The emotion of Huanacocha at this surprising piece of news was almost
painful to see. As he listened to the hurriedly told story, poured
forth by his man, his features took on a sickly yellow tinge, his eyes
seemed to be on the point of starting out of his head, and his breath
came in labouring gasps from his wide-open mouth; finally, when at
length he seemed to have fully grasped the purport of the story, he hid
his face in his hands, rested his elbows upon his knees, and sat there
quivering like an aspen leaf. In the course of a few minutes, however,
he regained his self-control, and with a sigh of such depth that anyone
unaware of its melancholy cause might have almost mistaken it for one of
relief, he rose to his feet and, muttering to himself something about
the difficulty of believing so incredible a story, and the necessity for
personally ascertaining the truth, he gave orders for his litter to be
brought to the door, and presently sallied forth on his way to the
temple, with this intention.
The distance to be covered was not great, and by the time that
Huanacocha reached the temple he had almost completely recovered his
composure. Alighting from his litter, and bidding his bearers to wait,
he climbed the long flight of steps leading up to the building and,
accosting the first person he met, demanded, in an authoritative tone of
voice to see Xaxaguana. It was perfectly evident, even to one less
experienced than Huanacocha in matters pertaining to the temple routine
and its discipline, that some very unusual occurrence had happened, for
everybody about the place seemed excited, agitated, distraught; but
Huanacocha was, of course, well known to every inhabitant of the City of
the Sun, and presently someone was found possessing enough authority to
deal with the great man's request, or command, rather, and in the course
of a few minutes he was conducted along a passage and shown into an
empty room, there to await the arrival of the man he sought.
Apparently Xaxaguana was busy at the moment, for it was nearly a quarter
of an hour ere he appeared, and when he did so his countenance was heavy
with concern.
"Pardon me for having kept you so long waiting, my Lord," he said in a
loud voice, "but this terrible occurrence, of which I presume you have
heard, has thrown us all into a shocking state of confusion, and when
your message reached me I was, in my capacity of senior priest, with the
physicians whom we summoned, and who have been endeavouring to discover
the cause of the death of our lamented friends the Villac Vmu and
Motahuana." And, as he spoke, he closed the door carefully behind him.
"And have they succeeded?" demanded Huanacocha.
"Oh yes!" answered Xaxaguana. "They are in complete agreement that the
cause of death in each case was senile decay. They were both very old
men, you know."
"Senile decay!" exclaimed Huanacocha, in astonishment. "Surely you are
not serious, Xaxaguana. Why, they were at my house last night, as you
know, and nobody who then saw them will ever believe that they died of
old age. They were almost as active and vigorous as the youngest of us,
and neither of them exhibited the slightest symptoms of senile decay."
"Possibly not," assented Xaxaguana; "nevertheless that is the verdict of
the physicians. And, after all, you know, these exceedingly old men
often pass away with the suddenness of a burnt-out lamp; a single
flicker and they are gone. I must confess that, personally, I am not
altogether surprised; for when they returned from your house last night
it occurred to me that they seemed to have suddenly grown very old and
feeble; indeed I said as much when the news of their death was brought
to me."
"You did, did you?" retorted Huanacocha. "By our Lord the Sun, you are
a wonder, Xaxaguana; nothing less! How did you manage it, man, and so
promptly too? Why it must all have happened within half an hour of your
return home this morning."
"It did," said Xaxaguana. "I was still in my bath--for you must know
that, being somewhat fatigued with my protracted labours of yesterday, I
overslept myself this morning--when the intelligence was brought to me
that our two friends had been discovered lying dead in their beds. And
they could only have died very recently, for they were neither stiff nor
cold."
"And--I suppose there were no signs--no marks of violence on the bodies;
nothing to suggest the possibility of--of--foul play?" stammered
Huanacocha.
"No," answered Xaxaguana; "the physicians found nothing whatever of that
kind. How should they? It is certain that both men died in their beds,
within the precincts of the temple. And who is there within these
precincts who would dare to commit an act of sacrilege, to say nothing
of the fact that, so far as is known, there is no one who would be in
the slightest degree benefited by their death, or could possibly desire
it."
Huanacocha looked at his friend admiringly.
"As I said just now, you are a wonder, Xaxaguana," he remarked. "But
you have not yet told me how you managed it, and I am anxious to know.
So set aside all further pretence, my friend; be frank with me, and
satisfy my curiosity."
"No," said Xaxaguana firmly. "The man who has a secret and fails to
keep it to himself is a fool, friend Huanacocha, and I am not a fool;
therefore if I happen to have a secret I prefer to retain it within my
own breast. But the matter stands thus. You told me certain things
this morning, and among them was this. You said that if perchance
anything were to happen to Tiahuana and Motahuana, that they died before
it was possible for them to take certain action which you had reason to
fear, you would use your powerful influence with our Lord the Inca to
see that I obtained promotion to the position of Villac Vmu, as is,
indeed, my right, together with certain other advantages. Is not that
so? Very well. Singularly enough, that which you desired has
happened--most fortunately for you; and now it seems to me that all that
remains is for you to fulfil your promise. Do not you agree with me?"
"Yes," answered Huanacocha frankly, "I do; and I will proceed hence to
the palace and officially inform the Inca of the sudden and lamented
death of the Villac Vmu and his deputy, and will urge the immediate
appointment of yourself to the vacant post of High Priest. There is no
doubt that you will get the appointment, for in the first place you are
entitled to it as senior priest; in the next, you will get the full
advantage of my recommendation; and, in the third, the Inca has no
personal friend to whom he would wish to give the appointment in
preference to yourself. That matter may therefore be regarded as
settled.
"But there is another, and an equally important, matter which I now wish
to discuss with you, Xaxaguana, and in which I desire your advice and
help. Tiahuana and Motahuana being dead, there is nobody, so far as I
know, who has any particular interest in retaining the present Inca upon
the throne. To that remark you may of course object that he is the re-
incarnated Manco whose coming, as the regenerator of the ancient
Peruvian nation, was prophesied by Titucocha, and that, in the event of
anything happening to him, the regenerating process would be deferred
indefinitely. But, I ask you, my dear friend, what if it were? In what
way should we suffer? It is true that we have accustomed ourselves to
look forward to our regeneration as the one thing to be desired above
and before all others; but is it? We are perfectly happy here in this
valley as we are. Do we in very truth desire to exchange our present
happy and peaceful existence for an indefinite and doubtless long period
of toil, and warfare, and suffering? And in what respects should we be
the better at the end, even if we should be successful--of which, permit
me to say, I have my doubts? And do we really desire that change in the
character of our religion, and the so-called amendment of our morals
upon which this young man insists? I doubt it, my friend, not only as
regards you and myself, but also as regards the people generally. Now,
I have spoken to you quite frankly; be equally frank with me, and give
your view of the matter."
"I will, my friend, and in a very few words," answered Xaxaguana. "My
view of the matter is identical with your own. And it is possibly
identical also with that of many others. But how is that going to help
us? Also, with all your frankness you have not yet given utterance to
the idea that I see you have in your mind. You are far too cautious,
friend Huanacocha, ever to become a successful conspirator."
"One must needs be cautious in broaching such a conspiracy as I have in
my mind," answered Huanacocha. "Nevertheless," he continued, "boldness
and caution are sometimes the same thing, therefore will I be bold with
you, Xaxaguana, since I think it will not be difficult for me to prove
to you that not only our views, but also our interests, are identical.
In a word, then, I believe that it would be advantageous to you and to
me--and possibly also to the rest of the inhabitants of this valley--if
the present Inca were deposed, and I were made Inca in his place. The
question is, how is the matter to be accomplished? If he were to die
now, even as the Villac--"
"It would be the most unfortunate thing that could possibly happen," cut
in Xaxaguana. "The Villac Vmu and Motahuana were both old men, and
therefore that they should die is not at all remarkable. But that they
should both die at the same moment is, to say the least of it, somewhat
singular, and, despite all our precautions, is not unlikely to arouse
more or less suspicion in many minds. Now, if the Inca also were to
die, that suspicion would undoubtedly be converted into certainty and an
investigation would assuredly be set on foot which could not fail to end
disastrously for those found responsible for the three deaths, and
especially for that of the Inca; for, as of course you are fully aware,
practically the whole of the inhabitants of the valley are still old-
fashioned enough to cling to the superstition that to murder the Inca is
the blackest of black sacrilege.
"But on the day when the Inca was presented to us in the temple, you
spoke certain words which, if they were now repeated, might find an echo
in the mind of many an inhabitant of this city. You boldly expressed
your doubts as to the identity of the youth with him whose appearance
was foretold by the prophet Titucocha, and whom we of the ancient
Peruvian nation have been expecting for the last three hundred years and
more. Now, we know that many of the Inca's ordinances are regarded with
disfavour by the people generally; and I believe that, as a consequence
of this, it would not be very difficult to implant in the minds of the
discontented a suggestion that the late Villac Vmu made a very serious
mistake--if, indeed, he did not commit an unpardonable crime--in
introducing this young man to us as the re-incarnated Manco Capac. That
suspicion once instilled into them, it should be a comparatively easy
matter to incite them to demand that the Inca shall establish his
identity by submitting to the ordeal by fire, after which your election
to the vacant throne should be a foregone conclusion; for, of course,
neither you nor I believe for a moment that the young Englishman can
possibly survive the fire ordeal."
Huanacocha gazed at his companion for several moments in silent
admiration; then he exclaimed enthusiastically:
"I have already told you twice this morning that you are a wonder, and I
now say it for the third time--you are a wonder, Xaxaguana, the
possessor of the most astute and clever brain in the valley; and I
foresee that, working together, you and I may achieve such dazzling
results as we have scarcely yet dared to dream of. But how do you
propose to bring about the result of which you have just spoken? It
will be a slow and tedious process at best, and while it is being
achieved many things may happen."
"Nay," answered Xaxaguana, "it will not be nearly so lengthy a process
as you seem to think. This is my plan."
And, placing his mouth to his companion's ear, Xaxaguana proceeded to
whisper a few sentences which appeared to fill Huanacocha with wonder
and admiration.
"Do you think it will succeed?" Xaxaguana demanded, as he concluded his
communication.
"It cannot possibly fail, if carried out with promptitude and
discretion," answered Huanacocha in tones of conviction. "And its
perfect simplicity is its greatest recommendation. When do you propose
to commence operations?"
"At once," answered Xaxaguana, "now, this very day. Nothing will be
talked of during the next few days save the sudden death of the Villac
Vmu and Motahuana, and such a topic of conversation will afford me the
precise opportunity which I require. And now, friend Huanacocha, you
and I have been together quite as long as is either prudent or
desirable. Go, therefore, hence to the palace, acquaint the Inca with
the sad news of which you are the official bearer; inform him, if you
will, that in the zealous discharge of your duty you have visited me for
the purpose of obtaining the fullest information relative to the
deplored event, and direct his attention to the extreme desirability of
creating me Villac Vmu at once."
"Fear not, friend," answered Huanacocha, as he rose to take his leave,
"you shall receive the notification of your appointment in the course of
the day." And, followed by Xaxaguana, who accompanied him as far as the
outer door, he left the apartment and proceeded on his way to the
palace.
Huanacocha was as good as his word; for he not only secured from Harry
the appointment of Xaxaguana to the dignity of Villac Vmu, but actually
took the trouble to hurry back from the palace to the temple with the
information of his success, and the royal warrant duly signed.
As Xaxaguana had anticipated, almost the sole topic of conversation
during the ensuing fortnight was the death of the late Villac Vmu, and
that of his deputy, at practically the same instant of time, as was
determined by the physicians. For the first few days this circumstance
was spoken of simply as a somewhat remarkable coincidence, but not very
long after the obsequies--which were celebrated with unprecedented pomp
in the temple--were over, it began to be noticed that, when the subject
happened to be referred to, people were acquiring a trick of putting
their heads together and whispering mysteriously to each other. The
trick rapidly developed into something nearly approaching a habit; and
as it did so, the whispers as rapidly changed into plain, open speech,
and the words which were interchanged lost their original air of
confidential mysteriousness, until, finally, people told each other
without very much circumlocution that there was, in their opinion, more
in the strange deaths of Tiahuana and Motahuana than met the eye. And
if they were asked to express themselves more plainly they reminded each
other that the two priests, who had died under such really remarkable
circumstances, were the men who were responsible for the finding of the
white Inca, and the introduction of him into the community, and this
reminder was quite frequently followed by a somewhat pointed question as
to whether, after all, they--the priests--could by any chance have made
a mistake in their method of identifying the Inca, some people even
going to the length of expressing the opinion that it was no question of
mistake, but rather a case of deliberate deception of the people, with
some mysterious purpose which would probably now be never brought to
light, inasmuch as that our Lord the Sun, angry at the change in the
form of the national religion, has cut off the offenders in the midst of
their sins, as a sign of His displeasure. The transition from such talk
as this to openly expressed doubts concerning the genuineness of the
Inca's claim to be the re-incarnation of the divine Manco Capac was an
easy one, made all the more easy by the unpopular character of many--one
might indeed almost say all--of Escombe's decrees. Yet so consummate
was the cunning and subtlety with which the campaign was conducted that
scarcely a whisper of it was allowed to reach the ears of those who were
suspected of being favourably inclined toward the Inca, and not the
faintest inkling of it ever penetrated to Escombe himself. Such extreme
care indeed was exercised by those who were pulling the strings that no
sign whatever of the Inca's fast-waning popularity was for a moment
permitted to manifest itself. The process of corrupting the palace
officials and staff generally was found to be exceptionally tedious and
difficult, for Escombe's genial disposition and straightforward
character enabled him to endear himself without effort to everybody with
whom he was brought into intimate contact. But it was accomplished at
length by the exercise of almost superhuman ingenuity, with a solitary
exception in the case of Arima, who, it was at once recognised, was so
faithfully and devotedly attached to his royal master that it would be
worse than folly to attempt to corrupt him; he was therefore left
severely alone; the most stringent precautions being taken to keep the
whole thing secret from him.
Matters had reached the stage above indicated when Escombe, having
grappled with an exceptionally arduous day's work, retired to rest close
upon midnight, and soon afterward sank into a heavy sleep, only to be,
as it seemed, almost instantly awakened by the light of torches flashing
upon his closed eyelids, and the scuffle of sandalled feet about his
couch. Springing up into a sitting posture in his bed, he opened his
eyes, still heavy with sleep, to find his chamber full of men--many of
whom were armed--conspicuous among whom were Huanacocha and Xaxaguana,
the new Villac Vmu.
"Why, my Lord Huanacocha," he exclaimed, rubbing his eyes to assure
himself that he was awake, "what does this mean? How did you get in
here? And what is the matter?"
"The matter, Lord," answered Huanacocha, "is one of the utmost gravity
and importance, as the Villac Vmu, here, will inform you. It is nothing
less than a revolt among the priests generally, most of whom have
declared against the modifications in the form of the worship and
service in the temple, instituted by my Lord, and have risen against the
Villac Vmu and those others who have pronounced themselves in favour of
my Lord's modifications. Some of those who were in favour of the
modifications have been slain; but the larger number, amounting to
between twenty and thirty, are even now being subjected to the fire
ordeal, as would have been the Villac Vmu, had he not happily escaped
and made his way to my house for shelter and help. That, in brief, is
how the matter stands; is it not, Villac Vmu?"
"'Tis even so, Lord," answered Xaxaguana. "And when I had stated the
facts to my Lord Huanacocha, he regarded them as of import serious
enough to justify us even to the extent of disturbing the rest of my
Lord the Inca, and--"
"By Jove, yes, I should think so," exclaimed Harry, interrupting the
High Priest unceremoniously, and springing from his couch to the floor.
"Where is Arima? Pass the word for Arima, somebody, please--or, stay,
hand me my clothes; I'll get into them myself without waiting for Arima.
How many of these revolting priests are there, do you say?"
"They number about a thousand, Lord," answered Xaxaguana. "We have
already taken it upon ourselves to send to Umu, asking him to come to
our assistance; but it will be some time ere our messenger can reach
him, and he in turn can reach and order out the guard. We therefore
thought it well to come to my Lord and ask him to hasten with us to the
temple, there to use his authority to save the lives of those who must
otherwise undergo the fire ordeal."
"Of course," assented Harry, as he scrambled into his clothes. "But
what will happen if those mutinous beggars refuse to obey me, eh?"
"Refuse to obey you, Lord?" repeated the Villac Vmu in shocked tones.
"Nay, they will certainly not do that. They have revolted now merely
because they cannot be brought to believe that the innovations against
which they rebel are in accordance with the orders of our Lord the Inca.
You have but to personally assure them that such is the case, and they
will instantly return to their allegiance."
"Very well," answered Harry, as he threw a heavy cloak over his
shoulders to protect himself from the keen night air. "Now I am ready.
Lead the way, somebody, and let us be going."
Emerging from the palace, and hurrying along the almost pitch--dark
garden paths, the party swept through the palace gates into the main
road, and made a dash for the temple by the nearest possible route,
which happened to be through several dark, narrow, deserted side
streets, in which not a soul was stirring; the little crowd of hurrying
figures consequently passed on its way and soon reached the temple
without having been observed by so much as a single person.
Somewhat to Escombe's surprise the temple proved to be in absolute
darkness, when the party arrived before the walls; but Xaxaguana
explained this by informing the young monarch that the revolted priests
were all assembled in the opposite wing of the building, and that he had
deemed it a wise precaution not to attempt to enter on that side, lest
they should meet with resistance before the Inca could find an
opportunity to make his presence known. As they drew in under the
temple walls Xaxaguana called a halt, expressing some anxiety as to the
possibility of the door being closed by means of which he proposed to
effect an entrance, and he sent forward a scout to reconnoitre. His
anxiety, however, proved to be unfounded, for the scout presently
returned with the information that the door was unfastened and
everything quiet on that side of the building. The party therefore
moved forward once more, and presently Escombe found himself being
conducted along a corridor, unlighted save by the smoky flare of the
torches carried by his escort. Contrary to the young ruler's
expectations, the building, even now that he was inside it, remained
dark and silent as the grave; but this was explained by the statement of
Xaxaguana that the revolting priests were all gathered together in the
rock-hewn basement of the building, where they were at that moment
engaged in putting their more faithful brethren to the dreadful "ordeal
by fire". Accordingly, when Xaxaguana unlocked a massive bronze gate
let into a wall, and invited Harry to descend with him to the chamber
where the horrid rite was in progress, the young man followed
unhesitatingly, as he also did through a door which the priest unlocked
when they had reached the foot of the flight of stone steps and
traversed some yards of corridor apparently hewn out of the living rock.
The room was comfortably enough furnished, and looked almost as though
it might have been prepared for his reception, for it was lighted by a
handsome lamp suspended from the roof.
"If my Lord will condescend to wait here a moment and rest, I, his
servant, will go and see exactly what is happening, and return to
report," remarked Xaxaguana as he stood aside to allow Harry to pass
him.
"But why wait?" demanded Harry, facing round to the High Priest.
"Surely we have not a moment of time to waste. Would it not be--"
But, even as he was speaking, the Villac Vmu slid rapidly back into the
passage, closing the door behind him with a slam, through the thunderous
reverberation of which in the hollow vault Harry thought he caught the
sound of a sharp click. With a muttered ejaculation, expressive of
annoyance, he sprang to the door and endeavoured to open it; but it was
fast, and, as he listened, he heard the sounds of hastily retreating
footsteps in the passage outside. And in that same moment the truth
flashed upon him that, for some inscrutable reason, he was trapped and a
prisoner!