SONCCO’S AID TO THE PLOTTERS
Soncco, accompanied by two soldiers carrying the heavy boxes, returned
as the first shafts of coming daylight penetrated the wreath of vapor
that clung to the peaks standing like black monoliths between the
Hidden Valley and the steaming forests of the Upper Amazon. The party
looked tired and worn from the strenuous labor of the night.
The men threw down their burdens none too gently and departed. Stanley
noticed that one of the boxes had been opened, and the aged amauta,
reading the trend of his thoughts, hastened to explain.
“I could not bring the parcels without knowing what was in them,” he
said; “they might have contained some contrivance dangerous to the Inca
or to the people, or that would help you to escape. I am responsible
for your safe-keeping. But I found only sticks of sweet, harmless
earth. There can be nothing wrong in letting you have them, so I had
them brought to you. I tasted one of them; how it did make my head
ache!”
“You are lucky to have your head on your shoulders,” thought Stanley,
“handling and eating that dynamite as if it were candy.” Then aloud:
“Thank you, Soncco, for bringing it. You shall be well rewarded for
your trouble. Now you must continue to do as we say.”
“No! I will do nothing more. My conscience troubles me already. I may
have done too much. And, besides, the things you ask me to do are
too hard. The tunnel under the wall was blocked with stones; we had
to remove them, and there were many; then hunt for the cave in the
darkness. Uti is a terrible place even when the sun shines. What then
is it at night? The bats were chirping and fluttering about our heads,
and we had to drive them away to keep from being attacked; and one of
the men bumped into a wasp’s nest, so that we were all stung. After we
finally found the boxes they had to be dragged back to the wall and
through the passage, and then there were all the stones to put into
place again. The men grumbled at the work, and I, Soncco, old though I
am, had to help them.”
“I am sorry we had to put you to all that trouble; but remember, we are
helping you more than any one else. Do you want to take the lives of
your relatives and friends?”
“No! You know that. My heart is heavy that this duty has fallen upon
me.”
“Then do as I say and you will be relieved of that duty.”
“But the Inca’s command must be obeyed.”
“Of course. We have given you our word before this that his wishes
shall be carried out. In other words, you will do exactly as he
directs. Go ahead with all the preparations; do as you were told. It is
Quizquiz who will change his mind at the proper time. And, remember,
you shall be well paid.”
“Who will reward me?”
“The king. Be patient. You shall see in a few days.”
“My head is dizzy. I cannot think clearly. But no matter what happens I
can be no worse off than I am. I curse the day that Villac Umu obtained
his evil power over Quizquiz,” Soncco murmured.
“Come back at nightfall, then,” Stanley continued. “We want you to take
these boxes away again. Bring only one man with you this time--some one
you can trust absolutely. If he is deaf, dumb, and blind, it will be
all the better.”
“Yes, yes; I will be here. You have me completely in your power. And
may all the devils of Uti torture you if you betray me.”
“Do not worry. You will soon find out that we have told you nothing but
the truth. Then you will be thankful to us.”
“I will keep my word,” Soncco said, “and at the same time I will make
provisions against trickery. Do not forget that.”
When the old amauta had gone the two opened the boxes and took out the
fuse and primers; then they began to prepare the charge. They fastened
one of the long, copper caps to one end of the fuse and then inserted
it in a stick of dynamite, carefully folding back the paper wrapper
over the end and tying it in place with a strip of cloth torn from
their clothing. As they worked Stanley explained his scheme to Ted. The
latter fell in with it immediately, and to all outward appearances both
were cheerful and entirely confident over the outcome of the plan.
“I am going to ask you just one more time,” Ted said suddenly after a
short pause, and with a trace of anxiety in his voice. “Are you sure
about the date of the eclipse? And are you certain you made no mistake
in keeping track of the time--the knots in the string, I mean?”
“Wait and you shall see,” was all Stanley could say. Of course he knew
that everything depended on these two things, and several times he
was on the verge of confessing to Ted his uncertainty as to both the
date and the number of knots. But why should he add to the burden of
worry of his companion? If he were mistaken, they would meet the end
like men, fighting to the last gasp. If he were right, they would be
freed, no doubt. Better look at the bright side, anyway, and make their
last days as cheerful as possible. They could do no more than had been
done, and in the meantime they were constantly on the alert for any
eventuality that might present itself.
Food of excellent quality and in abundance was brought the two by the
guards. Soncco was responsible for that, they felt sure. They were also
permitted to walk around the outside of their tent. A double row of
soldiers, well armed, formed a compact circle around them, and not more
than twenty paces away. They watched every movement of the prisoners
and held their spears ready for instant action.
As they strolled about they could not help but see that preparations
for the awful event had begun on all sides of them. They had frequent
glimpses of Soncco hobbling from one group of workers to another,
giving sharp orders, reprimanding, and directing their labors in
general.
Here, a furnace was being built in which to heat the spear with which
to blind Toparca. The workers had piled up two rows of stones and were
covering them with mud. After that other stones were placed across the
top and plastered down with more mud so that no heat could escape from
the interior of the oven-like structure.
A short distance away was the enormous earthenware caldron; menials in
a steady stream were bringing oil in small vessels and pouring it into
the huge container. Ted and Stanley did not envy Huascar the fate that
awaited him.
The stones that were intended for Tupichi lay in a neat heap. They were
the size of apples, and were round and smooth, having been gathered
from the river-bed.
Then their eyes met another sight that made them shudder. On the far
end of an open, arena-like plot masons were constructing a short wall.
The stones were being dragged to the spot by long lines of men. As the
work progressed, earth was banked up against the structure and tamped
down to form an inclined plane up which other stones could be hauled
into position on top of the last layer of the wall. The ingenuity
displayed would have been interesting to the Americans had they not
known the sinister meaning of the work. It was against this wall that
they were to be chained, with the deadly snakes at their feet. Copper
rings on long spikes had been incorporated in the wall between the
stones to receive the chains that would hold them in their helpless,
hopeless position.
After surveying the various activities for a short time they went back
into their prison tent.
“One of us will have to accompany Soncco to-night,” Stanley announced
when they were inside, “to see that the dynamite is placed where it
will do the most damage.”
“I will go,” Ted volunteered, “but I doubt if I can get past the
guards, even in the company of Soncco. The soldiers get their orders
higher up.”
“That is why I asked him to bring along some one he trusts absolutely.
That one must change clothes with one of us and remain here while the
work is being done. Perhaps I had better go.”
“It isn’t fair to let you face all the danger.”
“There is no danger, but even if there were, it would be up to me
because I started the thing, and I shall have to see it through. You
entertain the substitute while I am away.”
“It is all a capital idea. How easy everything is when you know just
how to do it! You are a better general than Pizarro. He killed the Inca
and caused the death of millions of the people. You will bring the
whole nation to its knees through strategy, and they will respect you
instead of hating you as they did the Spaniard.”
“Never mind that kind of talk. We haven’t done a thing yet.”
“But we shall, to-morrow,” Ted said confidently.
Stanley suppressed a sigh and turned away.
Soncco arrived in due time.
“You see, I have kept my promise,” he said without enthusiasm. “And I
have brought a man who can neither hear, see, nor speak.”
“You are a wonder, Soncco,” Stanley returned gleefully. Then he told
him what was expected of him.
At first the aged teacher was absolutely set against allowing Stanley
to accompany him after exchanging clothes with the man he had
brought. He was certain that it must be part of a plot to escape, the
far-reaching branches of which he could not foresee.
“But,” they argued, “what good would it do one of them to get away
while the other remained a prisoner in the valley? Could he not quickly
take revenge on the hostage who was left to his mercy? From what he had
seen of them, did it seem possible that one of them would desert the
other in such a position?”
Soncco finally was forced to bow to the strength of their arguments.
But only the firm conviction that his lot was already so luckless that
it could not possibly be worse, no matter what happened, and that the
growing unrest among the people was spreading to the proportions where
it was a menace to the existence of the race induced him to lend his
aid in a scheme he could not comprehend.
Therefore the two, carrying the heavy boxes of explosive, left the
tent at a moment when clouds obscured the moon, Soncco taking the
lead, Stanley, fully disguised in the borrowed clothes, following at
his heels. Before long the latter realized how futile it would have
been for them to attempt to leave the place of confinement unaided by
some one in full authority. They passed through no fewer than five
lines of sentries. To each of the five challenges Soncco replied with
a different password, and in addition there was also a short ceremony
to be gone through with each time they were halted. Thus, at the first
challenge of “Who lives?” Soncco replied with “Quizquiz, the great
and glorious king,” and, stooping, picked up a handful of earth which
he threw over his left shoulder. At the second station he answered,
“Quizquiz, greatest of all the great kings,” and beat his breast three
times with his free hand; and so on until all the guard-lines had been
passed.
It was with a feeling of relief that Stanley finally found himself in
the open country beyond the encampment. He offered to carry Soncco’s
burden in addition to his own, for the old man was lacking in strength;
but the amauta insisted on retaining possession of the package, adding
in a whisper: “Now you walk in front of me, and at the first sign of
treachery I will kill you; I have a poisoned dagger in my hand.”
“Do not be foolish,” Stanley responded, losing patience. “I would not
leave this place now if you asked me to. I want to stay to see all of
you get what’s coming to you.”
Before long they reached the foot of the great wall, looming black and
awe-inspiring high into the cloud-checkered sky. They followed along
the base, their elbows almost touching the cool, moss-covered stones,
until they reached the point where the gigantic structure joined the
abrupt face of the mountain. It was here that the passage into Uti had
been dug under the foundation; the existence of this opening saved them
the labor of making another in which to place the explosive.
“We need go no farther,” Stanley announced, carefully depositing his
pack on the ground and relieving the aged man of his.
“I am glad of that; my limbs are weary, for I am no longer young.”
“Then rest while I work. Sit right beside me if you wish, so you can
see everything I do.”
“I will tie this thong to your foot, and fasten the other end to my own
feet.”
Stanley was on the point of making a wrathy reply when the humor of the
situation struck him. Soncco, in spite of his shrewdness, was childish
in many ways. With the thong tied to his feet and the other end in
Stanley’s possession, it would have been an easy matter to upset the
old man and then pounce upon him. But of course he did not intend to
do anything of the kind. With a smile he submitted to his companion’s
whim. Then he fell to work in earnest, carefully following the plan
formulated by Ted and himself after much discussion.
The passage under the wall had been left partly open by Soncco when
he brought back the boxes of dynamite from the other side. Therefore
Stanley had to close it again. He began by rolling stones into the
tunnel and pushed them to the far end, packing in the open spaces
between them with earth. When half of it had been filled he carefully
planted the explosive, placing the fuse so that it led out where Soncco
was sitting. Then he shut up the remaining portion of the passage with
earth and the largest stones he could handle.
This took several hours of the hardest kind of work. Stanley was nearly
exhausted when the task was completed.
“Now listen,” he said, seating himself by the side of his guard. “If
you fail us in this one detail, everything will be lost.”
“I am willing to hear. Speak!”
“Here is a white cord,” Stanley explained, placing the end of the fuse
in Soncco’s hands. “I will leave it here in plain view. To-morrow
you must have a trusted guard stand on this spot beginning with the
rising of the sun. He must not go away from this place for an instant,
understand, for it all depends upon his faithful performance of the
duty you will impose upon him.”
“What is that duty?”
“When the light of your god, the sun, is suddenly blotted out, as it
were, by a hand to hide his face in shame over the actions of his child
Quizquiz, and of all the rest of you, too, who meekly permit him to do
such fiendish things; when the blackness of night has enveloped the
valley, although it is only noon; when the bats leave their caves, and
the beasts of prey come out of their dens to kill their defenseless
victims, thinking the day is over--that will be the time for him to
act. Fire must be applied to the end of this cord. It will begin to
burn and sputter, and later will send out a message that will be heard
throughout the valley, and even far beyond. But I must caution you of
this: when the cord begins to give off its first crackling sparks,
let the man who lighted it flee from the spot. His work here will be
finished, so he must hurry back to the encampment, and not stop running
until he reaches it.”
Soncco appeared greatly impressed.
“The message that will be conveyed by the cord,” he asked in an awed
whisper, “will it reach the sun?”
“Who knows? It may reach farther than the sun.”
“And will it cause the bright light and warmth to come back to us
again?”
“If the sunlight should be withheld from the earth all life would
soon come to an end. Nothing could live in the cold and everlasting
darkness.”
“Oh! Such a calamity must not befall us.”
“Then follow my instructions to the letter. Will you?”
“I swear it. My own beloved brother, whom I trust in all things, shall
be assigned to this mission. His faithfulness cannot be questioned.”
“Good. Now we might as well start back. My companion is waiting, and we
must get past the guards before daylight comes or they would recognize
me.”
“Yes, and that would spoil everything. I can hardly wait to see if you
are really such wonderful magicians, or if you have been deceiving me.”
“Soncco,” Stanley said with a note of pleading in his voice, “do
everything exactly as Quizquiz has commanded. If he should suspect
anything he might remove you from your position, where you can help us
and--yourself. Be patient. Continue to trust us. And you will not be
disappointed in the end.”
“Now what do you want?” rather testily.
“Nothing right now. But if we should need you again we shall let you
know. How about this cord? Do you expect me to walk back like this?”
Soncco removed the thong from Stanley’s ankle and the two started away
at a fast walk. They passed through the guard-lines without trouble.
Stanley returned the borrowed garments to the waiting man, and then the
latter, led by the aged amauta, departed.