INTO THE DUNGEONS
Within the rear chamber of the Sun Temple Cliff, his father and Mr.
Whitley heard the roar of the furious people. The Coya had discovered
her husband, the Inca, and soldiers had released him: from them the news
had spread swiftly among the populace. The chief priest and other nobles
had been summoned.
In the passages Bill and Nicky finally reached the golden room, ignorant
of this failure of all their carefully laid plans.
In the square Tom, with Caya’s brother, saw the procession going toward
the Sun Temple. Only the Inca and his highest priests had the privilege
of entering there—and they were going in!
“There is but one place we have not sought,” Huamachaco had said. “That
temple so sacred! Those men and youths with dyed skins, as the Spaniard
has told us—they would profane its very sanctuary with their vile
presence. Come—you shall see!”
Tom proposed, in his halting quichua, that he and Caya’s brother press
through the throng; but the young soldier had a better plan. “No,” he
said. “I have learned the way. We go to the lower level from the Inca’s
palace—even that I dare for you!—and then we shall see if the way is
clear to the old water way. I will wait there and you shall bring your
friends. Come. I show the way.”
The palace was deserted: all minds and all eyes were focused on the
temple.
“Let’s lose no time!” whispered Tom, and the two youths made all the
haste they could. They were already in the passages when from the mob
around the Sun Temple came a deep, throaty roar—the throaty, deep
lust-cry of a mob thirsting for vengeance for a seeming insult to their
temple!
The Inca had gone in with his aide and then had hurried to the doorway
again to signal that they had found their prey.
At the foot of the steps in the treasure room Bill sent Nicky up to tell
his friends to be ready, to see if Cliff had returned to them safely and
to learn what they knew of Tom.
Nicky walked up the steps, cautiously, and found himself facing the Inca
and his chief priest and the Spaniard. In their fury the nobles had
overlooked the insult of the Spaniard’s entry into the sacred chamber.
Nicky saw at once that he had blundered into a trap. John Whitley, Mr.
Gray, and Cliff faced the angry noble and the Inca, desperately, not
knowing what to do. The crowd in the square gave them no chance to
escape that way. They could not know that the passages were not already
invaded by soldiers. Indeed, there were detachments already coming from
the palace.
Far away down a lateral passageway Caya’s brother showed Tom the place
where, when the tunnels were made, an opening had been left into an old
waterway; in case of menace to the treasures, a former Inca had provided
a way to flood the tunnels.
The young soldier began as quietly as he could to tear away the old
debris that had collected, while Tom hurried back along the tunnel,
making careful note of the way, planning to tell his friends to hurry,
that the way for escape was found!
At the foot of the steps he found Bill.
“Something has gone wrong!” Bill whispered. “Nicky went up the steps
five minutes since. He hasn’t come down. I haven’t heard from anybody.
But I think I hear sounds in the tunnels. Don’t you?”
Tom listened.
“Yes, I do,” he said, under his breath. “Bill, I’ll slip up the
stairs—and see what’s what!”
“Too late!” Bill whispered.
Far away down the passages came shouts. Once they saw a light flash.
They were being cornered, surrounded. If there was no way from the
temple they were helpless.
Tom told his story in hurried words.
Yet the news had come too late, it seemed. Unless quick thinking could
get them out of the toils, they were doomed.
Up above, in the temple, the Inca was delivering his words of doom. “You
can no longer be free!” he said sharply. “Escape is not possible. You
have profaned our temples! You have deceived us! You shall go to the
dungeons.”
Cliff looked from one to the other of his friends. If only Tom was
there—he knew from Nicky where Bill was!—they could make one desperate
effort! Perhaps they might use his remaining smoke pot. But Tom was not
there!
Nicky gripped his arm.
From the lower levels came a muffled report! Bill had fired into the air
as a body of soldiers came, in their light cotton quilted armor,
carrying bows and arrows and short spears; they had to stop in face of
his “magic stick” that spat out fire and sudden death.
“We must go to Bill!” whispered Cliff. “We can’t get out through the
square! If we can get through the passages we may be able to hide.” The
others agreed. With the Inca, Huamachaco and Pizzara in hot pursuit, but
unarmed, they almost leaped down the curving steps.
Bill stood at their foot, his back to them, his weapon leveled. Before
him half a dozen soldiers hesitated.
“We’re here!” cried Cliff. Then he saw Tom, just around the edge of the
wall, tense and alert, his own light, and in this emergency almost
useless weapon held ready.
If only they had known Tom was there, two minutes sooner!
Before they could make any concerted plan Pizzara, with his quick
cunning serving him, caught old, weakened Mr. Gray by an arm: he saw
that Bill could possibly daunt the soldiers; with merciless cruelty he
dragged the old scholar past Bill before the others quite knew what he
meant to do. Immediately he swung Mr. Gray, who was not strong enough to
resist the surprise attack: Pizzara swung him so that his own body was
shielded.
Bill saw, too late, the ruse. His weapon was useless: in that narrow
place he could not fire without endangering the old student of ancient
civilizations.
“Down, Father!” Cliff cried. “Drop down!”
The old man had recovered his balance. With all his small strength he
tried to fling off Pizzara’s grip, to lower his body. At the same
instant the high priest and the Inca caught hold of Mr. Whitley and
Bill. Cliff and Nicky in turn grasped them. Tom broke past Bill and
caught a tackle around Pizzara’s legs. His balance thus disturbed the
Spaniard lost his grip on Mr. Gray.
Cliff tripped his adversary and with Mr. Whitley fighting with all his
skill and science, soon was free to go to Tom’s side.
Bill was there already, and a short-arm blow dazed the Spaniard. Down he
went. But in that brief scuffle the soldiers had leaped forward.
Outnumbered, there was little that the desperate party could do. Pizzara
shielded himself; a soldier wrestled with Bill for possession of the
magic stick. It exploded once, but its muzzle was pointed toward the
roof and no one suffered. During a lull in the scrimmage, for Cliff
thought, in a passing flash, how like a football game was this
scrimmage, the youth thought he saw Caya’s brother holding a torch. But
he was not sure.
Panting, perspiring, choked by the resinous smoke of the torches, the
three men and their three youthful companions were soon overpowered.
Bill’s, and Tom’s weapons, as well as those of Mr. Whitley—their only
three pistols—had been flung to the floor.
Cliff made one valiant effort, rolling about with a soldier on his back,
to grasp a revolver. But Pizzara kicked it aside.
“Into the dungeons!” cried the Inca.
Held by a soldier at either side, the six captives had no chance to try
to make a break for liberty, even if such a try could have succeeded:
with soldiers everywhere there was no chance for success.
Sombre and dejected, they were led to a place where guards moved aside
great stones.
Into blackness, all together, they were flung!