + +“And now,” she softly asked, “may I give for my Señor, the dance of the +serpent taught me in the great temple at Cuzco?” + +“You may, my Virgin of the Sun,” the cavalier gayly responded. “In this +weird spot I think the serpents will watch you as charmed as I.” + +The girl removed her outer cloak and Molina saw to his surprise that +her body was bare above the waistline except for the gold-meshed +brassiere. Never in the wildest flight of fancy had he dreamed the +alluring grace with which her arms, body, and supple limbs now moved +in a silent imitation of every motion possible in the sinuous glide +of the serpent. She seemed a living part of the wild spot which she +had chosen. He half expected to see a boa constrictor swing from an +overhanging bough and embrace her in a passion that was death. For the +first time in his life he realized the use by the ancients of the snake +as an emblem of love. + +He felt his hand tremble in an instinctive desire to touch the smooth, +beautiful skin as she glided close by his side. + +The dance over, she laughed with a girlish joy, wound the cloak about +her shoulders and gazed inquiringly at him. + +“Beautiful, my Yma!” he sighed. + +“I am glad if I please you, Señor,” and without, waiting for him to say +or do more, she led the way down the long steep way. + +She outdid herself that night at the home feast. With her own hand she +prepared delicacies forbidden to any save the Inca. Her maidens were +not sun virgins. They could not know. She would dare all for the man +she loved. In his stern resistance she had begun to believe him in +reality a god. But she felt the love charm and softly laughed. + +The cavalier praised the dinner which she had served. He declared it +fit for a king of Spain. The wines were the finest yet tasted in Peru. +They left a soft, fiery glow in his veins. To-night, her girls gave +the dance of the serpent in perfect unison, circling the table with +gliding, sinuous grace. The Spaniard watched them with an unconscious +smile playing about his handsome mouth. Yma! He felt her in the shock +of the nearness of her body. She vibrated a subtle appeal. + +With an effort he suddenly dismissed himself. + +He was not surprised an hour later to see her standing in his doorway; +nor was he really displeased. Her dress was the same as at dinner. But +there was a half terrified look in her eyes that hurt. She took his +hand, stroked it gently and whispered: + +“Dear god-man, why are you so cruel to me? A slave who worships you?” + +Molina felt his hand tremble from the sheer physical magic of her touch. + +“I have told you, dear. I am betrothed to a beautiful girl in Panama. +My vows are taken.” + +“But Panama is many, many miles away, Señor,” she pleaded. “Two years +have passed. You have no news. You may never see your loved one again. +I would not have you love her less. But I am near. My heart is sick of +longing for you. Surely this is not sin in me. How could it be wrong +that you should hear the cry of my heart and give me the chance to make +you happy? We are married by the laws of our Kingdom. Love me only a +little, dear god-man, and I will be content.” + +He felt her warm breath on his face. + +“You must not tempt me--” he began. “You must not tempt me--” His voice +trailed from its first brusque notes into the tenderest appeal. + +But she did tempt him. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed +his lips. He held her. He could feel the throb of her heart. Teresa +_was_ many miles away. Here in the wilderness, this flower of the +Sun bloomed in voluptuous beauty. Here in the wilderness her love could +assuage his loneliness. Here in the wilderness, the free primitive.... + +He kissed her with the fierceness of his long hunger. They swayed, the +rhythm of their desire rocking them. Her kisses smothered him; her body +burned against him.... + +He released her and flung his hand to his brow. He spoke, and his voice +was husky with pain. + +“My beautiful flower--” he began. But words were strangely futile. He +paused, staring at her. Once more he trembled and turned away. + +Slowly she returned to her quarters, musing. Her god-man was, indeed, +strange. She could not possess him, and yet ... he desired her! + +She determined to withhold from him the dread news for yet another day. +The excitement of the celebration still ran high. The noise from Tumbez +might be kept from his ears for days. The danger lay in swift action +by the Inca. She would find a way to meet that. Toparca would know the +doings of the palace. + +She sent a messenger for him. She had not seen the youth for months, +yet knew that he would answer. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + +Toparca was late in answering Yma’s summons. The Sun Virgin awaited his +arrival with an impatience all but unbearable. It was unlike him to +dally with a request from her. + +“Why, why did you not come at once?” she cried. + +“The council was in session....” + +The girl seized his arm. + +“They have--decided--on his--fate?” + +Toparca nodded, and smiled. + +“He is to die! You _smile_!” + +“Could I smile at your anguish, dear Yma?” + +In her joy she kissed him. + +“Go quickly,” the girl commanded. “Find the Dowager and tell her that I +am bringing the stranger to see her. If she approves we will appeal to +the Inca to-night.” + +She had decided on her course of action and would carry out her plan +without delay. + +Toparca hastened to do her bidding and she again stood before Molina. +The cavalier had doffed his coat and was preparing to sleep. They +stood, gazing at each other. + +“Dear Yma,” he began slowly, “why--why this folly? There can be no +_love_ between us. You are too young and too beautiful and have +honored me too highly to permit me to betray you.” + +Yma looked at him long and tenderly. + +“I am too simple, Señor, to understand your strange reasons and +behavior. I only know that you will not have my love. I cannot force +yours. I am not come to plead a vain cause or disturb you. I am come to +tell you that your people have landed at Tumbez....” + +“What?” Molina cried, his voice jubilant. “Say that again, dear girl!” + +“Your captain, Francisco Pizarro, has come....” + +In his joy the cavalier swept Yma into his arms and kissed her lips. +She made no response. This embrace, this caress meant nothing to her, +to him. He shouted for joy because it meant the return to his people, +the return to Teresa. His kiss was given to her lips, but it stung--she +felt in its ardor, the yearning for another. She could not possess him, +and yet.... Here in this wilderness.... + +“You wish to join them at once, my dear god-man?” she sorrowfully asked. + +“Yes, dear, at once. I will start to-night with the Inca’s permission.” + +“They have discussed again the question of your death, Señor....” + +“Of my death!” + +“Yes. The Inca knows that you came as a spy for the strangers. He knows +that you have studied and made sketches of his defenses....” + +“He knows--by your reports?” his voice was bitter. + +The girl shrank back. + +“You ask that cruel question, my beloved?” + +He came forward impulsively and caught her hands. + +“Forgive me! I know you incapable of such treachery. And I know that +you will help me go to my people....” + +“Yes, my life, though it is as death to me....” + +Molina started. Teresa had said that. He kissed her, as if by his now +cold lips he could assuage her longings. But she did not respond. She +drew away. + +She paused and devoured him with her eyes. + +“And such dreams I’ve had of life with you!” + +He was eager again, excited, his blood and nostalgia calling for his +own kind. + +“You’ll take me to the Inca, to-night?” he urged. + +“I’ve sent a messenger to prepare the way. We first must see the +Dowager. Atahualpa loves his proud mother and she is very wise.” + +The cavalier took the slender hand in his. + +“You knew that I would wish to go at once?” + +“I knew. The ache in my heart told me.” + +He bent and kissed the dark tresses of her hair and felt her body +tremble. + +The Dowager Queen awaited the arrival of Molina with ill-concealed +impatience. Yma humbly apologized for the delay. + +“It was my fault, most gracious queen mother,” she murmured. “It was +needed that I tell the Señor of the arrival of his people and learn his +wishes....” + +“And what is your desire?” the Dowager inquired. + +Molina studied the regal figure for a moment, weighing the forces of +her character and trying to fathom her real attitude toward him. She +was still a woman in the full glory of life. The years seemed to have +made little impression on her smooth regular features. Not yet fifty, +she looked barely thirty. An unusually tall figure for the women of her +country, she stood confronting him, every inch a queen. + +“I’ve asked you a grave question,” she said with a touch of impatience. + +“And I was just wondering, Your Highness, how one so young and +beautiful could be the mother of the Inca?” + +Pacha laughed softly, her face flushed, and she made no effort to +conceal her pleasure. Yma sighed her admiration at the subtlety of her +lover. + +“I could almost believe after that speech,” she replied, “that you +_are_ an ambassador--not a spy. Surely the god-men of your Spain +have studied the hearts of women....” + +“I spoke but sober truth, Your Highness....” + +The Spaniard bowed low. + +“I asked of you your wish as to your people. Your answer?” + +“That I may go at once as the ambassador of good will from the court of +your great son, the Lord Inca, Atahualpa.” + +“And you would leave to languish here our most beautiful daughter of +the Sun whom we have given to you?” + +Molina saw at once the pitfall her wit had set. The Court was pleased +to believe that he had taken Yma as his wife. Her pride had given wide +acceptance to the story. He saw in a flash that if he were eager to +abandon so beautiful a girl at the first call of a trumpet from the +Spaniards, his professions of friendship for her people would be vain. +He realized that he must dissemble. He dreaded the effect on Yma of +what he must say but there was no help for it. + +His answer was given without apparent hesitation. He threw on Yma a +look of tenderness and said: + +“I will not leave the beautiful consort whose ministry to me has been +as the touch of an angel....” + +“You would take her with you?” + +“Surely, Your Highness.” + +The face of the girl shone with surprised joy. Tears welled in her eyes +and her body trembled. She tried to speak and a sob caught her voice. + +The Spaniard saw his advantage and pressed it. + +“I beg of you to believe me, when I assure you of the high honor, +piety, and faith of the Christians who have come to your shores. They +would learn the secrets of your wealth and happiness and bring to you +their sons and daughters to live in peace and harmony with yours. +Receive them as friends and they come to teach you the secrets of their +power and make your great Kingdom secure against every foe. They will +teach you the new science of war, the use of the sword and musket and +cannon. They will bring to you the domestic animals of the Old World +to enrich your fields and people: horses to draw your heavy loads and +carry your noblemen on swift feet to the ends of the empire; cows and +goats, pigs and chickens to enrich your food. They will teach you the +use of steel and iron; bringing implements with which to till the soil: +plows and hoes and spades. They will teach you the secrets and glories +of their religion which now overspreads the world. And you will give to +them your wonderful fruits and vegetables and flowers. You will teach +them the secrets of your great highways, your system of waterworks +and hanging gardens that exceed in beauty and richness the gardens of +Babylon that were once one of the seven wonders of the world. Their +sovereign, Charles V, is now the greatest monarch known since the +rulers of the ancient world. He will add his wisdom and power to the +glory of your illustrious son. Their united kingdoms will open a new +era for the race of man. I bespeak for our people your friendship and +hospitality.” + +“Your words are beautiful,” was the gracious answer. “They charm and +lure our hearts.” + +“Most gracious Mother Queen,” Yma assured, “through many hours he has +told me of these things and I know they are true. Hear him, and grant +his prayer.” + +“I believe you, Spaniard,” Pacha said with deep conviction, “and I +will ask our Lord of the Sun to send you at once to your people as our +messenger of peace and good will.” + +The tall, graceful figure passed into the audience chamber of the Inca +and left the cavalier alone with Yma. + +He felt the storm coming and was powerless to break its force. The girl +drew close, laid her head on his breast, slipped her arms about his +neck and wept. + +He soothed her with a gentle touch on her soft shoulders. + +“Do not weep, sweet child. You shall go with me. I wish it.” + +“And I will bring you good fortune, my god-man. All our people will +learn to love you as I love you. And if your Teresa comes at last, I +will welcome her into our home. She shall be first if it is the wish of +my Lord, and I will be second. No evil thought shall darken my heart. I +will bear you beautiful sons and daughters and you will teach them the +glories of Spain and I will teach them the glories of the Kingdom of +the Four Corners of the World. And there will be none like them in all +the earth!” + +The Spaniard had no heart to dispel the love dream. He soothed her into +a long silence broken at last by the entrance of Pacha who summoned +them into the presence of the Inca. + +The Dowager gave no answering assurance as Molina threw her a look of +inquiry. In painful silence he approached the gold throne on which +Atahualpa sat attended by the chief priest, his associates of the +temple, and the veteran general Quizquiz. + +The Inca spoke with composure. + +“I have just learned with interest the beautiful words which you have +spoken to my mother of a peaceful union of the life and religion of +my empire and the Kingdom of Spain. Unfortunately I have no means of +knowing how far your ideas agree with those of the commander who leads +the invaders of our soil. + +“I can easily see the advantages of such a union for both, if made in +the spirit of mutual courtesy, kindness and good will. The religious +problem with us could be easily solved. We are generous in our +tolerance of all faiths. The Gods of every conquered province we have +carefully and reverently set up in the great temples of the Sun for +the past four hundred years. Every man in my kingdom may worship God +according to the dictates of his own conscience. The income set aside +for worship from the work of our people is ample to meet all needs. + +“I would gladly learn the secrets of your science of war and with your +help extend our kingdom to the limits of the earth, North, South, East +and West. + +“But I must first know the disposition of your own priests of religion +and your commander who leads the expedition. I have heard ugly rumors +of his doings in the far north where first he landed. That he was +attacked by savages on the Island of Puna is not surprising. They are +in constant rebellion against my authority and I rejoice that he has +punished them. + +“His use of my people on the coast and the purport of his strange +proclamations I have yet to understand. + +“I must learn from the lips of your leader the exact meaning of his +coming. I cannot accept at its face value your view. I happen to know +that you were sent to my court as a spy--” + +“I protest, my Lord of the Sun,” Molina interrupted, “and assure you my +purpose has been most friendly.” + +“Naturally you must say as much,” was the smiling answer. “Yet you have +counted our armies, studied and sketched our fortresses and done all +that a spy could be expected to do. I would be justified under the laws +of war in ordering your execution. A spy from my country to yours would +expect no other fate.” + +He paused in brooding silence as if waiting for the Spaniard’s denial. +Molina’s sense of honor forbade the lie he might have spoken, and the +Inca delivered his final decision with dignity and quiet force. + +“I must therefore order your imprisonment in the fortress on the crest +of the mountains behind Caxamalca until I am fully informed of the +purposes of your people.” + +Molina bowed. + +“Yma with her maids will attend you as before and see that your wants +are well supplied.” + +With a cry of joy Yma sprang to his side. + +“The fortress I will build into a palace for my Lord. From its ramparts +you can see the most entrancing views for miles. I will make you very +happy there!” + +“We will make the best of it,” was the quiet answer. “So long as you +are my jailor at least we will call it a palace, not a jail.” + +The cavalier bent for a moment over the hand of the Queen Mother and as +he kissed it heard her low voice murmur: + +“Be of good cheer. You have in me a friend. I trust that soon you may +be permitted to join your people.” + +But Molina heard the heavy stone door of the fortress close behind him +with a sense of grim uneasiness. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + +Day after day had passed in Pizarro’s camp without word of De Soto. On +the eighth morning the commander was selecting a party of veterans to +march to his relief when a cloud of dust far down the highway announced +his return. + +Teresa had been dispatched ahead to inform Pizarro that De Soto was +accompanied by a royal messenger from the Inca. + +The Spaniards made ready to receive him in state. Pizarro drew up his +troops in brave array and welcomed the ambassador. He bore a message +from Atahualpa and presents for the Spanish commander--a fountain made +of stone in the form of a fortress, fine woolen cloth embroidered with +gold and silver, and a specimen of native perfume used by the nobles. + +Pizarro thanked the ambassador who spoke in most friendly fashion. + +“My Lord of the Sun, Atahualpa, sends his greetings to the strangers +within his gates, bids them welcome to his country and invites them to +visit him at his camp in the mountains.” + +Pizarro’s stalwart figure stiffened. It was the first word of greeting +from the great monarch of whom he had dreamed for seven years. He +answered as the viceroy of Charles V, and his words were chosen with +diplomatic care. + +“Carry to your royal master my thanks for his message and my +appreciation of his presents. Tell him that I have come from a powerful +prince far beyond the great waters. I have heard much of the victories +of Atahualpa, and have come to pay my respects to his valor. Say that +we offer our services to him in his campaigns against his enemies. We +will present ourselves at his camp at the earliest possible time and +place ourselves at his disposal.” + +The answer disarmed the suspicions of the envoy who now expressed the +most childlike curiosity in inspecting the strange equipment of the +camp and the arms of his soldiers. + +The Spaniard was not deceived by the innocence with which the +inspection was made. The strength and condition of the invaders was +being carefully reckoned. + +Pizarro urged that he remain for several days, but the envoy pleaded +haste in executing his commission, and his urgent desire to convey to +his sovereign as quickly as possible the pleasing message which he had +received. + +The Spanish commander sent to the Inca as a return courtesy a cap of +crimson cloth and shining ornaments of colored glass, which he had +brought from Castile, and sent the ambassador on his way with a loud +greeting from his soldiers. + +Pizarro heard De Soto’s report of his scouting trip with misgivings. +There could no longer be a doubt of the power and extent of the empire +which they were invading. The facts sobered the indomitable leader. If +he only had each soldier armed with a musket, the roar of a volley +from a hundred guns might be invincible even before thousands armed +only with battle-ax, sling and spear. But he had only four arquebuses +in all his troops. True, his two cannon might work wonders if he could +use them. But if attacked in a narrow mountain trail, they would be +useless. + +He lingered two days and sent the articles received from the Inca +to the Crown officials at San Miguel. He called their attention +particularly to the fine weave of the vicuna wool never seen before, +as fine in texture and sheen as the most delicate silk. He gave to +Navarro, commander of the fortress, full information of his movements +and directions by which he might be reached. He was still praying for +reënforcements with better equipment. + +Resuming his march, he entered now the narrow and less frequented road +that directly crossed the _cordillera_ to Caxamalca. Arrived at +the banks of a broad, deep river whose swift current made difficult +the crossing, he camped for four days still hoping for reënforcements. +When time had passed sufficient to allow a courier to return from San +Miguel and none appeared, he determined to cross the river and burn all +bridges behind him. + +Fearing that his landing might be disputed by the natives on the +opposite bank, he sent Hernando Pizarro across, under cover of night, +with a small detachment of mounted men who swam the current without +mishap. + +On reaching the other shore Hernando quickly discovered that no +opposition would be offered. At sight of the invaders the natives had +fled in every direction. At sunrise he signaled to his brother that all +was well, and the little army quickly crossed on rafts. + +Hernando had captured a native, put him to torture and he had received +precise information as to the Inca’s troops. They lay in three +divisions along the way of their dangerous march across the mountains. +The Inca knew of every movement of the invaders and was luring them +into close quarters that he might have them completely in his power. + +The news, if true, was startling, and it contradicted all protestations +of friendliness which they had received. A council was called. De Soto +suggested that an Indian of unusual intelligence who had accompanied +them from San Miguel, and whose loyalty was beyond question, be +dispatched at once over the trail which they must follow. He could +locate these three divisions of troops and press on to the camp of the +Inca as their envoy and spy. + +The Indian refused to go as scout and spy but expressed his willingness +to go as the fully accredited ambassador of the Spanish commander. + +Pizarro accepted the suggestion and gave him instructions. + +“You will be accompanied by three swift runners. Dispatch these runners +back to our camp with information as to the defenses in the mountains +and location of the troops. Inform the Inca that I am moving forward at +his invitation to meet him with all speed possible with my equipment. +Assure him of our friendship and express the hope that his feelings +are the same, but whatever you do--” the Spaniard paused and fixed the +Indian with his piercing eye--“whatever you do, learn the location of +the troops and the Inca’s real purpose toward us.” + +Pizarro now pressed forward in a swift march of three days and reached +the first of the stupendous mountain ranges behind which lay the city +of Caxamalca. His soldiers lifted their eyes toward the snow-covered +glittering peaks with frowns of doubt. They had seen mountains before, +but no such wild chaos of magnificence and terrifying grandeur. Across +these towering cliffs and through their bottomless canyons and gorges +they must march over a narrow trail. A handful of men above their heads +could start an avalanche that would overwhelm an army, to say nothing +of a small band of adventurers. + +To the right of the trail along the base of the mountain ran another +splendid, shaded highway to Cuzco, the rich capital of the South. +Again, longing eyes were turned to the famous city of palaces and +temples. + +A group of officers again urged Pizarro to abandon Caxamalca and take +Cuzco by a swift march to the south. + +But the commander frowned and called his little army before him. He +mounted a stone, and his figure seemed colossal as he addressed them in +words that burned with passion: + +“Soldiers of Spain, we have proclaimed our purpose to visit the Lord +of the Sun, the Inca, Atahualpa, in his camp. We have sent our word to +the sovereign. To fail now in this undertaking, no matter for what +purpose, will stamp us as cowards, and win for us the contempt of +Atahualpa. I give to you my orders as your commander. March straight +across this mighty barrier to the Inca’s quarters. Leave the rest to +me. Take heart and go forward as good soldiers, nothing daunted by the +smallness of your numbers. God ever fights for his own. Doubt not that +he will humble the pride of the heathen and bring him to the knowledge +of the true faith, the end and object of our march of conquest.” + +The leader struck the right chord. He lived as the humblest man among +them. He thought as they thought, felt as they felt and he knew how to +appeal to the best that was in them. + +Their answer to his appeal was a steady shout: + +“Lead on!” + +With high-beating hearts they began the steep ascent. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + +On the second day of his imprisonment Molina stood on the ramparts +looking down on the beautiful valley of Caxamalca through which a river +wound its way, a silver thread in a carpet of rich green. + +He had just seen a division of the Inca’s army cross the valley and +march up the trail leading across the _cordillera_. Beyond doubt +the movement was the result of Pizarro’s advance. + +He wondered where his gallant countrymen had pitched their tents. If +reports of their number were true they were marching into a death trap +unless they came as peaceful colonists. Spain was not sending peaceful +colonists to the New World or any other world in this, the age of her +wide dominions. After seven hundred years of struggle she had thrown +off the yoke of the Moor, and her soldiers, trained in the wars of +seven centuries, had gone forth to conquer the earth. The audacity of +these men passed belief. Everywhere their dreams were coming true. +Cortez had just added the empire of Mexico to the domain of Charles. + +Yet no enterprise in the new world had thus far been directed against +a kingdom so vast, so rich, so densely populated, as the realm of the +Incas. Under the leadership of Atahualpa, they had just fought bloody +battles and won great victories. Ill-equipped as they were, their +hosts, armed with stones and clubs, could crush a handful of Spaniards +in the end. + +Molina would find a way to reach Pizarro and tell him the truth. That +the commander was advancing into the heart of these all but impassable +mountains with but two hundred men was, of course, incredible. The two +hundred men were of the advance guard; the real army was slowly moving +somewhere in the rear. + +His jaw closed in decision. He descended to his room and found the +razor which he had kept against such an emergency, tested its edge and +placed it where he could find it in the dark. + +When Yma served his dinner at sunset she found him unusually gay and +friendly. Her heart leaped. She had not possessed him, and yet.... + +“My Lord will have music to-night?” she gayly asked him when he had +completed his meal. + +The cavalier yawned. + +“Thanks, my dear Yma, no. I’m tired.” + +The moment he found himself alone he hurried to remove his beard. He +took his place inside the door, waited the approach of the guard, +sprang on him with the quick leap of a tiger, bore him into his room, +bound and gagged the astonished soldier and then, piece by piece, +exchanged clothes with him. He assured the terrified fellow that he +meant no harm, his only purpose being to escape as quickly as possible. + +The girl had warned him solemnly that the Inca had given orders to +kill him on sight if found outside the fortress. He would take his +chances. He would reach Pizarro in time to warn him of his danger. He +felt pain when he thought of Yma, and he wondered at his emotion. But +the pain passed when he thought of the men of his own race marching +steadily to empire, and his heart leaped at the thought that they would +bring word of Teresa. + +Once clothed in the complete outfit of the guard, he tied the man +securely and made his way out without difficulty. The loss of beard and +a brown stain on his face had completely transformed his appearance. +Carrying the bronze spear of the Inca’s army he hurried down the steep +steps of the cliff, crossed the river and followed the narrow road up +the sides of the _cordillera_ which he had seen the army take. + +The trail was clearly marked by lines of stragglers still bringing up +the rear of the advancing division which had just begun to pitch their +tents for the night. + +He mingled with the men and had no trouble in passing as one of +them. His mastering of their language stood him in good stead in the +adventure. + +It was past sunrise before Yma received word of his escape. The guard +on duty was not relieved till dawn. + +Her face blanched with terror at the news. She arrayed herself +in the guise of one of her maids, flew down the mountainside and +followed with unerring instinct. He had seen the army move. He +guessed their destination was to meet the advance of the Spaniards. +He had followed, hoping to find a way to slip through the lines and +reach his countrymen. There was no fear of her own punishment in her +pursuit--only the anguish of losing the god-man she worshiped. + +She passed Molina, loitering with the soldiers as they slowly began the +advance, all unconscious of his presence. It had never occurred to the +girl that he could have dispensed with his beard. That he should pluck +it out hair by hair was unthinkable. That he should possess a piece of +steel so hard and fine of edge that he could remove it clear to the +skin was equally incredible. + +Yma marveled at his escape. Yet she knew instinctively that by some +miracle he had made his beard invisible and had mingled with the +soldiers. There was no other way out. She knew that his life would be +lost if he attempted to leave the trail and cross the snow-clad cliffs +alone without a guide. She also knew that he would not be so foolhardy +as to try it. His one chance of escape was to conceal himself among +the troops and wait the meeting with the Spaniards. Then a single leap +across the lines and he might reach his people. + +Her heart jumped at the thought. She began a patient search among the +men. The front line of marchers she would first inspect. At the end +of the first hour’s keen search she saw a soldier climbing the stone +stairs with an awkward movement which she had seen Molina use on the +first trip up the long stone stairway to the fortress. She could not be +mistaken. She slipped close to his side, looked into his brown eyes +and whispered: + +“Dear god-man, I have come to rescue you from certain death. The men +from the fortress are on the way. They will be here any moment. They +will find and kill you.” + +He started at sight of her. For a moment he could only stare. His eyes +filled with apprehension and tenderness. Finally he spoke, but his +purpose was unswayed. + +“I’ll take my chances,” he said in low tones. “Go--” and again he felt +an odd pain--“I’ll find you when my people come.” + +“It will be too late then.” She wept. “They will kill me unless you +return.” + +Molina caught his breath. He had an almost overwhelming desire to take +her in his arms and shelter her. + +He stared at her, bewildered. The rumor had swept the men that they +would not meet the Spaniards. They were the reserves. Two other +divisions were ahead. His hopes had been sinking. And Yma would be +executed for his vain act! He shuddered.... Once more she spoke. + +“Unless you return with me, beloved, I will not live the day. If my +dying would serve you I would gladly offer myself. But you will be +taken surely and die also. You will not go, beloved?” + +He stopped and held her gaze a moment. And she returned his look with +brimming eyes. His own eyes filled as he stood, and impulsively he drew +her to him. He kissed her and she clung to him, sobbing. And it struck +him that he would never be able to fathom the profound depths of her +beautiful emotions. Then, abruptly, he released her. + +“Quick!” he ordered tersely. “I’ll go down the mountain as a courier +with a message for the rear guard. They are going down every hour. I’ve +heard their password to-day. Follow me.” + +At a sharp bend in the trail Molina found his chance to turn and +retrace his steps, repeating the courier’s password when challenged. +He did not look back to see if he were followed. The girl was close on +his heels. He heard her quick joyous play of wit with the soldiers. +Passing the rear guard at last he dropped to a bowlder by the roadway +and waited. + +She looked at him with a puzzled expression as she approached him and +studied his cleanly shaven face. + +“How did you do it?” she whispered in awe. + +He showed her his razor. + +“I have wondered how you would look as one of our men, without the +beard. I had never dreamed that you could be so fair and beautiful. And +now we shall hurry or I shall surely be killed.” + +Within half an hour they met the squad of armed men from the fortress +sent to secure his arrest. Yma refused to allow it. + +“I am responsible,” she protested. “My life will pay for his escape. He +returns because I have asked him.” + +The guard fell in respectfully behind them and the cavalier marched to +the fortress, and calmly surrendered. The _curaca_ of Caxamalca +ordered him in chains and saw that he was securely manacled in spite of +Yma’s furious protests. + +Molina soothed her anger. + +“It’s all in the fortunes of war, dear Yma. The _curaca_ is right +to take precautions. It’s my fault. We’ll make the best of it.” + +To Congo’s terror they brought a set of chains for him. His eyes fairly +popped from their sockets. In spite of his pleading he was securely +manacled, and fastened to the wall. + +Yma found the Dowager and pleaded desperately that the chains be +removed from Molina. + +The Mother Queen slowly shook her head: + +“I cannot interfere in such a dangerous issue,” was her firm reply. +“The Inca gave orders for his death if he should attempt escape.” + +“But, dear gracious Mother,” the girl pleaded, “he returned at my +request. I am responsible. My life will pay the forfeit if he goes.” + +“Your life may even now be forfeited. See that you hold him.” + +The girl returned to Molina with faltering steps, her heart slowly +hardening into a grim resolution. She would use these chains now for +her own purposes. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + + +Before beginning the ascent of the Andes, Pizarro divided his forces, +selecting forty cavalrymen and sixty foot-soldiers under his own +command to lead. The remaining sixty-nine men he left at the base of +the _cordillera_ to await his word to advance. + +He would trust no other leader with the danger of fighting a way up the +frowning ramparts that towered menacingly into the clouds above him. + +The first trial came with the climb of more than a mile up the granite +walls of the first ridge. The steps were cut in solid rock. The horses +made desperate efforts to mount them. Most of the animals succeeded in +making the first quarter of a mile without stumbling. And then began +the weary drop to the knee of the foreleg, and the still more dangerous +loss of foothold in the rear. + +Pizarro ordered the men to dismount and help their horses up the +stairs. In the view upward their vision seemed to end only in the +clouds. + +It became necessary at last to tie the sixty horses in line while each +rider placed his shoulder against the haunches of his steed and pushed +with steady force. At the landing of the first long stairway was found +a level place dug out of the granite in its upper side, supported on +its lower by a heavy stone wall. + +The rest was gratefully taken by man and beast. All had now begun to +feel the quickened heartbeat and vertigo of the higher altitude. The +air grew thin and sharp and it was necessary to take two breaths where +one had sufficed below. They had begun the climb at the elevation of +the plateau, 11,000 feet above the sea. The first resting place was +higher than the summit of Mount Blanc--and they had only begun the +ascent. + +Teresa was in high glee. The exhilaration of the heights had given her +an experience of childlike ecstasy. She waved her hand toward the vast +ocean of snow-clad peaks and shouted for joy. + +Pizarro warned her to conserve her strength and use the utmost care as +the climb became higher. + +He gave a like warning to every soldier and urged the most careful +handling of their horses. The animals had suffered far more than the +men. Pedro de Candia’s patient mules carrying his cannon, alone seemed +at home in the wild environment. Their sure little feet had never +missed a step or slipped once. + +While man and beast rested, Pizarro questioned the two native guides: + +“How wide and long are these great ranges which we are crossing?” + +One of them, a man of unusual intelligence, promptly answered. Opening +his arms and pointing north and south he said in awed tones: + +“They stretch from the north star more than four thousand miles +southward.” + +“Four thousand!” Pizarro echoed. + +“More than four thousand. And in places it is more than five hundred +miles across the three _cordilleras_. Here is it three hundred +miles to the great rivers that flow eastward to the sea.” + +Pressing forward for the next climb, they edged down a sharp, dangerous +incline. The path grew so narrow a single horse could scarcely pass. At +the hairpin curve before them the trail had been cut through a solid +stone cliff that hung threateningly overhead. The curve was so sharp +and the way so narrow Pizarro stationed two men with a rope stretching +around the curve against the upper wall and ordered every soldier to +hold to the improvised railing as he made the turn. Below yawned an +abyss thousands of feet in depth. + +Never had a man among them seen such chaos of terrifying cliffs, peaks, +canyons and gorges. There seemed no room among them for the life of +man; no level space on which to build his home, unless he hew it out of +solid stone. + +The leader suddenly came to a slender suspension bridge nearly two +hundred feet long that spanned a narrow gorge a thousand feet deep. The +adventurer gazed in wonder at the skill of primitive man as exemplified +by this slender, swaying thing. Less than three feet in width it hung +from great cables eight inches in diameter held in place by buttresses +of stone on either cliff. The cables were woven of the tough fibers of +maguey and osier. + +A guide stamped his foot on the planks and waved his hand: + +“Come on! The boards will bear the weight of any horse!” + +Pizarro sharply commanded: + +“Wait!” + +He carefully crossed on foot and felt the slender structure sway back +and forth through the air at his tread and refused to risk the life +of a single horse in such an adventure. He sent Teresa and a few of +the men who were suffering from the altitude across the bridge on foot +while he picked his way down the path that led to the water’s edge. +Here, rafts were built for the foot-soldiers, and the cavalry swam the +swift current. + +On the opposite shore it was necessary to halt and build a fire to dry +horses and men. The horses had begun to suffer severely from the change +in temperature and altitude. + +Resuming his march, Pizarro ordered a sharp watch for lurking foes on +the high cliffs overhanging their heads. + +A scout suddenly rushed to the commander. + +“An army on the top of the cliff!” + +“Call to arms,” the leader ordered a trumpeter. + +The shrill cry rang across the gorge and echoed against the cliff. + +“Where?” Pizarro sharply asked the scout. + +“There on the top peak--I swear I saw him.” + +“Ghosts!” jeered a trooper, gripping his musket. + +“I saw him! I swear it!” + +“How many men did you see?” Pizarro demanded. + +“A single figure--a leader on the rock. He lifted his arm, gave a +signal of command and disappeared....” + +“Yes--he disappeared!” yelled a veteran. “You blinked your eyes and he +wasn’t there....” + +But he had been there. The keen eyes of the scout had seen aright. The +solitary figure on the rock was no less a personage than the Inca. At +the head of the first division of his army he had taken his position on +the heights overhanging this stretch of narrow, dangerous pathway for +the purpose of a personal inspection of the number and character of the +invading force. + +A thousand picked young men under the command of Toparca had climbed to +the crest of the overhanging ridge above the invaders and stood with +stones at hand ready for his signal to start an avalanche that would +bury them forever. + +The Inca counted the number of the adventurers. There were less than a +hundred men! The great beasts they called horses were formidable, but +he wished to use them. They should not be killed. Molina’s eloquent +description of their help to man had led to a firm determination to +introduce them into his kingdom. + +With a light laugh at the folly of such an invasion of the vast Empire +of the Four Corners of the World he lifted his hand. A thousand +stalwart young men rose at the same moment on the summit of the ridge +and each lifted high a large stone. Every eye was fixed on their +ruler. If both uplifted hands hurled a stone, the avalanche would sweep +all below into eternity. If he lifted but one hand and waved his cloak, +it was the signal of peace and swift withdrawal to the second division +in the rear. + +A single hand slowly rose and a cloak was waved. The stones were +carefully lowered and two thousand swift young feet scrambled down the +cliffs and rejoined their command. + +Meanwhile with a shout of scorn for the fears of their nervous scout, +the Spaniards began again their painful march. + +Pizarro himself suddenly called a halt, and every hand gripped a +weapon. The man was not a fool after all. He had seen something. They +were climbing a steep and narrow gorge. At the summit they could now +plainly see a fortress that seemed to hang above their heads. + +As they cautiously approached the building, the solid stone masonry of +its massive walls could be plainly seen. From such defense a hundred +men could crush ten thousand. Pizarro dispatched two of his best scouts +to approach the fortress and learn if it were defended. + +It had been recently deserted. Scraps of food on the floor indicated +that the withdrawal of men had been made within twenty-four hours. + +Pizarro was overjoyed to find this evidence that his passage would not +be disputed. A storm was brewing and he decided to spend the night +in the shelter of the fortress, and sent for the rear guard under +Hernando to join him at once. + +The commander inspected the defense with keen interest. The floor of +the structure was smoothed from a solid rock in part, the lower section +only being paved with flags. The upper wall was a living rock of the +mountainside. The lower wall was built of huge bowlders fitted without +mortar with a skill unequaled in the Old World. + +The horses had scarcely been fed and tethered when the storm broke with +a fury they had never seen or dreamed before. Earth and sky were at +times a livid glare of fire, with thunder peals that shook the cliffs. +The thatched roof offered a perfect shelter and his ragged soldiers +gathered about the roaring fire and began to laugh at their trials and +dangers. + +Pizarro passed cheerfully among them and received striking tributes +of their faith and devotion. When danger called loudest he had been +ever at the front. He wielded an ax with the stoutest, when they were +building rafts. There was no task too hard for his hands. No peril +could daunt his spirit. + +At sunrise they again took up their dangerous march. The heavy timber +that covered the lower ranges gave place to somber pines and balsam. +These, at last, grew stunted as they approached the white line of +eternal snow. They reached the summit before nightfall in a field of +vast, white, silent death. Even the funeral moss of the balsams had +disappeared. No insect chirped, no bird twittered, the only sign of +life the huge black-winged vulture--the condor--hovering ominously +in the sky above. They were 17,000 feet above the level of the sea. +Giant peaks still towered five thousand feet higher, their white cones +wrapped in mantles of cloud and snow. + +The men gazed in an awe that was half terror at the magnificent scenes +stretching to eternity in every direction. + +Huge fires were hastily built of the scraggy, dead growths found in +sheltered ledges, and tents were raised. Pizarro decided to await on +the summit the arrival of his rear guard before attempting the descent, +which might be even more perilous than the climb, especially for his +horses, whose lives he held dearer even than his men. + +A native messenger arrived from the Indian envoy sent to the Inca. He +reported the road free of enemies and informed Pizarro that a royal +embassy was on the way with greetings from the sovereign. + +The commander dispatched a courier to Hernando urging all speed. He +could ill afford to allow the new ambassador to find his ranks so thin. + +The rear guard arrived before the Peruvian, and Pizarro received the +envoy with as brave an array of men and horses as he could display. The +man was a nobleman of high degree accompanied by attendants who bore +presents of llama mutton for the strangers. + +“My master, Atahualpa,” he said, and an interpreter translated, “sends +you again his cordial greetings.” + +He bowed gracefully to Pizarro who answered: + +“We thank His Highness....” + +“The Lord of the Sun wishes to know when your full force will arrive at +Caxamalca, that suitable refreshments may be provided for all.” + +The commander’s lips were twisted thoughtfully at the ruse. What the +envoy had asked politely, was, “How many are in your party?” + +“We move with all possible haste,” the Spaniard replied. + +The Peruvian waved to his attendants. + +“Refreshments for our visitors.” + +His servants set forth flagons of _chica_, the fermented juice +of corn, and served it to the officers in goblets of gold. The hands +of the Spaniards trembled as they grasped these evidences that their +dreams would come true. + +The envoy, warmed with liquor, boasted the pomp and pride and glory +of his sovereign, Atahualpa, now supreme ruler of the Kingdom of the +Four Corners of the World, stretching thousands of miles north and +south, embracing more than twelve million people. The Spaniard outdid +him in boasting the glories of Charles V, now the ruler of the old +Roman Empire, Emperor of Austria, Italy, Germany, Flanders, and King of +Aragon, Castile and Granada. + +With liquor freely flowing the braggart game was prolonged until each +orator began to smile at the other. + +The ceremonies were rudely interrupted by the arrival of the native +envoy whom Pizarro had dispatched to the Inca. + +The native glared at the scene for a moment and without warning leaped +at the throat of the nobleman. + +“Liar! traitor!” he exploded. + +He was caught in time to prevent harm. + +“What’s this?” Pizarro demanded. + +“This man lies and deceives you!” the Indian screamed. “He pretends +friendship. The Inca is encamped at the head of a mighty army ready to +strike. He refused to see me or receive my message. His soldiers threw +me out of camp and would have murdered me had I not defied them....” + +Pizarro’s eyes narrowed in a look of keen inquiry of the gorgeously +dressed envoy. + +The ambassador smiled, and waved to his accuser: + +“Continue! I would hear it all.” + +The native poured out a torrent of abuse and hurled his final words at +the head of the nobleman. + +“I dared them to touch me. If they did, I told them that _your_ +life would pay the penalty here!” he bellowed. + +The envoy maintained his poise and coolly replied to the tirade. He +addressed only Pizarro, ignoring his accuser. + +“Did this crude lout bear credentials?” + +“Only his word.” + +“Exactly. His word was incredible. Such men do not wear the robes of an +ambassador in our kingdom. He was laughed at as an impostor....” + +“And this great army?” the commander interrupted. + +“Is but a small division of the troops recently engaged in war. Their +numbers have been apparently swollen by the inhabitants of Caxamalca +who have been ordered out of their homes to make room for our +approaching guests.” + +The explanation was plausible, but Pizarro had his suspicions. He must +dissemble. He could not afford a break with his powerful enemy at this +juncture. He professed indifference to the incident. + +“Tell your royal master that I deeply appreciate the food and drink +with which he has refreshed us and assure him that I will present +myself at his Court at the earliest possible moment.” + +The envoy hastened his departure. Borne on his litter by swift-footed +young men he hurried to report to the Inca the encounter with Pizarro +and the bad impression made by the Indian messenger. + +His return created an ugly sensation at the court of Atahualpa and the +conflict of opinion became each day more acute. + +The Dowager Queen had become panic-stricken at the possibilities +opening with the rapid approach of the invaders. + +“But their numbers are ridiculous!” the Inca laughed. + +“How many men are behind them?” + +“None, save a beggarly rear guard of fifty men. My couriers report to +me daily, even from the coast.” + +“And yet,” Pacha urged, “you must realize that the moment these strange +powerful beings, whose advance rivers and mountains cannot halt, arrive +in Caxamalca and find that you have imprisoned their ambassador, there +must be war....” + +“War?” the Inca sneered. “War between my veteran army encamped on the +hills and this straggling bunch of crows?” + +“They use magic, my son. Their beasts may be invincible. No power may +be able to withstand them. The priests warned your father of their +coming. Your father prophesied the end of your kingdom through them....” + +“My father was old and ill and discouraged. Such croakings mean +nothing. His priests also warned him of ruin if he gave to me the +throne of Quito. I have conquered Cuzco and rule in undisputed power. +What of their croakings now?” + +Pacha’s eyes were set in a vision of tragic fear. She scarcely heard +the proud reply of her son. + +“I beg of you,” she went on as if in a trance, “that you hasten to +man the forts that guard the descent of the mountains, overwhelm the +invaders and leave no man alive to tell the story....” + +The Inca laughed again at her fears. + +“I am curious to see these ‘god-men’ face to face. I will use my wits +to make them my friends. I will learn their secrets of peace and war +and make them our own.” + +“And risk the loss of all!” was the prophetic reply. + +The ruler was adamant against all appeals. He ordered the best food +prepared for the strangers and the streets of Caxamalca swept at their +approach. + +The Spaniards came on with renewed enthusiasm after their refreshment +on the summit. A few were sobered by the oft repeated tale of their +native spy that the Inca’s army numbered more than 30,000--and that he +was leading them into a trap. + +On the seventh day of their slow and painful descent, the Spaniards +arrived in sight of the sunlit valley of Caxamalca. The cavalcade +halted, overwhelmed with the beauty of the scene. The valley stretched +in full view, rimmed by the towering forms of the mountains on either +side. The river that flowed through its center fed hundreds of silver +threads of water that spread over the rich fields through the ditches +cut for irrigation. Tall hedges of rich green bordered the banks of the +larger aqueducts along the base of the hills, forming a frame of trees +which completely encased the valley. + +At the northern edge of this green frame the white houses of the little +city sparkled in the sunlight. Beyond, rose the towers of vapor from +the hot springs. To the right, stretched along the foothills for miles, +the tents of the Inca’s army were pitched. They covered the ground like +a long billowing cloud that had settled from the skies. The smoke from +a thousand campfires slowly curled into the clear skies. His soldiers +were cooking their sunset meal. + +Pizarro and his men gazed on this amazing city of tents with grave +thoughts. The reports which they had received of the Inca’s army had +not been exaggerated. In that white wilderness of canvas lay concealed +not less than forty thousand men. There might be fifty thousand. + +The commander called no council of war. It was too late. If they had +walked into a trap, theirs now to do or die. Without turning his +massive head to the trail behind, Pizarro could feel the stealthy +movement of men mounting the forts which they had just passed. But +retreat was a thing unthinkable. And no weak heart suggested it. At the +first sign of weakness they would be cut to pieces. And they knew it. +Not a man would live to pass again those mountain barriers. + +Pizarro formed his little band of men into three divisions. The +vanguard he led, Hernando followed, and De Soto commanded the rear. +With banners waving and streamers fluttering from every lifted lance, +armor burnished and glistening in the evening sun, the martial +cavalcade slowly moved forward from the shadow of the mountains into +the sunlit plains. + +A hundred and sixty-nine Spaniards were marching into the camp of a +victorious monarch surrounded by an army of forty thousand soldiers. + +And from the narrow window of his prison high above, his being aflame +at the sight of this finger of his native and mighty Spain touching the +ends of the earth, Alonso de Molina watched, with pounding heart. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + + +As the line of Pizarro’s marching men drew near, the Sun Virgins +lifted the tapestry of gold that shaded their monarch from the glare +of the sun, and Atahualpa watched the scene with deep gleaming eyes. +The majestic Queen Mother saw the flashing armor and streaming guidons +through a mist of tears. The Inca’s wives were in a flutter of +suppressed excitement. + +Pacha leaned close to her son’s ear and whispered: + +“Son of my heart, hear the last cry of the mother who bore you--strike +while there is yet time!” + +The Inca straightened his fine young figure with pride. + +“I am an emperor. I know no fear. I do not see these strange creatures +as enemies to be crushed. They are messengers from another world to be +received as guests, studied and used for our future progress.” + +“Circle the city with your army, capture them, and make your studies at +your leisure, I beg of you,” his mother urged. + +The Inca lifted his hand in stern command: “Enough. I have spoken.” + +So Pizarro entered the city--and with no resistance. He marched +through its deserted streets in dead silence. He might have wondered at +this, but he had been informed by the envoy that all inhabitants had +withdrawn to make room for his troops. It was so. Not a man, woman, +child, or animal had been left behind. The silence was uncanny. The +echo of horses’ hoofs and soldiers’ heavy shoes reverberated with weird +sounds. At the entrance to the city they had passed a majestic temple +adjoining a convent in which dwelt the Virgins of the Sun, but there +was no sign of life in either building. The capital of an empire was +deserted. + +The main street through which they marched led to a large triangular +plaza which recalled to Pizarro the Zocodoro of Toledo. And with the +memory came the new consciousness of his destiny as the Viceroy of a +mighty Christian Emperor. + +He halted, surveyed the scene with care, dismounted, and with his +brother, Hernando, and De Soto inspected the buildings. Spacious halls +with wide openings on the square filled one side. At the further end of +the plaza stood a fortress with a main stairway leading from the city +and a smaller one from the country beyond. On rising ground commanding +the whole city stood another fortress of hewn stone surrounded by three +walls of massive masonry. + +The sun was now obscured by the clouds of a coming storm and Pizarro +decided to send a delegation at once to inform the Inca of his arrival. +He selected for this delicate and tragically important mission +Hernando De Soto, not his overbearing and rash elder brother. He had +been quick to appreciate the sterling qualities of the cavalier who had +brought a hundred volunteers to his standard when sorely needed. His +brother had gained an unwholesome influence over Francisco Pizarro, but +in this moment of supreme trial his brain overruled his heart and he +selected the man best fitted to the task. + +De Soto gathered fifteen horsemen, among whom rode Teresa and Gaspara. +He was not going forth to battle. His mission was one of diplomacy. +At the last moment, struck by the small force sent on such a novel +mission, the commander ordered his brother Hernando to follow as rear +guard with twenty more horsemen. + +Between the city and the camp of the Inca on the slopes of the hills +stretched a wide meadow, across which ran a stone-built causeway. +Across this paved highway the little squadron of fifteen horses +galloped with banners flying and lances set. A mile brought them to the +Peruvian camp. Before each tent stood the lances and battle-axes of the +men within. A few Indian troopers lounged along the highway and watched +the strange procession of horses and men with profound astonishment. +They had not yet fully comprehended the fact that horse and man were +not a single being. To their eyes, unaccustomed to the sight of a +horse, they were looking at a curious kind of human centaur with the +four legs and feet of a beast and the head and upper body of a man. + +At the outer edge of the greensward on which the pavilion of the Inca +stood, Hernando Pizarro, unable to restrain his curiosity spurred his +horse forward and joined De Soto. + +Atahualpa was seated Turkish fashion on a huge gold-meshed cushion in +front of the pavilion of his baths, surrounded by a group of richly +robed noblemen accompanied by their wives. The entire corps of five +hundred Virgins of the Sun from the Convent of Caxamalca attended the +sovereign under the leadership of Yma. + +The monarch’s face was a mask that gave no inkling of the thoughts +passing in his brain. He wore his full robes of State. + +The High Priest, or _Villac Vmu_, was also in full regalia and +an even more striking figure than the Inca. Above a dark sleeveless +garment covering the old man’s body was wound a silk-like white toga +adorned with gold and precious stones, bordered with red fringe and +tassels. His bare arms were circled by bangles. From his left wrist by +a chain of gold hung the concave mirror with which, at the feast of +Raymi, he had kindled the sacred fire on the Sun God’s altar. On his +head he wore a tiara-like crown blazing with the emblem of the Sun, +and below his chin was fastened the golden sickle of the new moon. +The invaders noted with surprise that the High Priest’s make-up was +strikingly like that of an important dignitary of their own church. + +In keeping with his jealous, overbearing character, Hernando Pizarro +usurped De Soto’s place as spokesman and without dismounting from his +horse, addressed the Inca. + +“We have come, Your Highness, ambassadors from my brother, commander +of the white men, to inform you of his arrival in Caxamalca. Subjects +of a mighty prince beyond the seas, we are here, drawn by reports of +your powers and your victories, to offer our services and proclaim the +doctrines of the true religion which we profess. My brother, as general +in command and Viceroy of our Emperor, Charles V, invites you to visit +him at his present quarters.” + +To this the Inca made no reply although its purport had been made clear +by Felipillo the interpreter. He did not so much as lift his head. + +A nobleman standing near broke the embarrassed silence by murmuring: + +“It is well.” + +With rare discretion Hernando Pizarro restrained his anger at the +apparent affront and again urged the Inca to speak. His manner was ever +courteous. + +“We are distressed and puzzled at Your Highness’ silence. We beg to +know what is your pleasure?” + +A little smile played about the Inca’s fine mouth and he slowly replied: + +“Tell your captain that I am keeping a fast that will end to-morrow +morning. I will then visit him with my staff. In the meantime, he may +occupy the public buildings on the square and no others, till I come, +when I will order what shall be done.” + +The cool peremptory tone in which the command was given was not lost +on the Spaniards, particularly on De Soto, a man of far greater poise +and judgment than Hernando Pizarro. + +In the moments of embarrassed silence which followed, Teresa who had +reined her white charger beside De Soto, saw her opportunity to win a +personal contact with the camp that might lead to a clew of Molina’s +fate. That he was alive, she was absolutely sure. Noting the keen +interest in her horse taken by the Inca and mistaking the intense gaze +of Yma she instantly determined on the plan. + +She suddenly gave her horse the rein, dashed furiously over the level +ground, wheeled, charged, recharged, and displayed her excellent +horsemanship before the wondering throng. Swinging back to the royal +pavilion she brought her charger to his haunches so close to the Inca +that the foam of his mouth touched the monarch’s robe. The crowd surged +in a wave of alarm and a guard standing beside Yma drew back in terror +and dropped his lance. + +The girl stared for a moment at Teresa. She knew, then, this Daughter +of the Sun. For she loved. She loved a strange god-man from beyond +the peaks, from beyond the borderless sea. She loved him with all the +fervor of her race, with all the warm passion that centuries of sun +worship had endowed her, and she knew. Her love tore away Teresa’s +mannish garb. The Spanish girl stood before her as if naked. And Yma +knew this was her adversary. She stared, and in her gaze was tender +challenge. Also there was a look of fear, but she smothered it, and +denounced the lancer’s cowardice to the Inca. + +The Emperor was stern. Also, it might have been that he wished to make +an impression. He ordered the man’s instant death. + +Teresa sprang from her horse, and the act created the greatest +consternation among the natives. The strange being had divided into two +parts before their eyes! The Inca alone seemed unconcerned. + +Teresa appealed for the man’s life. + +“I beg of Your Highness to remember that your guard had never before +seen a horse. Mine is so fierce and beautiful it was not to be wondered +at that the man lost his head for a moment. As an act of good will +toward me and my people I ask his pardon.” + +The monarch stared in new amazement as he recognized the woman beneath +the shining coat of mail. + +The Inca smilingly replied: + +“His life is spared, and he will follow you as your servant.” + +The trembling guard sprang to Teresa’s side murmuring his gratitude. +Yma attempted too late to warn the Inca. + +“Recall him, oh, Lord of the Sun,” she begged. “He will surely reveal +the secret of Molina’s prison and I shall be lost--recall him!” + +The monarch sternly refused and waved the girl back to her duties as +hostess of the royal household. + +At her command the Sun Virgins swarmed about their visitors offering +delicious wines in huge goblets of gold. The Spaniards drank with +eager grip on the massive yellow vessels and sharp eyes for the +beauties who served. + +Yma cleared the space before the ranks of mailed Knights and led her +five hundred Virgins of the Sun in a dance of enchanting beauty. From +the space behind the Inca’s seat, the strains of music came with +far-off plaintive call. The swaying bodies of the girls were again the +incarnation of the soft sensuous strains. + +The cavaliers rode back to Pizarro in silence, depressed at the vast +display of power, and fired by the beauty of the magnificent reception +accorded them. They could not escape the feeling of sheep fattened for +the slaughter. A trap had been set, they had walked into it, and the +gate had closed behind them. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + + +As the squadron of thirty-five horsemen approached Caxamalca a +hailstorm broke over the town and they galloped furiously across the +causeway to escape the sharp teeth of its jagged missiles of ice. + +Teresa’s new servant had mounted behind Gaspara. She led him into the +quarters assigned and began at once to question him sharply as to +Molina’s fate. + +The man, grateful for his life and charmed by her beauty and +gentleness, became a willing slave and told all he knew with eager +honesty. + +“The Spaniard has been attached to the royal household since his +arrival, dear lady. Yma, first of the Sun Virgins, whom you saw leading +their dances to-day, was given him for wife.” + +“His wife?” gasped Teresa. + +“So the monarch decreed.” + +“He lives with her as man and wife?” the girl asked in amazement. + +“I only know, dear lady, that Yma lives with him, presides over his +house and ministers to his wants with many servants.” + +“And where is he now?” she fiercely asked. + +“When your army approached,” he paused and dropped his voice, “he was +imprisoned by orders of the Inca.” + +“And why imprisoned if he had taken a wife and joined his fortunes with +the empire?” + +“He wished to join his people....” + +Teresa laughed in triumph. What he might or might not have done +mattered little; what he would do now, had he the chance, meant +everything. + +“Where is he imprisoned?” + +“In the great fortress on the crest of the mountain behind the city. We +know that he has been put in chains.” + +Again the girl cried for joy. + +“In chains, you say?” + +“Yes. He tried to escape. Yma caught him, brought him back and the +governor ordered him manacled.” + +“I’ll kiss his chains. Lead me to the spot to-night.” + +Hastily eating a supper Teresa with Gaspara and her new servant crept +cautiously through the town still beaten by the storm, crossed the +causeway, passed the camp of the Inca and carefully climbed the long +steep stairs of stone. + +The man led the approach with the safe tread of a cougar. Only in +flashes of distant lightning could the outlines of the huge pile be +seen. The only possible entrance lay from the upper side where the +massive stone door swung open when released from within. + +“Can the guard be bribed?” Teresa whispered. + +In vain the interpreter tried to make the simple native understand the +question. It was beyond his ken. Gold was a thing used by the Emperor +for pots and pans, plates and cups and ornaments, but there was no +incentive for any man to accumulate it. It was useless trash to the +average citizen whose wants were all supplied by the State. A guard +could have no adequate motive to risk his life in accepting a bribe. A +man might act for love; he might act for hate, but for gold--that was +a motive unheard of in Peru. There was no use for such stuff in the +Kingdom of the Four Corners of the World. No man or woman in the empire +had ever seen a piece of money until Molina gave one to the Sun Virgin. +And that piece she now wore as her most valuable love charm. + +“No, dear lady,” the new servant warned. “No guard would risk his life +and brave the anger of the Inca for that stuff.” + +Verily, the soldiers of Spain had invaded a new world--a world turned +upside down, with all known values reversed or destroyed. For a moment +the girl was puzzled. + +“In what part of the fortress are its prison cells?” she asked +impatiently. + +“There are no cells, lady. The best rooms are used by the guards and +all are located on the western side overlooking the cliff and valley +below. He is in one of these rooms, I have been told.” + +“Can it be reached by ladders?” + +“The cliff is straight five hundred feet downward. The walls of the +fortress are flush with the cliff. No ladder could be long enough.” + +“You know the guards?” + +“No, dear lady, but for your sake I’ll know them soon. The trouble will +be that they are loyal to Yma....” + +“So much the better that they do not know you,” Gaspara broke in. +“After to-day you will be a marked man if seen with us. Go to-night to +your own house and give every hour of your time learning the secrets of +the prison. Cultivate the guards and when you know them, report to us.” + +“I’ll do better than go to my house,” the man suggested. “If you can +find the way down the stairs and back to your people at Caxamalca, I +will enter the fortress to-night as one caught in the storm, ask for +shelter, and begin my work.” + +“Good!” cried Teresa. “We’ll find our way, never fear. The moment you +have mastered the inside of the fortress come to me at once.” + +“I will, dear lady.” + +Teresa withdrew into the dense forest and waited until he called his +distress signal and was admitted to the fortress. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + + +The commander at Caxamalca received the report of the reception of his +captain with grave fears. The situation was far more serious than he +had anticipated. + +De Soto discussed it with dispassionate care. + +“Know at once and clearly, Francisco Pizarro,” he began deliberately, +“that the monarch into whose camp we have marched is a ruler of vast +power and endless wealth. His army is strong; its discipline perfect. +No mobs of soldiers moved from their tents drawn by the word of our +coming. They had orders from the Inca to keep to their tents. They +kept to them. Only a few men on leave saw us. Their action under such +conditions evinced a discipline unknown to our soldiers.” + +“How many men do you estimate his army to contain?” + +“Look for yourself at their campfires.” + +The leader stepped through the doorway and looked at the miles of +gleaming fires on the slope of the hills. The storm had passed and the +stars had come out. The flickering lights of ten thousand tents made +pale the stars. + +“I should say,” De Soto continued, “their numbers cannot be less than +forty thousand. There could not be less than ten thousand tents in +that vast array. There must be at least four soldiers to a tent. There +might be six.” + +Hernando Pizarro was equally impressed by the gravity of the outlook. +He made no effort to mince matters in his report. + +“And above all,” he said in conclusion, “was the cool insolence with +which he gave us orders to be carried to you. His words were cold +enough. His manner in speaking was far more significant. He spoke as a +ruler conscious of unlimited power. Mark well his words: + +“‘I will then visit him with my staff. Let him occupy the public +buildings on the square, _and no others_, till I come, when I will +order what shall be done.’ He does not propose to consult your wishes +in the matter. He will call to make known to you his decision as to +your fate. I don’t like the looks of it. We’ve got to face the facts.” + +Francisco Pizarro suddenly left his brother in conference with De Soto +and began to move among his men. Most of them stood in the shadows +watching the blaze of the campfires on the hills beyond the valley. He +felt instinctively the gloom that depressed them and it was his task to +dispel it. + +He called them together, a hundred and fifty thoroughly discouraged and +frightened men. They gathered close around the dying fire in the center +of the plaza beside which Pizarro stood. He spoke in low tones vibrant +with passionate courage. + +“Soldiers,” he began, “for seven years, through toil, dangers and +disappointments we have dreamed of the day that we should confront +the mighty monarch of this rich empire. At last our eyes have seen the +glory of which we have dreamed. We are face to face with the foe we +have sought. Let us rejoice and be strong in our joy. This is no hour +for faint hearts. It is the hour when real men should shout defiance. +Rely on your strong arms and the might of God who has led you safely +through so many perils. Your God will not desert you now. What matters +how great the number of our enemy, if God be with us?” + +The men stirred. They caught the daring spirit of their leader, +and their sagging shoulders lifted. And the greatest appeal to the +adventurers, when all else failed, was that which struck the deep +religious strain that underlay the character of the Spanish soldier. +Pizarro returned to it with renewed enthusiasm as he saw their first +response. + +“My comrades,” he went on steadily, “you are carrying the banners of +Spain in a holy crusade for your God, His Church, and our Empire. Are +you ready when I call to you ‘_Christo y Santiago!_’?” + +Almost with a single voice, the men caught his enthusiasm. A shout +arose, “_Christo y Santiago!_” + +Pizarro left them with quick step and called his officers. + +While they gathered, Teresa reported the staring news of Molina’s +imprisonment in the fortress. + +Pizarro fixed her with a stern look: + +“I rely on you to keep this fact a strict secret. Our lives may depend +on it.” + +Teresa promised. + +He then faced his officers with a smile. They sensed the quick beat of +his courageous heart before the first words fell from his lips. Each +man leaned close, and gave him breathless attention. + +“Gentlemen,” he began in quick decisive tones, “I’ve a proposition to +make to you. It is of the utmost danger and requires the utmost daring. +But we are confronted by a situation that demands such a courageous +solution, and only a courageous solution. We are surrounded by an army +of forty thousand men. By sheer weight of numbers they can overwhelm +us in an open fight. At this juncture we can not risk it. Retreat is +impossible. We know that the wild mountain pass over which we have just +struggled has been closed. A hundred men in those overhanging bulwarks +of stone could stop an army of ten thousand!” + +He paused and held their gaze in silence until the tragic dilemma was +clear in every mind. + +“You realize this, gentlemen?” he flashed. + +They nodded silent assent. + +“Then there is but one way,” he cried in tones of exultation. “The +Inca is not only their ruler; he is their God on earth. They are not +accustomed to think or move without his command. Very well. Ambush the +Inca and take him prisoner before the army and we paralyze the whole +empire!” + +His officers leaped to their feet to a man with cries of excited +approval. + +“Excellent!” + +“The only way!” + +“A master stroke!” + +“Once in our power,” Pizarro continued, “we will issue orders--the Inca +will see that they are executed. We can stay or retreat as we like. The +mountain passes will open as by magic as they opened for us to pass +in. His army will be our army, ready at his word to do our bidding. +No matter what his feelings towards us, friendly or hostile, we are +masters of the situation. To make sure of no outbreak led by his family +we will invite them to attend their sovereign here and hold them all as +hostages.” + +Hernando Pizarro hailed the scheme with enthusiasm. It appealed to his +cruel nature with subtle force. He stepped forward, turned, and faced +the men. + +“And make no mistake, gentlemen,” he cried. “The Inca is a crafty and +unscrupulous schemer. We can see now that he has deliberately lured us +to Caxamalca and closed the door behind us. His presents and his soft +messages were bait. We will give him a dose of his own medicine and +make sure of our lives.” + +“And there is not an hour to be lost,” Francisco Pizarro urged. “We +have learned that the main army lies somewhere to the south under the +command of a famous general, Challcuchima. Rest assured swift runners +have already given him the orders to close in, block our way and join +his master. We have already invited the Inca to visit us here. He will +come, of course, with a guard of moderate size. It is not possible that +he will attempt to enter at the head of his army. We will dispose of +our forces by concealing them in the hills opening on the plaza and +when he walks into our trap we will close it.” + +As the council was breaking up Pizarro lifted his hand in a word of +final command. + +“See your men to-night and cheer them but say nothing. I caution the +utmost secrecy and the results will be in God’s hands.” + +The commander busied himself at once with careful preparations for +the dawn of the day that would decide their fate. Guards were placed +at every approach to the town; sentinels stationed at every strategic +point to watch any movement to encircle the city. Guards were set on +both sides of the inner and outer forts with strict commands to report +immediately any movement of a suspicious character. + +The night passed in silence, save for the occasional cry of an owl. And +the sun rose in a clear sky Saturday the sixteenth of November, 1532. + +Francisco Pizarro was the first soldier to cross the plaza. He gave +orders in person to the trumpeter to call his men to their arms. The +shrill cry rang over the city and echoed against the hills on which lay +the white tents of the native army. + +Every soldier sprang to his arms and buckled them on with quick nervous +haste. Something in the ring of the trumpet called to instant action. +Its notes were sharp as claws. What it meant they knew not, but the low +words of their leader spoken the night before were prophetic of daring +deeds to-day. + +They gathered about Pizarro eagerly. + +In low tones he told them of his plan. Excited comments arose and +murmurs of admiration and approval swept the crowd. + +“God’s light!” + +“As God lives!” + +“_Por las entrañas de Dios!_ That’s a leader for you!” + +In the halls with wide entrances on the plaza, he stationed his +cavalry, one division under his brother Hernando, the other under De +Soto. The infantry he concealed in the adjoining building under his own +command, reserving twenty picked men to attend him personally in the +capture of the Inca. + +Pedro Candia, he stationed with his artillery on the ramparts of the +fortress commanding the plaza. The artillery was small in number and +size but its effects would be none the less terrible in their novelty. +The two falconets were set, loaded and pointed, the gunners standing +ready. + +The orders of attack Francisco Pizarro delivered in person to each +division of his little army. Each man should be concealed until the +Inca and his attendants entered the plaza. He would give the signal +of assault to Pedro Candia who would fire a cannon. At the sound of +the cannon, the enemy should be charged and put to the sword. Except +the Inca. No hand should be lifted against his sacred person. He must +be taken alive and unharmed. The success of their daring enterprise +depended on this. + +His final words rang with the temper of steel. + +“Soldiers of Spain! When the crucial moment comes, I depend on you! No +hurry, no confusion, deadly order and obedience. In concert move coolly +and swiftly to your tasks.” + +He carefully inspected their arms. To the cavalry he gave his especial +attention. On these would depend the stroke that would bring victory. +The wide openings were made for such a charge as he planned. In +solid lines the troops were pressed far back into the shadows of the +building. The floor was on a level with the plaza. They could charge +four abreast without pause from the depths of their hiding place. He +was careful to see that the breastplates of every horse was set with +bells. This would add to the terror of their charge. + +The orders of attack given, the inspection complete, the men were +served a hearty breakfast, and the priests, who came under the +provisions of the charter, called them to mass, which was celebrated +with great solemnity in the somber shadows of the building in which +the cavalry were stationed. At the end Pizarro prayed the God of their +fathers to strengthen their arms for the battle to extend the Kingdom +of the Cross over the world. He led and all joined in singing the +chant, “_Exsurge, Domine_”--“Rise, O Lord, and judge Thine Own +Cause!” + +Whatever his faults the cavalier of Spain in the sixteenth century +was not a hypocrite. In this hour of sublime daring he was the true +believer--a soldier of the Cross. For the moment he forgot his lust for +gold in the greater issues of life and death. + +Pizarro watched his men with deep satisfaction. They were fired with +enthusiasm. Such men, in the crisis, would be true to their religion, +their leader and themselves. + +It was noon before a decided movement could be seen in the camp of +the Inca. The men were growing restless, when a messenger arrived. +The _Quicha_ language had no alphabet, and, the words made with +the knotted colored strings of the _quipa_ being unknown to the +Spaniards, the message was delivered by spoken word. + +“Our Lord of the Sun begs to inform you that he comes fully armed in +the same manner as your messengers to his camp last night. The delay in +movement is due to the selection of his soldiers, that he may honor his +guests with his best.” + +The message was ominous. While Pizarro had no right to expect that the +Emperor would come unarmed, yet he had hoped it might be possible. +That he should spend half the day in selecting his best warriors was +disconcerting. He commanded his attendants to keep from the men the +meaning of the message. He could afford to express to the messenger no +surprise or regret at his announcement. On the other hand he went out +of the way to express his pleasure at the news. + +“Inform your master, that, come as he will, he will be received as a +friend and brother!” + +An hour later the Indian procession began its slow march in state +towards Caxamalca. When the procession had reached the causeway the +Spaniards could see hundreds of men with brooms sweeping the way clear +of dust and rubbish for the passage of their sovereign. + +And when the causeway was crowded, the procession having come halfway +across it, there spread over the meadows a vast army of tens of +thousands. The sight was disturbing and it gave Pizarro a bad hour. He +was thankful that only the few men stationed on the ramparts of the +fortress with Pedro de Candia could see the swarm of these ugly looking +locusts. + +Pizarro hurried to Candia in person. + +“Warn your men to be silent. See that no word of this great host +reaches the soldiers hidden below.” + +“Not a word.” + +The commander hurried back to his position and watched the approaching +throng on the causeway with kindling eyes. It would matter little how +many men were massed in the meadows if he once captured the Inca. He +could see now the gold litter of the sovereign high above the heads +of his staff borne on the shoulders of noblemen in gorgeous attire. +Their dazzling, gold trimmed uniforms completely surrounding the litter +blazed in the sun. + +At the end of the causeway, Pizarro saw to his dismay that the Inca had +ordered a halt and his soldiers began to put up their tents for the +night. Before he could recover from his surprise, a second messenger +arrived from the royal procession. He spoke with authority. + +“The Lord of the Sun pitches his tents at his present position. He will +enter the city in state to-morrow morning.” + +Pizarro received the news with ill-concealed distress. His men had +gripped their arms since daylight. Their nerves had been for hours +taut to the snapping point. They had held their entrusted positions +in a silence broken only by the call of the sentinels on the ramparts +marking the approach of the Inca. Another night of this was more than +flesh could endure. The suspense would quench enthusiasm and breed +panic. The old soldier was too wise in his knowledge of men to doubt +this for a moment. He must urge the monarch to change his plans. + +His manner was suave, but his tones were cordially urgent as he spoke. + +“Say to your royal master that his decision to camp in the open for the +night has greatly distressed me. We beg him to enter the city at once, +as we have prepared a table with rare refreshments in his honor and +expect him to dine with us to-night.” + +The returning messenger could not reach the Inca for a moment. A +delegation of priests blocked his way. + +Yma had prostrated herself before Atahualpa and her clear tones could +be heard in an earnest prayer. + +“I beg the Lord of the Sun to hear his servants.” + +“I have heard once and rejected their advice--what more?” + +“They have consulted the signs of the altar.” + +“So did they consult for Huascar at Cuzco and their advice was wrong. +In great moments I think for myself.” + +“I pray you, O Lord, hear them.” + +The Chief Priest of the Temple pressed forward and spoke with trembling +earnestness. + +“The signs, O Lord of the Sun, tell of dire evil. We implore you to +change your purpose and return to your imperial camp.” + +Atahualpa lifted his hand in a gesture of angry impatience. + +Yma again prostrated herself before him crying: + +“And I bring to you, our Lord, sad assurances from my beloved, noblest +and wisest of all these men, that you are in grave danger.” + +“Your god-man sends me this message of warning against his own people?” + +“Not in words,” she admitted. + +“How then?” + +“I asked of him their purpose. He could not tell. But from his tone +and words I caught the sense of uneasiness. He has learned greatly to +respect and admire you in spite of his chains and imprisonment. He +fears for your safety.” + +“He fears for their safety!” + +The Inca sneered. Over the heads of the priests he caught a gesture +from his messenger and called him to report. + +“The strangers have prepared a feast for the Lord of the Sun. They +expect him to dine with them to-night. They beg that he does not +disappoint them.” + +The Inca turned sharply to his priests. + +“Return immediately to the temple and your duties. No more of your +cackling. As for you, presumptuous girl--” He paused and fixed Yma +with his eyes. + +“I spared your life once when you had gone too far. Another mission of +this kind and I will bury you alive within the hour.” + +The girl bowed humbly. + +“I beg your pardon, Lord of the Sun. I came with the priests drawn by a +great reverence for your holy person. I pledge anew my oath of loyalty +to your service.” + +He waved her aside. + +In spite of his warnings Yma lingered among his attendants, her heart +sickened with a dumb terror. + +As if to mock the fears and warnings of his people he turned to his +messenger and spoke in clear command. + +“Return at once to the Spanish commander and say that I will accept +his cordial invitation to dine at his table to-night. And say that my +trust in him is so great that I will enter informally with only unarmed +attendants.” + +A low murmur of surprise and consternation came from his noblemen, +and a cry of pain from Yma. But none dared brook his anger by further +protest. It was evident to all that he resented their fears as unworthy +of his exalted rank and power. + +“And say to the Spaniard,” the Inca added, “that he may reserve for my +accommodation to-night the House of the Serpent opening on the plaza.” + +Pizarro received the astonishing message with a grim smile. + +“Verily God hath delivereth the enemy into our hands!” he breathed +devoutly. + +The word was quickly passed and once more the soldiers gripped their +weapons in a tense silence. + +As the sun was sinking behind the peaks of the _cordillera_ +the royal procession entered the gates of the city. As the Spaniard +watched he could now have little doubt that the first purpose of the +march with a splendid army was for display and in honor of his guests. +The acceptance of the invitation to dine showed a confidence in his +visitors and a sense of security in his own power. The audacity of an +attack on his person by a handful of men was evidently unthinkable. +The plan was working. Pizarro watched the spectacle with trembling +eagerness. + +First came the hordes of sweepers cleaning the streets of every piece +of rubbish. As they neared the plaza a chorus of hundreds of voices +burst into a triumphant song that rang in strange echoes through the +shadows of the halls. The startled horses pricked their ears and lifted +their heads. A stallion neighed in answer and the rider threw him to +his haunches in stern rebuke. + +Behind the sweepers and singers slowly moved a mass of attendants with +symbols of the various divisions of industry in the Empire. They were +dressed in gay liveries. Some wore cloaks checkered white and red like +a chess board. + +One division wore pure white and carried maces of silver and copper. +The royal guard wore uniforms of rich azure decorated with many +precious stones. The Peruvian noblemen were easily distinguished by +the profusion of gems and the huge pendants that hung from their ears. + +In an open litter Atahualpa sat on a magnificent throne of gold, +gleaming in the rays of the sinking sun. The canopy above his litter +was covered with the gayest plumes of tropical birds and studded with +gem-set yellow plates. He wore a costume of more resplendant materials +than at his first reception. His neck was circled with a collar of +brilliant emeralds of enormous size, and the scarlet _borla_ that +bound his brow was bordered with priceless stones. He glanced at the +crowds of his attendants with an air of commanding indifference. + +As the royal procession entered the square the ranks opened and stood +in silence awaiting the advance of the Inca’s litter. The monarch +passed through the long lane of his people in silence. Not a Spaniard +was to be seen. + +No hint of the tragic meaning of their absence yet dawned on his mind. +A moment of suspicion and there was yet time for a swift withdrawal to +the head of his army in the meadows. In perfect confidence his litter +slowly moved to the center of the plaza surrounded by five or six +thousand attendants. + +The sharp eyes of Pizarro saw the crowd close behind him. + +“Where are the Spaniards?” the Inca inquired. + +In answer to his question, Vincente de Valverde, the Dominican friar +who acted as Francisco Pizarro’s chaplain, stepped from the building in +which the infantry lay concealed, carrying his Bible and crucifix and +approached the monarch who had descended from the litter. + +The friar with dignity and solemn mien preached a sermon to the heathen +potentate and his assembled people. + +“I am here, Your Highness,” he began in measured tones, “by order of +our commander to expound to you the doctrines of the true faith. For +this purpose the Spaniards have come, at great expense and suffering +many perils, across the sea.” + +He first proclaimed with high-sounding phrases the mysterious doctrine +of the Trinity. Atahualpa frowned and looked incredulous. + +“What is that you say?” + +Felipillo, the proud interpreter, hastened to explain: + +“The Christians believe in three Gods and one God and that makes four!” + +The explanation gave little light to the perplexed heathen and Valverde +hastened on. He told the story of the creation of man, his fall in the +Garden of Eden, and his salvation through the crucifixion of Christ +on the Cross. He proclaimed the ascension and the appointment of the +Apostle Peter vice-regent on earth. This power had been passed to his +successors, now called Popes, who held authority over all the powers of +the earth. + +“One of these Popes,” he continued with special emphasis, “has +commanded our Emperor Charles V, the mightiest monarch of the world, +to conquer and convert the world to the true faith. He in turn has +appointed Francisco Pizarro his general and viceroy to execute this +work.” + +“I beseech you,” the friar pleaded with eloquence, “that you receive +him kindly, in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I beg +that you renounce the errors of your religion and accept the true one, +your only hope of salvation in this world and the next. I advise you to +acknowledge yourself tributary to our mighty Emperor Charles V who will +forever protect you as his royal vassal.” + +Whatever doubts Atahualpa had over the Doctrine of the Trinity, even +after Felipillo’s luminous explanation, he caught the import of +Pizarro’s claims and his request that he resign his powers as sovereign +and acknowledge himself the vassal of another. + +The darkened brow of the ruler was lowered for a moment. His lips +twisted with an angry sneer as he lifted his head in answer. + +“You ask of me, the greatest prince on earth, that I become the vassal +of another? Your Emperor may be great. I do not doubt it, seeing that +he can send you across the seas. I will gladly hold him as my brother. +As his vassal, never!” + +He paused with an angry smile. + +“As for your Pope, he must be mad to talk of giving away my country +which does not belong to him. My faith I will not change. Your altars +may be erected in our temples if you like. There is room for all +religions here. I would gladly hear more of your gods at my leisure. +But when you tell me that your Lord was killed by the men whom he +created, I answer--” + +He stopped and pointed to the sinking flame of the sun. + +“My God still lives in the heavens and looks down with love on all his +children.” + +Turning to Valverde he slowly asked: + +“By whose authority do you dare to say to me the many things which you +have spoken?” + +“By this,” the friar answered, pointing to the Bible which he extended. + +Atahualpa took the volume and turned its leaves casually. That a man +should enter his empire and make such preposterous claims and demands +based on meaningless characters written on parchment in an unknown +tongue stirred his anger. + +The suggestion was an insult to his intelligence and a mockery of his +power. He threw the book on the pavement and faced Valverde. + +“Tell your commander that he shall give me a full account of his doings +in my land and I will not go from here until he has made satisfaction +for all the outrages his people have committed on mine.” + +The friar seized the sacred volume and hurried back to Pizarro. He +indignantly informed him of all that had passed, dwelling with rage on +the insult to the Bible. + +The commander had complied with the letter of the law provided in the +charter. He had taken council of the Church and Valverde’s advice was +sharp and to the point. + +“Do you not see,” he whispered, “that while we stand here talking to +this dog full of pride, the fields are swarming with his soldiers. Lead +_on at once_. I absolve you.” + +Pizarro sprang for the doorway and waved a white scarf to Pedro Candia. +A cannon roared from the ramparts, and he sprang into the square, +lifted his sword and shouted: + +“_Christo y Santiago!_” + +From every Spanish throat came the answering shout: + +“_Christo y Santiago!_” + +The long strain of the day’s waiting, their alternate high hopes and +uncertainty, combined with the dangers of their position transformed a +hundred and sixty-eight men into as many fiends. + +At the first roar of the cannon from the fortress, tearing a path of +death through the dense crowd, filling the plaza with smoke, a mad +panic seized the natives. They stood a moment like terrified sheep +trembling in their tracks, unable to know what had happened or was +about to happen. From the wide openings swept sixty-seven horses, their +riders shouting, hundreds of bells on their breastplates jingling an +added terror that gripped the hearts of the natives. The cavalry cut +avenue after avenue of death in the huddled ranks. The two cannon and +four muskets from the ramparts flamed, thundered and roared. Wheeling +again and again the cavalry cut their way through the helpless throng +with cyclonic fury, trampling, slaying, yelling. The infantry cleaved +with swords and thrust their long steel spears into defenseless breasts. + +Valverde in the van of the foot-soldiers screamed a warning: + +“Thrust! Thrust with the points of your swords or you’ll break your +weapons!” + +Stunned by the roar and blinded by smoke, the panic-stricken crowd at +last surged toward the narrow entrance of the gate and trampled each +other to death in a mad effort to escape. + +They swerved back from the piles of the dead and again the cavalry +plunged through their ranks. So great became the pressure of the human +mass packed against the stone and plaster wall, the structure gave way +and fell into the street in a cloud of dust and débris. + +An opening eighty feet wide freed hundreds who fled only to be followed +and cut down by the pursuing horsemen. + +The plaza had become a bloody shambles. It was never a fight--always +sheer butchery. Francisco’s picked men had not yet reached the litter +of the Inca. Guarded by his faithful nobles, cheered by the shrill +voice of the Sun Virgin, his throne had swayed above the heads of the +surging crowds from side to side of the plaza. Every effort of Pizarro +to cut his way to the monarch’s litter had failed. As one nobleman +fell, another blocked the way. When a horseman was called to hew a path +through his defenders, the dauntless group of guards who now surrounded +him sprang on the horse’s haunches and gripped his legs until he could +not move. When a flash of steel killed one, another took his place. Not +a horseman succeeded in reaching the Inca. His litter still swayed +over the heads of the crowd when Pizarro led the final assault with his +twenty picked men. Forming a flying wedge of the soldiers he drove a +way to the surging throne. A maddened trooper killed a litter bearer, +the handle dropped and the monarch fell towards his assailants. The +sword of an excited officer flashed towards the falling body. Pizarro +sprang to the rescue and received a slight wound in the wrist. + +“Let no one who values his life strike the Inca!” the captain shouted, +catching the monarch in his arms. + +The imperial _borla_ was snatched from his brow by a struggling +soldier, his arms were pinioned, he was led into the building and +securely chained. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + + +Yma had held her place beside her royal master until she saw him fall +into the hands of his captors. With a cry of despair she slipped +through the surging mass of nobles yet pressing about the body of their +fallen ruler, fled for the fortress, and reached the entrance to the +building on the terrace below without accident. + +Faithfully obeying her commands, Toparca had guarded the fortress with +a new relay of men and stood at the lower entrance impatiently awaiting +her return. + +He could not believe his ears. + +“The Inca taken! Dear Yma, it is impossible. They dare not lay their +hands on God himself.” + +“It is done. I saw them bind him with cords and lead him away a +prisoner. Thousands have been slain. There is no one to command and all +left alive are fleeing....” + +“But the army?” + +“The captains, in terror, without a leader, have dispersed the army. +The men are flying secretly to their homes. I passed the camp and saw +them running, every man for himself.” + +“The woman will attack the fortress?” + +“Yes! Quick, we have work to do. They shall not take my man. I know +they are coming.” + +Through a dense mass of evergreen bushes the girl pushed her way to the +door that opened the way up the long stairway into the fortress. It was +the work of an hour to carry out her plans of defeating Teresa. + +When she reported the slaughter of five thousand unarmed people and the +capture of the Inca, Molina refused to believe it. + +He lifted his manacled arm in a gesture of impatience. + +“Dear Virgin of the Sun, you are overwrought. You are hysterical. +Such things cannot be done by the followers of Jesus Christ. You are +raving....” + +“I saw it all!” she shivered “Your people are devils, not gods. +They lured our Lord of the Sun into an ambush and slew his unarmed +attendants without mercy. I felt this coming in the sorrow of your +voice when first I told you of the strangers’ invitation to the Inca. I +warned him in vain.” + +“Is it possible!” he cried in anguish. + +“They will come for you with their horses and their flaming tubes--but +they shall not take you!” + +Her face flushed and the young cavalier watched her with a deep pity +shadowing his soul. Two years among a gentle, friendly, happy people +had done something to his character. He had no desire to share the +ghastly victory with his people. A feeling of nausea overwhelmed him. + +“I have no wish to see my people to-night, dear Yma,” he muttered sadly. + +“Then you will not be more unhappy if I take you to the lower rooms +before they come to smash in the doors of the fortress?” + +“I am in chains, I cannot stop you if I would.” + +The girl stooped and kissed the manacles. “They hold you for me yet a +little while.” + +The Spaniard touched gently the dark tresses of her hair. + +“I’m learning many things, in these silent days, dear Yma. The world I +live in has grown larger and more wonderful and beautiful since I’ve +known you.” + +She watched him wistfully for a moment, her deep emotion raging, but +she repressed it, smiled and hurried to her task. + +Toparca called the guard, and found the eye holes in a massive stone +that paved the lower passage. These holes were safely hidden by soft +earth from which sprigs of grass were carefully removed in a compact +piece of turf and laid aside to be replaced. + +Grappling hooks of heavy bronze were fixed in those holes and the +combined strength of five men lifted the huge trap door that opened the +way to the lower fortress hundreds of feet below. + +With all speed Molina’s furnishings and clothes and all the effects of +his servant and Yma’s maids were removed to the lower level. Then the +cavalier followed Yma down the long dark stairway, hundreds of feet +into the depths below. + +The guards replaced the stone, reset the grass, and left the fortress +unguarded. They obeyed Yma’s command without question. + +When Teresa arrived two hours later with a force of twenty men and one +of Candia’s cannon no sound came from the ramparts in answer to her +call. + +Gaspara warned her to move with care as Pizarro had commanded. He had +refused to allow her to engage in the attack on the Inca. She had +agreed on condition that he give her permission to take the fortress +the moment the monarch was in his hands. Now she waited impatiently. + +A complete survey of the walls from every angle gave no sign of +defense. A sentinel had always walked the ramparts day and night. +Gaspara ordered the men to try the heavy stone door and it yielded at +once to their shoulders, swinging heavily on its massive pivot. + +Teresa turned to her native servant. + +“You are sure there are only three guards?” + +“I’ve seen but three since I entered the fortress. I’ve hidden from +the Sun Virgin, but got all her orders from a maid. No more have been +added. The prisoner is on the first floor.” + +“Steady!” she called to the men. “It may be a ruse. I will lose no +Spanish soldiers in this crisis. I’ll enter alone first.” + +With torch uplifted high she boldly entered the hall and found it +empty. Calling Gaspara they surveyed each room. The place was deserted. +The kitchen gave signs of use during the day, and live coals still +smoldered in the cooling ashes, but there were no occupants to be found. + +A second careful search uncovered the small stairway which led out +through the clump of evergreens at the foot of the cliff. Teresa +examined every crook and turn of the stairs, emerged below, parted the +bushes at the entrance, and stood baffled. + +“They’ve just slipped through our fingers by this secret entrance of +the fortress....” + +“It’s plain,” Gaspara agreed. + +“There’s nothing to do but begin our search all over again--” a +strangled sob caught her voice--“but when I find her I’ll run her +through....” + + + + +CHAPTER XX + + +Within an hour the trumpet called the Spanish soldiers again to the +Plaza of Caxamalca. On its flagstones lay in dark heaps the dead. The +slaughter had lasted barely fifty minutes and more than five thousand +had been slain, an army of forty thousand soldiers had fled through the +bushes in terror and a mighty empire lay within the grasp of Francisco +Pizarro. + +The Spanish captain outdid himself in an effort to cheer the fallen +monarch and lighten his gloom. He could well afford in this hour of +bloody triumph to play the generous host. + +“You must not be cast down by this misfortune, Your Highness,” he urged +in friendly accents. “You are not alone in such distress. No ruler of +the world has been able to resist the soldiers of Spain. We fight under +the banners of her great Emperor and the banners of the all conquering +Christ whose Kingdom is now overspreading the earth. Your pride was +high; your power was vast. But nothing can stand before our arms....” + +He stopped short, smiled and said in cordial tones: + +“Take courage. Confide in me as your friend. We found ourselves in a +trap which you had set. Our lives were at stake. We had to strike.” + +The Inca nodded his head sadly. + +“It is the fortune of war, and I have lost.” + +“I would be your friend,” Pizarro urged. “The Spaniards are a generous +race. We war only on those who make war on us, showing grace to all who +submit.” + +The Inca lifted sad eyes toward the heaps of his dead and made no +reply. The rain had begun to pour its friendly mercy on the wounded. +Only here and there the groan of a dying man could be heard. The faint +odor of burnt gunpowder that had filled the nostrils of the Inca with +nausea had passed. + +Pizarro seated his prisoner at the banquet table generously prepared +for his entertainment and spared no pains to make the feast a memorable +one. A few bottles of choice Spanish wine had been carefully guarded on +their long march for such an occasion. These were served the captive in +battered pewter cups in painful contrast to the solid gold goblets his +officers had seen at their reception the day before. + +Pizarro noticed the look of doubt with which Atahualpa stared +bewildered at the dirty cups and apologized: + +“I am sorry, Your Highness, that a soldier’s rough camp cannot yet +furnish better plate for your service.” + +The Inca smiled sadly and lifted his cup with a bow of instinctive +courtesy. + +“Be assured,” the Spaniard continued, “of your personal safety, and the +safety of all your household. We are counting on your aid to restore +complete tranquillity.” + +The monarch accepted the situation with philosophy at which the +Spaniards greatly marveled, wondering if it yet concealed the secret of +a counter-attack that might overwhelm them in the night. + +“I greatly appreciate,” the Inca finally said to Pizarro, “your +assurance of the safety of my mother and my household....” + +Noting the tone of anxiety in which his thanks were expressed, the +captain hastened to assure him: + +“Early in the morning, when all evidences of battle have been cleared +from the plaza and the approaching streets, I will conduct your mother +and your household here and establish them with you in the House of the +Serpent.” + +The prisoner gravely nodded his thanks. + +The Spaniards studied the Inca with keen interest as he sat beside +their commander at the large banquet table, presiding at a feast that +celebrated his own downfall and the butchery of five thousand of his +people. He was in the full strength of youth, well made and more +athletic than the average of his countrymen. His head was unusually +large and his regular strong features handsome, but for his blood-shot +eyes which gave an impression of fierceness to his otherwise agreeable +face. There was no trace of the half effeminate type of the inbreeding +of the royal family which had been practiced for the past four +hundred years. Atahualpa’s mother had been a foreigner, a queen in +her own right as ruler of Quito before its conquest by Huyna Capac. +The conqueror had fallen madly in love with the fifteen-year-old +wife of the conquered ruler of the North and in spite of the fiercest +opposition of his priests and nobles, had made her a queen in the +consolidated Kingdoms. + +The young Inca in many ways gave the impression of the perfect +manhood of the true love child. His manner was poised and his speech +deliberate. To his subjects he had ever been the arbiter of life and +death. To his strange host on this tragic occasion he was affable and +courteous. + +The longer they watched him the more suspicious some of them became +that this pleasing exterior concealed a daring plan of rescue that +might develop before dawn. Hernando Pizarro was sure of it. + +“Don’t allow his soft words to deceive you,” he warned Francisco. “The +sternest discipline must be maintained until our safety is assured.” + +The captain nodded his assent. His own keen and careful mind had +already foreseen this possibility. + +At the close of the banquet Pizarro conducted his distinguished captive +to the royal suite in the House of the Serpent which had been reserved +for him strictly in accordance with his request. He placed a double +guard over the house and hurried into the hall of the cavalry where he +had ordered an assembly of his entire force not on guard duty. + +They were carefully counted and inspected. Not a man had been lost and +not a drop of Spanish blood had been spilled except for the scratch +which Pizarro had received in rescuing the Inca from the sword of an +excited officer. + +The commander called his priests and ordered his men to their knees. A +prayer of thanksgiving was made to the God who had so marvelously saved +every life. They had lost four killed and many wounded in a skirmish +with the tribe on Puna island. They had won the first battle of the +attack on the great Empire with a bare scratch from the sword of one +of their own men. It was not to be wondered at that the outcome was +regarded as a miracle. They believed to a man that they had marched +into a death trap and were cutting their way out to a place of safety. + +The best witness of Pizarro’s sincerity in this belief was Hernando de +Soto, who fought by his side through the bloody hour. Whatever may be +the opinions of Francisco Pizarro’s character, no chronicler has yet +questioned the lofty motives, the high ideals, or the stern honesty +of De Soto. Had this man believed for a moment that the attack on +Atahualpa was a piece of mere savage cruelty, he would have refused to +lead his men in the attack. And no argument for discipline or claims of +authority could have driven him into the business. De Soto led his own +cavalry into the bloody shambles because, and only because, he believed +that he was cutting his way to safety. + +On rising from prayer, Pizarro again addressed his men with a simple +eloquence characteristic of his leadership. + +“Comrades, we have given thanks to Him who has led us through a +thousand trials to this deliverance. Without God the miracle could not +have been performed. You have prevailed over thousands and tens of +thousands. Your lives have been spared by Heaven for greater deeds. +You must do your part now as you’ve done it so nobly in the past. The +greatest dangers still confront you. We are in the heart of an empire +of twelve million people deeply loyal to their ruler. He is in our +power and we have in this the assurance of our success if we do our +parts with stern discipline and unswerving obedience. To-night there +must be no rioting, no taking of women, no excesses, no uncalled for +attack. Let every man sleep on his arms, ready at the call of the +trumpet to face our foes. I have stationed a guard at the gates of +the convent of the Virgins of the Sun. Let no man dare invade its +precincts. We must not stir the fires of religious fanaticism in this +crisis!” + +The soldiers cheered him and lay down on their arms and slept till +dawn. At the first streak of light in the east the trumpet called and +every Spaniard sprang to his feet. + +They rounded up the huddled groups of shivering, hungry Peruvians and +set them to the work of burying the dead and cleansing the flagstones +of the plaza of all traces of blood. To Teresa and Gaspara, the captain +gave permission to take a half dozen horsemen and continue the search +for Molina. + +A squadron of thirty, under his brother Hernando, he sent to take the +spoils from the summer house of the Inca at the hot baths and scatter +the remnants of the army. He had already learned of their panic and +flight into the forests. + +The squadron met with no resistance, either from the stragglers of the +camp or the household of the sovereign. The entire day was given to +gathering the gold and silver service from the homes of the monarch and +his nobles and collecting ornaments and precious stones from the living +and the dead. Great was the amazement of the natives at this procedure. + +Yma had summoned a division of the girls from the convent to minister +to the stricken household of the Inca. + +When a trooper had borne the last gold cup from the fountain in the +apartment of the Mother Queen, Pacha turned her sad eyes on the Sun +Virgin. + +“Surely these strange beings have not shed all this blood to take so +much rubbish?” + +“Yes,” the girl answered. “They are mad with a lust for these metals. +Our priests can give no explanation of their insanity, but my dear +god-man has told me many things of their ranks and titles, wealth and +poverty and the cruel suffering for food and clothes among the poor +in Spain. It seems that the gold and silver which to us mean pots and +bowls, plates and cups out of which to eat, to them mean food and +clothes and shelter and life. It is pitiful, is it not?” + +In spite of the terror spread by the slaughter in the Plaza of +Caxamalca, crowds of young men and women gathered about the royal +house at the baths and gazed in wonder at the strange beings who were +looting the palace of its plates and ornaments. They watched with +breathless awe the men who had done the daring and terrible things +of the past night. The most incredible deed of all was that these +invaders had laid hands on the Lord of the Sun, the Inca--God in human +flesh--and held him in chains. That thunderbolts from heaven had not +struck them dead was more than the natives could understand. + +They watched with increasing wonder the loads of gold and silver piled +on litters being borne to Caxamalca. Nothing could surprise them now. +The white men were surely superfiends sent from the depths of hell +to scourge the earth and with the Inca in chains his subjects were +helpless. They could only bow their necks to the yoke. + +The cavalry herded them in thousands and drove the helpless human sheep +into the Plaza to await the orders of Pizarro. Seeing their numbers one +of his officers made a suggestion. + +“There’s but one safe thing to do,” he urged: “put them to death to a +man.” + +The captain threw a look of anger at his crude follower. + +Another improved on the proposition. + +“’Twould be just as well to chop off their hands to prevent attack and +strike still deeper terror into the others.” + +Pizarro curtly dismissed his advisers and gave swift orders to his +attendants: + +“Select from all our prisoners five thousand of the handsomest young +men and women as slaves for our men. Each soldier of the rank and file +may have twenty slaves--the officers, forty, each.” + +The entire force fell to the task of selection with shouts of approval. +By nightfall each Spaniard found himself established in a house with at +least twenty slaves to do his bidding. From abject poverty, each man at +a bound had attained the dignity and power of the nobility! + +The choicest specimens of womanhood had been set aside for the officers. + +When the human victims had been thus humanely spared by the commander, +he gathered the remainder of the prisoners in the Square and gave them +final orders in the kindliest tones: + +“Go to your homes now, my good people. Return to your daily tasks as +if nothing had happened. I will guard you from all harm so long as you +offer no violence to my men.” + +As if moving under the charm of a great serpent, the dazed men +and women slowly dispersed from the Square, watching Pizarro with +fascinated gaze. + +When the spoils gathered during the day were piled in a heap before the +Spanish captain, the sight of such riches stunned the adventurers. It +was far greater than they had dared to expect. The size and weight of +the solid gold service from the royal household were unbelievable. Huge +emeralds had been taken in dozens from both the living and the dead. +The lowest estimate made of the value of the treasure was more than a +hundred thousand _castellanos_ in gold. + +While the loot was being stored and placed under heavy guard, the +women of the royal household were led into the presence of Pizarro +by Yma and her attendants. The girl paused and watched the trembling +hands and sparkling eyes of the invaders as they moved the gold. Their +fingers gripped it as huge claws. + +And her eyes suddenly flashed with an idea. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + + +The first meeting between the fallen Emperor and his household was +pathetic in its silent tragedy. The sight of his chains was incredible. +His weeping wives stared in anguish. + +He sought as best he could to soothe their grief and terror. + +“I have the assurance of their leader that this will be but a brief +trial. He has promised me his protection and his friendship. He saved +my life in the struggle in the square. His words carry conviction in +spite of the horrors of last night.” + +He was careful not to lift his arms. He knew the clanking of the chains +would greatly distress the women. + +In answer to the chorus of sobs from his wives, he sternly commanded: + +“No more of this noise! If I can bear the shame of it all, surely you +have enough pride to show our enemies we are not weaklings. Go to your +apartments, I would speak to my mother.” + +Yma led the trembling, weeping women to the rooms assigned them and +then hastened to return for Pacha. + +No sooner had the girl disappeared than the Inca rose and opened his +manacled arms. The proud mother’s iron will gave way at the ominous +sound. With a sob she flung herself on his breast and wept. He soothed +her with gentle words. + +“Come now, my glorious mother. You have taught me to be brave. I expect +it of you. I should be the one in tears when I see your grief. Your +eyes were wiser than mine. I was blinded by power and pride.” + +“Even I could not dream this horror, my son. Surely our God will yet +strike down the fiends who have done us this wrong.” + +Yma entered with quick tread and gently released Pacha’s arms. + +“I must speak to you, my Lord of the Sun.” + +He caught the accent of excitement under which she labored and smiled +sadly. + +“You would ask me of another prisoner in chains. Speak, my beautiful +Sun Virgin--you ask his freedom?” + +“No, my Lord,” was the low answer. “It is best that he be held until we +see the purpose of these men who have dared to place you in chains. My +god-man is sad at the news of the butchery in the Square. His heart is +gentle and strong as the steel of his bright sword. I do not think he +wishes freedom at this moment. The knowledge of his imprisonment and +chains would give these fiends a new excuse for murder. I do not ask +his freedom....” + +“What then, my child?” + +“It is of you, my Lord, I think and plan. Be of good cheer and keep +your courage. News has just come of the final battle in the south +between your general, Challcuchima, and the armies of Huascar’s nobles. +Your victory is complete.” + +The Inca shook his massive head. + +“The irony of it! A final victory in the hour of my shame!” + +“A sign, my Lord, of the favor of heaven in this dark time. The priests +in the temples are making sacrifice and praying for your deliverance.” + +The dowager’s face brightened. + +“A sign from Heaven, my son!” + +“When Challcuchima at the head of his victorious army learns of this +outrage on your person he will march to your rescue.” + +She dropped her voice to a whisper. + +“Toparca has already sent swift couriers flying.” + +The Inca’s eyes flamed. + +“This to cheer your heart,” the girl smiled. “I’ve a deeper plan. At +the approach of your army you must be free to put yourself at their +head. If in chains these devils will make your life the price of +attack.” + +“What then?” the Inca asked in a tense voice. + +“These white men say they worship a God. They do with their lips +perhaps. But the God of their hearts is Gold. I watched their hands +clutch it like trembling claws. You have gold beyond their dreams. You +can buy your freedom before Challcuchima’s army appears and all will +yet be well.” + +The Inca gazed at the girl long and curiously. + +“I wonder that God has given such deep wisdom to a mere girl, my fair +Virgin of the Sun. You begged me not to come here. You begged that I +come armed. I could not see it. Now you point the way to freedom. The +only way perhaps. You are wise--strangely wise.” + +“I have learned wisdom perhaps from the heart of my god-man. I beg of +you, my Lord of the Sun, to act quickly. The news of your capture will +reach Huascar at Andamarca to-day. It is but a few miles. In spite of +his prison walls he has yet the power to regain his throne while the +people are paralyzed with terror over the doings of the white men. I +beg of you to send an order that his guard be doubled.” + +“Send it for me,” he commanded. + +“And you will offer these men a ransom beyond all their dreams?” + +“At once. Go dispatch my orders to Andamarca.” + +The girl hurried to a hidden entrance of the lower fortress on the +mountainside and dispatched her most trusted guard. + +The Dowager carried the request to Pizarro for an immediate conference +with her royal son. She was compelled to wait. + +The commander was in conference with his brother Hernando and De Soto +over the new situation. Francisco was anxious to begin the march on +Cuzco, the rich capital of the South. If its claim of two hundred +thousand inhabitants was correct it was as great as any city in the +Empire of Charles V, and the wild stories of its treasures might be +true. + +De Soto warned of the dangers. + +“Remember, Francisco, the distance is great--at least seven hundred +miles. The way across the _cordillera_ may be blocked by a few +hostile troops. Our force is small. Our fighting force will be greatly +reduced by the reason of guarding our powerful prisoner. We must have +recruits before we move.” + +The commander saw the wisdom of the advice and dispatched a message +immediately to San Miguel reporting his success, his still precarious +position, and asking for reënforcements at the earliest possible moment. + +The courier had just been sent when the Dowager made her second request. + +Hernando Pizarro scowled. + +“Could she have heard?” + +“Not unless these stone walls three feet thick have ears,” De Soto +answered. + +With surprise and a little uneasiness the three men entered the room in +which Atahualpa was confined. + +They saw at once that he was laboring under excitement and put +themselves on guard against surprise. + +The Inca spoke with studied deliberation yet could not keep out of his +voice the emotion that stirred his heart. + +“In the struggle, gentlemen, you have won. I have lost. The adroitness +of your sudden attack and my capture I acknowledge a master stroke. +I have known of your progress from the day of your landing. I +underestimated your strength. I see my error and will make you a royal +offer for my freedom.” + +He paused and searched the faces of his captors. There was no mistaking +the interest with which they had received the statement. + +“And what is your offer?” Francisco Pizarro inquired. + +“For my freedom,” was the prompt reply, “I will pave this room with +bricks of gold--solid gold!” + +The three men looked at each other in amazement at the absurd proposal +and gave no answer for the moment. What could he be up to, was the +first thought that flashed through Pizarro’s mind. There was a trick in +it somewhere--the proposal could not be serious. + +Seeing their hesitation, and mistaking its meaning, the Inca stood on +tiptoe, lifted his manacled hand to the highest point on the wall that +he could touch, and said: + +“I will fill this room with gold as high as I can reach for my freedom. +What say you?” + +The Spaniards stared in amazement. It could only be the insane boast of +a man unhinged by his imprisonment. No such ransom had ever been paid +in the history of the western world. Their minds could not conceive of +such a pile of precious metal. + +“If the reports we have heard of the treasures of the temple of Cuzco +be true,” Francisco admitted, “it might be possible.” + +“It’s nonsense,” Hernando replied. “It’s a trick to win his freedom and +strike us a death blow.” + +“He’s in dead earnest,” De Soto maintained. + +Francisco Pizarro faced Atahualpa and spoke sternly. + +“You mean this?” + +“Certainly,” was the quick answer. “I can make good my agreement within +two moons. The wealth of my capital alone will supply my ransom. The +roofs of the temples are plated with gold. Their gardens are set with +shrubs and trees of solid gold. The very floors are inlaid with gold +tiles. And I can draw my treasure from the far corners of my Empire.” + +Again the leaders conferred. + +“I can see no danger in accepting his offer,” Francisco Pizarro +ventured. + +“Its collection at least,” said Hernando, “will prevent it being hidden +by the natives.” + +The secretary was called as witness and Francisco Pizarro solemnly +accepted the offer. Its terms were duly recorded by the official who +drew a red line around the entire walls of the room at the height +indicated. The space was twenty-two feet long, and sixteen feet wide. +The line was nine feet from the floor. + +When the Inca observed the excitement of Pizarro and the care with +which the space was marked he interposed a single provision for his own +protection. + +“I only ask that I be allowed to fill the space with vessels of pure +gold before they are melted. My offer does not mean that the space +shall be filled with square melted ingots.” + +“Agreed,” was Pizarro’s prompt response. + +The longer he talked with the monarch the firmer became his conviction +that the stupendous thing might be done. + +Hernando Pizarro bethought himself of a new condition that might offset +in a small measure the loss by the clause allowing the vessels stored +before melting. + +“You have also much silver,” he remarked to Atahualpa. + +“Yes, much.” + +“We ask then, that you fill the adjoining room twice full of silver in +like manner.” + +“Agreed.” + +In the contract the Inca solemnly bound himself to permit no movement +of his troops during the two months in which the ransom was being +collected. + +To show his good faith, he called a courier and sent the royal order +immediately to Challcuchima, his commanding general, directing his +troops, under no circumstances, to stir from their camp for two months +unless by his personal order. + +Pizarro responded by striking the chains from Atahualpa’s limbs. + +“I allow you the freedom of your apartments, attended by your wives and +mother,” the commander agreed. “And more. Your privacy shall not be +disturbed. And your subjects shall have free access to your person to +pay their homage.” + +The Inca bowed in appreciation of the privileges granted and hastened +to fulfill his contract. + +Swift messengers flew to the limits of the empire and from north and +south, east and west, streams of gold began to pour into the hands of +the Spaniards. It was a thing unbelievable and yet it was happening +before their eyes. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + + +Pizarro’s guard over Atahualpa’s house allowed its most dangerous +visitor to pass and repass without hindrance. Yma’s garb of the Sun +Virgin gave her instant admission and exit. The commander’s orders +against any molestation of these girls had been rigidly enforced and +scrupulously obeyed. None knew better than the Spaniard the force of +religious fanaticism. More than one guard had cast longing eyes on the +beautiful dancer. But none of them had offered the slightest insult. + +The girl took advantage of her freedom to give her whole energy to the +cause of the Inca. From the convent on the outskirts of the city she +organized an uprising for the rescue of the captive. Every convent and +temple of the Sun was now a rallying point of her conspiracy. Yet it +was necessary to keep from Atahualpa and his household the slightest +hint of this secret. There was a woman among the royal wives whom +she had caught speaking in whispers to Felipillo, the interpreter, +whose hatred of Atahualpa was well known. This venomous betrayer of +his people was rapidly learning the worst traits of the Spaniards and +counting them virtues. He had been to Spain with Pizarro and reckoned +himself the equal of any Spaniard in subtlety and ambition. He was +in love with a wife of the sovereign and now that the Inca was in +captivity had determined to take advantage of the situation to seize +the girl under his very nose. How far the woman had gone in disloyalty +to her master it was impossible to tell. Too far, Yma believed, to +permit a word of her plans to be breathed in the House of the Serpent. + +The royal court had been restored to something of its old splendor in +spite of the restrictions on the monarch’s movements. He daily held +a state reception and received his nobles and the humblest subject +who sought his decisions. They came in hundreds and then in thousands +bearing gifts and offering their love and reverence in the hour of +their master’s humiliation. No member of the nobility, however exalted, +ever dared to enter his presence without removing his shoes and bearing +a load of some kind on his back in token of his full submission to the +Lord of the Sun. These acts of homage were received by the ruler as +a matter of course, and drew from him no response, as none had been +expected. + +The Spaniards watched the growth of these levees with a touch of +suspicion, and redoubled the vigilance of his guard. + +Yma had quickly seen the importance of this court scene. It fitted +perfectly with her scheme. While the ransom was pouring into Caxamalca, +her chosen warriors were drilling in secret for the _coup_ she had +planned. + +While Pizarro guarded the roads entering the Plaza with care, Yma and +her five hundred sisters in the convent of the Sun organized a far more +efficient guard on the roads outside the city. No native now entered +its gates without giving an account of himself to these secret agents. +Her one big fear was from the prisoner in Andamarca. Pizarro had not +yet discovered the place of Huascar’s confinement, but it could not be +concealed much longer. + +A faithful spy at Andamarca reported to the Court at Caxamalca that +Huascar was wildly excited over the news of his rival’s fall. On the +following night his courier was on the way with a message written in +the _quipa_ strings and knots which Felipillo could read. The road +from Andamarca led across the ridge on which the fortress stood in +which Molina was hidden. + +Yma stood beside her guards watching the roadway. She was absolutely +sure that Huascar’s messengers were on the way. They appeared at the +very hour they were expected. The courier was accompanied by a heavy +veteran of Huascar’s, faithful to the sovereign of the South. + +The two men stopped in amazement at a girl’s voice calling from the +shadows: + +“Halt!” + +The answer was a leap forward in an attempt to pass down the stairway +toward Caxamalca. + +“Take them!” cried Yma in a sharp command. + +Her two guards leaped like jaguars and the fight was on. With desperate +courage the men from Andamarca fought until overcome. But with a knife +at his throat the leader surrendered his _quipa_ message. The two +were bound, led into the fortress and safely lodged to await the orders +of the Inca. + +Yma’s entrance into his levee was most casual on the following morning. +She knelt at his feet and gave a sign to the group of Sun Virgins who +formed a circle of adoration. When they rose the Inca was completely +hidden from the crowd who yielded to the ceremony of his chosen +servants. + +In low tones Yma murmured: + +“Read, O Lord of the Sun, and give thy commands.” + +The blood-shot eyes stared in cold anger at the message from his +brother. It was addressed to Felipillo for his master Francisco +Pizarro. Huascar proposed to the invaders to double the amount of the +ransom offered by his rival if the Spaniards would restore him to the +throne. He declared that Atahualpa could not make good his agreement as +he had never known the hiding place of the greatest treasures of the +temple at Cuzco. + +“Thank you, glorious Virgin of the Sun,” the Inca whispered. “Come +to-morrow at this hour and receive my orders.” + +The girl had scarcely left the presence of Atahualpa when Pizarro +entered and asked an audience. The Inca waved his nobles and all +attendants aside and the Spaniard explained his presence. + +“I have just received, Your Highness, a request from the nobles of the +South that I act as judge in the dispute between your brother Huascar +and yourself. Their petition seems fair and if you will bring your +brother from his secret prison I will do this duty to you both. I need +not say that my feelings are with you. But if I may render a decision +as arbiter, it might do much to pacify the nobles.” + +The Inca pursed his lips and held his silence for a moment. How much +the Spaniard knew he could only guess. It was safe to venture that he +did not know the place of Huascar’s confinement and that he had as yet +received no message from the traitor. The request was so obvious a +threat that Atahualpa restrained his anger with an effort. His voice +was smooth as velvet when he finally answered. + +“I thank you for your noble intentions, commander,” he said, “but there +is nothing to arbitrate. The question was settled in battle and the +country is now tranquil. I am acknowledged the Supreme Lord of all the +nation. But for my foolish generosity my misguided brother would have +been executed for plunging the people in a bloody civil war. I trust +that you will not press on me this request while I am straining every +resource of the kingdom to fulfill my contract with you. The very +mention of such a trial would destroy my authority in a moment and +cause the immediate suspension of the delivery of your gold.” + +The commander quickly saw the logic of the argument. + +“Of course,” he agreed, “I will not press such an issue on you, but I +will be ready to serve you in the matter at any time after you are set +at liberty, if it is desired.” + +The Inca bowed his pleasure at the suggestion, but his mind was +working now with lightning-like rapidity. He asked the chief priest to +attend him in a sacrifice in his own rooms at nightfall. + +When the inhabitants of the Square were wrapped in sleep, the Inca, +attended by his Queen, the Dowager and High Priest, opened a heavy door +under the stairway of the House of the Serpent and the Council of State +was convened in a secret chamber below. + +The question of Huascar’s treason was put to the Council and his death +decreed by unanimous vote. The High Priest wrote the sentence in the +_quipa_, and the Inca signed it with the scarlet knot only tied by +his hand. + +“To-morrow I will dispatch this order to the keeper of the prison at +Andamarca for execution.” + +Little could he dream the use the Spaniards would make of this rightful +exercise of his sovereignty. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + + +As the piles of gold and silver grew higher, the lust of the conquerors +mounted. They complained that the Inca was not using the speed he had +promised. They could make no allowance for the distance covered by +many of his messengers or the difficulty with which such treasure was +transported by hand in litters, or on the slender backs of llamas. The +pack load for this curious little camel of the south could not contain +more than seventy-five pounds and five to six miles a day was the limit +to which they could be pressed. + +In spite of these difficulties, articles worth as much as two hundred +thousand _castellanos_ sometimes came in a day and once the total +daily receipts reached three hundred and fifty thousand. + +Each article, carefully weighed, was piled in the room under heavy +guard. With each day’s growth of the fabulous wealth before their eyes, +nerves grew more and more taut. The strain at last became terrific. +They began to build all sorts of wild fancies. Atahualpa had merely +devised the scheme to gain two months’ time in which to organize in +secret his forces. He never intended to allow this enormous treasure +to be taken from the country. When ready to strike he would take it +again. They would never get it to the coast. Felipillo saw to it that +rumors of uprisings continued to disturb the peace of the invaders. It +was impossible to trace these rumors to their source, a fact that made +them all the more sinister and alarming. + +The stir reached a climax on the arrival at the court of a messenger +from Andamarca reporting the death of Huascar. Atahualpa sent for +Pizarro and made the announcement. + +“I am sorry to have to report to you, commander, the death of my +brother Huascar....” + +“And how did he die?” growled the Spaniard. + +“It is said that in walking along a steep cliff of the river, he fell +from the heights and was drowned....” + +“It can’t be true!” stormed Pizarro. + +The Inca’s voice expressed the deepest sorrow. + +“I have just received the full account of his unhappy end.” + +“If your brother is dead I will hold you accountable for his life!” +thundered the Spaniard. + +“But how, Your Excellency, could I be held accountable for the acts +of a jailor in a distant province, seeing that I am a prisoner? His +jailor is my friend and was appointed to his office by me. If this man +believed that in Huascar’s death he might advance my interests surely +you cannot accuse me of his acts?” + +The smooth words of the Inca did not deceive the commander. That he +was justified in executing his prisoner as a traitor, Pizarro did not +question for a moment; but it did not suit his purpose to allow this +view and he loudly refused to accept it. + +He called a conference of his officers and it was decided to demand of +Atahualpa an explanation of the continued rumors of an uprising. + +The Inca’s astonishment was genuine. + +“The latest rumor,” Pizarro sternly announced, “names the City of +Huamachuco as the rallying point of the rebels--what say you?” + +“That the story is the invention of an enemy,” was the prompt reply. +“If there is a native soldier at Huamachuco I have no knowledge of it.” + +“The influx of your ransom has slackened,” the Spaniard continued +gravely. “My officers suspect that you are delaying its payment to give +time for the uprising....” + +The Inca moved in a gesture of indignation. + +“No one of my subjects would dare to lift his hand without my orders. I +am in your power. What better security could you ask?” + +His logic was sound but Pizarro pressed him. + +“Then why this delay in delivering the ransom?” + +“You must remember that Cuzco, my capital, is more than seven hundred +miles from Caxamalca. My royal couriers running with their best speed +over the mountain passes require five days to deliver a message. It +will require weeks for a porter to carry his load of gold over the same +road--a llama much longer.” + +“Our men are growing impatient,” was the curt answer. “And their mood +is ugly.” + +“To prove to you my good faith,” Atahualpa urged, “I ask you to send a +delegation of your own to Cuzco and every important city of the Empire. +I guarantee their safety. They can aid my officers in collecting and +forwarding the gold.” + +Pizarro eagerly accepted the offer. + +“There is no trick in this?” the Spaniard demanded. + +The Inca smiled. + +“How can there be? My life is in your hands.” + +It was true. The risk of the venture was small. It would give him an +opportunity to verify the stories of the riches of Cuzco and make a +complete survey of the state of the country. + +Pizarro first sent his brother Hernando to Huamachuco to find if there +were any truth in the report of an uprising. + +Hernando found the place quiet, and was received hospitably by the +people of the city. While resting his troop he received an order from +his brother to continue his march across the mountain to the famous +city and temple of Pachacamac, situated a hundred leagues further, near +the coast. Pizarro had discovered that pilgrimages were being made to +this place from every quarter of the Empire. It was the holy city of +the kingdom, as Mecca is the holy city of the Mohammedan world. He +believed that vast treasures would be found in this temple. + +The journey was difficult and Hernando’s progress slow. It required +several weeks to cover the ground. But the journey was a new revelation +of the wealth, beauty and boundless resources of the Inca’s Empire. +The highways were broader and more solidly built. They found the +suspension bridges so heavily constructed that the cavalry crossed them +without accident. + +Flocks of thousands of llamas browsed lazily on the hills and in the +beautiful irrigated valleys. In every direction stretched fields of +corn and grain. As the climate grew warmer the edges of the roadway +were lined with gorgeous flowers, some of them bearing a rich perfume. +Every mountainside was terraced with gardens and orchards of the most +luscious fruits and vegetables, and every field was irrigated by +aqueducts through which flowed limpid waters from the mountains. + +By order of the Inca they were everywhere received with honor. In every +town of size the people welcomed them with singing and dancing. Strong +porters were furnished to carry their baggage. + +At length Hernando stood before the temple in Pachacamac, a vast pile +of buildings clustering around a cone-shaped hill. Pizarro was refused +permission to enter by the priests in charge. He thrust the guardian +aside and boldly entered with his men. + +The door was set with crystals, turquoise and coral. But great was +the Spaniard’s astonishment to find a bare, dark interior. Instead of +a great room blazing with gold and precious stones the only ornament +found was the simple wooden image of the God of the Universe. The +worship of the Great Spirit, Creator of heaven and earth, was a +religion thousands of years old when the Incas built their temple of +the Sun close beside it. Religious toleration was one of the first +principles of their faith. + +In a rage of disappointment Pizarro tore the sacred image from its +recess, hacked it to pieces and erected a large cross in its place. + +The natives, terror-stricken at the sacrilege, in seeing no bolt +from heaven strike the invaders, humbly submitted their lives to the +Spaniards, watching them in trembling awe. Hernando preached them a +sermon on the truths and beauty of Christianity and taught them the +sign of the Cross as a talisman against all evil. + +Although sorely disappointed in the bare walls of the temple of the +Great Spirit, the Spaniards reaped a good harvest of precious metal +from the adjoining temple of the Sun and the homes of the nobility in +the city. When weighed it amounted to the value of eighty thousand +_castellanos_. + +On his journey returning to Caxamalca he made a grave discovery. He +learned that the ablest general of the empire lay at Xauxa with an army +of thirty-five thousand men. Could he capture this famous officer as +his brother had taken the Inca, the greatest danger to their safety +would be removed at a stroke. + +He determined to take Challcuchima. He knew that the general’s +inactivity was due to an order from the Inca. Yet a new secret order +dispatched at any time, could bring this general down on them with an +army twice the size of the one he now commanded. + +He forced his march on Xauxa, and found the road far rougher than +the one to Pachacamac. Their horses’ shoes gave out and there was no +iron with which to shoe them. But they solved the difficulty by using +their store of silver. The twenty horses were shod with solid silver +shoes and the march resumed. The Indian smiths were experts in working +silver, and no further trouble developed in the cavalry. + +The Spaniards, arrived at Xauxa, found a large, prosperous city of +a hundred thousand inhabitants. They were hospitably received and +immediately dispatched a message to Challcuchima inviting him to a +conference. + +The general entered the city in state borne on a litter by his +soldiers. He received the most striking tribute from the crowds which +lined the way attesting his fame and popularity. + +Pizarro received him with courtesy and found no difficulty in +persuading him that he had come at the request of the Inca to escort +him to Caxamalca to receive his master’s orders. + +Challcuchima fell into the trap and accompanied the Spaniards to the +prison of the Inca. + +Great was Atahualpa’s surprise and dismay to see his famous general. He +had counted on his army to march to his rescue when the hour struck. +Challcuchima, too, was a prisoner of war. + +In startling contrast to the pomp of his estate at the head of his +army Challcuchima entered the presence of his royal master barefooted +with a burden on his shoulder to symbolize the humble submission of a +servant. + +Standing before his sovereign, the grizzled warrior, victor of a +hundred battlefields, raised his head and cried: + +“Would I had been here--this could not have happened to you, my Lord of +the Sun!” He knelt, kissed the hands and feet of the Inca and bathed +them in his tears. + +Atahualpa betrayed no emotion. In an even voice he bade his general +welcome. + +The payment of the ransom had been greatly quickened by the delegation +of Spaniards sent to aid the natives. The higher piled the gold, the +higher mounted the excitement in camp. + +They awaited with impatience the return of the commissioners sent to +Cuzco. They should have reported long before Hernando Pizarro. Their +journey had been along the great State highway to Cuzco. They had been +borne on swift litters in luxury by order of the Inca. They had been +received with royal honors along the entire journey. Pizarro knew this +from native couriers who had reported their progress and reception. + +Something had happened in Cuzco to hold them. And a wave of suspicion +and uneasiness again swept the Spaniards at Caxamalca. Had their +commissioners met with foul play in the Temple? Had they been +overwhelmed by an army marching from the South? Again the rumor mongers +were busy, and nerves were on edge. + +Something _had_ happened in Cuzco. The men sent on this mission +had proven themselves the veriest boors in the presence of the +distinguished priests and nobles who received them. The royal message +to desecrate the temples had been received with surprise and grief; yet +it was done with all possible speed. The priests were forced with rude +threats to tear from the Temple seven hundred huge plates of gold. + +The commissioners demanded more speed. With heads swollen by the +tributes paid them on every hand by the nobility, they began to assume +the airs of princes. They demanded a rich feast every evening. At times +they drank the native liquor and wines until dawn. No woman whom they +saw, however high her rank, was free from insult. Their debauchery +reached a climax that threatened an armed clash when they boldly +invaded the convent and forced the Virgins of the Sun to join them in +their revelry. Their scandalous conduct with these girls sacred to the +Inca and Temple, sent a wave of horror and indignation over the city. +An ugly mob gathered before the building and the commissioners were +held prisoners for days, fearing to emerge. + +The High Priest, holding the message of the Inca in his hand, addressed +them: + +“My people, in the name of the Lord of the Sun, I command peace. These +men are here sent by him. They bear his royal commission to gather the +treasure for his ransom. They are under his divine protection. You will +not dare to lift your hand against them without his order.” + +The mob sullenly dispersed and the revelers, sobered by their danger, +emerged from the convent and hurried to make good their return to +Caxamalca. + +They took with them two hundred loads of gold, the limit in weight +that could be carried by four stalwart men at the handles of a baggage +litter. They were relieved by fresh porters at each royal storehouse, +never more than five miles apart. + +The storage of this immense treasure was made at Caxamalca with shouts +and songs. The stories of drink and the revelry in the convent at Cuzco +stirred the camp to new dreams of splendor and license. Pizarro found +the maintenance of discipline a problem of increasing gravity. + +In the midst of the turmoil caused by the return of the commissioners +from Cuzco, Pizarro received a startling message from San Miguel. +Almagro had just landed from three vessels, a hundred and fifty +foot-soldiers, and fifty cavalry. This force was sufficient, if the +fiery little partner was so inclined, to dispute his supremacy in +Peru. And if Almagro still cherished a grudge--and there were many +reasons for fearing that he did--Pizarro might have to fight his own +countryman for the huge store of yellow metal piling higher each day in +his treasure house. Almagro should have reported long before with the +first recruits. That he had waited to equip three ships and organize an +expedition as formidable as his own was significant. + +There were men in the garrison at San Miguel who had deserted Pizarro +at the crucial moment. The stories of his great fortune had driven +these weak ones to desperation. That they would whisper ugly things in +Almagro’s ears he could not doubt. They had hastened to do precisely +this. + +The leader of these deserters did not hesitate to warn Almagro and his +secretary Perez in no uncertain terms: + +“Pizarro speaks smooth words, but he hates you with a deadly enmity. +Trust yourself in his power and you are lost.” + +“Trust myself in his power!” the little adventurer exploded. “I trust +myself in no man’s power. My force is equal to his. I’ll know how to +take care of myself.” + +To widen the breach Almagro’s ambitious secretary, Perez, had sent +a secret letter to Pizarro declaring in blunt language that Almagro +asked nothing of him, and would give him no coöperation. He had come to +establish a colony and government of his own. + +This disturbing news arrived but an hour after Pizarro had received the +first word of his partner’s arrival. + +It presented a crisis of the gravest importance. The life of every man +in his triumphant expedition was at stake. Every ounce of gold--the +result of daring--was threatened. With the unerring instinct of a true +leader of men Pizarro instantly decided on his course of action. + +He called his own secretary and dictated a letter to Almagro breathing +in every line the best spirit of their old days of suffering and mutual +hardships: + + “_Dear Comrade: I have just heard of your landing with the greatest + joy. I salute you as my equal partner in the most glorious enterprise + ever set on foot by daring men. My first stroke has been a miracle. + My good fortune is yours. We have only begun the work. We are yet + in peril. We need every soldier and every horse you can command. My + faith in you as my old comrade and partner was never stronger. I + refuse to believe the foolish statement of your secretary that you + have broken our agreement and intend to set up a rival government. + Hasten to Caxamalca. Your old friend will receive you with open arms + and equal authority._ + + “_Francisco Pizarro._” + +Almagro’s answer to this generous letter was characteristic of the man. + +He bored his secretary through with an ugly light from his one eye. + +“What’s this I hear of word to Francisco Pizarro that I will set up a +rival government?” + +“I only wrote what I thought your interests demanded.” + +“Without my knowledge!” + +“I anticipated your wishes.” + +“Well, my man, you’ll not do that again.” + +He called his guard and pointed to Perez. + +“This fool is guilty of treason. Call my men to arms and hang him to +the nearest limb.” + +The trembling secretary was led to execution and Almagro marched to +Caxamalca. Had Pizarro’s shrewd diplomacy triumphed once more? + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + + +The news of Almagro’s landing and his probable joining with Pizarro at +the head of two hundred more Spanish troops threw the Inca’s household +into profound gloom. + +With the rising of the heap of gold Atahualpa had regained something of +the spirit of his strong youth. He saw, with hopeful eyes, the day of +his freedom rapidly approaching. And he trusted his captor, which faith +was rather pathetic in view of his betrayal and capture. Yet nothing +was surer in the mind of the fallen monarch than that Francisco Pizarro +would keep his agreement. + +Certainly there was something compelling in the personality of the +Spaniard. It accounted for his supremacy as leader of the riotous +spirits who had crowded about his standard for the past eight years, +and who saw as he saw the dream kingdom of the South, the beckoning +vision of which they had followed to success. + +So it was not to be wondered at that Pizarro’s astute and commanding +mentality found it easy to dominate the simpler mind of the Inca. + +Relying on the promises and friendship of his own arch enemy, Atahualpa +had gradually relaxed the nerve tension of his early tragic, depressing +confinement. + +He learned of the Spaniards to play dice. With keen interest he +mastered the intricacies of chess and became an expert at the game. In +the long tedious hours of his captivity he often forgot his unhappy lot +in the fascination of the game with the strangers. + +The plates and cups of his royal table were of the gold to which he had +been accustomed. His royal wardrobe was kept with immaculate care by +the Virgins of the Sun in constant attendance. On ceremonial occasions +they exchanged his vicuna-robe of silken sheen for a curious one made +of the skins of bats, soft as velvet. He resumed the wearing of the +crimson _borla_ on his forehead, the symbol of his sovereignty. +The details of his court were conducted with the same care and +reverence as before his capture. + +But the shock of the arrival of Almagro threw the Inca into a fit of +deep depression. He could not know of the rivalry between the two men; +all Spaniards were alike to him and he could see only two hundred more +ravenous wolves hungry for blood and gold. + +To add to his despondency, a comet appeared in the sky and seemed to +trail its long stream of cold fire over his prison. He feared it a +token of coming tragedy although the Spanish soldiers viewed it with +equal alarm as a threat against their safety and treasure. + +Yma determined to take advantage of the gloom of the court and +Atahualpa’s depression to spring her plan. It must be a surprise. She +had noticed with increasing amazement the growing influence of Pizarro +over the Inca. She distrusted this power intensely and did her work in +the utmost secrecy. + +She was now ready for the opportune moment to strike. Five thousand +picked men were slowly moving on Caxamalca, threading their ways one by +one over unused and dangerous trails of the mountains. The crowds now +attending the Inca’s levees would give her the opportunity needed for +the final stroke. + +The day chosen was the one of the conference of priests held with their +ruler to receive his orders for the celebration of the approaching +festival of Spring, when every man from the Monarch to the rank and +file of the people would repair to the field and open the sod with a +solemn prayer to the Sun God for his blessing on the seeds and a rich +harvest in return for their labor. + +The day arrived. Only the Dowager had been made privy to the secret and +she stood close beside her royal son, her handsome face flushed with +excitement in spite of every effort at self-control. + +The priests bowed to the floor in reverence for their Monarch, rose and +crowded about him for his blessing and his commands for the festival. + +Yma whispered to him. + +“Quick, my Lord, I have the robes of a priest for you. You can don it +quickly while we cover your body. The guards outside will pass you with +your men without question. The priests around you are your faithful +warriors. Five thousand more await you in the forest beyond the +causeway.” + +“How dare you plan this without my knowledge?” he asked indignantly. + +“There is at least one traitor in your household,” his mother breathed. +“She feared to trust her secret. I implore you to save your life and +the life of your people.” + +“I have pledged my solemn word to the commander.” + +“And who will make him keep his?” she asked. “A new horde of invaders +are on the way. It may be too late when they have come--fly at once.” + +“Am I a coward to flee from my own palace in my own kingdom?” + +“No--put yourself at the head of your men,” Yma begged. “Five thousand +warriors will attack these invaders before nightfall.” + +“Silence!” the Inca sternly ordered. + +A hush as of death fell on the black-robed throng massed about his +person. + +“My word is pledged. It is sacred. Go.” + +He pointed to the door and the “priests” slowly filed out. Their five +thousand comrades again melted into the forest, and Yma found her way +with a heavy heart to the house of the prisoner she loved. Her head +was swimming. A sense of utter despair gripped her soul. The Inca had +failed to take the tide at its height. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + + +Almagro, at the head of his two hundred men, arrived at Caxamalca the +middle of February. The occasion was made one of great joy and feasting +by order of Pizarro. + +In a gust of stormy emotion the commander met his partner with +outstretched arms and the two men embraced. + +“Our dreams have come true, my comrade!” Pizarro cried. “For eight +long years you and I have been laughed at and ridiculed. The deed is +done. Our names--yours and mine--go down in history with all the glory +we have dreamed and more. It’s yours--it’s mine. The treasure we have +taken here is but a token of what is yet to come. The two hundred loads +of gold from Cuzco scarcely made an impression on its riches.” + +“Then we’ll on to Cuzco!” shouted the little partner. + +“This is now possible with your help and the help of your two hundred +brave men. A vast empire of twelve million people, with all its power +and wealth, is ours. There is room for all. There are fortunes for all.” + +“Good!” Almagro exclaimed. “We forget our differences!” + +Pizarro grasped the extended hand. + +“And pledge anew our loyalty and eternal friendship.” + +But one man refused to shake hands with the new captain. Hernando +Pizarro not only failed to join in the welcome, but hung back with +words of bitter insult to all who came to hear his ugly talk. + +He complained loudly to De Soto whose judgment he prized. + +“Now that we have won an empire,” he snarled, “this ignorant, coarse +little ass appears on the scene to share our honors and demand a +division of our treasures. It’s more than human flesh can endure. My +brother Francisco is a sentimental fool. He talks of comradeship and +loyalty. The one-eyed ugly brute hates him and he is too generous to +see it. Or seeing and knowing it, he passes it over for the sake of the +old days at Panama.” + +De Soto maintained a stolid silence to the tirade of abuse and promptly +followed his chief in extending a cordial welcome to Almagro. + +Francisco Pizarro faced his brother trembling with passion. + +“All my life,” he complained, “I’ve looked up to you with the loyalty +and love of a little boy for his big elder brother. When the Emperor +showered honors on me, I hurried to Truxillo to share them with you. I +have honored you above all the men under my command.” + +“And have I ever failed you when danger called?” Hernando demanded. + +“In your sullen pride and overbearing manners towards my comrades in +arms--yes! You embroiled me once in a dangerous quarrel with Almagro +in Panama. You are now risking a clash of arms between us at a moment +that imperils the work of a lifetime. I cannot and will not permit such +folly!” + +“Clash of arms? What do you mean?” Hernando interrupted. + +“Just what I say. The sight of our treasure will excite his men. I +signed with Almagro a contract providing that he should receive a +third of all the spoils taken. He has under his contract the legal +right to demand his third. If he does, and persists in the demand, his +two hundred men will back him up. They outnumber our force. In such a +clash the Inca’s army may rise and all is lost. You must apologize to +Almagro.” + +“I’ll fight the little beast down to the bottom of hell first!” +Hernando shouted. + +Francisco squared himself before his brother with his heavy jaws set. + +“You’ll go with me now to his rooms and apologize in my presence, or +I’ll deprive you of your command and put you in irons!” + +“I dare you to try it!” the older brother hissed. + +“I’ll not try it,” was the firm answer, “I’ll do it. Will you obey my +orders as your superior officer?” + +Hernando sullenly submitted, followed his brother to Almagro and gave a +grudging apology. He hurried from the hated presence and left Francisco +with an angry frown watching his departure. + +Almagro slipped an arm around his old partner and laughed. + +“It’s all right, Francisco. Forget it. It’s all right with me.” + +“Well, it’s not all right with me, and I’ll see that he gives us no +further trouble. I’ll send him to the Court of Spain to deliver the +Crown’s fifth to the Emperor.” + +“And we’ll be rid of him! Great!” The little partner shouted. +“Francisco Pizarro, you’ve brains as well as brawn. I’ve always said +it.” + +“That satisfies you?” + +“Surely,” was the prompt response. + +But in spite of all assurances, Francisco Pizarro left the scene with a +sense of foreboding. He knew his sullen brother well enough to realize +that the seeds of a death feud had been sown between the two men. + +The arrival of Almagro’s men produced vast excitement in the ranks of +the Spanish soldiers. A demand for an immediate division of the gold +was made on the commander. + +“But the ransom agreed on is not yet paid in full,” Pizarro answered. + +“Why wait?” the leader of the delegation asked. “But a few inches +remain to be filled. It is enough if we only make sure against its +loss. The new men will demand a share if we wait. They have no rights +if divided now.” + +“The gold is pouring in daily in thousands.” + +“What of it?” the spokesman continued. “We are masters of the country. +It’s all ours now. We’re not going to run. Let’s divide and let every +man care for his own. The new men are eager to march on Cuzco and so +are we all.” + +“I’ll march on Cuzco, never fear.” + +“But let’s march now before they have time to hide their treasures. +Every hour we stay here will make them more difficult to find.” + +The last argument of the man won Pizarro. He agreed to order the +division. + +The Inca was notified by the commander that he had fulfilled the +conditions of his ransom, and great was the joy in his household. + +“And I am free to go?” Atahualpa eagerly asked. + +“The moment the formalities have been completed,” Pizarro assured him. + +“Formalities?” + +“Yes. Your smiths must melt down the treasure and its division and +conveyance to the coast must be assured before the transaction is +complete.” + +The monarch frowned at the unexpected delay but agreed to summon his +smiths at once. They were instructed to reduce each article to ingots +of uniform size. As the articles were of many degrees of purity, the +removal of the alloy was a long and difficult process. They labored +day and night for five weeks at their tragic task. Most of them were +artisans of skill and some of them had wrought these works of art with +infinite pains. To melt them down at the command of strangers wrenched +their hearts. Their suffering at the sacrilege added to the delay. + +The articles consisted of all sorts and sizes of goblets, plates, +cups, ewers, salvers, vases, bowls, pitchers, medallions, statues; +tiles and cornices from temples, and curious images of plants and +animals. + +The most notable reproduction of plant life was a stalk and ear of +Indian corn, the staple food. The golden ear was wrapped in a silver +sheath from which hung tassels of silver thread. + +Before melting down these wonderful specimens of ancient art Pizarro +decided to set aside as part of the fifth belonging to the Crown a +number of the most beautiful specimens for the palaces of Charles V. +Selections were made to the value of a hundred thousand ducats and +placed in the hands of Hernando Pizarro for delivery to the Emperor. + +At the end of a month the work of molding the gold into uniform ingots +was finished. Under the eye of the king’s inspector from Spain they +were weighed carefully and their value reckoned. The total amount, we +are told by the ancient chronicler, was one million three hundred and +twenty-six thousand five hundred and thirty-nine _pesos de oro_, +equivalent to sixteen million dollars. To this was added a half million +in silver. + +The report of its amazing value swept the camp, and quickly started a +storm of discussion, between the soldiers of Almagro and Pizarro. An +excited group stood around the fire in the center of the plaza arguing +with rising passion until long past midnight. + +The commander thought best to allow them this liberty. The longer they +talked, the less likely a fight. He took pains, however, to have his +secretary send a faithful report of their debate. + +“It’s all well enough,” muttered a veteran of the new army, “for our +leaders to shake hands and hug one another, but what good does that do +us? We enlisted under Almagro, who claimed to be Pizarro’s partner. +They signed their contract on the holy missal at the altar of the +church in Panama. We have the right to his share, one-third of the +whole.” + +“Get your own gold, damn you,” was the short answer from a stalwart in +Pizarro’s crew. “We climbed the mountains, took our chances, fought for +our fortune and won it. We’d like to see you touch it!” + +“We’ll have our share ...” said one of Almagro’s men. + +“Sure as God lives!” cried another. + +“You’ll take it over our dead bodies ...” answered Pizarro’s followers. + +“All right--still we’ll take it--” + +For hours they snarled. + +By noon the following day they were gripping their weapons, ready for +battle. Almagro and Pizarro quickly took council. + +“God’s Light! This will never do,” the little man growled. “We must +stop it.” + +“And without delay,” Pizarro agreed. “Calm your men and you and I will +come to an understanding. A fight now would be an insanity that would +cost us everything.” + +Almagro called his division of troops together and placed the +ringleader of the threatened mutiny directly in front. He bored him +through with his one eye in a look of keen appraisal that was little +to the fellow’s liking. It was impossible to withdraw into the crowd. +He would be marked at once as a coward if he did. He was compelled to +stand the gaze of his captain. + +“The first thing I want you to understand, comrades, is that I am your +commander--are we agreed on that?” + +The leader of the trouble saw his drift and growled a half-hearted +assent. The little captain fixed him again with his gleaming eye and +shouted: + +“I don’t like your tone. I want to hear from every man before me--am I +your commander?” + +From every throat came lusty approval. + +“That’s better,” Almagro nodded. “Now listen! Back to your quarters and +leave the question of the division of this treasure in my hands. I will +reach an agreement with Francisco Pizarro. If I am satisfied, it is +enough for you.” + +There was a faint murmur of dissent but the grumbler caught an ugly +gleam in the little captain’s eye and turned away in silence. + +Almagro and Pizarro quickly agreed that a small sum should be paid to +the new force and they should reserve an amount equal to the Inca’s +ransom out of the first spoils taken in Cuzco. As an additional balm to +the dissatisfied a new _repartimiento_ was ordered of the natives +and five thousand slaves were assigned to Almagro’s men. + +The settlement with Almagro made, Pizarro proceeded to the division of +the spoils. He summoned his own troops into the Square and addressed +them as was his custom on all important occasions. + +“Comrades, you are now to receive the reward of your suffering and +trial. I ask the aid of Heaven that I may deal justly with all.” + +The King’s fifth was delivered to the officers of the Crown, valued at +$3,300,000 in gold, a sum sufficient in its day to equip and maintain a +vast army of conquest for the Emperor Charles V. + +To each common soldier was delivered a sum equal to $25,000. Men +who had lived the bitterest of lives of abject poverty, waifs, and +foundlings, as were both Pizarro and Almagro, suddenly found themselves +with money enough to maintain themselves in comfort for life, to say +nothing of twenty slaves each to do their bidding. In the history of +the world no such fortune had ever before fallen into the hands of a +common soldier. That they lost their heads for the moment was not to be +wondered at. + +To Francisco Pizarro was allotted fifty-seven thousand two hundred and +twenty-two _pesos_ of gold and two thousand three hundred marks of +silver, making him a millionaire in the coin of our day. In addition, +as leader of the expedition, he was given the throne of the Inca, a +chair of solid gold valued at twenty-five thousand _pesos_. + +Hernando Pizarro received thirty-two thousand _pesos de oro_ and +two thousand three hundred marks of silver. + +De Soto was given eighteen thousand _pesos de oro_ and seven +hundred and twenty-four marks of silver. + +The new church was named San Francisco in honor of Francisco Pizarro, +and endowed with two thousand two hundred and twenty _pesos_ of +gold. Almagro accepted twenty thousand _pesos_ for himself and as +much for distribution among his men. + +An orgy of the wildest debauchery immediately followed. Pizarro was too +wise a leader of men to attempt to stem the turmoil until its force was +spent. + +Within two weeks the institutions of the Christian civilization of +the sixteenth century were firmly established and in full swing. The +church, monastery, court room, and torture chamber had been built some +time before and chattel slavery had been imbedded in the social order. +Five hundred soldiers owned more than ten thousand slaves. + +Two gambling halls were now opened and did an immense business. More +than one soldier parted with his entire fortune in a night. It was the +custom to stake his slaves one at a time. It was not considered good +form at this high tide of wealth for a man to wager less than a slave +on a single throw of dice. Within two weeks a new distribution of +wealth had been made. Almagro’s men had better luck than the veterans +of Pizarro. They had little to lose and by shrewd partnerships they +managed to relieve the drunken revelers of a large part of their golden +burdens. There was no longer serious cause for complaint. Both factions +were shouting now: + +“On to Cuzco!” + +A red light district was established near the Plaza and the owners +filled the houses with slave girls lost in the gambling hells. The +diseases of this institution were early established and widely spread, +to the amazement and terror of the natives. Begging, vagrancy and theft +made their appearance and the complete machinery of civilization was in +full blast. + +Felipillo, the renegade, in a desperate effort to keep pace with his +fellow Christians, attempted to abduct the unfaithful wife of the Inca +whom he had seduced. Like a noble Spaniard he boldly entered the royal +apartments, took the girl and was leading her to the door when he was +seized by attendants and dragged before the Inca. + +In strict accordance with the native law he was immediately sentenced +to death. + +He faced Atahualpa with fury. + +“I am no longer your subject. I demand to be taken before Francisco +Pizarro--your master and mine. Dare to lay your hand on me and your own +life will pay the forfeit.” + +The Inca feared to proceed without consulting the commander. When +Pizarro appeared he was puzzled for the moment. The last thing he could +afford in this crisis was to provoke an uprising, the one terror he +must ever fear. How far the natives would resent this crime against the +person of their sovereign he could only guess. As they had suffered +his capture, his chains and his long imprisonment he decided to take a +chance. The interpreter was too valuable a man to be executed at this +junction. He asked for clemency. + +“Release the man, Your Highness, and I will vouch for his good behavior +hereafter.” + +Atahualpa, seeing no other course possible, reluctantly consented. + +Felipillo threw him a look of hate, drew himself erect and marched to +the door. He stopped, gazed at the Inca a moment and said in low tones: + +“Remember, O Lord of a cloudy Sun, and some day regret.” + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + + +Pizarro yet had made no motion to carry out his agreement to release +the Inca. And Atahualpa waited with ill-concealed impatience the +strange delay. + +The two captains on whose shoulders now rested all decisions were in +daily conference on the problem. Felipillo had again set in motion +rumors of an approaching army. + +The question over which Pizarro and Almagro hourly brooded was what to +do with their captive. That he had been promised freedom on payment of +the ransom was to their mind of no importance if a native army were +approaching. His freedom under such conditions was the last thing +possible. He was the one power yet to be feared. They feared no other. +His people were automatons who obeyed his will. Hundreds of years of +state tutelage, hundreds of years of peace, plenty and safety under +their system had deprived the individual of initiative. They would not +move until their sovereign spoke. The moment he found himself free what +guarantee had his captors that he would not call every man capable of +bearing arms in his empire of twelve millions? The swarming of these +hordes armed only with stones, could overwhelm five hundred men by +sheer weight of numbers. To hold him in violation of their agreement, +of course, meant danger. For the knowledge of his stupendous ransom +had gone to the four corners of his kingdom, and the treachery of his +detention might of itself raise a resistless force if a leader could be +found. + +They found themselves between the devil and the deep sea. Carefully +weighing the chances, they believed their safety lay in still holding +Atahualpa as hostage for the behavior of his people. Pizarro had been +warned some weeks before that swift messengers had been going from +Caxamalca to every Temple of the Sun. Nothing had come of it apparently +but he must be on his guard. + +Meanwhile, the Inca cultivated De Soto. He had found in him a congenial +spirit and learned to trust his honor and integrity above the promises +of Pizarro. He pleaded his cause with an eloquence and justice that +convinced De Soto, who agreed to present his demands for freedom to +Pizarro and Almagro without delay. + +The two men were, at the moment, listening to a report from Felipillo, +giving in detail the movements of a native army but fifty miles away. + +De Soto presented the plea of the Inca and gave it his support. Pizarro +fenced and asked for more time to consider the question, but no hint of +the dark purpose now forming in his mind was given to his captain. He +proposed an interview with Atahualpa at once. He would know the truth +of those fresh rumors. + +The three men appeared before the Inca and repeated the story. He +indignantly denied its truth. + +“What treason is this?” Pizarro demanded, “you have plotted against +me! I, who saved your life from my maddened troops, and who have ever +treated you with honor, confiding in your words as those of a brother?” + +The Inca smiled sadly. + +“Surely you jest with me--as you have often jested before. How could I, +or my people, think of conspiring now against god-men who have proven +themselves so powerful?” + +The innocence with which he spoke was convincing in its sincerity. Yet +Pizarro chose to believe it as savage guile. He frowned and was silent +while the Inca continued: + +“Am I not a helpless captive in your hands? How could I plan such folly +when I would be the first victim of the outbreak....” + +“Of that you may be sure!” the Spaniard broke in. + +“You little know my people,” the Inca went on, “if you think they would +move without my orders. The very birds would scarcely fly against my +will.” + +Pizarro left the room half convinced of Atahualpa’s innocence and more +puzzled than ever as to his true course of action. His soldiers now +crowded about him in a frenzy of excitement. There was no sort of doubt +in their minds. They believed every word they had heard and more. Their +spokesman fiercely shouted his fears. + +“This time we know that a large force is at Huamachuco, but fifty miles +away, ready to strike our camp, murder us to a man and take our gold.” + +“All right,” Pizarro snapped, “the patrols will be doubled. Let every +man sleep on his arms. Hold every horse bridled and saddled.” + +They hastened to obey his orders. + +The Crown officers in charge of the king’s millions demanded +Atahualpa’s immediate execution. + +“I protest,” De Soto cried, “in the name of God at such an insane +atrocity!” + +Pizarro eyed his indignant captain with a look of stern inquiry. + +“You certainly agree that we must reconnoiter the neighborhood and +learn the truth at once.” + +“By all means,” was the prompt reply. + +“Select fifty horses,” Pizarro commanded, “and ride with all speed to +Huamachuco and report to me the state of the country.” + +De Soto hurried to obey his orders little dreaming of the deadly +resolution already fixed in Pizarro’s mind. Almagro, with clever +understanding of the Chief, foresaw the coming tragedy in a flash, +pressed his partner’s arm, laughed and said: + +“A man of brains as well as brawn, Francisco. The one man to give us +trouble you’ve sent where he can do no harm.” + +The moment the hoof beat of De Soto’s horsemen had died away Pizarro +called his trusted lieutenants into conference to settle the question +of the Inca’s life. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + + +Teresa returned from a long tour of the empire with no news of Molina. +He had disappeared and had left no trace behind him. And Yma had wisely +withheld from the Inca the facts. + +Teresa had stationed her faithful servant in Caxamalca with +instructions to watch Yma’s movements day and night. He had important +information which he gave with tense excitement. + +“I have watched the premier Sun Virgin as you commanded. She goes +from the royal household to the convent daily. But at night she slips +through the darkness, climbs the mountain toward the fortress and +disappears.” + +“Disappears--what do you mean?” demanded Teresa. + +“I follow her. I look. She is before me. I look again and she is gone.” + +“She does this trick on the mountain top?” + +“No, Señorita, always at the foot of the mountain before she starts to +climb the steep stairway.” + +“We’ll follow her to-night.” + +With Gaspara and a single soldier, the four watched the convent until +Yma emerged. The native followed softly with Teresa at his heels. +Gaspara and his companion brought up the rear at a distance. + +The Sun Virgin moved with unusual haste and recklessness, evidently +under great excitement. + +She paused in the underbrush at the foot of the first tier of steep +stone steps. Her enemies stepped into the shadows but a few feet away +and listened. She was standing stark still, either waiting for some +one, or in a ruse to throw off any possible followers. + +The bushes behind her rustled and voices could be plainly heard in an +excited conversation. + +“Oh, Toparca,” Yma cried, “I shudder for the Inca. The Spaniards plot +to take his life. Even now they talk in secret council. I will command +the guard to-night. Go quickly, mingle with the drunken men in the +gambling halls, and report to me. + +“You wish me to return to-night?” + +“Yes. The door will be unbolted. Bring news. I shall not sleep.” + +Toparca hurried toward Caxamalca and Yma began her passage toward the +hidden entrance of the lower fortress. In her excitement she threw +caution to the winds and boldly ran to the fissure in the cliff that +marked the door. The dark height rose five hundred feet, on the summit +of which sat the stone masonry of the upper structure. + +Teresa ordered her servant to wait with the two men until she returned. +Softly following Yma’s careless footsteps she saw her disappear in the +fissure. In a flash she realized that the fortress could be entered +here by another door. Undoubtedly there were rooms hewn out the solid +rock below the masonry which she had explored above. + +With quick, careful steps she returned to the pathway and reported to +Gaspara the discovery. They stole swiftly to the door and opened it. +They entered in silence and utter darkness and began to climb the stone +stairway stealthily. + +Yma had reached Molina’s room in a frenzy of climbing without the +slightest suspicion that she was being followed. + +Her eyes were wide with excitement as she faced the cavalier. + +“What is it now, dear one?” he asked gently. + +“They plot the death of our Lord!” she breathed. + +Molina winced. + +“Surely that cannot be. Men of Spain do not stoop to such perfidy!” + +“I’ve heard it from more than one. They’ve sent the Inca’s only friend, +De Soto, on a fool’s errand to Huamachuco while they plot his death.” + +“I cannot believe it,” Molina protested. + +The girl drew near and touched the chains that bound the Spaniard to +the wall. Her eyes were wide with a grief beyond words. She spoke in an +awed whisper: + +“Dear god-man, the blow falls because of my sins. I confess to you now +that I have kept you in chains. The Inca would have freed you but for +me. I told him that I feared the vengeance of Pizarro on his head when +he learned of your suffering. ’Twas true, I did fear this, but far more +than all else I feared to lose you forever to the woman you love. +Forgive me. I could not let you go. The vengeance of heaven now falls +on all because I have sinned.” + +Her voice sank in a sob and Molina touched her hair in a gesture of +pity. + +“And now,” she went on passionately, “my Lord of the Sun will be slain +and I shall also lose you....” + +“You have given to me, dear Yma, something I shall never lose, a +breadth of sympathy for all God’s children, and an abiding wonder at +the miracle of love....” + +She lifted her hand and brushed the hair from his forehead. + +“They will come to take you--this I know. I feel the dark shadow of the +hour coming closer each day....” + +She stopped suddenly, and threw her arms around his neck, her voice +lost in sobs that shook her frame, and the sobs lost in the futile +kisses with which she bruised his lips. + +She moaned, covering his lips again with kisses and crushing him to +her heart. She paused and held him at arm’s length looking through her +tears. + +“Is my love, then, finally futile?” She asked it as if she were a +prisoner on the gallows. + +“I shall always love you, dear little sister to the wilderness, for the +deep lessons of life and death your love has taught me. But, God help +me, I love one in Panama. Were I chained to death, dear one, I should +love her....” + +The girl leaped back in a quick defiance. For the first time Molina +saw swift feminine fury strike her and with terrible force. She gave a +hoarse cry. + +“She shall not have you! I swear by the Sun to die before I’ll yield +your body to her....” + +She stopped and sprang to the door, startled by the sound of footsteps. +She listened in an agony of suspense and the sound died away. Perhaps +the guards had changed at an unusual hour. She passed into the hall, +walked its length to the turn of the stairs leading below. She could +hear only the measured tread of the sentinel pacing his beat before +Molina’s door. The sound had come from the direction of the stairs. The +sentinel was at the other end of the corridor. + +Yma met him at Molina’s door and sharply asked: + +“Did you hear footsteps on the stairs?” + +“Nothing, my lady....” + +But while they talked careful feet were climbing the stairs at the +moment. This time they made no sound. + +Teresa and her attendants had felt their way up the long steep stairway +ascending the three or four hundred feet to the first tier of rooms +used for cooking and the housing of the servants and guards. An evening +meal was being prepared for the prisoner. + +They hid until the servant emerged from the kitchen carrying a platter +filled with savory food. With the tread of a cat, Teresa followed at a +safe distance and by the faint light from Molina’s door saw her enter. + +It was the work of a moment to call her confederates and plan an +attack. She asked Gaspara to seize and bind the guard while the soldier +made sure of the maid so that no help could be summoned. Her own +servant would help Gaspara. + +The three concealed themselves in the shadows of an alcove near the +entrance of the prisoner’s door. This alcove had been cut for the use +of a double guard. The sentinel approached without suspicion, and as +he passed, Gaspara flung himself upon him and a grim struggle ensued. +The man had muscles of steel and fought with courage though stunned +at first by the sudden attack. He bore his assailant on his broad +shoulders to the stairway and attempted to plunge down its steep stone +steps. Gaspara caught the wall in time, hurled his antagonist back into +the corridor and fought his way inch by inch through its length and +against the wall at the end. + +The soldier seized the maid as she leaped through the door and Teresa +with drawn sword sprang into the room and saw Molina with a cry of joy. + +Before him stood the rigid figure of Yma, the sword of the cavalier +gripped in her right hand. She had torn it from the wall, at the sounds +of the struggle outside. + +Molina started. He lifted his arms in a desperate appeal. + +“The struggle is over, dear Yma,” he cried. + +“It has just begun!” Her voice, torn by love and hate, sounded +unnatural, her wide, staring eyes fixed on Teresa. “He taught me to +defend myself--I shall!” + +A quick thrust of her sword was caught by Teresa. They fought, a duel +of mad courage while the men outside struggled with the guards. The +noise had called the relief sentinel from below. + +In vain Molina tugged at his chains. In vain he commanded them to stop. +He feared for Teresa, but also, and for a split second he wondered why, +he feared for Yma. She had not possessed him, and yet.... + +Yma’s tense figure moved with the agility of a tigress. Her defense was +perfect and her unarmed body began to tell against the coat of mail +with which Teresa was burdened. The Spanish girl was slowly driven +against the wall and by a swift turn of her supple wrist the Sun Virgin +disarmed her opponent, sprang back and leveled her sword for the death +thrust. She smiled cruelly and a bit of the savage of centuries past +screamed within her. + +But Molina plunged the length of his chains and gripped the sword. + +“Dear Yma,” he pleaded, and his voice also, was torn, “if the love +you swear means much, you cannot do this thing of horror. This is my +beloved. She is mine--I am hers. It is written. Pierce her heart and +the sword will skewer mine also.” + +The tense arm relaxed and the lustrous eyes grew dim. She faltered +and flung her arm to her eyes. And again she sobbed--sobs which +reverberated hollowly in the dungeon, while Teresa and Molina looked on. + +She dropped the sword, crossed to Teresa and stared into her face. + +“You _are_ beautiful!” she sighed as she studied Teresa’s +wondering countenance. “And you will love him I know. But never as I +love and worship.” She paused, and added, “I yield him to you.” + +She took her enemy by the hand, led her to Molina and stared as they +embraced. The longing they had known burst forth in a frenzy of emotion +and tears. Turning from the scene with a sharp cry of pain Yma rushed +into the hall and commanded her guards to cease the struggle. Teresa’s +servant had been knocked unconscious and the four evenly matched men +were still fighting. + +At her sharp command the struggle ceased and she led Gaspara, the +soldier, and their antagonists into the room, where she ordered the +manacles stricken from Molina. + +The cavalier had just grasped his sword and buckled it on when Toparca +entered and stared in amazement. + +Yma saw the terror in his face and guessed its secret. + +She seized the youth.... + +“You have heard? The news is bad?” + +“The worst!” Toparca groaned. + +“What is it?” Molina demanded. “Speak freely, boy. I am no longer a +prisoner--I am the friend of Yma and your Inca.” + +“The commander has called a court. Even now they sit in judgment on our +Lord of the Sun!” + +“You will help us try to save him?” Yma asked with a shiver. + +“I’ll fight to save him--fight to save my country from this disgrace.” + +Teresa seized the hand of her rival. She smiled. + +“And may I be your friend also? I’ll fight by his side with every ounce +of strength I have. We’ll do our best.” + +The Sun Virgin kissed her enemy’s hand. + +Without pausing to arrange his clothes, Molina asked the guards to +release his negro servant and have him report immediately to the +assembled court, while he hurried to the Square in Caxamalca. + +There was need of haste. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + + +Pizarro’s decision had been made quickly and the execution of his +purpose went forward with sure and deadly speed. + +With Almagro he assumed the place of chief judge. His brothers +Hernando, Juan and Gonzalo were chosen associates. He would take no +chances of a difference of opinion. His word must be law. + +The forms prescribed for court procedure were ironically observed. +His secretary was made clerk of the court, and its organization duly +recorded. A prosecuting attorney was appointed, who at once summoned +Atahualpa on trial for his life. + +The Crown treasurer, Riquelme, with his associate royal officers, +crowded close to the judges. They loudly demanded the Inca’s death as +necessary to the safety of their treasures and the peace of the country. + +Molina’s sudden entrance with Teresa, Gaspara, and Yma created a +sensation that stopped the proceedings. + +Pizarro’s rage against the Inca flamed anew over this outrage on +the right of his ambassador. Almagro’s impetuous spirit rose to the +occasion with a practical suggestion. + +“We’ll burn the dog to death without a trial!” he shouted. + +A chorus of approval shook the roof. But Pizarro lifted his hand for +quiet and asked Molina his feelings. + +Molina challenged the assemblage with head erect. + +“I can but express my amazement,” he cried, “at your proposal to +execute the Inca.” + +“And this you say,” Pizarro exclaimed, “after months of chains in one +of his dungeons?” + +“Certainly, my captain. You sent me as your secret scout and spy. I +understood the nature of my undertaking.” + +“I sent you as my ambassador to his court,” Pizarro corrected. + +“I had no credentials. You had no charter and could give none. The +Inca knew from the first that I was a spy. He found the sketches of +his forts and maps of his kingdom, which I had made, in my possession. +Death would have been the penalty under Spanish laws for this offense. +He only detained me until he could make sure of your purpose. I ask +that the Inca be treated with Christian humanity.” + +Pizarro saw that the cavalier was set in his determination to defend +the monarch. Words on this point were a waste of breath. He wished +confirmation of some conclusions of his own which bore directly on the +wisdom of his course. + +“I see,” he mused. “You have studied the customs and laws of the +empire?” + +“With care and keen interest.” + +“Is it true, then, as we have been told,” Pizarro asked, “that the +twelve million people of the kingdom are children of the State, their +every want provided by the sovereign?” + +“It is.” + +“And the Inca is the State?” + +Molina nodded. + +“Not only is he the State, he is the living incarnation of their Sun +God on earth,” he added. + +“His word is the supreme law of life?” + +“Absolutely.” + +“His death would rouse or paralyze their wills?” + +The cavalier caught the deadly purpose behind the question and +hesitated to answer. + +Pizarro faced him angrily. + +“I am asking you, sir, for your report as my scout and spy. Answer.” + +“His death for the moment would undoubtedly paralyze them.” + +“And they would be twelve million automatons without a will?” + +“Until called to action by some inspired leader--yes.” + +The chief smiled. + +“I thank you for your faithful services, and relieve you of duty until +you regain your strength under the care of the brave girl who came to +your rescue.” + +Molina glared, but left the room with Teresa followed by Yma. Outside +on the Plaza the cavalier turned to Teresa eagerly. + +“You know the way to Huamachuco, the town to which they have sent De +Soto?” + +“Every mile of it. I’ve ridden there twice.” + +“You must ride again and with all speed. Unless De Soto gets here +before Pizarro can take action, the Inca’s fate is sealed. De Soto is +not only entitled to sit as one of the chief judges, he commands a +hundred men.” + +“You’ll go, beautiful one?” Yma pleaded. + +“I’ll go,” Teresa cried. + +“Tell De Soto that they are putting the Inca through the farce of a +trial in his absence. Beg him, if he loves truth, honor and decency to +ride with every ounce of strength his horses possess.” + +“And you will fight for his life until he comes?” + +“I’ll do my best. I know none of these men save Almagro, and in this +he will follow Francisco Pizarro. Have a care for your own life, my +Teresa, but ride--ride for the life of the Inca and the love we bear +each other.” + +The fiery young horse was bridled, saddled and led to her. She mounted +and followed the causeway to the north. + +Yma seized the cavalier’s hand and kissed it. + +“My glorious one--you, I shall worship always!” + +Molina’s hand pressed hers. + +“We’ve no time to lose, child--go quickly to the Inca’s mother and +warn her of the peril of her son. Have her instruct Atahualpa under no +circumstances to lose his temper at the trial. No matter what crude +insults he may receive he is to answer not a word. I must return now.” + +The girl flew to do his bidding and Molina entered the council chamber +as the crisp words of Francisco Pizarro were summing up the situation +for final action. + +“The Inca alive is our constant peril. Molina has just confirmed my +own opinions. His death at our hands will strike terror to twelve +million people with no will save his. Our safety will be assured and +the safety of our treasures. We cannot hold him prisoner without facing +an uprising which he may order secretly at any time. The moment he is +dead, the road to Cuzco is open and we are masters of the empire. We +must comply with the forms of court procedure as a matter of record for +the King. But we know what we are doing and we are going to complete +the work without flinching. It is not a question of morals. That is +past; it is a question of our lives or his. What say you, try him or +not?” + +“Try him!” + +The vote was unanimous. + +The clerk had been ordered to prepare the indictment. He was putting +the finishing touches to the brief document when Molina reëntered. + +“And this is your unalterable decision?” he asked Pizarro. + +“That the Inca stand trial for his life within the hour.” + +“I demand the right to appear in his defense,” Molina declared. “I have +known him for two years and more. I am the man best fitted for the +task.” + +“You understand that as an officer of our expedition you can not vote +on the verdict if you act as his counsel?” + +“I understand.” + +“Then it is agreed,” Pizarro replied without asking the opinion of his +colleagues. “Bring your prisoner into court.” + +“But I protest, your honors,” the cavalier gravely said, bowing both to +Almagro and Pizarro, “that I have had no opportunity to confer with the +accused. I have not seen the articles of indictment. I have had no time +to secure or examine a single witness. I ask for an adjournment for at +least twenty-four hours that I may prepare the defense.” + +“We grant you one hour, no more,” Pizarro replied turning to Almagro. +“You agree?” + +“The hour’s too much time. I say burn him first and then discuss the +case.” + +“And I,” Molina protested, “will enter my solemn impeachment of this +indecent haste. I demand that the clerk of the court put it on record.” + +Pizarro waved his hand to his secretary. + +“Enter it.” + +The cavalier demanded of the clerk his indictment and read it with a +scowl of contempt. + +The charges were twelve in number. The important items in the bill of +indictment charged that he had usurped the crown of the empire and +murdered his brother Huascar, the rightful heir to the throne; that he +had squandered the public revenues of his kingdom since the conquest +of the country by the Spaniards and lavished them on his kindred and +his minions; that he was guilty of adulterous practices indulging in +a plurality of wives; that he was guilty of idolatry in worshiping +the sun; and that finally he had attempted to incite an insurrection +against the Spaniards. + +The young cavalier glared at the judges with scorn. + +“I ask the court to strike out as irrelevant all the clauses in this +indictment save the last. What have you to do with the laws of the +Incan Empire? Atahualpa succeeded to the throne of Quito by the will of +his illustrious father, Huyna Capac. His brother declared war on him, +was defeated, lost his crown and afterwards his life in the clash. Only +the Emperor Charles V could sit as judge or arbiter in such a case.” + +Pizarro lifted his hand. + +“The charges stand.” + +“Surely you can not consider the impudent assertion that he is guilty +of idolatry in worshiping the only god he knows, the only god taught +him by his father and mother? That he has a plurality of wives is the +custom of his country. You can not stultify yourselves by listening to +such an indictment!” + +“We’ll hear them all!” Pizarro snapped. “I told the clerk to write +them. Bring on your prisoner and proceed with the trial. You talk like +a lawyer. Lawyers are forbidden to live under our charter!” + +The Inca confronted his accusers with a look of dazed incredulity on +his bronzed face. + +When the indictment was read to him by Felipillo, his big head sank as +if in an effort to escape the insults of a mob. He restrained his anger +and replied with dignity. + +“I am Inca of the Kingdom by its laws. My brother was executed by an +order of royal council before whom his trial was held. They voted his +death unanimously.” + +“Then you lied when you declared that his jailors had killed him?” +Pizarro thundered. + +“I merely dissembled for the moment, commander. The jailor did execute +him but by orders of the council. My wives are my own by rights +thousands of years old. Your own soldiers have taken many women as +slaves and held their bodies their property, denying them the rights +of a wife to be loved and protected. That I never did. And you have +established prostitution in Caxamalca--” + +“Silence!” Almagro shouted. “We are not on trial. We’re trying +_you_!” + +The Inca bowed gravely. + +“The only question on which you have the right to place me on trial is +whether I have conspired to raise an insurrection. So far from this +being true, I refused to escape when offered my freedom by a secret +organization of my young men.” + +“So there _has_ been a conspiracy!” Pizarro broke in angrily. + +“At my command they dispersed. I had given you my word and kept it. +Since that day there has not been lifted a single hand in my kingdom +for my rescue. My word is law. There are no warriors gathered at +Huamachuco. The country is quiet. My people await my orders. When your +noble Hernando De Soto returns he will tell you this.” + +By order of the clerk the Inca was asked a number of questions which +Felipillo put with cunning and each time lied as to the answer. + +Molina sprang to his feet in rage. + +“I ask the court to dismiss this lying interpreter. He has given a +false answer to every question put to the accused. If you will allow me +I will ask the questions and give you the true answers.” + +“You will not,” Pizarro promptly replied. “Your answers might be +colored. He is the official interpreter. You cannot act in his place.” + +The Inca returned to his quarters and a number of native witnesses were +examined. In each case Felipillo supplied the fatal answers no matter +what the frightened wretch said. + +Unable to restrain his anger at the farce, Molina deliberately began +a slow cross-examination designed to prolong the trial and give his +messenger time to reach De Soto. He dragged these questions through an +hour before Pizarro saw his purpose. + +“No more questions, sir!” the presiding judge ordered. + +The case was closed and the four Pizarro brothers with Almagro held a +brief conference before pronouncing judgment. + +“The only question, gentlemen,” Francisco Pizarro declared, “for us to +decide is not whether he is guilty or innocent. We all know that he is +guilty of the crimes charged and that death is the penalty. The only +question we must ask ourselves is whether his death will bring us good +or evil?” + +“The quicker we kill him, the better,” snapped Almagro. The Pizarros +agreed. + +Francisco Pizarro, as presiding judge, pronounced the sentence. + +“We find the Inca guilty of all charges made in the indictment and +order his death in the Plaza of Caxamalca. Our executioner will burn +him alive at the stake to-night.” + +“Surely not to-night!” Molina shouted. “In the name of common decency I +beg that he be given adequate time to prepare for his death.” + +Pizarro fixed his eyes straight on Molina. + +“I understand your purpose of delay, Sir Knight. He dies to-night.” + +“Yes, and, by God’s wounds, De Soto can talk at the funeral to-morrow!” +Almagro snarled. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + + +The mad pace at which Teresa urged her horse put her own skill as a +rider to the severest test. But she had been in the saddle constantly +since the day of the landing more than a year ago. She was now a +veteran cavalryman, and this was a race against time for human life, +and against an infinite tragedy. The Inca’s stupendous ransom had been +paid. It had made her brother a millionaire. It had made her rich. It +had made every soldier in the expedition rich. The monarch had proved +himself a man whose word was unimpeachable. That he should be so basely +betrayed by the Spaniards was to her proud young spirit a thing of +nameless horror. + +She thought of his stately mother and pain stirred her horse faster. +She had grown to admire this mother beyond all the native women she had +known. There was something inherently charming in the Dowager’s regal +bearing. Her love for her son was overwhelming. In him had centered +now all her hopes and dreams. She was inordinately proud of his +achievements. She lived only in the hope of his liberation. His death +would be a blow too cruel to contemplate. At its thought she dug the +spurs into her horse’s flanks again and the fiery animal leaped ahead, +his sides dripping. + +Teresa leaned low and in soothing words stroked the beautiful white +neck. The horse uttered a low whinny in answering acceptance of her +apology and stretched his neck again for the race. A storm had hurled +trees across the road where it led through a forest, but he leaped the +barriers and sped on, his silver-shod hoofs flashing in the moonlight. + +He waded through rivers with an astounding instinct for the shallow +leads of the fords. But at a broad deep stream whose smooth surface +glittered in the moonlight he stopped short, shook his mane and touched +the water gingerly with his slender hoof. Teresa sprang to the ground, +caught his flowing tail in her right hand and stroked his foaming +haunches with her left. He swam the stream, and they began the last lap +of the race. There were no mountain stairs to climb. The road north led +up the valley between the _cordilleras_. She thanked God for this. + +She stopped at the lights of a village, warmed herself for a few +minutes and asked news of De Soto. To her amazement she discovered that +he had stopped here for the night. + +She found the house in which he was lodged without difficulty, roused +him from a sound sleep and told him the news of the Inca’s trial and +Molina’s fears. + +“They’ve dared to put him on trial before I could report?” he asked in +amazement. + +“Yes, and we fear that he may die before you can reach Caxamalca.” + +“We’ll make it. The distance is only thirty miles. We’ll leave your +horse with the _curaca_ in charge of one of my men. Take his fresh +horse and we’ll ride.” + +In half an hour the squadron, forming in single file, began a desperate +ride for the Plaza of Caxamalca. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + + +The death sentence rang through the room in the deep tones of Francisco +Pizarro’s voice and a moment’s painful silence was broken by the sob of +a woman. Yma had rushed out and brought back Molina. The girl gripped +him, trembling. + +“You will not let them do this crime, my beloved! You _will_ not!” +she whispered. “Your arm is strong, your sword is cold and keen. I will +help you. I have seen many men in this room who approve your words. +They will help you--” + +Molina pressed her hand for silence and faced the judges. He was calmer +now. + +“In the name of justice, humanity and God, I denounce this verdict and +warn you to pause before you dare to execute it!” + +The Pizarros hesitated, amazed at this further audacity. But Almagro +leaped into the breach. + +“The men are with us ten to one,” he muttered. “To hell with him.” + +But the Chief Judge, taken with the courage displayed, listened in +silence as Molina rushed on. + +“This whole procedure has been a shameless farce. If your sentence +is executed you will leave a record of infamy unparalleled in the +history of Spain. You’ve done this thing with a haste indecent and +indefensible. De Soto by his character, learning and rank was entitled +to sit as judge--” + +“His voice could not have changed our verdict,” Pizarro interrupted. + +“Then why this haste lest he arrive in time to be heard? The evidence +before you is too flimsy for discussion. The charges themselves were +ridiculous. I deny your right to sit thus in judgment on a sovereign +prince in his own domain. Only the Court of Charles V could try such a +prisoner!” + +“Is that all you have to say?” Almagro sneered. + +“No, it’s not. Your charter requires that you consult the authorities +of the Church on all matters of importance. Has this been done?” + +Pizarro’s face fell at the cunning of his tormentor. + +“Not yet.” + +“I demand a delay that this shall be done in proper order. I appeal to +Father Valverde to hear my argument for a stay of execution.” + +“Send for the friar!” Pizarro commanded. + +“I demand a day in which to prepare my appeal and argument before the +Church!” + +“You’ll not get it,” was the prompt decision. “Father Valverde will +appear immediately, hear you and give his decision.” + +The wily commander knew that he could rely on his own chaplain. +Valverde listened to the fiery eloquence of the Inca’s young advocate +with dignity. The judges submitted a copy of their verdict and death +warrant for his signature or veto. But Pizarro knew his position. + +He gave his decision without hesitation: + +“In my opinion,” he said in stern accents, “the Inca deserves death.” + +He promptly affixed his signature to the death warrant and returned it +to the Chief Judge. Pizarro handed it to his executioners. + +“Make your arrangements and complete the task within the hour.” + +Molina again felt the soft grip on his arm and heard Yma’s sobbing +voice: + +“My god-man, you will not let them--” + +The young cavalier drew his sword and stepped before the executioner. +The judges stared in surprise, too great for words. It was preposterous +that one man should dare thus to defy them all. And it was not until a +score of stalwart figures crowded beside Molina, their hands on their +swords, that Pizarro saw that he was confronted by an unexpected and +dangerous crisis. A fight in his court room over the verdict might +mean an attack from the attendants of the Inca at the same moment. A +protest ending in bloodshed would send their record to the Crown under +a dangerous cloud. He must use his wits and use them quickly. Almagro +and his brothers had drawn their swords and a mass of their followers +backed them. + +“Sheathe your swords!” Francisco Pizarro sternly commanded his +brothers, and turning to Molina repeated the command. + +The young cavalier stood with set jaw and refused to move. Pizarro +boldly approached, laid his hand on his shoulder and spoke in soothing +tones: + +“Come, come, my son, what madness is this? You would shed the blood of +your people, for what?” + +Molina shook off the hand. + +“For the honor of Spain, for decency, and justice!” he replied. “You do +not seem to know their meaning. Must I teach you with this?” He set his +sword at guard. + +Pizarro flinched at the scorn, but did not retreat from the sword. + +“Words, words, my boy. Face the facts and forget your knight-errantry. +Our lives are at stake--yours and the life of the girl whom you love.” + +“We scorn life at such a price!” + +“You refuse to see our danger?” + +“There is no danger!” the cavalier cried in a rage. + +“That is your opinion--” + +“And the opinion of some who stand beside me.” + +The men around him answered fiercely: + +“Yes!” + +“So be it, gentlemen,” Pizarro argued. “You are outnumbered ten to one. +See for yourselves--” he paused and waved his hand to the hundred and +more men standing behind the judges. + +“Consider for a moment the outcome of a fight in this room. You and +your followers would be killed to a man.” + +“Our cause is worth it!” + +“If so,” the wily leader urged, “take it to the highest court in Spain +and we stake our lives on the decision of the Crown. It’s no time for +Spaniards to kill each other. We are here to carry the banners of +Castile and Aragon to new glories, not bathe them in fraternal blood. +Write your protest, sign it and the clerk will forward it to his +majesty at Toledo.” + +“It might be wise,” a voice whispered by Molina’s side. + +Molina considered. He felt the hopelessness of his position. Bare sword +still in his hand, he swung on Pizarro: + +“Your words mock you, Pizarro. Your villainy reproaches you. But I +shall not shed blood. On this, though, I stand: Stay your execution +until this protest is drawn and signed.” + +“It is done.” + +He signaled the executioner, took the death warrant, and ordered the +clerk to draw the protest as the young cavalier should dictate. Yma +watched the strange procedure with a look of dumb misery, yet hope was +not dead. Her beloved had stayed the hand of death for the moment. She +still believed he would win. + +Every man in the room fixed his name in writing or cross-mark either +to the death warrant under Valverde’s signature or under the protest +of Molina. More than a hundred endorsed the decree of the judges and +eleven men signed the protest. + +The crisis passed, Francisco Pizarro slipped the death warrant into +the hands of his executioner who hurried to do his bidding. The keen +eyes of the Sun Virgin saw the look of despair on the face of Molina +and watched with a low cry of horror as the executioner left the room. +But she realized Molina’s helplessness. She darted from the room, and +reported the dread news to the Dowager who hastened with the Inca into +the presence of his judges. + +Atahualpa pressed his way before Francisco Pizarro trembling with +excitement. The blow had fallen with merciless swiftness. It was +incredible. For the moment he was stunned. Through eyes swimming with +tears he began his piteous plea. + +“What have I done, or my children, that I should meet this fate?” + +He paused, pressed closer and spoke in tones of desperate appeal. + +“And from you, of all men, whom I have loaded with kindness and untold +treasure.” + +Pizarro turned from the scene with unusual emotion. He had not counted +on this pitiful personal appeal to him as a man and a friend. He had +pledged the Inca his friendship. It was a shock to see how implicit +had been the man’s faith in the promise. The iron heart within the +conqueror’s breast faltered for a moment in his stern purpose. + +The Inca hastened to follow the advantage which his appeal had given +him. He seized Pizarro’s arm. + +“Surely you, my friend, whom I have learned to trust above all +your followers here--you, whose mind has been too great for petty +annoyances, can not do this cruel wrong. I beg of you my life. In this +hour of my desertion and helplessness, you can not fail me. I can +assure you the safety of your people. Spare my life, give me the time +and I will double the ransom already paid. I will fill the room twice +with gold, the smaller one four times with silver.” + +The conqueror, deeply moved, attempted to go, but the Inca clung to him +in final desperation. + +“You will not desert me, my friend, in this hour of my anguish--” + +The Dowager added her voice to the broken plea. + +“Grant me the life of my son, Your Excellency,” she cried. “I speak +as the mother who loves him. And I swear to you that he will keep +his solemn word of honor. No hand shall be lifted against a Spanish +soldier. We will work in harmony with your people and build a new +Kingdom of the Four Corners of the World--” + +The Inca suddenly lifted his hand to his mother for silence. + +“It is enough. It is fate.” + +He drew himself to his full height, folded his arms, and his face +became again a stolid mask of bronze--a mask marked with supreme +contempt. + +Two hours after sunset the trumpet called the soldiers into the Plaza +of Caxamalca to witness the _auto de fe_ on the 29th of August, +1533. A hundred blazing torches lighted the Plaza. News of the dreaded +deed had spread a nameless terror in the heart of every native. That +these new beings would dare to lay their hands in deadly violence on +God Himself surpassed belief. They stood in the shadows in huddled +groups and discussed the catastrophe as their ancestors had stood +appalled by earthquake and volcano. + +The executioners set a bronze stake in the center of the square and +piled the faggots ready to be packed about the body of the victim. + +The wails of his terror-stricken household swept the square from the +open doors of the House of the Serpent. + +But the Inca bore the trial with a stern stoicism. He embraced his +wives, took each of his weeping little boys and girls in his arms and +pressed them to his heart in silence. + +He looked long and tenderly at Yma, his great head hanging low. He +opened his arms and she rested her tear-stained face on his breast. + +“Grieve no more, dear daughter of the Sun. You have done all that the +brave and wise could do. You have within you the soul of a queen--my +mother’s spirit is yours. My eyes have been blind or I had seen it +sooner. Forgive my blindness and my many errors. You would have saved +me, had I been wise. May the Sun bring you his blessing, my glorious +Yma!” + +He put the weeping girl aside and took his mother in his arms. For a +long while they held each other in silence. He stooped and kissed her +lips. She tried to speak, but her voice trailed into a strangling sob +and she wept in silence. + +The guards drew them apart and led the Inca before Pizarro who ordered +him chained hand and foot. As he was led forth into the square, the +heavy chains rattled loudly on the flag stones and a long piteous +scream from his mother broke the stillness. + +His people crowded to the doorway and watched the hideous scene still +with unbelieving eyes. The Sun would not allow the infamy of such a +death. They trembled and listened for the rumble of an earthquake that +would shake the city and strike terror to the fiends. But they waited +in vain. + +An appalling silence now brooded over the Square. The figures of five +hundred Spanish soldiers stood in dark groups about the stake. + +Father Vincente de Valverde walked by the doomed monarch’s side, +begging him in this hour of supreme need to renounce the religion of +his fathers and accept the faith of his conquerors. But the bronze face +gave no sign of hearing the friar’s appeal. His eyes were fixed on a +far-off star as he walked with head erect. They bound his fine young +body to the bronze stake, fixing his arms and legs in close fetters. +Quickly the faggots were piled high about him and the executioner +lifted his torch to apply the flame. + +Valverde spoke. + +“A moment. A last appeal.” + +The friar held the cross before the dazed victim. + +“Embrace the cross of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and be baptized, +I implore you! If you will, I can spare you the agony of flames. You +may die by the less painful form of strangling.” + +The Inca turned his sad eyes on Molina. + +“It is true, my friend?” + +The cavalier hastened to assure him. + +“It is true. Our religion, my lord, is true, if its followers are +not. I beg of you to accept the terms and save yourself the horror of +flames. They will sear my soul as well as your body.” + +“Perhaps it is well,” the Inca slowly agreed. “To die in flames for me +will be to lose both body and soul. My image could not then be embalmed +as those of my fathers have been preserved.” + +He paused and turned to Father Valverde. + +“I accept your offer. I renounce the gods who have forsaken me and +accept yours.” + +The priest who had just signed his death warrant administered the rite +of baptism and gave his convert a new name in honor of John the Baptist +on whose day the tragedy fell. As the words fell from the lips of the +priest Molina turned from the scene with rage and disgust. + +“I baptize you Juan de Atahualpa in the name of the Father, Son and +Holy Ghost!” + +The words died away in a dull drone, and Atahualpa turned to Pizarro +with a look of appeal. He spoke with a quiet dignity that moved every +hearer to astonishment. + +“I ask of Your Excellency, that my body be taken to Quito, my +birthplace, to be fittingly preserved with those of my ancestors--” He +paused, searched the face of the conqueror and went on--“I ask this +of you as commander of my kingdom. A last request I make of you, as +the--shall I say?--friend I have known these past seven months. Have +compassion on the sorrowing people of my household and protect my +little children who are thus left desolate.” + +Pizarro bowed his consent and signaled to the garroter, who stepped +forward, the heavy wire used in strangulation gripped in his coarse +hand. + +The twisted wire touched the hand of Almagro who stood beside the +dark figure of Hernando Pizarro. The little man moved with a gesture +of anger at the lack of respect shown him. But a shiver of queer +foreboding swept him. He shook it off with an oath, as he looked around +him. + +The Inca closed his eyes. The executioner circled his neck and +strangled him to death while five hundred Spaniards pressed close +murmuring their credos for the salvation of his soul. + +As the stalwart body slowly relaxed in the tremor of death, the thunder +of horses’ hoofs echoed at the gates and De Soto dashed into the scene +with flushed face, his hand trembling on his sword. + +He threw himself toward Pizarro with a dangerous smile playing around +his strong mouth. The commander paled for a moment at the obvious +threat. + +“I am here,” De Soto shouted, “to report the country quiet, the talk of +an uprising a shameless lie!” + +“I’m sorry that we have acted in haste,” Pizarro muttered. + +“You could not wait to hear my report! You rush your victim to his doom +without a chance to prove his innocence! I ride madly to save him and +you beat me to the stake. You disregard me as a judge! Well, by God’s +light, you’ll answer to me and to your King for this violation of the +laws of Christian humanity.” + +Pizarro was stunned for a moment with the violence of the attack. He +hedged and made excuses. + +“I had no choice, De Soto--the soldiers clamored for his life. They +would have assaulted his house and cut him to pieces had I not acted--” + +“And you--you with all your vaunted power as commander, could not have +held their hands until I returned to tell the truth?” De Soto sneered. + +“I was forced to act by the Crown treasurer, his officers and Father +Valverde.” + +Riquelme, the treasurer, gripped his sword and faced Pizarro with +blazing eyes. + +“A lie, Francisco--a lie! I but followed your lead!” + +“Besides,” the chief continued, ignoring the interruption, “I was urged +by Father Valverde who signed the death warrant....” + +“This is so?” De Soto demanded of the friar. + +“It is true. It was his life or ours....” + +The amazed captain turned to his chief: + +“I challenge you to a duel to the death, Francisco Pizarro, for this +betrayal of my rights as a judge in this matter--on guard!” + +De Soto’s sword flashed in the torch light and Pizarro’s answered. But +men on each side restrained them. De Soto shook off the restraining +hands, sheathed his sword, and fixed Pizarro with a look of contempt. +“I salute you, chieftain, as a prince--_the prince of murderers!_” +He fixed his name at the head of the protest sent to Spain, and +withdrew from the expedition. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + + +Pizarro spared no pains in giving to the dead monarch the full honors +of rank at his funeral. + +The Inca had renounced his faith and embraced theirs. He was entitled +to Christian burial. + +Perhaps Pizarro really believed the necessity for his death. Perhaps he +believed that necessity urgent. He could remember the fate of his own +people when the enraged chiefs of Panama had poured molten gold down +their throats, crying: + +“Eat, Christians! Eat your fill of gold!” + +He did not propose to see such scenes reënacted in Peru. Now that the +deed was done he could at least express his Christian humanity by +placing flowers on the body of the dead Indian. + +The body was carefully prepared for the obsequies. When stretched +in solemn posture on the bier, the massive head rested on a gold +embroidered pillow and he was shrouded in the most gorgeous robes of +empire. + +Francisco Pizarro took his place as chief mourner, wearing his +magnificent uniform of Viceroy for the first time. Indeed, it was the +first time since his march into Peru that he had felt safe in assuming +it. There were many battles yet to be fought, but he felt his hand +at last gripping the wealth and power of a mighty empire. Verily, he +thought, he was an instrument in the hands of God! In his hour of +triumph, with millions of gold securely locked in his chests and the +crown of a kingdom on his brow, he recalled with a sense of awe the +days of his lonely pitiful childhood in Spain. The “little bastard,” +they had called him, and the pigs he tended had been his best friends. +He could begin now to see a proud world fawning at his feet. + +So it is not to be wondered that he took himself seriously. + +The funeral procession had wended its way into the church, the body lay +in state before the altar and the priests were celebrating the ceremony +for the dead. Pizarro stood, commanding the scene, his magnificent +figure sternly erect, his finely shaped head and full beard streaked +with gray, expressing the dignity and new found power of his position. + +A sudden commotion at the door, and the droning tones of the priests +died into silence as all eyes turned. Before Pizarro realized what had +happened, Yma, at the head of a hundred white-robed Virgins of the +Sun, swept down the aisle, surrounded and seized the body of their +lord. His wives, led by his mother, followed weeping. The Sun Virgins +softly swayed from the bier and his wives rushed to the body with drawn +daggers to follow their master to the grave. + +A word of sharp command from Pizarro called the startled soldiers to +their duty. + +“Seize and drag them from the church!” + +Heavy figures in clanging armor leaped forward. The weeping women and +white-clad Virgins of the Sun were dragged protesting from the church. + +Yma sought Pizarro. + +“As servants of our Lord of the Sun we claim the right to the body of +our beloved. We would embalm it and give him burial with his people in +the Temple at Quito.” + +The Spaniard commanded silence. + +“I will give him Christian burial in holy ground--go!” + +Behind the conqueror, stood his partner, Almagro, and his brothers, who +had pronounced the sentence of death on the Inca. + +The soldiers had instinctively refrained from laying hands on the dead +sovereign’s mother. She stood with her sad eyes fixed on Pizarro. +Lifting both hands above her head she solemnly prayed: + +“God of the Sun, wither the Kingdom of Spain and let thy rays, as +lances of death, strike the murderers of Atahualpa!” + +She was allowed to walk down the aisle and out the door without +molestation. + +The conquerors in the absence of their interpreters wondered what she +had said. They were yet to recall the scene in hours of supreme tragedy +in their own lives. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + + +The tragedy done, the mind of one member of the royal family stirred +with brave thoughts of the future. To think was to act, and she acted +without delay. + +On the morning following the burial of her son the Dowager called on +the conqueror. Pizarro received her with every mark of respect and +hastened to give her assurances. + +“Rest assured of safety, Your Highness,” he said. “I have borne in mind +the last wishes of your son. He left you and his household in my care. +It is a sacred task. You and yours are under my protection. Your wants +will be carefully supplied.” + +Pacha could but wonder at that, but she replied, “There are higher +needs than food and clothes. I have not come to speak of my safety but +of our people.” + +She paused and studied the stern face of the conqueror. There was deep +sincerity in her voice as she continued and the Spaniard was not slow +to catch it. + +“You must realize that a nation, to whom the word of their ruler only +is law, can not remain long without a hand to guide them.” + +“I have undertaken to supply that hand, Your Highness,” was the proud +reply. + +“Even so, you will need the help of one whom our people recognize as +their lord.” + +Pizarro pursed his lips and searched Pacha’s fine face for a trace of +guile. He lifted his brows. + +“And your suggestion is?” + +“That you approve my selection of the successor of Atahualpa and crown +him Inca under your protection.” + +A smile lighted the dark face. His decision was instantaneous. + +“Wise advice, Your Highness! If a man can be found who will act as I +direct we may avoid much trouble. If I can speak through the Inca as my +mouthpiece the people will submit to our rule and quickly profit by our +superior knowledge and wisdom. Have you in mind the man?” + +“He is in Caxamalca, commander. The Inca’s younger brother, Toparca, is +a youth of gentle disposition, and has always been a favorite of the +people.” + +“You can vouch for his good faith and loyalty?” + +“He will obey me without question. You can rely on my advice.” + +The conqueror studied the stately woman who spoke with so much poise +and wondered if he could. There certainly was no question of the wisdom +of her plans. The Incan Empire without an Inca could not long remain +in peace. Some turbulent spirit would at last be found to lead an +insurrection. If he could speak through the lips that moved beneath +their scarlet _borla_ the people might be held in quiet until he +had consolidated his power. The moment he was established the new Peru +would swarm with thousands of Spaniards and the yoke would be set on +their necks for all time. + +That this woman had back of her plan a design to consolidate the forces +of her people in due time he did not doubt for a moment. But it was a +fair risk. He would pit his Spanish brain and life experience against +her wits. + +“I accept the plan, Your Highness,” Pizarro answered finally. + +“It will be wise,” she further ventured, “to select as his ruling Queen +the most beautiful and popular girl in the kingdom.” + +“You have her in mind?” + +“There can be no question of choice in the matter,” Pacha quietly +answered. “Yma, first of all the Virgins of the Sun, is a heroine of +our people. She is young, beautiful and obedient. Toparca has been in +love with her since boyhood.” + +“I leave the matter in your hands, Your Highness. Arrange the details +and I will give orders for the coronation.” + +The Dowager summoned Yma to her apartment. There was no question of the +obedience of Toparca. But she was not so sure about the Sun Virgin. The +girl was the most daring leader yet developed in this crisis of the +empire. What she might do under the conditions of chaos following the +Inca’s death was a problem. + +The girl approached Pacha with vague misgivings of a new tragedy. + +“Surely they will not harm you, dear Mother Queen?” she tremblingly +asked. + +The Dowager took Yma’s hand in hers and gently stroked it. + +“No, my child. The great crime is done. I am of no importance now....” + +She paused and studied the girl’s exquisite features. + +“You once said in jest,” Pacha continued, “that a priest foretold that +you would one day wear the robes of an Empress of the realm.” + +Yma laughed her relief. + +“An old fool and flatterer who thought to get my last emerald.” + +“His words will come true.” + +“What! What--do you mean?” the girl gasped. + +“That the conqueror at my suggestion will crown Toparca Inca and I have +chosen you his Queen....” + +“But, dear mother, I do not wish to marry Toparca--” + +“He is a youth of fine character and handsome as a prince should be.” + +No answer. + +“And he has always loved you....” + +Yma turned away. + +“But I love another, dear mother--that you know.” + +“And he has chosen the Spanish girl. It is the law of life, dear child. +They are of the same blood. Like chooses like. So you must choose +Toparca. Your brave Alonso will tell you this.” + +“I must ask him ...” the low voice murmured. + +“And if he tells you to accept Toparca and the crown, you will do his +bidding?” + +“I will obey him.” + +“Go at once and ask his advice.” + +The Sun Virgin found Molina with Teresa planning their return to +Panama. The cavalier was quick to note her grave demeanor. + +“What is it?” he asked in alarm. + +“Your commander will crown Toparca Emperor and I am asked to be his +Queen.” + +Teresa seized the girl’s hand. + +“And you, our Yma, will wear the crown of an Empress! We are glad. We +salute you!” + +She kissed the Sun Virgin impulsively and turned to Molina. + +“Isn’t it”--she broke off as she saw Molina’s face. He stood, watching +Yma, his eyes fixed on the girl. + +Two years! Two years in a land fantastic as a myth, with beauty for +his bride--beauty he had never touched. A sharp pang pierced him as +he stood watching this beauty. His regret was soothed, he knew, by +Teresa. But hers? That, he refused to answer, but he knew. He saw the +long trail of years winding, but clear cut as a road between the Andes, +and she must follow it. And he wondered. She had not possessed him and +yet.... + +He shook off his revery. + +“Wonderful!” he breathed, watching Yma intently. + +Teresa looked away. She knew. + +“But I will not marry Toparca,” Yma faltered, “unless you command me, +dear one.” + +“It is best, my dear.” + +The Sun Virgin gently took Teresa’s hand and looked into her face +through tears. + +“You--you--will not take me with you and let me be second in his love?” + +Teresa took her in her arms, held her close, and smiled at Molina over +the drooping shoulders. + +“It can not be, dear Yma.” + +The girl lifted her head in a last appeal. + +“And I may not go as his slave, that I may serve you both--only to be +near--to see him and hear his voice?” + +Molina touched her hand. + +“You must stay and rule, an Empress among your own people.” + +“It is your command, dear god-man?” + +“It is my command,” the cavalier slowly replied. + +“Then I must obey.” + +She turned without further word or look, but he caught her shoulders, +took her in his arms and kissed her, a long, last kiss. She walked back +to the Dowager. + +Her voice was low and dull. + +“He has spoken. I am ready.” + +On the day appointed for his army of five hundred soldiers to begin +their march on Cuzco, the Spaniards crowned Toparca--the fourteenth +Inca--with all the pomp and ceremony of the Kingdom of the Four +Corners of the World. And Yma the Sun Virgin ascended the throne, +Empress of the realm. The royal litters were made ready for the new +rulers and their household to accompany Pizarro on his march to the +South. A royal proclamation was issued by Toparca commanding the +obedience and loyalty of the people. + +The little Spanish army of 500 men made a brave show drawn up in a line +with waving banners, shining armor and uplifted spears. + +Pizarro made a last attempt to regain the confidence of his ablest +captain. + +“Come, come, Hernando de Soto,” he pleaded. “I ask you to lead the van +in our advance in Cuzco. We will yet find countless millions of gold.” + +“And I have seen enough here,” was the slow reply, “to learn that gold +unearned can only curse its holders.” + +Pizarro frowned and lifted himself in his saddle. + +“And I lead my men to wealth beyond the dreams of avarice!” + +He lifted his hand in sharp command to his little army. The trumpet +called, the cavalry moved and the historic gala procession marched +southward. + +De Soto, joined by Molina and Teresa, turned his horse towards the +coast. And Yma, standing beside Toparca, waved a tender farewell. + +Molina’s horse reared, and he saluted her with drawn sword, wheeled, +and rode toward the sun that hovered over the peaks. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +ENVOI + + +Twenty years pass, and, one by one, the men who condemned the Inca to +die meet a fate equally as tragic. + +Toparca’s brother leads an army to the siege of Cuzco, burns it to the +ground and kills Juan Pizarro. + +Valverde, arrayed in his robes of bishop, on his way to the Court of +Spain, is captured at Tumbez by a band of warriors from the hills and +brutally murdered. + +In a struggle with the officers of the Crown Gonzalo Pizarro is +condemned to die as a traitor. When led forth to his execution his love +of fine dress is all that remains of his splendor. Over his doublet he +wears a superb cloak of yellow velvet stiff with gold. A cap of the +same material covers his head. In his magnificent attire, mounted on a +mule, he is led through the crowd by a friar holding a crucifix before +his eyes. He ascends the scaffold and addresses the people: + +“Many of you have grown rich on the bounty of my brother and mine. Yet +I have only the clothes in which I die!” + +He kneels a moment in prayer, lifts his neck and the executioner severs +his head at a blow. + +The feud between Almagro and Hernando Pizarro at length flames into a +war in which Spaniard slays Spaniard. Almagro wins the first campaign, +captures and imprisons his enemy. In a moment of impulsive generosity +he releases him under a solemn parole never to take up arms again. The +moment he is free, Hernando rallies his confederates, savagely attacks +Almagro, defeats and captures him. + +The man who signed the agreement with Francisco Pizarro to conquer +Peru, the idol of his soldiers, is now accused of a hundred crimes. And +in a trial that was mockery similar to the one over which he presided +at the death of the Inca, he is found guilty of treason and condemned +to be burned alive. + +To the priest who announces the sentence Almagro cries: + +“It is impossible that Hernando Pizarro can do me this wrong! I beg to +see my judge.” + +Pizarro, recalling with grim humor the hour of his own humiliation when +his brother had forced him at Caxamalca to apologize to the little +one-eyed man, hastens to answer the summons, eager to witness his +enemy’s anguish. + +The doomed prisoner ignores the smile of scorn with which he is +regarded and begs for his life in piteous moans: + +“Surely you can not forget the proud rôle that I have played as the +partner of your brother, the great conqueror? We quarreled, yes. My +hot temper was generally at fault. But we always shook hands and were +friends again. Together we faced the scorn of the world. Together we +faced death, side by side. And together won eternal fame. You can not +thus murder me. I am a prisoner of war, as I held you but a few days +ago. I was generous. I appeal to your heart....” He grips his judge and +sobs in a moment of despair. The folded arms, ugly silence and cruel +smile of his enemy at last are more than he can bear. + +The little man suddenly draws himself erect. + +“I warn you, Hernando Pizarro, of the vengeance of the Emperor of +Spain!” + +A stern hand commands silence. + +“Your doom is fixed. Prepare to meet it.” + +He does. He makes a will leaving his fortune to Charles V with a humble +prayer for vengeance. + +A group of cavaliers plead in vain for mercy. The only boon Pizarro +grants is that he shall be strangled in the jail instead of being +burned alive in the Square. The priest and garroter slip quietly into +the prison and the conqueror’s single eye stares at the twisted wire +in the hand of his executioner. The condemned man starts at a sudden +touch of cold iron and sees by the glare of a torch in the square at +Caxamalca the trembling figure of the Inca. He lifts a hand to shut out +the vision and grips the gnarled fist of that which finds his neck. A +sharp twist of the big wrist and the light of the world fades. + +When Hernando Pizarro reaches Spain on his second trip, loaded with +treasure for himself and his Emperor, Charles receives him with sharp +questions. His entry into the city of Valladolid, arranged with +magnificent ceremony, had failed to impress the monarch. Nor can his +rich gifts to the Crown lay the ghost of Almagro. In spite of his +powerful friends, the emperor orders him thrown into the dungeon of the +fortress of Medina del Campo where he languishes in chains for twenty +years to the last days of his miserable life. + +A brief tumultuous seven years of viceregal power and Francisco Pizarro +sees the end. Denounced as tyrant and traitor by Almagro’s son, a +conspiracy is formed to assassinate him in his palace at Lima, the new +capital which he is building. + +Rada, the leader, pushes boldly into the courtyard and shouts the death +sentence. + +The conqueror is dining with a party of cavaliers, who leap to their +feet at the cry of the assaulting party, flee into the upper rooms of +the house and leave their host to his fate. Many of them escape by the +balcony overlooking the garden. Chaves, who attempts to defend Pizarro +is run through and his body tumbles down the stairway. + +“Death to the tyrant!” Rada shouts. + +Four kinsmen remain to fight and a savage struggle ensues. Two of the +conspirators are killed and all of the defenders are wounded. As one of +his kinsmen falls Pizarro himself, having buckled on his armor, reaches +the front and attacks the invaders with fierce courage, in spite of his +sixty-four years. + +“What, ho, traitors!” he cries. “You have come to murder me in my own +house!” + +Two men fall under his swift sword. Astounded at his amazing +strength, the conspirators halt for a moment and then steadily close +in. The passage is narrow and the fight lasts for several minutes. +The conqueror kills another of his enemies, and the sword of Rada is +plunged through his body. + +Pizarro sinks crying: + +“_Jesu!_” + +Tracing the sign of the cross in his own blood, he kisses it and dies, +while the ghost of an Incan mother broods in sorrowful triumph over the +scene. + +Gold mad adventurers continue to press southward on the heels of the +Pizarros and plant the seeds of death in Spain’s far-flung empire. + +Hernando de Soto establishes a colony of pioneers in Florida, discovers +the Mississippi river, opens a continent to settlement and helps to lay +in peaceful industry the foundation of a mighty nation of the North. + +In Peru, a nation, whose temples once blazed with gold, lies in ashes +and ruin. The jungle has devoured the great highways. The trees that +once shaded them across blistering sands are dead. The aqueducts are +broken and dry. Fields that waved harvests of grain and corn are barren +wastes. The hanging gardens of a thousand hills stretch upward in the +baking sun, a desolation of crumbling stone walls. The fruit trees that +clothed valley and mountain in flaming glory have withered. + +The storehouses are empty. Their roofs are gone. Their walls are +broken, and wild beasts whelp and stable in their great bins. Couriers +no longer speed from end to end of the empire. There are no roads. +There are no resthouses. The vast flocks of pensive llamas that once +grazed in the rich valleys have disappeared, slain in wanton folly. +Where happy villages flourished with food, shelter and clothes for +millions, now stretches a desert steaming under the fierce heat of the +tropic skies. + +A brief span of twenty years! And a people who once laughed and danced +without a thought of to-morrow hide in caves and curse the sight of a +white man. + +Two hundred years must pass before the Spanish settlers wake from +Pizarro’s dream of unearned gold and regal tyranny to build on the +ruins of the old empire the great free republics of the South. + + +THE END + + + + +TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES + + - Clear typos and wrong punctuation were corrected. + + - Text between _underscores_ represents italics. + + - A table of contents was created for this edition. + + - An acute accent was added to “Leguía.” + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 79257 *** diff --git a/79257-h/79257-h.htm b/79257-h/79257-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e99f918 --- /dev/null +++ b/79257-h/79257-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,9400 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html> +<html lang="en"> +<head> + <meta charset="UTF-8"> + <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> + <meta name="format-detection" content="telephone=no,date=no,address=no,email=no,url=no"> + <title> + The Sun Virgin | Project Gutenberg + </title> + <link rel="icon" href="images/cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover"> + <style> + + body { + margin-left: 10%; 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+ } + + #titlepage img { + width: 4em; + } + + footer p { + text-align: right; + } + + /* Margins and padding */ + + *.mt-1 { + margin-top: 1em; + } + + *.mt-2 { + margin-top: 2em; + } + + *.mt-5 { + margin-top: 5em; + } + + + /* Breaks */ + + body > section, + body > div { + page-break-before: always; + } + + .transnote {background-color: #E6E6FA; + color: black; + font-size:small; + padding:0.5em; + margin-bottom:5em; + font-family:sans-serif, serif; + } + + h2.hidden { + display: none; + } + + </style> +</head> + +<body> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 79257 ***</div> + +<main> + +<section id="haltitlepage-1"> +<h1> +The Sun Virgin +</h1> +</section> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> + +<section id="adv"> + <h2>Books by Thomas Dixon</h2> + +<ul> + <li><p><span class="smcap">The Sun Virgin</span></p></li> + <li><p><span class="smcap">The Love Complex</span></p></li> + <li><p><span class="smcap">The Black Hood</span></p></li> + <li><p><span class="smcap">The Man in Gray</span></p></li> + <li><p><span class="smcap">A Man of the People</span><br> + (A Play)</p></li> + <li><p><span class="smcap">The Way of a Man</span></p></li> + <li><p><span class="smcap">The Fall of a Nation</span></p></li> + <li><p><span class="smcap">The Foolish Virgin</span></p></li> + <li><p><span class="smcap">The Victim</span></p></li> + <li><p><span class="smcap">The Southerner</span></p></li> + <li><p><span class="smcap">The Sins of the Father</span></p></li> + <li><p><span class="smcap">The Leopard’s Spots</span></p></li> + <li><p><span class="smcap">The Clansman</span><br> + (The Birth of a Nation)</p></li> + <li><p><span class="smcap">The Traitor</span></p></li> + <li><p><span class="smcap">The One Woman</span></p></li> + <li><p><span class="smcap">Comrades</span></p></li> + <li><p><span class="smcap">The Root of Evil</span></p></li> + <li><p><span class="smcap">The Life Worth Living</span></p></li> +</ul> +</section> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> + +<section id="titlepage"> + +<h2 class="hidden">Titlepage</h2> + +<p class="center pseudo-heading uc">The<br> + Sun Virgin</p> + +<p class="center uc larger">by Thomas Dixon</p> + +<div class="image-container mt-2"> + <img src="images/logo.jpg" alt="The publisher's logo"> +</div> + +<p class="center uc mt-5"> + New York<br> + Horace Liveright: 1929 +</p> +</section> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> + +<section id="copyright"> +<h2 class="hidden">Copyright</h2> +<p class="center"> + <i>Copyright</i> : 1929 : <i>by</i><br> + <span class="uc">Thomas Dixon</span></p> + +<p class="center mt-1"><i>Printed in the United States</i></p> +</section> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> + +<section id="dedication"> +<h2 class="hidden">Dedication</h2> +<p class="center"> + <i>Dedicated to</i><br> + <span class="smcap larger">Augusto B. Leguía</span><br> + <span class="uc smaller">President of Peru<br> + with admiration</span> +</p> +</section> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> + +<section id="contents"> + +<h2>Contents</h2> +<nav data-epub-type="toc"> +<ul> + <li><a href="#chapter-1">Chapter I</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter-2">Chapter II</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter-3">Chapter III</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter-4">Chapter IV</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter-5">Chapter V</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter-6">Chapter VI</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter-7">Chapter VII</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter-8">Chapter VIII</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter-9">Chapter IX</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter-10">Chapter X</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter-11">Chapter XI</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter-12">Chapter XII</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter-13">Chapter XIII</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter-14">Chapter XIV</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter-15">Chapter XV</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter-16">Chapter XVI</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter-17">Chapter XVII</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter-18">Chapter XVIII</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter-19">Chapter XIX</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter-20">Chapter XX</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter-21">Chapter XXI</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter-22">Chapter XXII</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter-23">Chapter XXIII</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter-24">Chapter XXIV</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter-25">Chapter XXV</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter-26">Chapter XXVI</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter-27">Chapter XXVII</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter-28">Chapter XXVIII</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter-29">Chapter XXIX</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter-30">Chapter XXX</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter-31">Chapter XXXI</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter-32">Chapter XXXII</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter-33">Chapter XXXIII</a></li> +</ul> +</nav> + +</section> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> + +<section id="halftitlepage"> + <h2>The Sun Virgin</h2> +</section> + + + <hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<section id="chapter-1"> + <h3>Chapter I</h3> + + +<p>The brilliant young ruler of Spain, Charles V, had just extended his +empire over the half of Europe, and his <i>Conquistadores</i> were +planting the flag in Mexico and Darien.</p> + +<p>A threatening rabble of ragged seamen stood before the governor’s +office in Panama. The news had spread from tavern to tavern that a +sailor, left behind with Pizarro, on the Island of Gallo—where the +bold adventurer had halted temporarily in his quest for gold and +glory—had got a message past Almagro’s keen eye that had reached His +Excellency. The knave had concealed the writing in a ball of cotton +sent as a specimen of South Sea goods to the governor’s wife.</p> + +<p>Now that the ugly news of their suffering was out they would snap their +fingers in Almagro’s face and add their voices to the clamor for an end +of folly.</p> + +<p>The leader of the mob was haranguing his comrades as the friends of +Pizarro’s unfortunate expedition approached. Molina, the cavalier, +led Father Luque and the Chief Justice, Gaspar Espinosa, into the +governor’s house while Almagro stopped within earshot of the crowd.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</span></p> + +<p>At sight of Almagro the orator grinned. Pizarro’s partner was not a +man of impressive appearance. Of small stature, quick and nervous in +movement, wiry, weather-beaten and ill-favored at best, he had lost an +eye in a fight with the Indians on the first voyage to the South. The +deep hollow left below his forehead had given to his face a peculiarly +sinister expression. There was about him a suggestion of the grotesque +until his bronzed features lighted with animation as he talked. At the +end of a speech he had a way of boring a questioner through with his +one eye that was especially disquieting—if he spoke to an enemy. Its +steady light was now focused on the speaker.</p> + +<p>“Remember, Comrades,” the orator shouted, “that we were dragged by +Pizarro into the wilderness of the South to die of hunger. The cry of +a Kingdom of Gold was a cheat from the start. The golden country was +always just ahead. We never saw it. The little yellow metal found was +sent back here as molasses to catch more flies. Stand together now and +let the governor know the truth—”</p> + +<p>Almagro suddenly appeared, lifted his single eye to the orator’s face +and a dead silence followed.</p> + +<p>The little man spoke with deadly deliberation.</p> + +<p>“No whine from cowards in the governor’s ears to-day, swine! Hardship? +suffering? danger? <i>Por Dios!</i> Did you go on a pleasure jaunt? You +enlisted as a soldier. A soldier’s business is to die. Open your mouth +at this hearing—if you dare. I will not answer you. No—God’s light! +I’ll spit you with my sword and roast you in hellfire!”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</span></p> + +<p>Before the orator could recover from the shock of his threat, Almagro +swung on his heel and followed his friends into the governor’s house.</p> + +<p>A hurried council was held before their entrance into the audience +chamber. In spite of rumors of the hostility of the authorities the +managers of the expedition were not without hope. Espinosa, the secret +backer of the enterprise, had sought the aid of his beautiful sister +Teresa. She had won her lover, Alonso de Molina, to the cause. Molina +was not only the most popular young cavalier who had come from Spain +in the suite of the new governor, Don Pedro de los Rios; he was an +intimate friend of His Excellency.</p> + +<p>Father Luque seized Almagro’s arm.</p> + +<p>“I am going to ask you, Diego, to keep your temper at this hearing and +allow our new advocate to do all the talking.”</p> + +<p>A smile played around the one eye.</p> + +<p>“Not a word from me, Father Luque. I have already spoken.”</p> + +<p>The governor lifted his brows in angry surprise at the appearance of +the new champion of an expedition he had fully resolved to doom.</p> + +<p>“You appear before me, Alonso de Molina,” he grumbled, “in behalf of +these madmen who have already exhausted the patience of the king’s +servants?”</p> + +<p>“I do, Your Excellency,” was the firm reply. “I hold that they have +given good evidence on which to base their faith in the enterprise.”</p> + +<p>“And what, pray? A few yards of cloth and a <span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</span>few gold trinkets. A +hundred raids here in Darien have each yielded more. Scores of men have +been sacrificed on these two crazy voyages to the South, and they are +no nearer this myth of a Kingdom of Gold than three years ago when the +mad scheme was first launched.”</p> + +<p>“Yet, Your Excellency will recall the fact,” Molina soothed, “that our +sovereign expressed a command that you should lend every reasonable aid +to the expeditions of the South Sea—”</p> + +<p>“Every reasonable aid—yes!” the governor continued. “I have done more +than reason demands. I will no longer permit the senseless sacrifice +of our men to the obstinacy of Pizarro and his associates. The whole +scheme is insanity. I have decided. I will issue orders to my trusted +officer, Tafur, to sail at once with two ships for the Island of Gallo +and bring back every Spaniard whom he shall find still alive.”</p> + +<p>Molina attempted to speak and the governor stopped him with an angry +gesture.</p> + +<p>“No more. An end now to this nonsense!”</p> + +<p>Molina bit his lips and then smiled:</p> + +<p>“I was only about to ask of Your Excellency permission to accompany +Tafur on this voyage?”</p> + +<p>Molina bowed to the governor. Rios twisted in his chair and finally +answered:</p> + +<p>“Provided, Señor, that you agree to return with the ships.”</p> + +<p>“I agree,” was the prompt answer.</p> + +<p>Almagro seized the young cavalier’s hand and whispered:</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</span></p> + +<p>“I expect to see you leading an army in the new Kingdom, young man!”</p> + +<p>“You may, for all of that,” Molina answered tersely with a snap of +his strong jaw. He did not like the governor’s humor. The man had not +conducted himself as a fair executive; he had acted merely the rôle of +a tyrant executing a predetermined decision.</p> + +<p>Father Luque wrote a letter to Pizarro which Almagro signed with his +cross-mark, advising him to hold his ground until a favorable turn of +fortune. They would stay in Panama and with Espinosa work with tireless +energy to reverse the decision.</p> + +<p>Molina placed the letter in his doublet and sailed with Tafur for the +Island of Gallo. The more he heard of Francisco Pizarro the greater +became his curiosity to see and talk with the man who had kept Panama +in a state of turmoil for more than three years. And all for a dream. +No fool could work this miracle.</p> + +<p>The man towards whom he sailed was never in all his eventful career in +graver need of succor. The island on which he and his men had landed to +await supplies proved a barren waste of misery. They found themselves +prisoners without hope of relief unless it should come from Panama. +Each day was a struggle with starvation. The men sent out on foraging +expeditions had begun to conceal what food they found against the final +day of a living death. The only food now upon which the commander could +depend was found in the scrawny crabs and shellfish picked up on the +shores.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</span></p> + +<p>And it was the rainy season. Storm after storm swept the island and +deluged them with rain for days. Their clothes were in tatters and +there was nothing out of which they could make more. There was not an +animal on the island large enough to furnish a skin to cover their +nakedness; the rude huts which they had built had been torn down and +scattered to the winds, and the rain beat on their half naked bodies +with fury. The spirit of adventure had died long since. They waited +in sullen terror, and they watched the sea with feverish eyes for the +sight of sails.</p> + +<p>Finally they were rewarded.</p> + +<p>Tafur’s ships at last crept across the horizon from the North, and a +shout of delirium swept the huddled groups on the beach. They ate like +ravenous beasts the food set before them.</p> + +<p>Molina delivered the letter to Pizarro and studied the man while Ruiz, +his faithful pilot, read its message aloud. Tall, lean, straight, sun +and wind-tanned, the adventurer stood with taut muscles as he listened +to the fated words. By the deep gravity of his countenance the younger +man could see that he was facing the supreme hour of life. As the +purport of the message dawned on his mind, Molina saw his nostrils +dilate, the grim mouth relax into a smile and his deep-set eyes flash +with joy. His decision was instantaneous. He would not beg a single +coward to stay. But there were a few choice spirits to whom he could +appeal. He would hold them with ties of loyal steel and let Tafur +take the rest of his mottled crew to hell if he liked. He <span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</span>called his +followers in a final conference before allowing them to embark. Most of +them stared with hostile eyes for they already had begun to curse him +for their sufferings.</p> + +<p>He drew his sword and faced the crowd with an exultant look. Stooping, +he traced a line in the sand from east to west, and in clear tones +called:</p> + +<p>“Soldiers of Spain! On the south side of this line are hunger, +nakedness, storms, suffering, and death; on the north side lie ease and +pleasure, drink and idleness in Panama. Choose! Choose each man what +best becomes a brave Castilian! For my part, <i>I</i> go to the south!”</p> + +<p>Pizarro stepped across the line to be immediately followed by Ruiz, +Pedro de Candia and eleven others of his men. Molina roused from the +spell under which the man’s simple eloquence had held him to find +himself among the volunteers. Pizarro grasped his hand and pressed it +fiercely:</p> + +<p>“I am honored, Señor Alonso de Molina, by this act of approval from a +brave spirit. But I cannot allow you to remain on this grim watch. You +have influence in Panama. Hence I ask you to return with my good pilot +and bring back a ship for our enterprise.”</p> + +<p>The young cavalier bowed.</p> + +<p>“I have taken service under your banner, Francisco Pizarro, and go +where you command.”</p> + +<p>Again the two men clasped hands. Turning to the group who had pledged +anew their lives to his cause, he called aloud each name:</p> + +<p>“Bartholome Ruiz, Cristoval de Peralta, Pedro <span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</span>de Candia, Domingo de +Sonia Luce, Nicolas de Ribera, Francisco de Cuellor, Alonso de Molina, +Pedro Alear, Garcia de Jerez, Anton de Carrion, Alonso Briceno, Martin +de Paz, and Juan de la Torre, you have this day written your names on +the scroll of fame. I salute you my friends, my comrades!”</p> + +<p>He grasped each hand in turn and felt repaid for every hour of pain and +hunger, in their loyalty.</p> + +<p>Tafur angrily faced the group and demanded that they embark in +obedience to the commands of their governor. They laughed at his rage.</p> + +<p>“Your act,” he snarled, “is sheer madness involving death of every man +among you.”</p> + +<p>“Perhaps,” Pizarro answered. “We understand. We have chosen death +before desertion. Say this to the governor. We demand only that you +leave us one of your ships in which to pursue our voyage.”</p> + +<p>“God’s light!” shouted Tafur, “I like your impudence. Leave you a ship? +Not a shred of a single sail. Stay here and rot in your damned folly if +you will. I’ll have no part in it.”</p> + +<p>The only concession Pizarro could wring from him was to land a limited +supply of the food which he had brought to their rescue.</p> + +<p>And then the adventurer with eleven of his followers stood on the +shore and watched the ships spread their wings and disappear beyond +the northern horizon. A dozen men, with scant food, without clothing, +almost unarmed, with no knowledge of the land to which they were bound, +without tools, without shelter, without a vessel for transport, took +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</span>their place on a lonely island in the ocean—resolved to find and +conquer a mighty empire. They might fail; but their failure would be +attended by no governor’s rebuke: they would win, or die.</p> + +<p>To Pizarro it was the supreme crisis. And he exulted. Had he faltered, +compromised, or returned, it would have been the end of his dreams. +These dreams had now ceased to be dreams—they had become the living +realities of life. There could be no turning back from to-day; every +bridge was burnt behind—before lay glory or death.</p> + +<p>He immediately decided to abandon the Island of Gallo. Twenty-five +leagues to the north lay the little island of Gorgona, but five leagues +from the mainland and uninhabited. But it was an advantageous spot. +It was high and heavily timbered. The woods abounded in pheasants and +the plains with rabbits. With their crossbows the men could get a fair +supply of game without loss of powder, and cool streams supplied good +water.</p> + +<p>By Pizarro’s orders the men constructed a raft on which they managed on +a fair day to float with favorable currents to this island. They built +rude huts and began the long siege of waiting for Molina’s return. +The one horror from which they suffered most was the bite of swarming +mosquitoes. So desperate was the pests’ attack that at times it was +necessary for the sufferers to bury their bodies completely in the sand +until a breeze brought relief.</p> + +<p>Through months of desolate waiting, Pizarro’s stout spirit was the +inspiration of every follower. Freebooters and adventurers though they +were, in <span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</span>this time of trial they watched the stars, tried once more to +find the face of God, and in the night winds to hear His voice. Pizarro +encouraged them in religious devotions. Without fail they said their +morning prayers, and as the twilight deepened, chanted their hymns to +the Virgin. And they celebrated punctually each festival of the Church. +Pizarro was using every means at his command and every ounce of his +indomitable character to make his enterprise a holy crusade under the +banners of Castile.</p> + + +</section> + <hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<section id="chapter-2"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</span></p> + + + <h3>Chapter II</h3> + + +<p>On the arrival at Panama, Ruiz and Molina found Almagro and Father +Luque and a council of war was called in the library of their financial +backer, Espinosa, the alcalde mayor.</p> + +<p>Molina arrived before the hour fixed to report in person to Teresa. She +had been a girl of reserve, her high-strung, sensitive nature firmly +held in check by a strong mentality, and her lover had called her cold. +But to-night he watched her eyes kindle with tenderness and enthusiasm +as he told the story of Pizarro and his men. And when he told of +crossing the line with the handful who had volunteered, she threw her +arms around his neck and kissed his lips with unwonted fervor. Her +exquisite body trembled against his own and with passion and tenderness +he returned her kiss.</p> + +<p>“My knight! My knight of beautiful chivalry!” she breathed.</p> + +<p>“Hardly that, sweet,” he smiled. “There’s nothing about Francisco +Pizarro to suggest tilting knights. He brings a man back to earth—to +things stern and real; to things that mean life and death. But there’s +more than gold lust in the hearts of the dozen men with him. They are +the conquerors of a new world. They are the builders of empire. <span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</span>Men +may call them mad, but theirs is the madness that makes history.”</p> + +<p>“I am proud of you, my Alonso,” she interrupted. She studied a moment, +gazing out the window at the open sea. Then, “I’m going back with you. +I shall join his army when he marches.”</p> + +<p>“You?”</p> + +<p>“Yes.”</p> + +<p>“Nonsense, child. Your place is in the shelter of your brother’s home +until I can take you to our own.”</p> + +<p>“I go!” she stated fiercely. “I too feel the stir of a new world—”</p> + +<p>“But you’re a woman—the woman of my many dreams. I’ll hear no such +madness!”</p> + +<p>“I’ve as much right to madness as any man. If good Queen Isabel rode +beside Ferdinand into battle, surely I may act as page to my knight in +his adventure.”</p> + +<p>Molina laughed outright at her talk. The silly idea would pass. He +chose to ignore it. He looked at her tenderly.</p> + +<p>“And now, my Teresa, I confess. I fought the enterprise of Pizarro +because to join him meant a long wait for you. My weakness shames me, +but I may breathe it now—”</p> + +<p>She watched him through tears and once more embraced him fiercely. He +responded, and they stood in trembling ecstasy. And then through her +tears she whispered:</p> + +<p>“I shall <i>not</i> be separated from you. I’m going.”</p> + +<p>Once more he laughed at her whim and released <span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</span>her as he turned sharply +at the clank of Almagro’s sword at the door. Bidding her farewell, he +hastened to join Espinosa in welcome to Ruiz, Father Luque and Almagro.</p> + +<p>The little man with one eye fairly danced as he walked. He was in high +fettle. Francisco Pizarro had done what Almagro had urged him to do. He +had hung on. But he had done more. He had made of his act a ceremony +that fired the imagination.</p> + +<p>“Sometimes,” Almagro confided to Molina, “I suspect and hate that man. +But it’s joy to follow Pizarro. He <i>leads</i>!”</p> + +<p>The conference fell to work without delay. The case was desperate, but +Pizarro’s daring deed had aided it mightily. It was not a question of +fighting the governor to the last ditch; the only problem was how to +do it. At Father Luque’s suggestion they resolved to go at once to his +house and find the official mind. They would fix no formal hearing to +be packed with cowards. They would go at once and beard the lion in his +den. Pizarro’s spirit reached even across intervening sea.</p> + +<p>They were not long in finding the governor’s mind. His Excellency wore +it on his sleeve and his sleeve was rolled up for the fight.</p> + +<p>“You are wasting your breath,” he fairly shouted as they pressed about +him. “I’ve sacrificed the last ship and the last man to Francisco +Pizarro’s insane obstinacy. I need these ships and I need these men, +and I need them here.”</p> + +<p>“But Your Excellency must remember,” Father Luque interrupted, “that +you were specifically instructed <span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</span>by the Crown, in taking office, to +aid Pizarro’s enterprise.”</p> + +<p>“Not specifically, <i>padre</i>,” Rios corrected, “but merely +incidentally. I was specifically instructed to reorganize this colony +in harmony with the ideals and principles of Spanish civilization. I +was specifically instructed to bring the former governor, Pedrarias, +to justice and put an end to his career. The old devil had money and +influence enough to win in his trial. How much he paid into the pockets +of the judges, I know not, but he was allowed to go free and unscathed. +He was not only acquitted at his trial here, but he has so corrupted +the council of Panama that they have given him a license to establish +a slave market in the city under my very nose, where he is selling at +public auction thousands of helpless natives of Nicaragua. To carry out +effectively my royal commands I must equip an army, invade Nicaragua, +arrest him and put a stop to his infamies. And I’ll not be hampered by +madmen’s ambitions.”</p> + +<p>“I approve Your Excellency’s intentions towards Pedrarias,” Father +Luque suavely replied, “but we must not forget that Francisco Pizarro +and his brave followers are soldiers of Castile. They are carrying the +banners of Spain and the Cross of Christ. However mad their enterprise, +it is for the glory of the Crown.”</p> + +<p>Father Luque then paused, drew himself erect and added in solemn tones:</p> + +<p>“I warn Your Excellency, Don Pedro de los Rios, that if you dare to +leave Pizarro and his men to die <span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</span>on a lonely isle in the Southern Sea, +I’ll see to it that you answer to the Court of Spain for this act!”</p> + +<p>“Dare! <i>Dare</i> did you say?” roared the governor.</p> + +<p>“I have said it,” was the sober answer.</p> + +<p>Rios mopped his brow and sank low in his chair, his face a black mask +of helpless rage. Molina, Almagro, and Ruiz pressed him in the name of +God and King for a ship of rescue.</p> + +<p>He held a stubborn silence and allowed his tormentors to exhaust their +arguments before he spoke. He shot a fiery glance at Father Luque.</p> + +<p>“The only concession I will make to your clamor,” he growled at last, +“is to allow you to equip, at your own expense, a single ship of +rescue, with barely hands enough to work her sails. I’ll give positive +orders to Francisco Pizarro to report to me in Panama within six +months.”</p> + +<p>Molina heard the verdict with deep emotion. It was given with ugly +reluctance. He drew the group of his associates into a hurried +conference outside the governor’s house.</p> + +<p>“There is not a moment to be lost, my friends. He may change his mind +to-morrow.”</p> + +<p>“I agree with you,” Espinosa answered. “The money is ready. We must +build a small vessel, equip her with stores and a supply of arms and +ammunition and start at the earliest possible moment.”</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p>At last the little ship tugged at her anchor ready for the rescue. +Ruiz, her pilot, was in high spirits.</p> + +<p>“Our captain will be heartsick for a moment,” he whispered to Molina, +“at this poor response to his <span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</span>challenge of service for the King, but +he will find a way to win.”</p> + +<p>Ruiz’s sharp voice rang out in command to his sailors to lift the +anchor. The chains began to rattle into the locker when Molina saw to +his amazement a canoe swing alongside. A package of clothing was flung +on deck and in a moment he confronted a slender figure in a dark cloak. +Behind the upheld folds the white teeth of Teresa flashed a smile.</p> + +<p>“I told you, my Alonso, that I would go!”</p> + +<p>The cavalier lifted his hand and Ruiz ordered the anchor dropped.</p> + +<p>“And I told you, sweet, that it could not be.”</p> + +<p>For half an hour the quarrel raged. At the end Molina lifted Teresa in +his arms, lowered her into the canoe and ordered the oarsmen to the +landing. At the door of her brother’s house, he opened his arms for +their farewell.</p> + +<p>The girl’s figure stiffened.</p> + +<p>“So, I am your slave to be ordered about at your will. We shall see.”</p> + +<p>“Your blessing, sweet; the ship is ready.”</p> + +<p>Again he opened his arms, but she only stormed in anger, and turned to +enter the house.</p> + +<p>“Go if you will,” she snapped, “and the devil go with you. You will not +dare speak to me again!”</p> + +<p>The red slowly mounted the young cavalier’s face. He turned on his heel +and took three quick steps before he felt her arms about his neck.</p> + +<p>“Forgive, my Alonso, I love you. I love you more than life. This +parting is as death. Promise <span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</span>that my image only shall be in your heart +until we meet again.”</p> + +<p>“I promise, my own.”</p> + +<p>He pressed her in a long tender embrace, kissed her lips and ran to the +water’s edge.</p> + + +</section> + <hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<section id="chapter-3"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</span></p> + + + <h3>Chapter III</h3> + + +<p>Through seven dragging months Pizarro and his dauntless little band had +watched and waited for a sail on the northern horizon. Seven months +that passed as seven years, and never were brave men put to harder +test. In spite of every effort of their leader to fan the flames of +faith in God, their hearts at times grew cold with the sickening sense +of failure. Could they meet their foes in battle, it had been easy to +fight and win or die; but this loneliness of a living death, this fight +with invisible foes in far-off Panama was more than human flesh and +blood could bear.</p> + +<p>Two of his men lay nigh unto death. The captain tended their ills with +care. He saved for them the choicest food. He cheered their drooping +spirits with stories of his battles, for he knew the signs—their weary +souls were sick with waiting.</p> + +<p>Seated by their side Pizarro heard the shout of his men on the beach. +There was no mistaking that shout. It rang in accents of a joy that was +almost delirious.</p> + +<p>He leaped to his feet.</p> + +<p>“Ships! Ships! Lift up your heads, my comrades, and <i>live</i>!”</p> + +<p>The two sinking soldiers smiled for the first time <span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</span>in dreary weeks, +and their captain knew that they would live. They were too feeble to +be lifted aboard the little ship and Pizarro left them in charge of +friendly Indians from Gallo who had shared his lot on the island. He +promised to call for them on his return. They smiled again bravely at +the parting:</p> + +<p>“Go with God!”</p> + +<p>“Go with God!”</p> + +<p>When the others had been safely led aboard, Pizarro eagerly asked for +the rest of their fleet.</p> + +<p>“’Twas all the governor would allow us,” Molina answered.</p> + +<p>“It passes belief!” the leader groaned.</p> + +<p>“Yet ’tis true,” Ruiz sighed.</p> + +<p>“And what of Almagro?”</p> + +<p>“The fiery little devil stays to fight the governor for another ship +and more men. Rios refused him passage,” Molina promptly answered.</p> + +<p>Ruiz’ prophecy proved true. From the moment Pizarro felt the deck of +a ship beneath his feet and found himself in command of his dream, he +was himself again. His keen, deep eyes swept the shores of the mainland +with new hope. He had yet time to explore the country before the six +months could expire. He determined to sail southward for Tumbez, the +city of the great empire so often described by the Indians. If he could +find this rich city, his dreams would become a living fact. He could +not be longer denied his rights.</p> + +<p>The wind blew a light breeze from the south. They made slow gain, +beating steadily against it. Still, the weather was good, they were +comfortable, <span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</span>and they made progress. They passed the Island of Gallo +and watched its shore line vanish on the horizon, without regrets. In +four days they passed Point Pasado, the limit of former voyages, and +Ruiz gayly swung the prow of his little ship into the unknown seas +never before plowed by the keel of a European vessel.</p> + +<p>The shore line became less steep and rugged. The grounds sloped gently +toward the water and spread out into vast plains of sand with streams +of water showing patches of rare richness and beauty. Cottages dotted +the shores and the smoke of villages could be seen on the hills.</p> + +<p>After twenty days the adventurers rounded the point of St. Helena and +swept into the beautiful waters of the Gulf of Guayaquil. The shores +were studded with villages, and a narrow strip of green bordered the +sea and stretched back to the foot of the giant mountain range whose +peaks were lost among the stars. They gazed in awe at the mighty dome +of Chimborazo and far beyond saw Cotopox belching clouds of smoke and +lava through a sea of snow-clad mountains.</p> + +<p>Following the direction of their Indian guides they came to anchor near +the island of Santa Clara at the entrance of the bay of Tumbez. Early +next morning they stood across the bay toward the city whose houses +could now be seen.</p> + +<p>Halfway across, Pizarro encountered a fleet of <i>balsas</i> carrying +warriors to subdue a rebellious island. He invited the chiefs to come +on board his ship. The Peruvians were amazed at the sight <span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</span>of their own +people with the strangers. The Indians with Pizarro explained their +presence. They had joined the Spaniards on a former voyage and were +enthusiastic in praise of the white men as a marvelous race of beings. +Pizarro persuaded the chiefs to return to Tumbez, report their arrival +and provision the vessel with stores. He also expressed his desire to +enter into friendly relations with the people.</p> + +<p>The natives crowded the shores and listened with eagerness to the +story told by the chiefs. They gazed in wonder and awe on the strange +floating house in the bay, and marveled at the white wings folded so +snugly on its back.</p> + +<p>But the governor of the district heard the news with grave misgivings. +Evidently the strangers <i>were</i> of a race of superior beings, if +not indeed gods. He hastened to greet them with the most friendly +hospitality. <i>Balsas</i> were loaded with bananas, plantains, yucca, +corn, sweet potatoes, pineapples, cocoanuts and other rich products. He +also sent game and fish, and, what was most marvelous of all, a number +of live llamas of which Pizarro had seen rude drawings while serving +under Balboa.</p> + +<p>Every man on board the ship crowded about the curious animals, which +reminded them of diminutive camels. They felt the thick coating of wool +and hair which accounted for the specimens of woolen cloth which they +had seen on a former voyage.</p> + +<p>With the <i>balsas</i> the governor sent as his ambassador and +spokesman a Peruvian nobleman wearing <span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</span>huge ornaments of gold attached +to his ears. The rich costume and the deference paid him by his +attendants at once marked his high rank.</p> + +<p>Pizarro received him with every mark of honor, showed him the ship, its +equipment, its guns, sails, stores and crew. The Peruvian, through the +native interpreter, asked some questions. Studying Pizarro keenly he +inquired:</p> + +<p>“From where have you come and why to our shores?”</p> + +<p>The Spaniard bowed.</p> + +<p>“As vassal of a great prince, the greatest and most powerful in the +world, I am come to assert his supremacy, and teach your people the +religion of Jesus Christ the only true God.”</p> + +<p>The prince listened with respectful attention but made no answer. That +any other ruler could be greater than his was, of course, absurd. It +would be a waste of time to argue such a point. But if the Spaniards +had any god greater than their own, he held himself a philosopher ready +to be shown the light.</p> + +<p>He accepted Pizarro’s invitation to dine and enjoyed the meal. He +praised the Spanish wine and invited Pizarro to visit Tumbez.</p> + +<p>The captain presented him with an iron hatchet which he had greatly +admired. The use of iron was unknown to the natives.</p> + +<p>Pizarro returned the courtesy of the official call by dispatching +ashore Alonso de Molina with one of the native interpreters and a coal +black negro <span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</span>servant who had been brought from Panama—one of the first +fruits of the Las Casas traffic in slaves from Africa.</p> + +<p>The negro, whose name was Congo, carried a present of pigs and +chickens, animals as yet unknown in the country.</p> + +<p>Molina was immediately surrounded on landing by a mob of curious +people. The young women admired his long beard, and he received +proposals of marriage on the spot.</p> + +<p>They were amazed at the color of Congo. They utterly refused to believe +it was his own, and tried to rub it off with their hands.</p> + +<p>While they were still chatting and laughing over his black skin, the +young rooster which he carried, suddenly crowed. The sound was received +by shrieks, followed by a hundred curious questions. And then the crowd +suddenly fell back in awe before an exquisite girl arrayed in spotless +white who passed close to Molina. Murmurs of deep excitement swept the +throng.</p> + +<p>“A virgin of the Sun!”</p> + +<p>“She will surely die for it!”</p> + +<p>“A thousand pities!”</p> + +<p>“And ’tis Yma, first of all the dancers of the temple at Quito!”</p> + +<p>The girl, her fine eyes sparkling with wonder and anticipation, pressed +closer. She looked admiringly at Molina. Then she took the rooster from +Congo’s hand, stroked his neck and looked at a native interpreter.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</span></p> + +<p>“Ask the beautiful white stranger what this queer fowl has said.”</p> + +<p>The interpreter repeated the question to Molina. The cavalier studied +the vision of beauty for a moment, disturbed by the deep tenderness of +her gaze, smiled and answered:</p> + +<p>“He says that you are very beautiful.”</p> + +<p>The interpreter translated. The girl smiled—a ravishing smile. But a +guard carrying a spear seized her arm and led her away.</p> + +<p>Not, however, until her appealing eyes had flashed their message; and +once more had distressed and thrilled Molina. There was something +delightfully disturbing in the way she had searched his face—a sort +of joyous worship that made him feel that he had forgotten Teresa in +permitting it. But certainly he could not have forbidden it. He was +possessed with a curious presentiment that he would see her again, +that there was danger in their meeting—but also he trembled with +anticipation. For Yma <i>was</i> beautiful.</p> + +<p>He turned quickly to the interpreter, who had witnessed the scene in a +sort of fascinated terror, and asked:</p> + +<p>“Who is she?”</p> + +<p>“First of all the dancers at the Temple of the Sun at Quito.”</p> + +<p>The cavalier threw a startled look at the white retreating figure. She +stopped, lifted her hand and waved to him her farewell.</p> + +<p>Molina was escorted to the palace of the <i>curaca</i> <span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</span>and found him +living in state. Sentinels guarded the door and his reception room was +decorated with huge vases of pure gold, while the latches and door +trimmings were of solid silver. He inspected the fortress of stones and +was shown their cathedral building, a stone-walled Temple of the Sun. +From a parapet of its wall he caught again the flutter of that white +arm and recognized the girl who had dared the weight of tradition to +speak to him. She was near, and once more the thought disturbed him +delightfully.</p> + +<p>He was taken inside the building and was fairly blinded by its +decorations, blazing with gold and silver. The sun’s rays fell on them +in a way that seemed to double their light. But nowhere did he see Yma.</p> + +<p>When Pizarro received the report of his messenger, it seemed so wild he +could not fully credit the story.</p> + +<p>“Sir Knight,” he said gravely, “I fear the tales of chivalry in which +you once reveled have touched your mind.”</p> + +<p>He must select a more sober observer. He accordingly commissioned Pedro +de Candia to confirm or deny the weird tale.</p> + +<p>De Candia was sent ashore dressed in full armor, with sword at his side +and arquebus on his shoulder. The natives were further astounded at +his armor on which the sun’s rays gleamed with weird effects. They had +heard from their chiefs of his wonderful gun. They begged him to let it +speak to them.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</span></p> + +<p>The soldier set up a wooden board for a mark, took aim and fired the +musket. The explosion shivered the board and struck terror into all +who stood near. The people fled in wild confusion, and many of those +nearest the scene fell on their faces. A few drew near to Candia and +gazed on him with the awe and reverence of worshipers.</p> + +<p>The soldier laughed at their fears, and they showered him with +hospitalities. They conducted him through the outer fortress surrounded +by triple walls of heavy stone. They led him into the inner shrine of +the Temple of the Sun. He saw its walls literally plated with gold +and silver. The heavy vessels used by the priest were all in solid, +massive gold. To the stunned vision of the soldier they last of all +revealed the artificial garden of the Sun God adjoining the Temple. Its +shrubbery, fruits, and flowers were all wrought in pure gold and silver.</p> + +<p>Candia’s report more than confirmed Molina’s. It threw the adventurers +into a state of mad excitement. They gathered about their leader with +flushed faces.</p> + +<p>Pizarro spoke in the awed tones of a religious enthusiast.</p> + +<p>“Friends and comrades: Our eyes have now seen the glory of which we +have dreamed. Others can no longer call us madmen. Thousands will flock +to our banners. We dare not lift a hand in conquest of this great +Kingdom to-day, but God has crowned our sufferings and trials with +success. The natives have received us as demigods and heaven <span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</span>points +the way to our sure triumph. We will return with a mighty fleet and +army.”</p> + +<p>A shout rent the air. The Peruvians in their <i>balsas</i> swarming +about the ship mistook the cries for a farewell cheer. They lifted +their hands and called a joyous answer. Little could their simple minds +know the real meaning of the yell from the little ship’s deck.</p> + +<p>Pizarro drew Molina aside.</p> + +<p>“Señor Alonso de Molina,” he began in grave tones, “you shall be our +first ambassador to the court of Peru.”</p> + +<p>The young cavalier flushed and bowed.</p> + +<p>“I send you with this full rank. You know, of course, that our army is +not yet recruited to make good your credentials. You must go to the +court of their monarch as a scout and spy. Your life will be in your +own hands and God’s.”</p> + +<p>“I understand,” was the firm response.</p> + +<p>“Before my return I shall expect you to explore the Kingdom, find the +number of its people, the power and resources of its ruler and the +strength of its army. I wish a map of the roads and the location of its +forts. Report to me on the arrival of our fleet.”</p> + +<p>The cavalier’s figure stiffened.</p> + +<p>“I’ll do my best—”</p> + +<p>In a few minutes, he stood beside the rail with a native interpreter +and Congo, his servant, ready to depart on his important and dangerous +mission. There was no need to launch a boat to set him ashore. A fleet +of <i>balsas</i> again surrounded the <span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</span>ship bringing, with best wishes +from the governor, a fresh supply of food for their voyage. Pizarro +delivered his final message to the people.</p> + +<p>He joyously promised them a speedy return!</p> + + +</section> + <hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<section id="chapter-4"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</span></p> + + + <h3>Chapter IV</h3> + + +<p>The governor of Tumbez received Molina with royal honors, insisting +on giving a festival of days to celebrate his coming. The cavalier +declined with reluctance.</p> + +<p>“I am instructed, Your Excellency, to report at once to your sovereign +as the accredited ambassador of Spain.”</p> + +<p>The <i>curaca</i> gave swift orders to his attendants, and within half +an hour, two splendid litters draped in scarlet cloth, trimmed in gold, +drew up before the door. Four stalwart men held the bars of each sedan.</p> + +<p>The governor led Molina to his seat and ordered his baggage placed in a +plain litter to follow the two of gorgeous draperies.</p> + +<p>Congo hung back and grinned his embarrassment at the sight of his chair +of state. An attendant led him to the seat. He refused to get in.</p> + +<p>Molina laughed.</p> + +<p>“Take your seat, Congo,” the master ordered. “It is the custom of the +country.”</p> + +<p>In spite of urging from all sides the negro still balked. Amid shouts +of friendliness they caught and lifted him to his seat in the royal +conveyance.</p> + +<p>As the cortège of bearers and guards were about <span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</span>to start on the +journey to the court at Quito, a barefooted, barelegged athlete dashed +up to the governor and whispered a message. The <i>curaca</i> waved to +a group of native soldiers lounging across the way and in a few minutes +a litter veiled heavily in deep purple drew up behind the baggage train.</p> + +<p>Molina inquired the meaning of the message and the reason for the veil +which concealed his fellow passenger.</p> + +<p>The governor was loath to reply but in answer to the inquiry of the +interpreter quietly answered:</p> + +<p>“A prisoner under sentence of death goes with your train to the capital +for execution.”</p> + +<p>Molina glanced at Congo. He was leaning back in state, and had failed +to catch the ominous announcement. But, seeing the guards of his litter +throw a startled look at the veiled seat, he called the interpreter and +asked the meaning of the stir. When the solemn words were repeated he +rolled his eyes toward the purple draperies, leaped from his seat and +ran for his life.</p> + +<p>The guards at Molina’s command rushed to catch him. The black man ran +in leaps and bounds. With each frantic leap he breathed a prayer. He +reached the water’s edge and was about to dive when the guard caught +him. Four men dragged him back to his seat.</p> + +<p>Molina confronted him with rage.</p> + +<p>“What ails you, fool?”</p> + +<p>“My seat’s too high,” was the trembling answer. “They’re carrying me to +my funeral!”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</span></p> + +<p>“Nonsense,” his master reassured. “You’ve nothing to do with their +laws. We live under the laws of Spain.”</p> + +<p>Congo’s fear allayed, the procession started forward at a swift pace. +Outside the city they struck the great paved highway of the empire +leading northward.</p> + +<p>At nightfall they stopped at a rest house and ate a sumptuous meal +served with choice wines. The attendants wore the royal ensign which +denoted their service of the monarch. The rest house was not a tavern +run for gain, but a contribution of the crown to the convenience and +comfort of the traveling public.</p> + +<p>The cavalier marveled at its perfect appointments. His interpreter +showed him the royal granaries adjoining the house—full to +overflowing, against a day of need, with bread for the people. He tried +in vain to learn the character of the crime committed by the convict in +their train being carried on the last stretch of the journey of life. +But all lips were dumb.</p> + +<p>The only answer given was plainly a formula repeated many times before:</p> + +<p>“Only the Lord of the Sun in his palace at Quito can explain.”</p> + +<p>Arrived at Quito, the young ambassador was received with acclaim. +The knowledge of his coming had been proclaimed long before. Molina +understood now the meaning of the swift athletes who passed his train +from time to time. They <span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</span>were the royal mail carriers. He had seen them +meet on the highway, whisper a message and dart away on the smooth road +in opposite directions. A runner was required to travel at high speed +for five hundred yards and his message was taken and relayed to the +next man. They covered in this way three hundred miles in a day.</p> + +<p>Passing over the stone-paved streets of a large city, through massed +thousands of well-dressed excited people, the litters were borne into +the spacious courtyard of the royal palace. Molina gazed with wonder on +the stone walls. Many of the bowlders used in its structure were ten +feet long and four feet high, and undoubtedly weighed many tons.</p> + +<p>The monarch’s chamberlain, arrayed in a robe of gorgeous blue, clasped +with gold fastenings, bade Molina welcome in the name of his master and +conducted him to an apartment a single flight above ground.</p> + +<p>The Spaniard studied the solid masonry of the walls of his apartment +with increasing interest. They had been ground smooth on their +inner surfaces. The bowlders were of unequal size and shape and yet +fitted perfectly without the use of mortar. The finest point of his +knife could not find a crevice in their seams. Narrow windows near +the ceiling admitted light by day, and huge tapers of tallow stood +sentinels for the night.</p> + +<p>To his amazement he heard the splash of water through a doorway, and +entered to find a bathroom with a spacious pool fed by a sparkling +stream. <span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</span>Certainly these people were centuries advanced in the +development of life when compared to the semi-savage Indians of Darien +and Panama. A stone seat circled the room on which were laid towels +of cotton cloth. On the ledge of stone through which the stream of +water poured into the pool were placed goblets of solid gold on which +were wrought with skill the heads of jaguars. In one corner sat a huge +flagon of silver filled with a choice fermented drink and beside it +stood two cups.</p> + +<p>The Spaniard tasted the liquor and his eyes sparkled at the fine mellow +quality of the drink. It sharpened his wits, and beyond doubt he was +going to need the talents of a diplomat of the first rank.</p> + +<p>The chamberlain entered after an hour with a message from his master.</p> + +<p>“Our Lord of the Sun regrets that you arrived too late to dine with +him in state this evening and begs you to accept such service in your +apartment as his handmaidens can provide.”</p> + +<p>Molina bowed his thanks. The nobleman waved his hand and a procession +of fair serving maids entered bearing cushions, cloths, steaming dishes +of llama meat, potatoes, fruits and wines. The food was spread on a +low table of wooden sections placed in the middle of the room. A huge +cushion was placed beside the board for Molina. The interpreter, being +a native, was not supposed to sit at the ambassador’s table.</p> + +<p>When every want of his guest had been provided for, the chamberlain +bowed and said:</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</span></p> + +<p>“When you have refreshed yourself, our lord will receive you in the +throne room. I will return within the hour.”</p> + +<p>In vain Molina begged to know the name of the unfortunate prisoner who +had accompanied his train. Again he heard the formal answer:</p> + +<p>“Only the Lord of the Sun may explain.”</p> + +<p>The Spaniard determined to ask the monarch. The incident was +disquieting. The chamberlain was careful, however, to satisfy his +natural curiosity to know the name of the monarch.</p> + +<p>“You are now in the palace of our Lord the Inca, Atahualpa, supreme +ruler of the northern half of the Kingdom of the Four Corners of the +World. His brother Huascar rules at Cuzco, the capital of the South. +For the first time in history there are two Incas. This by the will of +their great father Huyna Capac, who so loved the beautiful mother of +our Lord of the Sun, that their second son, Atahualpa, was made equal +in power to the lawful heir Huascar.”</p> + +<p>Molina listened carefully. <i>Two</i> Incas! Two Incas might breed +jealousy. And jealousy might breed—The young cavalier’s heart beat +exultantly.</p> + +<p>An hour later the chamberlain entered with a group of noblemen and +led Molina into the throne room. The magnificent hall, lighted by a +thousand candles hanging in clusters from the beams of the wide-set +roof, presented a scene of splendor. The walls were covered with plates +of gold. The great beams that supported the roof were likewise sheathed +in beaten gold.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</span></p> + +<p>At the end of the hall on a throne of gold, set with pearls and +emeralds, was the Inca, surrounded by his wives. His mother, the +dowager queen, stood beside him. From the wall behind the throne, +projecting into the room above the head of the ruler, was an immense +plate of gold, representing the sun, a human face from which radiated +rays in all directions. These rays were heavily studded with hundreds +of precious stones. On the forehead of the face was set a huge emerald +whose deep green light gave to it an expression of sinister power.</p> + +<p>The Inca was a man of commanding presence in the full strength of an +athletic youth, thirty years of age. His lips were full, his features +regular, his nose long and finely shaped. The eyes possessed the slant +of the Orient and looked out fearlessly. There was no sign of beard +on his smooth face. Centuries of plucking had left the Peruvian race +without a beard. Within no one’s memory had beard on the human face +been known.</p> + +<p>A cloak of plaited gold hung loosely on his shoulders, its collar +trimmed in jewels, rising three inches above his shoulders. His head +was covered with a cone-shaped crown of gold tipped with scarlet +feathers. Pendants of emeralds hung from his ears to his shoulders. +Beneath the cone-shaped crown, projected to the eyebrows the scarlet +<i>borla</i> fringe, the supreme emblem of his power, symbol of both +human and divine attributes. He was both sovereign and God to his +people. In the center of the crown blazed the sign of the sun, and +on his breast he wore the same emblem which had been <span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</span>wrought in the +form of his own features by the royal goldsmith on the occasion of his +coronation. In his right hand he held a jeweled scepter.</p> + +<p>He waved his scepter and the vast crowd of splendidly dressed nobles, +accompanied by their wives and daughters, fell on their faces and rose +with a low murmur of applause.</p> + +<p>The chamberlain conducted the Spaniard to the foot of the throne, and +Atahualpa rose with simple dignity and presented his visitor to his +stately mother, a woman of rare beauty, at this time about forty-five +years of age. His queen he presented with due formality and waved an +introduction to his other wives.</p> + +<p>The Inca’s mother, with a gracious smile, placed a jewel-set chair +beside the throne and the Inca seated Molina and then resumed his own +place on the throne.</p> + +<p>Again the ruler lifted his scepter and the musicians concealed in the +foliage of artificial trees wrought in gold and silver began to render +an enchanting call to dance. The great curtains at the end of the hall +parted, and a hundred torch bearers entered and pressed the crowd back +against the walls, clearing the space before the throne for the dancers.</p> + +<p>At the shrill call of a trumpet five hundred dancing girls swept +gracefully into the cleared space led by an exquisite creature, whom +Molina instantly recognized as she bowed before the Inca. The Sun +Virgin Yma who had spoken to him in Tumbez! <span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</span>A frown clouded his brow +for a moment at an ugly thought. He dismissed it as foolish. She could +have preceded his train, of course, in a swifter one.</p> + +<p>Her arms and legs were bare; the whole body above the waistline bare +except for a delicate brassiere of meshed gold that covered her +breasts. Around her waist was wound a scarlet girdle to which was bound +a close-fitting loin cloth. From a jewel-set leather belt in which the +girdle ended hung strings of pearls that formed a skirt falling to the +upper calves of the legs.</p> + +<p>The five hundred Virgins of the Sun whose dance she led were all +dressed in similar fashion except that the brassieres were of meshed +silver and the skirts of tiny linked chains of silver.</p> + +<p>Through a maze of sensuous rhythmic motion, Yma led her shining +sisters, pausing at the end of each set to bow before the Inca.</p> + +<p>Never in Europe had the Spaniard witnessed a scene of such dazzling +beauty. No monarch of Spain ever had witnessed such magnificence. And +no other court could rival that of Spain.</p> + +<p>But Molina watched the spectacle with a sense of foreboding. This Inca +seemed a mighty monarch. And he could but hope that his commander +would not sail until the expeditionary fleet was an armada and the +expeditionary army invincible.</p> + +<p>But Molina’s fears were forgotten in his admiration for Yma. With +every approach to the throne her lustrous eyes sought his in a strange +yearning appeal that moved him profoundly. There could <span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</span>be no mistaking +her deep interest. That, he had seen at a glance on their meeting at +Tumbez. Then he had attributed it only to her curiosity at seeing for +the first time a full-bearded white man. His unusually fair complexion +in startling contrast with the coal black of his servant had, perhaps, +added to the fascination. But now he saw something else.</p> + +<p>Her gleaming teeth, her raven hair and her lithe, exquisite body held +him spellbound. There was something about her that called him. Had he +seen her eyes dimmed by tears as she swept close in the last dance? He +was sure of this, yet could find no reason for tears in such triumphant +revelry.</p> + +<p>The dance ended with a crash of trumpets and the five hundred Virgins +of the Sun, with lingering glances at the stranger seated beside their +sovereign, slowly marched through the great curtains and disappeared in +the depths of the adjoining temple.</p> + +<p>Yma alone remained. And Molina saw that she was terrified. She stood +before the Inca trembling, her eyes streaming with tears, her beautiful +arms outstretched in pleading. But the monarch’s face was hard. Her +tears, for him, had no meaning. With a low moan she sank to her knees +and buried her face in abject pleading for mercy.</p> + +<p>What, Molina wondered, had she done?</p> + +<p>The Inca waved to his guards. Two stalwarts lifted the prostrate figure +and tenderly supported her while the ruler spoke a brief sentence that +sent a shiver through the crowd of nobles.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</span></p> + +<p>Molina gripped the arm of his interpreter fiercely:</p> + +<p>“Quick! what is it? what did he say?”</p> + +<p>“That Yma, first of all the Virgins of the Sun, must die. The priests +of the temple will throw her into a vault and wall her up alive.”</p> + +<p>“In God’s name—why?”</p> + +<p>“She has broken her vows. She has spoken to a man without the +permission of the Inca. The Sun Virgins are the nominal brides of the +monarch.”</p> + +<p>Molina recalled the guard who had led her away at Tumbez. He +remembered, with racing pulses, his meeting with her. <i>She</i> was +the mystery behind the veiled litter.</p> + +<p>“God! And they mocked her death by commanding her to lead this dance?” +he sternly asked.</p> + +<p>“No. She begged the privilege of dancing for you. She outdid herself +to-night—”</p> + +<p>Molina’s decision was instantaneous. He sprang from his seat, seized +the girl and led the trembling figure before the Inca.</p> + +<p>The monarch’s brow clouded with quick anger. He lifted his scepter and +turned toward his soldiers.</p> + +<p>But the dowager queen bent close to her son.</p> + +<p>“Wait,” she whispered. “The girl loves the stranger. Use her. We can +learn his secrets and purposes through her.”</p> + +<p>The scepter was lowered slowly. Atahualpa turned toward the Spaniard, +his royal visage stern.</p> + +<p>“Why have you interfered?” he asked.</p> + +<p>“I beg of Your Majesty the life of this unhappy <span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</span>girl. In the +excitement that swept the people of Tumbez at sight of our ship, +and of the strange, bearded beings who sailed it, we were called +messengers from heaven. They thought us more than men. They called us +<i>god</i>-men. Surely, she might be forgiven that she forgot her vow +in such an excited hour. Will Your Majesty ask her if she thought me +human?”</p> + +<p>The Inca’s eyes narrowed. He spoke to the terror-stricken girl.</p> + +<p>Her answer was an awed whisper, half addressed to Molina and half +spoken to her Lord of the Sun.</p> + +<p>“I believed he was a god. I believe so now. I am dedicated to the +service of the gods. I had no thought of sin.”</p> + +<p>A new advocate suddenly appeared on the scene. A slender youth wearing +the insignia of the highest rank rushed through the crowd of nobles and +dared to seize the Inca in his pleading.</p> + +<p>“Atahualpa, glorious brother, you will not doom her to die. I love her. +Always I’ve loved her. If she dies, you kill me also!”</p> + +<p>The Inca threw the youth roughly from him. He rebuked him sternly.</p> + +<p>“Silence, boy! How dare you press me! Back to your guard before I send +you to a dungeon.”</p> + +<p>But Toparca remained. Once more he pleaded.</p> + +<p>“Kill! Kill me if you like,” he begged, “but spare her—”</p> + +<p>The Inca beckoned to a guard, who led the trembling youth through the +crowd of excited, murmuring <span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</span>courtiers. Yma’s eyes followed Toparca +with a look of tender pity.</p> + +<p>The dowager queen mother frowned. The boy’s unhappy love for the Sun +Virgin so suddenly revealed had again roused the wrath of the ruler. +But she pressed her scheme.</p> + +<p>“Use her!” she said, and her low whisper was tense. “Release her from +her vows and give her to the stranger. Allot to him a house. With four +maidens to assist, let her preside. The end is sure. We will cure the +lovesickness of Toparca and Yma will deliver this god-man into our +hands. We must know the real meaning of his presence among us.”</p> + +<p>The Inca smiled, and nodded his assent.</p> + +<p>He turned to Molina and spoke in tones of genuine good will.</p> + +<p>“I accept your plea for the girl and extend to you the hospitality of +my kingdom. She is yours. She will select a retinue of servants and +minister to your comfort!”</p> + +<p>Yma prostrated herself before the Inca, murmuring her worshipful +thanks. She rose with a joyous laugh and gazed long and tenderly at +Molina.</p> + +<p>“My glorious god-man,” she cried through tears of joy, “I worship you. +My life is yours.”</p> + +<p>The young cavalier started. He thought of Teresa. There was no +mistaking the look in the girl’s eyes. She had made no effort to +conceal it. The tones in which she laid her life at his feet left no +doubt of her meaning.</p> + +<p>There was no help for it. He had saved her. Now he must play the game +and wait—and he trembled <span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</span>at thought of the future; trembled with a +nameless dread—and anticipation.</p> + +<p>With a graceful bow to the ruler he turned to the smiling girl and +followed her to his new home.</p> + + +</section> + <hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<section id="chapter-5"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</span></p> + + + <h3>Chapter V</h3> + + +<p>Francisco Pizarro again found himself riding at anchor in the harbor of +Panama. The people had long since given him up as lost, sure that their +worst fears had been realized. They believed he had perished at sea in +the cockle-shell they called a ship, had died of starvation or had been +killed by savage natives.</p> + +<p>But he had returned, and with the stride and airs of a conqueror. He +bore live specimens of the Peruvian sheep and beasts of burden called +llamas. He displayed pieces of finely woven woolen cloth, some of it of +rarely beautiful colors. He had gold and silver vessels of exquisite +workmanship and he told a story of the splendors of Tumbez that +thrilled his hearers. Pedro de Candia was the eyewitness who confirmed +his tale.</p> + +<p>The alcalde mayor gave a banquet to Pizarro and his associates—Luque, +Almagro, and Candia.</p> + +<p>The only frown at the banquet table was on Teresa’s face. She heard +their stories with suppressed excitement and increasing pain. She broke +her silence at last in bitter reproaches to Pizarro.</p> + +<p>“And you, my brave Captain, whose praises I have sung and whose battles +I have fought in Panama, repay me by leaving my lover alone to <span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</span>perish +among savages. I cannot forgive you!”</p> + +<p>A moment’s dead silence followed the tearful outbreak. Pizarro rose, +crossed to her chair, and gently laid his big hand on the mass of dark +brown hair.</p> + +<p>“Have no fear, my Teresa. You sent me a brave knight. No braver, no +fairer, no wiser has come out of Spain. I sent him on a dangerous and +important mission because he was the only man of our company fitted for +the delicate task. He has personality. He has tact. He is handsome, +courtly, gracious, skillful. And he makes friends.”</p> + +<p>“Always among the women!”</p> + +<p>The whole company roared with laughter in which Pizarro joined.</p> + +<p>“I’ll stake my life, dear lady, on his undying loyalty to you. His last +words to me were a message of love.”</p> + +<p>In spite of his assurance, it was plain to see she had been little +comforted.</p> + +<p>“And when do you return?” she asked in a sad small voice.</p> + +<p>“When it shall please God to give us ships and men for our great +undertaking.”</p> + +<p>“And we’ll get them now, never fear!” little Almagro exploded.</p> + +<p>But Teresa listened and watched with grave misgivings. She knew that +her brother had been disturbed deeply by rumors from the governor’s +house.</p> + +<p>Father Luque arranged the hearing at noon two days later. Rios had +refused curtly to appoint an earlier date.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</span></p> + +<p>Pizarro told the story of his sufferings during the eighteen months +he and his band had waited and of their triumphant landing at Tumbez, +and asked the governor for a license to build a fleet and recruit an +adequate expedition for the conquest.</p> + +<p>“And from whom do you expect the money necessary for such an +undertaking?” Rios asked brusquely.</p> + +<p>Espinosa, the alcalde mayor, lifted his brows.</p> + +<p>“I will be responsible, Your Excellency, for the funds needed.”</p> + +<p>“And whence will you draw recruits for your army of conquest?” the +governor asked in a tone so hostile, Pizarro held his answer for a +moment until his passion subsided. Almagro squirmed in a frantic desire +to shout his resentment.</p> + +<p>“Five thousand men will answer my call in Darien, Panama, and +Nicaragua,” Pizarro answered quietly.</p> + +<p>“So, you have the effrontery,” the governor growled, “to ask that I +place this great army of men and a fleet of ships at your command while +I remain in Panama with a few ragamuffins to sustain my authority? +I will do nothing of the sort! I will not build a rival state at +the expense of my own. To what mad heights will your ambition soar, +Francisco Pizarro? Your demands are even a greater madness than the +silly dreams you have told for the past five years on which you have +squandered hundreds of lives. I will permit the sacrifice of no more +men for your cheap display of a few gold and silver toys and Indian +sheep!”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</span></p> + +<p>The thing behind the governor’s frown was out at last. He was jealous +of Pizarro, and no argument could move him from his hostile decision.</p> + +<p>Father Luque rose to add his voice to the plea of his associates, but +Pizarro seized him and scowled.</p> + +<p>“Not another word. We will not grovel before such petty jealousy.”</p> + +<p>They left the governor immediately.</p> + +<p>At the council which followed Almagro angrily proposed to build their +ships and sail without the governor’s approval or aid.</p> + +<p>But Espinosa shook his head.</p> + +<p>“We dare not move without a charter from the government, gentlemen.”</p> + +<p>“Has a free man no longer the right to breathe without a license?” the +fiery little adventurer scolded.</p> + +<p>“He has not!” the chief justice promptly answered. “More and more our +governments are regulating every detail of life. The concentration +of power in the hands of ruling kings has brought us to this state. +This man’s word, conceived in the meanest spirit of jealousy and low +ambition, is still the law in Panama. We must face the facts.”</p> + +<p>“And let the toil, sacrifice, and faith of years go for naught?” +Almagro flared. “Shall we stand idle while others leap in and seize +our prize? <i>Por las entrañas de Dios</i>, I’ll strangle the upstart +first!”</p> + +<p>Father Luque lifted his hand in disapproval, both of the blasphemy and +the threat of murder.</p> + +<p>“There’s a way, gentlemen, and we must take it.”</p> + +<p>He spoke with the conviction of a man who had <span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</span>carefully weighed +his plan. His associates drew close and waited in silence until he +continued.</p> + +<p>“Our remedy will mean delay. But I have the firm faith that in it we +will find a sure triumph. We are soldiers of Spain. We are working +for the Crown. We are extending the boundaries of the Empire of our +Sovereign, Charles V. Our glory will be his; our success his. He is +more interested than any man on earth. We’ll take our cause to the +Emperor and ask of him a royal charter.”</p> + +<p>Almagro leaped to his feet and shouted:</p> + +<p>“And make the pig in his Panama sty eat dirt.”</p> + +<p>The approval was unanimous. It was the one move which Rios would least +suspect and in his stubborn pride was sure to ignore as another dream +of fools.</p> + +<p>The plan was discussed in detail. The man on whom the choice of +ambassador to the Court of Charles fell at once—Father Luque—could +not leave his duties at Panama. Espinosa had been chief justice under +Pedrarias and his many enemies at the court rendered his selection +unwise.</p> + +<p>Pizarro and Almagro were not only unlettered soldiers, but it was known +of all men that both were born out of wedlock and had lived the lives +of nameless waifs in Spain. Pizarro had been abandoned in Truxillo by +the humble peasant girl who gave him birth.</p> + +<p>While a tiny boy he had earned a scant living by tending pigs; had +slept with them and had saved himself from starvation more than once by +nursing their friendly mother. He had never been to court <span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</span>even as a +kitchen scullion; he had never looked on royalty.</p> + +<p>Almagro was small of stature, ugly in features, and much disfigured +by the loss of his eye. Besides, his quick temper and easily roused +passions made his selection a thing beyond discussion.</p> + +<p>Father Luque suggested that they appoint the Licentiate Corroll, a +reputable lawyer about to return to Spain on public business.</p> + +<p>Almagro flung himself from his chair with a snort of disapproval.</p> + +<p>“God’s wounds, no!” he shouted. “He’ll forget us in his own business. +One of us must go. One whose heart and soul is in the work. I’ve +quarreled with Francisco Pizarro as I shall again. But I like his ways. +No court can frighten him. I’ve seen him in close quarters. No man can +tell the king the story of our adventures as well as he who led us. To +hell with his lack of learning and his sad birth! He’s a man for all +that, a strong man, and a leader. I ask Francisco Pizarro to go for us +to the court of the Emperor!”</p> + +<p>The one eye flashed its light into his comrade’s face and waited for +the answer. But Pizarro was loath to accept the grave responsibility.</p> + +<p>“Frankly, my friends,” he concluded his objections, “I’d rather lead a +dozen expeditions into the wilderness against wild beasts and savages, +but—” He paused and drew his fine figure erect—“if you think that I +am the man to entrust with this mission, I will go.”</p> + +<p>Father Luque was doubtful, yet no better choice <span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</span>seemed possible and +he acquiesced. He placed a hand on the shoulder of Pizarro, another on +Almagro’s shaggy head and earnestly prayed:</p> + +<p>“God grant, my children, that one of you may never defraud the other of +his blessing!”</p> + +<p>Pizarro solemnly promised to consult the interests of his partners +equally with his own.</p> + +<p>It was not until early in the spring that he sailed—the spring of +1528. He took with him Pedro de Candia as a living witness, two natives +of Peru to train as interpreters, three live llamas, and specimens of +fine cloth, and vases of gold and silver.</p> + +<p>He arrived early in the summer at Seville, the port from which he had +sailed for the New World more than twenty years before, an obscure +common soldier.</p> + +<p>The people heard him with deep interest and excitement. The news of his +arrival and mission to the court spread over the city with remarkable +swiftness. His dreams were coming true.</p> + +<p>On the day he was packing for the journey to the court a loud knock +on his door accompanied by the terror-stricken voice of the landlord +announced the arrival of a servant of the king. Pizarro smiled at what +he thought was the quick response of an eager Crown and opened the door +with pride.</p> + +<p>He was dumfounded to discover that the servant of the king was a common +bailiff charged with his arrest on a warrant sworn out by a certain +lawyer, Encisco, who had come to grief at Darien during <span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</span>Pizarro’s +first expedition with Ojeda. Encisco accused the bold adventurer of +ruining him by having Balboa ship him back to Spain. Pizarro saw the +fine hand of Rios in this warrant.</p> + +<p>Instead of an audience with His Majesty, Charles V, the ambassador +found himself that night talking from the inside of an iron cage to the +turnkey of a jail. He promptly sent Pedro de Candia with a message to +the Emperor.</p> + +<p>The moment Charles heard, he dispatched a courier with orders for +Pizarro’s release and an invitation to present himself immediately.</p> + +<p>From the depths of despair the prisoner was lifted to the heights. Of +the royal courier the soldier of fortune asked eagerly news of the +sovereign, his character, and of his achievements and triumphs. Buried +in the depths of the Isthmus of Panama and the trackless seas that +wash its shores, he had heard little of Europe. To him the Emperor was +merely a name to be spoken with awe. Now he must appear before this +august presence with his future in his hands. On the turn of a little +finger for him rested the issues of life or death.</p> + +<p>The courier was deeply impressed by the tall, bronzed man from the +wilderness, and described his royal master with enthusiasm as they +journeyed to Toledo.</p> + +<p>“Know this, Señor, that His Majesty is yet a very young man. Although +his fame fills the world he is but twenty-eight years of age, a man +of unusual strength of character, born the heir of four great royal +houses. He wears the crowns of Austria, <span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</span>the Netherlands, Aragon and +Castile, and he’s just been called to be the ruler of Germany. At the +age of fifteen the crown of Charlemagne was placed on his head at +Aix-la-Chapelle. He owns the kingdoms of Naples and the two Sicilies +and is about to depart for one of his palaces in Italy.</p> + +<p>“He has just defeated Francis I, King of France, and taken him +prisoner. He is too great for petty thoughts and petty grudges. Win his +favor and you may have what you wish for the asking.”</p> + +<p>Pizarro lifted his head with elation. He thought of Rios with contempt +and threw off fear. He could talk to a great man in a language that +he could understand. He must keep his poise amid the splendors of the +Emperor’s court and say the right word.</p> + +<p>As the cavalcade approached Toledo across the desolate stretch of +parched sands, the proud old city, set on its seven hills, loomed +suddenly in grandeur beyond the yellow waters of the Tagus. The rising +sun touched with splendor the towers of the cathedral and the ramparts +of the royal Alcazar in which Charles held his court. He had rebuilt +the old palace-fortress in a style befitting his new power. Somewhere, +beneath the pile of the cathedral, moved the archbishop of Toledo, +supreme ruler of the Church in Spain. His authority was second only to +that of the Emperor, and his hand had been felt more than once in the +affairs of the New World. A word that might offend the prelate would be +a fatal mistake.</p> + +<p>At the Alcantara bridge Pizarro paused to await the arrival of Candia +in charge of his precious <span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</span>llamas, and the treasures of Peru. On the +high hill above the bridgehead loomed the great rectangular fortified +convent and beyond it the towers of the city. Throngs were passing +over the highway, across the bridge. Vast clouds of dust filled the +skies from the plains. The capital of Spain at this time boasted of a +population of two hundred thousand people.</p> + +<p>Something in the contagious excitement of the throngs pushing, shoving, +jostling, shouting as they passed over the bridge, caught the heart of +the adventurer from the outlands. For more than twenty years he had +lived in the far wilderness. The crowded life of the city that loomed +above frightened him.</p> + +<p>A moment of panic seized him. What if he lost his head before the +august presence of the young Emperor, whose fame had reached the limits +of the earth? The results would be tragic. It would mean the loss of +all his years of toil. It would mean the end of his hopes. Encisco and +Rios would secure his rearrest. A man in jail in Spain at his age of +fifty-five would be doomed! The records of court were vain imaginings. +Once there, prisoners languished in dungeons and died without trial, +their very existence forgotten. Luckily for him the fame of Cortez’ +conquest of Mexico had stirred Spain, and the Emperor was interested in +the possibilities of Peru.</p> + +<p>In spite of his iron will Pizarro’s panic grew at these thoughts until +a shout from Pedro de Candia reminded him that he was the leader of a +great <span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</span>cause. On his shoulders rested the responsibility of success or +failure. He lifted his stalwart figure and rode across the Alcantara +bridge with as high head as the royal courier who accompanied him.</p> + +<p>They threaded the narrow, winding, gloomy streets and reached the +triangular plaza of Zocodoro without mishap. And here the ambassador +was grateful for the guidance of the courier. No stranger could have +found his way through the labyrinth of crooked streets without a guide.</p> + +<p>Pizarro protested at stopping in the tavern beside the square. He +wished to pass straight on to the Alcazar and see His Majesty without +delay.</p> + +<p>The courier laughed.</p> + +<p>“It will yet be hours, Señor, before His Majesty rises. On awakening +about eight, it is his habit to eat in bed a royal meal of spiced +chicken and beer, turn over and sleep again for several hours. It +would be unwise to see him until he has had his mid-day repast, a more +leisurely and substantial feast. Woe betide the man who interrupts +a meal of Charles V. He is not only the greatest potentate of the +world—he is the greatest eater of all time.”</p> + +<p>It was past two o’clock when Pizarro finally stood before the audience +chamber of the Emperor.</p> + +<p>The courier gave him friendly advice.</p> + +<p>“Show His Majesty your llamas and woolen cloth first. He is keenly +interested in developing his textiles. Then your golden vessels. He +needs gold. The <i>Cortes</i> will grant him no money for foreign wars. +He has just beaten the King of France, but a new war looms. The Pope +will soon crown <span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</span>him Emperor of Italy, but he must defend his title. +The Sultan of Turkey is mobilizing another army to march on Vienna and +he must defend his crown of Austria.”</p> + +<p>Pizarro murmured his thanks and suddenly found himself before the +Emperor and his gracious young queen, Isabella of Portugal—whom he had +married but two years before—the robed Archbishop of Toledo, and a +throng of courtiers.</p> + +<p>He trembled for an instant, but recovered his poise in the details of +exhibiting the live llamas, at whose odd shape the court was greatly +amused. Charles felt the quality of their wool with keen interest. The +fine fabrics of cloth woven from their clip he studied carefully, and +whispered to the queen:</p> + +<p>“There may be more in this than all the gold of the Indies.”</p> + +<p>She nodded her approval.</p> + +<p>The specimens of gold and silver manufacture he examined carefully, +with enthusiastic praise for their workmanship and solid weight.</p> + +<p>“And now, Francisco Pizarro, the court will hear your plea. Speak fully +and openly.”</p> + +<p>Pizarro approached the royal group with firm step and told his story in +the plain crisp words of a soldier, a man who had played the leading +rôle in the drama which he unfolded. He made no attempt at eloquence, +but felt from the moment he began that his personality had made an +appeal to the Emperor. His life and future were in his own hands. +He realized at moments a strangling consciousness <span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</span>of the fact, and +breathed a voiceless prayer for the right words.</p> + +<p>He told of his strange adventures on land and sea, his long, cruel +training in Darien and Panama, his struggles in forests, his +shipwrecks, his battles with savages, his comrades dropping by his +side, and yet ever pressing on, the banners of Spain upheld. With +resistless pathos he told of the sufferings on the Islands of Gallo and +Gorgona, the hunger, the loneliness of long months, the desertion by +his colonial governor, the deathless determination of his handful of +followers to extend the Empire or die, and of Molina, now plunged in +the vast unknown of Peru.</p> + +<p>When at length he saw the young Emperor’s eyes swimming in tears, he +bowed and withdrew into the crowd.</p> + +<p>His Majesty rose, smiled, called Pizarro to his side and seized his +hand:</p> + +<p>“As a true soldier of Spain you have honored our banners with your +faith and loyalty. I will commend your cause to the Council of the +Indies. Your petition for a royal charter is granted. In my absence in +Italy the Council will work out its details. I shall expect great deeds +of you, Francisco Pizarro!”</p> + +<p>The friendly courier gripped the adventurer’s hand as he passed from +the royal presence.</p> + +<p>“A great speech, Señor! I couldn’t have done better myself.”</p> + +<p>Pizarro’s dark face lighted with a puzzled smile.</p> + +<p>“But this Council of the Indies!”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</span></p> + +<p>The courier shook his head in a gesture of pity.</p> + +<p>“God help you, once in their hands. A bunch of snails. A pity His +Majesty is leaving for Italy. You’re in for a siege. The Queen is your +hope.”</p> + +<p>Pizarro hurried to his room at the tavern with a proud sense of +triumph. And back of it forebodings of a struggle with the Council. +As the sun set the adventurer looked out at the glowing, shimmering +splendor of royal Toledo, absorbed in dreams of the far land of +mystery, of the gallant young cavalier somewhere in its vast and +bizarre expanse, and of Teresa, who yearned for her lover.</p> + +<p>And his eyes were wet with glad tears.</p> + + +</section> + <hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<section id="chapter-6"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</span></p> + + + <h3>Chapter VI</h3> + + +<p>Molina found himself in a house whose appointments were amazing. Built +of cement, high on the side of a cliff, its comforts exceeded anything +he had known in the new world. Its walls were dry, the furnishings +adequate for every want, and the view from the terrace on which his +room opened, one of entrancing beauty. Below lay the city of Quito, its +huge palaces and fortresses of stone flashing in the tropic sun, and +beyond in the distance the snowy peaks of the Andes.</p> + +<p>The only thing he missed was the use of glass. The windows were closed +by wooden shutters or were merely open spaces through which light and +ventilation passed. The even temperature of the altitude at which the +city was built made this but a slight inconvenience.</p> + +<p>The beds were of bamboo slat that yielded as a spring. A heavy mattress +of wool was covered by clean cotton sheets finely spun and woven. +The best wool blankets were on every bed. The table service—plates, +cups, knives, bowls and pitchers—was of gold. The food served under +Yma’s watchful eye was deliciously cooked, the bread of corn meal most +palatable and satisfying. The llama mutton was done to please the +palate of a king. Large, <span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</span>white potatoes roasted through and through +were dry and mealy and to him a thing unseen or tasted before on any +table in the outside world.</p> + +<p>A golden bowl was filled with bananas, pineapples, plums, cocoanuts and +mangoes.</p> + +<p>The swift feet of voiceless serving maids scarcely made a sound as they +moved through the halls and rooms at their tasks.</p> + +<p>As the shadows of evening fell, Yma led her new master into the court +about which the house was built. A fountain splashed in the center. +In huge earthen pots dazzling flowers bloomed and an orchestra of +soft-stringed instruments made weird music.</p> + +<p>The table for the evening meal was set beside the fountain. Yma took +her place at its head and presided with simple grace. Her orders +were silently and swiftly obeyed. She watched Molina with keen eyes, +anticipating his every want. And when he sighed with satisfaction at +the close, she smiled and asked through his interpreter:</p> + +<p>“My Lord is pleased?”</p> + +<p>“Delighted, dear Virgin of the Sun. You work wonders.”</p> + +<p>“And I have another—”</p> + +<p>She waved her bare arm and from a room opening on the court, swept a +chorus of dancing girls who circled the table in number after number of +graceful dances. Their lithe young bodies seemed the incarnation of the +soft strains of the hidden music.</p> + +<p>The Sun Virgin watched the effect on the Spaniard <span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</span>with an interest +that was half pain and half joy. The girls were dressed exactly as +the chorus of five hundred at his royal reception, except that the +skirt of silver spangles was a little shorter and the dancers had been +selected with more care, each one a marvel of sensuous beauty. Each one +a smiling challenge to the man before whom they swept.</p> + +<p>But there was no look of jealousy in Yma’s lustrous eyes. To her simple +mind she was celebrating a festival of love. Her Lord was worthy of +the best the Sun God could give. She had selected these girls with the +pride of an expert.</p> + +<p>A look of care clouded her brow at Molina’s lack of interest. Not +exactly bored, yet he lifted his eyes to the stars sometimes with a +far-off expression as if his mind were in another world.</p> + +<p>“My Lord is not happy?” she asked plaintively.</p> + +<p>“Oh, yes,” he responded cordially, “but I was just wondering if your +people dance all the time?”</p> + +<p>“They work sometimes, but they manage to dance every night—”</p> + +<p>“Every night?”</p> + +<p>“And why not? They are carefree. They are happy. Their feet rejoice.”</p> + +<p>“I see!” he laughed.</p> + +<p>The table cleared, and the last dance ended, Molina bade his charming +hostess good-night and retired to his room.</p> + +<p>He opened the window, blew out the taper and sat watching the full moon +flood the valley with the glory of its tropic light.</p> + +<p>The rich delicate food, the splash of water, the <span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</span>sigh of music and +the swaying of the beautiful bodies had found him at last. It thrilled +him and he tingled with the delight its sensuous effect produced. He +thought of Yma and he caught his breath.</p> + +<p>Yet he was sick for the girl he loved in Panama. He wondered if she +missed him with the sharp pain that he felt to-night? How little he +had dreamed at their parting how long it would be before he saw her +again. The waiting now might be an eternity. He regretted his carrying +her back to her home. Suppose his captain failed to build his fleet +and recruit his army? Then he was trapped for life. The way across +the trackless wilderness and mountain barriers could not be made +alone. Only a madman would dream of taking it. A sense of intolerable +loneliness caught his heart.</p> + +<p>A soft footfall echoed within the room and he turned in amazement to +see a vision of unearthly beauty standing before him. The moon’s rays +lighted her white robe with a shimmer of silk. She came close and her +dark eyes glowed with flaming tenderness.</p> + +<p>She stretched toward him her bare arms. He stood, rooted and +fascinated. The lithe arms encircled him and drew him to her, against +firm breasts. His senses swam. For one red instant he crushed her to +him. Teresa—! He broke away, his brow cold with starting sweat. Then +he led her to her room and closed the door.</p> + +<p>But she returned with the interpreter, her face flushed, her eyes dim +with tears.</p> + +<p>“Surely my Lord understands that I am his wife <span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</span>by command of the Inca, +whose word is the law of God?”</p> + +<p>“I—I can’t quite understand. I—”</p> + +<p>“But I adore you, my god-man. I am all yours, soul and body—”</p> + +<p>Molina turned away, avoiding her gaze. He was silent. Yma spoke again.</p> + +<p>“Am I ugly?”</p> + +<p>“You are very beautiful, dear Virgin of the Sun.”</p> + +<p>“But you dislike me?”</p> + +<p>“No.” The cavalier turned, faced her and said slowly, “I love another +in Panama.”</p> + +<p>Yma stared a moment in surprise and laughed happily.</p> + +<p>“Then I can be second. You will love us both!”</p> + +<p>The Spaniard shook his head.</p> + +<p>“But the Inca has many wives,” the soft voice pleaded. “The three +thousand Virgins of the Sun are called his brides. You are surely a +god-man—even greater than our Lord—you are fairer than the sky at +dawn. Surely you may have as many brides as you like?”</p> + +<p>Again, her nearness set him trembling. But he set his jaw.</p> + +<p>“It is not permitted to a Christian, dear Yma.”</p> + +<p>She looked at him in hurt amazement, turned slowly and left him, her +shoulders drooping.</p> + +<p>For an hour the cavalier stood before his open window and watched the +moonlit valley shimmering below. He had spoken his vows and he loved +the girl he left behind in Panama, and yet the beauty he had just +denied himself half maddened him. He <span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</span>turned and started for the door +Yma had closed behind her. And then he thought again of the high-strung +Spanish girl to whom he had given his word. He had spoken his vows. He +was yet a Cavalier of Spain.</p> + +<p>He walked back to the window and stood, his head bowed in the moonlight.</p> + + +</section> + <hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<section id="chapter-7"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</span></p> + + + <h3>Chapter VII</h3> + + +<p>Pizarro’s fears of the Council of the Indies were more than justified +by the events which followed the departure of the Emperor for Italy.</p> + +<p>For more than six months the restless adventurer was forced to cool his +heels in the anteroom of the council chamber. And with each day his +slender means sank under the strain of his expenses and futile efforts +at bribery.</p> + +<p>He thought of Molina with vague misgivings. He thought of Almagro with +distinct and painful fears. The impulsive firebrand had more than once +threatened to organize an expedition of his own and defy all authority +until the deed was done. He had sworn they would all then fight to +recognize such an achievement. And if Almagro once got the ships and +the men, he might elude the opposition, do the great deed and achieve +the immortality Pizarro had dreamed for himself.</p> + +<p>The more he thought it over, and the longer the delay, the more +unbearable became the strain.</p> + +<p>Again he found himself in a position where he must risk all by a leap +over the heads of petty officials to the source of power. He dreaded +the chance of mishap but had to face it. If he appealed <span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</span>to the Queen +and she referred him back to the Council, they would drive him out of +Toledo. The Emperor was now in Austria recruiting an army for war on +the Sultan, and had forgotten the llamas and the golden vessels.</p> + +<p>He decided to appeal to the Queen. And in spite of his fears, her +gracious young Majesty received him cordially and expressed surprise +at the delay of the Council of the Indies. She immediately ordered the +execution of the capitulations with Pizarro defining his office, powers +and privileges in Peru. They were generous beyond his wildest hopes.</p> + +<p>The royal charter granted the right of discovery and conquest in the +province of Peru which was to be called New Castile. He was made +the governor and captain general of the province with the title of +Adelantado and Alquacil Mayor for life, at a handsome salary. He was +given the right to build fortresses and govern them, to assign Indians +to labor under the provision of law and exercise all the powers and +prerogatives of a Viceroy of the Crown.</p> + +<p>Almagro was made commander of the fortress of Tumbez with the rank and +privilege of an hidalgo. Father Luque was made Bishop of Tumbez and +Protector of the Indians in Peru.</p> + +<p>All salaries were to be drawn from the revenues of the conquered +territory. The conquerors must, in short, pay their own expenses and +give the Crown one-fifth of their spoils.</p> + +<p>Ruiz received the title of Grand Pilot of the Southern Seas, de +Candia was made Commander of the Artillery and the remaining +faithful followers <span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</span>on the Island of Gallo were made hidalgos and +<i>cavalieros</i>.</p> + +<p>Pizarro protested at the unequal distribution of honors between himself +and his partner, Almagro. But the Council was obdurate in refusing to +divide authority. Such division had always been a source of jealousy +and bitterness. Pizarro was compelled to take all or allow a court +favorite from Toledo to take his place. So he risked the wrath of +Almagro and accepted the honors.</p> + +<p>The charter provided that Pizarro should obey the Spanish laws of +good government and the protection of the native populations. He was +ordered to carry in his expedition of conquest a required number of +ecclesiastics devoted to the service and conversion of the Indians. +With these churchmen he agreed to confer on all important questions of +policy and the conduct of government.</p> + +<p>In order to make good the charter he was required within six months to +raise and equip a force of two hundred and fifty soldiers which the +Crown agreed to arm. All other expenses were to be borne by Pizarro and +his associates. He must be prepared within six months of his arrival at +Panama to sail on his expedition.</p> + +<p>The adventurer was honored with the habit of Santiago and authorized to +claim armorial bearings.</p> + +<p>On receiving his papers under the great seal of the Crown, he hastened +to his native town of Truxillo. Here he had grown, among scenes of +squalor and poverty whose memories were burned into his soul. Here he +had lived, a miserable outcast, without <span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</span>the love of father or mother, +suffering at times the pangs of hunger. And yet the heart of the +man, now fifty-five years old, turned fondly back to the home of his +childhood. There was something of stern pride in his desire to show his +appointment as a viceroy of the Emperor Charles V to the people who had +once looked on him as the veriest trash. There was more of boyish pride +in his home and a genuine desire to lead its people to fame and fortune +under his banner.</p> + +<p>He sought at once his brothers and found them all eager to enlist. +Three of these brothers were also illegitimate. Francis Martin de +Alcantara was related to him by the mother’s side only. Two others, +Gonzalo and Juan Pizarro, were descended from his father’s side. They +were all poor and proud as they were poor, and their eagerness for gain +was in proportion to their poverty.</p> + +<p>Hernando, his older brother, was a legitimate son, a man of fine +figure, repulsive features, and violent character. Arrogant, proud, +jealous and revengeful, he soon acquired over Francisco an influence +that was to have its effect on the expedition. Pathetic was the love +which Francisco bore these men who had not given to him a thought since +he disappeared from Truxillo a quarter of a century before!</p> + +<p>In the late spring of 1530 their squadron of three vessels anchored +at Nombre de Dios on the Isthmus of Panama. Here Pizarro found his +associates Luque and Almagro impatiently awaiting his long-delayed +arrival.</p> + +<p>When the little one-eyed man heard the provision <span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</span>of the charter which +gave to his partner all the honor and powers of government, his fury +was boundless. He openly taxed Pizarro with treachery.</p> + +<p>“Am I nothing as compared with you?” he shouted. “Am I thus to be +dishonored before the world as your lackey and not your equal? Did we +not both swear on the missal in the Church at Panama to share alike in +both the perils and rewards of the enterprise? Yet in spite of your +solemn oath you put this shame upon me!”</p> + +<p>Pizarro was deeply distressed at the anger of his partner. He sought +with all his powers of persuasion to explain his apparent betrayal of +trust. He swore to Almagro that he was forced to choose the supreme +power for himself or see it pass to a vain, incompetent favorite of the +Court who would have ruled them both. He slipped his arm around the +little man, led him aside and begged him to be calm.</p> + +<p>“Don’t forget, my partner,” he pleaded, “that my honors are yours as +well as mine. I seized them as a sacred trust for us both. All that I +have will ever be yours for the asking.”</p> + +<p>Almagro’s quick temper responded to this assurance and the quarrel +would have been healed but for the stupid and arrogant interference +of Hernando Pizarro. From the moment of their first meeting the +venomous older brother had shown his scorn for the one-eyed +adventurer. Almagro’s claims were scouted as ridiculous and he was +held a contemptible impediment to Francisco’s career. This attitude +Almagro resented with a violence that boded ill for the future of the +enterprise. His <span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</span>friends, and they were many, heartily joined him in +his hatred of Hernando.</p> + +<p>On the way across the Isthmus to Panama the breach widened. The +overbearing conduct of the leader’s brother was a thing not to be +endured by veterans of the wilderness. Francisco Pizarro’s apparent +betrayal of trust was enough without the insults of his vain, brutal +brother.</p> + +<p>At Panama, Almagro announced his break with the Pizarros, and began +the purchase of ships and recruiting of men for an expedition of his +own. Luque and Espinosa now rushed into the breach that must be healed +at all hazards or the enterprise would be lost and a rival step in +to reap the fruit of six years’ suffering and toil. A working truce +was patched up between the partners. Pizarro agreed to surrender to +Almagro the honor and dignity of Adelantado, and petition the Emperor +to confirm his rival in the office. He promised to apply for a separate +government for Almagro the moment he should be established in his. He +also solemnly agreed to give no office to either of his brothers until +his partner was satisfied.</p> + +<p>“Come, man,” he pleaded, “the empire we seek is big enough for all.”</p> + +<p>The little man was ready to give his hand in full reconciliation with +his veteran associate when his one eye rested on Hernando Pizarro’s +dark sneering face and he was in the air again. He finally accepted the +promises of Francisco when the controversy between the three associates +was rewritten. The spoils should be divided into three equal shares, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</span>after the fifth interest of the Crown had been deducted, one share for +Francisco Pizarro, one for Diego de Almagro and one for Father Luque +representing Espinosa.</p> + +<p>But the final healing touch was given by Teresa’s soft hand. She led +Almagro to a seat overlooking the Bay of Panama and pleaded with him +through her tears.</p> + +<p>“You like my Alonso, do you not, Captain?” she asked earnestly.</p> + +<p>“As fine a young cavalier as ever came out of Spain!” was the quick +answer.</p> + +<p>“Then you will have pity on the girl who loves him and sail without +delay. He has been there alone for more than two years—”</p> + +<p>Almagro’s one eye glittered as a smile played about his rugged face. He +rose and bowed low before her.</p> + +<p>“Your tears are all that’s needed, dear lady. I’ll shake hands with +the old pirate once more, hold my nose when his brother draws near and +sail to find your sweetheart. I’d have done it anyhow in the end urged +by your brother and Father Luque. Now, I’ll show you how quick I am in +action.”</p> + +<p>He was good as his word. The ships were found quickly. The vessels at +Nombre de Dios on the Atlantic were sold at a good price and three were +provided at Panama to take their places.</p> + +<p>But the quarrel of the partners and the continued opposition of the +governor had rendered recruiting difficult.</p> + +<p>Rios feared the man who was now viceroy.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</span></p> + +<p>Instead of a fleet of big ships and five thousand men of which Molina +had dreamed, Pizarro commanded three small vessels and only 180 men, +with twenty-seven horses. He left Almagro to follow with more ships +and men, and boldly sailed early in January, 1531, for the coast of +Peru. With this small force he would begin operations and trust to the +reports he would send back, for recruits.</p> + +<p>On the second day out Pizarro was amazed to see standing before him +in his cabin a slender youth dressed in a shimmering coat of mail. He +gazed for a moment in surprise unable to place the name or features of +his young soldier.</p> + +<p>A low ripple of laughter betrayed her sex and the chief recognized +Teresa. He leaped up in anger and alarm.</p> + +<p>“What madness is this, Donna Teresa!” he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>“The same madness which I have caught from you, Your Excellency,” the +slender knight replied.</p> + +<p>The grizzled veteran smiled at the first royal salutation which he had +yet received. He had not fully realized that he was now sailing the +Southern Sea, in his own domain and a viceroy of Charles V.</p> + +<p>“Your brother to whom we owe so much will follow and give me trouble +for this, dear lady.”</p> + +<p>“Nonsense. My brother knows that good Queen Isabel rode to battle with +King Ferdinand. My coat of mail is patterned precisely after the one +she wore as she sat her horse beside the King. I like your high spirit +of adventure, Your Excellency. I’ll ride with your Castilian horse, +and my only complaint <span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</span>will be that we are so slow. Because, Your +Excellency, I go to my lover, and women on journeys of love laugh at +danger, flout the elements, and challenge death itself. So lead me, my +Pizarro; our destinies are cast.”</p> + +<p>And the conquistador smiled in admiration as the little fleet flew +southward.</p> + + +</section> + <hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<section id="chapter-8"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</span></p> + + + <h3>Chapter VIII</h3> + + +<p>The Sun Virgin stood beside the terrace wall of Molina’s house gazing +sadly over the city of Quito at the setting sun. Days had passed and +the man she worshiped had not yielded. Almost, it was true, but his +troubled eyes and firm mouth had held her aloof. Her heart was heavy. +It was unthinkable that he should continue forever to repulse her.</p> + +<p>The healing beauty of the tropic sunset stole over her at last and +brought a smile. Song birds softly twittered their evening prayers from +the branches of orchids. Brightly tinted humming birds were hurrying +from cup to cup sipping their nightcaps. Parrots, chattering, swung +from limb to limb of the trees.</p> + +<p>Over all slowly settled the full glory of the sinking sun, touching +fruits, flowers and birds with subtle magic. The girl watched the +widening splendors with a throb of hope. Never had God painted a more +marvelous canvas in the skies than that on which her hungry eyes gazed. +On the horizon above the darkening line of the hills loomed a growing +mountain of soft white clouds. The sun, slowly sinking, shot through +them the miracles of a thousand colors. In their hearts, hot orange; on +the <span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</span>fringes gold, bright and flaming. The sky, a magnificent canopy of +crimson from horizon to horizon—slowly faded into the purple glories +of the Orient.</p> + +<p>“An omen!” The girl smiled and turned into the house.</p> + +<p>Yma had scarcely reached her room before the doorman entered it to +announce a visitor.</p> + +<p>“Toparca?” she asked with trembling eagerness.</p> + +<p>The guard nodded.</p> + +<p>“Tell him to await me in the court beside the fountain.”</p> + +<p>When she appeared, fully dressed, the youth was pacing the paved floor +restlessly.</p> + +<p>“You have heard something?” she asked in a quick whisper.</p> + +<p>“Yes. The chief priest has demanded a Council of State. It is now in +session. The chief priest, the Inca, the queen, the dowager mother are +there. They are trying the stranger for his life. If you would save it, +you must act quickly!”</p> + +<p>“And you who love me bring this message?” she cried tenderly.</p> + +<p>“Yes—”</p> + +<p>She could only stare, but her eyes shone in misty gratitude.</p> + +<p>“Oh, Yma, beloved,” he choked, “have you become the stranger’s bride?”</p> + +<p>“No, Toparca. He loves another. He has repulsed me cruelly.”</p> + +<p>The youth stared bewildered.</p> + +<p>“How could he be so blind before your dazzling beauty?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</span></p> + +<p>“He does not see with your eyes.”</p> + +<p>“I’m sorry you grieve, my Yma. I’d give you your heart’s desire, if +I could. Yet I rejoice you are not his. And I shall pray our Sun God +daily to keep you until I shall claim you as my own. When I am of age +the Inca will grant my prayers—if you will only wait and love me, +dear?”</p> + +<p>The girl pressed her fingers to his lips in a tender gesture and +hurried to the door.</p> + +<p>“Come, we’ve no time to lose. You must help me.”</p> + +<p>The boy obtained admission to the royal council chamber of his brother +without delay, and concealed Yma behind the folds of the curtained +doorway.</p> + +<p>The chief priest was speaking sternly:</p> + +<p>“I repeat my warning to you, Lord of the Sun. This man is a spy sent +among us to learn the strength of your kingdom. Your illustrious +father first heard of their skirting our coast in this very room, the +night he made his will, and divided the kingdom between you and your +brother Huascar. The Priests from Cuzco threatened and raved in vain. +And strange to say an earthquake shook the palace and a volcano burst +into eruption. Your father, Huyna Capac, defied the double warning and +reaffirmed his decree in favor of your mother, his beloved Pacha.”</p> + +<p>The Priest paused and bowed to the stately Dowager Queen.</p> + +<p>“He made you the Inca of the Northern Kingdom in spite of all croakings +from Cuzco. But I warn you, Lord of the Sun, your father confessed <span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</span>to +me in secret that in these strange beings who walk the earth in shining +shells, carrying thunderbolts in their hands, he foresaw the doom of +the empire. I vote for the man’s death to-night.”</p> + +<p>The dowager studied the high priest with a frown. The Inca lifted his +eyes to the queen who refused to act without his lead.</p> + +<p>“I wait your decision, my Lord,” she humbly said.</p> + +<p>The Inca’s slanting eyes narrowed in a piercing glance at his mother.</p> + +<p>“But if this strange god-man is endowed with such power can we not use +him? Two Incas cannot rule. A war between us now threatens. If the +stranger will give to me his magic, I can win if these tales of his +prowess be true—”</p> + +<p>“That depends,” his mother interrupted, “on the charms of Yma. If she +wins his love, he will fight for us—”</p> + +<p>“But will she win?”</p> + +<p>“If he resists her charms he is truly a god. She is the most beautiful +Virgin of the Sun in the history of the Kingdom.”</p> + +<p>Yma pressed Toparca’s hand and whispered:</p> + +<p>“Now, lead me to the Inca—”</p> + +<p>The youth tremblingly led the girl before the royal Council, and +faltered:</p> + +<p>“The Sun Virgin has an important message, Atahualpa.”</p> + +<p>The girl threw Toparca a look of pity and faced the frowning ruler.</p> + +<p>“I have come, my Lord of the Sun, to announce <span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</span>my triumph. The stranger +is mine. He loves me and takes me as his bride.”</p> + +<p>Toparca rushed from the room.</p> + +<p>The Council voted life to Molina, who was at the moment alone in his +apartment, a prey to fears of the future.</p> + +<p>While on the great uncharted sea, the little fleet, like an approaching +cloud, flew southward and neared Tumbez.</p> + +<p>Empires lay on the scales and a woman’s lie had turned the balance.</p> + + +</section> + <hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<section id="chapter-9"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</span></p> + + + <h3>Chapter IX</h3> + + +<p>When Yma discovered that Molina could not be taken through the mere +sight of her beauty or the voluptuous appeal of her lovely body, by a +quick intuition she changed her method.</p> + +<p>She would make her presence free from all attempt at allurement. She +would work a charm of habit so subtle that he could not arm himself +against it. Never once, after the first night of offered surrender, did +she hint of love. She was simply a slave to the bidding of her master. +His commands were her joy; her service an act of worship.</p> + +<p>Her first suggestion for his daily life was so sensible he agreed +immediately. He must master the Quicha language, the spoken word of +the Inca Empire. She would learn to speak his tongue and together they +could train others.</p> + +<p>The Spaniard found her new ways harder to resist than the more obvious +one with which she began. Through the long hours of their study of the +languages she was ever modest, gentle and worshipful.</p> + +<p>Her attitude of worship was the one restful thing about her. It was +a strange experience for the cavalier. The sense of being regarded +as a god was a queer feeling. It reacted on his conscience and <span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</span>his +outlook on life. It held him to ideals. He could not afford now to act +as common clay. The girl’s worship was an incense that glorified life. +It gave him strength to resist the lure of her body. It brought to his +loneliest hours of longing for Teresa a new strength. And yet, it was +this very attitude that, to an extent, weakened him. It was easier +for his conscience, but it maddened his masculinity. Yma’s strategy +was subtle. Molina’s ideals struggled with his inclinations. If she +threw her beautiful arms around his neck now—and he tacitly hoped she +would—the battle would be a hard one.</p> + +<p>As the days passed and no sign of an invasion of the kingdom appeared, +the Inca’s fears passed. He allowed his strange guest complete liberty +to go and come as he pleased.</p> + +<p>Yma planned a journey of inspection of the kingdom to which Molina +eagerly agreed. It would give him the opportunity to map the country, +locate its roads and forts, gauge the number of its inhabitants, and +estimate the strength of its resources and armies. To the girl it meant +the glory of moonlit nights in the tropics amid scenes of surpassing +splendor. His heart would be of stone if it did not melt at visions she +would show to him.</p> + +<p>The highways were a source of endless wonder to Molina. The litters on +which they were swiftly borne passed over endless miles of wide, paved +roads, such roads as Europe had never seen or the world known since the +days of the Roman Empire.</p> + +<p>Yma led him first over the highway of the Grand Plateau between the +first ranges of the Andes. They <span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</span>climbed swiftly into the clouds. +Across trackless sierras of dazzling snow the trail was never lost. +Tunnels ran through miles of solid rock. Rivers were crossed over +slender suspension bridges that spanned gorges miles in depth. Mountain +crests were scaled by hewn stairways cut into the rocks. Narrow ravines +of almost fathomless depths were filled with solid masonry to meet the +level of the tunnels.</p> + +<p>“How long, my Yma, is this miraculous roadway?” Molina asked as they +began the descent into the great plateau.</p> + +<p>“Two thousand miles, Señor,” was the quick reply.</p> + +<p>He laughed at the quaint way her lips framed the Spanish “señor.”</p> + +<p>They stopped at a post resthouse perched on the cliff to enjoy the +grandeur of the view. Molina never tired inspecting the huge granaries +of these stations. He always found them not more than five miles apart. +These were not only for the use of the traveling public, but were the +homes of the post runners who carried the royal mails with such swift +efficiency.</p> + +<p>These runners, called <i>chasquis</i>, were young athletes selected for +their speed and fidelity. In addition to the delivery of the royal mail +they also carried delicacies for the table of the Inca and his nobles: +fish, fresh from the sea and streams, and fruits and game. Molina could +recall no such institution in all Europe.</p> + +<p>In the great plateau he found the kingdom of the <span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</span>Inca in its full +development, a complete system of civilization more highly organized +than life in Spain. All labor was for the common good. No man could +accumulate more than his needs. There could be no poverty. There was +no want. No man might better his lot, or leave the place of his birth +without the summons or consent of the Inca. Every man, not assigned to +duty in the army or the public works, was required to till the soil. +The Inca himself set the example at the spring festival by entering the +fields and spading the soil.</p> + +<p>Agriculture had developed in the most marvelous ways. Arid spaces were +watered by a system of aqueducts conveying swift streams of pure water +from the mountain heights. The mountain sides were terraced for miles +in height. These terraces were covered with rich soil carried and +hauled by hand. Potatoes, corn, and vegetables grew in rich profusion.</p> + +<p>Each man’s crop, when harvested, was divided into three portions: one +for the Inca, one for the Temple of the Sun, and one for the man who +toiled. The portion of the Inca was stored in the royal granaries +against any possible day of want. From these storehouses, all public +servants, the army, and the miners were supplied. The labor required +to till the soil was light, when evenly distributed. The people held +no fear of the future. They literally had become children of the sun. +Their chief pleasure was the dance. When night softly fell from the +tropic skies, the lights of a thousand feasts and dances gleamed in the +valleys.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</span></p> + +<p>An overseer was set over a group of ten families. A controller ruled a +hundred families. A lieutenant-governor ruled five thousand families, +a governor ten thousand, and a viceroy had the oversight of a province +consisting of forty thousand families. Each officer reported to his +superior and the viceroy went several times a year to report in person +to his emperor, the Inca.</p> + +<p>Secret agents traveled continuously, incognito, over the kingdom, +inspected each village, noted the conduct of its officers, and reported +to the sovereign.</p> + +<p>Crimes were rare, but when committed were met with swift, dire +punishment. Murder, adultery, rape, incest and similar violations +of the moral code were punishable by death. Only a governor could +pronounce a death sentence, with the right of appeal to the highest +authorities.</p> + +<p>Theft was punished in a unique manner. If the culprit stole from want +the official responsible for his condition must pay the penalty. The +thief was then provided with land, clothing, food, and all necessities. +If such a man still would steal, he was executed immediately.</p> + +<p>The men did the heavy work, the women assisting in seedtime and +harvest. In addition to her house-work, while men tilled the fields and +worked the mines, the women made shoes, cloth and clothes for their +families.</p> + +<p>Immoral women were not permitted to live within a village. Their heads +were shaven and they were driven into the forests. If a respectable +wife spoke to such a woman she suffered the same penalty. <span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</span>There were +no brothels in Peru. There were no public drinking places, no brawls +over drink or women.</p> + +<p>The fishing off the coast and in the rivers and streams was free to +all, but only the Inca or his wardens were allowed to kill game.</p> + +<p>The standard type of dwelling was of the simplest form suitable to the +tropics—small buildings of adobe brick, thatched with straw. Large +families had two rooms, small ones but a single room. Wooden chairs +and tables, an open fireplace with cooking pots and pans and a bed, +slightly elevated from the floor, completed the ordinary outfit.</p> + +<p>Corn, potatoes, and llama mutton were the staple foods. The people ate +but two meals a day, one in the forenoon and one at sunset.</p> + +<p>Their principal drink was a beer made from corn and a more highly +developed whisky which was called <i>sora</i>. They had early learned +the magic qualities of the coca shrub and chewed its leaves as a sort +of tobacco. Its effects were stimulating to a high degree. By chewing +these leaves, from which the modern drug of cocaine is distilled, a +workman could labor a day without food, unconscious of fatigue. Tobacco +was used only in the form of snuff.</p> + +<p>The travelers reached a large village at a most exciting moment. The +entire population had gathered on the green.</p> + +<p>“What is it?” Molina asked of his fair guide.</p> + +<p>The girl laughed gayly.</p> + +<p>“Come. It’s the marriage festival day. Every <span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</span>boy and girl in Peru must +be married, the boy before the age of twenty-four, the girl before the +age of twenty.”</p> + +<p>“And if they do not?”</p> + +<p>“The controller makes them marry.”</p> + +<p>“I see!” the cavalier exclaimed.</p> + +<p>“On this day in every village of the kingdom the boys and girls gather +on the greens and claim their mates. They must choose their mates from +their own community. Both the parents and the bride and groom must +consent....”</p> + +<p>“But unless they find a mate, the controller will arrange it for them?”</p> + +<p>“By all means, Señor. They must marry.”</p> + +<p>She looked meaningly at Molina, and he, unable to meet her gaze—half +yearning, half amused—turned away.</p> + +<p>They went to an excited group of people. The controller was in action. +A stubborn youth had refused to marry, though twenty-four years of age. +Again Molina avoided her look.</p> + +<p>The unmarried girls of the village were set before the recalcitrant. +They laughed and shouted at his stubborn folly. The official commanded +that he take one, love her and rear a family.</p> + +<p>He angrily refused.</p> + +<p>“Damn all women!” he exploded.</p> + +<p>A chorus of shrill laughter greeted the explosion.</p> + +<p>The controller walked sedately before the row of smiling girls, +selected one, seized the youth’s hand, placed the girl’s in his and +proclaimed them man and wife. He announced their honeymoon of a year’s +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</span>leisure and sent them to the community house to begin it. Each newly +wedded couple were allowed a year’s exemption from any toil.</p> + +<p>“So that’s the way it’s done in Peru?” Molina laughed; but his laughter +was nervous.</p> + +<p>“Yes, Señor,” Yma demurely answered. “If a man will not do his duty, he +must be made to do it.”</p> + +<p>Her dark eyes held him for the instant, and he felt hot blood suffuse +his face.</p> + +<p>He turned away and watched moodily, while the crowds gathered +everywhere at the doors of the newlyweds. Song and dance and feasting +would last for days. The last census had put the population at more +than twelve million.</p> + +<p>Molina sought the controller and asked at length of their marriage +customs. He was curious about the penalty of death fixed for the crime +of incest.</p> + +<p>“Is it not strange,” he asked the official, “that you enforce such a +law in an empire whose ruler is commanded to marry his sister?”</p> + +<p>“Not at all, Señor,” he gravely explained. “We know the dangers of +incestuous marriages. The Inca of the South is required to marry his +sister that the heir to the throne may ever be the purest strain of +royal blood. After the birth of the prince, he no longer lives as the +husband of the queen. He has many wives. Neither the common people nor +the nobles are permitted this violation of natural laws commanded of +the royal family. Huyna Capac, the monarch who divided the kingdom, +began a new line of Incas by marrying the Queen of Quito. Atahualpa +is his son by the new royal line born of a <span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</span>union without incest. We +know that Atahualpa is the better man and Huascar will yet yield the +southern kingdom to his brother.”</p> + +<p>He had scarcely finished his speech when a royal runner bounded to his +side and delivered a <i>quipa</i> message bearing the imperial seal of +Atahualpa.</p> + +<p>The official read with frowning brow.</p> + +<p>“You have bad news?” Yma asked.</p> + +<p>“The worst,” he answered addressing Molina. “Civil war!—the first +our empire has ever known. But it had to come. Atahualpa is marching +on Cuzco and bids you join his camp at once. He asks your aid against +Huascar.”</p> + +<p>To the courier who bore the message of war, Molina said:</p> + +<p>“Tell your monarch that I obey his summons and will join his standard +without delay.”</p> + +<p>Yma’s face was radiant. She came impulsively to Molina and kissed +him on the mouth. In the excitement of the moment he returned it +with passionate eagerness, and trembled as the wave of swift warmth +overspread him. Yma smiled.</p> + +<p>“My glorious god-man will lead his army to victory....”</p> + +<p>Rushing his litters with fresh carriers Molina hurried to the camp of +the Inca. He tried, feebly, to leave Yma behind, but she refused to +seek safety in Quito. In answer to Molina’s protest her voice quivered.</p> + +<p>“I am your slave. My place is by your side.”</p> + +<p>He did not object. He found the Inca at Ambato, <span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</span>sixty miles from his +capital, confronted by an army from the South.</p> + +<p>Atahualpa was the idol of his men. He had served in more than one +campaign with his illustrious father. The democratic manner of the +young ruler had endeared him to his soldiers. In the crisis he found +himself surrounded by the ablest officers of the old régime, who had +lived at Quito since the death of Huyna Capac.</p> + +<p>The Inca called Molina to a council of war with his two generals, +Quizquiz and Challcuchima. The strength and position of the enemy were +duly reported and Molina advised that they join battle at sunrise.</p> + +<p>The scene was set at the foot of the towering peak of Chimborazo. The +Spaniard’s blood leaped at the sight of Atahualpa’s host drawn up in +line of battle. The strength of their equipment amazed him. Without +cavalry, swords or muskets, they still carried weapons, that, used +<i>en masse</i>, made sure impressive results.</p> + +<p>They had developed nearly every weapon known of man before the +invention of gunpowder. Only their swords and lances lacked the hard +edge of steel. (In this, the sword of the cavalier, wrought by master +hands at Toledo, was easily the superior weapon.) Yet as both armies +were without steel, the advantage was with neither.</p> + +<p>Bows, arrows, lances, darts, battle-axes and slings were ready.</p> + +<p>The weapons of the commander were tipped with gold and silver and the +gorgeous costumes of the <span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</span>army gave to the scene a festive color. The +mass of the soldiers wore the dress of their provinces; and the gay +plumage of their local uniforms added to the gala character of the host.</p> + +<p>Beneath his gay coloring each soldier wore a close tunic of heavily +quilted cotton, strong enough to withstand the thrust of an arrow, +dart, or lance, and tough enough to break the force of the hardest +stone hurled by the sling.</p> + +<p>Each company carried its banner and above all floated the imperial +standard with the device of the rainbow, the ensign of the Incas, +proclaiming their kinship with sun and sky.</p> + +<p>From sunrise to sunset the battle raged. As the sun sank, the army of +the South gave way, and their retreat became a rout. Atahualpa swept +over the bloody field strewn with the dead.</p> + +<p>He pressed his advantage without pause until he reached the gates of +the capital town of the province of Canaris, which had sided with his +brother. The Inca drew up his army, entered the place in triumph, razed +every house to the ground and put the inhabitants to the sword. He sent +his army into every district of the offending province and laid the +country waste. At length bands of children led by old men and women met +him bearing green branches in their hands praying for mercy. But the +young conqueror, deaf to all appeals, spared no man capable of bearing +arms.</p> + +<p>The terror spread by his stern revenge on the treacherous province +opened the gates of every city before him for miles. At the roadway +leading <span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</span>across the Andes to the hot springs at Caxamalca, the Inca +paused, detached a small division of the army, led it across the +mountains, and established the imperial headquarters at Caxamalca. The +women of his court accompanied the monarch and Molina sent Yma with +them. Atahualpa refused the cavalier’s plea to lead a division into +battle. But he attached the stranger to the staff of his two generals +and asked for his best advice in every council of war.</p> + +<p>From Caxamalca, whose approaches were strongly fortified, Atahualpa +could advance on Cuzco if his army were victorious, or retreat to Quito +if it met defeat.</p> + +<p>The main army moved rapidly along the great highway that leads from +Quito to Cuzco. They crossed the river Apurimac and were within +striking distance of Huascar’s capital before the ruler of the South +moved to check the advance. Atahualpa’s priests in the Temple of the +Sun consulted the oracles, made sacrifices, read the signs, and advised +him to wait.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, advised by his generals of the peril of his capital Huascar +raised a levy of recruits with all speed, reënforced his lines and met +the invaders on the plains of Quipaypan. The battle ground had been +carefully selected by Molina and approved by Quizquiz and Challcuchima. +Both armies fought with desperation. Not merely a battle was at +stake—an empire was the prize.</p> + +<p>Atahualpa’s men were flushed with the victory of Ambato and Huascar’s +fought under the personal <span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</span>leadership of their Inca. An hour before +sunset the field was piled with heaps of the dead and dying. Huascar’s +lines again broke in wild disorder and his army fled. A thousand of his +faithful noblemen rallied about his person too late to save him from +capture. He was taken prisoner and the victorious generals of the North +marched into the capital and occupied it in the name of their emperor, +proclaiming him sole ruler of the Kingdom of the Four Corners of the +World.</p> + +<p>Atahualpa immediately called a meeting of all the nobles in Cuzco to +advise with him on the future of the empire. At this conference the +wily young Inca, now supreme, arrested the ringleaders who had urged +his brother to war and executed them.</p> + +<p>His triumph was now complete, and he had taken steps to insure a future +peace. Huascar, the weakling, he sent to the fortress at Xauxa to be +held pending his abdication of the throne.</p> + +<p>While still celebrating his triumph in Cuzco and preparing the capital +for his formal entry with the Queen and Dowager Mother, a royal courier +dashed into the palace and proclaimed:</p> + +<p>“The strange white men, carrying thunderbolts, and with queer animals, +which they ride, have again landed at Tumbez!”</p> + +<p>The Inca left his ablest general, Challcuchima in command of Cuzco, +surrounded himself with a strong guard, and hurried to his headquarters +at Caxamalca. From Molina he carefully guarded this news, carrying him +in his train a virtual prisoner.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</span></p> + +<p>Riding in his litter, Atahualpa remembered the prophecy made to his +father and wondered. Evening came, and he looked at the battlements of +the Andes, towering in the quiet hush of day. Beyond them the sun was +setting. Its rays struck the eternal snows of the peaks, and the snows +became as blood.</p> + + +</section> + <hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<section id="chapter-10"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</span></p> + + + <h3>Chapter X</h3> + + +<p>The pilot Ruiz had held a steady course from Panama for the Bay of +Tumbez. But, swept out of it by head winds and adverse currents, he was +compelled to anchor in the Bay of St. Matthew, many miles north of his +destination.</p> + +<p>Pizarro put his forces ashore and ordered his ships to keep in touch +with his signals. Marching southward he discovered a large village, +assaulted and captured it, and secured a rich spoil of gold and silver +vessels and many emeralds of great value.</p> + +<p>The road became a waste of desert sands, drifting and yielding +underfoot and blinding his men as they breasted the wind. The glare of +the full equatorial sun was almost unbearable.</p> + +<p>The bravest scout of his forces was a slender girl on a white horse +always leading the van. Others dreamed of gold, she of a gallant lover +deserted for more than two years in a tropic wilderness of the South.</p> + +<p>A strange plague of ulcers swept the little army with extraordinary +severity. Many died and received of their priests burial with the white +sands of the desert as their shrouds.</p> + +<p>Pizarro halted at the Gulf of Guayaquil and received <span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</span>a deputation of +chiefs from the Island of Puna off the Bay of Tumbez. They invited him +to their shores and offered safe passage on their <i>balsas</i>.</p> + +<p>In spite of the warnings of his interpreters Pizarro decided to accept +the invitation. He immediately dispatched all three of the ships back +to Panama with the treasure which he had taken, and a call for recruits.</p> + +<p>His little army was embarked on the huge <i>balsas</i> of the islanders +and safely landed. They camped on a good site selected by the chiefs +and every soldier was provided with comfortable quarters. He resolved +to remain till the end of the rainy season when the arrival of +reënforcements would make his descent on Tumbez in ships an easy task.</p> + +<p>The <i>curaca</i> of Tumbez no sooner heard of the arrival of the +friendly strangers who had visited their city two years before than +he sent a delegation of armed men and invited the Spaniards to the +mainland. The visitors, on the day of their landing, warned Pizarro of +the treachery of his hosts, having discovered a secret meeting of the +chiefs to organize an insurrection.</p> + +<p>The Spaniard acted promptly. He surrounded the meeting, took prisoners +the chiefs and turned them over to the officer from Tumbez. He claimed +supreme authority over the island and its inhabitants, and immediately +put them to death.</p> + +<p>The people, enraged by the act, armed themselves and attacked Pizarro +in thousands. The islanders rushed forward in confused masses and were +cut <span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</span>down by Hernando Pizarro at the head of his cavalry.</p> + +<p>Francisco Pizarro refused to permit Teresa to expose herself in the +battle.</p> + +<p>The sound of muskets did deadly work among the confused charging hosts. +They were thrown into a panic at the first roaring volley; and the wild +charge of Hernando Pizarro’s steel-clad horses completed the rout. The +islanders fled into woods and disappeared.</p> + +<p>Four Spaniards had been killed and many wounded, among the wounded +Hernando Pizarro. The natives had been beaten, but remained ugly +enemies. They hung on the edge of the forests, cut off stragglers and +kept the Spanish camp in continuous alarm.</p> + +<p>At this crisis Pizarro sighted two vessels from Panama. The ships +brought a new captain, destined to make history. They were commanded by +Hernando de Soto and carried a hundred volunteers with many horses.</p> + +<p>The leader decided to embark at once for Tumbez. The interpreters had +informed him that the empire had been divided and exhausted by a bloody +civil war between the two brothers who were rivals for the throne. The +moment was opportune for his invasion. A small army of Spaniards might +accomplish a miracle under such conditions.</p> + +<p>On landing at Tumbez, Pizarro was astonished to learn that one of his +<i>balsas</i>, which had preceded him, loaded with baggage in charge +of three of his men, had been captured by natives when it touched <span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</span>the +shore. All three of the soldiers had been dragged into the brush and +killed. Another <i>balsa</i>, loaded with his own effects, was barely +saved by Hernando Pizarro’s charge of cavalry through the mud of the +beach at low tide. The horses plunged in slime to the saddle girths but +drove the attacking party to cover.</p> + +<p>Pizarro was dumfounded at his reception. He had left the place with +mutual expressions of high and friendly regard, promising a speedy +return. It seemed impossible that news of his first attack on a village +in the far north could have reached Tumbez.</p> + +<p>He was still further amazed on entering the city to find it a complete +wreck. But four or five private dwellings were left standing. The roof +of the great Temple of the Sun had been burned. Only its walls remained +and the interior had been stripped of all treasure.</p> + +<p>The invaders were dismayed. The scene of utter desolation brought to +the bold commander a moment of misgiving. What had happened? If he had +to march through such scenes of ruin, why march at all? Could it be +possible that the monarch of whom he had heard so much was a man of +military genius? The ruins of Tumbez pointed to such a possibility. Yet +the idea seemed preposterous. No ruler of millions could thus begin the +destruction of his possessions to starve an army whose strength he had +not tested. There must be another explanation. He hastened to find it, +and he had need of haste. Tumbez had been the cry of every man <span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</span>on the +way. He had never tired telling of its glories. His men began to throw +sullen looks and laugh in ways that were disturbing.</p> + +<p>“God’s light!” he heard a grizzled veteran growl. “And this is the +glory of Peru! This the city of gold and silver, where even the trees +are made of precious metal! Give me a tavern in Panama with a good +drink of liquor. I can doze and dream there with less trouble.”</p> + +<p>Pizarro dispatched scouting parties through the surrounding territory +and brought in a few captives. Among his prisoners he luckily found the +<i>curaca</i> of Tumbez.</p> + +<p>When arraigned and asked an explanation of the attack on his men, the +governor pleaded ignorance of the occurrence. It could only have been +the folly of desperate stragglers or army deserters acting on their +own initiative. During the civil war Tumbez had been stripped of its +defenders who were serving in the army of Atahualpa, now supreme lord +of all the empire. In their absence the fierce tribes of Puna, who had +lured him to their island to destroy him, had attacked Tumbez and laid +it in ruins.</p> + +<p>The Spaniard was not sure of the truth of the explanation. There was +still a chance that the city had been destroyed to prevent its capture +by his men. The violence of his first attack in the north might, +after all, have inspired this method of accomplishing his ruin. The +<i>curaca</i> offered his humble submission and promised the loyalty of +his people.</p> + +<p>Pizarro accepted the surrender and determined <span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</span>at once on a new policy. +A people who could destroy a city and withdraw before an invasion were +a force to be reckoned with. His only sane policy in meeting such a +situation was to use strategy. He must advance with care. He must +disarm fear. He must make the natives his friends.</p> + +<p>Urged by Teresa, the commander made of the governor the most searching +inquiries as to the fate of Alonso de Molina.</p> + +<p>“The reports are contradictory,” the <i>curaca</i> apologized. “Some +say that he died of the plague. Others that he died in battles of the +civil war. Still others claim that he lost his life in a struggle over +a beautiful girl. The truth we know not.”</p> + +<p>“He’s lying, Your Excellency,” Teresa muttered.</p> + +<p>“Perhaps so, my child,” he soothed. “We’ll yet find the truth, never +fear.”</p> + +<p>The news of Molina’s death Teresa did not believe for a moment. Others +were more easily convinced, and the word spread quickly through the +camp. It was an ominous opening of the campaign. The golden city of +their dreams was a blackened ruin, the first three men who touched +shore had been killed, and now the news had come that the gallant +cavalier Alonso de Molina had perished somewhere in the depths of +Peru’s endless jungles.</p> + +<p>The leader saw with clear vision that it would be impossible to make +his headquarters at Tumbez. There would be a mutiny. A curse was on the +place. He must move his men for new advances or lose control of them.</p> + +<p>He left a small garrison to guard the sick, and <span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</span>boldly began to +reconnoiter the interior. His soldiers were instructed, under penalty +of death, that they should not lift a hand against a native unless +attacked, and in that case, to use every effort to make peace at the +earliest moment. They should neither attack nor rob. He would go always +as a messenger of peace and good will.</p> + +<p>Keeping to the coast line with his main division he sent Hernando de +Soto with a troop of his horsemen to explore the edges of the sierras.</p> + +<p>His new policy was a success. The natives met his friendly advances in +the kindliest spirit, and the fame of his genial temper spread far and +wide. The people were consumed with curiosity to see the strange beings +of whose prowess they had heard so much. They now welcomed him with +open hospitality. They quartered his troops in their houses or in the +royal post stations and provided them with the best food.</p> + +<p>At every stop the invaders issued a proclamation, in the name of the +Holy Vicar of God, and his emperor, Charles V, requiring the obedience +of the people as vassals to his royal master.</p> + +<p>As the natives had no idea what he was talking about, they received his +announcements with good humor, and their submission was duly recorded +by the notary.</p> + +<p>The invader selected the site of his first settlement in the rich +valley of Tangarala on the banks of a river that opened on the sea. +Here he concentrated all of his forces, built a church, an arsenal, +a storehouse, a courthouse and fortress; and a town <span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</span>government was +organized with a full staff of officials.</p> + +<p>When the fortress had been completed and his power established he used +for the first time a clause of his charter which established chattel +slavery. Under the right of <i>repartimiento</i> he allotted to each +colonist a number of the natives needed to assist him in his work. The +land had been staked out before this provision for labor had been made.</p> + +<p>Here, Pizarro waited in vain for further reënforcements from Panama and +finally made the bold decision to invade a kingdom of twelve million +people with an active force of less than two hundred men. There were +dangers ahead, and dangers in further delay. His men were growing +restless and the younger blades were ready for mischief if not employed +on bold adventures. He could not afford to wait for more men.</p> + +<p>He left fifty to garrison San Miguel. With them remained the royal +treasurer, the inspector of metals, and all the officers of the Crown. +Antonio Navarro was made commander of the fortress.</p> + +<p>Pizarro then struck boldly into the heart of the country in the +direction of the reported camp of the Inca. If his army was too small +to fight he still counted on his powers of strategy. He could at least +meet the sovereign and offer his men in the service of the imperial +army.</p> + +<p>He had been informed that the Inca was at Caxamalca beyond the first +<i>cordillera</i> of the Andes. He inquired at every stop for news of +Molina.</p> + +<p>Five months had passed since the day of his ill-fated <span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</span>landing at +Tumbez and he was still unable to gain an adequate idea of the number +of people in the empire or the positions of the main units of the +native army. From his interpreters he had learned that more than three +hundred thousand men were enrolled in the standing army. This might be +a gross exaggeration, or it might be an underestimate of the truth. The +only way to find out was to march into the camp of the ruler.</p> + +<p>Only the bravest of adventurers, the conquerors of the sixteenth +century, could have conceived or dared to execute this move. Pizarro +was a gambler first and last. All he asked was half a chance, and he +played for the highest stakes. Dangers and difficulty spurred him to +the greatest reach of achievement. His faith in the fulfillment of +his mad dream had become, after seven years of toil, struggle and +disappointment, an obsession. His confidence now was supreme. The odds +against him were overwhelming, but the fact only spurred him to greater +daring.</p> + +<p>As his little band advanced through the foothills it became entangled +in a jungle almost impenetrable. Shadows steamed with poisonous vapors, +mingled with the perfume of gorgeous flowers. Hundreds of parrots +mocked from the trees. Monkeys chattered and squealed. Snakes slipped +by and struck from points of vantage. Alligators, lying on the banks +of sluggish streams, snapped their jaws with fatal aim. A man sank in +a deadly morass and disappeared before the terror-stricken eyes of his +comrades.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</span></p> + +<p>Pizarro was compelled to halt and spend the night in the jungle, +determined now to retreat and find a better way in a flank movement +toward the mountain ranges.</p> + +<p>His men were for the moment overwhelmed with the weird atmosphere of +the tropic jungles. The coloring was terrifying. It struck them with +resistless force. They had just moved from the sterile wastes of the +seacoast, a barren desert of sand, except for the verdure along the +streams. And now a smothering wilderness burst in their faces. On +its rich background were splashed great sheets and huge bouquets of +unbelievable colors, daubs of lurid yellow, crimson, blue and dazzling +white. Such colors used by an artist on canvas might drive a beholder +to violence; their combined effect in the jungle was one of positive +terror. It made the flesh creep. Its beauty was unearthly.</p> + +<p>The bare stalk of a tree shot straight into the air without leaf or +limb to end in a cluster of giant buttercups, each half a foot across; +the <i>lignum vitæ</i> was covered with myriads of tiny flowers the +color of wisteria; the royal poinciana towered in flaming glory among +a dozen others. One variety in particular seemed to break into endless +billows of honey-yellow as far as the eye could penetrate.</p> + +<p>And swinging through all and over all were the orchids. The white +variety Teresa named “The Tears of the Virgin.” A startling red variety +she named “The Seventh Deadly Sin.” Another “The Annunciation,” +and still another, “The Bride of <span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</span>Christ.” And yellow varieties of +daffodils waved everywhere in thousands.</p> + +<p>The feet of the invaders sank into masses of rotting leaves that seemed +but half developed before being pushed to death by the surge of endless +new life. And back of it all, pervading all, hovered the soul of the +jungle, a thing of terror indescribable, yet fascinating—a beauty +haunted with lurking death!</p> + +<p>To Teresa the experience was one of rich emotion and uplifting faith. +Beyond the language of reason, she yet felt its kinship with the wild +beat of her heart for the man she loved.</p> + +<p>On the following day Pizarro devoutly thanked God to find his way back +to the open world with the loss of so few of his men.</p> + +<p>A half day’s march on leaving the jungle brought him in sight of +orchards laden with strange Indian fruits and fields of yellow grain. +The adventurer suddenly found himself among a people who had developed +the arts of agriculture to a point of beauty and fruitfulness beyond +anything known in Europe. They marched through a veritable paradise.</p> + +<p>And everywhere the Peruvians received them with kindness. Their +“allotment” of natives was yet too novel an event to have made any +impression on the interior. In fact it had not yet fully dawned on the +simple people “allotted” that they were held as slaves. Their labor in +assisting the wonderful beings who had come had been freely given as a +sort of welcoming hospitality. And acting under strict orders of their +leader the Spaniards <span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</span>vied with each other in winning the good opinion +of all the people along the line of march.</p> + +<p>In every village of any size was found a royal commissary, whose wide +halls and stored grain gave unusual comforts. Their every want was thus +supplied by the generous government against which they were marching.</p> + +<p>The uniform politeness of these receptions by the royal officials, +however, began, at length, to excite Pizarro’s suspicion. It was +too smooth to be spontaneous. He had a growing conviction that his +receptions had been arranged from Caxamalca. He now moved cautiously, +preceded by swift scouts.</p> + +<p>The richer the cultivated fields became, the denser the prosperous +population that watched his progress, and the more restless grew a +portion of his followers. On reaching the road which turned from the +main highway leading from Quito to Cuzco to cross the <i>cordillera</i> +to Caxamalca he halted his troops for a few days’ refreshment and a +council of his officers.</p> + +<p>It was now plain to all that they were penetrating the heart of a +great, prosperous empire of a strong, united, happy people. The +evidence of wealth and power was gradually sapping the nerve of some +of his followers. Murmurs of fear and discontent had reached his ears +daily. The enterprise on which he had now embarked called for a united +front. His men must be of one mind. To a man they must be fired with +faith in their leader and his sure triumph.</p> + +<p>When Cortez faced such a situation on his landing <span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</span>in Mexico he had +burned his own ships and ordered his men forward. Pizarro was now deep +in the interior of a strange, powerful kingdom with but a handful of +men under his command and they indifferently equipped. His little +army numbered but one hundred and seventy-eight and he possessed but +four muskets, the one weapon that struck terror to the natives. His +swords were of the best steel, his lances strong and the riders of his +sixty-seven horses wore the best mail and carried every weapon except +the new firearms. His artillery under Pedro de Candia consisted of two +small mountain cannon carried on the back of sure footed mules. But he +must cure discontent or his daring march would end in disaster. The +longer he lingered in the village at the parting of the ways, the more +lowering became the glances of some of his men. Discontent, of course, +was a mild word for their troubles. They were scared. The farther they +got into this rich, mysterious kingdom the farther they were from home, +and the longer the tramp to possible safety.</p> + +<p>An officer suggested to Pizarro the plan of a swift march down the +great highway against the rich capital of Cuzco. The story of its +dazzling temples and palaces they had heard at every stop.</p> + +<p>The grizzled commander, fifty-seven years of age, faced his comrades +with a frown:</p> + +<p>“Surely you cannot advise this madness. Declare war and march for +the capture of a great city without knowledge of its defenses or the +size of the army we will encounter on the way? And leave in our rear +the emperor of the realm with an army <span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</span>to cut off our retreat? No, +gentlemen, we have set out to find the Inca and present ourselves at +his court. We’ll face the issue and cast our fortunes and lives on the +outcome. Call the men together!”</p> + +<p>A trumpet summoned the soldiers and Pizarro faced them calmly. His +voice was smooth and genial with no hint of the gravity of the +situation.</p> + +<p>“Soldiers,” he began slowly, “we have come now to the parting of the +ways in more senses than one. Before us lies the road to Caxamalca +where the sovereign of the kingdom is encamped with his army. Its size +we do not know.</p> + +<p>“Let no man enter on this daring final march unless sure in his heart +of success. We have left a weak garrison at San Miguel. More men are +keenly needed there. If there is one among you who has a doubt of the +wisdom of my order to march at once to Caxamalca, he may now volunteer +to reënforce the garrison of Navarro with full honors of a soldier. +Those who wish may now return to San Miguel and have the same allotment +of land and natives as given to those who are there. All who wish to +follow me on this dangerous and unknown road will see the matter to an +end.”</p> + +<p>But nine men faltered and chose to return, four from the infantry and +five from the cavalry. The remaining one hundred and sixty-nine crowded +about their leader and shouted:</p> + +<p>“Forward!”</p> + +<p>Pizarro had cleared his camp of discontent and advanced with closed +ranks. His army was now a <span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</span>unit and its heart beat with a single +stroke, the stroke of the heart of its commander.</p> + +<p>At Zaran the <i>curaca</i> received him with kindness and quartered his +troops as usual in the royal commissary. The governor could give him no +information as to the exact spot of the Inca’s camp but had heard that +a division of the army lay at Caxas, a village among the hills at no +great distance.</p> + +<p>The leader sent a strong force of scouts forward under Hernando de Soto +to reconnoiter the ground, determine the size of the army before them +and their disposition towards the visitors. The commander urged Teresa +to remain in camp, but as he did not forbid her joining De Soto, she +was in the van of the party when they rode gayly forward towards Caxas.</p> + +<p>The course of empire meant little to her. She was nearing, now, the +man she loved—her kingdom and her conquest. And she was making good +her proud boast to Pizarro. She was laughing at danger, flouting the +elements, and challenging death itself.</p> + + +</section> + <hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<section id="chapter-11"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</span></p> + + + <h3>Chapter XI</h3> + + +<p>The news of the landing of the strangers at Tumbez, coming at the +moment of his triumph, profoundly disturbed Atahualpa. He sent back +urgent commands that the number of the invaders be reported to his +summer capital at Caxamalca without delay.</p> + +<p>He entered the city in triumph to the loud acclaim of the people, +hastened to his palace, and summoned Yma. He told her the startling +news of the arrival of the white invaders.</p> + +<p>Her face blanched and she caught her breath in a low sob. The Inca +bored her with his commanding eyes:</p> + +<p>“Tell me the whole truth now? You are a daughter of the Sun. I have +spared your life in the service of your God, your sovereign, and your +country. Dare I trust your god-man with this secret? He will learn it, +yes, but I have yet time to make sure that the dangerous knowledge he +possesses of our army and defenses shall not be given the invaders. +Answer me truthfully as you value your life.”</p> + +<p>Her wits were clear in a moment. The first news had stunned. She must +fight now to save Molina. Unless she convinced the Inca of his love and +loyalty he would be put to death before the sun rose. <span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</span>The coming of +Pizarro sounded the death knell of her own hopes unless she could win +his love before he heard the news. And she must keep her wits now and +fight both foes. She meant to fight—and she meant to win.</p> + +<p>“Answer me truthfully as you value your life!” Atahualpa sternly +repeated.</p> + +<p>“By all I hold dear and sacred, my Lord of the Sun, the stranger is +your loyal friend as he is my beloved!” the girl sobbed.</p> + +<p>“See to it then. If he dares to leave without my command, I have posted +guards along every roadway with orders to kill him on sight. And if he +goes, you die the moment I hear it.”</p> + +<p>“He will not go, my Lord,” the small voice assured him.</p> + +<p>Yma returned to Molina’s house on swift feet. She warned each waiting +maid to guard the secret of the landing of the invaders at Tumbez. +She determined to take Congo with Molina on a journey she had long +planned to a shrine in the mountains overhanging the city. An important +fortress crowned the summit of the range and he was deeply interested +in every work of defense. And there, in the vastness of the ranges, +she would attack, for she was interested in every work of <i>his</i> +defense.</p> + +<p>Her voice was casual as she broached the subject to the cavalier.</p> + +<p>“Now that the people are making their feasts over the Inca’s triumph I +will take you to see the fortress hidden on the summit of the mountain. +You will go, Señor?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</span></p> + +<p>Her most insinuating utterance of the word “señor” again brought a +laugh from Molina.</p> + +<p>“My dear Señorita, I accept your thoughtful invitation with joy.”</p> + +<p>“Congo may carry our luncheon, and we will spend the whole day.”</p> + +<p>Yma gained permission for Molina to inspect the fortress and promised +to return in time to make the descent before sunset. She would visit an +old friend who lived a little way down the opposite cliff.</p> + +<p>While Molina examined and sketched at leisure the fortress whose stone +walls would have done credit to a European engineer, Yma scrambled down +a narrow pathway to the old love shrine that clung to the cliffs on the +side of a gorge at the bottom of which roared a river’s torrent.</p> + +<p>A love witch of the old days had chosen the spot for its magnificent +views, its uncanny setting, and its appeal to the superstitions of the +race. The shrine was built of beautifully fitted stones in the same +style as the walls of the fortress.</p> + +<p>The priest was an old, wrinkled man of an age beyond the memory of any +inhabitant of Caxamalca. He was famed for the wisdom of his advice to +the lovelorn, and his charms were held in high esteem by maidens as far +as Quito. Not one in the Inca’s train had failed to pay him tribute. +Until now Yma had felt it sacrilege to speak her secret to the old +conjuror. Now that she felt the shadows of a tragedy creeping toward +her, she was a child again. She knew instinctively that he made his +living by peddling silly advice to fools and yet—who could <span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</span>know the +full truth of love? He might, in his long life of patient waiting, of +fasting and prayer, have found a key that would unlock her lover’s +heart.</p> + +<p>The girl was on the alert for his sharp tricks in taking the last +treasure she possessed. He was noted not only for his sage advice, but +was famous for the high prices he managed to get for it. She determined +to give him a taste of his own medicine. His eyes were failing. She +had high hopes of getting his advice and saving at least a part of her +jewels.</p> + +<p>She told him of her hopeless love for the fair god-man and begged help. +His advice would cost her six emeralds of good value. He felt the +stones and dropped them in his huge pocket. He commanded her to stand +before him. He measured her matchless figure silhouetted in the doorway +and felt the rounded lines of her arms.</p> + +<p>“For you, wondrous Virgin of the Sun, the way is plain. Take him by +storm. Circle him with your arms and smother him with your love. He +cannot resist you.”</p> + +<p>Yma frowned. The old flatterer had chosen the simple device of an +appeal to her vanity. She had been cheated. She nestled close to his +side, slipped her hand gently into his pocket and removed her gems. As +she stood in the doorway about to go, the old man laughed in cracked +tones and said:</p> + +<p>“Of course, the charm that never fails, advice or no advice, is one I +cannot give for less than twelve emeralds of good form and value.”</p> + +<p>“Twelve, dear father?” Yma breathed.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</span></p> + +<p>“’Tis much I grant you,” the old man sighed, “but this magic charm, +made of the teeth of a serpent, if worn around the neck has never +failed.”</p> + +<p>The girl seized the charm, placed the twelve jewels in his claws, +waited for him to put them in his pocket, and knelt again beside the +treasures. Pressing close with one hand she seized his and pressed it, +murmuring her thanks while she carefully found her jewels, rose, and +turned from the shrine.</p> + +<p>She laughed aloud at the folly of it all and yet it might work! She +had felt instinctively that any effort to take Molina by storm would +be a failure, yet many days had passed since the night she counted her +wedding day. He had surely grown fond of her. They had studied the +languages. He had taught her—and she had grown proficient in the use +of his shining sword. They had spent many intimate hours together, and +he had held her in his arms. She had felt the fierce warmth of his +passion. He was not made of stone. The old man’s love charm was a fake, +of course, but his advice might be worth many precious stones. She +placed the charm carefully about her neck. The longer she thought of +it, the wilder beat her pulse, the deeper was the flush on her cheeks +and the swifter grew her step.</p> + +<p>She would act to-night. She would be the first to tell him the truth of +his captain’s arrival and the danger of his position. She would save +him at all hazards—but she meant to save him for herself first.</p> + +<p>Arrived at the fortress she sent Congo down the <span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</span>mountain with orders +to her maids for a feast of unusual luxury. He would be hungry after +the long day in the mountains.</p> + +<p>She took the luncheon and led Molina to a huge stone of smooth, flat +surface hidden by the boughs of trees in a densely shaded glen. She +spread the food on a cloth and both ate ravenously.</p> + +<p>Yma rose and languidly stretched her figure to its height.</p> + +<p>“And now,” she softly asked, “may I give for my Señor, the dance of the +serpent taught me in the great temple at Cuzco?”</p> + +<p>“You may, my Virgin of the Sun,” the cavalier gayly responded. “In this +weird spot I think the serpents will watch you as charmed as I.”</p> + +<p>The girl removed her outer cloak and Molina saw to his surprise that +her body was bare above the waistline except for the gold-meshed +brassiere. Never in the wildest flight of fancy had he dreamed the +alluring grace with which her arms, body, and supple limbs now moved +in a silent imitation of every motion possible in the sinuous glide +of the serpent. She seemed a living part of the wild spot which she +had chosen. He half expected to see a boa constrictor swing from an +overhanging bough and embrace her in a passion that was death. For the +first time in his life he realized the use by the ancients of the snake +as an emblem of love.</p> + +<p>He felt his hand tremble in an instinctive desire to touch the smooth, +beautiful skin as she glided close by his side.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</span></p> + +<p>The dance over, she laughed with a girlish joy, wound the cloak about +her shoulders and gazed inquiringly at him.</p> + +<p>“Beautiful, my Yma!” he sighed.</p> + +<p>“I am glad if I please you, Señor,” and without, waiting for him to say +or do more, she led the way down the long steep way.</p> + +<p>She outdid herself that night at the home feast. With her own hand she +prepared delicacies forbidden to any save the Inca. Her maidens were +not sun virgins. They could not know. She would dare all for the man +she loved. In his stern resistance she had begun to believe him in +reality a god. But she felt the love charm and softly laughed.</p> + +<p>The cavalier praised the dinner which she had served. He declared it +fit for a king of Spain. The wines were the finest yet tasted in Peru. +They left a soft, fiery glow in his veins. To-night, her girls gave +the dance of the serpent in perfect unison, circling the table with +gliding, sinuous grace. The Spaniard watched them with an unconscious +smile playing about his handsome mouth. Yma! He felt her in the shock +of the nearness of her body. She vibrated a subtle appeal.</p> + +<p>With an effort he suddenly dismissed himself.</p> + +<p>He was not surprised an hour later to see her standing in his doorway; +nor was he really displeased. Her dress was the same as at dinner. But +there was a half terrified look in her eyes that hurt. She took his +hand, stroked it gently and whispered:</p> + +<p>“Dear god-man, why are you so cruel to me? A slave who worships you?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</span></p> + +<p>Molina felt his hand tremble from the sheer physical magic of her touch.</p> + +<p>“I have told you, dear. I am betrothed to a beautiful girl in Panama. +My vows are taken.”</p> + +<p>“But Panama is many, many miles away, Señor,” she pleaded. “Two years +have passed. You have no news. You may never see your loved one again. +I would not have you love her less. But I am near. My heart is sick of +longing for you. Surely this is not sin in me. How could it be wrong +that you should hear the cry of my heart and give me the chance to make +you happy? We are married by the laws of our Kingdom. Love me only a +little, dear god-man, and I will be content.”</p> + +<p>He felt her warm breath on his face.</p> + +<p>“You must not tempt me—” he began. “You must not tempt me—” His voice +trailed from its first brusque notes into the tenderest appeal.</p> + +<p>But she did tempt him. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed +his lips. He held her. He could feel the throb of her heart. Teresa +<i>was</i> many miles away. Here in the wilderness, this flower of the +Sun bloomed in voluptuous beauty. Here in the wilderness her love could +assuage his loneliness. Here in the wilderness, the free primitive....</p> + +<p>He kissed her with the fierceness of his long hunger. They swayed, the +rhythm of their desire rocking them. Her kisses smothered him; her body +burned against him....</p> + +<p>He released her and flung his hand to his brow. He spoke, and his voice +was husky with pain.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</span></p> + +<p>“My beautiful flower—” he began. But words were strangely futile. He +paused, staring at her. Once more he trembled and turned away.</p> + +<p>Slowly she returned to her quarters, musing. Her god-man was, indeed, +strange. She could not possess him, and yet ... he desired her!</p> + +<p>She determined to withhold from him the dread news for yet another day. +The excitement of the celebration still ran high. The noise from Tumbez +might be kept from his ears for days. The danger lay in swift action +by the Inca. She would find a way to meet that. Toparca would know the +doings of the palace.</p> + +<p>She sent a messenger for him. She had not seen the youth for months, +yet knew that he would answer.</p> + + +</section> + <hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<section id="chapter-12"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</span></p> + + + <h3>Chapter XII</h3> + + +<p>Toparca was late in answering Yma’s summons. The Sun Virgin awaited his +arrival with an impatience all but unbearable. It was unlike him to +dally with a request from her.</p> + +<p>“Why, why did you not come at once?” she cried.</p> + +<p>“The council was in session....”</p> + +<p>The girl seized his arm.</p> + +<p>“They have—decided—on his—fate?”</p> + +<p>Toparca nodded, and smiled.</p> + +<p>“He is to die! You <i>smile</i>!”</p> + +<p>“Could I smile at your anguish, dear Yma?”</p> + +<p>In her joy she kissed him.</p> + +<p>“Go quickly,” the girl commanded. “Find the Dowager and tell her that I +am bringing the stranger to see her. If she approves we will appeal to +the Inca to-night.”</p> + +<p>She had decided on her course of action and would carry out her plan +without delay.</p> + +<p>Toparca hastened to do her bidding and she again stood before Molina. +The cavalier had doffed his coat and was preparing to sleep. They +stood, gazing at each other.</p> + +<p>“Dear Yma,” he began slowly, “why—why this folly? There can be no +<i>love</i> between us. You are <span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</span>too young and too beautiful and have +honored me too highly to permit me to betray you.”</p> + +<p>Yma looked at him long and tenderly.</p> + +<p>“I am too simple, Señor, to understand your strange reasons and +behavior. I only know that you will not have my love. I cannot force +yours. I am not come to plead a vain cause or disturb you. I am come to +tell you that your people have landed at Tumbez....”</p> + +<p>“What?” Molina cried, his voice jubilant. “Say that again, dear girl!”</p> + +<p>“Your captain, Francisco Pizarro, has come....”</p> + +<p>In his joy the cavalier swept Yma into his arms and kissed her lips. +She made no response. This embrace, this caress meant nothing to her, +to him. He shouted for joy because it meant the return to his people, +the return to Teresa. His kiss was given to her lips, but it stung—she +felt in its ardor, the yearning for another. She could not possess him, +and yet.... Here in this wilderness....</p> + +<p>“You wish to join them at once, my dear god-man?” she sorrowfully asked.</p> + +<p>“Yes, dear, at once. I will start to-night with the Inca’s permission.”</p> + +<p>“They have discussed again the question of your death, Señor....”</p> + +<p>“Of my death!”</p> + +<p>“Yes. The Inca knows that you came as a spy for the strangers. He knows +that you have studied and made sketches of his defenses....”</p> + +<p>“He knows—by your reports?” his voice was bitter.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</span></p> + +<p>The girl shrank back.</p> + +<p>“You ask that cruel question, my beloved?”</p> + +<p>He came forward impulsively and caught her hands.</p> + +<p>“Forgive me! I know you incapable of such treachery. And I know that +you will help me go to my people....”</p> + +<p>“Yes, my life, though it is as death to me....”</p> + +<p>Molina started. Teresa had said that. He kissed her, as if by his now +cold lips he could assuage her longings. But she did not respond. She +drew away.</p> + +<p>She paused and devoured him with her eyes.</p> + +<p>“And such dreams I’ve had of life with you!”</p> + +<p>He was eager again, excited, his blood and nostalgia calling for his +own kind.</p> + +<p>“You’ll take me to the Inca, to-night?” he urged.</p> + +<p>“I’ve sent a messenger to prepare the way. We first must see the +Dowager. Atahualpa loves his proud mother and she is very wise.”</p> + +<p>The cavalier took the slender hand in his.</p> + +<p>“You knew that I would wish to go at once?”</p> + +<p>“I knew. The ache in my heart told me.”</p> + +<p>He bent and kissed the dark tresses of her hair and felt her body +tremble.</p> + +<p>The Dowager Queen awaited the arrival of Molina with ill-concealed +impatience. Yma humbly apologized for the delay.</p> + +<p>“It was my fault, most gracious queen mother,” she murmured. “It was +needed that I tell the Señor of the arrival of his people and learn his +wishes....”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</span></p> + +<p>“And what is your desire?” the Dowager inquired.</p> + +<p>Molina studied the regal figure for a moment, weighing the forces of +her character and trying to fathom her real attitude toward him. She +was still a woman in the full glory of life. The years seemed to have +made little impression on her smooth regular features. Not yet fifty, +she looked barely thirty. An unusually tall figure for the women of her +country, she stood confronting him, every inch a queen.</p> + +<p>“I’ve asked you a grave question,” she said with a touch of impatience.</p> + +<p>“And I was just wondering, Your Highness, how one so young and +beautiful could be the mother of the Inca?”</p> + +<p>Pacha laughed softly, her face flushed, and she made no effort to +conceal her pleasure. Yma sighed her admiration at the subtlety of her +lover.</p> + +<p>“I could almost believe after that speech,” she replied, “that you +<i>are</i> an ambassador—not a spy. Surely the god-men of your Spain +have studied the hearts of women....”</p> + +<p>“I spoke but sober truth, Your Highness....”</p> + +<p>The Spaniard bowed low.</p> + +<p>“I asked of you your wish as to your people. Your answer?”</p> + +<p>“That I may go at once as the ambassador of good will from the court of +your great son, the Lord Inca, Atahualpa.”</p> + +<p>“And you would leave to languish here our most beautiful daughter of +the Sun whom we have given to you?”</p> + +<p>Molina saw at once the pitfall her wit had set. <span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</span>The Court was pleased +to believe that he had taken Yma as his wife. Her pride had given wide +acceptance to the story. He saw in a flash that if he were eager to +abandon so beautiful a girl at the first call of a trumpet from the +Spaniards, his professions of friendship for her people would be vain. +He realized that he must dissemble. He dreaded the effect on Yma of +what he must say but there was no help for it.</p> + +<p>His answer was given without apparent hesitation. He threw on Yma a +look of tenderness and said:</p> + +<p>“I will not leave the beautiful consort whose ministry to me has been +as the touch of an angel....”</p> + +<p>“You would take her with you?”</p> + +<p>“Surely, Your Highness.”</p> + +<p>The face of the girl shone with surprised joy. Tears welled in her eyes +and her body trembled. She tried to speak and a sob caught her voice.</p> + +<p>The Spaniard saw his advantage and pressed it.</p> + +<p>“I beg of you to believe me, when I assure you of the high honor, +piety, and faith of the Christians who have come to your shores. They +would learn the secrets of your wealth and happiness and bring to you +their sons and daughters to live in peace and harmony with yours. +Receive them as friends and they come to teach you the secrets of their +power and make your great Kingdom secure against every foe. They will +teach you the new science of war, the use of the sword and musket and +cannon. They will bring to you the domestic animals of the Old World +to enrich your fields and people: <span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</span>horses to draw your heavy loads and +carry your noblemen on swift feet to the ends of the empire; cows and +goats, pigs and chickens to enrich your food. They will teach you the +use of steel and iron; bringing implements with which to till the soil: +plows and hoes and spades. They will teach you the secrets and glories +of their religion which now overspreads the world. And you will give to +them your wonderful fruits and vegetables and flowers. You will teach +them the secrets of your great highways, your system of waterworks +and hanging gardens that exceed in beauty and richness the gardens of +Babylon that were once one of the seven wonders of the world. Their +sovereign, Charles V, is now the greatest monarch known since the +rulers of the ancient world. He will add his wisdom and power to the +glory of your illustrious son. Their united kingdoms will open a new +era for the race of man. I bespeak for our people your friendship and +hospitality.”</p> + +<p>“Your words are beautiful,” was the gracious answer. “They charm and +lure our hearts.”</p> + +<p>“Most gracious Mother Queen,” Yma assured, “through many hours he has +told me of these things and I know they are true. Hear him, and grant +his prayer.”</p> + +<p>“I believe you, Spaniard,” Pacha said with deep conviction, “and I +will ask our Lord of the Sun to send you at once to your people as our +messenger of peace and good will.”</p> + +<p>The tall, graceful figure passed into the audience <span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</span>chamber of the Inca +and left the cavalier alone with Yma.</p> + +<p>He felt the storm coming and was powerless to break its force. The girl +drew close, laid her head on his breast, slipped her arms about his +neck and wept.</p> + +<p>He soothed her with a gentle touch on her soft shoulders.</p> + +<p>“Do not weep, sweet child. You shall go with me. I wish it.”</p> + +<p>“And I will bring you good fortune, my god-man. All our people will +learn to love you as I love you. And if your Teresa comes at last, I +will welcome her into our home. She shall be first if it is the wish of +my Lord, and I will be second. No evil thought shall darken my heart. I +will bear you beautiful sons and daughters and you will teach them the +glories of Spain and I will teach them the glories of the Kingdom of +the Four Corners of the World. And there will be none like them in all +the earth!”</p> + +<p>The Spaniard had no heart to dispel the love dream. He soothed her into +a long silence broken at last by the entrance of Pacha who summoned +them into the presence of the Inca.</p> + +<p>The Dowager gave no answering assurance as Molina threw her a look of +inquiry. In painful silence he approached the gold throne on which +Atahualpa sat attended by the chief priest, his associates of the +temple, and the veteran general Quizquiz.</p> + +<p>The Inca spoke with composure.</p> + +<p>“I have just learned with interest the beautiful <span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</span>words which you have +spoken to my mother of a peaceful union of the life and religion of +my empire and the Kingdom of Spain. Unfortunately I have no means of +knowing how far your ideas agree with those of the commander who leads +the invaders of our soil.</p> + +<p>“I can easily see the advantages of such a union for both, if made in +the spirit of mutual courtesy, kindness and good will. The religious +problem with us could be easily solved. We are generous in our +tolerance of all faiths. The Gods of every conquered province we have +carefully and reverently set up in the great temples of the Sun for +the past four hundred years. Every man in my kingdom may worship God +according to the dictates of his own conscience. The income set aside +for worship from the work of our people is ample to meet all needs.</p> + +<p>“I would gladly learn the secrets of your science of war and with your +help extend our kingdom to the limits of the earth, North, South, East +and West.</p> + +<p>“But I must first know the disposition of your own priests of religion +and your commander who leads the expedition. I have heard ugly rumors +of his doings in the far north where first he landed. That he was +attacked by savages on the Island of Puna is not surprising. They are +in constant rebellion against my authority and I rejoice that he has +punished them.</p> + +<p>“His use of my people on the coast and the purport <span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</span>of his strange +proclamations I have yet to understand.</p> + +<p>“I must learn from the lips of your leader the exact meaning of his +coming. I cannot accept at its face value your view. I happen to know +that you were sent to my court as a spy—”</p> + +<p>“I protest, my Lord of the Sun,” Molina interrupted, “and assure you my +purpose has been most friendly.”</p> + +<p>“Naturally you must say as much,” was the smiling answer. “Yet you have +counted our armies, studied and sketched our fortresses and done all +that a spy could be expected to do. I would be justified under the laws +of war in ordering your execution. A spy from my country to yours would +expect no other fate.”</p> + +<p>He paused in brooding silence as if waiting for the Spaniard’s denial. +Molina’s sense of honor forbade the lie he might have spoken, and the +Inca delivered his final decision with dignity and quiet force.</p> + +<p>“I must therefore order your imprisonment in the fortress on the crest +of the mountains behind Caxamalca until I am fully informed of the +purposes of your people.”</p> + +<p>Molina bowed.</p> + +<p>“Yma with her maids will attend you as before and see that your wants +are well supplied.”</p> + +<p>With a cry of joy Yma sprang to his side.</p> + +<p>“The fortress I will build into a palace for my Lord. From its ramparts +you can see the most entrancing views for miles. I will make you very +happy there!”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</span></p> + +<p>“We will make the best of it,” was the quiet answer. “So long as you +are my jailor at least we will call it a palace, not a jail.”</p> + +<p>The cavalier bent for a moment over the hand of the Queen Mother and as +he kissed it heard her low voice murmur:</p> + +<p>“Be of good cheer. You have in me a friend. I trust that soon you may +be permitted to join your people.”</p> + +<p>But Molina heard the heavy stone door of the fortress close behind him +with a sense of grim uneasiness.</p> + + +</section> + <hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<section id="chapter-13"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</span></p> + + + <h3>Chapter XIII</h3> + + +<p>Day after day had passed in Pizarro’s camp without word of De Soto. On +the eighth morning the commander was selecting a party of veterans to +march to his relief when a cloud of dust far down the highway announced +his return.</p> + +<p>Teresa had been dispatched ahead to inform Pizarro that De Soto was +accompanied by a royal messenger from the Inca.</p> + +<p>The Spaniards made ready to receive him in state. Pizarro drew up his +troops in brave array and welcomed the ambassador. He bore a message +from Atahualpa and presents for the Spanish commander—a fountain made +of stone in the form of a fortress, fine woolen cloth embroidered with +gold and silver, and a specimen of native perfume used by the nobles.</p> + +<p>Pizarro thanked the ambassador who spoke in most friendly fashion.</p> + +<p>“My Lord of the Sun, Atahualpa, sends his greetings to the strangers +within his gates, bids them welcome to his country and invites them to +visit him at his camp in the mountains.”</p> + +<p>Pizarro’s stalwart figure stiffened. It was the first word of greeting +from the great monarch of whom he had dreamed for seven years. He +answered as the viceroy of Charles V, and his words were chosen with +diplomatic care.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</span></p> + +<p>“Carry to your royal master my thanks for his message and my +appreciation of his presents. Tell him that I have come from a powerful +prince far beyond the great waters. I have heard much of the victories +of Atahualpa, and have come to pay my respects to his valor. Say that +we offer our services to him in his campaigns against his enemies. We +will present ourselves at his camp at the earliest possible time and +place ourselves at his disposal.”</p> + +<p>The answer disarmed the suspicions of the envoy who now expressed the +most childlike curiosity in inspecting the strange equipment of the +camp and the arms of his soldiers.</p> + +<p>The Spaniard was not deceived by the innocence with which the +inspection was made. The strength and condition of the invaders was +being carefully reckoned.</p> + +<p>Pizarro urged that he remain for several days, but the envoy pleaded +haste in executing his commission, and his urgent desire to convey to +his sovereign as quickly as possible the pleasing message which he had +received.</p> + +<p>The Spanish commander sent to the Inca as a return courtesy a cap of +crimson cloth and shining ornaments of colored glass, which he had +brought from Castile, and sent the ambassador on his way with a loud +greeting from his soldiers.</p> + +<p>Pizarro heard De Soto’s report of his scouting trip with misgivings. +There could no longer be a doubt of the power and extent of the empire +which they were invading. The facts sobered the indomitable leader. If +he only had each soldier armed with <span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</span>a musket, the roar of a volley +from a hundred guns might be invincible even before thousands armed +only with battle-ax, sling and spear. But he had only four arquebuses +in all his troops. True, his two cannon might work wonders if he could +use them. But if attacked in a narrow mountain trail, they would be +useless.</p> + +<p>He lingered two days and sent the articles received from the Inca +to the Crown officials at San Miguel. He called their attention +particularly to the fine weave of the vicuna wool never seen before, +as fine in texture and sheen as the most delicate silk. He gave to +Navarro, commander of the fortress, full information of his movements +and directions by which he might be reached. He was still praying for +reënforcements with better equipment.</p> + +<p>Resuming his march, he entered now the narrow and less frequented road +that directly crossed the <i>cordillera</i> to Caxamalca. Arrived at +the banks of a broad, deep river whose swift current made difficult +the crossing, he camped for four days still hoping for reënforcements. +When time had passed sufficient to allow a courier to return from San +Miguel and none appeared, he determined to cross the river and burn all +bridges behind him.</p> + +<p>Fearing that his landing might be disputed by the natives on the +opposite bank, he sent Hernando Pizarro across, under cover of night, +with a small detachment of mounted men who swam the current without +mishap.</p> + +<p>On reaching the other shore Hernando quickly discovered that no +opposition would be offered. At <span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</span>sight of the invaders the natives had +fled in every direction. At sunrise he signaled to his brother that all +was well, and the little army quickly crossed on rafts.</p> + +<p>Hernando had captured a native, put him to torture and he had received +precise information as to the Inca’s troops. They lay in three +divisions along the way of their dangerous march across the mountains. +The Inca knew of every movement of the invaders and was luring them +into close quarters that he might have them completely in his power.</p> + +<p>The news, if true, was startling, and it contradicted all protestations +of friendliness which they had received. A council was called. De Soto +suggested that an Indian of unusual intelligence who had accompanied +them from San Miguel, and whose loyalty was beyond question, be +dispatched at once over the trail which they must follow. He could +locate these three divisions of troops and press on to the camp of the +Inca as their envoy and spy.</p> + +<p>The Indian refused to go as scout and spy but expressed his willingness +to go as the fully accredited ambassador of the Spanish commander.</p> + +<p>Pizarro accepted the suggestion and gave him instructions.</p> + +<p>“You will be accompanied by three swift runners. Dispatch these runners +back to our camp with information as to the defenses in the mountains +and location of the troops. Inform the Inca that I am moving forward at +his invitation to meet him with all speed possible with my equipment. +Assure him of our friendship and express the hope that his feelings +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</span>are the same, but whatever you do—” the Spaniard paused and fixed the +Indian with his piercing eye—“whatever you do, learn the location of +the troops and the Inca’s real purpose toward us.”</p> + +<p>Pizarro now pressed forward in a swift march of three days and reached +the first of the stupendous mountain ranges behind which lay the city +of Caxamalca. His soldiers lifted their eyes toward the snow-covered +glittering peaks with frowns of doubt. They had seen mountains before, +but no such wild chaos of magnificence and terrifying grandeur. Across +these towering cliffs and through their bottomless canyons and gorges +they must march over a narrow trail. A handful of men above their heads +could start an avalanche that would overwhelm an army, to say nothing +of a small band of adventurers.</p> + +<p>To the right of the trail along the base of the mountain ran another +splendid, shaded highway to Cuzco, the rich capital of the South. +Again, longing eyes were turned to the famous city of palaces and +temples.</p> + +<p>A group of officers again urged Pizarro to abandon Caxamalca and take +Cuzco by a swift march to the south.</p> + +<p>But the commander frowned and called his little army before him. He +mounted a stone, and his figure seemed colossal as he addressed them in +words that burned with passion:</p> + +<p>“Soldiers of Spain, we have proclaimed our purpose to visit the Lord +of the Sun, the Inca, Atahualpa, in his camp. We have sent our word to +the sovereign. To fail now in this undertaking, no matter <span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</span>for what +purpose, will stamp us as cowards, and win for us the contempt of +Atahualpa. I give to you my orders as your commander. March straight +across this mighty barrier to the Inca’s quarters. Leave the rest to +me. Take heart and go forward as good soldiers, nothing daunted by the +smallness of your numbers. God ever fights for his own. Doubt not that +he will humble the pride of the heathen and bring him to the knowledge +of the true faith, the end and object of our march of conquest.”</p> + +<p>The leader struck the right chord. He lived as the humblest man among +them. He thought as they thought, felt as they felt and he knew how to +appeal to the best that was in them.</p> + +<p>Their answer to his appeal was a steady shout:</p> + +<p>“Lead on!”</p> + +<p>With high-beating hearts they began the steep ascent.</p> + + +</section> + <hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<section id="chapter-14"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</span></p> + + + <h3>Chapter XIV</h3> + + +<p>On the second day of his imprisonment Molina stood on the ramparts +looking down on the beautiful valley of Caxamalca through which a river +wound its way, a silver thread in a carpet of rich green.</p> + +<p>He had just seen a division of the Inca’s army cross the valley and +march up the trail leading across the <i>cordillera</i>. Beyond doubt +the movement was the result of Pizarro’s advance.</p> + +<p>He wondered where his gallant countrymen had pitched their tents. If +reports of their number were true they were marching into a death trap +unless they came as peaceful colonists. Spain was not sending peaceful +colonists to the New World or any other world in this, the age of her +wide dominions. After seven hundred years of struggle she had thrown +off the yoke of the Moor, and her soldiers, trained in the wars of +seven centuries, had gone forth to conquer the earth. The audacity of +these men passed belief. Everywhere their dreams were coming true. +Cortez had just added the empire of Mexico to the domain of Charles.</p> + +<p>Yet no enterprise in the new world had thus far been directed against +a kingdom so vast, so rich, so densely populated, as the realm of the +Incas. Under <span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</span>the leadership of Atahualpa, they had just fought bloody +battles and won great victories. Ill-equipped as they were, their +hosts, armed with stones and clubs, could crush a handful of Spaniards +in the end.</p> + +<p>Molina would find a way to reach Pizarro and tell him the truth. That +the commander was advancing into the heart of these all but impassable +mountains with but two hundred men was, of course, incredible. The two +hundred men were of the advance guard; the real army was slowly moving +somewhere in the rear.</p> + +<p>His jaw closed in decision. He descended to his room and found the +razor which he had kept against such an emergency, tested its edge and +placed it where he could find it in the dark.</p> + +<p>When Yma served his dinner at sunset she found him unusually gay and +friendly. Her heart leaped. She had not possessed him, and yet....</p> + +<p>“My Lord will have music to-night?” she gayly asked him when he had +completed his meal.</p> + +<p>The cavalier yawned.</p> + +<p>“Thanks, my dear Yma, no. I’m tired.”</p> + +<p>The moment he found himself alone he hurried to remove his beard. He +took his place inside the door, waited the approach of the guard, +sprang on him with the quick leap of a tiger, bore him into his room, +bound and gagged the astonished soldier and then, piece by piece, +exchanged clothes with him. He assured the terrified fellow that he +meant no harm, his only purpose being to escape as quickly as possible.</p> + +<p>The girl had warned him solemnly that the Inca <span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</span>had given orders to +kill him on sight if found outside the fortress. He would take his +chances. He would reach Pizarro in time to warn him of his danger. He +felt pain when he thought of Yma, and he wondered at his emotion. But +the pain passed when he thought of the men of his own race marching +steadily to empire, and his heart leaped at the thought that they would +bring word of Teresa.</p> + +<p>Once clothed in the complete outfit of the guard, he tied the man +securely and made his way out without difficulty. The loss of beard and +a brown stain on his face had completely transformed his appearance. +Carrying the bronze spear of the Inca’s army he hurried down the steep +steps of the cliff, crossed the river and followed the narrow road up +the sides of the <i>cordillera</i> which he had seen the army take.</p> + +<p>The trail was clearly marked by lines of stragglers still bringing up +the rear of the advancing division which had just begun to pitch their +tents for the night.</p> + +<p>He mingled with the men and had no trouble in passing as one of +them. His mastering of their language stood him in good stead in the +adventure.</p> + +<p>It was past sunrise before Yma received word of his escape. The guard +on duty was not relieved till dawn.</p> + +<p>Her face blanched with terror at the news. She arrayed herself +in the guise of one of her maids, flew down the mountainside and +followed with unerring instinct. He had seen the army move. He +guessed their destination was to meet the advance <span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</span>of the Spaniards. +He had followed, hoping to find a way to slip through the lines and +reach his countrymen. There was no fear of her own punishment in her +pursuit—only the anguish of losing the god-man she worshiped.</p> + +<p>She passed Molina, loitering with the soldiers as they slowly began the +advance, all unconscious of his presence. It had never occurred to the +girl that he could have dispensed with his beard. That he should pluck +it out hair by hair was unthinkable. That he should possess a piece of +steel so hard and fine of edge that he could remove it clear to the +skin was equally incredible.</p> + +<p>Yma marveled at his escape. Yet she knew instinctively that by some +miracle he had made his beard invisible and had mingled with the +soldiers. There was no other way out. She knew that his life would be +lost if he attempted to leave the trail and cross the snow-clad cliffs +alone without a guide. She also knew that he would not be so foolhardy +as to try it. His one chance of escape was to conceal himself among +the troops and wait the meeting with the Spaniards. Then a single leap +across the lines and he might reach his people.</p> + +<p>Her heart jumped at the thought. She began a patient search among the +men. The front line of marchers she would first inspect. At the end +of the first hour’s keen search she saw a soldier climbing the stone +stairs with an awkward movement which she had seen Molina use on the +first trip up the long stone stairway to the fortress. She could not be +mistaken. <span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</span>She slipped close to his side, looked into his brown eyes +and whispered:</p> + +<p>“Dear god-man, I have come to rescue you from certain death. The men +from the fortress are on the way. They will be here any moment. They +will find and kill you.”</p> + +<p>He started at sight of her. For a moment he could only stare. His eyes +filled with apprehension and tenderness. Finally he spoke, but his +purpose was unswayed.</p> + +<p>“I’ll take my chances,” he said in low tones. “Go—” and again he felt +an odd pain—“I’ll find you when my people come.”</p> + +<p>“It will be too late then.” She wept. “They will kill me unless you +return.”</p> + +<p>Molina caught his breath. He had an almost overwhelming desire to take +her in his arms and shelter her.</p> + +<p>He stared at her, bewildered. The rumor had swept the men that they +would not meet the Spaniards. They were the reserves. Two other +divisions were ahead. His hopes had been sinking. And Yma would be +executed for his vain act! He shuddered.... Once more she spoke.</p> + +<p>“Unless you return with me, beloved, I will not live the day. If my +dying would serve you I would gladly offer myself. But you will be +taken surely and die also. You will not go, beloved?”</p> + +<p>He stopped and held her gaze a moment. And she returned his look with +brimming eyes. His own eyes filled as he stood, and impulsively he drew +her to him. He kissed her and she clung to him, sobbing. <span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</span>And it struck +him that he would never be able to fathom the profound depths of her +beautiful emotions. Then, abruptly, he released her.</p> + +<p>“Quick!” he ordered tersely. “I’ll go down the mountain as a courier +with a message for the rear guard. They are going down every hour. I’ve +heard their password to-day. Follow me.”</p> + +<p>At a sharp bend in the trail Molina found his chance to turn and +retrace his steps, repeating the courier’s password when challenged. +He did not look back to see if he were followed. The girl was close on +his heels. He heard her quick joyous play of wit with the soldiers. +Passing the rear guard at last he dropped to a bowlder by the roadway +and waited.</p> + +<p>She looked at him with a puzzled expression as she approached him and +studied his cleanly shaven face.</p> + +<p>“How did you do it?” she whispered in awe.</p> + +<p>He showed her his razor.</p> + +<p>“I have wondered how you would look as one of our men, without the +beard. I had never dreamed that you could be so fair and beautiful. And +now we shall hurry or I shall surely be killed.”</p> + +<p>Within half an hour they met the squad of armed men from the fortress +sent to secure his arrest. Yma refused to allow it.</p> + +<p>“I am responsible,” she protested. “My life will pay for his escape. He +returns because I have asked him.”</p> + +<p>The guard fell in respectfully behind them and the cavalier marched to +the fortress, and calmly <span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</span>surrendered. The <i>curaca</i> of Caxamalca +ordered him in chains and saw that he was securely manacled in spite of +Yma’s furious protests.</p> + +<p>Molina soothed her anger.</p> + +<p>“It’s all in the fortunes of war, dear Yma. The <i>curaca</i> is right +to take precautions. It’s my fault. We’ll make the best of it.”</p> + +<p>To Congo’s terror they brought a set of chains for him. His eyes fairly +popped from their sockets. In spite of his pleading he was securely +manacled, and fastened to the wall.</p> + +<p>Yma found the Dowager and pleaded desperately that the chains be +removed from Molina.</p> + +<p>The Mother Queen slowly shook her head:</p> + +<p>“I cannot interfere in such a dangerous issue,” was her firm reply. +“The Inca gave orders for his death if he should attempt escape.”</p> + +<p>“But, dear gracious Mother,” the girl pleaded, “he returned at my +request. I am responsible. My life will pay the forfeit if he goes.”</p> + +<p>“Your life may even now be forfeited. See that you hold him.”</p> + +<p>The girl returned to Molina with faltering steps, her heart slowly +hardening into a grim resolution. She would use these chains now for +her own purposes.</p> + + +</section> + <hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<section id="chapter-15"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</span></p> + + + <h3>Chapter XV</h3> + + +<p>Before beginning the ascent of the Andes, Pizarro divided his forces, +selecting forty cavalrymen and sixty foot-soldiers under his own +command to lead. The remaining sixty-nine men he left at the base of +the <i>cordillera</i> to await his word to advance.</p> + +<p>He would trust no other leader with the danger of fighting a way up the +frowning ramparts that towered menacingly into the clouds above him.</p> + +<p>The first trial came with the climb of more than a mile up the granite +walls of the first ridge. The steps were cut in solid rock. The horses +made desperate efforts to mount them. Most of the animals succeeded in +making the first quarter of a mile without stumbling. And then began +the weary drop to the knee of the foreleg, and the still more dangerous +loss of foothold in the rear.</p> + +<p>Pizarro ordered the men to dismount and help their horses up the +stairs. In the view upward their vision seemed to end only in the +clouds.</p> + +<p>It became necessary at last to tie the sixty horses in line while each +rider placed his shoulder against the haunches of his steed and pushed +with steady force. At the landing of the first long stairway was found +a level place dug out of the granite in its <span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</span>upper side, supported on +its lower by a heavy stone wall.</p> + +<p>The rest was gratefully taken by man and beast. All had now begun to +feel the quickened heartbeat and vertigo of the higher altitude. The +air grew thin and sharp and it was necessary to take two breaths where +one had sufficed below. They had begun the climb at the elevation of +the plateau, 11,000 feet above the sea. The first resting place was +higher than the summit of Mount Blanc—and they had only begun the +ascent.</p> + +<p>Teresa was in high glee. The exhilaration of the heights had given her +an experience of childlike ecstasy. She waved her hand toward the vast +ocean of snow-clad peaks and shouted for joy.</p> + +<p>Pizarro warned her to conserve her strength and use the utmost care as +the climb became higher.</p> + +<p>He gave a like warning to every soldier and urged the most careful +handling of their horses. The animals had suffered far more than the +men. Pedro de Candia’s patient mules carrying his cannon, alone seemed +at home in the wild environment. Their sure little feet had never +missed a step or slipped once.</p> + +<p>While man and beast rested, Pizarro questioned the two native guides:</p> + +<p>“How wide and long are these great ranges which we are crossing?”</p> + +<p>One of them, a man of unusual intelligence, promptly answered. Opening +his arms and pointing north and south he said in awed tones:</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</span></p> + +<p>“They stretch from the north star more than four thousand miles +southward.”</p> + +<p>“Four thousand!” Pizarro echoed.</p> + +<p>“More than four thousand. And in places it is more than five hundred +miles across the three <i>cordilleras</i>. Here is it three hundred +miles to the great rivers that flow eastward to the sea.”</p> + +<p>Pressing forward for the next climb, they edged down a sharp, dangerous +incline. The path grew so narrow a single horse could scarcely pass. At +the hairpin curve before them the trail had been cut through a solid +stone cliff that hung threateningly overhead. The curve was so sharp +and the way so narrow Pizarro stationed two men with a rope stretching +around the curve against the upper wall and ordered every soldier to +hold to the improvised railing as he made the turn. Below yawned an +abyss thousands of feet in depth.</p> + +<p>Never had a man among them seen such chaos of terrifying cliffs, peaks, +canyons and gorges. There seemed no room among them for the life of +man; no level space on which to build his home, unless he hew it out of +solid stone.</p> + +<p>The leader suddenly came to a slender suspension bridge nearly two +hundred feet long that spanned a narrow gorge a thousand feet deep. The +adventurer gazed in wonder at the skill of primitive man as exemplified +by this slender, swaying thing. Less than three feet in width it hung +from great cables eight inches in diameter held in place by buttresses +of stone on either cliff. The cables were woven of the tough fibers of +maguey and osier.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</span></p> + +<p>A guide stamped his foot on the planks and waved his hand:</p> + +<p>“Come on! The boards will bear the weight of any horse!”</p> + +<p>Pizarro sharply commanded:</p> + +<p>“Wait!”</p> + +<p>He carefully crossed on foot and felt the slender structure sway back +and forth through the air at his tread and refused to risk the life +of a single horse in such an adventure. He sent Teresa and a few of +the men who were suffering from the altitude across the bridge on foot +while he picked his way down the path that led to the water’s edge. +Here, rafts were built for the foot-soldiers, and the cavalry swam the +swift current.</p> + +<p>On the opposite shore it was necessary to halt and build a fire to dry +horses and men. The horses had begun to suffer severely from the change +in temperature and altitude.</p> + +<p>Resuming his march, Pizarro ordered a sharp watch for lurking foes on +the high cliffs overhanging their heads.</p> + +<p>A scout suddenly rushed to the commander.</p> + +<p>“An army on the top of the cliff!”</p> + +<p>“Call to arms,” the leader ordered a trumpeter.</p> + +<p>The shrill cry rang across the gorge and echoed against the cliff.</p> + +<p>“Where?” Pizarro sharply asked the scout.</p> + +<p>“There on the top peak—I swear I saw him.”</p> + +<p>“Ghosts!” jeered a trooper, gripping his musket.</p> + +<p>“I saw him! I swear it!”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</span></p> + +<p>“How many men did you see?” Pizarro demanded.</p> + +<p>“A single figure—a leader on the rock. He lifted his arm, gave a +signal of command and disappeared....”</p> + +<p>“Yes—he disappeared!” yelled a veteran. “You blinked your eyes and he +wasn’t there....”</p> + +<p>But he had been there. The keen eyes of the scout had seen aright. The +solitary figure on the rock was no less a personage than the Inca. At +the head of the first division of his army he had taken his position on +the heights overhanging this stretch of narrow, dangerous pathway for +the purpose of a personal inspection of the number and character of the +invading force.</p> + +<p>A thousand picked young men under the command of Toparca had climbed to +the crest of the overhanging ridge above the invaders and stood with +stones at hand ready for his signal to start an avalanche that would +bury them forever.</p> + +<p>The Inca counted the number of the adventurers. There were less than a +hundred men! The great beasts they called horses were formidable, but +he wished to use them. They should not be killed. Molina’s eloquent +description of their help to man had led to a firm determination to +introduce them into his kingdom.</p> + +<p>With a light laugh at the folly of such an invasion of the vast Empire +of the Four Corners of the World he lifted his hand. A thousand +stalwart young men rose at the same moment on the summit of the ridge +and each lifted high a large stone. <span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</span>Every eye was fixed on their +ruler. If both uplifted hands hurled a stone, the avalanche would sweep +all below into eternity. If he lifted but one hand and waved his cloak, +it was the signal of peace and swift withdrawal to the second division +in the rear.</p> + +<p>A single hand slowly rose and a cloak was waved. The stones were +carefully lowered and two thousand swift young feet scrambled down the +cliffs and rejoined their command.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile with a shout of scorn for the fears of their nervous scout, +the Spaniards began again their painful march.</p> + +<p>Pizarro himself suddenly called a halt, and every hand gripped a +weapon. The man was not a fool after all. He had seen something. They +were climbing a steep and narrow gorge. At the summit they could now +plainly see a fortress that seemed to hang above their heads.</p> + +<p>As they cautiously approached the building, the solid stone masonry of +its massive walls could be plainly seen. From such defense a hundred +men could crush ten thousand. Pizarro dispatched two of his best scouts +to approach the fortress and learn if it were defended.</p> + +<p>It had been recently deserted. Scraps of food on the floor indicated +that the withdrawal of men had been made within twenty-four hours.</p> + +<p>Pizarro was overjoyed to find this evidence that his passage would not +be disputed. A storm was brewing and he decided to spend the night +in the <span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</span>shelter of the fortress, and sent for the rear guard under +Hernando to join him at once.</p> + +<p>The commander inspected the defense with keen interest. The floor of +the structure was smoothed from a solid rock in part, the lower section +only being paved with flags. The upper wall was a living rock of the +mountainside. The lower wall was built of huge bowlders fitted without +mortar with a skill unequaled in the Old World.</p> + +<p>The horses had scarcely been fed and tethered when the storm broke with +a fury they had never seen or dreamed before. Earth and sky were at +times a livid glare of fire, with thunder peals that shook the cliffs. +The thatched roof offered a perfect shelter and his ragged soldiers +gathered about the roaring fire and began to laugh at their trials and +dangers.</p> + +<p>Pizarro passed cheerfully among them and received striking tributes +of their faith and devotion. When danger called loudest he had been +ever at the front. He wielded an ax with the stoutest, when they were +building rafts. There was no task too hard for his hands. No peril +could daunt his spirit.</p> + +<p>At sunrise they again took up their dangerous march. The heavy timber +that covered the lower ranges gave place to somber pines and balsam. +These, at last, grew stunted as they approached the white line of +eternal snow. They reached the summit before nightfall in a field of +vast, white, silent death. Even the funeral moss of the balsams had +disappeared. No insect chirped, no bird twittered, the only sign of +life the huge black-winged <span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</span>vulture—the condor—hovering ominously +in the sky above. They were 17,000 feet above the level of the sea. +Giant peaks still towered five thousand feet higher, their white cones +wrapped in mantles of cloud and snow.</p> + +<p>The men gazed in an awe that was half terror at the magnificent scenes +stretching to eternity in every direction.</p> + +<p>Huge fires were hastily built of the scraggy, dead growths found in +sheltered ledges, and tents were raised. Pizarro decided to await on +the summit the arrival of his rear guard before attempting the descent, +which might be even more perilous than the climb, especially for his +horses, whose lives he held dearer even than his men.</p> + +<p>A native messenger arrived from the Indian envoy sent to the Inca. He +reported the road free of enemies and informed Pizarro that a royal +embassy was on the way with greetings from the sovereign.</p> + +<p>The commander dispatched a courier to Hernando urging all speed. He +could ill afford to allow the new ambassador to find his ranks so thin.</p> + +<p>The rear guard arrived before the Peruvian, and Pizarro received the +envoy with as brave an array of men and horses as he could display. The +man was a nobleman of high degree accompanied by attendants who bore +presents of llama mutton for the strangers.</p> + +<p>“My master, Atahualpa,” he said, and an interpreter translated, “sends +you again his cordial greetings.”</p> + +<p>He bowed gracefully to Pizarro who answered:</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</span></p> + +<p>“We thank His Highness....”</p> + +<p>“The Lord of the Sun wishes to know when your full force will arrive at +Caxamalca, that suitable refreshments may be provided for all.”</p> + +<p>The commander’s lips were twisted thoughtfully at the ruse. What the +envoy had asked politely, was, “How many are in your party?”</p> + +<p>“We move with all possible haste,” the Spaniard replied.</p> + +<p>The Peruvian waved to his attendants.</p> + +<p>“Refreshments for our visitors.”</p> + +<p>His servants set forth flagons of <i>chica</i>, the fermented juice +of corn, and served it to the officers in goblets of gold. The hands +of the Spaniards trembled as they grasped these evidences that their +dreams would come true.</p> + +<p>The envoy, warmed with liquor, boasted the pomp and pride and glory +of his sovereign, Atahualpa, now supreme ruler of the Kingdom of the +Four Corners of the World, stretching thousands of miles north and +south, embracing more than twelve million people. The Spaniard outdid +him in boasting the glories of Charles V, now the ruler of the old +Roman Empire, Emperor of Austria, Italy, Germany, Flanders, and King of +Aragon, Castile and Granada.</p> + +<p>With liquor freely flowing the braggart game was prolonged until each +orator began to smile at the other.</p> + +<p>The ceremonies were rudely interrupted by the arrival of the native +envoy whom Pizarro had dispatched to the Inca.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</span></p> + +<p>The native glared at the scene for a moment and without warning leaped +at the throat of the nobleman.</p> + +<p>“Liar! traitor!” he exploded.</p> + +<p>He was caught in time to prevent harm.</p> + +<p>“What’s this?” Pizarro demanded.</p> + +<p>“This man lies and deceives you!” the Indian screamed. “He pretends +friendship. The Inca is encamped at the head of a mighty army ready to +strike. He refused to see me or receive my message. His soldiers threw +me out of camp and would have murdered me had I not defied them....”</p> + +<p>Pizarro’s eyes narrowed in a look of keen inquiry of the gorgeously +dressed envoy.</p> + +<p>The ambassador smiled, and waved to his accuser:</p> + +<p>“Continue! I would hear it all.”</p> + +<p>The native poured out a torrent of abuse and hurled his final words at +the head of the nobleman.</p> + +<p>“I dared them to touch me. If they did, I told them that <i>your</i> +life would pay the penalty here!” he bellowed.</p> + +<p>The envoy maintained his poise and coolly replied to the tirade. He +addressed only Pizarro, ignoring his accuser.</p> + +<p>“Did this crude lout bear credentials?”</p> + +<p>“Only his word.”</p> + +<p>“Exactly. His word was incredible. Such men do not wear the robes of an +ambassador in our kingdom. He was laughed at as an impostor....”</p> + +<p>“And this great army?” the commander interrupted.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</span></p> + +<p>“Is but a small division of the troops recently engaged in war. Their +numbers have been apparently swollen by the inhabitants of Caxamalca +who have been ordered out of their homes to make room for our +approaching guests.”</p> + +<p>The explanation was plausible, but Pizarro had his suspicions. He must +dissemble. He could not afford a break with his powerful enemy at this +juncture. He professed indifference to the incident.</p> + +<p>“Tell your royal master that I deeply appreciate the food and drink +with which he has refreshed us and assure him that I will present +myself at his Court at the earliest possible moment.”</p> + +<p>The envoy hastened his departure. Borne on his litter by swift-footed +young men he hurried to report to the Inca the encounter with Pizarro +and the bad impression made by the Indian messenger.</p> + +<p>His return created an ugly sensation at the court of Atahualpa and the +conflict of opinion became each day more acute.</p> + +<p>The Dowager Queen had become panic-stricken at the possibilities +opening with the rapid approach of the invaders.</p> + +<p>“But their numbers are ridiculous!” the Inca laughed.</p> + +<p>“How many men are behind them?”</p> + +<p>“None, save a beggarly rear guard of fifty men. My couriers report to +me daily, even from the coast.”</p> + +<p>“And yet,” Pacha urged, “you must realize that the moment these strange +powerful beings, whose advance rivers and mountains cannot halt, arrive +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</span>in Caxamalca and find that you have imprisoned their ambassador, there +must be war....”</p> + +<p>“War?” the Inca sneered. “War between my veteran army encamped on the +hills and this straggling bunch of crows?”</p> + +<p>“They use magic, my son. Their beasts may be invincible. No power may +be able to withstand them. The priests warned your father of their +coming. Your father prophesied the end of your kingdom through them....”</p> + +<p>“My father was old and ill and discouraged. Such croakings mean +nothing. His priests also warned him of ruin if he gave to me the +throne of Quito. I have conquered Cuzco and rule in undisputed power. +What of their croakings now?”</p> + +<p>Pacha’s eyes were set in a vision of tragic fear. She scarcely heard +the proud reply of her son.</p> + +<p>“I beg of you,” she went on as if in a trance, “that you hasten to +man the forts that guard the descent of the mountains, overwhelm the +invaders and leave no man alive to tell the story....”</p> + +<p>The Inca laughed again at her fears.</p> + +<p>“I am curious to see these ‘god-men’ face to face. I will use my wits +to make them my friends. I will learn their secrets of peace and war +and make them our own.”</p> + +<p>“And risk the loss of all!” was the prophetic reply.</p> + +<p>The ruler was adamant against all appeals. He ordered the best food +prepared for the strangers and the streets of Caxamalca swept at their +approach.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</span></p> + +<p>The Spaniards came on with renewed enthusiasm after their refreshment +on the summit. A few were sobered by the oft repeated tale of their +native spy that the Inca’s army numbered more than 30,000—and that he +was leading them into a trap.</p> + +<p>On the seventh day of their slow and painful descent, the Spaniards +arrived in sight of the sunlit valley of Caxamalca. The cavalcade +halted, overwhelmed with the beauty of the scene. The valley stretched +in full view, rimmed by the towering forms of the mountains on either +side. The river that flowed through its center fed hundreds of silver +threads of water that spread over the rich fields through the ditches +cut for irrigation. Tall hedges of rich green bordered the banks of the +larger aqueducts along the base of the hills, forming a frame of trees +which completely encased the valley.</p> + +<p>At the northern edge of this green frame the white houses of the little +city sparkled in the sunlight. Beyond, rose the towers of vapor from +the hot springs. To the right, stretched along the foothills for miles, +the tents of the Inca’s army were pitched. They covered the ground like +a long billowing cloud that had settled from the skies. The smoke from +a thousand campfires slowly curled into the clear skies. His soldiers +were cooking their sunset meal.</p> + +<p>Pizarro and his men gazed on this amazing city of tents with grave +thoughts. The reports which they had received of the Inca’s army had +not been exaggerated. In that white wilderness of canvas lay <span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</span>concealed +not less than forty thousand men. There might be fifty thousand.</p> + +<p>The commander called no council of war. It was too late. If they had +walked into a trap, theirs now to do or die. Without turning his +massive head to the trail behind, Pizarro could feel the stealthy +movement of men mounting the forts which they had just passed. But +retreat was a thing unthinkable. And no weak heart suggested it. At the +first sign of weakness they would be cut to pieces. And they knew it. +Not a man would live to pass again those mountain barriers.</p> + +<p>Pizarro formed his little band of men into three divisions. The +vanguard he led, Hernando followed, and De Soto commanded the rear. +With banners waving and streamers fluttering from every lifted lance, +armor burnished and glistening in the evening sun, the martial +cavalcade slowly moved forward from the shadow of the mountains into +the sunlit plains.</p> + +<p>A hundred and sixty-nine Spaniards were marching into the camp of a +victorious monarch surrounded by an army of forty thousand soldiers.</p> + +<p>And from the narrow window of his prison high above, his being aflame +at the sight of this finger of his native and mighty Spain touching the +ends of the earth, Alonso de Molina watched, with pounding heart.</p> + + +</section> + <hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<section id="chapter-16"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</span></p> + + + <h3>Chapter XVI</h3> + + +<p>As the line of Pizarro’s marching men drew near, the Sun Virgins +lifted the tapestry of gold that shaded their monarch from the glare +of the sun, and Atahualpa watched the scene with deep gleaming eyes. +The majestic Queen Mother saw the flashing armor and streaming guidons +through a mist of tears. The Inca’s wives were in a flutter of +suppressed excitement.</p> + +<p>Pacha leaned close to her son’s ear and whispered:</p> + +<p>“Son of my heart, hear the last cry of the mother who bore you—strike +while there is yet time!”</p> + +<p>The Inca straightened his fine young figure with pride.</p> + +<p>“I am an emperor. I know no fear. I do not see these strange creatures +as enemies to be crushed. They are messengers from another world to be +received as guests, studied and used for our future progress.”</p> + +<p>“Circle the city with your army, capture them, and make your studies at +your leisure, I beg of you,” his mother urged.</p> + +<p>The Inca lifted his hand in stern command: “Enough. I have spoken.”</p> + +<p>So Pizarro entered the city—and with no resistance. <span class="pagenum" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</span>He marched +through its deserted streets in dead silence. He might have wondered at +this, but he had been informed by the envoy that all inhabitants had +withdrawn to make room for his troops. It was so. Not a man, woman, +child, or animal had been left behind. The silence was uncanny. The +echo of horses’ hoofs and soldiers’ heavy shoes reverberated with weird +sounds. At the entrance to the city they had passed a majestic temple +adjoining a convent in which dwelt the Virgins of the Sun, but there +was no sign of life in either building. The capital of an empire was +deserted.</p> + +<p>The main street through which they marched led to a large triangular +plaza which recalled to Pizarro the Zocodoro of Toledo. And with the +memory came the new consciousness of his destiny as the Viceroy of a +mighty Christian Emperor.</p> + +<p>He halted, surveyed the scene with care, dismounted, and with his +brother, Hernando, and De Soto inspected the buildings. Spacious halls +with wide openings on the square filled one side. At the further end of +the plaza stood a fortress with a main stairway leading from the city +and a smaller one from the country beyond. On rising ground commanding +the whole city stood another fortress of hewn stone surrounded by three +walls of massive masonry.</p> + +<p>The sun was now obscured by the clouds of a coming storm and Pizarro +decided to send a delegation at once to inform the Inca of his arrival. +He selected for this delicate and tragically important <span class="pagenum" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</span>mission +Hernando De Soto, not his overbearing and rash elder brother. He had +been quick to appreciate the sterling qualities of the cavalier who had +brought a hundred volunteers to his standard when sorely needed. His +brother had gained an unwholesome influence over Francisco Pizarro, but +in this moment of supreme trial his brain overruled his heart and he +selected the man best fitted to the task.</p> + +<p>De Soto gathered fifteen horsemen, among whom rode Teresa and Gaspara. +He was not going forth to battle. His mission was one of diplomacy. +At the last moment, struck by the small force sent on such a novel +mission, the commander ordered his brother Hernando to follow as rear +guard with twenty more horsemen.</p> + +<p>Between the city and the camp of the Inca on the slopes of the hills +stretched a wide meadow, across which ran a stone-built causeway. +Across this paved highway the little squadron of fifteen horses +galloped with banners flying and lances set. A mile brought them to the +Peruvian camp. Before each tent stood the lances and battle-axes of the +men within. A few Indian troopers lounged along the highway and watched +the strange procession of horses and men with profound astonishment. +They had not yet fully comprehended the fact that horse and man were +not a single being. To their eyes, unaccustomed to the sight of a +horse, they were looking at a curious kind of human centaur with the +four legs and feet of a beast and the head and upper body of a man.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</span></p> + +<p>At the outer edge of the greensward on which the pavilion of the Inca +stood, Hernando Pizarro, unable to restrain his curiosity spurred his +horse forward and joined De Soto.</p> + +<p>Atahualpa was seated Turkish fashion on a huge gold-meshed cushion in +front of the pavilion of his baths, surrounded by a group of richly +robed noblemen accompanied by their wives. The entire corps of five +hundred Virgins of the Sun from the Convent of Caxamalca attended the +sovereign under the leadership of Yma.</p> + +<p>The monarch’s face was a mask that gave no inkling of the thoughts +passing in his brain. He wore his full robes of State.</p> + +<p>The High Priest, or <i>Villac Vmu</i>, was also in full regalia and +an even more striking figure than the Inca. Above a dark sleeveless +garment covering the old man’s body was wound a silk-like white toga +adorned with gold and precious stones, bordered with red fringe and +tassels. His bare arms were circled by bangles. From his left wrist by +a chain of gold hung the concave mirror with which, at the feast of +Raymi, he had kindled the sacred fire on the Sun God’s altar. On his +head he wore a tiara-like crown blazing with the emblem of the Sun, +and below his chin was fastened the golden sickle of the new moon. +The invaders noted with surprise that the High Priest’s make-up was +strikingly like that of an important dignitary of their own church.</p> + +<p>In keeping with his jealous, overbearing character, Hernando Pizarro +usurped De Soto’s place as <span class="pagenum" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</span>spokesman and without dismounting from his +horse, addressed the Inca.</p> + +<p>“We have come, Your Highness, ambassadors from my brother, commander +of the white men, to inform you of his arrival in Caxamalca. Subjects +of a mighty prince beyond the seas, we are here, drawn by reports of +your powers and your victories, to offer our services and proclaim the +doctrines of the true religion which we profess. My brother, as general +in command and Viceroy of our Emperor, Charles V, invites you to visit +him at his present quarters.”</p> + +<p>To this the Inca made no reply although its purport had been made clear +by Felipillo the interpreter. He did not so much as lift his head.</p> + +<p>A nobleman standing near broke the embarrassed silence by murmuring:</p> + +<p>“It is well.”</p> + +<p>With rare discretion Hernando Pizarro restrained his anger at the +apparent affront and again urged the Inca to speak. His manner was ever +courteous.</p> + +<p>“We are distressed and puzzled at Your Highness’ silence. We beg to +know what is your pleasure?”</p> + +<p>A little smile played about the Inca’s fine mouth and he slowly replied:</p> + +<p>“Tell your captain that I am keeping a fast that will end to-morrow +morning. I will then visit him with my staff. In the meantime, he may +occupy the public buildings on the square and no others, till I come, +when I will order what shall be done.”</p> + +<p>The cool peremptory tone in which the command <span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</span>was given was not lost +on the Spaniards, particularly on De Soto, a man of far greater poise +and judgment than Hernando Pizarro.</p> + +<p>In the moments of embarrassed silence which followed, Teresa who had +reined her white charger beside De Soto, saw her opportunity to win a +personal contact with the camp that might lead to a clew of Molina’s +fate. That he was alive, she was absolutely sure. Noting the keen +interest in her horse taken by the Inca and mistaking the intense gaze +of Yma she instantly determined on the plan.</p> + +<p>She suddenly gave her horse the rein, dashed furiously over the level +ground, wheeled, charged, recharged, and displayed her excellent +horsemanship before the wondering throng. Swinging back to the royal +pavilion she brought her charger to his haunches so close to the Inca +that the foam of his mouth touched the monarch’s robe. The crowd surged +in a wave of alarm and a guard standing beside Yma drew back in terror +and dropped his lance.</p> + +<p>The girl stared for a moment at Teresa. She knew, then, this Daughter +of the Sun. For she loved. She loved a strange god-man from beyond +the peaks, from beyond the borderless sea. She loved him with all the +fervor of her race, with all the warm passion that centuries of sun +worship had endowed her, and she knew. Her love tore away Teresa’s +mannish garb. The Spanish girl stood before her as if naked. And Yma +knew this was her adversary. She stared, and in her gaze was tender +challenge. Also there was a look of fear, but she <span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</span>smothered it, and +denounced the lancer’s cowardice to the Inca.</p> + +<p>The Emperor was stern. Also, it might have been that he wished to make +an impression. He ordered the man’s instant death.</p> + +<p>Teresa sprang from her horse, and the act created the greatest +consternation among the natives. The strange being had divided into two +parts before their eyes! The Inca alone seemed unconcerned.</p> + +<p>Teresa appealed for the man’s life.</p> + +<p>“I beg of Your Highness to remember that your guard had never before +seen a horse. Mine is so fierce and beautiful it was not to be wondered +at that the man lost his head for a moment. As an act of good will +toward me and my people I ask his pardon.”</p> + +<p>The monarch stared in new amazement as he recognized the woman beneath +the shining coat of mail.</p> + +<p>The Inca smilingly replied:</p> + +<p>“His life is spared, and he will follow you as your servant.”</p> + +<p>The trembling guard sprang to Teresa’s side murmuring his gratitude. +Yma attempted too late to warn the Inca.</p> + +<p>“Recall him, oh, Lord of the Sun,” she begged. “He will surely reveal +the secret of Molina’s prison and I shall be lost—recall him!”</p> + +<p>The monarch sternly refused and waved the girl back to her duties as +hostess of the royal household.</p> + +<p>At her command the Sun Virgins swarmed about their visitors offering +delicious wines in huge goblets <span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</span>of gold. The Spaniards drank with +eager grip on the massive yellow vessels and sharp eyes for the +beauties who served.</p> + +<p>Yma cleared the space before the ranks of mailed Knights and led her +five hundred Virgins of the Sun in a dance of enchanting beauty. From +the space behind the Inca’s seat, the strains of music came with +far-off plaintive call. The swaying bodies of the girls were again the +incarnation of the soft sensuous strains.</p> + +<p>The cavaliers rode back to Pizarro in silence, depressed at the vast +display of power, and fired by the beauty of the magnificent reception +accorded them. They could not escape the feeling of sheep fattened for +the slaughter. A trap had been set, they had walked into it, and the +gate had closed behind them.</p> + + +</section> + <hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<section id="chapter-17"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</span></p> + + + <h3>Chapter XVII</h3> + + +<p>As the squadron of thirty-five horsemen approached Caxamalca a +hailstorm broke over the town and they galloped furiously across the +causeway to escape the sharp teeth of its jagged missiles of ice.</p> + +<p>Teresa’s new servant had mounted behind Gaspara. She led him into the +quarters assigned and began at once to question him sharply as to +Molina’s fate.</p> + +<p>The man, grateful for his life and charmed by her beauty and +gentleness, became a willing slave and told all he knew with eager +honesty.</p> + +<p>“The Spaniard has been attached to the royal household since his +arrival, dear lady. Yma, first of the Sun Virgins, whom you saw leading +their dances to-day, was given him for wife.”</p> + +<p>“His wife?” gasped Teresa.</p> + +<p>“So the monarch decreed.”</p> + +<p>“He lives with her as man and wife?” the girl asked in amazement.</p> + +<p>“I only know, dear lady, that Yma lives with him, presides over his +house and ministers to his wants with many servants.”</p> + +<p>“And where is he now?” she fiercely asked.</p> + +<p>“When your army approached,” he paused and <span class="pagenum" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</span>dropped his voice, “he was +imprisoned by orders of the Inca.”</p> + +<p>“And why imprisoned if he had taken a wife and joined his fortunes with +the empire?”</p> + +<p>“He wished to join his people....”</p> + +<p>Teresa laughed in triumph. What he might or might not have done +mattered little; what he would do now, had he the chance, meant +everything.</p> + +<p>“Where is he imprisoned?”</p> + +<p>“In the great fortress on the crest of the mountain behind the city. We +know that he has been put in chains.”</p> + +<p>Again the girl cried for joy.</p> + +<p>“In chains, you say?”</p> + +<p>“Yes. He tried to escape. Yma caught him, brought him back and the +governor ordered him manacled.”</p> + +<p>“I’ll kiss his chains. Lead me to the spot to-night.”</p> + +<p>Hastily eating a supper Teresa with Gaspara and her new servant crept +cautiously through the town still beaten by the storm, crossed the +causeway, passed the camp of the Inca and carefully climbed the long +steep stairs of stone.</p> + +<p>The man led the approach with the safe tread of a cougar. Only in +flashes of distant lightning could the outlines of the huge pile be +seen. The only possible entrance lay from the upper side where the +massive stone door swung open when released from within.</p> + +<p>“Can the guard be bribed?” Teresa whispered.</p> + +<p>In vain the interpreter tried to make the simple <span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</span>native understand the +question. It was beyond his ken. Gold was a thing used by the Emperor +for pots and pans, plates and cups and ornaments, but there was no +incentive for any man to accumulate it. It was useless trash to the +average citizen whose wants were all supplied by the State. A guard +could have no adequate motive to risk his life in accepting a bribe. A +man might act for love; he might act for hate, but for gold—that was +a motive unheard of in Peru. There was no use for such stuff in the +Kingdom of the Four Corners of the World. No man or woman in the empire +had ever seen a piece of money until Molina gave one to the Sun Virgin. +And that piece she now wore as her most valuable love charm.</p> + +<p>“No, dear lady,” the new servant warned. “No guard would risk his life +and brave the anger of the Inca for that stuff.”</p> + +<p>Verily, the soldiers of Spain had invaded a new world—a world turned +upside down, with all known values reversed or destroyed. For a moment +the girl was puzzled.</p> + +<p>“In what part of the fortress are its prison cells?” she asked +impatiently.</p> + +<p>“There are no cells, lady. The best rooms are used by the guards and +all are located on the western side overlooking the cliff and valley +below. He is in one of these rooms, I have been told.”</p> + +<p>“Can it be reached by ladders?”</p> + +<p>“The cliff is straight five hundred feet downward. The walls of the +fortress are flush with the cliff. No ladder could be long enough.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</span></p> + +<p>“You know the guards?”</p> + +<p>“No, dear lady, but for your sake I’ll know them soon. The trouble will +be that they are loyal to Yma....”</p> + +<p>“So much the better that they do not know you,” Gaspara broke in. +“After to-day you will be a marked man if seen with us. Go to-night to +your own house and give every hour of your time learning the secrets of +the prison. Cultivate the guards and when you know them, report to us.”</p> + +<p>“I’ll do better than go to my house,” the man suggested. “If you can +find the way down the stairs and back to your people at Caxamalca, I +will enter the fortress to-night as one caught in the storm, ask for +shelter, and begin my work.”</p> + +<p>“Good!” cried Teresa. “We’ll find our way, never fear. The moment you +have mastered the inside of the fortress come to me at once.”</p> + +<p>“I will, dear lady.”</p> + +<p>Teresa withdrew into the dense forest and waited until he called his +distress signal and was admitted to the fortress.</p> + + +</section> + <hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<section id="chapter-18"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</span></p> + + + <h3>Chapter XVIII</h3> + + +<p>The commander at Caxamalca received the report of the reception of his +captain with grave fears. The situation was far more serious than he +had anticipated.</p> + +<p>De Soto discussed it with dispassionate care.</p> + +<p>“Know at once and clearly, Francisco Pizarro,” he began deliberately, +“that the monarch into whose camp we have marched is a ruler of vast +power and endless wealth. His army is strong; its discipline perfect. +No mobs of soldiers moved from their tents drawn by the word of our +coming. They had orders from the Inca to keep to their tents. They +kept to them. Only a few men on leave saw us. Their action under such +conditions evinced a discipline unknown to our soldiers.”</p> + +<p>“How many men do you estimate his army to contain?”</p> + +<p>“Look for yourself at their campfires.”</p> + +<p>The leader stepped through the doorway and looked at the miles of +gleaming fires on the slope of the hills. The storm had passed and the +stars had come out. The flickering lights of ten thousand tents made +pale the stars.</p> + +<p>“I should say,” De Soto continued, “their numbers cannot be less than +forty thousand. There <span class="pagenum" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</span>could not be less than ten thousand tents in +that vast array. There must be at least four soldiers to a tent. There +might be six.”</p> + +<p>Hernando Pizarro was equally impressed by the gravity of the outlook. +He made no effort to mince matters in his report.</p> + +<p>“And above all,” he said in conclusion, “was the cool insolence with +which he gave us orders to be carried to you. His words were cold +enough. His manner in speaking was far more significant. He spoke as a +ruler conscious of unlimited power. Mark well his words:</p> + +<p>“‘I will then visit him with my staff. Let him occupy the public +buildings on the square, <i>and no others</i>, till I come, when I will +order what shall be done.’ He does not propose to consult your wishes +in the matter. He will call to make known to you his decision as to +your fate. I don’t like the looks of it. We’ve got to face the facts.”</p> + +<p>Francisco Pizarro suddenly left his brother in conference with De Soto +and began to move among his men. Most of them stood in the shadows +watching the blaze of the campfires on the hills beyond the valley. He +felt instinctively the gloom that depressed them and it was his task to +dispel it.</p> + +<p>He called them together, a hundred and fifty thoroughly discouraged and +frightened men. They gathered close around the dying fire in the center +of the plaza beside which Pizarro stood. He spoke in low tones vibrant +with passionate courage.</p> + +<p>“Soldiers,” he began, “for seven years, through toil, dangers and +disappointments we have dreamed <span class="pagenum" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</span>of the day that we should confront +the mighty monarch of this rich empire. At last our eyes have seen the +glory of which we have dreamed. We are face to face with the foe we +have sought. Let us rejoice and be strong in our joy. This is no hour +for faint hearts. It is the hour when real men should shout defiance. +Rely on your strong arms and the might of God who has led you safely +through so many perils. Your God will not desert you now. What matters +how great the number of our enemy, if God be with us?”</p> + +<p>The men stirred. They caught the daring spirit of their leader, +and their sagging shoulders lifted. And the greatest appeal to the +adventurers, when all else failed, was that which struck the deep +religious strain that underlay the character of the Spanish soldier. +Pizarro returned to it with renewed enthusiasm as he saw their first +response.</p> + +<p>“My comrades,” he went on steadily, “you are carrying the banners of +Spain in a holy crusade for your God, His Church, and our Empire. Are +you ready when I call to you ‘<i>Christo y Santiago!</i>’?”</p> + +<p>Almost with a single voice, the men caught his enthusiasm. A shout +arose, “<i>Christo y Santiago!</i>”</p> + +<p>Pizarro left them with quick step and called his officers.</p> + +<p>While they gathered, Teresa reported the staring news of Molina’s +imprisonment in the fortress.</p> + +<p>Pizarro fixed her with a stern look:</p> + +<p>“I rely on you to keep this fact a strict secret. Our lives may depend +on it.”</p> + +<p>Teresa promised.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</span></p> + +<p>He then faced his officers with a smile. They sensed the quick beat of +his courageous heart before the first words fell from his lips. Each +man leaned close, and gave him breathless attention.</p> + +<p>“Gentlemen,” he began in quick decisive tones, “I’ve a proposition to +make to you. It is of the utmost danger and requires the utmost daring. +But we are confronted by a situation that demands such a courageous +solution, and only a courageous solution. We are surrounded by an army +of forty thousand men. By sheer weight of numbers they can overwhelm +us in an open fight. At this juncture we can not risk it. Retreat is +impossible. We know that the wild mountain pass over which we have just +struggled has been closed. A hundred men in those overhanging bulwarks +of stone could stop an army of ten thousand!”</p> + +<p>He paused and held their gaze in silence until the tragic dilemma was +clear in every mind.</p> + +<p>“You realize this, gentlemen?” he flashed.</p> + +<p>They nodded silent assent.</p> + +<p>“Then there is but one way,” he cried in tones of exultation. “The +Inca is not only their ruler; he is their God on earth. They are not +accustomed to think or move without his command. Very well. Ambush the +Inca and take him prisoner before the army and we paralyze the whole +empire!”</p> + +<p>His officers leaped to their feet to a man with cries of excited +approval.</p> + +<p>“Excellent!”</p> + +<p>“The only way!”</p> + +<p>“A master stroke!”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</span></p> + +<p>“Once in our power,” Pizarro continued, “we will issue orders—the Inca +will see that they are executed. We can stay or retreat as we like. The +mountain passes will open as by magic as they opened for us to pass +in. His army will be our army, ready at his word to do our bidding. +No matter what his feelings towards us, friendly or hostile, we are +masters of the situation. To make sure of no outbreak led by his family +we will invite them to attend their sovereign here and hold them all as +hostages.”</p> + +<p>Hernando Pizarro hailed the scheme with enthusiasm. It appealed to his +cruel nature with subtle force. He stepped forward, turned, and faced +the men.</p> + +<p>“And make no mistake, gentlemen,” he cried. “The Inca is a crafty and +unscrupulous schemer. We can see now that he has deliberately lured us +to Caxamalca and closed the door behind us. His presents and his soft +messages were bait. We will give him a dose of his own medicine and +make sure of our lives.”</p> + +<p>“And there is not an hour to be lost,” Francisco Pizarro urged. “We +have learned that the main army lies somewhere to the south under the +command of a famous general, Challcuchima. Rest assured swift runners +have already given him the orders to close in, block our way and join +his master. We have already invited the Inca to visit us here. He will +come, of course, with a guard of moderate size. It is not possible that +he will attempt to enter at the head of his army. We will dispose of +our <span class="pagenum" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</span>forces by concealing them in the hills opening on the plaza and +when he walks into our trap we will close it.”</p> + +<p>As the council was breaking up Pizarro lifted his hand in a word of +final command.</p> + +<p>“See your men to-night and cheer them but say nothing. I caution the +utmost secrecy and the results will be in God’s hands.”</p> + +<p>The commander busied himself at once with careful preparations for +the dawn of the day that would decide their fate. Guards were placed +at every approach to the town; sentinels stationed at every strategic +point to watch any movement to encircle the city. Guards were set on +both sides of the inner and outer forts with strict commands to report +immediately any movement of a suspicious character.</p> + +<p>The night passed in silence, save for the occasional cry of an owl. And +the sun rose in a clear sky Saturday the sixteenth of November, 1532.</p> + +<p>Francisco Pizarro was the first soldier to cross the plaza. He gave +orders in person to the trumpeter to call his men to their arms. The +shrill cry rang over the city and echoed against the hills on which lay +the white tents of the native army.</p> + +<p>Every soldier sprang to his arms and buckled them on with quick nervous +haste. Something in the ring of the trumpet called to instant action. +Its notes were sharp as claws. What it meant they knew not, but the low +words of their leader spoken the night before were prophetic of daring +deeds to-day.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</span></p> + +<p>They gathered about Pizarro eagerly.</p> + +<p>In low tones he told them of his plan. Excited comments arose and +murmurs of admiration and approval swept the crowd.</p> + +<p>“God’s light!”</p> + +<p>“As God lives!”</p> + +<p>“<i>Por las entrañas de Dios!</i> That’s a leader for you!”</p> + +<p>In the halls with wide entrances on the plaza, he stationed his +cavalry, one division under his brother Hernando, the other under De +Soto. The infantry he concealed in the adjoining building under his own +command, reserving twenty picked men to attend him personally in the +capture of the Inca.</p> + +<p>Pedro Candia, he stationed with his artillery on the ramparts of the +fortress commanding the plaza. The artillery was small in number and +size but its effects would be none the less terrible in their novelty. +The two falconets were set, loaded and pointed, the gunners standing +ready.</p> + +<p>The orders of attack Francisco Pizarro delivered in person to each +division of his little army. Each man should be concealed until the +Inca and his attendants entered the plaza. He would give the signal +of assault to Pedro Candia who would fire a cannon. At the sound of +the cannon, the enemy should be charged and put to the sword. Except +the Inca. No hand should be lifted against his sacred person. He must +be taken alive and unharmed. The success of their daring enterprise +depended on this.</p> + +<p>His final words rang with the temper of steel.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</span></p> + +<p>“Soldiers of Spain! When the crucial moment comes, I depend on you! No +hurry, no confusion, deadly order and obedience. In concert move coolly +and swiftly to your tasks.”</p> + +<p>He carefully inspected their arms. To the cavalry he gave his especial +attention. On these would depend the stroke that would bring victory. +The wide openings were made for such a charge as he planned. In +solid lines the troops were pressed far back into the shadows of the +building. The floor was on a level with the plaza. They could charge +four abreast without pause from the depths of their hiding place. He +was careful to see that the breastplates of every horse was set with +bells. This would add to the terror of their charge.</p> + +<p>The orders of attack given, the inspection complete, the men were +served a hearty breakfast, and the priests, who came under the +provisions of the charter, called them to mass, which was celebrated +with great solemnity in the somber shadows of the building in which +the cavalry were stationed. At the end Pizarro prayed the God of their +fathers to strengthen their arms for the battle to extend the Kingdom +of the Cross over the world. He led and all joined in singing the +chant, “<i>Exsurge, Domine</i>”—“Rise, O Lord, and judge Thine Own +Cause!”</p> + +<p>Whatever his faults the cavalier of Spain in the sixteenth century +was not a hypocrite. In this hour of sublime daring he was the true +believer—a soldier of the Cross. For the moment he forgot his lust for +gold in the greater issues of life and death.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</span></p> + +<p>Pizarro watched his men with deep satisfaction. They were fired with +enthusiasm. Such men, in the crisis, would be true to their religion, +their leader and themselves.</p> + +<p>It was noon before a decided movement could be seen in the camp of +the Inca. The men were growing restless, when a messenger arrived. +The <i>Quicha</i> language had no alphabet, and, the words made with +the knotted colored strings of the <i>quipa</i> being unknown to the +Spaniards, the message was delivered by spoken word.</p> + +<p>“Our Lord of the Sun begs to inform you that he comes fully armed in +the same manner as your messengers to his camp last night. The delay in +movement is due to the selection of his soldiers, that he may honor his +guests with his best.”</p> + +<p>The message was ominous. While Pizarro had no right to expect that the +Emperor would come unarmed, yet he had hoped it might be possible. +That he should spend half the day in selecting his best warriors was +disconcerting. He commanded his attendants to keep from the men the +meaning of the message. He could afford to express to the messenger no +surprise or regret at his announcement. On the other hand he went out +of the way to express his pleasure at the news.</p> + +<p>“Inform your master, that, come as he will, he will be received as a +friend and brother!”</p> + +<p>An hour later the Indian procession began its slow march in state +towards Caxamalca. When the procession had reached the causeway the +Spaniards could see hundreds of men with brooms sweeping <span class="pagenum" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</span>the way clear +of dust and rubbish for the passage of their sovereign.</p> + +<p>And when the causeway was crowded, the procession having come halfway +across it, there spread over the meadows a vast army of tens of +thousands. The sight was disturbing and it gave Pizarro a bad hour. He +was thankful that only the few men stationed on the ramparts of the +fortress with Pedro de Candia could see the swarm of these ugly looking +locusts.</p> + +<p>Pizarro hurried to Candia in person.</p> + +<p>“Warn your men to be silent. See that no word of this great host +reaches the soldiers hidden below.”</p> + +<p>“Not a word.”</p> + +<p>The commander hurried back to his position and watched the approaching +throng on the causeway with kindling eyes. It would matter little how +many men were massed in the meadows if he once captured the Inca. He +could see now the gold litter of the sovereign high above the heads +of his staff borne on the shoulders of noblemen in gorgeous attire. +Their dazzling, gold trimmed uniforms completely surrounding the litter +blazed in the sun.</p> + +<p>At the end of the causeway, Pizarro saw to his dismay that the Inca had +ordered a halt and his soldiers began to put up their tents for the +night. Before he could recover from his surprise, a second messenger +arrived from the royal procession. He spoke with authority.</p> + +<p>“The Lord of the Sun pitches his tents at his present position. He will +enter the city in state to-morrow morning.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</span></p> + +<p>Pizarro received the news with ill-concealed distress. His men had +gripped their arms since daylight. Their nerves had been for hours +taut to the snapping point. They had held their entrusted positions +in a silence broken only by the call of the sentinels on the ramparts +marking the approach of the Inca. Another night of this was more than +flesh could endure. The suspense would quench enthusiasm and breed +panic. The old soldier was too wise in his knowledge of men to doubt +this for a moment. He must urge the monarch to change his plans.</p> + +<p>His manner was suave, but his tones were cordially urgent as he spoke.</p> + +<p>“Say to your royal master that his decision to camp in the open for the +night has greatly distressed me. We beg him to enter the city at once, +as we have prepared a table with rare refreshments in his honor and +expect him to dine with us to-night.”</p> + +<p>The returning messenger could not reach the Inca for a moment. A +delegation of priests blocked his way.</p> + +<p>Yma had prostrated herself before Atahualpa and her clear tones could +be heard in an earnest prayer.</p> + +<p>“I beg the Lord of the Sun to hear his servants.”</p> + +<p>“I have heard once and rejected their advice—what more?”</p> + +<p>“They have consulted the signs of the altar.”</p> + +<p>“So did they consult for Huascar at Cuzco and their advice was wrong. +In great moments I think for myself.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</span></p> + +<p>“I pray you, O Lord, hear them.”</p> + +<p>The Chief Priest of the Temple pressed forward and spoke with trembling +earnestness.</p> + +<p>“The signs, O Lord of the Sun, tell of dire evil. We implore you to +change your purpose and return to your imperial camp.”</p> + +<p>Atahualpa lifted his hand in a gesture of angry impatience.</p> + +<p>Yma again prostrated herself before him crying:</p> + +<p>“And I bring to you, our Lord, sad assurances from my beloved, noblest +and wisest of all these men, that you are in grave danger.”</p> + +<p>“Your god-man sends me this message of warning against his own people?”</p> + +<p>“Not in words,” she admitted.</p> + +<p>“How then?”</p> + +<p>“I asked of him their purpose. He could not tell. But from his tone +and words I caught the sense of uneasiness. He has learned greatly to +respect and admire you in spite of his chains and imprisonment. He +fears for your safety.”</p> + +<p>“He fears for their safety!”</p> + +<p>The Inca sneered. Over the heads of the priests he caught a gesture +from his messenger and called him to report.</p> + +<p>“The strangers have prepared a feast for the Lord of the Sun. They +expect him to dine with them to-night. They beg that he does not +disappoint them.”</p> + +<p>The Inca turned sharply to his priests.</p> + +<p>“Return immediately to the temple and your duties. No more of your +cackling. As for you, presumptuous <span class="pagenum" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</span>girl—” He paused and fixed Yma +with his eyes.</p> + +<p>“I spared your life once when you had gone too far. Another mission of +this kind and I will bury you alive within the hour.”</p> + +<p>The girl bowed humbly.</p> + +<p>“I beg your pardon, Lord of the Sun. I came with the priests drawn by a +great reverence for your holy person. I pledge anew my oath of loyalty +to your service.”</p> + +<p>He waved her aside.</p> + +<p>In spite of his warnings Yma lingered among his attendants, her heart +sickened with a dumb terror.</p> + +<p>As if to mock the fears and warnings of his people he turned to his +messenger and spoke in clear command.</p> + +<p>“Return at once to the Spanish commander and say that I will accept +his cordial invitation to dine at his table to-night. And say that my +trust in him is so great that I will enter informally with only unarmed +attendants.”</p> + +<p>A low murmur of surprise and consternation came from his noblemen, +and a cry of pain from Yma. But none dared brook his anger by further +protest. It was evident to all that he resented their fears as unworthy +of his exalted rank and power.</p> + +<p>“And say to the Spaniard,” the Inca added, “that he may reserve for my +accommodation to-night the House of the Serpent opening on the plaza.”</p> + +<p>Pizarro received the astonishing message with a grim smile.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</span></p> + +<p>“Verily God hath delivereth the enemy into our hands!” he breathed +devoutly.</p> + +<p>The word was quickly passed and once more the soldiers gripped their +weapons in a tense silence.</p> + +<p>As the sun was sinking behind the peaks of the <i>cordillera</i> +the royal procession entered the gates of the city. As the Spaniard +watched he could now have little doubt that the first purpose of the +march with a splendid army was for display and in honor of his guests. +The acceptance of the invitation to dine showed a confidence in his +visitors and a sense of security in his own power. The audacity of an +attack on his person by a handful of men was evidently unthinkable. +The plan was working. Pizarro watched the spectacle with trembling +eagerness.</p> + +<p>First came the hordes of sweepers cleaning the streets of every piece +of rubbish. As they neared the plaza a chorus of hundreds of voices +burst into a triumphant song that rang in strange echoes through the +shadows of the halls. The startled horses pricked their ears and lifted +their heads. A stallion neighed in answer and the rider threw him to +his haunches in stern rebuke.</p> + +<p>Behind the sweepers and singers slowly moved a mass of attendants with +symbols of the various divisions of industry in the Empire. They were +dressed in gay liveries. Some wore cloaks checkered white and red like +a chess board.</p> + +<p>One division wore pure white and carried maces of silver and copper. +The royal guard wore uniforms of rich azure decorated with many +precious <span class="pagenum" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</span>stones. The Peruvian noblemen were easily distinguished by +the profusion of gems and the huge pendants that hung from their ears.</p> + +<p>In an open litter Atahualpa sat on a magnificent throne of gold, +gleaming in the rays of the sinking sun. The canopy above his litter +was covered with the gayest plumes of tropical birds and studded with +gem-set yellow plates. He wore a costume of more resplendant materials +than at his first reception. His neck was circled with a collar of +brilliant emeralds of enormous size, and the scarlet <i>borla</i> that +bound his brow was bordered with priceless stones. He glanced at the +crowds of his attendants with an air of commanding indifference.</p> + +<p>As the royal procession entered the square the ranks opened and stood +in silence awaiting the advance of the Inca’s litter. The monarch +passed through the long lane of his people in silence. Not a Spaniard +was to be seen.</p> + +<p>No hint of the tragic meaning of their absence yet dawned on his mind. +A moment of suspicion and there was yet time for a swift withdrawal to +the head of his army in the meadows. In perfect confidence his litter +slowly moved to the center of the plaza surrounded by five or six +thousand attendants.</p> + +<p>The sharp eyes of Pizarro saw the crowd close behind him.</p> + +<p>“Where are the Spaniards?” the Inca inquired.</p> + +<p>In answer to his question, Vincente de Valverde, the Dominican friar +who acted as Francisco Pizarro’s chaplain, stepped from the building in +which the infantry lay concealed, carrying his Bible and <span class="pagenum" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</span>crucifix and +approached the monarch who had descended from the litter.</p> + +<p>The friar with dignity and solemn mien preached a sermon to the heathen +potentate and his assembled people.</p> + +<p>“I am here, Your Highness,” he began in measured tones, “by order of +our commander to expound to you the doctrines of the true faith. For +this purpose the Spaniards have come, at great expense and suffering +many perils, across the sea.”</p> + +<p>He first proclaimed with high-sounding phrases the mysterious doctrine +of the Trinity. Atahualpa frowned and looked incredulous.</p> + +<p>“What is that you say?”</p> + +<p>Felipillo, the proud interpreter, hastened to explain:</p> + +<p>“The Christians believe in three Gods and one God and that makes four!”</p> + +<p>The explanation gave little light to the perplexed heathen and Valverde +hastened on. He told the story of the creation of man, his fall in the +Garden of Eden, and his salvation through the crucifixion of Christ +on the Cross. He proclaimed the ascension and the appointment of the +Apostle Peter vice-regent on earth. This power had been passed to his +successors, now called Popes, who held authority over all the powers of +the earth.</p> + +<p>“One of these Popes,” he continued with special emphasis, “has +commanded our Emperor Charles V, the mightiest monarch of the world, +to conquer and convert the world to the true faith. He in turn <span class="pagenum" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</span>has +appointed Francisco Pizarro his general and viceroy to execute this +work.”</p> + +<p>“I beseech you,” the friar pleaded with eloquence, “that you receive +him kindly, in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I beg +that you renounce the errors of your religion and accept the true one, +your only hope of salvation in this world and the next. I advise you to +acknowledge yourself tributary to our mighty Emperor Charles V who will +forever protect you as his royal vassal.”</p> + +<p>Whatever doubts Atahualpa had over the Doctrine of the Trinity, even +after Felipillo’s luminous explanation, he caught the import of +Pizarro’s claims and his request that he resign his powers as sovereign +and acknowledge himself the vassal of another.</p> + +<p>The darkened brow of the ruler was lowered for a moment. His lips +twisted with an angry sneer as he lifted his head in answer.</p> + +<p>“You ask of me, the greatest prince on earth, that I become the vassal +of another? Your Emperor may be great. I do not doubt it, seeing that +he can send you across the seas. I will gladly hold him as my brother. +As his vassal, never!”</p> + +<p>He paused with an angry smile.</p> + +<p>“As for your Pope, he must be mad to talk of giving away my country +which does not belong to him. My faith I will not change. Your altars +may be erected in our temples if you like. There is room for all +religions here. I would gladly hear more of your gods at my leisure. +But when you tell me <span class="pagenum" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</span>that your Lord was killed by the men whom he +created, I answer—”</p> + +<p>He stopped and pointed to the sinking flame of the sun.</p> + +<p>“My God still lives in the heavens and looks down with love on all his +children.”</p> + +<p>Turning to Valverde he slowly asked:</p> + +<p>“By whose authority do you dare to say to me the many things which you +have spoken?”</p> + +<p>“By this,” the friar answered, pointing to the Bible which he extended.</p> + +<p>Atahualpa took the volume and turned its leaves casually. That a man +should enter his empire and make such preposterous claims and demands +based on meaningless characters written on parchment in an unknown +tongue stirred his anger.</p> + +<p>The suggestion was an insult to his intelligence and a mockery of his +power. He threw the book on the pavement and faced Valverde.</p> + +<p>“Tell your commander that he shall give me a full account of his doings +in my land and I will not go from here until he has made satisfaction +for all the outrages his people have committed on mine.”</p> + +<p>The friar seized the sacred volume and hurried back to Pizarro. He +indignantly informed him of all that had passed, dwelling with rage on +the insult to the Bible.</p> + +<p>The commander had complied with the letter of the law provided in the +charter. He had taken council of the Church and Valverde’s advice was +sharp and to the point.</p> + +<p>“Do you not see,” he whispered, “that while we <span class="pagenum" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</span>stand here talking to +this dog full of pride, the fields are swarming with his soldiers. Lead +<i>on at once</i>. I absolve you.”</p> + +<p>Pizarro sprang for the doorway and waved a white scarf to Pedro Candia. +A cannon roared from the ramparts, and he sprang into the square, +lifted his sword and shouted:</p> + +<p>“<i>Christo y Santiago!</i>”</p> + +<p>From every Spanish throat came the answering shout:</p> + +<p>“<i>Christo y Santiago!</i>”</p> + +<p>The long strain of the day’s waiting, their alternate high hopes and +uncertainty, combined with the dangers of their position transformed a +hundred and sixty-eight men into as many fiends.</p> + +<p>At the first roar of the cannon from the fortress, tearing a path of +death through the dense crowd, filling the plaza with smoke, a mad +panic seized the natives. They stood a moment like terrified sheep +trembling in their tracks, unable to know what had happened or was +about to happen. From the wide openings swept sixty-seven horses, their +riders shouting, hundreds of bells on their breastplates jingling an +added terror that gripped the hearts of the natives. The cavalry cut +avenue after avenue of death in the huddled ranks. The two cannon and +four muskets from the ramparts flamed, thundered and roared. Wheeling +again and again the cavalry cut their way through the helpless throng +with cyclonic fury, trampling, slaying, yelling. The infantry cleaved +with swords and thrust their long steel spears into defenseless breasts.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</span></p> + +<p>Valverde in the van of the foot-soldiers screamed a warning:</p> + +<p>“Thrust! Thrust with the points of your swords or you’ll break your +weapons!”</p> + +<p>Stunned by the roar and blinded by smoke, the panic-stricken crowd at +last surged toward the narrow entrance of the gate and trampled each +other to death in a mad effort to escape.</p> + +<p>They swerved back from the piles of the dead and again the cavalry +plunged through their ranks. So great became the pressure of the human +mass packed against the stone and plaster wall, the structure gave way +and fell into the street in a cloud of dust and débris.</p> + +<p>An opening eighty feet wide freed hundreds who fled only to be followed +and cut down by the pursuing horsemen.</p> + +<p>The plaza had become a bloody shambles. It was never a fight—always +sheer butchery. Francisco’s picked men had not yet reached the litter +of the Inca. Guarded by his faithful nobles, cheered by the shrill +voice of the Sun Virgin, his throne had swayed above the heads of the +surging crowds from side to side of the plaza. Every effort of Pizarro +to cut his way to the monarch’s litter had failed. As one nobleman +fell, another blocked the way. When a horseman was called to hew a path +through his defenders, the dauntless group of guards who now surrounded +him sprang on the horse’s haunches and gripped his legs until he could +not move. When a flash of steel killed one, another took his place. Not +a horseman succeeded in reaching the Inca. <span class="pagenum" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</span>His litter still swayed +over the heads of the crowd when Pizarro led the final assault with his +twenty picked men. Forming a flying wedge of the soldiers he drove a +way to the surging throne. A maddened trooper killed a litter bearer, +the handle dropped and the monarch fell towards his assailants. The +sword of an excited officer flashed towards the falling body. Pizarro +sprang to the rescue and received a slight wound in the wrist.</p> + +<p>“Let no one who values his life strike the Inca!” the captain shouted, +catching the monarch in his arms.</p> + +<p>The imperial <i>borla</i> was snatched from his brow by a struggling +soldier, his arms were pinioned, he was led into the building and +securely chained.</p> + + +</section> + <hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<section id="chapter-19"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</span></p> + + + <h3>Chapter XIX</h3> + + +<p>Yma had held her place beside her royal master until she saw him fall +into the hands of his captors. With a cry of despair she slipped +through the surging mass of nobles yet pressing about the body of their +fallen ruler, fled for the fortress, and reached the entrance to the +building on the terrace below without accident.</p> + +<p>Faithfully obeying her commands, Toparca had guarded the fortress with +a new relay of men and stood at the lower entrance impatiently awaiting +her return.</p> + +<p>He could not believe his ears.</p> + +<p>“The Inca taken! Dear Yma, it is impossible. They dare not lay their +hands on God himself.”</p> + +<p>“It is done. I saw them bind him with cords and lead him away a +prisoner. Thousands have been slain. There is no one to command and all +left alive are fleeing....”</p> + +<p>“But the army?”</p> + +<p>“The captains, in terror, without a leader, have dispersed the army. +The men are flying secretly to their homes. I passed the camp and saw +them running, every man for himself.”</p> + +<p>“The woman will attack the fortress?”</p> + +<p>“Yes! Quick, we have work to do. They shall not take my man. I know +they are coming.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</span></p> + +<p>Through a dense mass of evergreen bushes the girl pushed her way to the +door that opened the way up the long stairway into the fortress. It was +the work of an hour to carry out her plans of defeating Teresa.</p> + +<p>When she reported the slaughter of five thousand unarmed people and the +capture of the Inca, Molina refused to believe it.</p> + +<p>He lifted his manacled arm in a gesture of impatience.</p> + +<p>“Dear Virgin of the Sun, you are overwrought. You are hysterical. +Such things cannot be done by the followers of Jesus Christ. You are +raving....”</p> + +<p>“I saw it all!” she shivered “Your people are devils, not gods. +They lured our Lord of the Sun into an ambush and slew his unarmed +attendants without mercy. I felt this coming in the sorrow of your +voice when first I told you of the strangers’ invitation to the Inca. I +warned him in vain.”</p> + +<p>“Is it possible!” he cried in anguish.</p> + +<p>“They will come for you with their horses and their flaming tubes—but +they shall not take you!”</p> + +<p>Her face flushed and the young cavalier watched her with a deep pity +shadowing his soul. Two years among a gentle, friendly, happy people +had done something to his character. He had no desire to share the +ghastly victory with his people. A feeling of nausea overwhelmed him.</p> + +<p>“I have no wish to see my people to-night, dear Yma,” he muttered sadly.</p> + +<p>“Then you will not be more unhappy if I take <span class="pagenum" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</span>you to the lower rooms +before they come to smash in the doors of the fortress?”</p> + +<p>“I am in chains, I cannot stop you if I would.”</p> + +<p>The girl stooped and kissed the manacles. “They hold you for me yet a +little while.”</p> + +<p>The Spaniard touched gently the dark tresses of her hair.</p> + +<p>“I’m learning many things, in these silent days, dear Yma. The world I +live in has grown larger and more wonderful and beautiful since I’ve +known you.”</p> + +<p>She watched him wistfully for a moment, her deep emotion raging, but +she repressed it, smiled and hurried to her task.</p> + +<p>Toparca called the guard, and found the eye holes in a massive stone +that paved the lower passage. These holes were safely hidden by soft +earth from which sprigs of grass were carefully removed in a compact +piece of turf and laid aside to be replaced.</p> + +<p>Grappling hooks of heavy bronze were fixed in those holes and the +combined strength of five men lifted the huge trap door that opened the +way to the lower fortress hundreds of feet below.</p> + +<p>With all speed Molina’s furnishings and clothes and all the effects of +his servant and Yma’s maids were removed to the lower level. Then the +cavalier followed Yma down the long dark stairway, hundreds of feet +into the depths below.</p> + +<p>The guards replaced the stone, reset the grass, and left the fortress +unguarded. They obeyed Yma’s command without question.</p> + +<p>When Teresa arrived two hours later with a force <span class="pagenum" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</span>of twenty men and one +of Candia’s cannon no sound came from the ramparts in answer to her +call.</p> + +<p>Gaspara warned her to move with care as Pizarro had commanded. He had +refused to allow her to engage in the attack on the Inca. She had +agreed on condition that he give her permission to take the fortress +the moment the monarch was in his hands. Now she waited impatiently.</p> + +<p>A complete survey of the walls from every angle gave no sign of +defense. A sentinel had always walked the ramparts day and night. +Gaspara ordered the men to try the heavy stone door and it yielded at +once to their shoulders, swinging heavily on its massive pivot.</p> + +<p>Teresa turned to her native servant.</p> + +<p>“You are sure there are only three guards?”</p> + +<p>“I’ve seen but three since I entered the fortress. I’ve hidden from +the Sun Virgin, but got all her orders from a maid. No more have been +added. The prisoner is on the first floor.”</p> + +<p>“Steady!” she called to the men. “It may be a ruse. I will lose no +Spanish soldiers in this crisis. I’ll enter alone first.”</p> + +<p>With torch uplifted high she boldly entered the hall and found it +empty. Calling Gaspara they surveyed each room. The place was deserted. +The kitchen gave signs of use during the day, and live coals still +smoldered in the cooling ashes, but there were no occupants to be found.</p> + +<p>A second careful search uncovered the small stairway which led out +through the clump of evergreens at the foot of the cliff. Teresa +examined every <span class="pagenum" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</span>crook and turn of the stairs, emerged below, parted the +bushes at the entrance, and stood baffled.</p> + +<p>“They’ve just slipped through our fingers by this secret entrance of +the fortress....”</p> + +<p>“It’s plain,” Gaspara agreed.</p> + +<p>“There’s nothing to do but begin our search all over again—” a +strangled sob caught her voice—“but when I find her I’ll run her +through....”</p> + + +</section> + <hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<section id="chapter-20"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</span></p> + + + <h3>Chapter XX</h3> + + +<p>Within an hour the trumpet called the Spanish soldiers again to the +Plaza of Caxamalca. On its flagstones lay in dark heaps the dead. The +slaughter had lasted barely fifty minutes and more than five thousand +had been slain, an army of forty thousand soldiers had fled through the +bushes in terror and a mighty empire lay within the grasp of Francisco +Pizarro.</p> + +<p>The Spanish captain outdid himself in an effort to cheer the fallen +monarch and lighten his gloom. He could well afford in this hour of +bloody triumph to play the generous host.</p> + +<p>“You must not be cast down by this misfortune, Your Highness,” he urged +in friendly accents. “You are not alone in such distress. No ruler of +the world has been able to resist the soldiers of Spain. We fight under +the banners of her great Emperor and the banners of the all conquering +Christ whose Kingdom is now overspreading the earth. Your pride was +high; your power was vast. But nothing can stand before our arms....”</p> + +<p>He stopped short, smiled and said in cordial tones:</p> + +<p>“Take courage. Confide in me as your friend. We found ourselves in a +trap which you had set. Our lives were at stake. We had to strike.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</span></p> + +<p>The Inca nodded his head sadly.</p> + +<p>“It is the fortune of war, and I have lost.”</p> + +<p>“I would be your friend,” Pizarro urged. “The Spaniards are a generous +race. We war only on those who make war on us, showing grace to all who +submit.”</p> + +<p>The Inca lifted sad eyes toward the heaps of his dead and made no +reply. The rain had begun to pour its friendly mercy on the wounded. +Only here and there the groan of a dying man could be heard. The faint +odor of burnt gunpowder that had filled the nostrils of the Inca with +nausea had passed.</p> + +<p>Pizarro seated his prisoner at the banquet table generously prepared +for his entertainment and spared no pains to make the feast a memorable +one. A few bottles of choice Spanish wine had been carefully guarded on +their long march for such an occasion. These were served the captive in +battered pewter cups in painful contrast to the solid gold goblets his +officers had seen at their reception the day before.</p> + +<p>Pizarro noticed the look of doubt with which Atahualpa stared +bewildered at the dirty cups and apologized:</p> + +<p>“I am sorry, Your Highness, that a soldier’s rough camp cannot yet +furnish better plate for your service.”</p> + +<p>The Inca smiled sadly and lifted his cup with a bow of instinctive +courtesy.</p> + +<p>“Be assured,” the Spaniard continued, “of your personal safety, and the +safety of all your household. <span class="pagenum" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</span>We are counting on your aid to restore +complete tranquillity.”</p> + +<p>The monarch accepted the situation with philosophy at which the +Spaniards greatly marveled, wondering if it yet concealed the secret of +a counter-attack that might overwhelm them in the night.</p> + +<p>“I greatly appreciate,” the Inca finally said to Pizarro, “your +assurance of the safety of my mother and my household....”</p> + +<p>Noting the tone of anxiety in which his thanks were expressed, the +captain hastened to assure him:</p> + +<p>“Early in the morning, when all evidences of battle have been cleared +from the plaza and the approaching streets, I will conduct your mother +and your household here and establish them with you in the House of the +Serpent.”</p> + +<p>The prisoner gravely nodded his thanks.</p> + +<p>The Spaniards studied the Inca with keen interest as he sat beside +their commander at the large banquet table, presiding at a feast that +celebrated his own downfall and the butchery of five thousand of his +people. He was in the full strength of youth, well made and more +athletic than the average of his countrymen. His head was unusually +large and his regular strong features handsome, but for his blood-shot +eyes which gave an impression of fierceness to his otherwise agreeable +face. There was no trace of the half effeminate type of the inbreeding +of the royal family which had been practiced for the past four +hundred years. Atahualpa’s mother had been a foreigner, a queen in +her own right as ruler of Quito before its conquest by Huyna Capac. +The <span class="pagenum" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</span>conqueror had fallen madly in love with the fifteen-year-old +wife of the conquered ruler of the North and in spite of the fiercest +opposition of his priests and nobles, had made her a queen in the +consolidated Kingdoms.</p> + +<p>The young Inca in many ways gave the impression of the perfect +manhood of the true love child. His manner was poised and his speech +deliberate. To his subjects he had ever been the arbiter of life and +death. To his strange host on this tragic occasion he was affable and +courteous.</p> + +<p>The longer they watched him the more suspicious some of them became +that this pleasing exterior concealed a daring plan of rescue that +might develop before dawn. Hernando Pizarro was sure of it.</p> + +<p>“Don’t allow his soft words to deceive you,” he warned Francisco. “The +sternest discipline must be maintained until our safety is assured.”</p> + +<p>The captain nodded his assent. His own keen and careful mind had +already foreseen this possibility.</p> + +<p>At the close of the banquet Pizarro conducted his distinguished captive +to the royal suite in the House of the Serpent which had been reserved +for him strictly in accordance with his request. He placed a double +guard over the house and hurried into the hall of the cavalry where he +had ordered an assembly of his entire force not on guard duty.</p> + +<p>They were carefully counted and inspected. Not a man had been lost and +not a drop of Spanish blood had been spilled except for the scratch +which <span class="pagenum" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</span>Pizarro had received in rescuing the Inca from the sword of an +excited officer.</p> + +<p>The commander called his priests and ordered his men to their knees. A +prayer of thanksgiving was made to the God who had so marvelously saved +every life. They had lost four killed and many wounded in a skirmish +with the tribe on Puna island. They had won the first battle of the +attack on the great Empire with a bare scratch from the sword of one +of their own men. It was not to be wondered at that the outcome was +regarded as a miracle. They believed to a man that they had marched +into a death trap and were cutting their way out to a place of safety.</p> + +<p>The best witness of Pizarro’s sincerity in this belief was Hernando de +Soto, who fought by his side through the bloody hour. Whatever may be +the opinions of Francisco Pizarro’s character, no chronicler has yet +questioned the lofty motives, the high ideals, or the stern honesty +of De Soto. Had this man believed for a moment that the attack on +Atahualpa was a piece of mere savage cruelty, he would have refused to +lead his men in the attack. And no argument for discipline or claims of +authority could have driven him into the business. De Soto led his own +cavalry into the bloody shambles because, and only because, he believed +that he was cutting his way to safety.</p> + +<p>On rising from prayer, Pizarro again addressed his men with a simple +eloquence characteristic of his leadership.</p> + +<p>“Comrades, we have given thanks to Him who has <span class="pagenum" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</span>led us through a +thousand trials to this deliverance. Without God the miracle could not +have been performed. You have prevailed over thousands and tens of +thousands. Your lives have been spared by Heaven for greater deeds. +You must do your part now as you’ve done it so nobly in the past. The +greatest dangers still confront you. We are in the heart of an empire +of twelve million people deeply loyal to their ruler. He is in our +power and we have in this the assurance of our success if we do our +parts with stern discipline and unswerving obedience. To-night there +must be no rioting, no taking of women, no excesses, no uncalled for +attack. Let every man sleep on his arms, ready at the call of the +trumpet to face our foes. I have stationed a guard at the gates of +the convent of the Virgins of the Sun. Let no man dare invade its +precincts. We must not stir the fires of religious fanaticism in this +crisis!”</p> + +<p>The soldiers cheered him and lay down on their arms and slept till +dawn. At the first streak of light in the east the trumpet called and +every Spaniard sprang to his feet.</p> + +<p>They rounded up the huddled groups of shivering, hungry Peruvians and +set them to the work of burying the dead and cleansing the flagstones +of the plaza of all traces of blood. To Teresa and Gaspara, the captain +gave permission to take a half dozen horsemen and continue the search +for Molina.</p> + +<p>A squadron of thirty, under his brother Hernando, he sent to take the +spoils from the summer house of the Inca at the hot baths and scatter +the remnants <span class="pagenum" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</span>of the army. He had already learned of their panic and +flight into the forests.</p> + +<p>The squadron met with no resistance, either from the stragglers of the +camp or the household of the sovereign. The entire day was given to +gathering the gold and silver service from the homes of the monarch and +his nobles and collecting ornaments and precious stones from the living +and the dead. Great was the amazement of the natives at this procedure.</p> + +<p>Yma had summoned a division of the girls from the convent to minister +to the stricken household of the Inca.</p> + +<p>When a trooper had borne the last gold cup from the fountain in the +apartment of the Mother Queen, Pacha turned her sad eyes on the Sun +Virgin.</p> + +<p>“Surely these strange beings have not shed all this blood to take so +much rubbish?”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” the girl answered. “They are mad with a lust for these metals. +Our priests can give no explanation of their insanity, but my dear +god-man has told me many things of their ranks and titles, wealth and +poverty and the cruel suffering for food and clothes among the poor +in Spain. It seems that the gold and silver which to us mean pots and +bowls, plates and cups out of which to eat, to them mean food and +clothes and shelter and life. It is pitiful, is it not?”</p> + +<p>In spite of the terror spread by the slaughter in the Plaza of +Caxamalca, crowds of young men and women gathered about the royal +house at the baths and gazed in wonder at the strange beings who <span class="pagenum" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</span>were +looting the palace of its plates and ornaments. They watched with +breathless awe the men who had done the daring and terrible things +of the past night. The most incredible deed of all was that these +invaders had laid hands on the Lord of the Sun, the Inca—God in human +flesh—and held him in chains. That thunderbolts from heaven had not +struck them dead was more than the natives could understand.</p> + +<p>They watched with increasing wonder the loads of gold and silver piled +on litters being borne to Caxamalca. Nothing could surprise them now. +The white men were surely superfiends sent from the depths of hell +to scourge the earth and with the Inca in chains his subjects were +helpless. They could only bow their necks to the yoke.</p> + +<p>The cavalry herded them in thousands and drove the helpless human sheep +into the Plaza to await the orders of Pizarro. Seeing their numbers one +of his officers made a suggestion.</p> + +<p>“There’s but one safe thing to do,” he urged: “put them to death to a +man.”</p> + +<p>The captain threw a look of anger at his crude follower.</p> + +<p>Another improved on the proposition.</p> + +<p>“’Twould be just as well to chop off their hands to prevent attack and +strike still deeper terror into the others.”</p> + +<p>Pizarro curtly dismissed his advisers and gave swift orders to his +attendants:</p> + +<p>“Select from all our prisoners five thousand of the handsomest young +men and women as slaves <span class="pagenum" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</span>for our men. Each soldier of the rank and file +may have twenty slaves—the officers, forty, each.”</p> + +<p>The entire force fell to the task of selection with shouts of approval. +By nightfall each Spaniard found himself established in a house with at +least twenty slaves to do his bidding. From abject poverty, each man at +a bound had attained the dignity and power of the nobility!</p> + +<p>The choicest specimens of womanhood had been set aside for the officers.</p> + +<p>When the human victims had been thus humanely spared by the commander, +he gathered the remainder of the prisoners in the Square and gave them +final orders in the kindliest tones:</p> + +<p>“Go to your homes now, my good people. Return to your daily tasks as +if nothing had happened. I will guard you from all harm so long as you +offer no violence to my men.”</p> + +<p>As if moving under the charm of a great serpent, the dazed men +and women slowly dispersed from the Square, watching Pizarro with +fascinated gaze.</p> + +<p>When the spoils gathered during the day were piled in a heap before the +Spanish captain, the sight of such riches stunned the adventurers. It +was far greater than they had dared to expect. The size and weight of +the solid gold service from the royal household were unbelievable. Huge +emeralds had been taken in dozens from both the living and the dead. +The lowest estimate made of the value of the treasure was more than a +hundred thousand <i>castellanos</i> in gold.</p> + +<p>While the loot was being stored and placed under <span class="pagenum" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</span>heavy guard, the +women of the royal household were led into the presence of Pizarro +by Yma and her attendants. The girl paused and watched the trembling +hands and sparkling eyes of the invaders as they moved the gold. Their +fingers gripped it as huge claws.</p> + +<p>And her eyes suddenly flashed with an idea.</p> + + +</section> + <hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<section id="chapter-21"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</span></p> + + + <h3>Chapter XXI</h3> + + +<p>The first meeting between the fallen Emperor and his household was +pathetic in its silent tragedy. The sight of his chains was incredible. +His weeping wives stared in anguish.</p> + +<p>He sought as best he could to soothe their grief and terror.</p> + +<p>“I have the assurance of their leader that this will be but a brief +trial. He has promised me his protection and his friendship. He saved +my life in the struggle in the square. His words carry conviction in +spite of the horrors of last night.”</p> + +<p>He was careful not to lift his arms. He knew the clanking of the chains +would greatly distress the women.</p> + +<p>In answer to the chorus of sobs from his wives, he sternly commanded:</p> + +<p>“No more of this noise! If I can bear the shame of it all, surely you +have enough pride to show our enemies we are not weaklings. Go to your +apartments, I would speak to my mother.”</p> + +<p>Yma led the trembling, weeping women to the rooms assigned them and +then hastened to return for Pacha.</p> + +<p>No sooner had the girl disappeared than the Inca <span class="pagenum" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</span>rose and opened his +manacled arms. The proud mother’s iron will gave way at the ominous +sound. With a sob she flung herself on his breast and wept. He soothed +her with gentle words.</p> + +<p>“Come now, my glorious mother. You have taught me to be brave. I expect +it of you. I should be the one in tears when I see your grief. Your +eyes were wiser than mine. I was blinded by power and pride.”</p> + +<p>“Even I could not dream this horror, my son. Surely our God will yet +strike down the fiends who have done us this wrong.”</p> + +<p>Yma entered with quick tread and gently released Pacha’s arms.</p> + +<p>“I must speak to you, my Lord of the Sun.”</p> + +<p>He caught the accent of excitement under which she labored and smiled +sadly.</p> + +<p>“You would ask me of another prisoner in chains. Speak, my beautiful +Sun Virgin—you ask his freedom?”</p> + +<p>“No, my Lord,” was the low answer. “It is best that he be held until we +see the purpose of these men who have dared to place you in chains. My +god-man is sad at the news of the butchery in the Square. His heart is +gentle and strong as the steel of his bright sword. I do not think he +wishes freedom at this moment. The knowledge of his imprisonment and +chains would give these fiends a new excuse for murder. I do not ask +his freedom....”</p> + +<p>“What then, my child?”</p> + +<p>“It is of you, my Lord, I think and plan. Be of good cheer and keep +your courage. News has just <span class="pagenum" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</span>come of the final battle in the south +between your general, Challcuchima, and the armies of Huascar’s nobles. +Your victory is complete.”</p> + +<p>The Inca shook his massive head.</p> + +<p>“The irony of it! A final victory in the hour of my shame!”</p> + +<p>“A sign, my Lord, of the favor of heaven in this dark time. The priests +in the temples are making sacrifice and praying for your deliverance.”</p> + +<p>The dowager’s face brightened.</p> + +<p>“A sign from Heaven, my son!”</p> + +<p>“When Challcuchima at the head of his victorious army learns of this +outrage on your person he will march to your rescue.”</p> + +<p>She dropped her voice to a whisper.</p> + +<p>“Toparca has already sent swift couriers flying.”</p> + +<p>The Inca’s eyes flamed.</p> + +<p>“This to cheer your heart,” the girl smiled. “I’ve a deeper plan. At +the approach of your army you must be free to put yourself at their +head. If in chains these devils will make your life the price of +attack.”</p> + +<p>“What then?” the Inca asked in a tense voice.</p> + +<p>“These white men say they worship a God. They do with their lips +perhaps. But the God of their hearts is Gold. I watched their hands +clutch it like trembling claws. You have gold beyond their dreams. You +can buy your freedom before Challcuchima’s army appears and all will +yet be well.”</p> + +<p>The Inca gazed at the girl long and curiously.</p> + +<p>“I wonder that God has given such deep wisdom to a mere girl, my fair +Virgin of the Sun. You <span class="pagenum" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</span>begged me not to come here. You begged that I +come armed. I could not see it. Now you point the way to freedom. The +only way perhaps. You are wise—strangely wise.”</p> + +<p>“I have learned wisdom perhaps from the heart of my god-man. I beg of +you, my Lord of the Sun, to act quickly. The news of your capture will +reach Huascar at Andamarca to-day. It is but a few miles. In spite of +his prison walls he has yet the power to regain his throne while the +people are paralyzed with terror over the doings of the white men. I +beg of you to send an order that his guard be doubled.”</p> + +<p>“Send it for me,” he commanded.</p> + +<p>“And you will offer these men a ransom beyond all their dreams?”</p> + +<p>“At once. Go dispatch my orders to Andamarca.”</p> + +<p>The girl hurried to a hidden entrance of the lower fortress on the +mountainside and dispatched her most trusted guard.</p> + +<p>The Dowager carried the request to Pizarro for an immediate conference +with her royal son. She was compelled to wait.</p> + +<p>The commander was in conference with his brother Hernando and De Soto +over the new situation. Francisco was anxious to begin the march on +Cuzco, the rich capital of the South. If its claim of two hundred +thousand inhabitants was correct it was as great as any city in the +Empire of Charles V, and the wild stories of its treasures might be +true.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</span></p> + +<p>De Soto warned of the dangers.</p> + +<p>“Remember, Francisco, the distance is great—at least seven hundred +miles. The way across the <i>cordillera</i> may be blocked by a few +hostile troops. Our force is small. Our fighting force will be greatly +reduced by the reason of guarding our powerful prisoner. We must have +recruits before we move.”</p> + +<p>The commander saw the wisdom of the advice and dispatched a message +immediately to San Miguel reporting his success, his still precarious +position, and asking for reënforcements at the earliest possible moment.</p> + +<p>The courier had just been sent when the Dowager made her second request.</p> + +<p>Hernando Pizarro scowled.</p> + +<p>“Could she have heard?”</p> + +<p>“Not unless these stone walls three feet thick have ears,” De Soto +answered.</p> + +<p>With surprise and a little uneasiness the three men entered the room in +which Atahualpa was confined.</p> + +<p>They saw at once that he was laboring under excitement and put +themselves on guard against surprise.</p> + +<p>The Inca spoke with studied deliberation yet could not keep out of his +voice the emotion that stirred his heart.</p> + +<p>“In the struggle, gentlemen, you have won. I have lost. The adroitness +of your sudden attack and my capture I acknowledge a master stroke. +I have known of your progress from the day of your <span class="pagenum" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</span>landing. I +underestimated your strength. I see my error and will make you a royal +offer for my freedom.”</p> + +<p>He paused and searched the faces of his captors. There was no mistaking +the interest with which they had received the statement.</p> + +<p>“And what is your offer?” Francisco Pizarro inquired.</p> + +<p>“For my freedom,” was the prompt reply, “I will pave this room with +bricks of gold—solid gold!”</p> + +<p>The three men looked at each other in amazement at the absurd proposal +and gave no answer for the moment. What could he be up to, was the +first thought that flashed through Pizarro’s mind. There was a trick in +it somewhere—the proposal could not be serious.</p> + +<p>Seeing their hesitation, and mistaking its meaning, the Inca stood on +tiptoe, lifted his manacled hand to the highest point on the wall that +he could touch, and said:</p> + +<p>“I will fill this room with gold as high as I can reach for my freedom. +What say you?”</p> + +<p>The Spaniards stared in amazement. It could only be the insane boast of +a man unhinged by his imprisonment. No such ransom had ever been paid +in the history of the western world. Their minds could not conceive of +such a pile of precious metal.</p> + +<p>“If the reports we have heard of the treasures of the temple of Cuzco +be true,” Francisco admitted, “it might be possible.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</span></p> + +<p>“It’s nonsense,” Hernando replied. “It’s a trick to win his freedom and +strike us a death blow.”</p> + +<p>“He’s in dead earnest,” De Soto maintained.</p> + +<p>Francisco Pizarro faced Atahualpa and spoke sternly.</p> + +<p>“You mean this?”</p> + +<p>“Certainly,” was the quick answer. “I can make good my agreement within +two moons. The wealth of my capital alone will supply my ransom. The +roofs of the temples are plated with gold. Their gardens are set with +shrubs and trees of solid gold. The very floors are inlaid with gold +tiles. And I can draw my treasure from the far corners of my Empire.”</p> + +<p>Again the leaders conferred.</p> + +<p>“I can see no danger in accepting his offer,” Francisco Pizarro +ventured.</p> + +<p>“Its collection at least,” said Hernando, “will prevent it being hidden +by the natives.”</p> + +<p>The secretary was called as witness and Francisco Pizarro solemnly +accepted the offer. Its terms were duly recorded by the official who +drew a red line around the entire walls of the room at the height +indicated. The space was twenty-two feet long, and sixteen feet wide. +The line was nine feet from the floor.</p> + +<p>When the Inca observed the excitement of Pizarro and the care with +which the space was marked he interposed a single provision for his own +protection.</p> + +<p>“I only ask that I be allowed to fill the space with vessels of pure +gold before they are melted. My <span class="pagenum" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</span>offer does not mean that the space +shall be filled with square melted ingots.”</p> + +<p>“Agreed,” was Pizarro’s prompt response.</p> + +<p>The longer he talked with the monarch the firmer became his conviction +that the stupendous thing might be done.</p> + +<p>Hernando Pizarro bethought himself of a new condition that might offset +in a small measure the loss by the clause allowing the vessels stored +before melting.</p> + +<p>“You have also much silver,” he remarked to Atahualpa.</p> + +<p>“Yes, much.”</p> + +<p>“We ask then, that you fill the adjoining room twice full of silver in +like manner.”</p> + +<p>“Agreed.”</p> + +<p>In the contract the Inca solemnly bound himself to permit no movement +of his troops during the two months in which the ransom was being +collected.</p> + +<p>To show his good faith, he called a courier and sent the royal order +immediately to Challcuchima, his commanding general, directing his +troops, under no circumstances, to stir from their camp for two months +unless by his personal order.</p> + +<p>Pizarro responded by striking the chains from Atahualpa’s limbs.</p> + +<p>“I allow you the freedom of your apartments, attended by your wives and +mother,” the commander agreed. “And more. Your privacy shall not be +disturbed. And your subjects shall have free access to your person to +pay their homage.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</span></p> + +<p>The Inca bowed in appreciation of the privileges granted and hastened +to fulfill his contract.</p> + +<p>Swift messengers flew to the limits of the empire and from north and +south, east and west, streams of gold began to pour into the hands of +the Spaniards. It was a thing unbelievable and yet it was happening +before their eyes.</p> + + +</section> + <hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<section id="chapter-22"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</span></p> + + + <h3>Chapter XXII</h3> + + +<p>Pizarro’s guard over Atahualpa’s house allowed its most dangerous +visitor to pass and repass without hindrance. Yma’s garb of the Sun +Virgin gave her instant admission and exit. The commander’s orders +against any molestation of these girls had been rigidly enforced and +scrupulously obeyed. None knew better than the Spaniard the force of +religious fanaticism. More than one guard had cast longing eyes on the +beautiful dancer. But none of them had offered the slightest insult.</p> + +<p>The girl took advantage of her freedom to give her whole energy to the +cause of the Inca. From the convent on the outskirts of the city she +organized an uprising for the rescue of the captive. Every convent and +temple of the Sun was now a rallying point of her conspiracy. Yet it +was necessary to keep from Atahualpa and his household the slightest +hint of this secret. There was a woman among the royal wives whom +she had caught speaking in whispers to Felipillo, the interpreter, +whose hatred of Atahualpa was well known. This venomous betrayer of +his people was rapidly learning the worst traits of the Spaniards and +counting them virtues. He had been to Spain with Pizarro and reckoned +himself the equal of any Spaniard in subtlety and <span class="pagenum" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</span>ambition. He was +in love with a wife of the sovereign and now that the Inca was in +captivity had determined to take advantage of the situation to seize +the girl under his very nose. How far the woman had gone in disloyalty +to her master it was impossible to tell. Too far, Yma believed, to +permit a word of her plans to be breathed in the House of the Serpent.</p> + +<p>The royal court had been restored to something of its old splendor in +spite of the restrictions on the monarch’s movements. He daily held +a state reception and received his nobles and the humblest subject +who sought his decisions. They came in hundreds and then in thousands +bearing gifts and offering their love and reverence in the hour of +their master’s humiliation. No member of the nobility, however exalted, +ever dared to enter his presence without removing his shoes and bearing +a load of some kind on his back in token of his full submission to the +Lord of the Sun. These acts of homage were received by the ruler as +a matter of course, and drew from him no response, as none had been +expected.</p> + +<p>The Spaniards watched the growth of these levees with a touch of +suspicion, and redoubled the vigilance of his guard.</p> + +<p>Yma had quickly seen the importance of this court scene. It fitted +perfectly with her scheme. While the ransom was pouring into Caxamalca, +her chosen warriors were drilling in secret for the <i>coup</i> she had +planned.</p> + +<p>While Pizarro guarded the roads entering the <span class="pagenum" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</span>Plaza with care, Yma and +her five hundred sisters in the convent of the Sun organized a far more +efficient guard on the roads outside the city. No native now entered +its gates without giving an account of himself to these secret agents. +Her one big fear was from the prisoner in Andamarca. Pizarro had not +yet discovered the place of Huascar’s confinement, but it could not be +concealed much longer.</p> + +<p>A faithful spy at Andamarca reported to the Court at Caxamalca that +Huascar was wildly excited over the news of his rival’s fall. On the +following night his courier was on the way with a message written in +the <i>quipa</i> strings and knots which Felipillo could read. The road +from Andamarca led across the ridge on which the fortress stood in +which Molina was hidden.</p> + +<p>Yma stood beside her guards watching the roadway. She was absolutely +sure that Huascar’s messengers were on the way. They appeared at the +very hour they were expected. The courier was accompanied by a heavy +veteran of Huascar’s, faithful to the sovereign of the South.</p> + +<p>The two men stopped in amazement at a girl’s voice calling from the +shadows:</p> + +<p>“Halt!”</p> + +<p>The answer was a leap forward in an attempt to pass down the stairway +toward Caxamalca.</p> + +<p>“Take them!” cried Yma in a sharp command.</p> + +<p>Her two guards leaped like jaguars and the fight was on. With desperate +courage the men from Andamarca fought until overcome. But with a <span class="pagenum" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</span>knife +at his throat the leader surrendered his <i>quipa</i> message. The two +were bound, led into the fortress and safely lodged to await the orders +of the Inca.</p> + +<p>Yma’s entrance into his levee was most casual on the following morning. +She knelt at his feet and gave a sign to the group of Sun Virgins who +formed a circle of adoration. When they rose the Inca was completely +hidden from the crowd who yielded to the ceremony of his chosen +servants.</p> + +<p>In low tones Yma murmured:</p> + +<p>“Read, O Lord of the Sun, and give thy commands.”</p> + +<p>The blood-shot eyes stared in cold anger at the message from his +brother. It was addressed to Felipillo for his master Francisco +Pizarro. Huascar proposed to the invaders to double the amount of the +ransom offered by his rival if the Spaniards would restore him to the +throne. He declared that Atahualpa could not make good his agreement as +he had never known the hiding place of the greatest treasures of the +temple at Cuzco.</p> + +<p>“Thank you, glorious Virgin of the Sun,” the Inca whispered. “Come +to-morrow at this hour and receive my orders.”</p> + +<p>The girl had scarcely left the presence of Atahualpa when Pizarro +entered and asked an audience. The Inca waved his nobles and all +attendants aside and the Spaniard explained his presence.</p> + +<p>“I have just received, Your Highness, a request from the nobles of the +South that I act as judge in the dispute between your brother Huascar +and yourself. Their petition seems fair and if you will bring <span class="pagenum" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</span>your +brother from his secret prison I will do this duty to you both. I need +not say that my feelings are with you. But if I may render a decision +as arbiter, it might do much to pacify the nobles.”</p> + +<p>The Inca pursed his lips and held his silence for a moment. How much +the Spaniard knew he could only guess. It was safe to venture that he +did not know the place of Huascar’s confinement and that he had as yet +received no message from the traitor. The request was so obvious a +threat that Atahualpa restrained his anger with an effort. His voice +was smooth as velvet when he finally answered.</p> + +<p>“I thank you for your noble intentions, commander,” he said, “but there +is nothing to arbitrate. The question was settled in battle and the +country is now tranquil. I am acknowledged the Supreme Lord of all the +nation. But for my foolish generosity my misguided brother would have +been executed for plunging the people in a bloody civil war. I trust +that you will not press on me this request while I am straining every +resource of the kingdom to fulfill my contract with you. The very +mention of such a trial would destroy my authority in a moment and +cause the immediate suspension of the delivery of your gold.”</p> + +<p>The commander quickly saw the logic of the argument.</p> + +<p>“Of course,” he agreed, “I will not press such an issue on you, but I +will be ready to serve you in the matter at any time after you are set +at liberty, if it is desired.”</p> + +<p>The Inca bowed his pleasure at the suggestion, <span class="pagenum" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</span>but his mind was +working now with lightning-like rapidity. He asked the chief priest to +attend him in a sacrifice in his own rooms at nightfall.</p> + +<p>When the inhabitants of the Square were wrapped in sleep, the Inca, +attended by his Queen, the Dowager and High Priest, opened a heavy door +under the stairway of the House of the Serpent and the Council of State +was convened in a secret chamber below.</p> + +<p>The question of Huascar’s treason was put to the Council and his death +decreed by unanimous vote. The High Priest wrote the sentence in the +<i>quipa</i>, and the Inca signed it with the scarlet knot only tied by +his hand.</p> + +<p>“To-morrow I will dispatch this order to the keeper of the prison at +Andamarca for execution.”</p> + +<p>Little could he dream the use the Spaniards would make of this rightful +exercise of his sovereignty.</p> + + +</section> + <hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<section id="chapter-23"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</span></p> + + + <h3>Chapter XXIII</h3> + + +<p>As the piles of gold and silver grew higher, the lust of the conquerors +mounted. They complained that the Inca was not using the speed he had +promised. They could make no allowance for the distance covered by +many of his messengers or the difficulty with which such treasure was +transported by hand in litters, or on the slender backs of llamas. The +pack load for this curious little camel of the south could not contain +more than seventy-five pounds and five to six miles a day was the limit +to which they could be pressed.</p> + +<p>In spite of these difficulties, articles worth as much as two hundred +thousand <i>castellanos</i> sometimes came in a day and once the total +daily receipts reached three hundred and fifty thousand.</p> + +<p>Each article, carefully weighed, was piled in the room under heavy +guard. With each day’s growth of the fabulous wealth before their eyes, +nerves grew more and more taut. The strain at last became terrific. +They began to build all sorts of wild fancies. Atahualpa had merely +devised the scheme to gain two months’ time in which to organize in +secret his forces. He never intended to allow this enormous treasure +to be taken from the country. <span class="pagenum" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</span>When ready to strike he would take it +again. They would never get it to the coast. Felipillo saw to it that +rumors of uprisings continued to disturb the peace of the invaders. It +was impossible to trace these rumors to their source, a fact that made +them all the more sinister and alarming.</p> + +<p>The stir reached a climax on the arrival at the court of a messenger +from Andamarca reporting the death of Huascar. Atahualpa sent for +Pizarro and made the announcement.</p> + +<p>“I am sorry to have to report to you, commander, the death of my +brother Huascar....”</p> + +<p>“And how did he die?” growled the Spaniard.</p> + +<p>“It is said that in walking along a steep cliff of the river, he fell +from the heights and was drowned....”</p> + +<p>“It can’t be true!” stormed Pizarro.</p> + +<p>The Inca’s voice expressed the deepest sorrow.</p> + +<p>“I have just received the full account of his unhappy end.”</p> + +<p>“If your brother is dead I will hold you accountable for his life!” +thundered the Spaniard.</p> + +<p>“But how, Your Excellency, could I be held accountable for the acts +of a jailor in a distant province, seeing that I am a prisoner? His +jailor is my friend and was appointed to his office by me. If this man +believed that in Huascar’s death he might advance my interests surely +you cannot accuse me of his acts?”</p> + +<p>The smooth words of the Inca did not deceive the commander. That he +was justified in executing his prisoner as a traitor, Pizarro did not +question <span class="pagenum" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</span>for a moment; but it did not suit his purpose to allow this +view and he loudly refused to accept it.</p> + +<p>He called a conference of his officers and it was decided to demand of +Atahualpa an explanation of the continued rumors of an uprising.</p> + +<p>The Inca’s astonishment was genuine.</p> + +<p>“The latest rumor,” Pizarro sternly announced, “names the City of +Huamachuco as the rallying point of the rebels—what say you?”</p> + +<p>“That the story is the invention of an enemy,” was the prompt reply. +“If there is a native soldier at Huamachuco I have no knowledge of it.”</p> + +<p>“The influx of your ransom has slackened,” the Spaniard continued +gravely. “My officers suspect that you are delaying its payment to give +time for the uprising....”</p> + +<p>The Inca moved in a gesture of indignation.</p> + +<p>“No one of my subjects would dare to lift his hand without my orders. I +am in your power. What better security could you ask?”</p> + +<p>His logic was sound but Pizarro pressed him.</p> + +<p>“Then why this delay in delivering the ransom?”</p> + +<p>“You must remember that Cuzco, my capital, is more than seven hundred +miles from Caxamalca. My royal couriers running with their best speed +over the mountain passes require five days to deliver a message. It +will require weeks for a porter to carry his load of gold over the same +road—a llama much longer.”</p> + +<p>“Our men are growing impatient,” was the curt answer. “And their mood +is ugly.”</p> + +<p>“To prove to you my good faith,” Atahualpa <span class="pagenum" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</span>urged, “I ask you to send a +delegation of your own to Cuzco and every important city of the Empire. +I guarantee their safety. They can aid my officers in collecting and +forwarding the gold.”</p> + +<p>Pizarro eagerly accepted the offer.</p> + +<p>“There is no trick in this?” the Spaniard demanded.</p> + +<p>The Inca smiled.</p> + +<p>“How can there be? My life is in your hands.”</p> + +<p>It was true. The risk of the venture was small. It would give him an +opportunity to verify the stories of the riches of Cuzco and make a +complete survey of the state of the country.</p> + +<p>Pizarro first sent his brother Hernando to Huamachuco to find if there +were any truth in the report of an uprising.</p> + +<p>Hernando found the place quiet, and was received hospitably by the +people of the city. While resting his troop he received an order from +his brother to continue his march across the mountain to the famous +city and temple of Pachacamac, situated a hundred leagues further, near +the coast. Pizarro had discovered that pilgrimages were being made to +this place from every quarter of the Empire. It was the holy city of +the kingdom, as Mecca is the holy city of the Mohammedan world. He +believed that vast treasures would be found in this temple.</p> + +<p>The journey was difficult and Hernando’s progress slow. It required +several weeks to cover the ground. But the journey was a new revelation +of the wealth, beauty and boundless resources of <span class="pagenum" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</span>the Inca’s Empire. +The highways were broader and more solidly built. They found the +suspension bridges so heavily constructed that the cavalry crossed them +without accident.</p> + +<p>Flocks of thousands of llamas browsed lazily on the hills and in the +beautiful irrigated valleys. In every direction stretched fields of +corn and grain. As the climate grew warmer the edges of the roadway +were lined with gorgeous flowers, some of them bearing a rich perfume. +Every mountainside was terraced with gardens and orchards of the most +luscious fruits and vegetables, and every field was irrigated by +aqueducts through which flowed limpid waters from the mountains.</p> + +<p>By order of the Inca they were everywhere received with honor. In every +town of size the people welcomed them with singing and dancing. Strong +porters were furnished to carry their baggage.</p> + +<p>At length Hernando stood before the temple in Pachacamac, a vast pile +of buildings clustering around a cone-shaped hill. Pizarro was refused +permission to enter by the priests in charge. He thrust the guardian +aside and boldly entered with his men.</p> + +<p>The door was set with crystals, turquoise and coral. But great was +the Spaniard’s astonishment to find a bare, dark interior. Instead of +a great room blazing with gold and precious stones the only ornament +found was the simple wooden image of the God of the Universe. The +worship of the Great Spirit, Creator of heaven and earth, was a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</span>religion thousands of years old when the Incas built their temple of +the Sun close beside it. Religious toleration was one of the first +principles of their faith.</p> + +<p>In a rage of disappointment Pizarro tore the sacred image from its +recess, hacked it to pieces and erected a large cross in its place.</p> + +<p>The natives, terror-stricken at the sacrilege, in seeing no bolt +from heaven strike the invaders, humbly submitted their lives to the +Spaniards, watching them in trembling awe. Hernando preached them a +sermon on the truths and beauty of Christianity and taught them the +sign of the Cross as a talisman against all evil.</p> + +<p>Although sorely disappointed in the bare walls of the temple of the +Great Spirit, the Spaniards reaped a good harvest of precious metal +from the adjoining temple of the Sun and the homes of the nobility in +the city. When weighed it amounted to the value of eighty thousand +<i>castellanos</i>.</p> + +<p>On his journey returning to Caxamalca he made a grave discovery. He +learned that the ablest general of the empire lay at Xauxa with an army +of thirty-five thousand men. Could he capture this famous officer as +his brother had taken the Inca, the greatest danger to their safety +would be removed at a stroke.</p> + +<p>He determined to take Challcuchima. He knew that the general’s +inactivity was due to an order from the Inca. Yet a new secret order +dispatched at any time, could bring this general down on them <span class="pagenum" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</span>with an +army twice the size of the one he now commanded.</p> + +<p>He forced his march on Xauxa, and found the road far rougher than +the one to Pachacamac. Their horses’ shoes gave out and there was no +iron with which to shoe them. But they solved the difficulty by using +their store of silver. The twenty horses were shod with solid silver +shoes and the march resumed. The Indian smiths were experts in working +silver, and no further trouble developed in the cavalry.</p> + +<p>The Spaniards, arrived at Xauxa, found a large, prosperous city of +a hundred thousand inhabitants. They were hospitably received and +immediately dispatched a message to Challcuchima inviting him to a +conference.</p> + +<p>The general entered the city in state borne on a litter by his +soldiers. He received the most striking tribute from the crowds which +lined the way attesting his fame and popularity.</p> + +<p>Pizarro received him with courtesy and found no difficulty in +persuading him that he had come at the request of the Inca to escort +him to Caxamalca to receive his master’s orders.</p> + +<p>Challcuchima fell into the trap and accompanied the Spaniards to the +prison of the Inca.</p> + +<p>Great was Atahualpa’s surprise and dismay to see his famous general. He +had counted on his army to march to his rescue when the hour struck. +Challcuchima, too, was a prisoner of war.</p> + +<p>In startling contrast to the pomp of his estate at the head of his +army Challcuchima entered the <span class="pagenum" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</span>presence of his royal master barefooted +with a burden on his shoulder to symbolize the humble submission of a +servant.</p> + +<p>Standing before his sovereign, the grizzled warrior, victor of a +hundred battlefields, raised his head and cried:</p> + +<p>“Would I had been here—this could not have happened to you, my Lord of +the Sun!” He knelt, kissed the hands and feet of the Inca and bathed +them in his tears.</p> + +<p>Atahualpa betrayed no emotion. In an even voice he bade his general +welcome.</p> + +<p>The payment of the ransom had been greatly quickened by the delegation +of Spaniards sent to aid the natives. The higher piled the gold, the +higher mounted the excitement in camp.</p> + +<p>They awaited with impatience the return of the commissioners sent to +Cuzco. They should have reported long before Hernando Pizarro. Their +journey had been along the great State highway to Cuzco. They had been +borne on swift litters in luxury by order of the Inca. They had been +received with royal honors along the entire journey. Pizarro knew this +from native couriers who had reported their progress and reception.</p> + +<p>Something had happened in Cuzco to hold them. And a wave of suspicion +and uneasiness again swept the Spaniards at Caxamalca. Had their +commissioners met with foul play in the Temple? Had they been +overwhelmed by an army marching from the South? Again the rumor mongers +were busy, and nerves were on edge.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</span></p> + +<p>Something <i>had</i> happened in Cuzco. The men sent on this mission +had proven themselves the veriest boors in the presence of the +distinguished priests and nobles who received them. The royal message +to desecrate the temples had been received with surprise and grief; yet +it was done with all possible speed. The priests were forced with rude +threats to tear from the Temple seven hundred huge plates of gold.</p> + +<p>The commissioners demanded more speed. With heads swollen by the +tributes paid them on every hand by the nobility, they began to assume +the airs of princes. They demanded a rich feast every evening. At times +they drank the native liquor and wines until dawn. No woman whom they +saw, however high her rank, was free from insult. Their debauchery +reached a climax that threatened an armed clash when they boldly +invaded the convent and forced the Virgins of the Sun to join them in +their revelry. Their scandalous conduct with these girls sacred to the +Inca and Temple, sent a wave of horror and indignation over the city. +An ugly mob gathered before the building and the commissioners were +held prisoners for days, fearing to emerge.</p> + +<p>The High Priest, holding the message of the Inca in his hand, addressed +them:</p> + +<p>“My people, in the name of the Lord of the Sun, I command peace. These +men are here sent by him. They bear his royal commission to gather the +treasure for his ransom. They are under his divine protection. You will +not dare to lift your hand against them without his order.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</span></p> + +<p>The mob sullenly dispersed and the revelers, sobered by their danger, +emerged from the convent and hurried to make good their return to +Caxamalca.</p> + +<p>They took with them two hundred loads of gold, the limit in weight +that could be carried by four stalwart men at the handles of a baggage +litter. They were relieved by fresh porters at each royal storehouse, +never more than five miles apart.</p> + +<p>The storage of this immense treasure was made at Caxamalca with shouts +and songs. The stories of drink and the revelry in the convent at Cuzco +stirred the camp to new dreams of splendor and license. Pizarro found +the maintenance of discipline a problem of increasing gravity.</p> + +<p>In the midst of the turmoil caused by the return of the commissioners +from Cuzco, Pizarro received a startling message from San Miguel. +Almagro had just landed from three vessels, a hundred and fifty +foot-soldiers, and fifty cavalry. This force was sufficient, if the +fiery little partner was so inclined, to dispute his supremacy in +Peru. And if Almagro still cherished a grudge—and there were many +reasons for fearing that he did—Pizarro might have to fight his own +countryman for the huge store of yellow metal piling higher each day in +his treasure house. Almagro should have reported long before with the +first recruits. That he had waited to equip three ships and organize an +expedition as formidable as his own was significant.</p> + +<p>There were men in the garrison at San Miguel <span class="pagenum" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</span>who had deserted Pizarro +at the crucial moment. The stories of his great fortune had driven +these weak ones to desperation. That they would whisper ugly things in +Almagro’s ears he could not doubt. They had hastened to do precisely +this.</p> + +<p>The leader of these deserters did not hesitate to warn Almagro and his +secretary Perez in no uncertain terms:</p> + +<p>“Pizarro speaks smooth words, but he hates you with a deadly enmity. +Trust yourself in his power and you are lost.”</p> + +<p>“Trust myself in his power!” the little adventurer exploded. “I trust +myself in no man’s power. My force is equal to his. I’ll know how to +take care of myself.”</p> + +<p>To widen the breach Almagro’s ambitious secretary, Perez, had sent +a secret letter to Pizarro declaring in blunt language that Almagro +asked nothing of him, and would give him no coöperation. He had come to +establish a colony and government of his own.</p> + +<p>This disturbing news arrived but an hour after Pizarro had received the +first word of his partner’s arrival.</p> + +<p>It presented a crisis of the gravest importance. The life of every man +in his triumphant expedition was at stake. Every ounce of gold—the +result of daring—was threatened. With the unerring instinct of a true +leader of men Pizarro instantly decided on his course of action.</p> + +<p>He called his own secretary and dictated a letter <span class="pagenum" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</span>to Almagro breathing +in every line the best spirit of their old days of suffering and mutual +hardships:</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>“<i>Dear Comrade: I have just heard of your landing with the greatest +joy. I salute you as my equal partner in the most glorious enterprise +ever set on foot by daring men. My first stroke has been a miracle. +My good fortune is yours. We have only begun the work. We are yet +in peril. We need every soldier and every horse you can command. My +faith in you as my old comrade and partner was never stronger. I +refuse to believe the foolish statement of your secretary that you +have broken our agreement and intend to set up a rival government. +Hasten to Caxamalca. Your old friend will receive you with open arms +and equal authority.</i></p> + +<footer> +<p> + “<i>Francisco Pizarro.</i>” +</p> +</footer> +</blockquote> + +<p>Almagro’s answer to this generous letter was characteristic of the man.</p> + +<p>He bored his secretary through with an ugly light from his one eye.</p> + +<p>“What’s this I hear of word to Francisco Pizarro that I will set up a +rival government?”</p> + +<p>“I only wrote what I thought your interests demanded.”</p> + +<p>“Without my knowledge!”</p> + +<p>“I anticipated your wishes.”</p> + +<p>“Well, my man, you’ll not do that again.”</p> + +<p>He called his guard and pointed to Perez.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</span></p> + +<p>“This fool is guilty of treason. Call my men to arms and hang him to +the nearest limb.”</p> + +<p>The trembling secretary was led to execution and Almagro marched to +Caxamalca. Had Pizarro’s shrewd diplomacy triumphed once more?</p> + + +</section> + <hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<section id="chapter-24"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</span></p> + + + <h3>Chapter XXIV</h3> + + +<p>The news of Almagro’s landing and his probable joining with Pizarro at +the head of two hundred more Spanish troops threw the Inca’s household +into profound gloom.</p> + +<p>With the rising of the heap of gold Atahualpa had regained something of +the spirit of his strong youth. He saw, with hopeful eyes, the day of +his freedom rapidly approaching. And he trusted his captor, which faith +was rather pathetic in view of his betrayal and capture. Yet nothing +was surer in the mind of the fallen monarch than that Francisco Pizarro +would keep his agreement.</p> + +<p>Certainly there was something compelling in the personality of the +Spaniard. It accounted for his supremacy as leader of the riotous +spirits who had crowded about his standard for the past eight years, +and who saw as he saw the dream kingdom of the South, the beckoning +vision of which they had followed to success.</p> + +<p>So it was not to be wondered at that Pizarro’s astute and commanding +mentality found it easy to dominate the simpler mind of the Inca.</p> + +<p>Relying on the promises and friendship of his own arch enemy, Atahualpa +had gradually relaxed the nerve tension of his early tragic, depressing +confinement.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</span></p> + +<p>He learned of the Spaniards to play dice. With keen interest he +mastered the intricacies of chess and became an expert at the game. In +the long tedious hours of his captivity he often forgot his unhappy lot +in the fascination of the game with the strangers.</p> + +<p>The plates and cups of his royal table were of the gold to which he had +been accustomed. His royal wardrobe was kept with immaculate care by +the Virgins of the Sun in constant attendance. On ceremonial occasions +they exchanged his vicuna-robe of silken sheen for a curious one made +of the skins of bats, soft as velvet. He resumed the wearing of the +crimson <i>borla</i> on his forehead, the symbol of his sovereignty. +The details of his court were conducted with the same care and +reverence as before his capture.</p> + +<p>But the shock of the arrival of Almagro threw the Inca into a fit of +deep depression. He could not know of the rivalry between the two men; +all Spaniards were alike to him and he could see only two hundred more +ravenous wolves hungry for blood and gold.</p> + +<p>To add to his despondency, a comet appeared in the sky and seemed to +trail its long stream of cold fire over his prison. He feared it a +token of coming tragedy although the Spanish soldiers viewed it with +equal alarm as a threat against their safety and treasure.</p> + +<p>Yma determined to take advantage of the gloom of the court and +Atahualpa’s depression to spring her plan. It must be a surprise. She +had noticed <span class="pagenum" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</span>with increasing amazement the growing influence of Pizarro +over the Inca. She distrusted this power intensely and did her work in +the utmost secrecy.</p> + +<p>She was now ready for the opportune moment to strike. Five thousand +picked men were slowly moving on Caxamalca, threading their ways one by +one over unused and dangerous trails of the mountains. The crowds now +attending the Inca’s levees would give her the opportunity needed for +the final stroke.</p> + +<p>The day chosen was the one of the conference of priests held with their +ruler to receive his orders for the celebration of the approaching +festival of Spring, when every man from the Monarch to the rank and +file of the people would repair to the field and open the sod with a +solemn prayer to the Sun God for his blessing on the seeds and a rich +harvest in return for their labor.</p> + +<p>The day arrived. Only the Dowager had been made privy to the secret and +she stood close beside her royal son, her handsome face flushed with +excitement in spite of every effort at self-control.</p> + +<p>The priests bowed to the floor in reverence for their Monarch, rose and +crowded about him for his blessing and his commands for the festival.</p> + +<p>Yma whispered to him.</p> + +<p>“Quick, my Lord, I have the robes of a priest for you. You can don it +quickly while we cover your body. The guards outside will pass you with +your men without question. The priests around you are your faithful +warriors. Five thousand more await you in the forest beyond the +causeway.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</span></p> + +<p>“How dare you plan this without my knowledge?” he asked indignantly.</p> + +<p>“There is at least one traitor in your household,” his mother breathed. +“She feared to trust her secret. I implore you to save your life and +the life of your people.”</p> + +<p>“I have pledged my solemn word to the commander.”</p> + +<p>“And who will make him keep his?” she asked. “A new horde of invaders +are on the way. It may be too late when they have come—fly at once.”</p> + +<p>“Am I a coward to flee from my own palace in my own kingdom?”</p> + +<p>“No—put yourself at the head of your men,” Yma begged. “Five thousand +warriors will attack these invaders before nightfall.”</p> + +<p>“Silence!” the Inca sternly ordered.</p> + +<p>A hush as of death fell on the black-robed throng massed about his +person.</p> + +<p>“My word is pledged. It is sacred. Go.”</p> + +<p>He pointed to the door and the “priests” slowly filed out. Their five +thousand comrades again melted into the forest, and Yma found her way +with a heavy heart to the house of the prisoner she loved. Her head +was swimming. A sense of utter despair gripped her soul. The Inca had +failed to take the tide at its height.</p> + + +</section> + <hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<section id="chapter-25"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</span></p> + + + <h3>Chapter XXV</h3> + + +<p>Almagro, at the head of his two hundred men, arrived at Caxamalca the +middle of February. The occasion was made one of great joy and feasting +by order of Pizarro.</p> + +<p>In a gust of stormy emotion the commander met his partner with +outstretched arms and the two men embraced.</p> + +<p>“Our dreams have come true, my comrade!” Pizarro cried. “For eight +long years you and I have been laughed at and ridiculed. The deed is +done. Our names—yours and mine—go down in history with all the glory +we have dreamed and more. It’s yours—it’s mine. The treasure we have +taken here is but a token of what is yet to come. The two hundred loads +of gold from Cuzco scarcely made an impression on its riches.”</p> + +<p>“Then we’ll on to Cuzco!” shouted the little partner.</p> + +<p>“This is now possible with your help and the help of your two hundred +brave men. A vast empire of twelve million people, with all its power +and wealth, is ours. There is room for all. There are fortunes for all.”</p> + +<p>“Good!” Almagro exclaimed. “We forget our differences!”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</span></p> + +<p>Pizarro grasped the extended hand.</p> + +<p>“And pledge anew our loyalty and eternal friendship.”</p> + +<p>But one man refused to shake hands with the new captain. Hernando +Pizarro not only failed to join in the welcome, but hung back with +words of bitter insult to all who came to hear his ugly talk.</p> + +<p>He complained loudly to De Soto whose judgment he prized.</p> + +<p>“Now that we have won an empire,” he snarled, “this ignorant, coarse +little ass appears on the scene to share our honors and demand a +division of our treasures. It’s more than human flesh can endure. My +brother Francisco is a sentimental fool. He talks of comradeship and +loyalty. The one-eyed ugly brute hates him and he is too generous to +see it. Or seeing and knowing it, he passes it over for the sake of the +old days at Panama.”</p> + +<p>De Soto maintained a stolid silence to the tirade of abuse and promptly +followed his chief in extending a cordial welcome to Almagro.</p> + +<p>Francisco Pizarro faced his brother trembling with passion.</p> + +<p>“All my life,” he complained, “I’ve looked up to you with the loyalty +and love of a little boy for his big elder brother. When the Emperor +showered honors on me, I hurried to Truxillo to share them with you. I +have honored you above all the men under my command.”</p> + +<p>“And have I ever failed you when danger called?” Hernando demanded.</p> + +<p>“In your sullen pride and overbearing manners <span class="pagenum" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</span>towards my comrades in +arms—yes! You embroiled me once in a dangerous quarrel with Almagro +in Panama. You are now risking a clash of arms between us at a moment +that imperils the work of a lifetime. I cannot and will not permit such +folly!”</p> + +<p>“Clash of arms? What do you mean?” Hernando interrupted.</p> + +<p>“Just what I say. The sight of our treasure will excite his men. I +signed with Almagro a contract providing that he should receive a +third of all the spoils taken. He has under his contract the legal +right to demand his third. If he does, and persists in the demand, his +two hundred men will back him up. They outnumber our force. In such a +clash the Inca’s army may rise and all is lost. You must apologize to +Almagro.”</p> + +<p>“I’ll fight the little beast down to the bottom of hell first!” +Hernando shouted.</p> + +<p>Francisco squared himself before his brother with his heavy jaws set.</p> + +<p>“You’ll go with me now to his rooms and apologize in my presence, or +I’ll deprive you of your command and put you in irons!”</p> + +<p>“I dare you to try it!” the older brother hissed.</p> + +<p>“I’ll not try it,” was the firm answer, “I’ll do it. Will you obey my +orders as your superior officer?”</p> + +<p>Hernando sullenly submitted, followed his brother to Almagro and gave a +grudging apology. He hurried from the hated presence and left Francisco +with an angry frown watching his departure.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</span></p> + +<p>Almagro slipped an arm around his old partner and laughed.</p> + +<p>“It’s all right, Francisco. Forget it. It’s all right with me.”</p> + +<p>“Well, it’s not all right with me, and I’ll see that he gives us no +further trouble. I’ll send him to the Court of Spain to deliver the +Crown’s fifth to the Emperor.”</p> + +<p>“And we’ll be rid of him! Great!” The little partner shouted. +“Francisco Pizarro, you’ve brains as well as brawn. I’ve always said +it.”</p> + +<p>“That satisfies you?”</p> + +<p>“Surely,” was the prompt response.</p> + +<p>But in spite of all assurances, Francisco Pizarro left the scene with a +sense of foreboding. He knew his sullen brother well enough to realize +that the seeds of a death feud had been sown between the two men.</p> + +<p>The arrival of Almagro’s men produced vast excitement in the ranks of +the Spanish soldiers. A demand for an immediate division of the gold +was made on the commander.</p> + +<p>“But the ransom agreed on is not yet paid in full,” Pizarro answered.</p> + +<p>“Why wait?” the leader of the delegation asked. “But a few inches +remain to be filled. It is enough if we only make sure against its +loss. The new men will demand a share if we wait. They have no rights +if divided now.”</p> + +<p>“The gold is pouring in daily in thousands.”</p> + +<p>“What of it?” the spokesman continued. “We are masters of the country. +It’s all ours now. <span class="pagenum" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</span>We’re not going to run. Let’s divide and let every +man care for his own. The new men are eager to march on Cuzco and so +are we all.”</p> + +<p>“I’ll march on Cuzco, never fear.”</p> + +<p>“But let’s march now before they have time to hide their treasures. +Every hour we stay here will make them more difficult to find.”</p> + +<p>The last argument of the man won Pizarro. He agreed to order the +division.</p> + +<p>The Inca was notified by the commander that he had fulfilled the +conditions of his ransom, and great was the joy in his household.</p> + +<p>“And I am free to go?” Atahualpa eagerly asked.</p> + +<p>“The moment the formalities have been completed,” Pizarro assured him.</p> + +<p>“Formalities?”</p> + +<p>“Yes. Your smiths must melt down the treasure and its division and +conveyance to the coast must be assured before the transaction is +complete.”</p> + +<p>The monarch frowned at the unexpected delay but agreed to summon his +smiths at once. They were instructed to reduce each article to ingots +of uniform size. As the articles were of many degrees of purity, the +removal of the alloy was a long and difficult process. They labored +day and night for five weeks at their tragic task. Most of them were +artisans of skill and some of them had wrought these works of art with +infinite pains. To melt them down at the command of strangers wrenched +their hearts. Their suffering at the sacrilege added to the delay.</p> + +<p>The articles consisted of all sorts and sizes of <span class="pagenum" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</span>goblets, plates, +cups, ewers, salvers, vases, bowls, pitchers, medallions, statues; +tiles and cornices from temples, and curious images of plants and +animals.</p> + +<p>The most notable reproduction of plant life was a stalk and ear of +Indian corn, the staple food. The golden ear was wrapped in a silver +sheath from which hung tassels of silver thread.</p> + +<p>Before melting down these wonderful specimens of ancient art Pizarro +decided to set aside as part of the fifth belonging to the Crown a +number of the most beautiful specimens for the palaces of Charles V. +Selections were made to the value of a hundred thousand ducats and +placed in the hands of Hernando Pizarro for delivery to the Emperor.</p> + +<p>At the end of a month the work of molding the gold into uniform ingots +was finished. Under the eye of the king’s inspector from Spain they +were weighed carefully and their value reckoned. The total amount, we +are told by the ancient chronicler, was one million three hundred and +twenty-six thousand five hundred and thirty-nine <i>pesos de oro</i>, +equivalent to sixteen million dollars. To this was added a half million +in silver.</p> + +<p>The report of its amazing value swept the camp, and quickly started a +storm of discussion, between the soldiers of Almagro and Pizarro. An +excited group stood around the fire in the center of the plaza arguing +with rising passion until long past midnight.</p> + +<p>The commander thought best to allow them this liberty. The longer they +talked, the less likely a <span class="pagenum" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</span>fight. He took pains, however, to have his +secretary send a faithful report of their debate.</p> + +<p>“It’s all well enough,” muttered a veteran of the new army, “for our +leaders to shake hands and hug one another, but what good does that do +us? We enlisted under Almagro, who claimed to be Pizarro’s partner. +They signed their contract on the holy missal at the altar of the +church in Panama. We have the right to his share, one-third of the +whole.”</p> + +<p>“Get your own gold, damn you,” was the short answer from a stalwart in +Pizarro’s crew. “We climbed the mountains, took our chances, fought for +our fortune and won it. We’d like to see you touch it!”</p> + +<p>“We’ll have our share ...” said one of Almagro’s men.</p> + +<p>“Sure as God lives!” cried another.</p> + +<p>“You’ll take it over our dead bodies ...” answered Pizarro’s followers.</p> + +<p>“All right—still we’ll take it—”</p> + +<p>For hours they snarled.</p> + +<p>By noon the following day they were gripping their weapons, ready for +battle. Almagro and Pizarro quickly took council.</p> + +<p>“God’s Light! This will never do,” the little man growled. “We must +stop it.”</p> + +<p>“And without delay,” Pizarro agreed. “Calm your men and you and I will +come to an understanding. A fight now would be an insanity that would +cost us everything.”</p> + +<p>Almagro called his division of troops together <span class="pagenum" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</span>and placed the +ringleader of the threatened mutiny directly in front. He bored him +through with his one eye in a look of keen appraisal that was little +to the fellow’s liking. It was impossible to withdraw into the crowd. +He would be marked at once as a coward if he did. He was compelled to +stand the gaze of his captain.</p> + +<p>“The first thing I want you to understand, comrades, is that I am your +commander—are we agreed on that?”</p> + +<p>The leader of the trouble saw his drift and growled a half-hearted +assent. The little captain fixed him again with his gleaming eye and +shouted:</p> + +<p>“I don’t like your tone. I want to hear from every man before me—am I +your commander?”</p> + +<p>From every throat came lusty approval.</p> + +<p>“That’s better,” Almagro nodded. “Now listen! Back to your quarters and +leave the question of the division of this treasure in my hands. I will +reach an agreement with Francisco Pizarro. If I am satisfied, it is +enough for you.”</p> + +<p>There was a faint murmur of dissent but the grumbler caught an ugly +gleam in the little captain’s eye and turned away in silence.</p> + +<p>Almagro and Pizarro quickly agreed that a small sum should be paid to +the new force and they should reserve an amount equal to the Inca’s +ransom out of the first spoils taken in Cuzco. As an additional balm to +the dissatisfied a new <i>repartimiento</i> was ordered of the natives +and five thousand slaves were assigned to Almagro’s men.</p> + +<p>The settlement with Almagro made, Pizarro proceeded <span class="pagenum" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</span>to the division of +the spoils. He summoned his own troops into the Square and addressed +them as was his custom on all important occasions.</p> + +<p>“Comrades, you are now to receive the reward of your suffering and +trial. I ask the aid of Heaven that I may deal justly with all.”</p> + +<p>The King’s fifth was delivered to the officers of the Crown, valued at +$3,300,000 in gold, a sum sufficient in its day to equip and maintain a +vast army of conquest for the Emperor Charles V.</p> + +<p>To each common soldier was delivered a sum equal to $25,000. Men +who had lived the bitterest of lives of abject poverty, waifs, and +foundlings, as were both Pizarro and Almagro, suddenly found themselves +with money enough to maintain themselves in comfort for life, to say +nothing of twenty slaves each to do their bidding. In the history of +the world no such fortune had ever before fallen into the hands of a +common soldier. That they lost their heads for the moment was not to be +wondered at.</p> + +<p>To Francisco Pizarro was allotted fifty-seven thousand two hundred and +twenty-two <i>pesos</i> of gold and two thousand three hundred marks of +silver, making him a millionaire in the coin of our day. In addition, +as leader of the expedition, he was given the throne of the Inca, a +chair of solid gold valued at twenty-five thousand <i>pesos</i>.</p> + +<p>Hernando Pizarro received thirty-two thousand <i>pesos de oro</i> and +two thousand three hundred marks of silver.</p> + +<p>De Soto was given eighteen thousand <i>pesos de <span class="pagenum" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</span>oro</i> and seven +hundred and twenty-four marks of silver.</p> + +<p>The new church was named San Francisco in honor of Francisco Pizarro, +and endowed with two thousand two hundred and twenty <i>pesos</i> of +gold. Almagro accepted twenty thousand <i>pesos</i> for himself and as +much for distribution among his men.</p> + +<p>An orgy of the wildest debauchery immediately followed. Pizarro was too +wise a leader of men to attempt to stem the turmoil until its force was +spent.</p> + +<p>Within two weeks the institutions of the Christian civilization of +the sixteenth century were firmly established and in full swing. The +church, monastery, court room, and torture chamber had been built some +time before and chattel slavery had been imbedded in the social order. +Five hundred soldiers owned more than ten thousand slaves.</p> + +<p>Two gambling halls were now opened and did an immense business. More +than one soldier parted with his entire fortune in a night. It was the +custom to stake his slaves one at a time. It was not considered good +form at this high tide of wealth for a man to wager less than a slave +on a single throw of dice. Within two weeks a new distribution of +wealth had been made. Almagro’s men had better luck than the veterans +of Pizarro. They had little to lose and by shrewd partnerships they +managed to relieve the drunken revelers of a large part of their golden +burdens. There was no longer serious cause for complaint. Both factions +were shouting now:</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</span></p> + +<p>“On to Cuzco!”</p> + +<p>A red light district was established near the Plaza and the owners +filled the houses with slave girls lost in the gambling hells. The +diseases of this institution were early established and widely spread, +to the amazement and terror of the natives. Begging, vagrancy and theft +made their appearance and the complete machinery of civilization was in +full blast.</p> + +<p>Felipillo, the renegade, in a desperate effort to keep pace with his +fellow Christians, attempted to abduct the unfaithful wife of the Inca +whom he had seduced. Like a noble Spaniard he boldly entered the royal +apartments, took the girl and was leading her to the door when he was +seized by attendants and dragged before the Inca.</p> + +<p>In strict accordance with the native law he was immediately sentenced +to death.</p> + +<p>He faced Atahualpa with fury.</p> + +<p>“I am no longer your subject. I demand to be taken before Francisco +Pizarro—your master and mine. Dare to lay your hand on me and your own +life will pay the forfeit.”</p> + +<p>The Inca feared to proceed without consulting the commander. When +Pizarro appeared he was puzzled for the moment. The last thing he could +afford in this crisis was to provoke an uprising, the one terror he +must ever fear. How far the natives would resent this crime against the +person of their sovereign he could only guess. As they had suffered +his capture, his chains and his long imprisonment he decided to take a +chance. The interpreter <span class="pagenum" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</span>was too valuable a man to be executed at this +junction. He asked for clemency.</p> + +<p>“Release the man, Your Highness, and I will vouch for his good behavior +hereafter.”</p> + +<p>Atahualpa, seeing no other course possible, reluctantly consented.</p> + +<p>Felipillo threw him a look of hate, drew himself erect and marched to +the door. He stopped, gazed at the Inca a moment and said in low tones:</p> + +<p>“Remember, O Lord of a cloudy Sun, and some day regret.”</p> + + +</section> + <hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<section id="chapter-26"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</span></p> + + + <h3>Chapter XXVI</h3> + + +<p>Pizarro yet had made no motion to carry out his agreement to release +the Inca. And Atahualpa waited with ill-concealed impatience the +strange delay.</p> + +<p>The two captains on whose shoulders now rested all decisions were in +daily conference on the problem. Felipillo had again set in motion +rumors of an approaching army.</p> + +<p>The question over which Pizarro and Almagro hourly brooded was what to +do with their captive. That he had been promised freedom on payment of +the ransom was to their mind of no importance if a native army were +approaching. His freedom under such conditions was the last thing +possible. He was the one power yet to be feared. They feared no other. +His people were automatons who obeyed his will. Hundreds of years of +state tutelage, hundreds of years of peace, plenty and safety under +their system had deprived the individual of initiative. They would not +move until their sovereign spoke. The moment he found himself free what +guarantee had his captors that he would not call every man capable of +bearing arms in his empire of twelve millions? The swarming of these +hordes armed only with stones, could overwhelm <span class="pagenum" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</span>five hundred men by +sheer weight of numbers. To hold him in violation of their agreement, +of course, meant danger. For the knowledge of his stupendous ransom +had gone to the four corners of his kingdom, and the treachery of his +detention might of itself raise a resistless force if a leader could be +found.</p> + +<p>They found themselves between the devil and the deep sea. Carefully +weighing the chances, they believed their safety lay in still holding +Atahualpa as hostage for the behavior of his people. Pizarro had been +warned some weeks before that swift messengers had been going from +Caxamalca to every Temple of the Sun. Nothing had come of it apparently +but he must be on his guard.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, the Inca cultivated De Soto. He had found in him a congenial +spirit and learned to trust his honor and integrity above the promises +of Pizarro. He pleaded his cause with an eloquence and justice that +convinced De Soto, who agreed to present his demands for freedom to +Pizarro and Almagro without delay.</p> + +<p>The two men were, at the moment, listening to a report from Felipillo, +giving in detail the movements of a native army but fifty miles away.</p> + +<p>De Soto presented the plea of the Inca and gave it his support. Pizarro +fenced and asked for more time to consider the question, but no hint of +the dark purpose now forming in his mind was given to his captain. He +proposed an interview with Atahualpa at once. He would know the truth +of those fresh rumors.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</span></p> + +<p>The three men appeared before the Inca and repeated the story. He +indignantly denied its truth.</p> + +<p>“What treason is this?” Pizarro demanded, “you have plotted against +me! I, who saved your life from my maddened troops, and who have ever +treated you with honor, confiding in your words as those of a brother?”</p> + +<p>The Inca smiled sadly.</p> + +<p>“Surely you jest with me—as you have often jested before. How could I, +or my people, think of conspiring now against god-men who have proven +themselves so powerful?”</p> + +<p>The innocence with which he spoke was convincing in its sincerity. Yet +Pizarro chose to believe it as savage guile. He frowned and was silent +while the Inca continued:</p> + +<p>“Am I not a helpless captive in your hands? How could I plan such folly +when I would be the first victim of the outbreak....”</p> + +<p>“Of that you may be sure!” the Spaniard broke in.</p> + +<p>“You little know my people,” the Inca went on, “if you think they would +move without my orders. The very birds would scarcely fly against my +will.”</p> + +<p>Pizarro left the room half convinced of Atahualpa’s innocence and more +puzzled than ever as to his true course of action. His soldiers now +crowded about him in a frenzy of excitement. There was no sort of doubt +in their minds. They believed every word they had heard and more. Their +spokesman fiercely shouted his fears.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</span></p> + +<p>“This time we know that a large force is at Huamachuco, but fifty miles +away, ready to strike our camp, murder us to a man and take our gold.”</p> + +<p>“All right,” Pizarro snapped, “the patrols will be doubled. Let every +man sleep on his arms. Hold every horse bridled and saddled.”</p> + +<p>They hastened to obey his orders.</p> + +<p>The Crown officers in charge of the king’s millions demanded +Atahualpa’s immediate execution.</p> + +<p>“I protest,” De Soto cried, “in the name of God at such an insane +atrocity!”</p> + +<p>Pizarro eyed his indignant captain with a look of stern inquiry.</p> + +<p>“You certainly agree that we must reconnoiter the neighborhood and +learn the truth at once.”</p> + +<p>“By all means,” was the prompt reply.</p> + +<p>“Select fifty horses,” Pizarro commanded, “and ride with all speed to +Huamachuco and report to me the state of the country.”</p> + +<p>De Soto hurried to obey his orders little dreaming of the deadly +resolution already fixed in Pizarro’s mind. Almagro, with clever +understanding of the Chief, foresaw the coming tragedy in a flash, +pressed his partner’s arm, laughed and said:</p> + +<p>“A man of brains as well as brawn, Francisco. The one man to give us +trouble you’ve sent where he can do no harm.”</p> + +<p>The moment the hoof beat of De Soto’s horsemen had died away Pizarro +called his trusted lieutenants into conference to settle the question +of the Inca’s life.</p> + + +</section> + <hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<section id="chapter-27"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</span></p> + + + <h3>Chapter XXVII</h3> + + +<p>Teresa returned from a long tour of the empire with no news of Molina. +He had disappeared and had left no trace behind him. And Yma had wisely +withheld from the Inca the facts.</p> + +<p>Teresa had stationed her faithful servant in Caxamalca with +instructions to watch Yma’s movements day and night. He had important +information which he gave with tense excitement.</p> + +<p>“I have watched the premier Sun Virgin as you commanded. She goes +from the royal household to the convent daily. But at night she slips +through the darkness, climbs the mountain toward the fortress and +disappears.”</p> + +<p>“Disappears—what do you mean?” demanded Teresa.</p> + +<p>“I follow her. I look. She is before me. I look again and she is gone.”</p> + +<p>“She does this trick on the mountain top?”</p> + +<p>“No, Señorita, always at the foot of the mountain before she starts to +climb the steep stairway.”</p> + +<p>“We’ll follow her to-night.”</p> + +<p>With Gaspara and a single soldier, the four watched the convent until +Yma emerged. The native followed softly with Teresa at his heels. +Gaspara <span class="pagenum" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</span>and his companion brought up the rear at a distance.</p> + +<p>The Sun Virgin moved with unusual haste and recklessness, evidently +under great excitement.</p> + +<p>She paused in the underbrush at the foot of the first tier of steep +stone steps. Her enemies stepped into the shadows but a few feet away +and listened. She was standing stark still, either waiting for some +one, or in a ruse to throw off any possible followers.</p> + +<p>The bushes behind her rustled and voices could be plainly heard in an +excited conversation.</p> + +<p>“Oh, Toparca,” Yma cried, “I shudder for the Inca. The Spaniards plot +to take his life. Even now they talk in secret council. I will command +the guard to-night. Go quickly, mingle with the drunken men in the +gambling halls, and report to me.</p> + +<p>“You wish me to return to-night?”</p> + +<p>“Yes. The door will be unbolted. Bring news. I shall not sleep.”</p> + +<p>Toparca hurried toward Caxamalca and Yma began her passage toward the +hidden entrance of the lower fortress. In her excitement she threw +caution to the winds and boldly ran to the fissure in the cliff that +marked the door. The dark height rose five hundred feet, on the summit +of which sat the stone masonry of the upper structure.</p> + +<p>Teresa ordered her servant to wait with the two men until she returned. +Softly following Yma’s careless footsteps she saw her disappear in the +fissure. In a flash she realized that the fortress could be entered +here by another door. Undoubtedly <span class="pagenum" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</span>there were rooms hewn out the solid +rock below the masonry which she had explored above.</p> + +<p>With quick, careful steps she returned to the pathway and reported to +Gaspara the discovery. They stole swiftly to the door and opened it. +They entered in silence and utter darkness and began to climb the stone +stairway stealthily.</p> + +<p>Yma had reached Molina’s room in a frenzy of climbing without the +slightest suspicion that she was being followed.</p> + +<p>Her eyes were wide with excitement as she faced the cavalier.</p> + +<p>“What is it now, dear one?” he asked gently.</p> + +<p>“They plot the death of our Lord!” she breathed.</p> + +<p>Molina winced.</p> + +<p>“Surely that cannot be. Men of Spain do not stoop to such perfidy!”</p> + +<p>“I’ve heard it from more than one. They’ve sent the Inca’s only friend, +De Soto, on a fool’s errand to Huamachuco while they plot his death.”</p> + +<p>“I cannot believe it,” Molina protested.</p> + +<p>The girl drew near and touched the chains that bound the Spaniard to +the wall. Her eyes were wide with a grief beyond words. She spoke in an +awed whisper:</p> + +<p>“Dear god-man, the blow falls because of my sins. I confess to you now +that I have kept you in chains. The Inca would have freed you but for +me. I told him that I feared the vengeance of Pizarro on his head when +he learned of your suffering. ’Twas true, I did fear this, but far more +than all else I feared to lose you forever to the <span class="pagenum" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</span>woman you love. +Forgive me. I could not let you go. The vengeance of heaven now falls +on all because I have sinned.”</p> + +<p>Her voice sank in a sob and Molina touched her hair in a gesture of +pity.</p> + +<p>“And now,” she went on passionately, “my Lord of the Sun will be slain +and I shall also lose you....”</p> + +<p>“You have given to me, dear Yma, something I shall never lose, a +breadth of sympathy for all God’s children, and an abiding wonder at +the miracle of love....”</p> + +<p>She lifted her hand and brushed the hair from his forehead.</p> + +<p>“They will come to take you—this I know. I feel the dark shadow of the +hour coming closer each day....”</p> + +<p>She stopped suddenly, and threw her arms around his neck, her voice +lost in sobs that shook her frame, and the sobs lost in the futile +kisses with which she bruised his lips.</p> + +<p>She moaned, covering his lips again with kisses and crushing him to +her heart. She paused and held him at arm’s length looking through her +tears.</p> + +<p>“Is my love, then, finally futile?” She asked it as if she were a +prisoner on the gallows.</p> + +<p>“I shall always love you, dear little sister to the wilderness, for the +deep lessons of life and death your love has taught me. But, God help +me, I love one in Panama. Were I chained to death, dear one, I should +love her....”</p> + +<p>The girl leaped back in a quick defiance. For the <span class="pagenum" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</span>first time Molina +saw swift feminine fury strike her and with terrible force. She gave a +hoarse cry.</p> + +<p>“She shall not have you! I swear by the Sun to die before I’ll yield +your body to her....”</p> + +<p>She stopped and sprang to the door, startled by the sound of footsteps. +She listened in an agony of suspense and the sound died away. Perhaps +the guards had changed at an unusual hour. She passed into the hall, +walked its length to the turn of the stairs leading below. She could +hear only the measured tread of the sentinel pacing his beat before +Molina’s door. The sound had come from the direction of the stairs. The +sentinel was at the other end of the corridor.</p> + +<p>Yma met him at Molina’s door and sharply asked:</p> + +<p>“Did you hear footsteps on the stairs?”</p> + +<p>“Nothing, my lady....”</p> + +<p>But while they talked careful feet were climbing the stairs at the +moment. This time they made no sound.</p> + +<p>Teresa and her attendants had felt their way up the long steep stairway +ascending the three or four hundred feet to the first tier of rooms +used for cooking and the housing of the servants and guards. An evening +meal was being prepared for the prisoner.</p> + +<p>They hid until the servant emerged from the kitchen carrying a platter +filled with savory food. With the tread of a cat, Teresa followed at a +safe distance and by the faint light from Molina’s door saw her enter.</p> + +<p>It was the work of a moment to call her confederates <span class="pagenum" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</span>and plan an +attack. She asked Gaspara to seize and bind the guard while the soldier +made sure of the maid so that no help could be summoned. Her own +servant would help Gaspara.</p> + +<p>The three concealed themselves in the shadows of an alcove near the +entrance of the prisoner’s door. This alcove had been cut for the use +of a double guard. The sentinel approached without suspicion, and as +he passed, Gaspara flung himself upon him and a grim struggle ensued. +The man had muscles of steel and fought with courage though stunned +at first by the sudden attack. He bore his assailant on his broad +shoulders to the stairway and attempted to plunge down its steep stone +steps. Gaspara caught the wall in time, hurled his antagonist back into +the corridor and fought his way inch by inch through its length and +against the wall at the end.</p> + +<p>The soldier seized the maid as she leaped through the door and Teresa +with drawn sword sprang into the room and saw Molina with a cry of joy.</p> + +<p>Before him stood the rigid figure of Yma, the sword of the cavalier +gripped in her right hand. She had torn it from the wall, at the sounds +of the struggle outside.</p> + +<p>Molina started. He lifted his arms in a desperate appeal.</p> + +<p>“The struggle is over, dear Yma,” he cried.</p> + +<p>“It has just begun!” Her voice, torn by love and hate, sounded +unnatural, her wide, staring eyes fixed on Teresa. “He taught me to +defend myself—I shall!”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</span></p> + +<p>A quick thrust of her sword was caught by Teresa. They fought, a duel +of mad courage while the men outside struggled with the guards. The +noise had called the relief sentinel from below.</p> + +<p>In vain Molina tugged at his chains. In vain he commanded them to stop. +He feared for Teresa, but also, and for a split second he wondered why, +he feared for Yma. She had not possessed him, and yet....</p> + +<p>Yma’s tense figure moved with the agility of a tigress. Her defense was +perfect and her unarmed body began to tell against the coat of mail +with which Teresa was burdened. The Spanish girl was slowly driven +against the wall and by a swift turn of her supple wrist the Sun Virgin +disarmed her opponent, sprang back and leveled her sword for the death +thrust. She smiled cruelly and a bit of the savage of centuries past +screamed within her.</p> + +<p>But Molina plunged the length of his chains and gripped the sword.</p> + +<p>“Dear Yma,” he pleaded, and his voice also, was torn, “if the love +you swear means much, you cannot do this thing of horror. This is my +beloved. She is mine—I am hers. It is written. Pierce her heart and +the sword will skewer mine also.”</p> + +<p>The tense arm relaxed and the lustrous eyes grew dim. She faltered +and flung her arm to her eyes. And again she sobbed—sobs which +reverberated hollowly in the dungeon, while Teresa and Molina looked on.</p> + +<p>She dropped the sword, crossed to Teresa and stared into her face.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</span></p> + +<p>“You <i>are</i> beautiful!” she sighed as she studied Teresa’s +wondering countenance. “And you will love him I know. But never as I +love and worship.” She paused, and added, “I yield him to you.”</p> + +<p>She took her enemy by the hand, led her to Molina and stared as they +embraced. The longing they had known burst forth in a frenzy of emotion +and tears. Turning from the scene with a sharp cry of pain Yma rushed +into the hall and commanded her guards to cease the struggle. Teresa’s +servant had been knocked unconscious and the four evenly matched men +were still fighting.</p> + +<p>At her sharp command the struggle ceased and she led Gaspara, the +soldier, and their antagonists into the room, where she ordered the +manacles stricken from Molina.</p> + +<p>The cavalier had just grasped his sword and buckled it on when Toparca +entered and stared in amazement.</p> + +<p>Yma saw the terror in his face and guessed its secret.</p> + +<p>She seized the youth....</p> + +<p>“You have heard? The news is bad?”</p> + +<p>“The worst!” Toparca groaned.</p> + +<p>“What is it?” Molina demanded. “Speak freely, boy. I am no longer a +prisoner—I am the friend of Yma and your Inca.”</p> + +<p>“The commander has called a court. Even now they sit in judgment on our +Lord of the Sun!”</p> + +<p>“You will help us try to save him?” Yma asked with a shiver.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</span></p> + +<p>“I’ll fight to save him—fight to save my country from this disgrace.”</p> + +<p>Teresa seized the hand of her rival. She smiled.</p> + +<p>“And may I be your friend also? I’ll fight by his side with every ounce +of strength I have. We’ll do our best.”</p> + +<p>The Sun Virgin kissed her enemy’s hand.</p> + +<p>Without pausing to arrange his clothes, Molina asked the guards to +release his negro servant and have him report immediately to the +assembled court, while he hurried to the Square in Caxamalca.</p> + +<p>There was need of haste.</p> + + +</section> + <hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<section id="chapter-28"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</span></p> + + + <h3>Chapter XXVIII</h3> + + +<p>Pizarro’s decision had been made quickly and the execution of his +purpose went forward with sure and deadly speed.</p> + +<p>With Almagro he assumed the place of chief judge. His brothers +Hernando, Juan and Gonzalo were chosen associates. He would take no +chances of a difference of opinion. His word must be law.</p> + +<p>The forms prescribed for court procedure were ironically observed. +His secretary was made clerk of the court, and its organization duly +recorded. A prosecuting attorney was appointed, who at once summoned +Atahualpa on trial for his life.</p> + +<p>The Crown treasurer, Riquelme, with his associate royal officers, +crowded close to the judges. They loudly demanded the Inca’s death as +necessary to the safety of their treasures and the peace of the country.</p> + +<p>Molina’s sudden entrance with Teresa, Gaspara, and Yma created a +sensation that stopped the proceedings.</p> + +<p>Pizarro’s rage against the Inca flamed anew over this outrage on +the right of his ambassador. Almagro’s impetuous spirit rose to the +occasion with a practical suggestion.</p> + +<p>“We’ll burn the dog to death without a trial!” he shouted.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</span></p> + +<p>A chorus of approval shook the roof. But Pizarro lifted his hand for +quiet and asked Molina his feelings.</p> + +<p>Molina challenged the assemblage with head erect.</p> + +<p>“I can but express my amazement,” he cried, “at your proposal to +execute the Inca.”</p> + +<p>“And this you say,” Pizarro exclaimed, “after months of chains in one +of his dungeons?”</p> + +<p>“Certainly, my captain. You sent me as your secret scout and spy. I +understood the nature of my undertaking.”</p> + +<p>“I sent you as my ambassador to his court,” Pizarro corrected.</p> + +<p>“I had no credentials. You had no charter and could give none. The +Inca knew from the first that I was a spy. He found the sketches of +his forts and maps of his kingdom, which I had made, in my possession. +Death would have been the penalty under Spanish laws for this offense. +He only detained me until he could make sure of your purpose. I ask +that the Inca be treated with Christian humanity.”</p> + +<p>Pizarro saw that the cavalier was set in his determination to defend +the monarch. Words on this point were a waste of breath. He wished +confirmation of some conclusions of his own which bore directly on the +wisdom of his course.</p> + +<p>“I see,” he mused. “You have studied the customs and laws of the +empire?”</p> + +<p>“With care and keen interest.”</p> + +<p>“Is it true, then, as we have been told,” Pizarro <span class="pagenum" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</span>asked, “that the +twelve million people of the kingdom are children of the State, their +every want provided by the sovereign?”</p> + +<p>“It is.”</p> + +<p>“And the Inca is the State?”</p> + +<p>Molina nodded.</p> + +<p>“Not only is he the State, he is the living incarnation of their Sun +God on earth,” he added.</p> + +<p>“His word is the supreme law of life?”</p> + +<p>“Absolutely.”</p> + +<p>“His death would rouse or paralyze their wills?”</p> + +<p>The cavalier caught the deadly purpose behind the question and +hesitated to answer.</p> + +<p>Pizarro faced him angrily.</p> + +<p>“I am asking you, sir, for your report as my scout and spy. Answer.”</p> + +<p>“His death for the moment would undoubtedly paralyze them.”</p> + +<p>“And they would be twelve million automatons without a will?”</p> + +<p>“Until called to action by some inspired leader—yes.”</p> + +<p>The chief smiled.</p> + +<p>“I thank you for your faithful services, and relieve you of duty until +you regain your strength under the care of the brave girl who came to +your rescue.”</p> + +<p>Molina glared, but left the room with Teresa followed by Yma. Outside +on the Plaza the cavalier turned to Teresa eagerly.</p> + +<p>“You know the way to Huamachuco, the town to which they have sent De +Soto?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</span></p> + +<p>“Every mile of it. I’ve ridden there twice.”</p> + +<p>“You must ride again and with all speed. Unless De Soto gets here +before Pizarro can take action, the Inca’s fate is sealed. De Soto is +not only entitled to sit as one of the chief judges, he commands a +hundred men.”</p> + +<p>“You’ll go, beautiful one?” Yma pleaded.</p> + +<p>“I’ll go,” Teresa cried.</p> + +<p>“Tell De Soto that they are putting the Inca through the farce of a +trial in his absence. Beg him, if he loves truth, honor and decency to +ride with every ounce of strength his horses possess.”</p> + +<p>“And you will fight for his life until he comes?”</p> + +<p>“I’ll do my best. I know none of these men save Almagro, and in this +he will follow Francisco Pizarro. Have a care for your own life, my +Teresa, but ride—ride for the life of the Inca and the love we bear +each other.”</p> + +<p>The fiery young horse was bridled, saddled and led to her. She mounted +and followed the causeway to the north.</p> + +<p>Yma seized the cavalier’s hand and kissed it.</p> + +<p>“My glorious one—you, I shall worship always!”</p> + +<p>Molina’s hand pressed hers.</p> + +<p>“We’ve no time to lose, child—go quickly to the Inca’s mother and +warn her of the peril of her son. Have her instruct Atahualpa under no +circumstances to lose his temper at the trial. No matter what crude +insults he may receive he is to answer not a word. I must return now.”</p> + +<p>The girl flew to do his bidding and Molina entered the council chamber +as the crisp words of <span class="pagenum" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</span>Francisco Pizarro were summing up the situation +for final action.</p> + +<p>“The Inca alive is our constant peril. Molina has just confirmed my +own opinions. His death at our hands will strike terror to twelve +million people with no will save his. Our safety will be assured and +the safety of our treasures. We cannot hold him prisoner without facing +an uprising which he may order secretly at any time. The moment he is +dead, the road to Cuzco is open and we are masters of the empire. We +must comply with the forms of court procedure as a matter of record for +the King. But we know what we are doing and we are going to complete +the work without flinching. It is not a question of morals. That is +past; it is a question of our lives or his. What say you, try him or +not?”</p> + +<p>“Try him!”</p> + +<p>The vote was unanimous.</p> + +<p>The clerk had been ordered to prepare the indictment. He was putting +the finishing touches to the brief document when Molina reëntered.</p> + +<p>“And this is your unalterable decision?” he asked Pizarro.</p> + +<p>“That the Inca stand trial for his life within the hour.”</p> + +<p>“I demand the right to appear in his defense,” Molina declared. “I have +known him for two years and more. I am the man best fitted for the +task.”</p> + +<p>“You understand that as an officer of our expedition you can not vote +on the verdict if you act as his counsel?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</span></p> + +<p>“I understand.”</p> + +<p>“Then it is agreed,” Pizarro replied without asking the opinion of his +colleagues. “Bring your prisoner into court.”</p> + +<p>“But I protest, your honors,” the cavalier gravely said, bowing both to +Almagro and Pizarro, “that I have had no opportunity to confer with the +accused. I have not seen the articles of indictment. I have had no time +to secure or examine a single witness. I ask for an adjournment for at +least twenty-four hours that I may prepare the defense.”</p> + +<p>“We grant you one hour, no more,” Pizarro replied turning to Almagro. +“You agree?”</p> + +<p>“The hour’s too much time. I say burn him first and then discuss the +case.”</p> + +<p>“And I,” Molina protested, “will enter my solemn impeachment of this +indecent haste. I demand that the clerk of the court put it on record.”</p> + +<p>Pizarro waved his hand to his secretary.</p> + +<p>“Enter it.”</p> + +<p>The cavalier demanded of the clerk his indictment and read it with a +scowl of contempt.</p> + +<p>The charges were twelve in number. The important items in the bill of +indictment charged that he had usurped the crown of the empire and +murdered his brother Huascar, the rightful heir to the throne; that he +had squandered the public revenues of his kingdom since the conquest +of the country by the Spaniards and lavished them on his kindred and +his minions; that he was guilty of adulterous practices indulging in +a plurality of wives; that he was guilty of idolatry in worshiping +the sun; and <span class="pagenum" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</span>that finally he had attempted to incite an insurrection +against the Spaniards.</p> + +<p>The young cavalier glared at the judges with scorn.</p> + +<p>“I ask the court to strike out as irrelevant all the clauses in this +indictment save the last. What have you to do with the laws of the +Incan Empire? Atahualpa succeeded to the throne of Quito by the will of +his illustrious father, Huyna Capac. His brother declared war on him, +was defeated, lost his crown and afterwards his life in the clash. Only +the Emperor Charles V could sit as judge or arbiter in such a case.”</p> + +<p>Pizarro lifted his hand.</p> + +<p>“The charges stand.”</p> + +<p>“Surely you can not consider the impudent assertion that he is guilty +of idolatry in worshiping the only god he knows, the only god taught +him by his father and mother? That he has a plurality of wives is the +custom of his country. You can not stultify yourselves by listening to +such an indictment!”</p> + +<p>“We’ll hear them all!” Pizarro snapped. “I told the clerk to write +them. Bring on your prisoner and proceed with the trial. You talk like +a lawyer. Lawyers are forbidden to live under our charter!”</p> + +<p>The Inca confronted his accusers with a look of dazed incredulity on +his bronzed face.</p> + +<p>When the indictment was read to him by Felipillo, his big head sank as +if in an effort to escape the insults of a mob. He restrained his anger +and replied with dignity.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</span></p> + +<p>“I am Inca of the Kingdom by its laws. My brother was executed by an +order of royal council before whom his trial was held. They voted his +death unanimously.”</p> + +<p>“Then you lied when you declared that his jailors had killed him?” +Pizarro thundered.</p> + +<p>“I merely dissembled for the moment, commander. The jailor did execute +him but by orders of the council. My wives are my own by rights +thousands of years old. Your own soldiers have taken many women as +slaves and held their bodies their property, denying them the rights +of a wife to be loved and protected. That I never did. And you have +established prostitution in Caxamalca—”</p> + +<p>“Silence!” Almagro shouted. “We are not on trial. We’re trying +<i>you</i>!”</p> + +<p>The Inca bowed gravely.</p> + +<p>“The only question on which you have the right to place me on trial is +whether I have conspired to raise an insurrection. So far from this +being true, I refused to escape when offered my freedom by a secret +organization of my young men.”</p> + +<p>“So there <i>has</i> been a conspiracy!” Pizarro broke in angrily.</p> + +<p>“At my command they dispersed. I had given you my word and kept it. +Since that day there has not been lifted a single hand in my kingdom +for my rescue. My word is law. There are no warriors gathered at +Huamachuco. The country is quiet. My people await my orders. When your +noble Hernando De Soto returns he will tell you this.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</span></p> + +<p>By order of the clerk the Inca was asked a number of questions which +Felipillo put with cunning and each time lied as to the answer.</p> + +<p>Molina sprang to his feet in rage.</p> + +<p>“I ask the court to dismiss this lying interpreter. He has given a +false answer to every question put to the accused. If you will allow me +I will ask the questions and give you the true answers.”</p> + +<p>“You will not,” Pizarro promptly replied. “Your answers might be +colored. He is the official interpreter. You cannot act in his place.”</p> + +<p>The Inca returned to his quarters and a number of native witnesses were +examined. In each case Felipillo supplied the fatal answers no matter +what the frightened wretch said.</p> + +<p>Unable to restrain his anger at the farce, Molina deliberately began +a slow cross-examination designed to prolong the trial and give his +messenger time to reach De Soto. He dragged these questions through an +hour before Pizarro saw his purpose.</p> + +<p>“No more questions, sir!” the presiding judge ordered.</p> + +<p>The case was closed and the four Pizarro brothers with Almagro held a +brief conference before pronouncing judgment.</p> + +<p>“The only question, gentlemen,” Francisco Pizarro declared, “for us to +decide is not whether he is guilty or innocent. We all know that he is +guilty of the crimes charged and that death is the penalty. The only +question we must ask ourselves is whether his death will bring us good +or evil?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</span></p> + +<p>“The quicker we kill him, the better,” snapped Almagro. The Pizarros +agreed.</p> + +<p>Francisco Pizarro, as presiding judge, pronounced the sentence.</p> + +<p>“We find the Inca guilty of all charges made in the indictment and +order his death in the Plaza of Caxamalca. Our executioner will burn +him alive at the stake to-night.”</p> + +<p>“Surely not to-night!” Molina shouted. “In the name of common decency I +beg that he be given adequate time to prepare for his death.”</p> + +<p>Pizarro fixed his eyes straight on Molina.</p> + +<p>“I understand your purpose of delay, Sir Knight. He dies to-night.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, and, by God’s wounds, De Soto can talk at the funeral to-morrow!” +Almagro snarled.</p> + + +</section> + <hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<section id="chapter-29"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</span></p> + + + <h3>Chapter XXIX</h3> + + +<p>The mad pace at which Teresa urged her horse put her own skill as a +rider to the severest test. But she had been in the saddle constantly +since the day of the landing more than a year ago. She was now a +veteran cavalryman, and this was a race against time for human life, +and against an infinite tragedy. The Inca’s stupendous ransom had been +paid. It had made her brother a millionaire. It had made her rich. It +had made every soldier in the expedition rich. The monarch had proved +himself a man whose word was unimpeachable. That he should be so basely +betrayed by the Spaniards was to her proud young spirit a thing of +nameless horror.</p> + +<p>She thought of his stately mother and pain stirred her horse faster. +She had grown to admire this mother beyond all the native women she had +known. There was something inherently charming in the Dowager’s regal +bearing. Her love for her son was overwhelming. In him had centered +now all her hopes and dreams. She was inordinately proud of his +achievements. She lived only in the hope of his liberation. His death +would be a blow too cruel to contemplate. At its thought she dug the +spurs into her horse’s flanks again and the fiery animal leaped ahead, +his sides dripping.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</span></p> + +<p>Teresa leaned low and in soothing words stroked the beautiful white +neck. The horse uttered a low whinny in answering acceptance of her +apology and stretched his neck again for the race. A storm had hurled +trees across the road where it led through a forest, but he leaped the +barriers and sped on, his silver-shod hoofs flashing in the moonlight.</p> + +<p>He waded through rivers with an astounding instinct for the shallow +leads of the fords. But at a broad deep stream whose smooth surface +glittered in the moonlight he stopped short, shook his mane and touched +the water gingerly with his slender hoof. Teresa sprang to the ground, +caught his flowing tail in her right hand and stroked his foaming +haunches with her left. He swam the stream, and they began the last lap +of the race. There were no mountain stairs to climb. The road north led +up the valley between the <i>cordilleras</i>. She thanked God for this.</p> + +<p>She stopped at the lights of a village, warmed herself for a few +minutes and asked news of De Soto. To her amazement she discovered that +he had stopped here for the night.</p> + +<p>She found the house in which he was lodged without difficulty, roused +him from a sound sleep and told him the news of the Inca’s trial and +Molina’s fears.</p> + +<p>“They’ve dared to put him on trial before I could report?” he asked in +amazement.</p> + +<p>“Yes, and we fear that he may die before you can reach Caxamalca.”</p> + +<p>“We’ll make it. The distance is only thirty <span class="pagenum" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</span>miles. We’ll leave your +horse with the <i>curaca</i> in charge of one of my men. Take his fresh +horse and we’ll ride.”</p> + +<p>In half an hour the squadron, forming in single file, began a desperate +ride for the Plaza of Caxamalca.</p> + + +</section> + <hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<section id="chapter-30"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</span></p> + + + <h3>Chapter XXX</h3> + + +<p>The death sentence rang through the room in the deep tones of Francisco +Pizarro’s voice and a moment’s painful silence was broken by the sob of +a woman. Yma had rushed out and brought back Molina. The girl gripped +him, trembling.</p> + +<p>“You will not let them do this crime, my beloved! You <i>will</i> not!” +she whispered. “Your arm is strong, your sword is cold and keen. I will +help you. I have seen many men in this room who approve your words. +They will help you—”</p> + +<p>Molina pressed her hand for silence and faced the judges. He was calmer +now.</p> + +<p>“In the name of justice, humanity and God, I denounce this verdict and +warn you to pause before you dare to execute it!”</p> + +<p>The Pizarros hesitated, amazed at this further audacity. But Almagro +leaped into the breach.</p> + +<p>“The men are with us ten to one,” he muttered. “To hell with him.”</p> + +<p>But the Chief Judge, taken with the courage displayed, listened in +silence as Molina rushed on.</p> + +<p>“This whole procedure has been a shameless farce. If your sentence +is executed you will leave a record of infamy unparalleled in the +history of Spain. <span class="pagenum" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</span>You’ve done this thing with a haste indecent and +indefensible. De Soto by his character, learning and rank was entitled +to sit as judge—”</p> + +<p>“His voice could not have changed our verdict,” Pizarro interrupted.</p> + +<p>“Then why this haste lest he arrive in time to be heard? The evidence +before you is too flimsy for discussion. The charges themselves were +ridiculous. I deny your right to sit thus in judgment on a sovereign +prince in his own domain. Only the Court of Charles V could try such a +prisoner!”</p> + +<p>“Is that all you have to say?” Almagro sneered.</p> + +<p>“No, it’s not. Your charter requires that you consult the authorities +of the Church on all matters of importance. Has this been done?”</p> + +<p>Pizarro’s face fell at the cunning of his tormentor.</p> + +<p>“Not yet.”</p> + +<p>“I demand a delay that this shall be done in proper order. I appeal to +Father Valverde to hear my argument for a stay of execution.”</p> + +<p>“Send for the friar!” Pizarro commanded.</p> + +<p>“I demand a day in which to prepare my appeal and argument before the +Church!”</p> + +<p>“You’ll not get it,” was the prompt decision. “Father Valverde will +appear immediately, hear you and give his decision.”</p> + +<p>The wily commander knew that he could rely on his own chaplain. +Valverde listened to the fiery eloquence of the Inca’s young advocate +with dignity. The judges submitted a copy of their verdict and death +warrant for his signature or veto. But Pizarro knew his position.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</span></p> + +<p>He gave his decision without hesitation:</p> + +<p>“In my opinion,” he said in stern accents, “the Inca deserves death.”</p> + +<p>He promptly affixed his signature to the death warrant and returned it +to the Chief Judge. Pizarro handed it to his executioners.</p> + +<p>“Make your arrangements and complete the task within the hour.”</p> + +<p>Molina again felt the soft grip on his arm and heard Yma’s sobbing +voice:</p> + +<p>“My god-man, you will not let them—”</p> + +<p>The young cavalier drew his sword and stepped before the executioner. +The judges stared in surprise, too great for words. It was preposterous +that one man should dare thus to defy them all. And it was not until a +score of stalwart figures crowded beside Molina, their hands on their +swords, that Pizarro saw that he was confronted by an unexpected and +dangerous crisis. A fight in his court room over the verdict might +mean an attack from the attendants of the Inca at the same moment. A +protest ending in bloodshed would send their record to the Crown under +a dangerous cloud. He must use his wits and use them quickly. Almagro +and his brothers had drawn their swords and a mass of their followers +backed them.</p> + +<p>“Sheathe your swords!” Francisco Pizarro sternly commanded his +brothers, and turning to Molina repeated the command.</p> + +<p>The young cavalier stood with set jaw and refused to move. Pizarro +boldly approached, laid <span class="pagenum" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</span>his hand on his shoulder and spoke in soothing +tones:</p> + +<p>“Come, come, my son, what madness is this? You would shed the blood of +your people, for what?”</p> + +<p>Molina shook off the hand.</p> + +<p>“For the honor of Spain, for decency, and justice!” he replied. “You do +not seem to know their meaning. Must I teach you with this?” He set his +sword at guard.</p> + +<p>Pizarro flinched at the scorn, but did not retreat from the sword.</p> + +<p>“Words, words, my boy. Face the facts and forget your knight-errantry. +Our lives are at stake—yours and the life of the girl whom you love.”</p> + +<p>“We scorn life at such a price!”</p> + +<p>“You refuse to see our danger?”</p> + +<p>“There is no danger!” the cavalier cried in a rage.</p> + +<p>“That is your opinion—”</p> + +<p>“And the opinion of some who stand beside me.”</p> + +<p>The men around him answered fiercely:</p> + +<p>“Yes!”</p> + +<p>“So be it, gentlemen,” Pizarro argued. “You are outnumbered ten to one. +See for yourselves—” he paused and waved his hand to the hundred and +more men standing behind the judges.</p> + +<p>“Consider for a moment the outcome of a fight in this room. You and +your followers would be killed to a man.”</p> + +<p>“Our cause is worth it!”</p> + +<p>“If so,” the wily leader urged, “take it to the <span class="pagenum" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</span>highest court in Spain +and we stake our lives on the decision of the Crown. It’s no time for +Spaniards to kill each other. We are here to carry the banners of +Castile and Aragon to new glories, not bathe them in fraternal blood. +Write your protest, sign it and the clerk will forward it to his +majesty at Toledo.”</p> + +<p>“It might be wise,” a voice whispered by Molina’s side.</p> + +<p>Molina considered. He felt the hopelessness of his position. Bare sword +still in his hand, he swung on Pizarro:</p> + +<p>“Your words mock you, Pizarro. Your villainy reproaches you. But I +shall not shed blood. On this, though, I stand: Stay your execution +until this protest is drawn and signed.”</p> + +<p>“It is done.”</p> + +<p>He signaled the executioner, took the death warrant, and ordered the +clerk to draw the protest as the young cavalier should dictate. Yma +watched the strange procedure with a look of dumb misery, yet hope was +not dead. Her beloved had stayed the hand of death for the moment. She +still believed he would win.</p> + +<p>Every man in the room fixed his name in writing or cross-mark either +to the death warrant under Valverde’s signature or under the protest +of Molina. More than a hundred endorsed the decree of the judges and +eleven men signed the protest.</p> + +<p>The crisis passed, Francisco Pizarro slipped the death warrant into +the hands of his executioner who hurried to do his bidding. The keen +eyes of the <span class="pagenum" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</span>Sun Virgin saw the look of despair on the face of Molina +and watched with a low cry of horror as the executioner left the room. +But she realized Molina’s helplessness. She darted from the room, and +reported the dread news to the Dowager who hastened with the Inca into +the presence of his judges.</p> + +<p>Atahualpa pressed his way before Francisco Pizarro trembling with +excitement. The blow had fallen with merciless swiftness. It was +incredible. For the moment he was stunned. Through eyes swimming with +tears he began his piteous plea.</p> + +<p>“What have I done, or my children, that I should meet this fate?”</p> + +<p>He paused, pressed closer and spoke in tones of desperate appeal.</p> + +<p>“And from you, of all men, whom I have loaded with kindness and untold +treasure.”</p> + +<p>Pizarro turned from the scene with unusual emotion. He had not counted +on this pitiful personal appeal to him as a man and a friend. He had +pledged the Inca his friendship. It was a shock to see how implicit +had been the man’s faith in the promise. The iron heart within the +conqueror’s breast faltered for a moment in his stern purpose.</p> + +<p>The Inca hastened to follow the advantage which his appeal had given +him. He seized Pizarro’s arm.</p> + +<p>“Surely you, my friend, whom I have learned to trust above all +your followers here—you, whose mind has been too great for petty +annoyances, can not do this cruel wrong. I beg of you my life. In <span class="pagenum" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</span>this +hour of my desertion and helplessness, you can not fail me. I can +assure you the safety of your people. Spare my life, give me the time +and I will double the ransom already paid. I will fill the room twice +with gold, the smaller one four times with silver.”</p> + +<p>The conqueror, deeply moved, attempted to go, but the Inca clung to him +in final desperation.</p> + +<p>“You will not desert me, my friend, in this hour of my anguish—”</p> + +<p>The Dowager added her voice to the broken plea.</p> + +<p>“Grant me the life of my son, Your Excellency,” she cried. “I speak +as the mother who loves him. And I swear to you that he will keep +his solemn word of honor. No hand shall be lifted against a Spanish +soldier. We will work in harmony with your people and build a new +Kingdom of the Four Corners of the World—”</p> + +<p>The Inca suddenly lifted his hand to his mother for silence.</p> + +<p>“It is enough. It is fate.”</p> + +<p>He drew himself to his full height, folded his arms, and his face +became again a stolid mask of bronze—a mask marked with supreme +contempt.</p> + +<p>Two hours after sunset the trumpet called the soldiers into the Plaza +of Caxamalca to witness the <i>auto de fe</i> on the 29th of August, +1533. A hundred blazing torches lighted the Plaza. News of the dreaded +deed had spread a nameless terror in the heart of every native. That +these new beings would dare to lay their hands in deadly violence on +God Himself surpassed belief. They stood in the shadows <span class="pagenum" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</span>in huddled +groups and discussed the catastrophe as their ancestors had stood +appalled by earthquake and volcano.</p> + +<p>The executioners set a bronze stake in the center of the square and +piled the faggots ready to be packed about the body of the victim.</p> + +<p>The wails of his terror-stricken household swept the square from the +open doors of the House of the Serpent.</p> + +<p>But the Inca bore the trial with a stern stoicism. He embraced his +wives, took each of his weeping little boys and girls in his arms and +pressed them to his heart in silence.</p> + +<p>He looked long and tenderly at Yma, his great head hanging low. He +opened his arms and she rested her tear-stained face on his breast.</p> + +<p>“Grieve no more, dear daughter of the Sun. You have done all that the +brave and wise could do. You have within you the soul of a queen—my +mother’s spirit is yours. My eyes have been blind or I had seen it +sooner. Forgive my blindness and my many errors. You would have saved +me, had I been wise. May the Sun bring you his blessing, my glorious +Yma!”</p> + +<p>He put the weeping girl aside and took his mother in his arms. For a +long while they held each other in silence. He stooped and kissed her +lips. She tried to speak, but her voice trailed into a strangling sob +and she wept in silence.</p> + +<p>The guards drew them apart and led the Inca before Pizarro who ordered +him chained hand and foot. As he was led forth into the square, the +heavy <span class="pagenum" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</span>chains rattled loudly on the flag stones and a long piteous +scream from his mother broke the stillness.</p> + +<p>His people crowded to the doorway and watched the hideous scene still +with unbelieving eyes. The Sun would not allow the infamy of such a +death. They trembled and listened for the rumble of an earthquake that +would shake the city and strike terror to the fiends. But they waited +in vain.</p> + +<p>An appalling silence now brooded over the Square. The figures of five +hundred Spanish soldiers stood in dark groups about the stake.</p> + +<p>Father Vincente de Valverde walked by the doomed monarch’s side, +begging him in this hour of supreme need to renounce the religion of +his fathers and accept the faith of his conquerors. But the bronze face +gave no sign of hearing the friar’s appeal. His eyes were fixed on a +far-off star as he walked with head erect. They bound his fine young +body to the bronze stake, fixing his arms and legs in close fetters. +Quickly the faggots were piled high about him and the executioner +lifted his torch to apply the flame.</p> + +<p>Valverde spoke.</p> + +<p>“A moment. A last appeal.”</p> + +<p>The friar held the cross before the dazed victim.</p> + +<p>“Embrace the cross of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and be baptized, +I implore you! If you will, I can spare you the agony of flames. You +may die by the less painful form of strangling.”</p> + +<p>The Inca turned his sad eyes on Molina.</p> + +<p>“It is true, my friend?”</p> + +<p>The cavalier hastened to assure him.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</span></p> + +<p>“It is true. Our religion, my lord, is true, if its followers are +not. I beg of you to accept the terms and save yourself the horror of +flames. They will sear my soul as well as your body.”</p> + +<p>“Perhaps it is well,” the Inca slowly agreed. “To die in flames for me +will be to lose both body and soul. My image could not then be embalmed +as those of my fathers have been preserved.”</p> + +<p>He paused and turned to Father Valverde.</p> + +<p>“I accept your offer. I renounce the gods who have forsaken me and +accept yours.”</p> + +<p>The priest who had just signed his death warrant administered the rite +of baptism and gave his convert a new name in honor of John the Baptist +on whose day the tragedy fell. As the words fell from the lips of the +priest Molina turned from the scene with rage and disgust.</p> + +<p>“I baptize you Juan de Atahualpa in the name of the Father, Son and +Holy Ghost!”</p> + +<p>The words died away in a dull drone, and Atahualpa turned to Pizarro +with a look of appeal. He spoke with a quiet dignity that moved every +hearer to astonishment.</p> + +<p>“I ask of Your Excellency, that my body be taken to Quito, my +birthplace, to be fittingly preserved with those of my ancestors—” He +paused, searched the face of the conqueror and went on—“I ask this +of you as commander of my kingdom. A last request I make of you, as +the—shall I say?—friend I have known these past seven months. Have +compassion on the sorrowing people of my household <span class="pagenum" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</span>and protect my +little children who are thus left desolate.”</p> + +<p>Pizarro bowed his consent and signaled to the garroter, who stepped +forward, the heavy wire used in strangulation gripped in his coarse +hand.</p> + +<p>The twisted wire touched the hand of Almagro who stood beside the +dark figure of Hernando Pizarro. The little man moved with a gesture +of anger at the lack of respect shown him. But a shiver of queer +foreboding swept him. He shook it off with an oath, as he looked around +him.</p> + +<p>The Inca closed his eyes. The executioner circled his neck and +strangled him to death while five hundred Spaniards pressed close +murmuring their credos for the salvation of his soul.</p> + +<p>As the stalwart body slowly relaxed in the tremor of death, the thunder +of horses’ hoofs echoed at the gates and De Soto dashed into the scene +with flushed face, his hand trembling on his sword.</p> + +<p>He threw himself toward Pizarro with a dangerous smile playing around +his strong mouth. The commander paled for a moment at the obvious +threat.</p> + +<p>“I am here,” De Soto shouted, “to report the country quiet, the talk of +an uprising a shameless lie!”</p> + +<p>“I’m sorry that we have acted in haste,” Pizarro muttered.</p> + +<p>“You could not wait to hear my report! You rush your victim to his doom +without a chance to prove his innocence! I ride madly to save him and +you <span class="pagenum" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</span>beat me to the stake. You disregard me as a judge! Well, by God’s +light, you’ll answer to me and to your King for this violation of the +laws of Christian humanity.”</p> + +<p>Pizarro was stunned for a moment with the violence of the attack. He +hedged and made excuses.</p> + +<p>“I had no choice, De Soto—the soldiers clamored for his life. They +would have assaulted his house and cut him to pieces had I not acted—”</p> + +<p>“And you—you with all your vaunted power as commander, could not have +held their hands until I returned to tell the truth?” De Soto sneered.</p> + +<p>“I was forced to act by the Crown treasurer, his officers and Father +Valverde.”</p> + +<p>Riquelme, the treasurer, gripped his sword and faced Pizarro with +blazing eyes.</p> + +<p>“A lie, Francisco—a lie! I but followed your lead!”</p> + +<p>“Besides,” the chief continued, ignoring the interruption, “I was urged +by Father Valverde who signed the death warrant....”</p> + +<p>“This is so?” De Soto demanded of the friar.</p> + +<p>“It is true. It was his life or ours....”</p> + +<p>The amazed captain turned to his chief:</p> + +<p>“I challenge you to a duel to the death, Francisco Pizarro, for this +betrayal of my rights as a judge in this matter—on guard!”</p> + +<p>De Soto’s sword flashed in the torch light and Pizarro’s answered. But +men on each side restrained them. De Soto shook off the restraining +hands, sheathed his sword, and fixed Pizarro with a look <span class="pagenum" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</span>of contempt. +“I salute you, chieftain, as a prince—<i>the prince of murderers!</i>” +He fixed his name at the head of the protest sent to Spain, and +withdrew from the expedition.</p> + + +</section> + <hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<section id="chapter-31"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</span></p> + + + <h3>Chapter XXXI</h3> + + +<p>Pizarro spared no pains in giving to the dead monarch the full honors +of rank at his funeral.</p> + +<p>The Inca had renounced his faith and embraced theirs. He was entitled +to Christian burial.</p> + +<p>Perhaps Pizarro really believed the necessity for his death. Perhaps he +believed that necessity urgent. He could remember the fate of his own +people when the enraged chiefs of Panama had poured molten gold down +their throats, crying:</p> + +<p>“Eat, Christians! Eat your fill of gold!”</p> + +<p>He did not propose to see such scenes reënacted in Peru. Now that the +deed was done he could at least express his Christian humanity by +placing flowers on the body of the dead Indian.</p> + +<p>The body was carefully prepared for the obsequies. When stretched +in solemn posture on the bier, the massive head rested on a gold +embroidered pillow and he was shrouded in the most gorgeous robes of +empire.</p> + +<p>Francisco Pizarro took his place as chief mourner, wearing his +magnificent uniform of Viceroy for the first time. Indeed, it was the +first time since his march into Peru that he had felt safe in assuming +it. There were many battles yet to be fought, but he <span class="pagenum" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</span>felt his hand +at last gripping the wealth and power of a mighty empire. Verily, he +thought, he was an instrument in the hands of God! In his hour of +triumph, with millions of gold securely locked in his chests and the +crown of a kingdom on his brow, he recalled with a sense of awe the +days of his lonely pitiful childhood in Spain. The “little bastard,” +they had called him, and the pigs he tended had been his best friends. +He could begin now to see a proud world fawning at his feet.</p> + +<p>So it is not to be wondered that he took himself seriously.</p> + +<p>The funeral procession had wended its way into the church, the body lay +in state before the altar and the priests were celebrating the ceremony +for the dead. Pizarro stood, commanding the scene, his magnificent +figure sternly erect, his finely shaped head and full beard streaked +with gray, expressing the dignity and new found power of his position.</p> + +<p>A sudden commotion at the door, and the droning tones of the priests +died into silence as all eyes turned. Before Pizarro realized what had +happened, Yma, at the head of a hundred white-robed Virgins of the +Sun, swept down the aisle, surrounded and seized the body of their +lord. His wives, led by his mother, followed weeping. The Sun Virgins +softly swayed from the bier and his wives rushed to the body with drawn +daggers to follow their master to the grave.</p> + +<p>A word of sharp command from Pizarro called the startled soldiers to +their duty.</p> + +<p>“Seize and drag them from the church!”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</span></p> + +<p>Heavy figures in clanging armor leaped forward. The weeping women and +white-clad Virgins of the Sun were dragged protesting from the church.</p> + +<p>Yma sought Pizarro.</p> + +<p>“As servants of our Lord of the Sun we claim the right to the body of +our beloved. We would embalm it and give him burial with his people in +the Temple at Quito.”</p> + +<p>The Spaniard commanded silence.</p> + +<p>“I will give him Christian burial in holy ground—go!”</p> + +<p>Behind the conqueror, stood his partner, Almagro, and his brothers, who +had pronounced the sentence of death on the Inca.</p> + +<p>The soldiers had instinctively refrained from laying hands on the dead +sovereign’s mother. She stood with her sad eyes fixed on Pizarro. +Lifting both hands above her head she solemnly prayed:</p> + +<p>“God of the Sun, wither the Kingdom of Spain and let thy rays, as +lances of death, strike the murderers of Atahualpa!”</p> + +<p>She was allowed to walk down the aisle and out the door without +molestation.</p> + +<p>The conquerors in the absence of their interpreters wondered what she +had said. They were yet to recall the scene in hours of supreme tragedy +in their own lives.</p> + + +</section> + <hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<section id="chapter-32"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</span></p> + + + <h3>Chapter XXXII</h3> + + +<p>The tragedy done, the mind of one member of the royal family stirred +with brave thoughts of the future. To think was to act, and she acted +without delay.</p> + +<p>On the morning following the burial of her son the Dowager called on +the conqueror. Pizarro received her with every mark of respect and +hastened to give her assurances.</p> + +<p>“Rest assured of safety, Your Highness,” he said. “I have borne in mind +the last wishes of your son. He left you and his household in my care. +It is a sacred task. You and yours are under my protection. Your wants +will be carefully supplied.”</p> + +<p>Pacha could but wonder at that, but she replied, “There are higher +needs than food and clothes. I have not come to speak of my safety but +of our people.”</p> + +<p>She paused and studied the stern face of the conqueror. There was deep +sincerity in her voice as she continued and the Spaniard was not slow +to catch it.</p> + +<p>“You must realize that a nation, to whom the word of their ruler only +is law, can not remain long without a hand to guide them.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</span></p> + +<p>“I have undertaken to supply that hand, Your Highness,” was the proud +reply.</p> + +<p>“Even so, you will need the help of one whom our people recognize as +their lord.”</p> + +<p>Pizarro pursed his lips and searched Pacha’s fine face for a trace of +guile. He lifted his brows.</p> + +<p>“And your suggestion is?”</p> + +<p>“That you approve my selection of the successor of Atahualpa and crown +him Inca under your protection.”</p> + +<p>A smile lighted the dark face. His decision was instantaneous.</p> + +<p>“Wise advice, Your Highness! If a man can be found who will act as I +direct we may avoid much trouble. If I can speak through the Inca as my +mouthpiece the people will submit to our rule and quickly profit by our +superior knowledge and wisdom. Have you in mind the man?”</p> + +<p>“He is in Caxamalca, commander. The Inca’s younger brother, Toparca, is +a youth of gentle disposition, and has always been a favorite of the +people.”</p> + +<p>“You can vouch for his good faith and loyalty?”</p> + +<p>“He will obey me without question. You can rely on my advice.”</p> + +<p>The conqueror studied the stately woman who spoke with so much poise +and wondered if he could. There certainly was no question of the wisdom +of her plans. The Incan Empire without an Inca could not long remain +in peace. Some turbulent spirit would at last be found to lead an +insurrection. If he could speak through the lips that moved beneath +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</span>their scarlet <i>borla</i> the people might be held in quiet until he +had consolidated his power. The moment he was established the new Peru +would swarm with thousands of Spaniards and the yoke would be set on +their necks for all time.</p> + +<p>That this woman had back of her plan a design to consolidate the forces +of her people in due time he did not doubt for a moment. But it was a +fair risk. He would pit his Spanish brain and life experience against +her wits.</p> + +<p>“I accept the plan, Your Highness,” Pizarro answered finally.</p> + +<p>“It will be wise,” she further ventured, “to select as his ruling Queen +the most beautiful and popular girl in the kingdom.”</p> + +<p>“You have her in mind?”</p> + +<p>“There can be no question of choice in the matter,” Pacha quietly +answered. “Yma, first of all the Virgins of the Sun, is a heroine of +our people. She is young, beautiful and obedient. Toparca has been in +love with her since boyhood.”</p> + +<p>“I leave the matter in your hands, Your Highness. Arrange the details +and I will give orders for the coronation.”</p> + +<p>The Dowager summoned Yma to her apartment. There was no question of the +obedience of Toparca. But she was not so sure about the Sun Virgin. The +girl was the most daring leader yet developed in this crisis of the +empire. What she might do under the conditions of chaos following the +Inca’s death was a problem.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</span></p> + +<p>The girl approached Pacha with vague misgivings of a new tragedy.</p> + +<p>“Surely they will not harm you, dear Mother Queen?” she tremblingly +asked.</p> + +<p>The Dowager took Yma’s hand in hers and gently stroked it.</p> + +<p>“No, my child. The great crime is done. I am of no importance now....”</p> + +<p>She paused and studied the girl’s exquisite features.</p> + +<p>“You once said in jest,” Pacha continued, “that a priest foretold that +you would one day wear the robes of an Empress of the realm.”</p> + +<p>Yma laughed her relief.</p> + +<p>“An old fool and flatterer who thought to get my last emerald.”</p> + +<p>“His words will come true.”</p> + +<p>“What! What—do you mean?” the girl gasped.</p> + +<p>“That the conqueror at my suggestion will crown Toparca Inca and I have +chosen you his Queen....”</p> + +<p>“But, dear mother, I do not wish to marry Toparca—”</p> + +<p>“He is a youth of fine character and handsome as a prince should be.”</p> + +<p>No answer.</p> + +<p>“And he has always loved you....”</p> + +<p>Yma turned away.</p> + +<p>“But I love another, dear mother—that you know.”</p> + +<p>“And he has chosen the Spanish girl. It is the law of life, dear child. +They are of the same blood. <span class="pagenum" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</span>Like chooses like. So you must choose +Toparca. Your brave Alonso will tell you this.”</p> + +<p>“I must ask him ...” the low voice murmured.</p> + +<p>“And if he tells you to accept Toparca and the crown, you will do his +bidding?”</p> + +<p>“I will obey him.”</p> + +<p>“Go at once and ask his advice.”</p> + +<p>The Sun Virgin found Molina with Teresa planning their return to +Panama. The cavalier was quick to note her grave demeanor.</p> + +<p>“What is it?” he asked in alarm.</p> + +<p>“Your commander will crown Toparca Emperor and I am asked to be his +Queen.”</p> + +<p>Teresa seized the girl’s hand.</p> + +<p>“And you, our Yma, will wear the crown of an Empress! We are glad. We +salute you!”</p> + +<p>She kissed the Sun Virgin impulsively and turned to Molina.</p> + +<p>“Isn’t it”—she broke off as she saw Molina’s face. He stood, watching +Yma, his eyes fixed on the girl.</p> + +<p>Two years! Two years in a land fantastic as a myth, with beauty for +his bride—beauty he had never touched. A sharp pang pierced him as +he stood watching this beauty. His regret was soothed, he knew, by +Teresa. But hers? That, he refused to answer, but he knew. He saw the +long trail of years winding, but clear cut as a road between the Andes, +and she must follow it. And he wondered. She had not possessed him and +yet....</p> + +<p>He shook off his revery.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</span></p> + +<p>“Wonderful!” he breathed, watching Yma intently.</p> + +<p>Teresa looked away. She knew.</p> + +<p>“But I will not marry Toparca,” Yma faltered, “unless you command me, +dear one.”</p> + +<p>“It is best, my dear.”</p> + +<p>The Sun Virgin gently took Teresa’s hand and looked into her face +through tears.</p> + +<p>“You—you—will not take me with you and let me be second in his love?”</p> + +<p>Teresa took her in her arms, held her close, and smiled at Molina over +the drooping shoulders.</p> + +<p>“It can not be, dear Yma.”</p> + +<p>The girl lifted her head in a last appeal.</p> + +<p>“And I may not go as his slave, that I may serve you both—only to be +near—to see him and hear his voice?”</p> + +<p>Molina touched her hand.</p> + +<p>“You must stay and rule, an Empress among your own people.”</p> + +<p>“It is your command, dear god-man?”</p> + +<p>“It is my command,” the cavalier slowly replied.</p> + +<p>“Then I must obey.”</p> + +<p>She turned without further word or look, but he caught her shoulders, +took her in his arms and kissed her, a long, last kiss. She walked back +to the Dowager.</p> + +<p>Her voice was low and dull.</p> + +<p>“He has spoken. I am ready.”</p> + +<p>On the day appointed for his army of five hundred soldiers to begin +their march on Cuzco, the Spaniards crowned Toparca—the fourteenth +Inca—with <span class="pagenum" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</span>all the pomp and ceremony of the Kingdom of the Four +Corners of the World. And Yma the Sun Virgin ascended the throne, +Empress of the realm. The royal litters were made ready for the new +rulers and their household to accompany Pizarro on his march to the +South. A royal proclamation was issued by Toparca commanding the +obedience and loyalty of the people.</p> + +<p>The little Spanish army of 500 men made a brave show drawn up in a line +with waving banners, shining armor and uplifted spears.</p> + +<p>Pizarro made a last attempt to regain the confidence of his ablest +captain.</p> + +<p>“Come, come, Hernando de Soto,” he pleaded. “I ask you to lead the van +in our advance in Cuzco. We will yet find countless millions of gold.”</p> + +<p>“And I have seen enough here,” was the slow reply, “to learn that gold +unearned can only curse its holders.”</p> + +<p>Pizarro frowned and lifted himself in his saddle.</p> + +<p>“And I lead my men to wealth beyond the dreams of avarice!”</p> + +<p>He lifted his hand in sharp command to his little army. The trumpet +called, the cavalry moved and the historic gala procession marched +southward.</p> + +<p>De Soto, joined by Molina and Teresa, turned his horse towards the +coast. And Yma, standing beside Toparca, waved a tender farewell.</p> + +<p>Molina’s horse reared, and he saluted her with drawn sword, wheeled, +and rode toward the sun that hovered over the peaks.</p> + + +</section> + <hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> +<section id="chapter-33"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</span></p> + + +<header> + <h3>Chapter XXXIII</h3> + <p>Envoi</p> +</header> + + +<p>Twenty years pass, and, one by one, the men who condemned the Inca to +die meet a fate equally as tragic.</p> + +<p>Toparca’s brother leads an army to the siege of Cuzco, burns it to the +ground and kills Juan Pizarro.</p> + +<p>Valverde, arrayed in his robes of bishop, on his way to the Court of +Spain, is captured at Tumbez by a band of warriors from the hills and +brutally murdered.</p> + +<p>In a struggle with the officers of the Crown Gonzalo Pizarro is +condemned to die as a traitor. When led forth to his execution his love +of fine dress is all that remains of his splendor. Over his doublet he +wears a superb cloak of yellow velvet stiff with gold. A cap of the +same material covers his head. In his magnificent attire, mounted on a +mule, he is led through the crowd by a friar holding a crucifix before +his eyes. He ascends the scaffold and addresses the people:</p> + +<p>“Many of you have grown rich on the bounty of my brother and mine. Yet +I have only the clothes in which I die!”</p> + +<p>He kneels a moment in prayer, lifts his neck and the executioner severs +his head at a blow.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</span></p> + +<p>The feud between Almagro and Hernando Pizarro at length flames into a +war in which Spaniard slays Spaniard. Almagro wins the first campaign, +captures and imprisons his enemy. In a moment of impulsive generosity +he releases him under a solemn parole never to take up arms again. The +moment he is free, Hernando rallies his confederates, savagely attacks +Almagro, defeats and captures him.</p> + +<p>The man who signed the agreement with Francisco Pizarro to conquer +Peru, the idol of his soldiers, is now accused of a hundred crimes. And +in a trial that was mockery similar to the one over which he presided +at the death of the Inca, he is found guilty of treason and condemned +to be burned alive.</p> + +<p>To the priest who announces the sentence Almagro cries:</p> + +<p>“It is impossible that Hernando Pizarro can do me this wrong! I beg to +see my judge.”</p> + +<p>Pizarro, recalling with grim humor the hour of his own humiliation when +his brother had forced him at Caxamalca to apologize to the little +one-eyed man, hastens to answer the summons, eager to witness his +enemy’s anguish.</p> + +<p>The doomed prisoner ignores the smile of scorn with which he is +regarded and begs for his life in piteous moans:</p> + +<p>“Surely you can not forget the proud rôle that I have played as the +partner of your brother, the great conqueror? We quarreled, yes. My +hot temper was generally at fault. But we always shook <span class="pagenum" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</span>hands and were +friends again. Together we faced the scorn of the world. Together we +faced death, side by side. And together won eternal fame. You can not +thus murder me. I am a prisoner of war, as I held you but a few days +ago. I was generous. I appeal to your heart....” He grips his judge and +sobs in a moment of despair. The folded arms, ugly silence and cruel +smile of his enemy at last are more than he can bear.</p> + +<p>The little man suddenly draws himself erect.</p> + +<p>“I warn you, Hernando Pizarro, of the vengeance of the Emperor of +Spain!”</p> + +<p>A stern hand commands silence.</p> + +<p>“Your doom is fixed. Prepare to meet it.”</p> + +<p>He does. He makes a will leaving his fortune to Charles V with a humble +prayer for vengeance.</p> + +<p>A group of cavaliers plead in vain for mercy. The only boon Pizarro +grants is that he shall be strangled in the jail instead of being +burned alive in the Square. The priest and garroter slip quietly into +the prison and the conqueror’s single eye stares at the twisted wire +in the hand of his executioner. The condemned man starts at a sudden +touch of cold iron and sees by the glare of a torch in the square at +Caxamalca the trembling figure of the Inca. He lifts a hand to shut out +the vision and grips the gnarled fist of that which finds his neck. A +sharp twist of the big wrist and the light of the world fades.</p> + +<p>When Hernando Pizarro reaches Spain on his second trip, loaded with +treasure for himself and his Emperor, Charles receives him with sharp +questions. <span class="pagenum" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</span>His entry into the city of Valladolid, arranged with +magnificent ceremony, had failed to impress the monarch. Nor can his +rich gifts to the Crown lay the ghost of Almagro. In spite of his +powerful friends, the emperor orders him thrown into the dungeon of the +fortress of Medina del Campo where he languishes in chains for twenty +years to the last days of his miserable life.</p> + +<p>A brief tumultuous seven years of viceregal power and Francisco Pizarro +sees the end. Denounced as tyrant and traitor by Almagro’s son, a +conspiracy is formed to assassinate him in his palace at Lima, the new +capital which he is building.</p> + +<p>Rada, the leader, pushes boldly into the courtyard and shouts the death +sentence.</p> + +<p>The conqueror is dining with a party of cavaliers, who leap to their +feet at the cry of the assaulting party, flee into the upper rooms of +the house and leave their host to his fate. Many of them escape by the +balcony overlooking the garden. Chaves, who attempts to defend Pizarro +is run through and his body tumbles down the stairway.</p> + +<p>“Death to the tyrant!” Rada shouts.</p> + +<p>Four kinsmen remain to fight and a savage struggle ensues. Two of the +conspirators are killed and all of the defenders are wounded. As one of +his kinsmen falls Pizarro himself, having buckled on his armor, reaches +the front and attacks the invaders with fierce courage, in spite of his +sixty-four years.</p> + +<p>“What, ho, traitors!” he cries. “You have come to murder me in my own +house!”</p> + +<p>Two men fall under his swift sword. Astounded <span class="pagenum" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</span>at his amazing +strength, the conspirators halt for a moment and then steadily close +in. The passage is narrow and the fight lasts for several minutes. +The conqueror kills another of his enemies, and the sword of Rada is +plunged through his body.</p> + +<p>Pizarro sinks crying:</p> + +<p>“<i>Jesu!</i>”</p> + +<p>Tracing the sign of the cross in his own blood, he kisses it and dies, +while the ghost of an Incan mother broods in sorrowful triumph over the +scene.</p> + +<p>Gold mad adventurers continue to press southward on the heels of the +Pizarros and plant the seeds of death in Spain’s far-flung empire.</p> + +<p>Hernando de Soto establishes a colony of pioneers in Florida, discovers +the Mississippi river, opens a continent to settlement and helps to lay +in peaceful industry the foundation of a mighty nation of the North.</p> + +<p>In Peru, a nation, whose temples once blazed with gold, lies in ashes +and ruin. The jungle has devoured the great highways. The trees that +once shaded them across blistering sands are dead. The aqueducts are +broken and dry. Fields that waved harvests of grain and corn are barren +wastes. The hanging gardens of a thousand hills stretch upward in the +baking sun, a desolation of crumbling stone walls. The fruit trees that +clothed valley and mountain in flaming glory have withered.</p> + +<p>The storehouses are empty. Their roofs are gone. Their walls are +broken, and wild beasts whelp and stable in their great bins. Couriers +no longer speed from end to end of the empire. There <span class="pagenum" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</span>are no roads. +There are no resthouses. The vast flocks of pensive llamas that once +grazed in the rich valleys have disappeared, slain in wanton folly. +Where happy villages flourished with food, shelter and clothes for +millions, now stretches a desert steaming under the fierce heat of the +tropic skies.</p> + +<p>A brief span of twenty years! And a people who once laughed and danced +without a thought of to-morrow hide in caves and curse the sight of a +white man.</p> + +<p>Two hundred years must pass before the Spanish settlers wake from +Pizarro’s dream of unearned gold and regal tyranny to build on the +ruins of the old empire the great free republics of the South.</p> + + +<p class="center uc">The End</p> +</section> + + <hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" aria-hidden="true"> + +<section class="transnote"> + +<h2>Transcriber’s Notes</h2> + +<ul> + <li> + <p>Clear typos and wrong punctuation were corrected.</p> + </li> + <li> + <p>A table of contents was created for this edition.</p> + </li> + <li> + <p>An acute accent was added to “Leguía.”</p> + </li> +</ul> +</section> +</main> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 79257 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/79257-h/images/cover.jpg b/79257-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a425199 --- /dev/null +++ b/79257-h/images/cover.jpg diff --git a/79257-h/images/logo.jpg b/79257-h/images/logo.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7e7913 --- /dev/null +++ b/79257-h/images/logo.jpg diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6c72794 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This book, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. 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