SONCCO’S SHREWDNESS
The two prisoners were closely guarded by a double circle of soldiers
until the day drew to a close; then the guards tied their hands
securely behind their backs, but not without a struggle, and lashed
their feet with tough thongs and fastened the ends to stakes driven
into the ground. A small shelter-tent was erected over them.
There they remained throughout the long hours of the night, helpless
and suffering from the numerous bruises they had received in the
encounter and from the cramped position of their limbs. Added to
these tortures were hunger and a burning thirst, for they had been
given neither food nor drink. And during all this time they heard the
monotonous tramp of many sentinels walking around their prison.
In the morning the thongs were loosened and coarse bread and a basin of
water were placed before them. As they ate Stanley tried to engage the
guards in conversation.
“What is all the noise outside?” he asked.
The soldiers did not reply.
“Is the Inca still here? Tell him to call; I have thought of several
other things I should like to say to him.” But still no reply, so
Stanley concluded that further attempts would be futile.
When the two had eaten, the guards gathered up the empty bowls and
departed. Ted looked through the opening in the tent; what he saw made
him stare in wonder. There was great activity in the direction he could
see. Tents in hundreds were being put up and groups of soldiers, led by
gaily dressed officers, were marching back and forth. The surrounding
country was assuming the aspect of a vast encampment.
Stanley, too, came up to the opening.
“Looks like preparations for a battle,” he said.
“And it is all for our benefit, no doubt. I wonder what Quizquiz
intends to do?”
“We shall find out soon enough. I wonder where he is?”
They tried to venture out of their tent, but the guards pounced upon
them immediately and forced them back into the prison.
Days passed slowly for the two confined within the narrow space of
their shelter; but, fortunately, they were not again bound. Evidently
their captor had no fear that they might escape--the place was too
well guarded. The suspense was terrible. They knew only too well that
all the preparations going on around them were directly connected with
their fate; but what that fate was to be they could not even surmise.
One day Ted noticed that Stanley was counting a number of knots that
he had tied in a string. “Poor fellow,” he thought as he watched him
sadly, “his mind is going, but I cannot blame him. It’s enough to drive
any one mad. Sometimes I think I feel myself slipping, too”; the latter
was uttered half aloud.
“What are you mumbling about?” Stanley asked, looking up. “I guess I
know; it is enough to drive anybody crazy.”
“I was just thinking the same thing about you when I saw you playing
with that string. What are you doing?”
“What, this? Take a good look and see if you can’t guess.”
After a while Ted was compelled to admit that he could not make out the
meaning of the string.
“Well,” Stanley informed him, “this is my calendar. I am keeping track
of the days. Each morning I tie another knot. We left Cuzco on the 12th
of the month; it is the 26th to-day.”
“How the days pass, even if the hours drag! I would not have thought
it is so long since we got into this. By now we have been given up for
lost. I can only hope the colonel suspects what happened and starts an
investigation. One of the sentinels must have been in the plot and may
talk if he is cornered.”
Further conversation was checked by the entrance of an officer of the
guard attended by a score of soldiers. He looked at them haughtily and
elevated his dagger to the waist-line, point outward.
“Quizquiz, Inca, Child of the Sun, greatest king that ever came from
heaven to rule the earth, commands that you appear before his sacred
person. Prepare at once to face the mighty sovereign,” he announced in
a loud voice.
“Did he tell you to say that?” Stanley asked.
“He did. You will come at once. The king waits on no man.”
“I thought so. It sounds like him. Tell Quizquiz, Inca, and biggest
coward that ever lived that we are ready to fight at any time he
desires.”
“You dare be insolent! You shall pay for this,” the officer retorted.
“Come with me at once.”
“Suppose we refuse?”
“Refuse the king’s command?” incredulously.
“Why not? He is nothing to us.”
“Then you will be carried forcibly.”
“Not a bad idea. Being carried is better than walking. The king rides
from place to place, so why not we?”
At a word of command from their leader the soldiers seized the two,
raised them to their shoulders and passed quickly out of the tent.
An encampment of great size had sprung up on the level floor of the
valley. It was well laid out. The tents were placed in straight rows
with wide streets between them, and there seemed to be armed guards and
soldiers everywhere.
The Inca’s quarters, covering a large plot of ground, were easily
distinguishable on account of the brilliantly colored tapestries that
adorned the sides of the tents. In the rear was a spacious courtyard,
and it was there that the monarch awaited them, sitting in a raised
chair covered with a silky brown vicuna robe. His nobles and amautas,
or wise men, formed groups on each side. In front was a double row of
soldiers with spears held in a horizontal position, the points outward,
similar to the “on guard” position of bayonet drill.
The prisoners were brought close to the rows of spear-points and
unceremoniously deposited on the ground. Quizquiz cast one scornful,
triumphant glance in their direction, but without one word to them
turned and addressed the officials at his sides.
“Many, many months ago, as you are all aware, I, Quizquiz the Great,
commanded you, my abject servants to devise the means of punishment
for these two creatures from the outer world upon their return to my
kingdom, for my unfailing wisdom told me that they should one day
return to complete the plunder of my treasure. They are here; they are
in my hands. I am impatient to mete out to them their justly deserved
fate. But the modes of execution that have been placed before me are
too mild, too lenient; they must be more severe, more terrible, and
death must come only after a period of lingering horror and fear of
a very apparent end. You have not justified my confidence in your
intelligence. If you have not the knowledge to better serve me, I would
be well rid of your presence also. Therefore, I have selected twelve
of the highest in rank from among you, and do hereby command you to
appear before me to-morrow to make known to me the method of punishment
you have devised. But,” and he slowly turned his head to look first at
one, then the other of the groups of silent officials, “in order that
I may not be further annoyed with your stupidity, I shall cause to be
inflicted upon each one of you the mode of torture he prepares for the
prisoners, if I deem it too mild for them. Villac Umu, High Priest of
the Temple of the Sun, will now announce the names of the twelve whom
it has been my pleasure to honor. Proceed, good Villac!”
The throng stood in awe, while Villac Umu walked ceremoniously to the
front and, first kneeling, kissed both the sovereign’s feet with a
show of great humility. Then the high priest took up his position at
one side of the king. Aged men inclined their heads forward and pushed
back their snowy locks with trembling hands to hear the better; others
looked stolid or indifferent, while in the eyes of not a few appeared a
gleam of resentment and defiance.
The high priest, in a loud and officious voice, called a dozen names in
rapid succession, and finished by admonishing the chosen ones to think
well before they spoke or they should pay dearly for their haste. After
bestowing a look of approval on Villac Umu, the Inca was carried into
his apartments, which was the sign of dismissal for the assembly.
Not a word was spoken by any one as the crowd dispersed. A pall had
fallen over all, for the officials whose names had been announced
were the highest, the most respected, and the best beloved in the
nation. For the twelve it was a virtual sentence; according to the
terms announced, only one of them had a possible chance of escape, and
Quizquiz was to be their judge.
As Ted and Stanley were being taken back to their prison tent, walking
this time by preference, they realized that Quizquiz had had some deep,
ulterior motive when he called the assembly. It was but a flimsy way of
finding an excuse to rid himself of the most popular of his officials.
He envied them their knowledge and ability and the just esteem in which
they were held by the populace. But even he, powerful as he was, did
not dare condemn them without some pretext to his people. And, judging
by the saddened looks of the unfortunate ones, they, too, understood
his true motives. However, so accustomed were they to obeying without
question the mandates of their ruler, that apparently they would rather
suffer death than question an action of a Child of the Sun.
Quizquiz was indeed developing all the unjust, tyrannical, and evil
tendencies of which he had shown symptoms in his youth. Added to these
was his colossal conceit. If he continued to govern his people in his
present manner he must, before long, succeed in destroying all the
sacred traditions of the nation, and the nation itself, unless there
should be a revolution against his despotism.
That night Ted and Stanley had a visitor. They could not see his face
in the darkness, but they knew that he must be a person of distinction,
for at his word of command the guards withdrew to a distance at which
their footfalls were scarcely audible.
The curtained end of the shelter parted, and a stooped figure entered
hastily. That much but no more they could see in the semi-darkness.
“I am Soncco,” a tremulous voice announced without ceremony. “Do you
not remember me? I was one of the two amautas who instructed you in
preparation for your position as princes when you were here before.
You cannot see my face, and a light is forbidden you, but do you not
remember my voice?”
The two feared some new trap, so were on the alert.
“If you are Soncco, give some proof of the fact,” Ted demanded.
“I can soon prove that I am no other. If you will but recall, one day
when your fare was reduced to almost nothing, you complained to me
about it. I told you that others, including Quizquiz, son of the Inca,
were undergoing the same ordeal. You replied that ‘if the others can
do it we can.’ Those words impressed me. I admired your courage and
nobleness of spirit, and I felt that the nation would be honored in
admitting you to the lofty station you were about to occupy. I was more
sad than I can express when the council condemned you, for I knew in my
heart that you were guiltless of any intention of doing wrong. Men of
your character could not commit treason against the good Huayna Capac,
who had been so generous to you. And now I regret that your punishment
must be so terrible, for I feel that again you are innocent of evil
intentions against us.”
“We thank you, Soncco, and assure you that your confidence is not
misplaced. We did not intend to visit this place again. An accident
brought us here. We had no choice in the matter. We would have given
anything to have avoided it. But why talk of it? When we were here
before you taught us how to live; now you have come to instruct us how
to face the ordeal that is being prepared for us! Am I right?”
“No. This time I seek your advice. Tell me how I may meet my fate.”
“You, Soncco? What makes you talk like that?”
“Because I am compelled to. Was not my name called to-day by Villac
Umu, High Priest of the Temple of the Sun? It means that I and all
the other luckless ones must perish by the means we suggest for your
punishment, for Quizquiz will heed none of us. It is merely a pretext
for getting rid of those of us who have won his disfavor.”
“We thought the same thing. And while Quizquiz is bad enough, there is
another who is infinitely worse; that one is Villac Umu, who is the
real ruler. You know that as well as we do. Then why do you meekly
submit, like a flock of brainless llamas? Why not be men and fight for
your rights and your lives?”
“Quizquiz is king. The Inca always has been looked upon as a holy
being. In all the history of the nation none has ever resisted him
because he is a Child of the Sun, and no one dares question his actions
now. He cannot do wrong. If his will seems unjust to us it is only
because we lack the wisdom to see the higher aims that are clear to
him. We are as nothing compared to his magnificence.”
“Soncco, it is hard to believe that you really think that. You seem
to be a man of intelligence, but if you are really in earnest it is
time you knew better. The Inca is a person like any one else, and is
great only because the people make him so. Strip him of his crown, his
jewels, and his finery, and he would look exactly like any other human
being. Dress him in the rags of a menial, and he would not even be
recognized in the street. He eats, drinks, and sleeps just as we do; he
is a king because the people are ignorant enough to want some one to
worship and to bow to,” Stanley said.
“If you were to choose your own mode of punishment, what would it be?”
Soncco evaded.
“I understand now why he came,” Stanley whispered to Ted. “He knows
we should pick out something easy, so he figures on getting off easily
himself, for he is to receive what he proposes for us. Let’s humor
him. Who knows what it may lead to?” Then to Soncco: “Nothing could be
more terrible than to keep us in the valley the rest of our natural
lives and to do everything possible to make us live a long, long time.
We should be given full liberty, of course, to come and go as we
please, and should live in state, like princes. But still we should be
prisoners of the Inca.”
Soncco appeared to be surprised.
“What would be so terrible about that?” he asked.
“Just think of it, prisoners in this small place, when we have been
accustomed to the outer world. We long to travel its vast lands, its
great rivers, and the mighty oceans. We have even conquered the air and
can fly from place to place like the birds. Here we are far from home
and all those we hold dear; we should never see them again, nor would
they know what had befallen us. What could be more horrible?”
“I understand now,” Soncco replied with enthusiasm. “You speak wisely.
I shall suggest it at the meeting to-morrow, and I can only hope that
my words will be heeded. And now I must go. Good night, my friends.”
As he stole away they heard him mutter to himself: “I am afraid
Quizquiz will never let them off so easily, for they might escape;
but, at any rate, he can do nothing worse to me, for if he refuses the
request for them he will be compelled to grant it to me. I am safe. And
the proposition offers the one chance to----”
They could hear no more, for he had passed into the night. Soon the
guards were back at their posts and the steady tramp of their feet was
the last sound the two heard before falling into a fitful sleep.