THE CITY OF THE SUN.

On the afternoon of the fourth day following Tiahuana's departure, about

an hour before sunset, as Escombe was about to enter the house after a

somewhat longer walk than usual in the valley, he paused for a moment at

the head of the footpath to take a last, long look at the lovely

landscape, with the leading features of which he was now becoming

tolerably familiar, when his wandering gaze was arrested by the glint of

the sunlight upon what had the appearance of a number of rapidly moving

objects indistinctly seen about a mile distant among the low spreading

branches of the trees which lined the great road leading from the City

of the Sun.

"Hillo, Arima," he said to the Indian who was his sole attendant, "who

comes here? Are they soldiers? Do you see that flash and glitter

yonder among the trees? To me it has the appearance of sun-glint upon

spear points and military accoutrements."

Arima looked for a moment, and then replied:

"Without question it is so, Lord. Doubtless it is Tiahuana returning

with the bodyguard which is to escort my Lord the Inca on the occasion

of his triumphal entry into the City of the Sun."

"But those fellows are surely mounted, Arima!" said Escombe. "The

movement is that of cavalry; and--listen!--unless I am greatly mistaken,

I can hear the clatter of hoofs on the stone pavement of the road."

"It is even so, Lord," answered the Indian. "The bodyguard of my Lord

the Inca consists of a thousand picked men, mounted on the finest horses

that it is possible to breed in the valley."

"But I have always understood," said Harry, "that you Peruvians did not

believe in mounted men, and that it was, in fact, as much due to your

terror of the mounted Spaniards as anything else that you were

vanquished in the old days. But I am forgetting; you knew nothing of

horses then, did you?"

"My Lord says truth," answered Arima. "We had no horses in Peru until

the Spaniards brought them. But since then we have learned the value of

horses, and I understand that the inhabitants of the valley have devoted

especial attention to the breeding of them, even from the date of the

foundation of the city."

"And with a marvellous success, I should say, if one may judge from the

appearance of the animals yonder," remarked Harry enthusiastically, as

he watched the approaching horsemen.

The cavalcade had by this time reached the junction of the footpath with

the road, and, debouching on to the former, or rather on to the hillside

which it traversed, breasted the slope at a gallop, presenting as it did

so a superb and inspiriting picture of eager, prancing, satin-skinned,

gaily caparisoned, foam-flecked horses, bestridden by lithe, sinewy

forms gorgeous in their blue and gold uniforms, and a-glitter with their

burnished copper shields, swords, maces, and lance-heads. At their head

rode Tiahuana in his long, white, gold-embroidered robe and mitre-like

head--dress as Chief Priest, gallantly holding his own with the

magnificently attired commander of the regiment; and in the centre of

the cortege there appeared an open litter--somewhat similar to a sedan

chair with the top part removed--entirely covered with burnished plates

of gold and silver, hammered into a bold but very intricate pattern,

while the interior was lined with richly coloured feathers also arranged

in a very elaborate design. This structure was supported before and

behind by a pair of long, springy poles or shafts, to which were

harnessed six white horses, three abreast, the harness and trappings of

the animals being blue, elaborately embroidered with gold, while the

headstall of each horse was decorated with a plume of half a dozen long

blue feathers. The middle horse of each trio--that which ran between

the shafts--was ridden by a postilion, who guided and controlled all

three of the horses under his charge.

While the gorgeous cavalcade was still some distance away, Motahuana

came running out of the house, babbling the most earnest and urgent

entreaties that Harry would be graciously pleased to enter the house

forthwith, as it was not meet that the members of the Inca's bodyguard

should set eyes upon their sovereign lord until the latter should be

attired in the robes of his regal rank; and Harry, already painfully

aware of the dilapidated condition of the jacket and knickers in which

he had accomplished the march from the survey camp, fully agreeing with

him, hastily retreated to the interior of the building and, standing

well back from the window, where he was concealed in the deep shadow,

interestedly watched the movements of his regiment as it went into camp

on a little plateau at the rear of the house.

But the troopers had scarcely begun to unsaddle before Tiahuana, still

hot and dusty from his long ride, entered the house, followed by a

servant bearing a large bundle. And a few minutes later the old fellow

entered the room where Harry was standing and, having first made his

obeisances, respectfully invited the young Englishman to retire to his

sleeping room, there to don certain garments more suitable to his rank

and state than those which he was wearing, in order that he might be

ready to receive the Lord Umu, commander of the royal bodyguard, who was

represented to be dying of impatience to do homage to his Sovereign

Lord. With another glance at his ragged and disreputable garments,

Harry smilingly admitted the desirability of the change, and followed

Tiahuana into the chamber where Arima, now formally confirmed in his

rank and position of chief valet and body servant of the new Inca,

awaited his master. Ten minutes later, attired in white skin-tight

pantaloons which were also stockings; a shirt of white wool, of so

marvellously fine a texture that it was thin, soft, and light as silk; a

fine white wool sleeveless tunic, the material of which was stiff and

almost completely hidden by an elaborately embroidered pattern in heavy

gold thread, and which was confined to the waist by a broad white

leather belt, also heavily embroidered in gold and fastened by a massive

and exquisitely chased gold clasp; with soft, white, gold-embroidered

boots on his feet, reaching halfway up to the knee; with the royal

borla, or tasselled fringe of scarlet adorned with two feathers from the

coraquenque bound round his temples, and the emerald collar of Manco

Capac--which he had fished up from the mud of Lake Chinchaycocha--round

his neck and hanging down over the breast of his tunic, young Escombe

was led by Tiahuana into the largest room in the house. Here, seated

upon an extemporised throne, and with his feet resting upon a footstool

of solid gold, massively chiselled in an elaborate and particularly

graceful scroll-work pattern, hastily brought in from the imperial

litter, he presently received not only Umu, the captain of the royal

bodyguard, but also some half-dozen other nobles who had come from the

City of the Sun to pay their homage to their re-incarnated Lord and

Sovereign, Manco Capac.

These individuals were introduced, one by one, by Tiahuana, who, as each

person presented himself in the doorway, loudly proclaimed the rank and

titles of the visitor, who then, barefooted, and carrying a light burden

upon his shoulders as an act of humility in the presence of his

sovereign, slowly advanced, with head and body humbly bent, until he

reached the footstool, when he knelt down on the bare stone floor and

kissed, first the hands and then the feet of the young Inca; after

which, still kneeling, he murmured a few words expressive of joy,

gratitude, and devotion at the condescension of the great Manco in

deigning to return to earth for the purpose of regenerating the ancient

Peruvian nation. Then he rose to his feet and, with more bows, retired

to make way for the next. The whole ceremony was exceedingly brief, not

occupying much more than a quarter of an hour altogether; but, brief as

it was, it constituted in itself an education for Harry, who, as he

witnessed the almost slavish humility of the demeanour of these proud

and haughty nobles toward him, now began to realise, for the first time,

the tremendous power to which he had been raised by a most unique and

extravagant freak of fortune. And it did him good; for it set him to

think seriously of the enormous responsibility which he had almost

unwittingly incurred when he so light-heartedly allowed himself to

become enmeshed in the toils of the adventure, and caused him to make

many very excellent resolutions as to the manner in which he would

discharge that responsibility.

With the coming of dawn on the following morning the camp of the royal

bodyguard suddenly awoke to strenuous life and activity. The troopers,

attired only in thin shirts, riding their barebacked horses down to the

lake, where the animals were watered and bathed in preparation for the

return journey to the City of the Sun. Then, having returned to the

camp, the horses were carefully groomed and fed, after which the

troopers spent a busy hour in examining and burnishing their arms and

accoutrements. For this was the great day upon which the re-incarnated

Inca was to make his triumphal entry into his capital, the new holy and

royal city which, during a period of over three hundred and fifty years,

his people had been patiently building and extending and decorating and

enriching in order that it might be worthy the reception of the monarch

when it should please him to return to earth. It was to be the day of

days, the first day in the history of a great, glorious, regenerated

nation, in which much was to be done, and that in a manner which would

becomingly adorn the first page of that history. Then everybody,

including Harry--who, meanwhile had bathed and dressed--partook of

breakfast; after which the final preparations for the journey were

completed. Then Tiahuana and Umu, having first craved audience of their

Lord, presented themselves before Harry to intimate respectfully that

there were two alternative methods of travel open to him, namely by

horse litter or on horseback, and to crave humbly that he would be

pleased to indicate which of the two he would choose. To which Harry,

who was by this time beginning to enter thoroughly into the spirit of

the adventure, replied that, since the task had been laid upon him of

restoring the ancient Peruvian race to its former power and splendour,

and that, before this could be accomplished it would be necessary for

him to lead his troops many times to battle, it was his will to make his

first appearance among his subjects on horseback, as a warrior, at the

head of his own bodyguard; a reply which created a perfect furore of

enthusiasm among the other nobles, and the troopers of the royal

bodyguard, when it was communicated to them by Tiahuana and Umu.

That the possibility of such a choice on the part of their new Inca had

not been altogether unanticipated was soon apparent; for Umu presently

returned to the house, bearing on a cushion of azure blue--which it

appeared was the royal colour--trimmed with a heavy cord of bullion and

with a bullion tassel at each corner, a sword of hardened and burnished

copper, with a hilt of solid gold elaborately chased, and encased in a

scabbard of solid gold, also most magnificently chased. This he

presented on bended knees to Tiahuana, who, in his capacity of High

Priest, then knelt before Harry and girded the weapon to his side, after

which Arima came forward with a long roll of extraordinarily fine silk-

like cloth woven in bands of many different colours in which, however,

scarlet and azure predominated. This was the llautu, or turban, which

the Indian at once proceeded with deft fingers to bind about his royal

master's head in such a manner as to afford complete protection from the

ardent rays of the sun while leaving the borla, or tasselled fringe of

scarlet, which was really the royal diadem, fully exposed to view. A

woollen mantle of almost silken texture, azure blue in colour, with a

very broad border of gold embroidery, and with more gold embroidery on

the shoulders and halfway down the back, was next laid upon his

shoulders and secured at the throat by a pair of massive gold clasps and

chain, and Escombe was fully equipped for the road. And a very handsome

and gallant figure he looked as, tall, lithe, and slim, and clad in all

his barbaric finery, he stepped out of the house into the dazzling

sunshine, to be greeted with a deafening shout of welcome from the

officers and troopers of his bodyguard, who were already mounted and

drawn up in a double line for his inspection. So obviously was this

expected of him that Harry needed no hint to that effect, but, vaulting

lightly into the saddle of the magnificent white stallion that,

gorgeously caparisoned, chafed and fretted under the restraint of his

bridle, held by two of the nobles, while two more held the heavy gold

stirrups for the royal rider's feet, wheeled his steed and cantered

gaily off to where Umu, sitting bolt upright in his saddle with drawn

sword, waited in the centre, and some few paces in front of the

regiment, to receive him. That the military usages of the more

civilised nations had not been permitted to pass altogether unnoticed

now became apparent; for as Harry approached Umu uttered a loud shout of

command, and at the word every sword flashed up in salute in the most

approved fashion, while a band of mounted musicians blared forth certain

weird strains which, the young Inca subsequently learned, was the

national anthem of the ancient Peruvians.

Accompanied by Umu, Harry now rode to the right flank of the regiment,

from whence he proceeded slowly along the front rank and finally the

rear, noting critically the appearance and bearing of the men, and

gauging the breed and quality of the horses as he went. The horses

were, without exception, splendid animals, while the men were, for the

most part, fine, stalwart fellows, well set up; but, accustomed as

Escombe had been to the sight of the Life Guards and other crack cavalry

regiments in London, he could not avoid seeing that there was plenty of

room for improvement in the appearance and discipline generally of his

own bodyguard. Yet it was glaringly apparent to him that Umu, their

captain, was inordinately proud of his regiment; and the new Inca was by

no means untactful. Wherefore, having completed his inspection, Harry

spoke a few well-considered words of praise that rang sufficiently true

to make Umu his devoted slave henceforward, while the faint suggestion

conveyed that the praise was not quite unqualified impressed the Indian

noble with a sense of the high standard of perfection that must exist in

the young monarch's mind, and caused him there and then to register a

silent vow that the regiment should be brought up to that standard, even

though he should be obliged to kill every man of it in the process.

By the time that the inspection was completed the priests and nobles had

climbed into their saddles, and everything was ready for the

commencement of the march. Harry therefore gave the word to Umu, who in

turn uttered a few sharp orders to the men, whereupon the ranks closed

up. The horses pranced and tossed their heads as they wheeled into

line, and the cavalcade proceeded, the band leading the way, followed by

a solitary horseman in gorgeous array who bore proudly aloft the Inca's

banner--a blue silk flag embroidered in gold and coloured thread with an

image of the rainbow, which was the symbol sacred to the Inca, and

trimmed with heavy gold fringe round the three free edges. Harry rode

immediately behind, surrounded by a little group consisting of the two

priests and the nobles who had come out to meet him, and followed by

Umu, who led his glittering and imposing regiment.

It was rather a trying ride in some respects for the young Inca, at

least at the outset, for Escombe's knowledge of the Quichua, or ancient

Peruvian, language was extremely restricted, while the nobles, with the

exception of Tiahuana and Umu, were apparently ignorant of Spanish.

Anything in the nature of conversation was therefore extremely

difficult, quite apart from the fact that everybody excepting Tiahuana

seemed altogether too shy to address the Inca, unless first spoken to by

him. Harry very quickly realised that his ignorance of the Quichua was

likely to handicap him most seriously, and he there and then ordered

Tiahuana to make the necessary arrangements to have himself taught

without delay.

But although for the first few miles of the journey the young Inca

suffered from a certain feeling of constraint, he did not allow it to

trouble him long, for if conversation lagged there was plenty apart from

it to interest and delight him. There was his horse, for instance.

Harry had alway been particularly fond of horses, and was an excellent

rider; as a boy, indeed, he had often followed the staghounds over

Dartmoor. He therefore had a very fair idea of what a horse ought to

be; but he had not been in the saddle more than five minutes, on this

particular morning, before he realised that at length he had come into

possession of that rarest of all good things, a perfect horse; perfect

in temper, shape, and action, full of fire and courage, yet with a mouth

so sensitive that it would be quite possible to control him with a

thread for a bridle, while one had but to glance at the great; hard

muscles sliding so smoothly beneath the satin skin to be assured of his

indomitable endurance and insensibility to fatigue. Then there was

plenty to interest and occupy his attention as they swept along the

great, smooth road at a hand gallop. First of all, there was the road

itself, which was, in its way, a masterpiece of engineering; but, apart

from that, Harry could not but marvel at the perfect cleanliness of it,

until he learned that it had been traversed throughout the entire length

of the route by a whole army of sweepers during the early hours of the

morning, since when no living thing had been allowed upon it. Then

there was the noble and endless avenue of shade trees which bordered the

road on either hand, dividing it from the wide footpaths, which in their

turn were shaded by less lofty trees, fruit-bearing for the most part,

the fruit being intended for the refreshment of the wayfarer. Then

there were neat, orderly, and perfectly cultivated fields of sugar cane,

maize, tobacco, indigo, cotton, rice, coca trees, cacao, and other

tropical products on the flats immediately adjoining the road, while

farther back, toward the hills, were grain of all sorts, interspersed

with vast orchards and, at intervals, a stretch of pasture land, with

low, squat farmhouses and outbuildings dotted about in the midst. The

farmers and their helpers were all busily engaged upon various kinds of

labour in their fields, but those who were near enough to the roads to

do so no sooner heard the distant hoof-beats of the approaching

cavalcade, and beheld the royal banner flaunting its blue and gold in

the wind, than they flung down their implements and rushed helter-

skelter to the roadside to watch the Inca go by, and acclaim him as he

passed.

But with every mile of that exhilarating ride towards the City of the

Sun the aspect of the landscape became subtly modified; the farms became

more extensive, the farmhouses larger and more elaborate in their style

of architecture, ornamental and decorative features became increasingly

conspicuous in every building encountered, until finally the aspect

became distinctly suburban, the farmhouses gave place to country

residences, the farms gradually merged into pleasure gardens, gay with

flowers and rich in carefully-cultivated fruit trees; the houses drew

closer together, and little groups of people in gala attire were

encountered, gradually increasing in numbers until the footpaths on

either hand were lined with joyous crowds of cheering people.

Then the white buildings of the city itself swung into view, gleaming

like alabaster between the boles of the bordering trees, with here and

there a flash of sunlight from the golden roofs of the principal

buildings; and finally a great archway, pierced through the lofty and

massive wall that enclosed the city, came into view, spanning the road,

and at the same moment a great blare of horns stifled the sound of

trampling hoof-beats, the jingle of accoutrements, and the frantic

shouts of the cheering multitude. Then Umu flung his flashing sword-

blade aloft and shouted a word of command, whereupon the panting,

sweating horses were pulled into a walking pace, the riders straightened

themselves in their saddles, the band of musicians which led the way

struck up a weird, barbaric air, the great bronze gates, which had been

closed, were flung open, and the cavalcade passed through into the

principal street of the City of the Sun. If Escombe had been questioned

ten minutes earlier he would, in reply, have expressed the confident

opinion that every man, woman, and child had left the city in order to

line the road outside the gates by which it was known that he must pass;

but he had no sooner traversed the echoing archway in the immensely

thick city wall than he saw how greatly mistaken such an opinion would

have been. For, starting from the very wall itself, the pavement on

either hand, all along the line of route, was simply packed with

people--the children in front, the women next, and the men in the rear--

frantic with enthusiasm, and shouting themselves hoarse in their

eagerness to afford an adequate welcome to the Inca whose coming had

been looked forward to by them and their ancestors for more than three

hundred years. But they did not confine their demonstrations of welcome

to mere acclamations. At frequent intervals triumphal arches of an

elaborate character and of great beauty, decorated with banners and

flags, and profusely wreathed with flowers, were thrown across the

roadway, each being connected with the next by a line of poles, painted

blue, surmounted by a banner or flag, twined with flowers, and

supporting a heavy festoon of flowers which formed an unbroken floral

chain from one triumphal arch to the next. The houses on either hand

were also decorated with flowers, banners, and long streamers of many-

tinted cloths hung from the eaves and windows, the whole scene strongly

reminding the young Englishman of the aspect of London's streets on the

occasion of our own gracious King's coronation. But what impressed

Escombe more than anything else was the fact that all along the line of

route children and young girls, provided with large baskets of flowers,

were stationed, and, as the procession approached, these young people

stepped forward and strewed the road with the contents of their baskets,

thus carpeting the hard pavement with freshly gathered flowers, which

exhaled a delightful fragrance as they were trampled under foot by the

horses.

The young monarch, bowing right and left in response to the enthusiastic

greetings of his subjects, now had an opportunity to observe a few of

the more striking characteristics of the people among whom he had been

thrown in so extraordinary a fashion, and he was considerably surprised

to see how widely the different types varied. The lower orders--or what

he deemed to be such, from the fact that they were compelled to take as

their viewpoint the pavement of the open street--were, as a rule, of

merely medium stature, sturdily built, and not particularly intellectual

in expression, while the colour of their skin was something very nearly

approaching to ruddy copper, very few even of their womenkind having any

pretentions to comeliness, to say nothing of beauty. The occupants of

the buildings, however, who viewed the procession from their windows or

the flat roofs of their houses, and who might be taken to represent a

somewhat better class, were not only lighter in colour and more

intelligent in expression, but some of them were distinctly good-

looking. And, as a general rule, the larger and more important the

building--and presumably, therefore, the higher the rank of the owner--

the more strongly marked was the difference, which at length, in the

case of the nobles, became so accentuated that they might very easily

have been taken to be members of a distinct race, the men being much

fairer of complexion, of greater stature, and more finely proportioned,

as well as much more intellectual in appearance than their humbler

brethren; while the women of the higher classes and nobility were in

many cases as fair and as lovely as, say, Spanish or Italian women.

Winding its way slowly through some two miles of wide and handsome

streets, the buildings in which became ever more imposing as it

advanced, the cavalcade at length arrived before a very large building

of two stories in height--as against the single story which appeared to

be the vogue in the City of the Sun--planned to form three sides of a

square, and standing in the midst of a magnificent garden of some thirty

acres in extent, which Escombe rightly judged to be the royal palace.

It was not a particularly handsome structure--indeed, the builders of

the city seemed to be singularly devoid of architectural taste as it is

understood elsewhere--but it was imposing on account of its size and

solidity, and the bold and massive character of such ornamentation as it

displayed. Contrary to the usual custom, which appeared to favour white

marble as a building material, the palace was built throughout of

massive blocks of greyish-green granite, so accurately joined together

that the joints were almost indistinguishable. It stood upon a solid

base of much darker granite, some six feet high, and access to its

interior was gained by means of a very wide flight of eighteen steps,

each about four inches high and some eighteen inches wide from back to

front. The door and window openings were surrounded by broad bands or

frames of granite projecting some six inches beyond the general face of

the walls, and in these bands were set several large, elaborately

sculptured medallions, which had all the appearance of--and, as a matter

of fact, actually were--solid gold. And all round the building, between

the upper and lower tier of windows, ran a flat band, or string course,

of solid gold, about two feet in depth, upon which a graceful pattern of

scroll-work was boldly chased. Finally, above the upper row of windows,

in the place usually occupied by a cornice in European buildings, there

was a massive bull-nose moulding, quite three feet deep, also of solid

gold, surmounted by the parapet which guarded the flat roof of the

building. The facade of the building was the middle of the three sides,

and faced toward the road, while the two wings ran from it at right

angles back toward the lake.

So much Escombe was able to note with regard to his new home, as the

cavalcade swung in through the magnificent gates of wrought copper which

gave access to the grounds, and made its way up a wide path or drive to

the main entrance, before which it halted. In an instant the two nobles

who had held his horse for him while he mounted some hours earlier were

again at the animal's head, and Harry swung himself somewhat stiffly out

of the saddle; for the ride had been a long and hot one, and it was now

a full fortnight since he had last been on horseback. As his foot

touched the ground the band of his bodyguard again struck up the

national anthem, and every officer and man raised his sword in salute,

after which, as Harry ascended the steps and passed through the wide

doorway of the palace, Umu shouted a command, the swords flashed in the

glaring afternoon sunshine as they were returned to their scabbards, and

the weary horses and their riders trotted soberly off to the cavalry

stables. The nobles who had accompanied Harry on his ride, and also

Tiahuana, entered the palace with the young Inca, doing the honours of

the building, and indicating the character of the various apartments

which they passed as they conducted him to a superb bathroom, where they

assisted him to disrobe, and where he enjoyed a most welcome "tub" in

tepid water, made additionally refreshing by the mingling with it of a

certain liquid which imparted to it a most exquisite fragrance. Then,

attired in a fresh costume, they conducted him to a small but very

handsome room, the chairs and tables in which were made of solid silver,

where, waited on by a small army of servants in the royal livery, he

partook of a light meal. Tiahuana, who, at Harry's special invitation,

joined him at the repast, explaining that there was still much to be

done that day, since in little more than an hour a solemn service of

thanksgiving was to be held in the great Temple of the Sun to

commemorate the return of the great Manco to his long-expectant people,

and to inaugurate suitably the commencement of a new and glorious era in

that people's history.