THE PRISONERS CAPTURE THE KING
After a few hours Stanley awoke with a start. The seriousness of their
position made lengthy or restful sleep impossible. As he lay thinking
of their plight and raking his brain for some means by which its
outcome could be averted, he heard a sigh from Ted.
“Are you awake?” he whispered.
“Yes. I have given up trying to sleep. I am thinking of to-morrow and
what it may bring. For once I wish the night would last forever.”
“I have made up my mind. I am not going to stay here longer waiting for
them to drag me away----”
“That’s just the way I feel. Suppose we try to get away. It seems
hopeless, but we can try. The guards may be overconfident or drowsy.
And, anyway, whatever they would do to us if they caught us would be
quicker than the plan Quizquiz is preparing.”
“Then let’s go. Try to get hold of a weapon of some kind; perhaps the
guards have stacked their arms, or we might be able to overpower one
of them. A knife, a spear, anything will help if we have to fight our
way through.”
Apparently the watch was being changed, for they had not heard the
footfalls of the sentinels for several minutes.
Cautiously stealing out of the tent, they listened for a moment; then
they began to crawl in the direction of the river. If they could gain
its banks they would brave the current in an attempt to reach Uti,
beyond the wall, and once there the numberless caves offered places of
at least temporary security against any horde of besiegers.
When they had crawled a distance of twenty yards they heard the sound
of approaching footsteps; they stopped and flattened themselves to the
ground. Four sentries passed between them and the end of their tent.
Ted touched Stanley lightly on the shoulder. “We are through the line,”
he whispered. Again they resumed their stealthy advance. From out of
the blackness ahead of them came the murmur of flowing water; it must
be the river.
And then, without warning, a loud clangor broke upon their startled
ears; it seemed to come from all around them at the same time, and
bewildered them by its suddenness. Before they fully realized what
had happened, a dozen soldiers with flaming torches came running from
various directions, shouting as they ran. The two sprang to their feet
and started away as fast as they could, but other guards headed them
off and, tripping them, pinned them to the ground. Before long they
had been taken back to their tents, bruised from the rough treatment
they had received, but leaving several of the soldiers sprawled on the
ground from the mauling they had given in return.
“We travel in circles,” Stanley panted. “Here we are, back again in the
place we started from. But that was a clever plan of theirs; we have to
give them credit for that. And we fell for it like a couple of chumps.”
“What caused all the racket?” Ted, too, was breathing hard. “I don’t
know yet what happened, unless some one saw us and gave the alarm.”
“Nothing of the kind. We gave the alarm ourselves, or at least I did.
The place is surrounded with a rope fence with bells attached to it. I
was all tangled up in it.”
“Well,” Ted tried to console his companion, at the same time paying him
a graceful compliment, “you could not help it. You got into it only
because you were in the lead; if I had been first I should have done
the same thing.”
The end of that night, wretched as it was, came all too soon. As day
was breaking the journey began to the City of Gold, where stood the
great Temple of the Sun, for it was in the court of this sacred edifice
that the sentence was to be pronounced. The procession was already
formed when the prisoners joined it. Every one of the numerous host was
in his proper place in the line that reached far into the distance,
excepting only a small detachment of soldiers that remained behind to
look after the encampment.
Quizquiz truly travelled in all the barbaric splendor and luxury at
his command. Riding aloft in his golden litter, borne on the shoulders
of his uncomplaining nobles, he looked down haughtily upon the throng
that formed his escort; he even gazed defiantly or with a superior air
at the snow-capped mountains in the distance marking the confines of
his empire, as if they, too, were subject to his wishes. Occasionally
he amused himself by striking those nearest him with his whip, or in
admiring the flashing jewels on his fingers and around his neck.
The march was interrupted frequently while the monarch took long
draughts of corn beer from golden goblets served by the numerous
attendants.
Other menials of the retinue carried cages of live ducks, doves, and
tinamou or mountain partridges, so that their sovereign might not
want for these highly esteemed delicacies while on the march. Another
group had charge of the Inca’s wardrobe, which was of necessity very
large, for with the exception of the outer mantles he never donned the
same garment more than once. After having been worn it was discarded
forever, nor could it be used by any other person after having graced
the sacred person of the king. It was either burned outright or stored
in the repositories of the palace to be destroyed with much ceremony at
some future time.
One incident of the march well illustrated the cruel and unfeeling
nature of Quizquiz, as well as his entire lack of justice or desire to
provide for the welfare of his people.
In passing through one of the settlements an elderly man rushed out of
the crowd and knelt in the street; as the royal litter approached he
threw himself flat on the ground and begged the Inca to grant him an
audience.
“What does this insolent creature want?” Quizquiz asked in a surly
voice of Villac Umu, whose sedan was carried directly in back of the
king’s.
“Speak!” Villac commanded the man.
“My allotment of land has been taken from me by my gracious lord’s
governor. I have nothing now and am starving,” the aged man pleaded.
“Why was it taken?” asked the high priest. “What crime did you commit?
Conceal nothing from the all-knowing king!”
“No crime. I was not even accused of a crime. My plot was more fertile
than that of the officer, so he envied me and took it away. I beseech
you that justice be done.”
Quizquiz flew into a rage.
“The governor represents me and enforces my laws upon an unworthy
people. If he desires your land he shall have it. What right have you
to anything? Everything is mine. You have lived many years by my grace
and by my father’s, yet you complain. Is it true that you now have
nothing--no place to which to go?”
“It is true, most noble king. I know not where to turn.”
“It is well; throw him into the river!”
Two soldiers seized the luckless man and hurried him away. With a
chuckle Quizquiz ordered that the march be resumed, while Villac Umu
nodded approvingly.
Ted and Stanley were enraged at this high-handed action on the part
of the Inca. Even the meanest of his subjects had always retained the
right to plead his case before the king, according to the law of the
nation. Huayna Capac had without exception listened patiently, caused
an investigation to be made, and if one of his officials had been
guilty of oppression or had administered the laws badly he had been
severely punished. It was obvious that Quizquiz had launched forth upon
a career of cruelty and extermination that would surely lead to his own
downfall.
Arrived at the Golden City, the procession proceeded directly to the
Temple of the Sun. The soldiers arranged themselves to form a hollow
square. The nobles, priests, and amautas formed groups in the centre
of it. In front of the massive structure of the temple stood a giant
tree, its topmost branches reaching well over a hundred feet above
the ground. Trailing plants that hugged the earth grew at its base;
they were symbolic of the Inca towering high above his lowly, cringing
subjects.
The king’s litter was carried to the very door of the temple and placed
upon the top of the stone terrace, from which a rug-covered runway led
into the building. A carpet of soft chinchilla skins covered the floor
of the passage.
Quizquiz arose, stepped out of his conveyance, and in a haughty,
deliberate manner entered the holy edifice--alone and unattended. No
one dared enter the temple while the king was within, lest they disturb
his devotions.
A loud voice raised in a chant soon came out of the open door and
reached the ears of the waiting multitude, which promptly fell upon its
knees; supposedly Quizquiz was praying to his Sun-God for guidance in
dealing with his prisoners in a proper manner, but the tone and words
were of such nature that they were obviously calculated to impress his
hearers rather than any divinity.
The soldiers, too, were kneeling, with heads bowed low. For a moment
Ted and Stanley stood alone. Not an eye was turned upon them.
“Come!” Stanley whispered. “This is our chance.”
Closely followed by Ted, he sprang lightly to the raised platform,
and before the guards knew what had occurred the two had disappeared
into the gloomy building. Knowing that there could be no pursuit, they
moved slowly and silently through a corridor flanked by tall columns of
stone, and reached the main room, which was the place of worship.
They saw Quizquiz in the distance, and once again they gasped in
astonishment. They had fully expected that at least in the temple the
vainglorious monarch would dispense with some of his conceit. But they
had been mistaken.
A representation of the sun, emblazoned with gold and jewels, covered
the entire end wall of the building. Instead of kneeling, or at
least standing in front of it, with outstretched arms, as the ritual
prescribed, Quizquiz had seated himself on a cushion, with his back
turned toward the sacred emblem. That accounted for the fact that his
voice could be heard so distinctly by the multitude outside. But, most
profane of all, he held a large metal mirror in his hands and admired
his own reflection the while he prayed.
So absorbed was he in this fascinating occupation that he did not see
the two until they had left their place of concealment and were close
upon him. Hearing the sound of their footsteps at last, he looked up to
ascertain their cause. As he beheld the onrushing pair a shudder passed
over his frame and the mirror fell from his hands; his arms froze in
mid-air while a look of terror came into his face. Before he could
recover the two had reached his side.
“One sound and I will choke the life out of you,” Stanley threatened
in a whisper, at the same time grasping him by the throat, while Ted,
picking up a heavy gold sceptre that lay on the floor, raised it above
the startled ruler’s head in a manner that left no doubt as to his
intentions.
Quizquiz was too frightened to speak.
“You are our prisoner now, understand?” Stanley continued. “The tables
are turned. Now you know just how we felt up to a few minutes ago, and
you will learn other things, too, before we are through with you. Not a
sound, remember, or it will be the last one you ever make.”
“You dared follow me here?” At last words came to the lips of the
terrified monarch, but his voice was scarcely audible; the thing seemed
so impossible to him. “Here! in the holy temple--in the presence of the
Sun-God and of my sacred forefathers----”
“Shut up!” Stanley commanded, while Ted’s eyes, becoming accustomed to
the semi-darkness, made out a row of mummies seated on gold thrones
that lined the walls on both sides of them.
“Take us to one of the inner chambers,” Stanley continued, “and we will
tell you what to do, but do not forget, no treachery, or you know what
will happen,”--and he tightened his fingers perceptibly.
“I am the king; I obey no man’s orders,” Quizquiz protested weakly.
“You _were_ king; now you are our prisoner and you will do exactly as
we say. Move on!”
Without another word the captive led them to a small, bare room, with
four walls of solid, hewn stone. Light was admitted through an opening
ten feet above their heads. Ted stood guard at the door, while Stanley
pushed Quizquiz to the centre of the floor, still retaining his hold on
the prisoner’s throat.
In this position they stood for an appreciable length of time, looking
at one another, the Inca’s wily brain busy trying to devise some means
of outwitting his captors, and the two Americans hoping they could gain
their end without resort to the violence they had promised in the event
their demands were refused.