Escombe's appetite was good, the food delicious, the cooking perfection,
the service irreproachable, if somewhat elaborate. It is not to be
wondered at, therefore, that the young man made an excellent meal, and
that at its conclusion he should feel himself in admirable form for
tackling his captors upon the subject of their outrageous abduction of
him. Therefore, after performing his post-prandial ablutions in a basin
of solid gold, held before him by a kneeling man, and drying himself
upon an immaculate towel woven of cotton which was a perfect miracle of
absorbent softness, tendered to him by another kneeling man, he
resolutely seated himself upon a moss-grown rock which happened to
conveniently protrude itself from the soil close at hand, and proceeded
to deal with the matter. He had no difficulty in recognising that
Tiahuana and Motahuana were the two wielders of authority in his
escort--which, by the way, he noticed had a persistent trick of
arranging itself about him in a tolerably close circle of which he was
the centre--he therefore opened the proceedings by remarking:
"Now, before I go another step I insist upon having a full and explicit
explanation of your unwarrantable behaviour in entering my camp last
night and abducting me, to the serious detriment of the exceedingly
important work upon which I am engaged. You have assured me that I have
nothing to fear at your hands, and you appear to be quite satisfied that
in abducting me you have got the man you want; but I am as far as ever
from understanding what your motive can be. Which of you two men is
responsible for the outrage?"
"I am the responsible one, Lord," answered Tiahuana. "I, the high
priest of the remnant of the ancient Peruvian race, now and for many
long years established in the city of the Sun which, unknown to any but
ourselves, lies hidden far away among the mountains. You demand an
explanation of what you have termed my unwarrantable action in taking
possession of your august person. It is a just and reasonable demand,
Lord; moreover, it is necessary that you should have it. Therefore, let
my Lord deign to listen to what to him may seem a wild and incredible
story, but which is strictly true in every particular.
"When in the dim and remote past our Lord and Father the Sun took
compassion upon us his people, he sent two of his children--Manco Capac
and Mama Oello Huaco--to earth in order that they might form us into a
united and consolidated nation. These two established themselves in a
certain spot, the locality of which had been divinely revealed to them
by a certain sign--even as your identity, Lord, has been revealed to us;
and our forefathers gathering about them, the ancient and royal city of
Cuzco was built, wherein Manco Capac took up his abode as our first
Inca. Now, Manco Capac, being of divine origin, was endowed with
marvellous wisdom and knowledge, even to the foreseeing of future
events; and among the events which he foretold was that of the conquest
of our country by the Spaniard. He also formulated many wise and
righteous laws for the government of the people, which laws were further
added to by his successors.
"Now, with the building of the city of Cuzco and his establishment
therein as Inca, Manco assumed royal dignity, and inaugurated a code of
stately ceremonial for all those who formed his court and might have
occasion to come to it. He also arrayed himself in regal garments and
adorned his person with certain regal ornaments, of which the collar now
worn by you, Lord, was the most important next to the imperial borla, or
tasselled fringe of scarlet, adorned with coraquenque feathers, which
was the distinguishing insignia of royalty.
"When in the fullness of time Manco was called home to the mansions of
his father the Sun, he gave minute instructions, before his departure,
as to the disposal of everything belonging to him, including his royal
jewels. Some of these he ordained were to be deposited with his body in
the great temple of the Sun at Cuzco. But the jewel which you are now
wearing, Lord, he decreed was to be handed down from Inca to Inca, even
unto the last of the race; and it was so. Atahuallpa wore it as he
entered the city of Caxamalca at the head of his vassals and retinue on
the afternoon of that fatal day when he fell into the hands of the
treacherous Spaniards and, helpless to prevent it, beheld thousands of
his unarmed followers slaughtered like sheep in the great square. But
he did not wear it on the night when, at the command of the false and
treacherous Pizarro, he was haled forth himself to die in the great
square where so many of his followers had previously perished. Nor did
it fall into the hands of his captors, thus much was ascertained beyond
all possibility of doubt. What became of it nobody could--or would--
say; but on the night of Atahuallpa's murder the High Priest Titucocha
suddenly emerged from the great temple of the Sun in Cuzco and, standing
before the entrance, summoned the inhabitants of the city to assemble
before him. Then he told them that Atahuallpa was dead, that the Inca
dynasty was at an end, and that the great Peruvian nation was doomed to
pass under the rule of the _Conquistadors_, and be swallowed up by them
and their descendants. `But not for all time, my children,' he cried.
`We have sinned in that we have permitted the Spaniards to overrun our
country without opposition, instead of utterly destroying them as we
might have done; and this is our punishment for not defending the land
which our Father the Sun gave us for our sustenance and enjoyment. But
be not dismayed; a remnant of you shall survive, and under my leadership
shall retire to a certain place the locality of which has been revealed
to me, and there will we build a new City of the Sun, the glory of which
shall exceed that of Cuzco, even as the glory of our Lord and Father the
Sun exceeds that of his consort the Moon. And in the fullness of time
it shall come to pass that Manco Capac, the founder of our nation, shall
be reincarnated and shall appear among us, and he will become our Inca,
to reign over us as aforetime, and restore the Peruvian nation to its
pristine power and glory by virtue of his own wisdom and the power of
the wealth which we will accumulate for his use. And when he appears ye
shall know him from the fact that he will wear about his neck the great
emerald collar worn first by himself and afterward by all the Incas.'
"And behold, Lord, as Titucocha spake, so hath it all happened. A
remnant of the ancient Peruvian race survives to this day, untainted by
any admixture with the blood of aliens; and while many of them are
scattered abroad over the face of the country watching ever for the
reappearance of Manco Capac, the lesser part are gathered together in
the City of the Sun, founded by Titucocha, and now in the very zenith of
its magnificence, awaiting the coming of my Lord."
"So that is the yarn, is it?" exclaimed Harry, as Tiahuana came to a
halt in his narrative. "And a very extraordinary story it is; never
heard anything like it in all my life! And I suppose, friend Tiahuana,
that because I happen to have fished up this collar out of Lake
Chinchaycocha, and am wearing it round my neck because I do not wish to
lose it, you identify me as the reincarnated Manco Capac, eh?"
"Assuredly, Lord," answered Tiahuana. "He would indeed be a sceptic who
should venture to entertain the shadow of a doubt in the face of proof
so complete in all respects as that which has been vouchsafed to us."
"Ah!" ejaculated Harry, bracing himself to demolish this absurd fable,
and secure his release at a stroke. "Now, I don't understand very much
about the doctrine of reincarnation, but I suppose, if I were really
Manco Capac come to earth again, I should have some recollection of my
former state of existence, shouldn't I? Well, will it surprise you to
learn that I have nothing of the sort--not the feeblest glimmer?"
"Nay, Lord," answered Tiahuana, "that is not in the least surprising.
It often happens that the reincarnated one has no recollection of his
former existence until he finds himself amid surroundings similar to
those with which he was familiar in his past state; and even then
remembrance often comes but slowly. Your lack of recollection does not
in the least alter facts; and of those facts we have all the proof that
can possibly be required. And now, Lord, will it please you that we
resume our journey? There are many difficulties to be surmounted before
we reach the spot at which we must encamp to-night, and it is high time
that our march should be resumed."
"No," answered Harry, "it does not please me that we resume our journey.
On the contrary, I refuse to accompany you another step unless you will
undertake to convey me back to the camp whence you brought me. If you
will do this I am willing to overlook the outrage which you have
perpetrated in abducting me, and promise that you shall hear nothing
more about it. But if you persist in keeping me a prisoner, I warn you
that the British Consul will be speedily made acquainted with the facts,
and he will never rest until I have been released and every one of you
severely punished; and that punishment, let me tell you, will be no
joke; for he will take care that it is adequate to the offence. You
will be made to understand that even a solitary young Englishman like
myself cannot be kidnapped with impunity!"
"Pardon, Lord," answered Tiahuana with a deprecatory gesture. "I am
overwhelmed with distress at having incurred my Lord's displeasure; but
I must not permit even that to interfere with the discharge of my duty.
It is imperative that my Lord should accompany us. Were we to fail to
convey him to the hidden City of the Sun we should all be justly put to
death; my Lord will therefore see that we have no choice in the matter.
The only one who has a choice is my Lord himself, who can choose whether
he will accompany us willingly, or whether we must resort to something
in the nature of coercion."
As Tiahuana spoke the last words he made a sign with his hand, upon
which the little band of attendants contracted themselves into a circle
of considerably smaller diameter than before, yet still preserving an
attitude of the most profound respect. Escombe saw at once that the
moment was by no means favourable for an attempt to escape; he therefore
quickly decided to make the best of things and to submit _pro tem_, with
a good grace to what was unavoidable. He accordingly said:
"Very well; since you are absolutely determined to carry me off, I
prefer to accompany you voluntarily. But I warn you that you will all
suffer severely for this outrage."
It is most regrettable to be obliged to record it, but Escombe's
threatened invocation of Britain's might and majesty seemed to
discompose those obstinate Indians not at all; to use his own expression
when talking of it afterwards, his threats glanced off them as
harmlessly as water off a duck's back, and all that they seemed in the
least concerned about was his welfare and comfort during the journey.
With much solicitude Tiahuana enquired whether it would please him to
walk or to be carried in the litter. "We would have brought your horse
with us for your use, Lord," the High Priest explained apologetically,
"but much of the road before us is impassable for horses or mules--nay,
even a llama might scarcely pass it."
"Oh, that's all right!" answered Harry cheerily; "I dare say I can walk
as fast and as far as you people can."
Nevertheless he deeply regretted that they had not thought fit to bring
his horse, for he felt that, mounted, he would have had a much better
chance of escape than on foot; and this conviction was greatly
strengthened when, as the day wore on toward evening and the stiff
ascents which they were frequently obliged to negotiate began to tell
upon him, he observed how the Indians, with their short, quick step,
covered mile after mile of the uneven, rocky road, without the slightest
apparent effort or any visible sign of distress. Then it began to dawn
upon him gradually that, even should he find a suitable opportunity to
give his custodians the slip, they could easily run him down and
recapture him. Besides, he was by no means certain that he could now
find his way back to the camp. He had not the remotest notion of the
direction in which the camp lay, for during many hours of his journey he
had been asleep, and the Indians were not only continually changing the
direction of their travel, but were apparently taking a constant
succession of short cuts across country, now winding their way for a
mile or two along the face of some dizzy precipice by means of a ledge
only a foot or two in width, anon clambering some hundreds of feet up or
down an almost vertical rock face, where a slip or a false step meant
instant death; now crossing some ghastly chasm by means of a frail and
dilapidated suspension bridge constructed of cables of maguey fibres and
floored with rotten planking, which swung to the tread until the
oscillation threatened to precipitate the entire party into the terrible
abyss that yawned beneath them, and perhaps half an hour later forcing
their way, slowly and with infinite labour and difficulty, up the
boulder-strewn bed of some half-dry mountain stream that was liable at
any moment--if there happened to be rain higher up among the hills--to
become swollen into a raging, foaming, irresistible torrent, against the
impetuous fury of which no man could stand for an instant. To do the
Indians no more than the barest justice, they were to the last degree
solicitous to spare their prisoner the least fatigue, and repeatedly
assured him that there was not the slightest necessity for him to walk a
single step of the way, while whenever there was the barest possibility
of danger there was always a sufficient number of them within arm's
reach to render him every required assistance, and to ensure that no
harm should possibly befall him. But although continuous travelling
hour after hour over such very difficult ground became at last most
horribly fatiguing. Harry set his teeth and plodded grimly on. He was
not going to let "those copper-coloured chaps" suppose that they could
tire an Englishman out, not he! Besides, he wished to become accustomed
to the work against the time when the opportunity should come for him to
break away successfully and effect his escape. For that he would escape
he was resolutely determined. The prospect of being an Inca--an
absolute monarch whose lightest word was law--had, at that precise
moment, no attraction for him. He had not a particle of ambition to
become the regenerator of a nation; or, if a scarce-heard whisper
reached his mental ear that to become such would be an exceedingly grand
thing, he promptly replied that his genius did not lie in that
direction, and that any attempt on his part to regenerate anybody must
inevitably result in dismal and utter failure. No, he had been sent out
to Peru by Sir Philip Swinburne to execute certain work, and he would
carry out his contract with Sir Philip in spite of all the Indians in
the South American continent. As to that story about his being the
reincarnated Inca, Manco Capac, Harry Escombe was one of those estimable
persons whose most valued asset is their sound, sterling common sense.
He flattered himself that he had not an ounce of romance in his entire
composition; and it did not take him a moment to make up his mind that
the yarn, from end to end, was the veriest nonsense imaginable. He
laughed aloud--a laugh of mingled scorn and pity for the stupendous
ignorance of these poor savages, isolated from all the rest of the
world, and evidently priding themselves, as such isolated communities
are apt to do, upon their immeasurable superiority to everybody else.
Then he happened to think of the exquisitely wrought service of gold
plate off which he had fed that day, and the wonderfully fine quality of
the material of the priests' clothing; and he began to modify his
opinion somewhat. A people with the taste and skill needed to produce
such superb goldsmith's work and such beautiful cloth--soft and smooth
as silk, yet as warm as and very much finer than any woollen material
that he had ever seen--could scarcely be classed as mere savages; they
must certainly possess some at least of the elements of civilisation.
And then those "second thoughts", which are proverbially best, or more
just, gradually usurped in young Escombe's mind his first crude ideas
relative to the ignorance and benighted condition generally of the
inhabitants of the unknown City of the Sun. And as they did so, a
feeling of curiosity to see for himself that wonderful city gradually
took root, and began to spring up and strengthen within him. Why should
he not? he asked himself. The only obstacle which stood in the way was
his duty to Sir Philip Swinburne to complete the work which he had been
sent out to do. But after all, when he came to consider the matter
dispassionately, his absence--his enforced absence--was not likely to
prejudice appreciably Sir Philip's interests; for the railway survey was
very nearly completed, and what remained to be done was simple in the
extreme compared with what had already been accomplished, and there was
Bannister--a thoroughly capable man--to do it. And as to the soundings
on Lake Titicaca, they were simply child's play--anybody could take
them! No, it was only his own conceit that had caused him to think that
his absence, especially at the existing state of the survey, would be in
the least inimical to Sir Philip's interests; it would be nothing of the
kind. Bannister could finish the work as satisfactorily as he--
Escombe--could, probably much more so!
It will be seen, from these arguments--which were in the main perfectly
sound--that Mr Henry Escombe, having conceived the idea that he would
like to have a peep at the mysterious City of the Sun, was now
endeavouring to reconcile himself as thoroughly as might be to what was
rapidly assuming to him the appearance of the inevitable; for with every
step that the party took, it was being borne with increasing clearness
upon his inner consciousness that to escape was already impossible.
For, first of all, their route had been over such trackless wastes that,
despite the keenness with which he had noted the appearance of every
conspicuous object passed, they were all so very much alike that he had
the gravest doubts as to his ability to find his way back to the camp
without a guide. And if he were to attempt it and should lose his way,
there could be very little doubt that he would perish miserably of
exposure and starvation in that wilderness, where not even so much as a
solitary hut had been sighted throughout the day. But, apart from this,
and granting for the moment that his memory might be trusted to guided
him aright, there were places to be passed and obstacles to be overcome
which he admitted to himself he would not care to attempt unaided unless
he were in actual peril of his life, and the assurances of Tiahuana had
completely set his mind at rest on that score. The thought of invoking
Arima's assistance came to him for a moment, only to be dismissed the
next, however; for, faithful and devoted as the Indian had proved
himself in the past, Harry remembered that it was through his
instrumentality and direct intervention that all the pother had arisen.
Arima seemed to be as completely convinced as any of the others that
Harry was the person foreordained to restore the ancient Peruvian nation
to its former power and splendour, and Escombe knew enough of the
fellow's character to feel certain that he would not permit personal
feeling to interfere with so glorious a consummation. It seemed, then,
as though fate, or destiny, or whatever one pleased to call it, willed
that he--Harry Escombe--should see the mysterious city; and he finally
concluded that, taking everything into consideration, perhaps the wisest
thing would be to go quietly and with as much semblance of goodwill as
possible, since it appeared that no other course was open to him.
This thought naturally suggested others, each more wild and extravagant
than the last, until by the time that the party at length reached the
camping ground that had been their objective all through the day, the
young Englishman discovered, to his unqualified amazement, that not only
did there exist within him a strong vein of hitherto entirely
unsuspected romance--awakened and brought to light by the extraordinary
nature of the adventure of which he was the hero--but also that, quite
unconsciously to himself, his views relative to the exigency and binding
character of his engagement to Sir Philip Swinburne had become so far
modified that it no longer appeared imperatively necessary for him to
jeopardise his life in a practically hopeless endeavour to escape.
The journey had been an up-and-down one all day, that is to say, the
party had been either climbing or descending almost the whole of the
time; the general tendency, however, had been distinctly upward, and
when at length a bare, rocky plateau was reached about sunset, affording
ample space upon which to camp, the greatly increased keenness of the
atmosphere indicated a net rise of probably some two or three thousand
feet. The scene was one of almost indescribable but dreary grandeur,
titanic peaks crowned with snow and ice towering high on every hand,
divided by gorges of immeasurable depth, their sides for the most part
shaggy with pine forests, and never a sign of human habitation to be
seen, nor indeed any sign of life in any form, save where, here and
there, a small moving blotch on the distant landscape indicated the
presence of a flock of huanacos or vicunas; but even these were but few,
for the travellers had not yet reached the lofty frozen wastes where
alone the ychu grass is found, which is therefore the favoured habitat
of those animals.
Escombe now had fresh evidence of the foresight exercised by his escort
in providing for his comfort and welfare; for no sooner had the precise
spot been selected upon which to camp than from among the baggage borne
by the attendants a small tent made of cloth woven from vicuna wool was
produced and erected upon jointed bamboo poles; and in a few minutes,
with his litter placed inside it to serve as a bed, and a lighted talc
lantern suspended from the ridge pole, the young man was able to enter
and make himself quite at home.
Nor was he at all sorry; for although he had now been accustomed for
several months to be on his feet all day long, day after day, and up to
that moment had regarded himself as in the very pink of condition as to
toughness and wiriness, the past day's journey had been a revelation to
him in the matter of endurance. He had never before in his life
experienced anything like the intense fatigue which now racked every
joint in his body; and, ravenously hungry as he was, he felt that it
would scarcely be possible for him to remain awake long enough to get a
meal. But those wonderful Indians appeared to have foreseen everything.
Loaded as most of them were with heavy burdens in addition, to their
weapons, they had each gradually accumulated a very respectable bundle
of firewood during the progress of their march; and while one party had
been erecting the tent and arranging its interior for Harry's
occupation, a second had been busily engaged in lighting a roaring fire,
while a third had been still more busily occupied in preparing the
wherewithal to furnish forth a most appetising and acceptable evening
meal, which, when placed before the prospective Inca, was found to
consist of broiled vicuna chops, delicious bread, mountain honey, fruit,
and chocolate. By the time that the meal was ready night had completely
fallen, a bitterly keen and piercing wind from the eastward had arisen
and came swooping down from the frozen wastes above in savage gusts that
momentarily threatened to whirl the frail tent and its occupant into
space, and hurl them into one of the many unfathomable abysses that
yawned around the party, while, to add to the general discomfort, the
wind brought with it a dank, chilling fog, thick as a blanket, that
penetrated everywhere and left on everything great beads of icy moisture
like copious dew. But Escombe was too unutterably weary to let any of
these things trouble him. Sleep was what every fibre of his body was
crying aloud for; and he had no sooner finished his meal than, leaving
all responsibility for the safety and welfare of the party in the hands
of the two priests, he hurriedly divested himself of his clothing, and
snuggling into his warm and comfortable bed-litter, instantly sank into
absolute unconsciousness, his last coherent thought being a vague wonder
how he would fare in such a place and on such a night if, instead of
being under the care and protection of the Indians, he had chanced to be
a lonely and houseless fugitive from them.