HOW THE SOUL OF GOLDEN STAR CAME BACK
When the two chairs had been brought in and placed according to my
orders, I rose from my throne and led Joyful Star to the one on my left
hand and placed her in it, still silent with the wonder and perplexity
of what she had seen and heard since her eyes were opened. Then, seating
myself again, I bade Tupac summon the Children of the Blood to take
their places, and presently he ushered them in from the chambers that
opened out of the great hall on either hand at the other end.
There were threescore of them, the heads of the families of Ayllos,
whose blood was the purest and whose descent was most direct from the
old nobility of my own days. Each of them, too, under the outward husk
of his forlorn and degraded state, had preserved unsullied the ancient
faith and traditions of the sacred race, and, against all appearances,
had steadfastly hoped for the fulfilment of the promises that had been
given in the olden times. More than this, too--each had treasured, as a
miser hoards his gold, the ever-growing legacy of hate which the
oppression and contempt of the Spaniards and their meaner descendants
had heaped up from generation to generation against the long-awaited day
of vengeance which, as but two or three in that strange company alone
knew, was now so near at hand.
Ever since I had revealed myself to them in the Hall of Gold they had
been working for the end in view with the swift, subtle arts known only
to those of their race, and already, from Quito in the north to Santiago
in the south, tidings had gone forth that the day of deliverance was
approaching, and that ere long the Rainbow Banner would be raised by the
hands of him for whom the Children of the Sun had waited.
Each of the fathers of the people was dressed, as Tupac was, in the
long-forbidden garb of the ancient nobility, and each as he entered
stopped in the centre of the hall and paid his homage before he went to
his seat. Then, when all were seated, I ordered that the strangers
should be brought in, and they were led into the midst of the silent
assembly, with their eyes still bandaged. Over Golden Star's head a veil
had been thrown, hiding her face, for it was my purpose that it should
not be seen for the present, and how strangely this purpose worked you
shall soon see.
As she came up the middle of the hall, following Tupac, who was leading
her as obedient as a little child, I descended from the throne and went
to meet her, and led her to the seat on my right hand and placed her in
it. Francis Hartness, the professor and Djama I left standing in the
middle of the hall, each with one of Tupac's chosen guards beside him.
When Golden Star was seated, I stood up in front of the throne and said
to those assembled, speaking in the ancient tongue,--
'Sons of the Blood and fathers of the Oppressed, you know already how
the promise that was made by our Father the Sun, through the lips of his
high priest, in the days when first the oppressors came, has been in
part most faithfully and marvellously fulfilled. I, Vilcaroya--son of
Huayna-Capac, son of the great Yupanqui Inca, before whose throne-seat I
am now standing alive in your presence--am he of whom it was said that
one who should pass from life to life through the shadows of death
should grasp the sceptre of the divine Manco, and restore the ancient
glory of the Children of the Sun. And with me, as you know, there was
another, at whose call and for love of whom I dared the ordeal of the
death-sleep and swore the oath which I have returned to the world of
living men to fulfil. I have already given you some proof that I am what
I say I am, for I have revealed to you secrets which were buried in the
grave with me and in those faithful hearts which have been pulseless now
for many generations.
'But now, that all things may be made plain to you, and that no doubts
may remain in your hearts to hinder the working of our sacred purpose, I
have brought here before you witnesses of the wonders that have been
worked--even those who wrought them themselves, that their own lips may
tell you the story; and with them I have brought yet another witness
who, though she cannot speak to you in our ancient tongue, of which our
Father, for his own wise purposes, has deprived her during her long
sleep, will yet in her own person and even with silent lips be witness
enough that I have not lied to you. Now let the eyes of the strangers be
uncovered and their mouths opened that they may see and speak.'
Even as the words left my lips they were obeyed, and at the same time I
stretched out my right hand and raised the veil from the head of Golden
Star, and unloosed the bandage from her eyes.
A deep murmur of wonder ran round the hall; a sharp cry of amazement
broke from Djama's lips, and the two others stared blankly about them.
Then I raised my left hand to command silence, and, still speaking the
ancient speech and pointing with my right hand to Golden Star, said,--
'This, O Fathers of the People, is she who drank the death-draught with
me. This is Cory-Coyllur, daughter of Huayna-Capac, and sister of the
long-ago murdered Huascar, and my sister, too, since her great father
was mine also. With her, as the tradition was told to you, I plighted
the marriage-troth before the altar in the Sanctuary of the Sun, and of
that troth I would speak to you now. Such marriage is no longer lawful
in the world to which we have returned, and in token of this our Father
the Sun has sent this other likeness of Golden Star, who sits upon my
left hand, to tell me that it may not be; and to make the message surer,
it has pleased him also to put into my heart a love for her differing
from, though not greater than that which I have borne for Golden Star,
and if my Father who has given me this love shall also look with
kindness upon my longing, then Joyful Star, as I have named her, shall
be my Coya[C] and my queen, and Golden Star shall be her sister and
mine, and I doubt not that in his own good time our Father will send her
a fitting mate, that her heart may not be empty nor her life lonely.'
As I said these last words I saw the eyes of all who were sitting in the
chairs turn, as if moved by one impulse, and rest on Francis Hartness,
standing strong and stately in the midst of the little group in the
middle of the hall, overtopping the others by nearly a span, and crowned
with his curling golden hair; and as I, too, looked at him, a new
thought came into my mind, and I spoke aloud again and said,--
'Yes, Brothers of the Blood, I read your thought. The stranger from the
land which is the greatest of all lands in the world of to-day, is a
true Son of the Sun, though not of our blood, for his heart is clean and
his tongue is straight and his arm strong, and perchance it may please
our Father to bring about that which he has put into our hearts.'
At this another murmur ran round the hall, and every head was bowed in
assent.
Now all this time the three Englishmen had been standing patiently in
the midst of the hall, looking about them at its splendours, and waiting
till I should speak to them, for the professor knew enough of the
Quichua tongue to follow what I had been saying, and had told the others
that I was speaking of them. Now I spoke to them in English, and told
them what I had brought them to the throne-room for, and then I had
chairs placed for them at top of the hall, to my left hand.
When they had taken their places, I asked the professor to speak in
Spanish to those assembled, and tell them whether or not the story of my
return to life was true, and whether or not Golden Star had been found
where Anda-Huillac and the priests had placed her, and had been, like
me, restored to life by the arts of Djama his friend. This he did in
few, straight words, and after him Djama rose at my bidding and told
them also what he had done. When he had finished I took the Llautu from
my head and raised it above me with outstretched arms and said in a loud
voice,--
'If you, O Children of the Blood and Sons of the Ancient Race, believe
now that I am in truth Vilcaroya, son of Huayna-Capac, and lawful heir
of the divine Manco, from whom all the Incas of our race draw their
royal blood, then take me for your lord as my father was the lord of
your fathers; or if any shall have yet doubt in his heart, let him
speak now or for ever be silent.'
Then with one accord they rose from their seats and came before me and
prostrated themselves on the shining pavement of the throne-room, and
began to chant, in a low, soft tone, the Song of Homage with which of
old the new-crowned Incas had been hailed, generation after generation,
Sons of the Sun and lords of life and death throughout the Land of the
Four Regions.
And now a wondrous thing happened. As I stood there facing the prostrate
throng, lowering the Llautu on to my head, I heard a low, sharp cry
beside me on my right hand. I turned half round, and there I saw Golden
Star staring at me with eyes burning with the light that shone through
them from her new-awakened soul.
Her hands were clasped to her temples, pushing back her thick, bright
hair from her forehead. Her face was flushed, and her half-open lips
were working as though they were striving to shape some long-forgotten
words. At the instant that the Llautu touched my brows, she rose to her
feet. Then a cry burst from her lips and went ringing down the hall, and
the next moment she had thrown herself forward and I had caught her in
my arms.
As I did so our eyes met, and our hearts looked at each other through
them. In that one burning glance the mists of the long years were
melted, all things else were forgotten, and for the moment we stood
alone--the children of a long-dead generation--in the solitude that our
strange fate had made about us. Then her lips moved, not dumbly this
time, and in a voice that woke, who shall say how many memories in my
heart, she said,--
'Have they awakened us, my lord? Tell me how long we have slept, my
Vilcaroya. It seems long to me, and I have had strange, dim dreams, and
thought I was not one, but two, and that one of myselves was your sister
and the other was your Coya and queen. It was strange, was it not, to
dream like that?'
'Not so strange but that it may be true, O my sister, Golden Star,' I
said, my wonder for the moment overcome by a new hope that uprose within
me at her words. 'Stranger things than that have happened since we fell
asleep together in the distant days that are no more. See, Ñusta mi,
here is your other self, the living shape of that sister-soul of yours,
who has watched over you and cared for you and loved you since you drew
the first breath of your new life. She cannot speak our tongue, for she
is the daughter of another age than ours, but she has taught me hers and
I will speak for you.'
As I said this I took her hands from where they rested on my shoulders,
and led her to the seat of Joyful Star, who was standing in front of it,
with one hand on the arm of her chair and the other one clasped to her
heart, her face white with fear and her eyes wide with wonder.
'What has happened, Vilcaroya?' she said, in a voice so low that it was
almost a whisper. 'Has her memory come back, and does she believe
herself to be your--your wife?'
As she forced the last word from her hesitating lips I saw the hot blood
flow into her cheeks, and a new light that shot like a dart of fire into
my heart leapt into her eyes.
'No,' I said, with a smile that was quickly answered by one that came
unawares to her lips. 'She calls herself my sister and me her lord, and
says that she has dreamed that she is not one but two, and that her
other sister-self is Vilcaroya's wife and queen. Now, if that dream may
be the truth, tell her so!'
And with that I took her hand gently from where it rested on the chair
and laid Golden Star's in it.
'But--I cannot speak your language, and she wouldn't understand me,' she
said softly, with one swift glance at me and another longer look at
Golden Star's smiling face, so wondrous like her own.
'There is another speech than that of the tongue,' I answered, 'which
all men understand.'
'Yes!' she said, and then she drew Golden Star gently to her and kissed
her.
All this while the Ayllos had remained silent and prostrate before the
throne, none daring to raise their heads till I bade them, and the three
Englishmen sat still, hearing what I had said to Joyful Star and her
answer to it, and yet neither speaking nor rising from their seats, each
full of his own thoughts and not willing to betray his feelings by any
rash word that he might speak in the wonder of the moment. But now I
turned with my heart full of joy and new hope, and said in a voice in
which my gladness seemed to sing like a bird in the morning sky,--
'Rise up, Brothers of the Blood, and look upon your lord and rejoice
with him, for our Father the Sun has looked kindly upon him and filled
all his life with light. He has given back memory and speech to Golden
Star, his daughter, and put it into the heart of Joyful Star, her other
sister-self, to love her and to make plain that which might else have
been dark.'
Then they all rose to their feet and saluted me and paid their homage to
Golden Star and Joyful Star as well, and then I waved them to their
seats, and when they had gone I led Golden Star back to her chair, and
then I called Djama to me, and when he came and stood before me I
said,--
'You have seen what has happened, and you have heard the words that have
been said. You see now that there is no need for Golden Star to go to
England. Therefore it remains but for you and for your friend to take
the treasure that is yours, and for us to say farewell.'
'And Ruth?' he asked. 'You know, of course, that that will mean farewell
to her also.'
I could see that he was ill at ease, and that his words were not the
words that his true thoughts would have spoken. As I looked at him I saw
that his eyes shifted and wandered from my gaze, and I said coldly,--
'Much has happened since we last spoke of this. It will be for Joyful
Star herself to say whether she will bid me farewell or not. Is she not
free to go or stay where she pleases? Say, now, when I shall command the
treasure to be taken out of the Hall of Gold for you, and where you wish
it to be placed.'
'I must ask you to give me time to think about that and talk it over
with the professor,' he said, 'for we have no means of taking such an
immense amount of gold to the coast and getting it on board ship without
suspicion.'
'Go, then,' I said, 'and speak with him, but remember that it must be
done quickly, for ere many days are past there will be war in the land,
and neither your lives nor your gold will be safe.'
'I will take good care of that,' he said in a tone whose strangeness
told me more than his words, and with that he turned away and sat down
beside the professor, with the thoughts that were within his heart still
unspoken. As soon as he had gone back to his seat I called Francis
Hartness to me and set him beside me on the right hand of the throne,
and then I told who he was and showed that he was well skilled in those
new arts of warfare which had taken the place of our ancient methods,
and how he had promised to use his knowledge for me and lead my armies
into battle, hazarding his own life on the chance of our success; and
when I had said this I named him leader of all those who should range
themselves under the Rainbow Banner when the day of battle came, and
bade all present obey his orders and enforce obedience to them, even as
though his commands were my own.
Then I bade Francis Hartness himself speak all that was in his mind
freely and without fear of betrayal concerning the war that was soon to
be waged between the rival factions of our oppressors and the means that
were to be used to turn their strife to our own account, and this he
did, speaking in fluent Spanish and in short, clear sentences, as a man
of action and a soldier should speak.
He told how he had made himself acquainted with the forces on both
sides, and how, with the help of Tupac, he had sounded the feelings of
those by whom the fighting would have to be done, and had found them
willing to leave the service of the schemers who sought to make
themselves tyrants over the land, and fight for those whose purpose it
was to restore the ancient rule and give liberty to all to use their
lives as they thought best and to win for themselves as many of the
gifts of the All-Father as they were able to do. He told, too, how he
had sent many messages over the lightning-wires to his own country,
bidding friends like himself in war to come out as quickly as might be
to find the fortune that awaited them, yet saying nothing of war but
only of gold that was to be had for the taking.
When he had finished, I bade Tupac summon all who were present to the
foot of the throne, and then I spoke to them of the plans that I had
made with Francis Hartness in all their details, and showed them how
each, according to his opportunities, could give his help in carrying
them out, and then, as by this time the night was far spent and there
was yet work of another sort to do, I sent them back to their seats, and
calling Ruth and Golden Star to me, I bade them follow me, and led the
way down the hall and through one of the passages at the end until I
brought them to a chamber which Tupac and his comrades had already
prepared for them by my orders, and here I left them to take their rest
together, promising to return in the morning.
When I got back into the throne-room Djama asked me whither I had taken
his sister, and I told him what I had done, saying that the hour was now
too late for us to return to our home on the other side of the valley,
and that, moreover, it was needful for us to go back to the Hall of Gold
to make a proper count of the treasure and to let him and the professor
swear their oaths of secrecy in the presence of the fathers of my
people.
Then I left him, looking much more ill at ease than such tidings should
have made him feel, and told Tupac in the ancient tongue to take three
of his companions and go and do that which it was now time to do. So he
went and chose his men and departed through the bronze doors by which we
had entered the hall. After that I named a guard to remain all night in
the hall, and bade the rest go and put on their everyday clothing, and
I, too, went back into the chamber behind the throne and changed my
imperial garments for the others that I had put off.
Then I ordered the torches and candles to be extinguished, all saving a
few that were left for the guards, and then the eyes of Djama and the
professor were bandaged afresh, though those of Francis Hartness--he
being now one of us and devoted to our cause--were left open; and when
this was done the lanterns were lit and I led the way into the
ante-chamber of the throne-room, where the bronze doors still stood open
as Tupac had left them.
I stood by them till the last man had passed out, then I went through
and closed them. Then I followed the rest and again placed myself at
their head. But when we reached the end of the straight passage, instead
of turning the revolving pillar which closed the entrance of the
winding passage leading to the Hall of Gold, I sought about with my
lantern on the floor until I found three marks in the shape of a
triangle in one corner of a great square slab of stone, and, taking a
long staff which one of the men carried, I placed the end on the
triangle and calling two others to help me, we bore downwards with all
our weight, and when we had thrust awhile on the staff the corner of the
slab sank into the floor and it turned on a diagonal axis until it stood
upright, leaving a three-cornered space large enough for a man's body to
pass through easily. Then I made a sign to one of the Ayllos and said,--
'Anahuac, take your lantern down there and light the way down the
steps.'
'Truly there are no secrets in the land hidden from the eyes of our
Lord!' he said, glancing round in wonder at the rest, and then he
lowered himself with his lantern into the hole and disappeared.
Then I bade the rest follow him one by one, and so all went down, I
going last with Francis Hartness, who helped me to put the stone back
into its place.
Our way now led along a rough-hewn gallery that sloped gently upwards
for some twelve hundred paces, and at the end of it there was a little
chamber measuring some twenty feet each way and having no apparent
outlet, but in the middle of one of the walls there was another of the
cunningly-constructed revolving stones which our ancient masons ever
used to bar their secret ways, and this three of our men, working as I
told them, turned on its hinge, and through the opening that was thus
made we passed out in single file to a little rock-walled valley over
which the stars were shining.
The door was closed behind us, and dust and dirt were rubbed over the
thin lines which marked where it fitted into the rock, and then we
extinguished our lanterns and passed out of the valley on to the pampa.
The place where we had come out was about a thousand paces from the
walls of the Sacsahuaman. We halted on the plain and I gave my last
orders to the Ayllos. Then we set out in the direction of the Fortress,
and as we went one by one my followers disappeared silently into the
half darkness about us till at last only four of them were left, two
leading Djama and two the professor.
I had been talking of many things with Francis Hartness on the way, and
showing him how in the olden times we had made use of the secret
passages such as those he had already seen, and when we saw that we had
come out by a way different to that which we had entered, he asked me
the reason of it, and I answered him in a low voice and said,--
'Because the other way is closed. Have patience a little while and you
shall see why.'
Then we went on our way in silence until we came to the edge of the
valley in which the Sayacusca stands. Here I halted and whispered a few
words to the men who were leading Djama and the professor. They slipped
off their ponchos and threw them over the heads of their prisoners, for
such the two were now to be for the present. I heard a muffled cry from
Djama, and I went to him and put my hand on his shoulder and said in a
whisper,--
'Keep quiet and lie down. These men have knives and will use them at my
bidding.'
Then they pulled him and the professor down, and they lay quiet, knowing
that their lives were in my hands, and I lay down on the edge of the
valley, signing to Francis Hartness to come and lie beside me. Then I
pointed into the valley and bade him watch. Presently, in the dim light,
we made out figures moving about the rock, and caught every now and then
the glint of the star-rays along thin lines of polished metal.
'Rifle barrels!' he whispered. 'What are they doing here? I didn't know
that your men had any weapons yet.'
'No,' I said, 'those are in the hands of soldiers from Cuzco. The time
has come sooner than I thought for, and yet not too soon. You will see
the first blow struck for the freedom of my people before to-morrow's
sun rises.'
FOOTNOTES:
[C] The queen-consort of the Inca, as distinguished from the many others
whom the ancient laws allowed him to marry.