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Title: The Radio Boys' Search for the Inca's Treasure
Author: Gerald Breckenridge
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THE RADIO BOYS SEARCH FOR THE INCA'S TREASURE
[Illustration: The radio outfit paralleled an army field outfit in a
number of respects, including the umbrella type of aerial.]
THE RADIO BOYS' SEARCH FOR THE INCA'S TREASURE
by
GERALD BRECKENRIDGE
Author of
"The Radio Boys on the Mexican Border," "The Radio Boys on Secret
Service Duty," "The Radio Boys with the Revenue Guards," "The Radio
Boys Rescue the Lost Alaska Expedition."
Frontispiece
A. L. BURT COMPANY
Publishers--New York
THE RADIO BOYS SERIES
A Series of Stories for Boys of All Ages
By GERALD BRECKENRIDGE
The Radio Boys on the Mexican Border
The Radio Boys on Secret Service Duty
The Radio Boys with the Revenue Guards
The Radio Boys' Search for the Inca's Treasure
The Radio Boys Rescue the Lost Alaska Expedition
Copyright, 1922
By A. L. Burt Company
The Radio Boys' Search for the Inca's Treasure
Made in "U. S. A."
CONTENTS
I--OFF FOR TREASURE
II--A TALE OF OLD
III--A COUNTRY FESTIVAL
IV--HO FOR THE ENCHANTED CITY!
V--RADIO INVADES THE MONASTERY
VI--A SENDING STATION BUILT
VII--THE EXPEDITION GETS UNDER WAY
VIII--JACK HAS A MISHAP
IX--SURPRISED IN THE FOREST
X--IN THE HANDS OF THE INCAS
XI--INTO THE MOUNTAIN
XII--IMPRISONED IN THE ACROPOLIS
XIII--THE FEAST OF RAYMI
XIV--PRINCE HUACA FRIENDLY
XV--BEFORE THE COUNCIL
XVI--RADIO A LINK TO THE PAST
XVII--THE FIGHT ON THE PARAPET
XVIII--ARMED AGAIN
XIX--TREACHERY
XX--FRANK PLANS A MIRACLE
XXI--TO GO OR NOT TO GO
XXII--INTO THE INCA'S COURT
XXIII--THE OLD AND THE NEW
XXIV--THE MIRACLE WORKER
XXV--A VOICE WARNS THE INCA
XXVI--THE MOUNTAIN SPEAKS
XXVII--THE DOOMED CITY
XXVIII--CONCLUSION
THE RADIO BOYS SEARCH FOR THE INCA'S TREASURE.
CHAPTER I--OFF FOR TREASURE
"This is a wonderful land, fellows, full of legend and story, vast
mountains, vast rivers, vast jungles, unexplored territory and
unconquered tribes."
It was Jack Hampton speaking, and he leaned on the rail of a coastwise
steamer, as she came to anchor in the open roadstead of Valparaiso.
"I wonder what lies ahead," said Frank Merrick, leaning beside him. "We
ought to get some adventure out of this, besides mere civilized travel."
Even Bob Temple, the most matter-of-fact of the three chums known as the
Radio Boys, felt his imagination stirred.
"Remember what that commercial traveler said last night," he interposed.
"I mean, about the old days of the Spanish Conquest of South America? He
certainly was filled with stories of treasure, of Inca treasure, wasn't
he?"
The other boys nodded, their eyes shining. Indeed, Juan Lopez, the young
commercial traveler, who had taken a fancy to the boys, had told them
glittering stories as they sat on deck under the Moon. Then they fell
silent, their eyes on the strange scenes about them.
Although a great world port, and second only to San Francisco in
importance on the Pacific Coast of the Western Hemisphere, Valparaiso is
not a harbor as harbors go, lying open to the sea. Great numbers of
ships lay about them offshore, freighters from all the world. And tugs
and lighters kept coming and going in a continuous bustle between ships
and shore.
As their train for Santiago, whither Mr. Hampton was bound on business,
would leave in an hour, there was little time for sightseeing. Mr.
Hampton, who knew the South American cities from former visits, on one
of which he had taken Jack with him, assured them there was little in
Valparaiso of historic or picturesque interest.
Nevertheless, the boys kept their eyes open during the trip through the
narrow but noisy bustling business quarter which occupies the flats
between the shore line and the thousand-foot cliffs behind upon which
residential Valparaiso is situated. Ascensors took them up the sheer
cliffs, and then followed a four-hour journey by train to Santiago.
They were expected, and at the Santiago station they were met by a
family carriage which carried them to the home of Senor Don Ernesto de
Avilar, with whom Mr. Hampton had come to transact business. With true
Spanish hospitality, the latter on receiving word of his coming, had
written urgently that he do not stop to a hotel, but bring the three
boys with him as guests.
The way to the mansion of Senor de Avilar lay along the Alameda, a
boulevard 600 feet wide, which formerly had been the bed of the Mapocho
River, and as they bowled along the boys exclaimed time and again at the
wonderful beauty of the surroundings and of the handsome residences.
Frank and Bob, who were undergoing great changes in their preconceived
notions of South America as a land of ruins and half-breeds, were
especially astonished. Jack, who had been in this part of the world
before, grinned with satisfaction.
"I didn't tell you fellows much about this before," he said. "I wanted
to see your eyes pop out. Thought you were going to run into something
wild and savage, didn't you? Well, this is the most beautiful
residential city in South America, and one of the most beautiful in the
world. Isn't it, father?" he appealed.
Mr. Hampton nodded.
"Santiago and Rio de Janeiro hold the palm in that respect," he said.
"Rio, however, because of its wonderful harbor and mountainous
surroundings is, in my eyes at least, a bit the more beautiful. Yet, as
you can see, Santiago's natural beauties would be hard to surpass.
However, here we are at Senor de Avilar's home. Let us hope the accident
to his son has not been serious. In that case, we cannot stay, as we
would embarrass the family, but will go to a hotel."
They had expected Senor de Avilar to greet them in person on arrival,
but had been told by the driver that at the last moment the latter had
been called to a point outside the city where his son, Ferdinand, had
been injured when thrown from a runaway horse.
Fortunately, it developed, the accident had not proven serious. The
young son of the house, a youth of their own age, had sustained a
fractured wrist, but otherwise had escaped unharmed. He was a charming
boy with a fairly good command of English, and he and the boys became
warm friends during the ensuing week.
As Jack, owing to his previous visit to South America, on which occasion
he had learned the language, could speak and read Spanish fluently, and
as he had imparted considerable knowledge of the language to Frank and
Bob, the four got along famously. Horseback rides about the city and its
environs were of daily occurrence, young de Avilar managing his mount in
superb fashion despite the injured wrist.
During the week, the boys saw little of Mr. Hampton and Senor de Avilar.
The two older men were closeted in long conferences with others every
day. For a number of reasons, the boys were curious to know the nature
of these conferences.
In the first place, at the beginning of their summer vacation from Yale,
Mr. Hampton, a consulting engineer of international reputation, had
called Jack into his study in their home on Long Island, adjoining the
Temple home at which Frank, an orphan, resided, and had smiled a little
as he said:
"Well, Jack, how would you and the boys like to go with me hunting
treasure this summer?"
Hunt treasure?
Jack's eyes began to shine. Then his father explained that he had
received an urgent invitation from Senor de Avilar to cast in his
fortunes with him on an expedition into the fastnesses of the Bolivian
mountains in search of a horde reputed buried by the ancient Incas.
"I don't know whether anything will come of it, Jack, in the way of
fortune," his father had said, "but at least we will have plenty of
adventurous travel. As you know, I am wealthy. The lure of gold does not
draw me for itself. But, Jack, I'm very much afraid that in some
respects I have never grown up. Buried treasure has a magical appeal; it
captivates my imagination.
"When I was in South America last, in connection with the mining
interests developing a new district on the borders of Peru and Bolivia,
I heard many tales of Inca treasure. Those old Indians had a great
civilization, and if the Spanish conquerors under Pizarro, Almagro and
others had treated the Incas decently, who knows what they would have
given the world. But the conquistadores were rapacious for gold, of
which there are vast stores in the mountains of South America, and they
slew merely to rob and thus wiped out one of the fairest races the world
has ever seen. The Incas undoubtedly hid much of their golden treasures
to keep it from falling into the clutches of the conquerors.
"Senor de Avilar is the head of the syndicate using my services at that
time. And many a legend of Inca treasure did he tell me, for he, too,
has felt the thrill. His imagination, like mine, is stirred by these
departures from a workaday world. Now he writes me that he has come into
possession of an ancient manuscript which he believes genuine. It
purports to be the diary of a conquistadore who was captured by a band
of Inca noblemen who fled far to the southward when the Spaniards
invaded their country, and carried him captive with them. There is much
of treasure buried in the Bolivian Andes because of the difficulties of
transportation, and more of a magical city which the Incas founded in
the south. This latter may have been the Enchanted City of the Caesars,
the story of which I shall tell you some later day.
"At any rate, my good friend says he wants to be a boy again and to hunt
for buried treasure. And he knows that I feel as he does, and offers me
the chance to go along. Many men might consider me foolish, Jack, to
engage in such a fantastic expedition. But your mother has been dead
these many years; you and I are alone in the world; I have made a
fortune big enough to take care of you for life, even if I do not add
another cent to it. And I am a young man yet. Jack, I want to go. How
about it?"
"How about it?" Jack gulped. He and this tall man with the twinkling
eyes, and the figure as slender and hard as a boy's, called each other
father and son. But in reality they were pals. Jack stared a moment, his
eyes alight, then emitted a little gasp of pure joy, and jumping up from
his chair, he threw an arm over his father's shoulders.
"Dad," he gulped, "I'd never forgive you if you didn't take the chance."
A hard squeeze of his hand was his father's reply.
"You said something about Frank and Bob?"
"Yes," said Mr. Hampton. "They have finished their Freshman year at
Yale, and they are strong, capable fellows, able to think rapidly and
clearly in an emergency, as they have demonstrated many times. I am
thinking of asking Mr. Temple to let them go with me."
"Hurray," shouted Jack. "Let me go tell them the news."
And he was off like a shot.
Mr. Temple had proved amenable. His big son, Bob, six feet tall and
broad and powerful of frame, was destined eventually to go into the
importing firm of which he was president. So, too, was his ward, Frank,
son of his former business partner. South American experience, and the
knowledge of customs of that part of the world which they would gain on
such an expedition as proposed, would be invaluable to both. Under Mr.
Hampton's care, moreover, they would be in good hands. Therefore,
although shaking his head laughingly over Mr. Hampton's boyish
enthusiasm, Mr. Temple was glad to acquiesce and to let his boys go.
This was the reason, therefore, that the boys waited curiously for the
outcome of that week of conferences between Mr. Hampton and Senor de
Avilar, a week during which various strange men came and went. The boys
saw little of the older men, and on the few occasions when he did obtain
an opportunity to question his father, Jack was put off until a later
date, when everything would be explained. Meanwhile, Mr. Hampton said,
he was studying maps, talking with guides from the district into which
the expedition would penetrate and had his head filled with plans.
"I haven't the time to detach myself from this business to give you a
connected story, Jack," said he, on one of the few occasions when he was
alone with his son for a brief period. "But contain yourself, and
presently everything will be explained."
Young de Avilar knew of the proposed expedition, too, but he knew no
more about it than Jack. He had been absent until recently in attendance
at the University of Lima, for, though there is an ancient institution
of learning at Santiago, his father was by birth a Peruvian who had
attended the University of Lima, and the son followed in his steps.
All four boys, therefore, were naturally eager to learn the outcome of
the conferences. While waiting, the three North Americans had their
interest strung to concert pitch by treasure legends which Ferdinand
told them. He, in turn, was eager to hear what to him were even more
marvellous stories of the scientific wonders of their own country. In
particular, he was eager to learn about the developments of radio, which
he had heard was in general use in the United States but which, as yet,
had made few advances in Santiago.
"I'll tell you what," said Jack, one day. "Suppose we set up a radio
station here at your town home, and another at your country place. The
distance is only twenty-five miles. With batteries and a spark coil, we
can easily send that distance, certainly in this mountain atmosphere.
I've got an outfit in my trunk, which I packed along in the belief that
it would come in handy in the field on an expedition."
Ferdinand was enthusiastic, and in a short time the two stations were
installed, and the young Chilian was instructed in the mysteries of
radio.
CHAPTER II--A TALE OF OLD
Of all the stories of ancient days in South America which Ferdinand de
Avilar told them, none interested the boys so much as the tale of the
city of Chan Chan. This city was the capital of the Great Chimu, ruler
of a mighty empire that antedated the Incas.
"You see," explained Ferdinand, early in their acquaintance, "my father
always has been greatly interested in the ancient history of our land.
He has in his library all the books containing the old legends and
history, and naturally I have devoured them. At one time when I was
younger, he financed an archaeological expedition that explored the
ruins of Chan Chan.
"It is little known to the outside world, he says, that, great and
mighty as they were, the Incas were not the first great civilized people
of South America. Before they poured down from the Andes to conquer the
Pacific coast, there dwelt here a powerful and highly civilized people
called the Chimus.
"Inland from Salaverry, on the Peruvian coast, was the capital of the
Great Chimu, the city of Chan Chan. It was one of the largest cities of
the old world, perhaps the largest, who knows. It covered more than
forty square miles of territory, and was larger than Babylon. Here the
Chimus had great factories for the manufacture of textiles, pottery,
etc. Their artificers in gold and silver were cunning and skilled.
"Vast wealth was theirs, vaster even than that of the Incas. There were
great palaces and temples in Chan Chan that were repositories for the
choicest, the most glittering works of art in gold and silver. They had
a language that had attained a high degree of culture, a literature that
included poetry and drama. Fragments of their writing have been found,
and it resembled that of the ancient Egyptians.
"Then the conquering Incas, having brought the Andean people under their
sway, came to the land of the Chimus. The Incas were the Romans of this
land, the warriors and conquerors. But the Chimus, too, were warriors,
and the struggle between these two great nations was long and bitter. At
last the Chimu armies, however, were forced back to the protection of
the great walls of Chan Chan.
"Long was the siege. Attack after attack was repelled. Finding they
could not carry Chan Chan by storm, the Incas at length hit upon a
device which had won them many a walled city. They cut off the water
supply of Chan Chan. Lofty aqueducts had been built by the Chimu kings
to bring water from the mountains more than a hundred miles away, and
within the city this water was stored in a great reservoir larger than
any ever built by the Romans.
"The Incas cut off this water supply. Gradually the vast population
penned within the walls of Chan Chan absorbed all the water in the
reservoir. The wells which had been digged within the city were
insufficient. The Chimus were forced to surrender.
"But before the end, the Great Chimu foresaw the coming of defeat. He
resolved to bury the Great Treasure of his dynasty. And this has never
been found. Much of the tremendous wealth of the Incas was loot from the
Chimus, but the Great Treasure escaped them.
"When the Spaniards came," continued Ferdinand, "they learned the story
of the Great Chimu and how he had hidden the Great Treasure. Into the
ruined temples and palaces of Chan Chan and of other cities of the Chimu
kingdom, they delved. Vast treasure thus was recovered, and sent to
Spain. But the Great Treasure--no. This, says my father, has never been
found."
Seeing how eager the boys were to hear of these old tales, and nothing
loth himself to talk about them, Ferdinand on another occasion repeated
the legend of the "Enchanted City of the Caesars."
"This story, so far as any public or semi-public record goes," he said,
"was first made known through the sworn statements of two Spaniards who
arrived in Concepcion, Chile, in 1557. They declared that for seventeen
years they had lived in the Enchanted City. But while these statements
gave details of the origin and existence of the Enchanted City, they
supplied no accurate data for its location. Now, however, I have reason
to believe, another statement has come to light, made by another member
of de Arguello's little band, and giving more definite data. And it is
this statement which my father possesses.
"But I can see how eager you are, how puzzled by what I have said, and I
shall begin at the beginning. That will be better, perhaps." And
Ferdinand smiled at the three shining-eyed friends surrounding him.
"To begin, then," he said, "it was in the days when Pedro de Valdivia
was setting out from Peru to conquer this land of Chile, then a province
of the overthrown Inca empire, that a galleon from Spain was wrecked on
the coast of Tierra del Fuego at the southern tip of South America. That
is a wild and inhospitable coast, devoid of verdure, where not even game
is to be found. They must either march forward or die.
"The captain of the band was Sebastian de Arguello. He had with him some
200 soldiers and sailors, thirty conquistadores or gentleman adventurers
of Spain who sought fortune in Peru, three priests, and a score of
women.
"They were a thousand miles from the nearest Spanish settlements in
northern Chile, but there was nothing to do if they would survive except
attempt to reach them.
"So the march began, through the great forests of arbor vitae and along
those rugged, barren coasts. In those days, there were giants in the
land. For that is Patagonia, and it is not so many years ago that the
last of the giant Patagonians of ancient days passed away. They were
real giants, six and a half feet tall, terrible fighters in guerrila
warfare. Day and night they attacked from ambush, and dread, indeed,
must have been the times when the Spaniards were forced to abandon the
seacoast and attempt to thread the forest, for always the giants would
be lying in wait.
"At length, however, the little band won its way through Patagonia, with
numbers reduced from the fighting, and seven of the women dead from the
unendurable hardships of the march. Yet they had but conquered one
danger to encounter a greater. They are now on the borders of
Auraucania.
"You do not know what that means. Ah, my friends, even today Auraucania
is a land that is little known. For it is inhabited by the fiercest and
most warlike of all the Indian peoples. The Incas found them so, and
were never able to conquer them. The Spaniards, even with cannon, could
do nothing against them. It is only within the last forty or fifty years
that any white men have been permitted to enter their country.
"Against the wild dash of Auraucanians, de Arguello's men, doughty
though they were, could make no headway. A counsel was held. Rather than
face decimation in an attempt to cut their way through Auraucania, the
members of the band decided to skirt that savage land. Eastward,
therefore, they struck toward the vast and towering wall of the Andes,
with some hope of skirting Auraucania, and, if not that, then to settle
where game and water abounded.
"Suddenly one day they came into a valley glimmering with lakes, a broad
valley ringed round by mountains, with fields that were irrigated and
under cultivation, laborers working in them, but no farm-house in sight.
These laborers fled to the forest in fright at the approach of the
Spaniards, but one was taken captive and brought to de Arguello to be
questioned.
"To the starved and harried Spaniards, the prospect was fair, indeed.
What a place in which to settle. Therefore, when the laborer was brought
before de Arguello and the conquistadores, he was plied with questions
as to the ownership of this land. Despite the fact that he was a
laborer, the man had a proud bearing that arrested de Arguello's
attention. 'Art thou not of the Inca blood?' he asked. Folding his arms,
the man replied, 'I am.'
"As to what then transpired, the account does not state. For you must
remember it was written by men who were not leaders among the Spaniards,
but men-at-arms. They were not in the counsel. At length, however, the
laborer was seen to depart and to make his way across the valley and
disappear into the mountains. Camp was pitched by a spring on the edge
of the forest, and late in the afternoon the laborer returned.
"De Arguello then gave orders that his return should be awaited, which
he declared would not be until the following day, and set out with one
of the priests and the laborer. All that night, the Spanish force lay
under arms, not knowing what to expect.
"But shortly after sunrise the next day de Arguello returned alone. He
called his force about him, and addressed them. 'Men,' said he, in
effect, 'within those towering mountains beyond this valley lies an
enchanted city. It is all built of palaces of stone with roofs that
shine like gold. Within those palaces is furniture of gold and silver.
They are a very pleasant people who dwell there, Incas who have fled
thither from Peru.
"Their city is ringed round with terrible mountains, abounding in gold
and precious stones, unscalable by an enemy. The only approach is
through a tunnel they have cut through the flank of a mountain. From
these broad fields they draw their sustenance.
"This is the message they bid me bring to you: 'If it be peace, ye can
mix and mingle with us. There be women ye can have to wife. If it be
war, we trust in our fastnesses.' Men, what shall it be?
"With one voice, they shouted, 'Peace!'
"That," concluded Ferdinand, "is the tale of the Enchanted City of the
Caesars, so-called because the Emperors of Spain were the modern Caesars
by reason of the vastness of their empire."
"And hasn't it ever been sought for?" asked Bob. "Surely, the Spaniards
in their eagerness for treasure would not have overlooked such a story
as that told by the two men."
"You are right," said Ferdinand, nodding, "it was sought for. Expedition
after expedition was sent out by the Viceroys of the Spanish provinces
clear down to the War of Independence in the early nineteenth century,
which freed South America from the yoke of Spain. But it was never
found, and, although there are people who still believe it existed, it
is generally supposed nowadays to be merely mythical."
"And is it in search of this 'Enchanted City' that we are going?" asked
Frank.
"I don't know," answered Ferdinand. "But I believe the 'Enchanted City'
figures in the manuscript which my father has obtained, and it may be
that we go to look for it."
CHAPTER III--A COUNTRY FESTIVAL
The day following this retelling of the legend of the Enchanted City of
the Caesars by Ferdinand, all four boys were called into conference by
the two older men. To their unbounded delight, they were told that in a
week or ten days they would set out for Potosi, the Bolivian city which
is the center of the famous silver mining region whose discovery once
startled the world.
"Potosi," said Ernesto, "may be our starting point, but I must tell you
that in all likelihood we shall conduct our activities in two widely
separated regions. The ancient manuscript of which I have spoken to you,
Ferdinand, and which Senor Hampton tells me he has mentioned to you
others, gives us quite definite directions for our search.
"It was written by a Spanish conquistadore who was with the expedition
of Captain Sebastian de Arguello, of whom I understand Ferdinand has
told you young fellows. This soldier of fortune never left the Enchanted
City, according to his account, but married an Inca princess, and spent
his remaining days in this city of wonders. From her and her relatives,
he learned of the hidden horde in Bolivia which was cached before the
band of Inca noblemen with their families and followers fled to the
southward before the Conquerors.
"As old age came upon him, he decided to write down an account of his
adventures, of the wonders of the Enchanted City, and of the hidden
wealth left behind by the migrating Incas. This, he wrote, he intended
to entrust to one of the three priests of de Arguello.
"The manuscript recently came into the hands of a relative of mine, who
is the Superior of an Andine monastery in Southern Chile, and he,
knowing my collector's passion for the old and mythical in our history,
sent it to me as a curiosity. But to me it is more. I believe it
genuine, and so I am persuaded does Senor Hampton. One of my relative's
wandering monks, going among the Indians, was enabled to succor the
Chief of a wild tribe in illness, and this manuscript in a battered and
curiously wrought silver tube that had been handed down among the
Indians for centuries, was given him as reward."
The boys were shown the manuscript, which was written in purple ink upon
sheepskin, or, at least, what they took to be sheepskin. Don Ernesto,
however, was inclined to believe it was the skin of the alpaca, which is
a wool-bearing animal of South America. So crabbed was the hand, and so
curious the spelling and formation of the letters, that the boys, even
Jack with his fine knowledge of Spanish, could make little of it.
Ferdinand's eyes, however, glistened at this first sight of the
manuscript, and he pored over it for hours.
The two older men announced it would be necessary for them ere departing
to visit Valparaiso for several days, and the boys were left to their
own devices. However, the time was not to hang heavily on the hands of
the boys, as barely had they been left alone than Ferdinand received an
invitation from Adolfo Rodriguez, a friend living at Almahue, to visit
him and witness a reception to a distinguished delegation of North
Americans who were touring the South American republics.
This delegation was aboard the special train leaving Santiago which the
four youths boarded in the morning. Arriving at Almahue in the
afternoon, the delegation was received at the Rodriguez country home, a
beautiful mansion standing in the midst of a large park. Young
Rodriguez, a slender, dark-eyed lad of Ferdinand's age, flew to greet
them.
"His mother is an Englishwoman," Ferdinand told them, in an aside. "And
he has been to an English school. I have not seen him for some years."
Greetings between the two friends were warm, and then the American lads
were introduced.
"How jolly," said young Rodriguez, "I thought this reception thing would
be a bore. But with you fellows here, it will be a lark, after all. Come
to my rooms, and you can prepare for dinner."
On entering the great salon, Jack, Bob and Frank were surprised beyond
measure. They found themselves in a profusion of palms, cypresses and
willows, with chrysanthemums in prodigal profusion, the whole so
tastefully arranged as to give the impression of a scene from fairyland.
Music was played by hidden musicians during the dinner, and after the
speeches there was to be a musicale. Young Rodriguez, however, managed
to withdraw with his companions before the arrival of the speech-making.
"After-dinner speeches are a beastly bore, always," he said
emphatically. "I considered you fellows would be as glad to escape as I.
Now these are your rooms, and you will find whatever you require. You
have had a long day, and as there will be much to do and see tomorrow, I
imagine you will want to get some sleep."
With that he left them, taking with him Ferdinand. The boys realized
young Rodriguez was eager to talk over old times with his chum, and that
they would be up half the night chattering. Nevertheless, that was not
hard to forgive, and as they really were tired by the unaccustomed
scenes and bustle, they turned in after some comments on the dinner, and
soon were sleeping soundly.
The next day, the boys were up and about early, for young Rodriguez
wanted them to breakfast with him before the visitors reached the table.
They were surprised to learn the estate covered 15,000 hectares, and
employed more than 400 tenants and laborers.
With the visitors, the boys visited the schools of the estate, three in
number, at one of which the boys and girls of the tenants were in
attendance, and at the others the children of the laborers. Finding they
could ride, young Rodriguez obtained them mounts from the stable,
although the visiting delegation was taken about in carriages. They
visited the beautiful church of the estate, inspected the model homes
and recreation grounds for the overseers and laborers, and spent some
time at the stables. Senor Rodriguez was a lover of horses, and with
pride his son pointed out to the boys a number of race horses of famous
pedigree.
"My mother wanted me educated in England," he explained, "my father in
South America. Finally, they struck a compromise. I was to be sent to an
English school, but to a South American university. And so, Ferdinand,
next year will find me with you at Lima."
The other nodded with satisfaction. They had discussed this the night
before.
"You three fellows are chums," said Ferdinand, "and you can realize my
delight."
"At school in England," said young Rodriguez, looking at a famous racer
which he had brought the boys to see, "they used to be surprised when I
spoke of home. They imagined that everything in South America was savage
beyond words."
"To tell you the truth," said Bob, frankly, "I had false ideas about
South America, too. These things you have been showing me, and others
Ferdinand showed us in Santiago, make my head swim. I'm beginning to
wonder where we can get adventure in a country like this."
Ferdinand, who had told his chum of the proposed expedition, laughed
heartily. So did Rodriguez.
"My dear fellow," said the latter, "wait. You will encounter the
mightiest mountains in the Western Hemisphere, mountains to dwarf your
Rockies. You will disappear from all human habitation. You will cross
trackless deserts; perhaps, you will find rivers never explored by white
man. You may run foul of unconquered Indians. Perhaps, you may discover
a new race. Anything is possible in this fascinating and little known
land. All this that you see, all Santiago and Lima and our other
cities--what, after all, is it? Nothing but the fringe of a vast
continent. But, come, let us return, for this afternoon there will be
something worth seeing."
The prediction was borne out for, after luncheon, the band began to play
and young folks from the estate appeared to dance the _cueca_. This is a
dance peculiar to Chile, in which the dancers perform individually. It
is reminiscent of other South American dances--the _bolero_, the
_habanera_, the _bambuco_, the _jota_, the _torbellino_, and the
_fandango_. It is danced with more grace and animation, and with deeper
intensity than the _tango_, that dance peculiar to the Argentine.
"Look at that little Spanish senorita, Jack," whispered Bob,
mischievously, to his chum. "She certainly reminds me of your flame,
Senorita Rafaela. Hey?"
Jack grinned at his comrade's teasing. In reality, however, he never
heard the name of Senorita Rafaela mentioned that he did not feel
sentimental. And this dancing girl did have a coquettish lift of the
fan, a twist of the head, a raising of the eyebrow, that reminded him of
her. Senorita Rafaela, however, was far away, on the Mexican estate of
her father, from whom Jack and Bob two years before had rescued Mr.
Hampton when the latter was a political prisoner. It was no use to think
of her now.
After the dance at the home, four hundred tenants, mounted on splendid
horses, many with handsome Spanish saddles and spurs of silver, escorted
the party to a nearby spot where two platforms had been erected for
dancing. Here the men, young and old, participated in foot and horse
races. Then the young folks went to dancing, while many barbecue fires
for the cooking of meat were lighted, wine was distributed, and the
tenants made festa. It was a truly patriarchal scene, and one never to
be forgotten.
"This is a true example of life on the great Chilian estates," Ferdinand
told the boys, on their way back to Santiago.
CHAPTER IV--HO FOR THE ENCHANTED CITY!
"But, father, we thought you intended first to explore this town of
Potosi for the buried treasure left there by the fugitive Incas before
they fled to the South," said Jack.
"I know, Jack," Mr. Hampton explained, "but Don Ernesto and I have
talked the matter over from every angle, and have decided against going
to Potosi at this season. The summer months are January and February.
And even in summer, it is bleak in that region. The hottest day ever
recorded in Potosi went to only about 59 in the shade. The elevation is
great; Potosi is built on top of a mountain, and there is no fuel. The
mountains are bare of timber, and a camping expedition would run grave
danger of freezing.
"For three hundred years, Potosi has been the center of a silver mining
region that has given up wealth seemingly without exhaustion. More than
two billion ounces of silver have been taken from the mountain on which
it stands, and the mines are still in operation. It is probably the most
famous mountain in the world, this Cerro of Potosi.
"It was from Bolivia," Mr. Hampton added, "that the Inca civilization
started on its career of conquest. Combination of two Indian races, the
_Aymares_ and the _Quibchuas_, the first warlike and the second
industrious, the Inca nation absorbed other civilizations, brought wild
tribes under subjection, and set up an empire remarkably like that of
Rome. And yet," added Mr. Hampton, "there were earlier civilizations of
which next to nothing is known, which also had reached a high state of
development." He spoke not only of the Chimu civilization of which
Ferdinand earlier had told the boys, but added that ruins on the shores
of Lake Titicaca in Bolivia showed there was a civilization in that
region antedating that of Egypt.
"However," said he, "I digress. The point is that, because of the rigors
of winter in Bolivia, we shall not try for the hidden Inca treasure but
shall seek to make our way at once to the Enchanted City."
The above conversation took place several days after the boys had
returned from Almahue, and when Mr. Hampton and Senor de Avilar got back
to Santiago.
"The discovery of this manuscript," Mr. Hampton continued, "is what has
lifted the legend of the Enchanted City out of the mythical. It may be a
hoax, of course. There is always the possibility that someone went to
infinite pains to perpetrate a joke. Yet the evidence is against that.
Apparently the manuscript is very ancient. And Senor de Avilar's
experts, to whom he has submitted it, say that the writing and spelling
are those of an educated Spanish gentleman of the period of the
Conquerors. There were few enough educated men at that time; Pizarro and
Diego de Almagro, his comrade, you know, could neither read nor write.
Yet there were educated men, of course, and one such must have been this
Luis de Pereira, gentleman adventurer, wrecked with de Arguello.
"Since two men, reaching Concepcion in 1557, first gave the outside
world the tale of the Enchanted City, many expeditions have set forth in
search of it. None were successful. At length, a century and a half
later, Fray Menendez, a Franciscan explorer and missionary, after two
years of systematic search, declared the story mythical. And that has
come to be the general opinion. Yet early in the nineteenth century,
silver drinking cups were found among a tribe of forest Indians in the
south, and once more a party of explorers set out. This time, they
started from Punta Arenas, in Patagonia, trying to follow northward the
route pursued by de Arguello. They disappeared, were never heard of
again."
"Perhaps they reached the Enchanted City and stayed there," suggested
Frank, who, like Jack and Bob, was listening with absorbed interest.
"That may have been the case," said Mr. Hampton, "supposing, of course,
that such a place existed. But, what I was going to say, was that the
discovery of this manuscript of Luis de Pereira puts a new complexion on
the matter. While he was not a geographer, and could not give latitude
and longitude, yet he was a keen observer. And his manuscript gives very
definite natural locations of mountains and river, by which we can be
guided. Further, we know the Enchanted City lay on the southern borders
of the land of the Auraucanos."
"Oh," interrupted Jack, "those are the Indians, the great fighters, that
Ferdinand told us about."
"Yes," said his father, "and it is a good thing for us that they are
more amenable today, or we would not even consider an expedition that
would bring us into touch with them. They are the only unconquered
people of South America."
"And the Incas never conquered them, in spite of their powerful armies?"
asked Jack, more in the hope of drawing out his father than by way of
surprise, for the answer to his question Ferdinand earlier had given.
"The Incas were a great people," said his father, not averse to
informing the boys about a race with the modern descendants of whom they
presently might come in contact, "but they could not conquer the
Auraucanos. Neither could the Spaniards, despite armor and cannon. Not
even the Chilians, with the improved weapons of modern times could
conquer the Auraucanos. They are the finest tribe or race of Indians
inhabiting the southern portion of the continent, and it is their
intermarriage with the whites in the last forty or fifty years which has
helped make Chile what it is today--a country with many qualities which
distinguish it from its sister republics.
"The Auraucanos were a nomad, pastoral race, numbering some 400,000 at
the time of the Incas, some writers estimate. They were imbued with a
high order of intelligence, and with a courage unsurpassed. The value of
military organizations was appreciated by them. Indeed, in later years,
of which we have record, they developed several very fine generals,
military tacticians of a high order, such as Latuaro and Caupolican.
Although nomads, they had a ruling family from time immemorial, and from
this family the Chief always was drawn. The hereditary principle
obtained, and the eldest son of a departed Chief ruled in his father's
place unless he was incapable of assuming command of his fellow
warriors, in which case the strongest and bravest warrior was selected.
"When Valdivia, the conqueror of Chile, crossed the river Biobio and
started to penetrate Auraucanian territory, the Auraucanos opposed his
passage. In the beginning, in pitched battle, the Auraucanos with their
bows and arrows, their stone tomahawks, and their wooden sabers edged
with flint, were defeated by the mounted Spaniards, clad in armor. Then
they took to the forest and adopted guerrilla tactics, picking off
single Spaniards and small parties. Every foot of the way was contested,
and when the Spaniards had penetrated a hundred miles south of the
Biobio, the Auraucanos gathered in massed columns and by their daring,
courage and disregard of death overwhelmed the Spaniards and annihilated
them.
"During the Colonial period, the Spaniards renewed the warfare at
frequent intervals, but without success. The Indians had learned how to
use the weapons which they had captured, and obtained repeated
victories. In the end, the Spaniards made peace. The river Biobio was
fixed as the boundary between Auraucania and the colony of Chile.
"The Chilians also were unable to overcome the Auraucanos. In the end,
however, in 1881, the Auraucanian tribal chiefs held a grand council,
and decided to cast in their lot with the people who had overthrown the
Spaniards. They incorporated themselves as citizens of Chile. Probably,
German colonists had something to do with the change of attitude. For
after the unsuccessful revolution of 1848 in Germany, a number of ardent
German revolutionists fled to Chile and settled the city of Osorno, in
Auraucanian territory. They intermarried with the Auraucanos, and today
more German than Spanish is spoken in that part of Chile, and there are
many German-language newspapers printed there."
"Oh," said Jack, in a tone of disappointment, "then they are civilized
Indians today."
His father smiled.
"That is one of the most flourishing parts of the Republic of Chile," he
said. "Yet along the Andes, there is a branch of the Auraucanos that is
still recalcitrant, and whose freedom no government has thought fit to
challenge, because of the apparent barrenness of that mountainous
country. However, that is the region into which we must penetrate. I
don't know whether Ferdinand has told you, but old accounts of the
Enchanted City declare that the Indians of the neighborhood were well
paid by the Incas to preserve inviolate the secret of the location of
their city. This tribe of recalcitrants may be those Indians."
Frank had been sitting with his chin in his hand, thinking. Now he spoke
up.
"Do you think, Mr. Hampton, that there is any likelihood the Enchanted
City is still flourishing?" he asked. "That it is still inhabited by
descendants of the ancient Incas and the Spaniards?"
"That is a hard question to decide, Frank," was the reply. "It would
seem likely that if it continued to flourish, some of its sons would
yearn to see the outside world, and would make the journey and bring
forth news of his home. Inasmuch as nothing of the sort has occurred,
the probability would seem to be that in some fashion or other the
population was wiped out and the Enchanted City fallen to ruin and
decay.
"As I say, that seems by far the most likely supposition. It does not
seem possible, in the first place, that a great city could continue in
existence unknown to the rest of the world for centuries. Curiosity is
one of the basic qualities of human nature. The older folks might be
content to let well enough alone, to remain secluded and unknown in
their city, ringed round by mountains, protected from intrusion by the
great tunnel, by trackless forests, arid deserts and staggering
precipices. But the more adventurous younger spirits, as I say, would
want to know what lay over the hills, and would adventure forth."
"But what would wipe them out?" asked Bob, always the practical.
Mr. Hampton shrugged his shoulders. "Perhaps a plague. Perhaps the
Auraucanos. Who knows? Maybe, some cataclysm of nature like an
earthquake. There are cities in South America today that we know of,
which were ruined in a matter of minutes, by earthquake.
"No, the probabilities all are that, if we do find the Enchanted City,
we will find it in ruins and uninhabited except by wild beasts. Yet what
a wonderful experience it would be to explore those ruins, and what
treasure would be stored there."
Frank nodded.
"Just the same," he said, "I'd like the experience of stepping out of
the present into the past, of walking from a mechanical civilization
into an Inca city."
CHAPTER V--RADIO INVADES THE MONASTERY
Preparations for departure from Santiago did not occupy long, as it was
not intended the expedition should be outfitted at the Chilian capital.
On the contrary, the starting point was to be the isolated Andine
monastery, presided over by Don Ernesto's relative, who had obtained and
forwarded the old manuscript of Luis de Pereira.
"At this old monastery," he told the boys, "we shall spend some time
going over maps, talking with missionary monks who have penetrated
portions of the wild region into which we plan to march, and gathering
our expedition together. Our winter, which corresponds in point of time
to your summer, is drawing to a close. By the time we are ready to move,
spring will have come, and we can travel without too great inconvenience
due to the weather.
"Your father," he explained to Jack, "regrets delaying your return to
college, but he feels that such an expedition will be worth a great deal
to you and your friends."
Mr. Hampton nodded.
"If all goes well," he added, "you fellows will get back to Yale after
the Christmas vacation. Even if you were to miss a whole year of class
work, it would be worth while merely for this unusual experience."
With this the boys were in hearty agreement. Farewells, then, were said
to Santiago. The party, consisting of the two older men, the four boys
and two trusted _huachos_, Pedro and Carlos, set out for the Monastery
of the Cross of the Snows. The Longitudinal Railway, in the valley
between the Cordilleras and the Andes, carried them south to Tembuco in
the Auraucanian land, and thence they made their way by automobile to a
tambo or inn in the Andes, where mules which had been arranged for were
obtained. After a ten-day journey on mule back over trails that skirted
terrible precipices, climbed cliffs seemingly impassable and by means of
rope suspension bridges crossed gorges in the bottoms of which roared
torrents over rocky beds, they at length reached the monastery.
The Abbot, Father Felipe, was a jolly fellow, rotund as a keg, his face
rosy and sparkling with good cheer. They were welcomed warmly. Far
though they were to the south, and despite the fact that they were not
in the loftiest of the mountains, the winter had been rigorous. Had it
not been that it was what is known as an "open winter," in fact, the
trip at that time of year would have been impossible.
The trail by which they reached the monastery was free from snow, but on
the lofty peaks above and in the distance glistened great blankets of
snow, while during the forepart of their journey great Aconcagua's hoary
head had sparkled far away on their left for days.
"Ah, my friend," said Father Felipe, to his relative, as the party
dismounted from mule back in the great courtyard of the monastery, "you
are lucky, indeed, to have had such weather for travel, else would it
have been impossible. Yet what terrible insanity possesses you, what
fever for running up and down the land like a flea is in your blood,
that you should attempt such an expedition. Well did I know how it would
be with you, when I sent you that bit of ancient writing. 'Now the crazy
man will leap upon his mule and come galloping at once to our gates,'
said I to myself. 'And he will cry to Father Felipe to show him the way
to this lost land at once.' Is it not so, my friend?"
And Father Felipe laughed so heartily that his stout frame in its corded
robe shook like a jelly. Don Ernesto, too, laughed, and leaping from his
mule embraced the good priest, at least embraced as much as possible of
his ample form.
"You are always the same, Felipe," said he. "How do you manage to keep
so cheerful in this isolated spot, surrounded by these great mountains,
with their eternal snows? It is a great mystery."
Father Felipe laughed again.
"Ah, my friend," said he, "you should have my equable disposition.
Besides, the food is good, the wine excellent. But, come. Let me know
your friends, and then you shall be taken to the guest rooms. Everything
is prepared for you. After you have rested a little from your journey
you shall try my fare, and then tonight you shall tell me how it goes in
the great world beyond our snows."
Of the weeks drifting into months which the party spent here, there is
no need to tell in detail. Delays of one sort or another, a belated
intensity of winter, operated to keep the party from making a start. But
the life of the monastery was a novelty to all the boys, even to
Ferdinand, and they found much to interest them. Moreover, from Brother
Gregorio, a great linguist, the boys learned the Auraucanian tongue as
well as much of the Inca lore, with which he was saturated. So that, by
and large, they were far from being bored. Moreover, all three practiced
at speaking Spanish until they became extremely proficient in it.
Nor did they come empty-handed. For while the good monks were doing
their best to equip the boys with a knowledge of Spanish and of the
Indian language of the region into which they would penetrate, the three
chums had something of vast interest to impart to their instructors.
That was a knowledge of Radio.
It was Jack who thought of it first. One night, as he and Bob and Frank
sat with Ferdinand and Brother Gregorio before a roaring fire in the
wide chimney place of the guest room assigned them as sitting room, he
introduced the subject. Brother Gregorio looked blank at first. Then, as
Jack in his eagerness to make himself understood, launched into a
description of how speech was transmitted through the air without the
means of wires, the good monk crossed himself.
"Of the telegraph I have heard," he said, "but of this other thing, not
one word. Can it be right? Is this not the work of the Fiend?"
The boys were inclined to laugh, but, as if moved by the same impulse,
forebore lest they wound his feelings. Ferdinand intervened. He was a
devout churchman, and knew how best to disarm Brother Gregorio's
suspicions and lay at rest his fears.
"It is not the work of the Fiend," said he, "but a great discovery of
which the whole world rings. The Holy Father at Rome himself has
manifested an interest in it, and it is but a development of the
wireless telegraph which a good son of Holy Church, Signor Marconi,
earlier invented."
"Ah,"
Brother Gregorio's face cleared. Then eager interest shown in his eyes.
"Tell me about it," he begged.
Jack at once launched into an explanation. He had with him, in his
baggage, moreover, several textbooks of radio. These he produced, and
pressed upon Brother Gregorio, whose knowledge of English would make it
possible for him to study them.
"Best of all, though," added Jack, "we have our field outfit of
generator, tubes, spark coils, batteries and wire with us."
"With that device of yours, Jack, you won't need an aerial," said Frank.
"You can hook in on the electric light socket."
"Righto," said Jack. "That makes it easier."
The monastery had its own electric light and power plant, turbines
utilizing the power generated by a nearby waterfall in the mountains.
The device referred to by Frank was a plug to be inserted in the
ordinary electric light socket, from which wires led to the aerial post
of the instrument. This plug was so constructed that the alternating
current, fatal to the instrument, did not pass through it. Thus the
electric wiring of the house could be employed as aerial. No antenna and
no clumsy lead-in was necessary.
"Look here," said Jack, "Dad has a good receiving outfit with him I
know. He has packed it with him throughout the trip, and has taken
precious good care of it, too. He and Ferd's father are in with Father
Felipe at this time. Just excuse me, and I'll be right back. We ought to
be able to make use of that outfit right now."
The whole party returned with Jack, and he and his father, assisted by
Bob and Frank, set rapidly to work. As they worked, Jack talked
excitedly.
"We shall have something here presently, Father Felipe, that will
astonish you and Brother Gregorio. How silly of me not to think of it
before. Probably, however, I did not consider there would be any radio
broadcasting in this part of the world to listen to. But I remember now.
_La Presna_, the great newspaper of Buenos Ayres, recently built a great
broadcasting station, and I read in a scientific article recently that
it can be heard clear across the Argentine Pampas, thousands of miles,
to the mountains.
"Here we are in the mountains now. And with this device of mine for
hooking up, and Dad's outfit, we ought to be able to hear _La Presna's_
concerts. Now for the loud speaker, Dad. Let's hook her up, and we'll be
ready."
While Jack feverishly manipulated the controls, the others looked on
with varying expressions. Not a word was said. All crowded around.
Suddenly there was a faint whirring as of the buzzing of bees. Then that
gave 'way to a noisy crackling. That, too, disappeared, and in its place
there floated out into that ancient stone-walled room a rich,
mellifluous tenor voice singing an air from "Manon."
Father Felipe and Brother Gregorio were so astounded that their mouths
opened and they stood, thus, speechless, while the song continued. At
its conclusion, a voice in Spanish emanated from the loud speaker,
announcing the next number on the programme would be orchestral, and
immediately the room was filled with the dashing rhythm of a wild
Argentine melody. Number succeeded number until, in conclusion, the
voice announced the concert for the following evening.
Brother Gregorio's face was radiant, but in the presence of his
superior, he refrained from speech. Father Felipe, however, was under no
restraint. He was delighted beyond measure. Moreover, he showed that he
was a man of imagination.
"To think," said he, "that all we heard was in far-distant Buenos Ayres.
Who knows but that some day we can hear Rome just as easily? Who knows
but that some day now the Holy Father himself can speak to us, his
children, in his own voice, though we dwell at the ends of the earth?
Yet men foolishly say the day of miracles has passed. This is as truly a
miracle as anything that has ever happened."
He spoke with energy. His face was flushed, his eyes alight. Don Ernesto
regarded his cousin slyly.
"How now, Felipe," said he, "you show all this enthusiasm over hearing
operatic music or the dance of the Pampas guachero within monastic
walls?"
Father Felipe smiled.
"Ninny," said he. "Why not? It was good music. Yes," he added,
energetically, "and tomorrow night, if our good young friend will
arrange it, we shall have all the brethren assemble in the Great Hall
and hear this concert."
"I am rebuked, Felipe," said the other. "You are, indeed, a father to
your brethren. How they will enjoy this."
CHAPTER VI--A SENDING STATION BUILT
And enjoy it, the monks did, the following night. But to make it
possible for all in the Great Hall to hear, Jack and Bob and Frank
worked hard the next day. A number of ram's horns were obtained, the
ends cut off so that an aperture an inch and a half in diameter was
left, and the interior bored out. These were then placed in various
parts of the Great Hall and connected by wires to the magnavox. The
result was that the nightly concert broadcasted in distant Buenos Ayres
could be heard in the remotest part of the Great Hall as clearly as if
singer and orchestra were in the room itself.
"What marvellous music," Frank exclaimed, later that night, as, the
concert ended, they sat once more before their fire.
Mr. Hampton nodded.
"Better than any broadcasting programme in our country by far," he said.
"And with reason. Buenos Ayres is one of the great artistic centers of
the world. It possesses the finest opera house in the world. The Colon
Opera House surpasses the best in Europe. Its auditorium is larger than
any in London, Paris or Berlin, and its equipment and appointments are
of the most luxurious and artistic.
"Yet this great opera house is not the only musical outlet of the
Argentine capital. In the winter season there are always at least three
grand opera houses in full swing, with world-famous artists at each. In
addition, there are minor operatic performances all the time. In fact,
Buenos Ayres is one of the leading operatic centers of the world, and
many a famous opera singer has graduated from its conservatories. These
latter are more than a hundred in number, conducted by teachers of note.
So you see _La Presna_ has a wealth of the best artists and musicians to
draw upon for its radio concerts."
"But, Mr. Hampton," said Frank, astonished, "this newspaper must be
awfully powerful and important to obtain the services of these fine
artists. And rich, too."
"Yes, Frank, _La Prensa_ is, indeed, powerful, important and rich," said
Mr. Hampton. "It occupies a position far different from newspapers in
New York or in any other North American city. Like the best of South
American newspapers, it is less provincial and less sensational than our
own newspapers, and more cosmopolitan and educative. It occupies what is
by all odds the handsomest newspaper building in the world,--a building
as magnificent as the finest palaces of Europe. Among other of its many
features, it has in that building a private theatre where visiting
singers, actors and lecturers give private performances. _La Presna_
will give no publicity whatsoever to any such public characters unless
it considers them worthy. Doubtless, these radio concerts are given in
that private theatre."
"Well," said Jack, "at all events, these concerts certainly break the
monotony of the long nights here in the monastery. It is wonderful that
Father Felipe permits us to give them. Yes, even urged us to do so.
Isn't that acting in a pretty broad manner for the head of a monastery?"
"These missionary monks, Jack," his father explained, "are not of the
ascetic type. They are very human persons, indeed; in fact, they
resemble the parish priests of the United States in that respect. You
remember that Father Collins of the parish near us at home built a
Community Hall where he gives motion picture shows and radio concerts?"
"Yes, I know," Jack said. "But monks! It is hard for me to reconcile
this jolly, wholesome houseful of men with my preconceived ideas of a
monastery."
"Just because a man does good for mankind, you should not expect him to
be a perpetual cloud of gloom, Jack," said his father. "Another thing
which you must remember is that these men, Father Felipe, Brother
Gregorio, and the others, are South Americans. That is, they come of a
race in which the love of music is ingrained. No people on earth are so
fond of music as these. Nowhere is music so universally accepted as
here.
"Moreover, these men are Chilians and Argentinians. That means a good
deal, for Chile and the Argentine are the two South American countries
in which the proportion of white blood is highest. Spanish, Italian,
French and German are the predominant strains, and all represent
music-loving races."
It is to be feared, however, that the boys, while paying polite
attention, in reality were thinking of other matters. Bob had a hand up
to shade his eyes and was dozing. Jack was gazing into the leaping
flames in the fireplace, and there was a faraway look in his eyes as his
thoughts traveled back to those days when he rescued his father from the
palace of Don Fernandez y Calomares in the Sonora mountains of Old
Mexico, and met the charming Senorita Rafaela during the course of his
mission. As to Frank, it was not difficult to gather from his next words
of what he had been thinking.
"Look here, Jack," said he, as Mr. Hampton finished his little lecture,
"what's to prevent our utilizing the water power and the power plant of
the monastery, and setting up a radio sending station? It would be lots
of fun, and would help pass the time until the expedition is ready to
start."
Jack's eyes lighted up with enthusiasm, as his thoughts came back from
faraway Mexico. Bob's head snapped up with a jerk.
"Good idea," approved Jack.
It was Mr. Hampton, however, who added the crowning touch.
"Your suggestion is fine, Frank," said he. "And with such a station at
our base, and a field radio equipment to keep us in touch with each
other, we should be safeguarded against almost any accident. If we
become lost, injured in attack from savages or in accidents due to
wilderness travel, or if we suffer any big misfortune necessitating
help, we can communicate the facts of our predicament to the base here.
Father Felipe is a resourceful man, and undoubtedly would find some way
to come to our aid."
For some time longer, plans for the construction of the proposed station
were discussed. The biggest item to be supplied would be wire, but this
Mr. Hampton considered they probably could find at the monastery, as the
institution, because of its isolation and the difficulty of bringing in
stores from the outside, would have a considerable stock on hand at the
power plant.
Such, indeed, proved to be the case, and early the next day work on the
proposed sending station was begun. Several of the monks who were clever
artisans, were assigned by Father Felipe to the work. At the monastery,
all inmates had trades in which they were proficient, and all the work
of farming, building, electric wiring, etc., was done by monks.
Day by day the work progressed, halted only at times when storms swept
down from the mountains and buried the monastery in a blanket of snow.
To the boys it was interesting and enjoyable, of course, but to the
monks it was far more. As they worked under the boys' directions, it
seemed to them they were helping effect a miracle.
Moreover, the nightly concerts continued, and of these Brother Gregorio
said to the boys:
"When our plant is completed, we must send a message to _La Presna_,
telling of our gratitude. Perhaps, too," he suggested timidly, "you will
let me speak to the editor of this invention of yours whereby we were
enabled to utilize our monastery wiring instead of running up what you
call it--an aerial?"
Jack shook his head, smiling.
"Other men have been working on that same device," he said, "at least on
that same idea. Presently some firm will perfect one and put it on the
market in the United States. Then it will be farewell to the aerial with
its poles and lead-ins, arresters and ground switches. Outside aerials
and clumsy indoor loops will be things of the past."
"Why didn't you market this device yourself, Jack?" asked Frank. "You
worked it out toward the end of the year at Yale. If you had patented
it, and put it on the market, you could have made a fortune."
"Perhaps I could have made a fortune, as you say, Frank. But the truth
of the matter is that when Dad mentioned the possibility of his
expedition, every other thought fled out of my mind. And it was just as
well, for to have put this on the market would have meant repeated
conferences with manufacturers, trips to Washington, and one thing and
another. I would have had to give up making this expedition, and I
couldn't bring myself to do that."
Frank nodded.
"Imagine doing that," he said. "I'd sooner kiss the fortune goodbye.
Besides, what a chance here to make a fortune, if we find the Enchanted
City! And that will be a lot more romantic way of making it than by a
business move."
Mr. Hampton, who had approached in time to hear the conclusion of this
conversation, shook his head, but smiled, nevertheless.
"Won't you fellows ever grow up?" he asked.
Jack grinned.
"You're a fine one to talk to us like that, Dad," he said. "Look at your
own case. Here you are, an engineer of international reputation,
exacting princely fees for your services. Yet you go and sacrifice what
probably will amount to a whole year of your time, in order to make this
expedition."
Mr. Hampton returned Jack's broad grin with interest.
"I am properly rebuked, Jack," he said. "Well, what's more fun than
doing what you like to do, once in a while? When I was a boy I had to
work pretty hard, for my people were poor. I worked my own way through
college. All the time, I dreamed of adventurous and romantic
expeditions, but I had no chance to make them. My nose must always be
between the covers of a textbook at night. My thoughts must be on
business during the day.
"As a matter of fact, my recollection of my own youth actuated me in
giving you this chance. I know what a boy wants. I was denied it myself,
and I mean you shall have better luck."
Turning abruptly, he walked away. The boys were silent. When he was out
of earshot, Frank said earnestly:
"Jack, your father is a prince."
"I never heard him talk quite so freely of his own youth before," said
Jack, thoughtfully. "I want to know more about it."
Without further explanation, he, too, set off in his father's wake.
CHAPTER VII--THE EXPEDITION GETS UNDER WAY
With the coming of the first warm weather, delightful and interesting
though their stay at the monastery had proven to be, the boys were eager
to get under way upon the last stage of their hunt for the Enchanted
City. Don Ernesto and Mr. Hampton, though less enthusiastic on the
surface, were no whit less desirous to be moving on than the boys.
Father Felipe, reluctant to part with them, for they had enlivened the
placid hours of life in the lonely monastery immeasurably, nevertheless
saw that it would be useless any longer to interpose objections to their
departure.
"Good weather has arrived," he said, at length, one balmy day. "I know
the mountains. There will be no more snow or cold winds. Rain, yes. For
on this western slope of the Andes we always have showers and
thunderstorms. But snow, no. Spring is definitely here.
"I wish I could dissuade you, my friend," he said to Don Ernesto, in a
graver tone than was customary for the jolly Abbot to employ. "I wish,
indeed, you could be persuaded to turn aside from this foolish
adventure. I have a feeling that grave danger will come to you. My
spirits seem depressed."
"Ah, Father Felipe, you have not dined well today," said Don Ernesto, in
a sympathetic tone belied by his dancing eyes. "A trace of indigestion,
maybe. I, too, often feel depressed for like cause."
"Nay," said Father Felipe, indignantly. "A little fish, coffee--what is
there in this to give me indigestion? But you must joke, you crazy man,
eager to run up and down mountains and poke your nose into places where
white men have never trod. There will be trouble, I tell you, trouble."
And the good Abbot sighed like a miniature earthquake.
Brother Gregorio, also, was reluctant to see the party set out. The
boys, all four of them, had endeared themselves to him. Especially was
he fond of Frank, in whose quick, responsive mind and sensitive spirit
he seemed to sense a kindred strain.
The boys found him at the power plant, pottering around, when they told
him of their imminent departure. His face fell, and for a time he could
find no words to utter. He had known, of course, that their stay would
not be forever. But so long had it lasted during the winter months that
it had seemed to him as if matters would continue in _statu quo_ or
without change for an indefinite period. Now to be told that they were
going to leave within the week was a blow.
At length he walked away from the group, and stood on the brink of the
pool into which cascaded the water from the falls, his hands behind him,
his back to the group.
"He takes it hard," said Jack. "Frank, he likes you best of all. We'll
leave you here with him."
Frank nodded.
"I guess that's a good idea," he said soberly. "Brother Gregorio is a
fine fellow, and we understand each other."
As the others departed, they looked back and saw Frank go up to the monk
and place an arm over his shoulders. They stood thus for a long time, no
words interchanged.
When it came to the point of packing for the journey, there was much
that could not be taken along. Brother Gregorio, indeed, would have
loaded each man like a pack mule with his gifts of this, that and the
other--of clothing, boots, ponchos, prayer books and what not, of
medicine cases and packages of herbs and simple remedies. Nor were
Father Felipe or the many other monks to whom the various members of the
party had endeared themselves, the less behindhand in their offerings.
"We can't take all this stuff," said Jack, in comical dismay, as he
stood in their common sitting room, surrounded by bundles, boxes, heaps
and bales. "What'll we do with it? Every single thing that I take up, I
say to myself, 'Well, this will be absolutely useless, and just in our
way. But if we don't take it, we shall break Brother Gregorio's heart or
Father Felipe's heart or somebody's else heart.' What are we going to
do?"
Mr. Hampton shook his head.
"There are only eight of us, Jack," he said. "And we can't overload
ourselves. We have difficult country through which to make our
way--country that for a large part is trackless and uncharted. We can
afford to take only essentials."
"Yes, but, Dad, Brother Gregorio and the rest of them consider all they
have given us as essential."
Don Ernesto laughed.
"Bale up what we can't take, and leave it here against our return," he
said. "Let none of the monks see what has been taken and what left
behind. Thus no feelings will be hurt."
Jack's face brightened.
"Good idea," he said. "Well, come on fellows. Now this we can't take,
and this and this."
For hours they were busy sorting out the useless gifts, and for other
hours busy packing them securely and stowing away in the sitting room to
await their return.
At length the expedition was ready to start. The mules were packed,
Carlos, Pedro and the monks being expert in the art. Besides the
necessary food supplies and camping equipment, the luggage contained
field radio equipment of various sorts. There was a tube transmitter,
several sizes of spark coil, coils of fine wire, and duplications of the
standard U. S. Army field radio--several sets of hollow, light steel
poles in collapsible sections, a hand-operated quarter-kilowatt
generator, headphones and batteries being the main articles.
"With the tube transmitter we can reach you at our base here, Father
Felipe, for short distances," said Mr. Hampton. "But for long distance
work, the tube transmitter and batteries would not be strong enough. In
that case, this little generator will be the thing to employ. You might
consider us foolish to take all these duplications of equipment, but
they do not weigh much and, we have so distributed all among the mule
packs, that even if part become lost, we shall still have others upon
which to fall back."
Father Felipe looked about him at the assembled monks, and smiled.
"If you get into a tight place," he said, "call on us for help. It may
seem foolish to offer you the help of men of peace, yet we are no puling
men here, but strong, stout fellows all. Even should you be taken
prisoners and require stout arms to rescue you, call upon us. There be
many here who have soldiered in the past and who could strike a right
good blow in a righteous cause, I warrant you."
"I can easily believe that, Father Felipe," answered Mr. Hampton with a
smile. "Well, bid us Godspeed, and we shall be on our way."
The Abbot embraced Mr. Hampton, Don Ernesto and the boys unaffectedly.
Brother Gregorio and Frank did likewise. The other monks raised a cheer.
Then there was a period of silence while all knelt with uncovered head,
and Father Felipe prayed aloud for the safe return of the expedition.
Not until then did they swing off along a trail up the side of a
mountain that would presently vanish upon a bare mountain top, they were
assured, after which they would have to trust to their own energy and
resource for getting forward. At a bend in the trail all halted and
faced about for a last look at the monastery.
"It makes me feel as if I were living in mediaeval times," said Frank.
"The stout Abbot and his jolly monks, us setting off afoot with a mule
train, the prayer delivered over us as we start. Boy, this is the way to
live."
Jack reached over to clasp his chum's hand strongly, and Mr. Hampton
regarded the two with a little smile of sympathy.
"I feel the same way, boys," he said. "This is something I've always
wanted to do. Yes, it is good to be alive and starting out on an
adventure of which no man can guess the end."
"Just a boy, you are, my friend," said Don Ernesto, jestingly. "But I,
too. I, too. Come, let us get forward."
CHAPTER VIII--JACK HAS A MISHAP
Of that trip during the ensuing days there is little of moment to
record. Sometimes they advanced less than five miles a day. Sometimes,
where the going was easy, through a valley leading in their general
direction, perchance, where there was little underbrush and the
benchland along the stream gave firm footing, the distance travelled was
considerably more.
But, whether the going was easy or hard, whether few miles were covered
or many, there was not a foot of it all that was not intensely
interesting to the boys, and not only to the three New York lads, but to
Ferdinand as well.
Steadily they mounted higher into the mountains, skirting precipices of
which sometimes the bottom could not be seen. On one occasion, as they
made camp at night upon a lofty meadow against the shoulder of a
mountain on one side, and with a precipitous drop on the other, they
looked over the edge into the abyss and drew back frightened.
"Why, you can't even see the bottom," exclaimed Jack. "It's hidden by
the clouds."
Which was true; for five hundred feet below lay a fleecy stratum of
cloud, through which on the edges projected the tops of trees, but which
in the middle was as unbroken as a placid sea. Across the valley the sun
was setting in the west, its rays red as blood upon the side of the
mountain behind them and upon their faces. Then the sun seemed quite
suddenly to slip below the mountain top, the sky became colder in
appearance, and a chill wind swept down out of the mountains, while the
cloud sea below began to stir and toss a little under the wind's
fretting.
"By Jiminy," said big Bob, "I'll bet it's so deep down there, if I toss
this stone overboard you'll never hear it fall."
He suited action to word. The stone ripped through the clouds and the
boys held their breath to listen. Not a sound came back to them.
"Whew," shivered Frank. "Come on, let's get away from the precipice
before some demon pushes us in. Up here I begin to believe in demons and
warlocks, kobolds and gnomes."
They hurried toward the fire which Carlos and Pedro had built.
On another occasion, as they were climbing early one morning out of a
high valley over the shoulder of a mountain, Jack slipped on a rock that
turned under his foot, and, falling to his side, began sliding down
hill. Not far away was another precipice, with a sheer drop into a rocky
ravine where there were not even any trees to break his fall.
Mr. Hampton made a leap for his son, but he was too far away to be able
to reach him in time. Jack meanwhile was clawing desperately at the
ground, in an attempt to stay his downward progress. Frank, who was
nearer than Mr. Hampton, also started for Jack, impeded, however, by the
necessity of watching his own footsteps to prevent slipping. It was big
Bob, however, who saved his comrade, and he did it in a novel way.
At a glance, his quick eye took in the situation. He saw that the ground
sloped so sharply that whoever should run to Jack's rescue might merely
hasten his descent by further loosening the loose rocks that lay
everywhere about and sending them down on the sliding figure.
Further, would there be time for a man to reach Jack? He believed not.
But by his side, over a pack on the mule with which he had been keeping
pace, hung a coiled lasso. Two years before, during their stay in New
Mexico, Bob had been fascinated by the manipulations of the lasso, of
which his cowboy friends were capable. He had worked under their
tutelage, and had acquired considerable dexterity. On his present trip,
he had amazed the monks by his skill, and had kept his hand in with
constant practise.
Seizing the lasso, he measured the distance, swung once, twice, thrice
around his head, and then let fly. The coil straightened out through the
air. The noose descended over Jack's upflung arm and trunk. His feet
braced, Bob let the rope out gently, while Jack slid a matter of several
feet more.
Thus Bob prevented too great strain being put upon the rope that might
upset him, and also refrained from injuring his chum.
Jack came to rest, outstretched, one arm pinioned by the lasso, which
passed beneath the other armpit. His feet were already over the edge of
the precipice.
"Give me a hand, Frank, and you, Mr. Hampton," panted Bob.
They sprang to obey.
Inch by inch at first, Jack was pulled back from the brink, until he was
sufficiently far removed from it to warrant him in gaining his feet.
Then he made his way, limping, helped by the steady tug on the rope,
back to his comrades.
"Bob, you saved my life," he said. "I won't forget."
Then he sat down weakly, and dropped his head to his hands.
"Here, Jack," said his father, "take a sip of this. It will steady you,"
and he set a flask to Jack's lips.
Presently, Jack regained his feet, and with a shake, pulled himself
together.
"I'm all right now," he said. "But--for a moment or two there--I felt as
if I still were on the brink and just toppling over. I tell you, that
was no joke. There wasn't even a stunted bush to grab at as I slid
down."
Day succeeded day, sometimes sudden storms forcing them to seek shelter
in mid-day, before they contemplated going into camp. These storms in
the mountains come up suddenly. The sky would darken, thunder roll
reverberatingly along the hills, lightning flash, and then would come a
tremendous downpour of rain. Quickly as the storm arose, however, it
went as quickly.
Always as they pushed ahead, they climbed higher into the mountains.
"But, Dad," protested Jack one day, "can it be the Enchanted City was
among these lofty peaks? Would de Arguello's expedition, for instance,
have gotten so high?"
"Patience, Jack," explained Mr. Hampton. "Tomorrow, I believe, we start
descending. We are almost at the top of a range of mountains now. Today,
several times, I caught glimpses of a snow-clad range beyond--so far
away, indeed, that I believe there must be a great central valley
between. Somewhere in there, if our vague directions left by de Pereira
are of any value, lies the Enchanted City."
That a great central valley did intervene between that range and the
next was proven next day when, coming through a pass, they discerned a
tossing, forest-clad wilderness of scarp and mountain, lake and river,
cut up by mountains irregularly scattered about, spread out below them.
The next regular chain of mountains, paralleling that through which they
had been making their way, lay far beyond, and their peaks were white
with snows.
"We shall have difficulty exploring this wilderness below us," said Don
Ernesto. "This is beyond any regions where white men go. There are
hostile branches of the Auraucanos down there--somewhere. Somewhere down
there, too, lies the Enchanted City, however. And if it is to be found,
we shall find it. Game and water, at least, shall not be wanting. Come."
They set off as into a promised land.
CHAPTER IX--SURPRISED IN THE FOREST
"I wonder where Dad is?"
For the twentieth time in the last hour, Jack, striding up and down in
the little forest glade, high up in the mountains, where camp had been
pitched the day before, came to a halt before Frank and Bob,
out-sprawled and napping in their hammocks, and asked his question. They
had reached this spot after weeks of travel from the monastery.
"Yes," said Ferdinand, coming up, "and my father?"
He, too, had been doing a restless sentry-go to and fro, unable to
remain quiet.
Three hours before, shortly after dawn, the two older men had left the
camp in company with Carlos, to hunt small game. They had promised to
return in a couple of hours.
"Oh, they're just an hour or so overdue, Jack," said Frank, putting
aside a book of old Inca tales which he had been reading, and examining
his watch. "I don't think there is anything for you two to worry about.
They'll be back shortly."
"Yes," said Bob, comfortably, stretching and yawning, "they probably
went a little farther than they expected to, that's all."
Jack shook his head.
"I haven't heard the report of any firearms since they left," he said.
"I'm afraid they may have wandered too far afield, not finding any game
close at hand, and in these great trackless forests they may easily have
become lost."
"What does Pedro say?" asked Frank.
With an exclamation, Ferdinand called to his retainer in Spanish, and
the latter approached. There was a rapid interchange of conversation.
Pedro shook his head in negation, and spread out his hands.
"No, Carlos has never been in these mountains."
Ferdinand's expression became worried. He shook his head, as he turned
to the others.
"What shall we do?"
"We will have to start looking for them," said Jack, determinedly. "They
are lost. There is no doubt about it. But in these forests they may have
swung about in a circle, and be near camp without realizing it. I'll
climb this great tree here in the clearing, and look around first. Then,
if I cannot see them, four of us can set out to the four quarters of the
compass, while the fifth remains in camp to fire off a gun at frequent
intervals. That will serve to keep the searchers in touch with camp, and
also will act as a guide to the others, in case they are within sound of
the gun."
Jack's spirits had sunk low, despite his confident tone. He had a
premonition of evil. The fact that no gun shots had been heard, led him
to believe that the party at the very least had gone far astray. In that
case, of what use for the searchers to stay within sound of a gun. The
possibility of finding traces of a trail which could be followed,
however, occurred to him. Without further words, he sprang into the tree
and began clambering up the great trunk.
On the Chilian side, the mountains of the south are forest-clad and,
because of the heavy rainfall on the west coast, there are numerous
streams and lakes cutting them up. On the eastern or Argentinian slope,
however, so little rain falls that the mountains are almost entirely
bare of verdure.
The spot in which the party had pitched camp was a thickly-forested
valley through which flowed a clear mountain stream. They had been
unable, because of the density of the forest, to see much of their
surroundings on arrival late the previous afternoon. In the morning,
therefore, the two older men and Carlos had gone scouting as much as in
search of game.
Before their departure, Mr. Hampton had called Jack to him.
"Undoubtedly, Jack," he had said, "we are getting close to our
destination. Somewhere in this region must lie the Enchanted City. Once
let us find a valley containing one great lake and three smaller ones,
as described by de Pereira, and we shall have the first of our definite
landmarks. However, although we must be close to our destination, it has
never been found yet so far as outsiders know, and we may not succeed,
either.
"It is possible," he had added, thoughtfully, "that some descendants of
the old Incas may still reside in the Enchanted City, just barely
possible. If so, I have sometimes thought, there may be a reasonable
explanation for the failure of any reports of their city to reach the
outside world. Few as are the men who push into these trackless forests
and vast mountains, there yet must have been some who did so in the last
two or three centuries. They may have been captured and either killed or
imprisoned, in order to guard the secret of the city."
Jack was thinking of these words of his father as he continued to climb
higher and higher into the tree, and his heart sank. That premonition of
evil which weighed him down! Did it mean, perhaps, that there really
still did exist dwellers in the Enchanted City, and that his father's
party had been surprised and captured? He would not let himself believe
they could have been killed, but resolutely set his face against the
thought.
Arrived at a height beyond which, because of the thinning of the trunk,
which already swayed under his weight, he did not dare to go, Jack at
last found time to look about him. He hooked one arm about the trunk of
the tree, twined his legs about it, and with his free hand fumbled at
the case slung by a strap about his neck, which enclosed the field
glasses.
Meantime, his gaze roved over the scene. Down-stream he could see the
break in the mountains through which they had entered the valley. To
either side, the tree-clad heights sloped up. But ahead----
An exclamation broke from him. It was that direction which his father
had taken, following down the stream. Now he could see what had not been
discernible from the ground, namely, that ahead the forest walls
narrowed to a pass. And through this he could see the glint of sunshine
upon water.
He set the glasses to his eyes and adjusted the focus. The water now
resolved itself into what evidently was a considerable body, the ends of
which he could not see. For a considerable time he gazed upon it,
without discerning any signs of life or movement. Then, sweeping the
hills, but without result, he descended.
"Look here, fellows," he said, "that other plan of mine to strike out in
four directions in the belief that, perhaps, the others became lost and
wandered in a circle, is unnecessary. There is only one direction in
which to look for them I am convinced, and that is directly ahead."
Thereupon, he described what he had seen.
"You see, it isn't likely that they would have wandered in a circle,
because the sides of this valley are so close together that they would
soon have been upon a slope, and have realized their predicament.
Moreover, although the sky was gray and overcast when they set out, yet
the sun since has dispersed the clouds."
Investigation of his father's effects earlier had shown Jack that he had
set out without his pocket compass, probably feeling that the stream was
sufficient guide. And it was this fact which had brought Jack's anxiety
to high pitch.
"Well, the best thing then is for us to go downstream, isn't it?" asked
Bob.
Jack nodded.
"One of us should stay in camp," said he. "Which shall it be?"
Frank thought a moment.
"You and Ferdinand must go with the search party," said he. "Both of you
are worried about your fathers. Bob and Pedro and I will draw straws."
Then Pedro unexpectedly objected.
"Master Ferdinand," he said, in an anxious tone, plucking the other by
the sleeve. "You know I am no coward. Yet I have the feeling all is not
well. And I do not care to stay here alone."
"Why, Pedro, nothing can happen to you," said Ferdinand. "You will be in
this clearing where nobody can approach unseen. And you will be armed."
Pedro shrugged, but was silent.
"Have you seen anything to make you fear?" Ferdinand asked, gazing at
him keenly.
Pedro's voice was low.
"No," said he. "Naught have I seen. But I feel it. Here." And he placed
a hand upon his breast. "There is some evil in these forests."
"Here, here," said Frank, interrupting. "This search must not be
delayed. I'll stay."
"And I'll stay with you," said Bob. "Three's enough for the search."
Frank threw him a grateful look, knowing well that it was consideration
for him which prompted his big chum's proffer. Nevertheless, he started
to protest, but Jack interrupted.
"Good idea," he said. "Well, let's go. If we get into any sort of
trouble, we'll fire three times in rapid succession. As for guide, if we
follow the stream, we cannot go astray."
He did not put it into words, but Pedro's premonition of evil had
effected him, coming as it did in confirmation of his own vague yet
powerful fears. He wanted to plunge ahead without more delay. Therefore,
with Ferdinand and Pedro at his heels, he set off rapidly down the
stream.
As their friends disappeared, Frank, looking thoughtful, turned to his
chum.
"Bob, I don't know what to make of all this," he said. "But I have a
hunch it would not be a bad idea for us to keep some sort of watch,
instead of merely dozing. So I'll take the first watch for an hour, and
then you can relieve me."
"Suit yourself," said Bob, indifferently. "I don't see what's the matter
with all you fellows, though. Mr. Hampton and Ferdinand's father
couldn't find any game close at hand, and kept on pushing farther ahead
than they had expected to go. That's all it is. Nothing to worry about."
Despite his friend's easy manner, however, Frank could not shake off the
feeling of worry that possessed him. Most sensitive of all the boys, it
was he who was accustomed to feel first of all the influence of evil
close at hand. And, in fact, it had been so in the present case. But he
had cloaked his feelings in order not to aggravate Jack's worry
regarding his father.
Now, while Bob lay on his back, his hands under his head, in the
hammock, and talked in scattered sentences, Frank sat with his rifle
across his knees, on a stool before the tent, with his bright eyes
roving over the clearing, searching the trees and underbrush.
Suddenly he leaped to his feet and threw his rifle to his shoulder,
while big Bob, startled into wakefulness by the abrupt movement, rolled
out of his hammock to the ground.
Then out of the woods stepped a young man clad in a soft white tunic,
belted with a golden girdle, wearing shoes of soft untanned leather that
came almost to his knees, and having gold bracelets about his arms above
the elbow, and anklets of gold about his legs.
"Forebear, Senor," he commanded, in a rich yet imperious tone. "You are
surrounded."
Archaic though the Spanish was, Frank could understand. Especially, as,
following with his gaze the wave of the other's hand about the clearing,
he saw step from the trees a ring of forms similarly clad.
CHAPTER X--IN THE HANDS OF THE INCAS
Even then Frank and Bob would have fought for their freedom, stupefied
though they were. In fact Bob, who had fallen to the ground in tumbling
from the hammock, had seized his gun which was standing against the
tree, but the commanding voice of the glittering stranger again bade him
forebear.
"Behold, we, too, have fire sticks that speak with tongues of flame and
carry the unseen death."
He swept his hand again around the clearing. And the two young fellows
saw in the hands of the score of men ringing them 'round, weapons
mounted in silver and gold and ancient in appearance, yet firearms,
nevertheless, it was not to be doubted.
"Lower your gun, Bob, but don't relinquish it," whispered Frank, in
English. Then in Spanish, and seeking to put into his voice all the
imperiousness which he could summon, he added:
"We are travelers on peaceful business. By what right do you steal upon
us like this? Surely," he added, in a tone of scorn, "you are not
thieves who would rob us of our few belongings."
"You come into a land whence no man may bear report abroad," said the
other, darkly. "Yet fear not. Your lives are not in danger, if you will
but yield peacefully. And"--he added, simply--"if you would fight, these
would die for me. Though some be killed, yet can you not hope to
escape."
The two looked at each other.
"Ask him where the others are," said Bob. "I can hardly understand his
lingo. Sounds like Spanish, all right, yet it's a new kind of Spanish to
me. You get along better than I do, so fire away."
"We had some friends," began Frank. But he was interrupted.
"They are alive and in our hands," said the stranger. "Speak. Will you
fight or submit?"
"And you promise we shall not be slain?" asked Frank.
He realized that such a promise would not be worth much, perhaps, yet
that it would be suicidal to attempt to fight. As the stranger had said,
though they might kill some of the enemy, yet inevitably they must
themselves be slain. They were hemmed in, and without shelter, and the
men ringing them 'round were determined-looking fellows of military
bearing.
"I have said," answered the leader.
"Then we surrender," said Frank. "But I warn you that we are citizens of
the United States and that our government will demand an accounting for
us."
The leader regarded them with a slight trace of bewilderment. Then his
face cleared, and he said:
"I do not understand your words. But suffice it you are in the Forbidden
Land. Now lay down your sticks of fire."
The boys complied. As they bent over, their heads close together, Frank
whispered in a low voice:
"We're up against it, Bob. He never heard of the United States."
At a sign from the leader, two men advanced to the sides of each of the
boys, deprived them of their revolvers, and then, disdaining to tie
their hands, led them to one side. There Bob and Frank stood, a soldier
on each side of him, clad in tunic and soft leather boots, and looked on
while the others of the company packed up the camp baggage, struck the
tents, led up the mules from their pasturage nearby, and loaded them.
Camp was struck in an incredibly short time, and they started downstream
and out of the valley.
The leader of the party had a proud, hawklike face, and as he strode
ahead, Frank's eyes kept returning fascinatedly to that profile.
"Bob," he said, "I'll bet we've fallen into the hands of the Incas."
His speech was in English, but at the concluding word the soldiers
guarding him looked sharply at Frank. The leader, too, spun around. He
glanced sharply at the boys, then once more looked away. No word was
said. But both boys noted the glances cast at them, and both were quick
to understand.
Incas! Frank had guessed correctly.
"Did you see that?" asked Frank.
Bob nodded.
"Well, Bob, we're in for the experience of our lives. And as long as
Jack and his father and the rest of the party are all right, I can't say
that I object. We've stumbled on the Enchanted City, or I miss my guess.
At least, we've gotten near it, and have been taken prisoner by the
inhabitants. But think of finding descendants of those old boys, after
all these centuries, hidden away from the world, and not a soul knowing
anything about it.
"Why, Bob, there has been nothing like it in history."
Bob nodded, but his voice was more sober as he replied:
"Yes, it's a pretty safe guess that we've found what we came searching
for. But from all appearances, we may not be able to leave it. Didn't
that chap call this the 'Forbidden Land?'"
"Yes."
"And didn't he say something about our being in a place of which no
report was allowed to get out?"
"Yes."
"That's what I thought. But I couldn't understand him very well. My
Spanish isn't the best in the world, anyhow."
"He speaks what I expect is very ancient Spanish," Frank replied. "You
know the story--how those old Spaniards stayed and intermarried. Well,
the language has been handed down. It's hard for me to understand, but I
can make out what he means well enough."
Both boys had been careful not again to mention the word "Inca," which
originally had stirred the interest of their captors. They walked along
in silence, until Bob presently resumed.
"Well, what I started to say was that it looks to me as if the reason
why no report of the Enchanted City has ever gotten out is that they
have captured whoever came near them and either killed them or taken
them into the tribe."
"Tribe?" Frank laughed. "These aren't wild Indians. They are members of
the strangest race in the history of the world, or I miss my guess."
"What do you think we'll find?"
"I don't know, Bob. But you can count on its being something marvellous.
Look how these men obey their leader. He must be a prince of the royal
blood. But look what we're coming to."
The travel along the stream carried them into an ever-narrowing valley
which finally became a gorge, and now, as Frank let the exclamation
escape him, this gorge broadened out suddenly on the other side and a
beautiful valley lay below. In the middle shone a great lake. It was
this which Jack had seen from his lofty eyrie in the treetop. Farther
off shone other and smaller lakes. Frank counted them. Three.
"The valley told of by de Pereira," he exclaimed.
"Look, Frank."
Frank's gaze followed Bob's outflung hand. A little way ahead was a
considerable body of men of the same sort as their captors. They were
resting on a meadow beneath the shade of a gigantic tree. In their midst
the boys could make out a number of forms--Jack, Mr. Hampton, the de
Avilars, father and son, Carlos and Pedro.
Frank and Bob raised a glad shout of "Jack, Jack. Hello, fellows."
At the same moment, they were seen. Answering cries came to them. They
marched down into the meadow, and the two parties came together. A
confused medley of handclasping followed. Evidently, their arrival had
been expected, for preparations for moving on at once were in evidence.
The leader of the party who had captured Bob and Frank now approached
Mr. Hampton and Senor Don de Avilar.
"We shall embark in boats," said he. "I have your interest in mind, and
you will be permitted to converse one with another, even in the tongue
of the young men which is strange to us."
"Don Ernesto," said Mr. Hampton to his friend, "you seem to understand
this chap better than any of us. Will you ask him where we are being
taken?"
Don Ernesto nodded, then turned to the other. After a few sentences,
their voices dropped and they drew apart. When Don Ernesto rejoined the
group, and the other turned to issue some orders to his men, his eyes
shone.
"Senor Hampton," said he, in an awed tone, "it is as you surmised. These
are Incas of the Enchanted City into whose hands we have fallen. This
chap is a prince of the royal house. I am not certain, and I had but
little time for conversation, yet from something he said, I gather that
the reigning family has in it the blood of de Arguello, leader of that
old band of Spaniards, as well as the royal Inca strain. Doubtless, too,
the nobles have Spanish blood, but that is merely surmise. As to where
we are being taken, we are bound for what this chap, Prince Huaca, calls
'The Fair City,' We are to cross the lake in boats, and, when we arrive
at the landing, we shall be blindfolded, he says, and led 'through the
mountain.'"
"By George," said Mr. Hampton, "we're in for it. Well, we may as well
put a brave face on the matter. It looks dark now, yet we have found
what we came to look for; and remember, you boys, the battle is never
lost until defeat is admitted."
This he said to hearten the boys. Yet the advice was unnecessary. They
had listened to Don Ernesto with close attention, and as Mr. Hampton
gazed from one to the other, he found their eyes alight.
"Why, I don't believe you boys are worried at all," he said,
banteringly.
"Why worry, Dad?" said Jack. "As you said, 'the battle isn't lost until
you are counted out.' I, for one, am tickled to death with the
adventure. And I know Bob and Frank and Ferdinand are the same."
The others nodded.
"Well, here we go, down to the boats," said Frank. "So, as long as we
may talk to each other, tell us how you fellows were captured, and we'll
give our story."
CHAPTER XI--INTO THE MOUNTAIN
The accounts of how Mr. Hampton and Don Ernesto and Carlos, and of how
Jack, Ferdinand and Pedro were captured, differed little from the tale
of the capture of the camp. Each party had been surrounded by an
overwhelming number of the Incas, and had seen the folly of putting up a
fight and so had surrendered.
As they moved in the midst of their captors down the sloping meadow to
the shore of the great lake, sparkling and calm under the mid-morning
sun, these stories were quickly told. At the shore, the Incas embarked
in several great canoes holding a score of men each. The prisoners,
however, were placed aboard a state barge in which Prince Huaca also
embarked. The barge rowed forty oars, twenty to a side.
Paddles dipped in unison, and the canoes were off. The oars of the great
barge flashed in and out in perfect time, and it, too, moved away in
stately fashion, with the prisoners left to themselves on the half-deck
at the bow, while Prince Huaca took his post on the other half-deck at
the stern. The rowers could be seen bending back and forth, back muscles
rippling under their tunics, in the waist of the barge.
"Am I dreaming?" said Frank.
Mr. Hampton nodded.
"It is hard to believe, isn't it, Frank?"
"Hard? It's impossible to believe. Why, this is like stepping back
thousands of years to the shores of the Mediterranean and the Greek
galleys of the days before Christ."
"These fellows seem like Greeks or Romans, too," mused Mr. Hampton. "The
commoners, with their bobbed hair, their tunics and sandals, and Prince
Huaca, proud and stately as a Roman noble, are not exactly what one
would expect to find in the world of today."
Don Ernesto agreed. The remark opened another line of thought.
"See how openly they operate on this lake, and in this valley," he said.
"Look around you, too. So far as I can observe, there is only the one
entrance of the pass through which we were brought. Can it be that the
Incas maintain frontier guards, so to speak, on perpetual watch to
capture any intruders into this wild region who threaten discovery of
their secret? I begin to believe so. Perhaps guards are on duty on the
mountain tops about us, and others in the valley beyond the pass."
This, they later learned, was the actual state of affairs. Not only were
frontier guards kept on constant duty about the great valley in which
they now found themselves, but also about the inner valley holding the
Enchanted City, to which they were being taken. Moreover, such watch had
been maintained down the centuries.
The prospect that greeted their eyes was wonderfully beautiful. The lake
itself was some five miles long, but only one in width. As they now
approached the shore opposite, they descried a stone jetty, for one side
of which the canoes headed, while the barge was brought up on the other.
They were disembarked and marched ashore under escort of Prince Huaca
and twenty men. The others remained by their craft.
At the end of the jetty a guard house of stone was passed. What
surprised the boys beyond measure was to see the half dozen sentries
drawn up in military formation, present arms with their silver-mounted
muskets as Prince Huaca passed.
"I can't believe it," muttered Frank. "Incas presenting arms!"
Mr. Hampton offered a solution.
"Perhaps some adventurer captured by them, as were we, has instructed
them in military tactics."
Ahead through a copse of trees lay a country home of stone, and toward
this Prince Huaca bent his steps. On nearer approach they could see the
stone was beautifully chiselled, and the house nobly proportioned with a
broad portico in front, through the supporting pillars of which they
could see a courtyard, around the sides of which the dwelling was
constructed.
At the command of Prince Huaca, the guard halted at the foot of a broad
flight of stone steps with the prisoners, while the prince mounted and
disappeared into a door on the left of the courtyard. The captives now
had a chance to look about them. Although about the house, or, better,
the mansion itself, no figures were to be seen, there was a constant
coming and going in what they took to be the servants' quarters which
lay considerably to the left.
Horses were being watered in one spot, out of a great trough, and then
led back to the fields which stretched on every hand. Don Ernesto
exclaimed at this sight.
"Those are Argentinian horses," said he, with conviction. "The early
Spaniards who colonized the region of La Plata were enjoined by their
monarchs to bring over a certain number of head of horses and of cattle
for their own use, and a certain number to be turned loose to breed.
Thus the great herds of wild horses and cattle which used to thunder
over the Pampas, but since have been largely exterminated or brought
under herd, came into existence."
"And you think----"
"Yes, Senor Hampton, that is what I believe. These horses either
wandered thus far across the mountains, which seems preposterous, or, as
is more likely, were captured by scouting parties and brought hither.
The intermixture among the Incas of Spaniards in de Arguello's early
expedition or of adventurers captured since, as is more likely, told the
Incas of these horses, and mayhap even helped to capture them."
"This valley is certainly marvellous," declared Mr. Hampton, shading his
eyes with his hand, as he gazed about him in the bright sunlight.
"Notice those irrigation ditches, carrying water to the fields
everywhere from the lakes. Why, this is so intensively cultivated, it
can raise sufficient food for a great city without difficulty."
Don Ernesto nodded.
"The ancient Incas were fine agriculturists," said he. "They practised
irrigation, and had a very good knowledge of culture of the soil. These,
their descendants, seem to be no whit behind them."
At this moment they were interrupted by an exclamation from Frank, who
pointed to two figures approaching them across the lawn. They were
Prince Huaca and another young man dressed as he, evidently a noble. He
was regarding them with curiosity. He did not address them, however, but
the two halted at a little distance and concluded their conversation,
during all of which time the stranger regarded them with bright quick
glances.
Then he bowed to Prince Huaca, and the latter issued a command at which
the guard started forward with the prisoners in their midst. They moved
down the great driveway from the mansion to a highroad crossing the
valley to the encircling mountains. Jack looked back as they reached the
highroad, and saw the figure of the young noble, immobile, staring after
them.
"He certainly was curious," he commented.
Frank, who marched beside him, shook his head.
"I believe I know what was in his mind," said he.
"What?" Jack glanced at him curiously.
"I don't know--maybe I'm wrong--but it seemed to me there was a look of
longing in his eyes--as if he wondered about the great outside world,
perhaps, from which we came."
Mr. Hampton, who had overheard, threw Frank an understanding and
approving glance.
"You have an observant mind, Frank," he said. "It is not unlikely that a
gallant young fellow like that noble would wonder about the world
beyond, and think at times that he would like, perhaps, to penetrate it.
And your words give me an idea. We will bear in mind the possibility of
young blood becoming irked at this self-immurement, no matter how
idyllic the conditions. Perhaps, if no other way of escape suggests
itself, we may induce some such young fellow to aid us by painting to
him the wonders of the world to which we can introduce him."
The party moved along in silence, until Bob declared:
"Fellows, did you ever see a finer road?"
The highway upon which they had entered from the estate drive was,
indeed, a fine thoroughfare. It was made of concrete, and so broad that,
a procession of farm carts drawn by horses, approaching from the
opposite direction, was enabled to pass, although they moved three
abreast.
"Ah, these Incas once more resemble their ancestors," said Don Ernesto.
"Yes, they were great road-builders," said Mr. Hampton.
"Great road-builders, indeed," Don Ernesto rejoined. "When the
Conquerors entered the Peruvian empire under Pizarro, they found the
Incas had built a road not then equalled in any part of the world,
perhaps not even equalled today. It was a road even finer than anything
built by Rome. For more than twelve hundred miles it extended, bringing
into communication all the provinces of the empire.
"Moreover, it must be remembered that road was built at a great
elevation through the mountains, all of which added to the difficulty of
the enterprise. At some places it was more than 12,000 feet above sea
level. It went northward from Cusco to a point beyond Quito, in the
province of Guaca, and southward from Cusco to Chuquisaca, not far from
the mines of Potosi.
"You boys," he added, "can better appreciate the magnitude of this road,
if I tell you it was as far as a road from Calais to Constantinople, and
through mountainous country immeasurably more difficult to travel than
any country in Europe. In some places, the beds of concrete or mezcla,
of which the road was formed, went down from 80 to 100 feet. The rains
have since washed the earth away from under the concrete, for, I am
sorry to say, the Conquerors and the later Viceroys of Spain did not see
fit to care for this highway. Yet masses of it today are left suspended
over washouts like bridges made of one stone, as the historian Velasco
said.
"There was also a lower road, about forty leagues distant from the
other, which traversed the plains country near the sea. And along both
these roads, at equal distances, were built stone inns, called tambos by
the natives. The word has persisted, and is still used throughout the
Inca country, to describe a post house on a highroad.
"In fact," he concluded, "it was the existence of these roads which,
ironically, helped to destroy the Inca Empire. For over them the
invading armies of the Spaniards were able to move with speed."
As Don Ernesto had talked, they had continued moving forward at a brisk
pace, and had drawn close to the base of a lofty mountain. Now the road
began to mount, in some places the going being so steep that concrete
stairways were built. Up this the guards with the prisoners, and with
Prince Huaca at the head, moved steadily. With each upward step, they
were enabled to see more of the valley outspread below them, the great
lake, the three smaller bodies of water, the irrigation ditches like a
network of bright ribbons, the little clumps of trees surrounding other
country mansions like that they had stopped at, and everywhere laborers
were at work in the fields.
"Truly a marvellous sight," said Mr. Hampton, as they came to a halt at
length on a wide concreted terrace with a low stone wall at the front,
very thick, and loopholed, and with a stone building of fortress-like
strength built at the back, seemingly into the side of the mountain.
Here the path up which they climbed appeared to end.
"Senor," said Prince Huaca to Don Ernesto, in his archaic Spanish, "here
you will be blindfolded, your hands will be tied, and we enter the
mountains. Fear not. There is no evil intended."
"Very well," said Don Ernesto with a shrug.
Guards tied each man's hands behind his back, blindfolds were adjusted,
shutting out all light, and then, with a man on each side to act as
guide, they were led up a flight of steps, into what they took to be a
fortress, and presently, after treading across a wide room, passed
through a doorway and, by the cool and slightly earthy feel of the air,
surmised they were in a tunnel.
CHAPTER XII--IMPRISONED IN THE ACROPOLIS
"What a tremendous engineering feat to have been accomplished without
modern machinery," said Mr. Hampton, at one stage of their journey
through the tunnel. The words were surprised from him. "It seems," he
added, "like an impossible task."
Jack, who was close to him, heard the remarks, and agreed with his
father.
"I hope," he added, "they haven't brought us this long distance, merely
to tumble us into some bottomless pit in the heart of the mountain."
"Don't worry, my boy," his father replied. "I have only a hazy idea as
to what our fate is to be, but I am certain it is not that."
"What do you think they will do with us, Dad?"
Mr. Hampton considered.
"Probably give us the option of becoming citizens of their state," he
said, "or of refusing our parole and being imprisoned, and put to work
under guard."
"Wouldn't they kill us, if we refuse to become citizens?"
"I don't know, Jack, but I doubt it."
In reality, Mr. Hampton was beginning to be filled with dark
forebodings, as successive developments impressed him more and more with
the power of this unknown race. But he did not want Jack to experience
any fear, and spoke in a tone of conviction which he was far from
feeling.
The progress through the tunnel seemed interminable, especially inasmuch
as they were blindfolded, while their captors, they knew, bore lighted
torches. But long as was the journey, they at length emerged from the
tunnel and into another fortress. That such was the case, they could
tell from the difference in the atmosphere. Their blindfolds, however,
were not removed, nor were the lashings binding their hands behind them.
They were halted in a great room, while around them was a buzz of
voices.
"When are they going to take off these blinkers?" Bob muttered.
"I imagine, Bob," said Mr. Hampton, who overheard, "that we will be led
elsewhere before the blindfolds are removed. They will want to hide from
us the secret of the exit through the tunnel. Once we are in the city,
we shall be as if sealed up."
Such, indeed, proved to be the case. From the guardhouse, they were
taken out into the open air. They could feel the hot sun beating upon
them. For a considerable distance they were marched through the streets
of the city. They could hear the exclamations of the populace, as they
passed along, in the midst of their guards, and they had the feeling
several times of crossing great open squares.
No demonstrations occurred, and at length they were led up several
flights of stairs, in through a great gateway where soldiers evidently
were stationed, as challenges were given and answered in the Inca
tongue, across a stone-flagged courtyard, and into a building.
Here at length the blindfolds were removed, their wrists untied, and
they could look about at their surroundings. They were in a lofty-ceiled
room, walls and roof of which were of stone. The room was of great size,
and there were scores of soldiery scattered about, mending tunics,
polishing arms, or gossiping. It was the great assembly hall of a
fortress. Had they known, this was at the exit of the tunnel, and the
tour through the city had been made to confuse them.
Prince Huaca approached, and addressed himself as before to Don Ernesto,
whom he evidently took to be the leader of the expedition.
"Senor," said he, "you are now in the central fortress of the city. You
will be given quarters and food. Tomorrow I shall call upon you, and
explain. Until then you will consider yourselves prisoners, but, as you
are under my protection, no harm need be feared."
Turning abruptly, he motioned a man bearing a great brass ring from
which depended a number of heavy keys, to approach. He delivered a
command in the Inca tongue, to which the other listened respectfully.
Then once more he addressed Don Ernesto.
"You will follow this man."
Led by the jailer, and escorted by a half dozen armed men, the party
crossed the great hall, passed through a doorway into a dark corridor,
lighted only by unglazed slits in the walls, mounted a flight of stone
steps, proceeded along another dark corridor, and then entered a room
luxuriously furnished. The jailer motioned them in and, by signs,
indicated this was to be their quarters.
Thereupon, he left, swinging shut a tremendous metal door. The key
grated in the lock. They were alone. The first thing, Jack went up to
the door, and a moment later, he exclaimed in excitement:
"Dad, it's bronze."
Mr. Hampton moved to his side.
"By George, that's so."
Meantime, the others were examining the room. The floor was of stone,
and here and there were thick woven rugs of alpaca wool, died in
brilliant colors. About the sides stood wooden couches with thick
mattresses upon them, over which were thrown covers in vivid dyes. In
the middle of the room was a great table of stone, of beautiful
work-manship, Food was set upon it, ready for their coming, but as
Frank, who was first to make the discovery, approached the table, his
eyes almost popped from his head and his voice shook with excitement, as
he cried:
"Fellows, look here. Gold and silver dishes, or I'll eat my hat."
He was correct. Salvers, platters, great bowls, all were of gold, and
the spoons of silver.
Frank clasped his head in his hands with a melodramatic gesture.
"They oughtn't to spring everything on us at once," he said. "I can't
stand much of this."
All gathered around the massive table, and from each was wrung some
expression of surprise and delight. The dishes were examined closely as
possible, although numbers of the larger articles could not be taken up
and handled because they contained food.
"Well," said Don Ernesto, at length, "I, for one, am famished. Suppose
we dine before the food becomes cold."
He stirred the contents of the largest bowl with a great silver spoon.
"Apparently a vegetable stew," he said. "The odor is delicious. Come, I
shall fill these smaller bowls and let each help himself. I promise you
I shall eat heartily."
"Would they poison the food, perhaps, Father?" Ferdinand inquired.
"That is a foolish idea, Ferdinand. They might have disposed of us
otherwise long ere this. Come, eat."
All fell to with a good appetite, the two Chilian huachos, old retainers
of Don Ernesto, taking their bowls apart and sitting on one of the
great couches, talking together in low tones. The others stood
about the table, exclaiming at this and that, the excellence of
the food, the beauty of the dishes, while Don Ernesto--a polished
conversationalist--held forth at length upon the advantages of a
vegetable diet.
"You see, there is no meat here," said he. "Perhaps these Incas are
vegetarians. For such dieting goes with civilization. It is only the
savages who eat nothing but meat."
Presently, Bob and Frank, having finished their meal, wandered off to a
loopholed wall at the far end of the room. These loopholes were long and
narrow slits, and at their first glimpse through them, both boys cried
out excitedly.
"What is it?" cried Jack and Ferdinand, running up. The older men also
approached.
"Look here, Jack," said Frank, while Bob made place at his loophole for
Ferdinand. The older men found others through which to gaze--long, narrow
apertures in the solid masonry.
Because of the thickness of the walls, the view was limited. Apparently,
however, they were located on a side of the fortress which formed one of
the outer walls, and because of the distance to the city seen below,
this wall evidently crowned a great rock. Later, they were to learn that
the rock upon which the Acropolis was built had been quarried and
squared until it rose 200 feet above the city, the walls sheer, and
approachable only upon one side.
The hour was past noon, and from the direction of the sun they could see
the valley in which lay the Enchanted City stretched east and west. They
faced the east and, high though their altitude was, they could see in
the distance lofty mountain peaks crowned with snows.
But it was the city itself which caused each man to gasp at first sight.
Everywhere nearby, showing the Acropolis was at the center of things,
were great stone palaces, some private dwellings and some quite
obviously public buildings. And the roofs shone in the sun as if made of
gold.
"Copper," explained Mr. Hampton, succinctly. "Probably they have a mine
somewhere near."
Beyond the palaces could be seen streets and squares and smaller houses,
all of stone. Trees grew everywhere, adding to the charm of the scene.
Greatest sight of all, however, was the huge central square at the base
of the Acropolis. Due to their height, only that part of the square
opposite could be seen. Yet that view was sufficient to give an idea of
the size of the square.
Opposite the fortress stood the Temple, a broad stone structure
approached by a great flight of steps, at the top of which was a
sacrificial altar. A lesser stone building on one side were the cloister
of the vestal virgins. On the other side was the Inca's palace. From his
knowledge of Inca history, Ferdinand was enabled to guess that such was
the character of the buildings, and in this supposition they were later
confirmed.
In all the square, however, and in those thoroughfares of the city which
they could observe, was no sign of life and movement.
"It looks like a city of the dead," said Jack. "If I didn't know
differently, I would believe we had stumbled upon an abandoned city. But
the fortress certainly has occupants, as we have seen. What do you make
of it, Dad?" he inquired, walking over toward his father.
Mr. Hampton shook his head, and Jack turned inquiringly to Don Ernesto.
The latter looked thoughtful.
"There is a possibility," he said, as one cudgeling his brains to recall
something once known but long out of memory. "Yet--I don't know--it seems
foolish."
"What?"
"That these descendants of the Incas should be keeping the great annual
religious ceremony of their ancestors? Yet, it is the same time of
year."
"Oh, Father. The annual festival of the Sun?" cried Ferdinand.
Don Ernesto nodded.
"Tell us about it," said Jack. "I'd like to learn all I can about these
people."
"Very well," said Don Ernesto. "Sit down, and I'll tell you what I can
recall. The religion of the Peruvian Empire," he continued, when all had
found seats around him, "expressed the feelings of the people toward
their heavenly protector and their earthly ruler. They worshipped the
sun and adored the reigning Inca as his descendant upon earth. For the
term of Inca, you will doubtless recall, did not apply to every member
of the empire, but only to those of royal blood. The legend was that the
sun looking down upon the savages took pity upon them for their mode of
living, and sent to earth a son, Manco Capac, and a daughter, Mama
Oello, children of his own, to civilize and instruct mankind. They came
to earth near the Lake of Titicaca. He gave them a rod of gold and bade
them go whither they pleased, but, to remember that when they came to a
place where this rod should sink into the earth, that was the place at
which he wished them to abide. The legend has it that the rod
disappeared in the earth at Cusco. Therefore, there they stayed,
bringing the savages together, instructing them, and building up the
great city that afterwards became the capital of the empire.
"The worship of the sun was inevitable. Yet, you must remember,
Sun-worship was not confined to Peru, but was universal. The Chaldeans,
the Babylonians, the early Hindus--all worshipped the sun. Yet
Sun-worship, with most races and tribes, in time passed either into some
lower form of idolatry or became humanized and spiritualized. It was
only amongst a few, the most remarkable of which were the Persians and
the Peruvians, that the development of religion was arrested at a period
when the sun was the visible, un-humanized Deity, not translated into
manlike terms.
"The principal religious ceremony was the annual celebration of the
Feast of Raymi, at Cusco. To that great city, where the palaces were all
built of huge blocks of stone of a dark slate color, came every year
from all quarters of the empire the principal nobles and military men,
as well as the great men of each subject race. For the Incas, you know,
did not blot out the subjugated, as did their Spanish conquerors, but
absorbed all that was best of the conquered into the empire. Preceding
that feast was a fast, emblematic of the suffering which precedes great
joy. This fast lasted three days, and during that time, Fire, which was
related to the Sun, and, therefore, divine, was not used by anyone."
He paused, evidently having concluded his explanation, so Frank spoke up
quickly.
"But, Senor, you say the use of fire was not permitted. If these
descendants of the Incas keep their fast now, how is it our food has
been cooked?"
"I cannot say," smiled Don Ernesto. "Perhaps, though, it was some
especial provision made for us prisoners."
By now it was late afternoon. Already the sun had disappeared behind the
western rampant of mountains, and twilight had come over the city below.
Only the tops of the eastern mountains were tipped with fire.
The two older men drew apart, conversing in low tones. The Chilian
huachos, Pedro and Carlos, already had disposed themselves upon a couch
and were asleep. The four boys stood for a long time at the loopholes,
gazing down at the dimming city, in which no sign of movement was to be
observed, until it was too dark longer to see.
"Not a light in all that city," said Frank the sensitive. "This is
certainly an eerie experience."
"I wonder what tomorrow will bring," said Jack.
"Prince Huaca said he would call then," added Bob.
"Well," said Ferdinand, philosophically, "I suppose we might as well
dispose ourselves for sleep. There is nothing else to do."
"Here's my flashlight," said Bob, throwing its rays about. "Had it on me
when I was captured. At least we can see our way to the couches."
CHAPTER XIII--THE FEAST OF RAYMI
"Fellows, what's that?"
Bob rolled over drowsily, then fell to the stone floor with a thump that
effectually awakened him. He looked up. Jack stood above him, grinning.
Bob rubbed his hip ruefully, then got to his feet. Frank, with whom he
had been sleeping, also clambered out of bed.
Gray light coming in through the loopholes to the east lighted the room
only dimly. Ferdinand and his father still slept on the couch which they
had shared together. Mr. Hampton, who had slept with Jack, was not
awake, nor were the two huachos.
"What in---"
Bob was still rubbing his hip.
"Listen," said Jack. "There. That dull humming sound. What is it? I lay
awhile, half asleep, half waking, before I got up. Then I stopped to
shake you fellows awake. Come on, let's look out of these loopholes."
"The Sun's not yet up," grumbled big Bob. "Why in the world do you have
to beat him? Having such a good time of it, that you hate to miss a
minute?"
Nevertheless, he followed Jack and Frank to the loopholes.
The humming sound referred to was louder. For several moments they
stared through the apertures, unable to see anything in the dark square
below. But the light grew momentarily stronger, as the sun neared the
top of the eastern rampart of the valley. Then objects began to grow and
took form in the lessening shadows.
"Whew," exclaimed Bob, in an awed tone. "Did you ever----"
"And I said last night it looked like a city of the dead," said Frank.
As for Jack, he deserted his loophole and, gaining his father's side,
shook him into wakefulness.
"Come here, Dad. What a sight."
What a sight, indeed! The others were roused and summoned, too. For the
great square was packed with humanity, rank upon rank of people, on
their knees, facing the Temple and the east. At that moment, the sun
shot above the horizon. And all that great multitude of people bowed
forward, touching their hands to their lips, and then flinging their
arms wide to the Sun.
The serried ranks were dressed in gorgeous costumes. Many wore wreaths
upon their heads. Many wore ornaments of gold and silver that reflected
back the light of the sun in myriad flashings. And on standards high
above the multitude flapped great imperial banners, stirring lazily in
the breeze that brought the dawn.
"Ah," said Don Ernesto, breaking the silence of stupefaction which had
enthralled them, "I was right. Now we shall see something. It is their
great festival. The fast has come to an end."
"Look," said Jack excitedly, "Who is that?"
He pointed to a figure, upright amidst all those kneeling figures, the
only dark spot, moreover, amidst those gaily-clad hosts. He wore a robe
descending to his feet, so darkly crimson that it appeared to be black.
"That," said Don Ernesto, "is the Inca."
But Jack had run back to the table and picked up the field glasses which
he had placed there on retiring the night before.
"No. The Inca?" he cried. "Why, it is--No, not Prince Huaca, but he looks
so much like him. Yet he is older. And, wait. There is Prince Huaca near
him. Look, Father, that man on the left."
Meantime, a fascinating ceremony was transpiring in the square. From the
hands of Vestal Virgins, clothed all in white, the Inca took two great
golden goblets filled with wine. Lifting the one in his right hand to
the sun, as if drinking a pledge, he set it to his lips. Then, solemnly,
he poured the wine from the goblet into a wide-mouthed jar of gold.
"Why is he doing that, I wonder?" cried Frank. "Do you know, Don
Ernesto?"
"I don't know for certain. But I believe the wine is supposed to flow
through a golden conduit into the Temple. Thus the Sun may drink the
wine pledged to him."
Next the Inca drank from the goblet in his left hand. Then turning to
the nearest of the kneeling figures, those wearing capes of darkest
crimson, of which there were eight, including Prince Huaca, he poured
out the remainder of the wine into goblets which they held extended.
"They must be members of the royal family," surmised Bob
"Yes," agreed Don Ernesto. "The other nobles, and the common people will
get a lesser wine, as well as the special bread made for this occasion.
Ah, my reading all comes back to me now. But who would think to see that
ancient ceremony of the Feast of Raymi reproduced today by the
descendants of the Children of the Sun?"
As he had prophesied, so it came to pass. For now young women all in
white could be seen making their way through the kneeling throng. But
their mission was not yet to be carried out. They merely took their
appointed stations. Then those of royal blood arose and moved in slow
and stately procession behind the Inca toward the Temple. At the base of
the steps they removed their sandals. They then entered the Temple.
"Probably to make offerings to their Deity," said Don Ernesto.
The multitude continued kneeling, indicating that the ceremony was not
yet over. Presently the Inca and the members of his family returned to
the square. They came out of the Temple empty-handed.
"Those goblets from which they drank," said Don Ernesto, who at the
moment had the field glasses. "Those have been left behind. Those were
their offerings."
Following the Inca came a patriarchal man in a white robe bordered with
crimson, upon his head a golden disk from which protruded a great number
of golden spikes. This they took to be the High Priest. Following him
were attendant priests bearing a large number of animals, including a
black lamb. This was slaughtered first, and examined by the High Priest
for the auguries. Then the other animals were sacrificed, certain parts
being offered on the altar to the Sun, the balance distributed by the
lesser priests among the multitude to be roasted at great fires which
now were lighted in the square. At the same time, the women in white,
the Vestal Virgins, who earlier had taken station in the throng, began
distributing the special bread of the festival.
All this required a long time in the doing, but the boys and their
elders watched with unabated interest, moving about a little now and
then from one loophole to another to converse, shifting position
occasionally to relieve the irksomeness. As for Pedro and Carlos, they
had produced a deck of cards and, squatting on the stone floor, were
playing a game between themselves, untouched by the romance of the
spectacle in the square.
Presently, the feasting having come to an end, the Inca, the members of
his family and other nobles in the multitude withdrew toward a side of
the square which, from the loopholes, was not under observation. Then
the throng broke up in scattered groups, here and there spaces were
cleared, while the observers packed themselves around in dense formation
and, in these cleared spaces, dancers appeared.
"Ah," said Don Ernesto, "now the festival has begun. They will make
merry for a long time. See, wine is being distributed to everybody."
But at that moment, Pedro called to his master, and Don Ernesto turned
about. So did Mr. Hampton and the boys.
The door had been opened to admit Prince Huaca. He stood within the
room, while the door swung to again behind him, his face inscrutable.
After a moment of hesitation, Don Ernesto advanced to meet him.
"We have been looking," he began.
Prince Huaca bowed slightly.
"Yes?"
"At your great festival."
Prince Huaca smiled.
"For the common people."
"I do not understand."
"Perhaps, some day----"
Prince Huaca made a slight gesture with his right hand, as if to dismiss
the subject.
"Senor, sit here with me," he said, indicating a couch. "I would talk
with you. Let these others watch a little longer. Then my servants will
bring you food, so that you, too, may feast."
"I am honored," said Don Ernesto. However, he hesitated to be seated.
"Pardon me," he said, "if I point out that these"--indicating Mr. Hampton
and the boys, who were at the far end of the room--"are my son and my
very good friend and his young men. Perhaps, what you wish to say is for
their ears, too?"
"Ah, I did not understand," said Prince Huaca, courteously. "Then they
are not your servants?"
"No, only these two," answered Don Ernesto, indicating Pedro and Carlos,
who had withdrawn from their vicinity. "And they are old family
servants."
Prince Huaca considered.
At that moment the great bronze door again was opened, and a number of
servants entered, bowed low before Prince Huaca, removed the dishes from
the table and then returned bearing other dishes, this time including
meat. Throughout the process, Prince Huaca sat silent, nor did Ernesto
venture to disturb him. When the servants at length had withdrawn, the
prince arose.
"Eat," said he, "and, when you have refreshed yourselves, my servants
shall bring you and your friends to me. Assure your old servants they
have nothing to fear in being separated from you."
When he had gone, Don Ernesto lost no time in communicating the purport
of the conversation to Mr. Hampton and the boys. Pedro and Carlos took
the news philosophically. The food was excellent, the meat roasted and
hot. All ate with good appetite. There were goblets of mild, honey-like
wine, which Don Ernesto recommended highly. At the conclusion of the
meal, the servants returned bearing ewers of water and rough towels,
with which they bathed face and hands. Then, one of the servants
gestured that Don Ernesto and his companions were to follow, and,
bidding Pedro and Carlos have no worry, the party set out.
CHAPTER XIV--PRINCE HUACA FRIENDLY
"Look here, Jack," said Frank, as the three chums kept step together
along the corridor, while Ferdinand walked ahead with Mr. Hampton and
his father, Don Ernesto. "Look here, what do you think our chances of
escape are going to be?"
"I don't know."
Jack shook his head. As for big Bob, he growled a comment.
"Why worry? I'm having a good time. I want to learn all about this city.
And the treasure, too, that we came for, it----"
"Oh, we'll have to give up that idea now," said Jack. "We can't rob
these people. If the Enchanted City had been abandoned and in ruins, and
we had discovered it, that would have been a different matter."
Frank took no part in this discussion. It wasn't treasure of which he
was thinking.
"Just the same, Bob," he interrupted, "we ought to be thinking of how we
can escape, for I have an idea that these people intend to keep us
imprisoned for life or, as Don Ernesto says, persuade us to join the
nation."
"Why not?" said Bob. "I'd like to be a captain in this man's army. These
Incas look like fine material for soldiers, and with our military school
knowledge we ought to be able to drill them in modern tactics."
"And with our knowledge of radio and other modern inventions and
discoveries," supplemented Jack, "we would be invaluable. We could rise
to high positions in the state."
"What," exclaimed Frank, "and stay here all our lives?"
"Well, why not?"
"Oh, he wants to go home to Della," said big Bob, mentioning the name of
his sister, with whom Frank was in love.
Frank flushed, but did not reply.
"I'm not keen on staying here forever, either," said Jack quickly; for
his thoughts more and more during their South American stay had turned
to Senorita Rafaela in her Sonora mountains, and Bob's reference to
Frank and Della had brought her again to mind. "Just the same, this
would be a paradise of a place in which to live if it were brought in
touch with the outside world."
"So you think you'd get to be a big gun here and then open the Enchanted
City to civilization?" asked Frank.
"It might be done," said Jack.
"Well, after seeing that religious ceremony, I doubt it. The Incas would
not want to give up their supreme power, and they know they would have
to do that if their country were opened up. Chile or Argentine would
absorb the country."
"Oh, not necessarily," answered Jack. "This country might remain
independent, an inland empire."
"An absolute empire couldn't survive long in a land of republics," said
Frank, "especially when this country is small."
"Small, yes," agreed Bob. "But it is powerful. The Incas in the
beginning were few in number, but good fighters with fine military
organizations. From their mountain heights in the North they overflowed
and conquered their tremendous empire. Perhaps their descendants aim to
step out some day from these mountain heights in the South, and do the
same."
"What folly, Bob," said Frank. "They would be up against modern nations
with modern implements of war."
"Well, can't they learn to make modern war?" asked Bob. "They've got
some able instructors in military tactics here to teach them."
Jack and Frank, recalling that in anything pertaining to military
science Bob had beaten both at Harrington Hall, smiled at each other.
Some men apparently are born warriors. And Bob was of the number.
Further conversation along this line was halted by their coming up with
the others. They had been moving up and down corridors and short flights
of steps while talking, and had taken little note of the length of the
passage to Prince Huaca's apartments. Mr. Hampton, however, commented on
that fact as they approached. The boys seemed surprised.
"What are we waiting for?" asked Bob.
"To be announced."
For the first time the boys noticed they stood before a great closed
door on either side of which Inca soldiers, six feet tall, impassive of
countenance, mounted guard. Their guide had disappeared within. Then the
door was opened and they were ushered into an anteroom, of which they
had no time to take particular note, except to see that a number of
young nobles stood about in groups, talking, for they were taken at once
through this room and into an inner chamber.
Here sat Prince Huaca at a table, writing. It was a small table of
polished wood, the top mounted on the back of a crouching lion,
beautifully carved. The room itself, while large, was considerably
smaller than their apartment, and was severely furnished. A number of
couches stood about. To these Prince Huaca motioned, with the request
that they be seated, and meantime continued his writing. Presently,
having finished the task, he sanded the paper to dry the ink, then
rolled it into a scroll, about which he tied a cord of gold and purple
threads. The missive then was handed to the man who had guided them,
with an order delivered in the Inca tongue, and the man departed,
leaving them alone with the prince.
"Be not dismayed," he said, turning to his guests. "I would know what
brought you to the Forbidden Land. Few are the men who have come
thither, for our fastnesses are impregnable and the outer valley where
you were captured can be stumbled upon only by accident. And of those
whom I have captured in the past or my fathers before me, none within
two hundred years came seeking us, but found their way thither only by
accident. You, however, I am certain, came seeking us. Is it not so?"
Directly appealed to, Don Ernesto agreed.
"Your Highness, it is."
"Call me Prince Huaca," said the other, simply. "Yes, it is as I
thought. And it was this which led you?"
He held a manuscript aloft. It was the de Pereira manuscript, in archaic
Spanish, Spanish as old as that spoken by Prince Huaca.
"It was that which brought us."
"Senor," said Prince Huaca, "I cannot believe that you came expecting to
find a nation in existence."
"We thought but to find abandoned ruins."
Prince Huaca was silent, thoughtful.
"Pray, Prince Huaca," said Mr. Hampton, speaking for the first time,
"may we not state our surprise to find that a powerful people exists
here unknown to the world at large and unsuspected? Moreover, surpassing
in my mind the mystery of how you have kept your secret through the
centuries----"
"Eternal vigilance," interrupted Prince Huaca.
"Well," continued Mr. Hampton, "surpassing that mystery, I say, is that
of how you have maintained a healthy and, doubtless, growing population
within this restricted territory."
"State supervision and control of families, lands, everything, but----"
Prince Huaca arose abruptly, and moved up and down before them, his face
dark, his sandals making no sound. He paused before them.
"We need more land," said he. "Some of us are for marching out with our
armies to conquer. But some, like myself----Ah, you have come at a
critical time in our life." He paused, his eyes searching their faces
keenly. "I do not know why I talk to you like this," he said. "But
something within bids me have faith, bids me trust you.
"Ah, I would know of the world beyond our mountain fastnesses. Without
knowledge a man is like a worm crawling in the soil. But when he knows,
it is like the Sun shedding his beneficent light into the gorges of our
mountains and dispelling the gloom. You come from this outside world.
You are not commoners, like the one or two we have captured in the
Forbidden Land in other days. No, you are nobles, men of knowledge and
power. This I can see from certain objects among your possessions."
He waved his hand to a corner of the room, which hitherto had not been
noticed. The boys and the older men looked whither he pointed. There
stood all their luggage.
"In your possessions are many strange objects," Prince Huaca continued.
"Books in the royal tongue, for so," he added, proudly, "we call the
Spanish which only those of Inca lineage intermarried with de Arguello
and his Conquistadores speak. These books puzzle me, for, though they
are in Spanish, yet it is changed from the Spanish which I speak. In
truth, as you note, we have some little difficulty in understanding each
the other. It is only this," and he held up the de Pereira manuscript,
"which is in the tongue I learned."
"And there are other objects. Strange threads that gleam and cannot be
broken."
"Our copper wire for the radio outfit," said Jack, involuntarily.
He spoke in English. Prince Huaca stared puzzled.
"I do not understand."
"He speaks in another tongue, Prince Huaca," said Mr. Hampton.
"Still another than Spanish?"
"Yes. In the world without are a hundred different tongues."
Prince Huaca was dumbfounded. He stared at Mr. Hampton, as if in
disbelief.
He turned to Don Ernesto.
"And is this so?"
"Yes, it is the truth."
Prince Huaca abruptly returned to his seat, and placed his head in his
hands. He sat, bowed in thought. None interrupted. Presently, he again
looked up.
"And are all these peoples powerful?"
"Their numbers are as of the sands of the sea," said Don Ernesto,
thinking to quote an impressive figure. But Prince Huaca merely appeared
puzzled, and the Don hastily remembered he could know nothing of the
ocean, and amended himself: "They are in number like the leaves of the
forest. They have built mighty cities. There is one beyond your
mountains to the east called Buenos Ayres where dwell more than two
million souls. They----"
"But can they read and write, can they do this?" cried Prince Huaca,
eagerly. "Our ancestors, the ancient Incas of Cusco, kept accounts only
by means of quippus, knotted strings. But we of Inca lineage here have
that knowledge of reading and writing handed down to us by the three
priests of de Arguello. This is knowledge, and power."
"Today, the simplest of the commoners can read and write in that world
beyond your mountains," said Mr. Hampton. "Even Pedro and Carlos, my
friend's servants, have this knowledge."
Once more Prince Huaca was silent, digesting this. Then he said:
"But has not too much learning made them weak, so that they are like
women and cannot fight?"
"On the contrary, Prince, they fight with weapons that slay at great
distances, with ships that fly in the air like birds and drop death upon
those below. And yet," added Mr. Hampton, "they seek these peoples, to
live in peace with each other. No longer is it considered great to make
war. Those who set out to conquer find all other peoples banded together
against them."
Prince Huaca once more fell into a manner of abstraction, from which the
others made no effort to arouse him. Presently, he lifted his head, and
there was an expression of resolution on his features.
"Senor," said he, "that is all for the present. These matters that you
have told me, however, I shall lay at once before the Council. Do you,
therefore, hold yourselves in readiness to appear and be questioned?
Meantime, I shall order your possessions restored to you, on one
condition."
He paused, expectantly.
"What is that?" asked Mr. Hampton.
"That these strange devices be explained to me, and that they be not
used to cause evil to us."
He lifted aside a heavy cloth of gold from an end of this table,
revealing beneath portions of the radio outfit brought by Mr. Hampton.
The others looked at each other. One thought was in every mind. How
explain the phenomenon of radio to an idolator to whom it could mean
nothing other than witchcraft and wizardry? Then Mr. Hampton had an
idea.
"In these South American forests," said he, "particularly in that jungle
land beyond the mountains whence came your ancestors, Prince Huaca, the
Indian tribesmen have a method of communicating to each other without
the use of runners. They place along the bank of a river a hollow log,
upon which they tap certain tappings with a hammer. Miles away, with his
ear to another hollow log upon the river bank, a man hears that
message."
"Of this I have heard something," said Prince Huaca.
"The sound," said Mr. Hampton, "travels along the water. But this device
before you is for the purpose of sending sound through the air, as if a
man had a voice which could be heard from here to ancient Cusco,
thousands of miles distant. This is only one of the many wonders known
to the world outside your mountains today."
He stopped, unwilling to venture upon a detailed explanation that could
not be understood, fearful that, perhaps, he already had said too much,
that Prince Huaca would consider him either a great liar or a great
wizard, and would act accordingly.
The prince, however, did not change expression.
"Could you call men from beyond the mountains to Cuso Hurrin?"
"To what place?"
"That is the name of our city."
Mr. Hampton struggled with himself. If he admitted the power that the
radio outfit put at his command, doubtless Prince Huaca would take it
from him, and their chances of bringing rescuers, if that proved
necessary, would vanish. Nevertheless, he was a truthful man.
"Yes," said he, simply. "It could be done."
Prince Huaca was silent.
"And who among you understands this best?"
Once more Mr. Hampton hesitated. Perhaps the prince planned to slay
whichever member of the party he considered was the operative.
"I mean you no harm," said Prince Huaca, rightly interpreting his
hesitancy. "I would but learn more of this marvel."
"These boys," said Mr. Hampton, indicating Jack, Frank and Bob. "They
are familiar with this marvel and even have added to it by little
improvements."
"Then," said the prince, "I shall ask them to come to my quarters here
and teach me. Perhaps we shall employ your marvel. I would learn about
it. It may be useful. I shall keep it here. Meantime, do you go to your
apartment while I go to the Council. And hold yourselves in readiness
for my summons."
CHAPTER XV--BEFORE THE COUNCIL
The balance of that day was one filled with foreboding. Mr. Hampton and
Don Ernesto, an hour or so after their dismissal by Prince Huaca, were
summoned by a servant again to his apartments with the understanding
that they were to be escorted thence to appear before the Inca's
Council. Left to themselves, the four boys chatted together at first
about their strange interview; but, as the hours passed with no word
from the older men, they grew more and more to feel as if some evil
impended, and lapsed at length into a gloomy silence.
Bob flung himself on a couch in a doze, Ferdinand stood at a loophole,
gazing out upon the great square where the merriment continued unabated.
It would last eight days, Prince Huaca had said. Jack and Frank tried to
find oblivion in books among their belongings, but with ill success. As
for the two huachos, Pedro and Carlos, they took the matter
philosophically, and continued their endless game of cards.
"This is driving me mad," said Jack, at length, tossing aside his book.
"The afternoon is going fast, and it will soon be night. Already the
square is in shadow below, and it is too dim to read. Where can they be?
What can have detained them?"
An interruption came in the form of the servants, who had brought their
food previously, and who now again entered, cleared the table, and set
out food once more. For a moment, the wild idea of attempting to
overcome them and make a bolt for Prince Huaca's apartments, in search
of his father came to Jack. But he quickly put it aside, for in the
outer corridor he glimpsed the armed guards who had accompanied the
servants.
"Thank goodness, they brought a light," he ejaculated, after the
servants had departed, leaving behind, beside the food, a gold vessel
filled with oil in which burned a wick that gave a clear, bright flame.
"Well, you fellows that are hungry, fall to. I couldn't eat a bite."
Frank went up to him and put an arm over his shoulders.
"Come on, old man," he said. "I know how you feel. But it is foolish to
worry. Your Dad has just been spinning so many fairy tales about the
modern world that he has these old boys sitting there with their eyes
popping out, and they won't let him go; they want him to tell them some
more yarns. He'll be back, all right, presently, and the Inca probably
will be coming along with him to see what we look like. 'The Young
Wizards, hey?' he'll say. 'Pleased to meet you. Trot out a few tricks
for us.' And you want to have a full stomach, then, or how can you
perform well? Come on, come on."
And, laughing and jollying, Frank pushed Jack to the table, and in
similar fashion rounded up Ferdinand, then tumbled the snoring Bob to
the floor, whereat Pedro and Carlos chuckled, and under the spell of his
geniality, a measure of confidence and cheer was restored to the group.
As they were in the midst of eating, the key once more grated in the
lock and Jack, with an eager cry, sprang toward the door, Ferdinand a
close second. Nor were they disappointed, for Mr. Hampton and Don
Ernesto were ushered in by the guard.
"Well boys, did you think we were never going to return?" asked Mr.
Hampton, cheerfully. A glance at Jack had revealed to him the worry in
his son's face.
A chorus of replies answered.
"Jack would have it that the pair of you were cut up in mince meat to be
fed to the Inca," said Frank, after the chorus had died down. "But I
told him the Inca was probably feeding out of your hand."
"Not quite that," said Mr. Hampton. "But we are hungry. Let us have a
minute's chance to eat a bit, and then we'll tell you what happened."
The boys were eager to hear, but forebore until it appeared Mr. Hampton
and Don Ernesto had satisfied their appetites. Then the dishes were
pushed to one end of the table and, standing about the other end, upon
which reposed the lamp, or leaning upon it, for there were no chairs in
the apartment, they began to ply the two older men with questions.
"What was it like?"
"Could they all speak Spanish?"
"What did they ask you?"
"Did you tell them about the modern inventions?"
"Anything said about radio?"
Mr. Hampton and Don Ernesto threw up their hands.
"One at a time, one at a time," protested Mr. Hampton. "And, perhaps,
you had better let us tell this in our own way. No, Jack, there was
nothing about radio. Prince Huaca cautioned us not to speak of it. I
don't know--but I think he wants to hold that back for some purpose of
his own. And I, for one, am perfectly willing to abet him. For, after
what we learned today, it looks as if we would need a friend."
"That is right," agreed Don Ernesto.
"Why, Dad," asked Jack, anxiously, "What do you mean?"
"Well, it looks as if there were two parties at court. In fact, really
three."
"What, Dad? What are they?"
"Well, first I must tell you we did not see the Inca, but only the
Council. Two parties are for starting out of this isolation and
conquering a lot of land, in order to make room for the growing
population, which, despite all efforts of the State--such as keeping many
young women from raising families by putting them in the Convent of the
Vestal Virgins--is becoming a problem. One of these parties is blindly
confident the world has not advanced and that the Inca's armies can
assert their power. The other recalls the history of the coming of the
Spaniards to old Cusco, which caused their forefathers to flee thither,
and believes it must arm itself with white man's knowledge first. This
we learned from Prince Huaca."
"But what is the danger to us in that? We know how foolish either
project would be?"
"Yes," said Mr. Hampton gravely, turning to Frank who had asked the
question, "but the party which is blindly confident of the Inca's
ability to sweep all before him, would prefer to make a beginning with
us. They would like to sacrifice us to the Sun God before setting forth.
And what happened to the Incas after that would not matter very much to
us."
"Whew," said Bob, "the bloody rascals."
"And the third party, Dad?"
"Prince Huaca heads the third party," Mr. Hampton said. "That is the
party which, like the others, believes the centuries-old isolation of
Cusco Hurrin must be broken up, in order that the inhabitants may have
more territory in which to grow. But it is against attempting to use
force of arms, believing my words that the outside world is too powerful
to be overcome. It is inclined to discuss the possibility of sending
ambassadors to the surrounding nations and opening relations, provided
it can be assured that such a course will not be merely to invite
destruction as was the case in old Cusco when the Inca Atahualpa opened
his country to Pizarro, only to be destroyed treacherously by the
Spaniards."
"And they told you all this?"
"Oh, no, Jack," Mr. Hampton said. "There were ten men in the Council,
all of Incarial blood, the highest nobles of the country. Prince Huaca
is a nephew of the present Inca, who is childless, and thus is his heir.
He is the Captain of the Fortress, holder of the Tunnel Way. But I can
see he has bitter enemies, and some of them have the ear of the Inca,
chief among them being the High Priest, Cinto. Much that I have told you
was not brought out directly at the Council, but was told us later by
Prince Huaca, with whom we have been alone a second time since leaving
the Council, and for a considerable period."
"Did they question you about the outside world? And what did you tell
them?"
"Yes," said Mr. Hampton, "it was that of which we spoke. We told them in
a general way of cannon, airplanes, steamships, automobiles and so on.
But we did not speak of the telegraph or of radio."
"Because Prince Huaca asked you not to?"
"That was the reason, yes. You see, he is a remarkable man. With no
previous knowledge of the wonders of the world, he has accepted without
question what we have told him. At once, apparently, after our first
interview, the one which you boys attended, his mind busied itself with
some plan or other, of which I haven't the least idea, to use radio for
his own purposes. And he wants any hint of it kept secret from the other
members of the Council."
"I wonder what he has in mind," said Jack.
"I cannot guess," replied his father. "Father," said Ferdinand, "what is
your opinion of Prince Huaca?"
Thus appealed to, Don Ernesto, who had kept silence, permitting Mr.
Hampton to act as spokesman, smiled a little.
"He is a very wonderful man," said he. "As my friend, Senor Hampton,
says, he has accepted as true and natural whatever we have told him.
Members of the Council were inclined to scout our words, to believe us
liars. Their minds were not big enough to compass the wonders of which
we spoke. But it is not so with Prince Huaca. There is a man of great
native intelligence, one who with education would be a genius. He seems
to me born to rule, a natural leader of man, with a dominant
personality."
To this estimate, Mr. Hampton gave emphatic assent.
"As he told you boys," he added, "archaic Spanish is handed down in the
Incarial families. The ten members of the Council speak and understand
it in a measure. But none so well as he. He frequently acted as our
interpreter. And not only does he know Spanish, but Latin, for the
priests of de Arguello's expedition were learned men and had with them
some textbooks which, written on parchment, have been preserved. From
these he has educated himself, and, though his pronunciation of Latin is
not the best in the world, he has done surprisingly well. He showed us
an ancient Latin dictionary, and a Caesar's Gallic Wars."
Bob groaned.
"And he has read 'Caesar'?"
"Yes."
"All I can say is he's a better man than I am," said Bob, who had
entered Yale with a condition in Latin.
Frank and Jack laughed. In the momentary silence that followed, the
shouts and laughter of the great crowd in the square below came up to
them.
"Listen to that, will you?" said Bob. "And they'll be keeping that up
all night, too, I expect."
"For eight days," said Mr. Hampton.
"Look," said Frank, who had approached a loophole. "See that fellow with
a wreath of golden leaves around his head, holding up the wine cup. Gold
it is, too. He's reciting. See them all laugh and applaud. What a scene,
that ring around him, the firelight on them! He must be a poet or
minstrel. Golly, how I wish I could be down there, dressed in a tunic
and sandals, and mixing around in that crowd. Say, but wouldn't that be
an experience for you?"
"Surely would," said Jack, looking over his shoulder. "Listen, though,
somebody coming."
The key turned in the lock of the great door.
CHAPTER XVI--RADIO A LINK TO THE PAST
All swung about. It was their jailer, a pleasant-faced fellow, who, like
all within the fortress, Prince Huaca had assured Mr. Hampton, was loyal
to his commander. He indicated by signs that the boys and the two older
men were to follow. Don Ernesto turned to Pedro and Carlos.
"Do not fear," said he. "I expect that Prince Huaca wants to see us. We
shall return."
"We would go with you," said Pedro.
When they started to do so, however, the jailer waved them back.
Pedro shrugged.
"It is fate," said he. "We shall sleep."
"Fear not," Don Ernesto reassured him. "I shall look after you."
As they moved along the corridor, it became apparent from the direction
that their destination was, as Don Ernesto had surmised, Prince Huaca's
apartment. But what could he want with them? Had anything untoward
occurred in the Inca's Council? Were his enemies on the move against
him? These questions occurred to all.
"It is unexpected, his sending for us," Mr. Hampton said. "He gave no
indication, when dismissing us the last time, that he would send for us
again so soon."
The jailer bore a torch which flickered and smoked as they passed
loopholes at turns in the corridor, making the silent passageways, with
their walls of stone, where none but themselves moved, seem even more
ghastly and far from civilization than otherwise would have been the
case. There was little conversation. Unlike their first trip over this
route, the boys kept silent. What they had been told of the Council
meeting had sobered their spirits. From these stone hallways within that
vast fortress, standing in the heart of the Enchanted City, for so they
still termed Cusco Hurrin among themselves, it was a far cry to New York
or even Santiago. To more than one it seemed as if the possibility that
they would ever return to the outside world was in the gravest doubt.
Instead of taking them through the anteroom into Prince Huaca's
apartment, the guide turned aside before the guards were reached,
pressed a stone in the wall of the corridor, which swung back, revealing
the entrance to a narrow secret passage and then stepped in and beckoned
the others reassuringly to follow. Once all had entered, he swung the
stone back into place. Then he led the way a short distance to another
stone which he also swung aside. They stepped through the doorway and
found themselves in the prince's inner chamber, alone.
With a nod, the guide bade them be seated, and disappeared the way he
had come. The stone swung back into place.
Before they had time for conjecture, Prince Huaca appeared from the
antechamber.
"Ah, Senores," said he, as they rose at this entrance, "I have sent for
you. Be seated."
He sat down by the table and was silent for a space, staring keenly from
one to the other.
"Tonight," said he suddenly, "affairs have come to a crisis in Cusco
Hurrin. The Inca is old. The High Priest, Cinto, who has his ear, fears
me. He has made capital of my appearance today with you before the
Council. To the Inca who, like an old man, clings with love to life and
finds it sweeter as it grows to an end, he has said that I am in league
with devils and that you are evil spirits, and not men from the outside
world, who spoke as you did in order to aid my plans to seize the
supreme power and slay the Inca.
"Tomorrow I am to be asked again to bring you before the Council, and
then we shall be seized and slain.
"But palaces have ears, and all that was said by this evil man, Cinto,
has reached me. And I would forestall him."
He paused. Mr. Hampton looked puzzled.
"But, Prince Huaca," he objected, "must you not obey the Inca's command
and appear with us, or place yourself in rebellion?"
"It is so," agreed the prince. "Nor do I wish to rebel. Yet if I am
slain, my people will be destroyed, for there will be only foolish men
to guide them."
"Then you will rebel?"
"The fortress troops are loyal to me," said Prince Huaca. "And I hold
the Tunnel Way, without which food from the country district cannot
reach the city. That is why they would seize me by stratagem and
treachery. Open attack upon me here by the palace guard which Cinto's
nephew Guascar commands would be folly. Long have my enemies plotted to
compass my downfall, but insidious though they were, the Inca had not
reached that stage of suspicion of me that he could be asked to cause my
death.
"Now, however," he added, "Cinto has taken my championship of the truth
of what reports you bring from the outside world to work upon the Inca's
credulous mind.
"No, I do not wish to rebel, and cause bloodshed among my people. I do
not desire power for itself alone, but in order that I may help my
people, not enslave them."
He was silent, thinking, and Mr. Hampton and the others respected his
silence.
"Too long," he resumed, "have we lived cut off from the world. These
marvels of which you have told me, these advantages shared by common
men, I want them for my people."
"And if you are killed," said Mr. Hampton, "what will happen?"
"Ruin," said the prince. He arose. "But it shall not be," he added, with
energy. "I shall not be slain. And, on the contrary, I shall lead my
people out of ignorance, aye, out from the ignorance of bondage." He
strode up and down. "And you," he added, halting suddenly before the
others, "you shall help me."
"Willingly, Prince Huaca," said Mr. Hampton. "But in what way?"
"You say the peoples surrounding us are peace-loving?"
"Yes."
"If their leaders knew of Cusco Hurrin, they would not seek to conquer
and enslave us as did the Conquerors to ancient Cusco and Inca
Atahualpa?"
Mr. Hampton looked at Don Ernesto and bowed.
"Prince Huaca," said the latter, "I have not told you. But I am the
brother-in-law of the President of Chile. That is the nation within
whose boundaries lies Cusco Hurrin. The President is the ruler. He rules
not by force of arms, not by divine right, but because the people have
selected him to administer affairs of State for them. I can assure you
that no conquest of Cusco Hurrin will be attempted, if you seek in peace
to break from your isolation."
"But, Father," objected Ferdinand, quickly, "it would take a long time
to send a message to Uncle, and meanwhile there would be civil war
here."
Ferdinand spoke so rapidly that Prince Huaca was unable to follow him.
"What says the young man?" he asked.
Don Ernesto repeated. Prince Huaca pointed to the radio outfit, still on
his table.
"But, cannot the voice-through-the-air carry your message?"
So it was something like this which Prince Huaca had in mind? This,
then, was the reason for his interest in the subject of radio? This was
why he had asked them not to speak of radio before the Council? Mr.
Hampton looked dubious.
"It cannot carry the message far enough," said he, slowly.
Over Prince Huaca's face came a shadow of despair. He sat down suddenly,
leaned his elbows on the table, and buried his face in his hands. He was
like a man famished for water, to whose lips a cup had been held, only
to be withdrawn as he was about to drink. Jack felt immensely sorry. He
wanted to be of help. At the same time, his brain was revolving an idea.
"But, Father," he began.
Ere he could complete his sentence, however, Prince Huaca interrupted.
He jumped to his feet and stood with his hands firmly gripping the
table.
"I will not let myself be overcome," he said. "If the
voice-through-the-air cannot carry the message, then you, Senor de
Avilar, must go to your brother-in-law and tell him what I desire, that
he shall come in peace but with an army sufficient to overawe Cinto.
"Ah," he cried, "I can trust you? They will not come to loot Cusco
Hurrin and slay my people, but to make friends and teach them?"
"Only so will they come," said Don Ernesto, deeply moved at the other's
sincerity and earnestness. "I promise."
"It will be long," said Prince Huaca. "But," he added, resolutely, "I
shall defend the fortress and, if there be bloodshed, yet will it be
less than if Cinto had his way."
As he ceased speaking, Jack found his opportunity.
"But, Prince Huaca," he said excitedly, "the voice-through-the-air can
be made to carry your message."
"What?"
Prince Huaca whirled to face this new speaker. It was a habit of his to
stare steadily and searchingly into the eyes of whomever he conversed
with.
"Yes, it can be done," said Jack.
"But how?"
It was Don Ernesto who asked.
"Very simply," said Jack. "Let me explain so that Prince Huaca can
comprehend. This outfit, sir"--and, rising and walking to the table, Jack
indicated the radio outfit reposing there--"can receive messages sent
from very far away, but it cannot send messages except for a
comparatively short distance, 150 miles at most. It was that which my
father had in mind.
"However, at the Andine Monastery of the Cross of the Snows, Don
Ernesto, you will remember that we built a sending station by utilizing
the water power in the falls and the turbines of the power plant. I
cannot explain more clearly to you, Prince Huaca," he added, addressing
the latter, "without going into too great detail. But this will make it
clearer to you. We can send the voice-through-the-air to another
station, which in turn, will send it farther, just as one runner carries
a message which he transfers to another."
Prince Huaca nodded, his eyes bright and expectant.
"And from the monastery, Jack?" suggested his father.
"Why, Father, you yourself told me that _La Prensa_, the great newspaper
of Buenos Ayres, doubtless had established a radio station at its branch
office in Santiago, the Chilian capital. Although when we were in
Santiago," added Jack, "we were so busy with other matters I did not
hear of it, or go to investigate."
"True, Jack," said Mr. Hampton. "Don Ernesto has told me _La Prensa_ had
installed a radio station at Santiago. Of course, too, there is a
commercial station at Valparaiso."
"But the one at Santiago can reach the President more quickly," said
Jack.
CHAPTER XVII--THE FIGHT ON THE PARAPET
So it was decided to set up the field radio and attempt to raise the
monastery. Prince Huaca had had the party brought to his room by way of
the secret passage, in order to avoid having them appear among the young
nobles in waiting in his anteroom. As the boys would have to be taken to
the roof to set up the aerial, he first dismissed those in the anteroom,
then called servants to carry the outfit to the battlements.
Don Ernesto, however, begged permission that Pedro and Carlos be
summoned to assist, instead of servants who could not understand them.
Prince Huaca acquiesced, and sent the jailer for the two faithful
huachos.
He, himself, was eager to observe every preparatory step. Self-contained
though he was, and despite his matter-of-fact acceptance of the
phenomenon of radio, yet it was plain to be seen that he was highly
excited over the matter. Everything had to be explained to him.
For his field outfit, Mr. Hampton carried both batteries and a
quarter-kilowatt generator, such as is in use in army operations. In
fact, the outfit paralleled an army field outfit in a number of
respects, including the umbrella type of aerial. This consisted of only
one pole of hollow steel, and constructed in collapsible sections that
made transportation an easy matter. From the top of the pole, the wires
of the aerial were carried to the ground at some distance from the base,
where they were attached to porcelain insulators. Thus, the wires served
the double function of aerial and guy wires.
While the boys busied themselves erecting the aerial, a difficult matter
because the battlement was all of stone and at first glance there
appeared to be nothing to which the insulators could be fastened, Mr.
Hampton conversed with Prince Huaca, explaining this, that and the other
about the outfit and about the reasons for doing certain things.
The prince pointed to what Jack and Frank were doing, and asked the
reason for it. The boys were forcing wedge-shaped wooden blocks or pegs,
to which insulators were fastened, into cracks between stones of the
turret floor. Originally, these pegs were so made to be driven into the
ground, thus affording anchorage for the aerial-guy wires. Had it not
been for the cracks, they would have been unable to erect the aerial, as
all about them was stone.
When this work was completed, the boys, working furiously, set up the
generator on a pair of legs sufficiently high to give clearance for the
handles by which it was to be turned. Wires were then run to the
transformer, tuner attached, the headphone wired on, and the aerial and
ground connections made.
Part of the outfit was not yet in use, and Prince Huaca pointed to the
box and batteries questioningly.
"Are these objects not employed?" he said.
Mr. Hampton explained he had brought both batteries and generator to
serve as sources of energy. They had been packed separately upon mules,
so that in case one was lost the other might still remain. When the
batteries were used, it was necessary also to use the tube transformer,
he said, indicating the oblong box in which the tubes were mounted on
springs. But when the generator was used, only the transformer and key
were necessary.
"And why is this used rather than the other?" Prince Huaca wanted to
know.
"The generator supplies more power," said Mr. Hampton, simplifying his
explanation as much as possible. "It is a little man with a big voice
that carries far, while the batteries represent a big man with only a
medium voice."
Fast though the boys went about their preparations, in the light of
torches held by servants, the time sped by more rapidly than they had
expected. All the time there came up to them the shouts and laughter of
those in the great square far below, where the festivities of the Feast
of Raymi continued unabated.
Several times one or the other would wander to the parapet and stare at
the scene below, where great fires burned, casting grotesque dancing
shadows on the fronts of the Temple and the palaces surrounding the
square, with the merry-making crowds surrounding poets and singers here
and there, or dancing to the music of the minstrels who played queer
stringed instruments.
As big Bob turned away from the parapet on one of these trips, to rejoin
his comrades, he believed he discerned the shadowy form of a skulker in
a nearby embrasure. He could not be certain, however, because his eyes
were dazzled from staring at the scene below. All about him was starlit
darkness, the moon had not yet risen. His friends, surrounded by the
ring of torchlights, were some distance off.
What could a skulker be doing here? That was the question that leaped to
mind. No sentries were posted, at least none had been seen so far. Nor
was any other member of the party absent, as he could see in a quick
glance to estimate their number.
The perilous situation in which Prince Huaca was placed recurred to his
mind. Perhaps, after all, the prince was over-optimistic when he said
that all within the fortress were loyal to him. Perhaps, in the
loosening of the restraints of discipline, bound to come with the advent
of the festival season, the soldiers below had permitted, altogether
unawares, of course, some assassin intent on taking Prince Huaca's life,
to enter the fortress, to slip by them unseen.
Bob stood, pressed against the parapet, his eyes on the spot, some yards
distant, where he believed he had seen the skulking form. He was
thinking. Not a sign of movement. Could he have been mistaken? Should he
investigate? If someone lurked there, with evil intentions against
Prince Huaca's life, he would be armed. Bob was without weapons. On the
other hand, he realized he would not have to face firearms, but only a
knife thrust or sword. And he was confident in his ability to take care
of himself in a rough or tumble combat, a confidence bred of victories
in the past, not only in school and college, but against ruffians in the
surprising adventures into which they seemed fated perpetually to fall.
"I'll have a look," he muttered to himself. "No harm in making sure."
Stealthily, he removed his shoes, set them against the parapet where
they could easily be found later, and began creeping noiselessly along
the low wall toward the embrasure.
With beating heart, and muscles taut and ready for a spring, he reached
the spot. Should he peer around the edge or get on top of the parapet
and stare down? Either way held danger, supposing the embrasure
occupied. Then he had an idea. As he had stolen along the parapet he had
come across a broken lance butt, some two feet in length, discarded by a
sentry. This he had carried with him as a club. Now he took off his cap,
put it on the end of the stick, and cautiously thrust it ahead of him
around the edge of the embrasure.
Nothing happened. Bob was disappointed. Could it be he was mistaken? Had
his eyes played him tricks? No, he felt certain he had seen a dark form
skulking there. Perhaps he had the wrong embrasure. No, he felt certain
this was the one. Casting caution aside, he thrust his head forward and
took a quick look at the interior. It was empty.
As he stood, staring, uncomprehending, something soft and thick
descended over him, a club came down on his head, a body fell upon him
from above, and strong hands gripped his throat to prevent outcry. Like
a flash of lightning, the truth was borne in upon him. He had not been
mistaken. He had seen a form skulking there. And this man, seeing him
come spying, had slipped to the top of the parapet and had leaped upon
him.
Bob's first thought was to cry out; but a fold of the enveloping bag was
in his mouth, and he felt certain the muffled sound he made could not be
heard. He realized, as in a flash, that whoever had attacked him, here
in the center of Prince Huaca's stronghold, would be intent on silencing
his lips and would have no mercy on him.
These thoughts sped through Bob's mind with lightning speed. The big
fellow, on the other hand, reacted physically to the attack. He began
fighting at once, and in a way that must have been totally unexpected by
his antagonist. Instead of plucking at the other's hands, which were
clutched about his throat, he crumpled up as if overcome and sank to the
stones.
The other retained his grip on Bob's throat, a cruel pressure that set
the blood to pounding in the boy's temples. Nevertheless, he was thrown
off his balance, his body followed Bob's, bent above him.
The moment he touched the stones, Bob sank to the ground, drew up his
legs with a convulsive effort, and then shot his feet upward with a
tremendous thrust. He felt his bare feet strike a lightly-clad body.
There was a grunt. Then the hands about Bob's throat were torn loose
from their grip, and the attacker went hurtling backward.
There was a thud, a dull groan, as the other struck against the parapet.
Bob was tearing frantically at the covering over his head, which was a
thick woolen sack. Meantime, he was emitting roar after roar of purest
rage.
"Bob, Bob. What is it? Oh."
CHAPTER XVIII--ARMED AGAIN
It was Frank's voice, and the exclamation was elicited by Frank catching
sight of the figure against the parapet, now struggling to its feet,
knife clutched in hand. Frank had been the first to reach his comrade's
side. He did not pause but, unarmed though he was, sprang forward.
Bob pulled the sack from his head, just in time to see Frank's rush bear
the other to his knees. Then the others were on the scene, soldiers with
torches, Prince Huaca, Jack and the rest. It was all over in a trice.
The man was disarmed and in the hands of two soldiers, each holding him
firmly by an arm. He was a stout rascal, with an evil face.
Prince Huaca looked at him keenly.
"One of the Palace Guard," said he. "I recognize his face and bearing,
even though he is not in uniform."
To his men, he added:
"Take him below." As the prisoner was being led away, the prince turned
to Mr. Hampton and Don Ernesto.
"You see the crisis has come," said he simply. "This is the first time
they have tried assassination."
Then he went to Bob's side, a winning smile on his face.
"I have you to thank for saving my life," he said. "I hope you are not
hurt."
"Not at all, thanks," said Bob, uncomfortably. "As to saving your life,
sir--well, I guess he wouldn't have gotten much chance at you, with all
your soldiers around."
"How tell?" said the prince. "I have soldiers below, too. Yet this
assassin gained the battlements."
Then, temporarily dismissing the matter with a shrug of the shoulders,
he said:
"But, come, let us complete our preparations of the--what do you call it?
Ah, yes. The radio."
Turning, he led the way to where the station was nearing completion.
While the boys resumed their operations, Prince Huaca again looked on
between Don Ernesto and Mr. Hampton, and conversed with them. He seemed
to have thawed to them greatly, and both men gained the impression that
he was a lonely man and welcomed their friendship. To himself, Mr.
Hampton thought that probably the prince was gifted with so much greater
intelligence and vision than those surrounding him, that, indeed, he
must lead a lonely life. And this diagnosis, in after days, he was to
learn was correct. For years, Prince Huaca, of all of Incarial rank, had
stood alone in opposition to the War Party, pointing out the folly of
invasion of the outside world in the belief that it had stood still
since the days of the Incas. Of friends of lesser rank, however, he had
many like the lord of the outer valley, at whose home they had stopped
the first day.
As they stood there, Mr. Hampton was silent, turning these matters over
in his mind, and considering their own and Prince Huaca's predicament.
He was stirred by a real liking for the man, and by a great pity for
him, too. Alone in this isolation, pitted against shrewd-witted men
lusting for his downfall, what chance had he?
"Prince Huaca, I want to be of help; we all want to be of help," said he
suddenly. "Indeed, our very lives depend upon aiding you to overcome
your enemies and defeat their plans. May I ask, therefore, what your own
plans are? It is possible we may, by putting our heads together, find
some additional way of helping you beside merely calling for aid that,
after all, will take weeks to reach us."
"I shall close the fortress, admit only a daily ration of food to the
city from the farms, and notify the Inca and Council that negotiations
with the outside world have been launched."
"Ere that help can arrive, however," objected Mr. Hampton, "many days of
waiting must elapse. Meanwhile, may not the fortress be attacked and
treachery succeed, where tonight's attempt fortunately came to naught?"
Before Prince Huaca could give answer, Jack approached.
"Dad, we'll soon be in a position to broadcast and try to raise the
monastery. It's a good thing we have got the quarter-kilowatt generator,
for the monastery is all of one hundred and fifty miles distant as the
crow flies, and, although we have a ten-inch spark coil, we couldn't be
heard beyond fifty miles with it and the batteries for our source of
energy, unless under freakish conditions. But, what I was going to ask
is, What time is it?"
Mr. Hampton looked at his watch.
"Why, it's eleven o'clock."
"What? As late as that?"
Jack was amazed and keenly disappointed.
"Why, I had no idea we had been working so long. I'm afraid, then, we
won't be able to pick up the monastery tonight. _La Prensa's_ nightly
concert will have been finished, and they'll all be in bed. What tough
luck!"
"Try, anyway, Jack," urged Mr. Hampton, in an anxious tone. "Time is
invaluable to us. Perhaps," he added, hopefully, "Brother Gregorio will
be pottering around and will catch your signal."
Jack shook his head doubtfully.
"The good monks used to be in bed at nine o'clock before we put in the
radio set for them. And they've still got sleepy habits. But we'll see."
He walked to where Bob and Frank were putting the finishing installation
touches to the generator. Some six or eight inches in diameter, it was
firmly planted on its legs, handles projecting on either side.
"All ready, Jack," said Frank. "You take the instrument and Bob and I
will get up steam."
Interested spectators, the other principals, grouped themselves close,
with the torch bearers forming a ring about them. Bob and Frank began
pumping away at the handles.
"Reminds me of making ice cream in the old freezer," said Bob.
Brother Gregorio had been placed in charge of the radio at the
monastery, and it was for him Jack called repeatedly, after tuning to
the monastery's meter wave length, but no answer came back.
"No use, I'm afraid," he said at last, disappointedly. "May as well ease
up, fellows. They're all asleep, as I expected."
"And that's the nearest radio station, too," said Frank. "There isn't
another within our radius."
"Well, we'll have to wait until tomorrow, that's all," added Bob.
The matter was explained to Prince Huaca, who was disappointed greatly,
and wanted the boys to make another attempt to raise the monastery. Jack
complied, but again without success.
"Ah, well," said the prince, resignedly. "It is in the hands of God."
Don Ernesto glanced at him in quick surprise, and the prince rightly
interpreted the look.
"Nay," said he, "I am not as my people in religion, for I have read much
in the Holy Book left by the holy men who came hither centuries ago with
de Arguello. But of that we shall speak, perhaps, some other time. Let
us now decide what shall be done with this radio tonight, and then
return to my apartments."
It was hardly likely that anything untoward would happen to the outfit,
yet sentries were placed on guard from among the awed torch bearers.
Then the party returned below. Instead of dismissing them to their
quarters, along with Pedro and Carlos, Prince Huaca invited Mr. Hampton,
Don Ernesto and the boys to enter his apartments again. When they were
back in the inner room, he ordered the prisoner brought before him.
Escorted by two guards, whom Prince Huaca dismissed to the anteroom
during the examination, the prisoner was brought in. Of the examination
itself, which was brief, and was conducted in the unknown Inca tongue,
the others could make nothing. It appeared to all, however, that the man
was visibly frightened, although he cloaked his fear under a mask of
stoicism. Several times they heard the name of "Cinto" uttered by the
prince. At length, the guards were resummoned and the prisoner led away.
For a time after his departure, Prince Huaca sat silent, elbows planted
on the table, his head in his hands, lost in thought. That it was none
too pleasant could be seen from his expression.
"It was as I thought," he confided at length. "The High Priest, Cinto,
and his rascally nephew despatched this man to assassinate me. Should he
have accomplished his deed, he was to have been given an officer's
command in the Palace Guard. Ah, my poor uncle, what rascals surround
him and prey upon his superstitions and his love of a fading life!
"The fellow says he gained entrance by calling to see an acquaintance
among my troops; and then, in the relaxation of the holiday which
obtained in the guard room, he slipped into the interior of the fortress
and made his way to the battlements, after seeing us go to them. This is
lax discipline that permits of such things, and shall be inquired into
presently.
"And now it is late and you will want to retire. But before you go, I
have something to give you. You see, I trust you utterly. Do you,
therefore, Senor Hampton, open the cabinet behind you, and there you
will find the weapons taken from you on your capture. These I trust you
with, and enjoin you not to make use of except in case of direct
necessity. Yet, after what has happened tonight, my faith in my defences
is shaken. If one man may creep in thus easily, may not others have done
so? I questioned the rascal as to that, but he denied it. Yet I am not
convinced. I, myself, shall take precautions to guard myself tonight,
and you with these weapons will also be safe.
"They are, doubtless, far better weapons than those which we make after
the pattern of the arms brought hither by the Spaniards in the early
days?"
It was more question than statement, and Mr. Hampton nodded.
"They are, indeed, Prince Huaca," said he. "And these small ones, called
pistols, are very deadly and can shoot a great distance. Will you permit
me," he asked suddenly, "to tender you one of them? It can be carried
concealed upon your person, and is better protection than anything; far
better than a dozen trusty men even, provided they be not provided with
modern arms."
He advanced to the prince, carrying an automatic.
"It is simple to operate," said he, "and will discharge a half dozen
shots in succession without pause to reload."
Briefly he explained the use of the weapon, and Prince Huaca accepted
with thanks what he might have taken without a by-your-leave. He tucked
it away, within his tunic and under his broad golden girdle.
They then took their leave and were led by the jailer once more to their
room, where they found Pedro and Carlos contentedly snoring away.
"In the morning we shall radio," said the prince, on their departure.
The others agreed.
But----
CHAPTER XIX--TREACHERY
"What's that?"
Frank sat up in bed, listened a moment, then shook the form of Bob
beside him. He shook vigorously. Bob grunted.
"Tumble out," said Frank, himself hitting the floor. And he raised his
voice to a shout:
"Everybody up."
Springing to the nearest couch, where reposed Jack and his father,
beginning to stir and blink at his shout, Frank shook them too. All the
time he continued shouting: "Everybody up. Everybody up."
All were awake by now, sitting up in bed or springing to the floor. And
the sounds that had caused Frank to awaken could be heard plainly.
Above the revelry in the square below, which had continued unabated hour
after hour, could be heard a different hubbub, men shouting, and the
sound of firearms being discharged. Ferdinand sprang to a loophole and
stared out on a tossing, surging mass of humanity, lighted fitfully by
the glare of the bonfires and the tossing flame of torches. All around
the edges of the square, men, women and children were fleeing as if in
panic. Before the great stairs of the Temple, where glowed the hugest
bonfire of all, could be seen a force of men in gleaming armor--something
which caused Ferdinand to rub his eyes and wonder if he were dreaming.
They were close knit and firing to the rear as they advanced steadily.
"Look, look," cried Ferdinand.
All sprang to the loopholes.
The armor-clad force set foot on the stairway and started upward, those
in the rear continuing their rear-guard fight.
"What is it? Who's fighting?"
They craned to see the opposing force. Ah, there it was. A rabble of men
from the direction of the fortress, some with firearms which they were
discharging at the group mounting the Temple stairs, others armed only
with spears. Some wore helmet or breastplate, but none were fully
clothed in armor. They were shouting with rage, and it seemed to the
onlookers there were cries of "Huaca, Huaca."
What could it mean? They stared, fascinated, absorbed, beginning to grow
alarmed. The force on the Temple stairs held together firmly. Several
dropped as if wounded, but were lifted by comrades and supported into
the Temple. The force reached the top of the stairway. Then, from the
great pillars of the portico, gloomy and unlighted, above the glare of
the bonfire, stepped numbers of men, similarly clad in armor, who took
up position in serried rank along the top of the steps, and, at the
command of a plumed leader in the middle, delivered with uplifted sword,
started down the steps.
Suddenly a new clash of steel, seemingly at the base of the fortress
rock, immediately below the windows of the prisoners, broke out. It was
succeeded by loud shouts. They craned, but could not see.
"Sounds like an attack on the fort," cried Frank, withdrawing from his
loophole to shout to Jack and his father at the next one.
"But that isn't possible," Jack replied. "The only approach to the fort
is up a winding stairway from the city. Below us is rock."
"But, listen. Something's going on. Wish I could see."
"Look, Frank, look." Bob pulled his companion back to their loophole.
Frank followed the injunction.
Back across the square, running pell mell, came the men who had pursued
the armor-clad warriors into the Temple.
"Those are soldiers from the fortress, boys," said Mr. Hampton, over
Frank's shoulder. Frank and Bob turned about to see Jack and his father,
who had approached from their loophole.
"Do you think so?"
"Yes," answered Mr. Hampton, speaking rapidly. "I believe that in some
manner Prince Huaca has been captured and that force we saw disappear
into the Temple had him in its midst. His soldiers followed, unorganized
and enraged. Now a force in their rear has attacked the fortress,
possibly at a sally-post below us of which we know nothing. Arm
yourselves at once, boys, and barricade the door with the couches. If
the fortress falls, we will defend ourselves."
"Thank goodness Prince Huaca returned us our weapons and ammunition last
night," said Bob, leaping to possess himself of rifle and revolver.
"Last night?" said Frank. "Why, this is the same night."
"Right you are, Frank. But things move so fast here, I lose track of
time."
While the others armed, and then barricaded the door, Mr. Hampton kept
watch at the loophole. Prince Huaca's followers could no longer be seen.
The armor-clad Palace Guard was sweeping across the great square, empty
now of merrymakers, in a wave. But, though he could not see the soldiers
of the prince, Mr. Hampton could tell what had become of them. For up
from the foot of the Acropolis below his loophole came an increased
sound of shouting and clashing steel.
He looked again. The Palace Guard had increased pace. Evidently, all was
not going well with the attacking party at the Acropolis, as the
retreating soldiers from the fortress fell upon them in the rear. Would
the soldiers of the fortress win back to shelter with their comrades? Or
would the reinforcements of the Palace Guard arrive in time to break
down resistance? Mr. Hampton trembled. Upon the outcome depended the
fate of the boys in the room behind. Jack! His eyes misted. Well, they
would sell their lives dearly.
Straining to listen to the sounds from below, watching the oncoming wave
of the Palace Guard, Mr. Hampton was unaware of what was transpiring in
the room behind him. A hand fell on his arm. He whirled about. It was
Jack.
"Somebody's at the door."
Mr. Hampton gripped his rifle, and sprang toward the barricade of
couches behind which crouched the rest of their little force. The great
door of the room opened outward. They could see the light of several
torches shining upon helmet and lance point.
At sight of the barricade, and of the rifles poking over it, there was a
hasty scramble on the part of those in the corridor to get out of the
way. Then a white flag was thrust up on a spear point, and Mr. Hampton
saw it was borne by their jailer--the man whom Prince Huaca trusted with
the knowledge of the secret passage into his inner apartment, the man
whose kindly face, as he had dealt with them, had made them feel they
had a friend in him, even though there was no common tongue between
them.
He made signs to indicate he came in peace, then beckoned another
forward. This other, in the dress of a noble, seemed vaguely familiar to
Mr. Hampton. Jack supplied the answer.
"Why, Dad, it's the young noble at whose house we stopped when we were
brought through the outer valley as prisoners. He's a friend of Prince
Huaca."
"What the deuce, though," said Mr. Hampton. "I can't speak to him in his
language."
It was unnecessary.
In Spanish far poorer than Prince Huaca's, yet still understandable, the
young noble explained he came in peace. Then he asked that he be
admitted. Part of the barricade was removed, and he was brought into the
room. He and Mr. Hampton and Don Ernesto withdrew to one side and
carried on a low-voiced conversation.
Presently, he bowed and withdrew from the room, the guard in the
corridor going with him. The jailer, however, at his command, remained
behind, and the door was left open. The boys looked inquiringly at the
older men.
"Tear down the barricade, boys, so we have something to sit on. The
fortress is still in the hands of Prince Huaca's men. The prince, as I
surmised, has been captured. This young noble, Michac, had heard a rumor
out at his country home of impending trouble, and was so alarmed for
Prince Huaca's safety that he started for the fortress at once. He
arrived too late. Prince Huaca had been captured by a body of men who
gained entrance to his sleeping chamber through the secret passage. How
it was all brought about has yet to be learned. They carried him out
through a postern, where a strong body from the Palace Guard was in
waiting. That was the force we first saw make its way to the Temple.
"Michac has gone to see the safeguarding of the fortress, and has
assumed command, for the soldiers believe there was treachery among
their offices and have deposed all. Michac is known to them, he has
always held aloof from the Court, and they trust him, and offered him
the command. He plans to send a messenger at once to the Inca with word
that if Prince Huaca is slain, the fortress troops will starve the city.
"The position of the fortress, controlling the food supply of the city,
gives him the opportunity thus to preserve Prince Huaca's life. On the
other hand, if he attacks, Prince Huaca would be slain. Thus, matters
probably will be deadlocked. Michac says that from a letter sent him by
Prince Huaca, he learned of the latter's trust in us, and thus has asked
us to place ourselves at his disposal, as allies and advisers.
"He will return presently. Now you have the whole matter before you. It
looks dark, yet not entirely hopeless."
CHAPTER XX--FRANK PLANS A MIRACLE
Michac, however, was delayed far longer than he anticipated, and the
remaining hours of the night passed without his return. None passed
through their corridor. No messengers appeared with word from Michac.
They were left in darkness as to the course of events.
Sleep for most of them would have been impossible. Only Pedro and
Carlos, apprised briefly by Don Ernesto as to what had occurred, could
yield to slumber. They, however, with the stoic philosophy and
acceptance of a situation that the boys on previous occasions had
admired, turned in and slept soundly, ready for the next call to action.
"Boy, how I wish I could do the same," said big Bob, glancing enviously
at the slumbering huachos. "No use to try, though. I might get to sleep,
but it would be only to have Frank chuck me out of bed the next minute.
Seems to me I never yet got to sleep that he didn't go out and start a
couple of bunches of fellows to fighting each other, just to spoil my
slumber."
Don Ernesto and Mr. Hampton fell into quiet, low-voiced conversation,
and the boys posted themselves at the loopholes to watch for
developments.
The bonfires still blazed in the great square, fed ever and again by
members of the Palace Guard. These latter, clad in complete armor, were
posted at every street leading into the square. The fitful glare of the
bonfires gleamed now and again upon breastplate or helmet.
Of all that great multitude which had been making merry, none remained.
Several had been wounded in the crossfire of the two opposing forces,
but their bodies had been removed. Where before all was mirth and
merry-making, now reigned an ominous, oppressive silence.
Now and again the intermittent gleam of torches borne through the
streets could be seen in the thoroughfares radiating from the great
square. The boys wondered what it portended.
"Perhaps the High Priest is ferreting out Prince Huaca's friends and
arresting them," suggested Frank, on one occasion.
Hours passed, while the boys kept moving about, talking, watching
through the loopholes. At length, Bob, with a jaw-dislocating yawn,
flung himself down on a couch, and went soundly to sleep. A moment later
Ferdinand succumbed to the force of suggestion and to his overwhelming
fatigue, and also lay down.
Silence, while the jailer, crouching by the door in the position he had
held for hours, seemed a graven image; silence, while Don Ernesto and
Mr. Hampton sat forward, voiceless, lost in thought, their elbows on
their knees, on a couch near the door; silence, while Frank and Jack
leaned in a loophole, their heads close together, staring down at the
Temple front and the portion of the square within their view.
"Jack," said Frank at last, in a low voice, "I've been thinking."
"Yes?"
"We can get out to safety all right, probably, with Michac in command."
"I suppose he'd let us go."
"But we can't desert Prince Huaca."
"That's right."
"He's a white man."
"He certainly is."
"He trusted us, Jack, and we ought to help him."
"We ought to, indeed."
"I have an idea."
"What is it, Frank?"
"Don't laugh, Jack, will you?"
"No, I won't laugh, Frank. This is pretty serious business. What is
there to laugh at?"
"I mean I don't want you to laugh at my idea."
"All right, Frank, I promise. What is it?"
A lengthy pause. Frank's shoulders began to shake. He looked at him
curiously.
"Why--why----"
"Yes, Jack, I'm laughing myself. I can't help it. Oh, but this is too
good. But"--Frank by an effort regained control of himself and resumed
his normal expression--"just the same, I'm right."
"Well, for goodness sake, what is it? What have you got in mind? I'd
like to laugh, too."
"Jack, you promised."
"All right. Out with it."
Jack was interested. His curiosity was piqued. What could Frank have in
mind?
"Well, Jack, you remember Pedro has false teeth? A full set, with a
rubber plate that looks just like a palate?"
"Yes. Go on."
"And Carlos has a glass eye?"
"Yes, yes."
"And, Jack, you remember Don Ernesto's toupee?"
"Well, what of it?"
"It's a wonderful work of art, Jack. When he wears it, you would swear
it was his own luxuriant hair. And when he takes it off----"
"He's certainly bald, and his head shines like a billiard ball. Yes, I
know. What of it? What's all this got to do with rescuing Prince
Huaca--false teeth, glass eyes and toupee?"
Frank stared at him.
"Jack, don't you see?"
Jack was sleepy, fatigued, and peevish.
"No, I don't. What's the matter with you, anyway?"
"Well, Jack, when you think of modern inventions, you think of the
airplane and radio and steamers and locomotives and telephones, don't
you?"
"I suppose so."
"But, Jack, the savages know nothing about glass eyes and false teeth
and toupees. And I'm sure the Incas don't know anything about them,
either."
Jack looked at Frank, puzzled.
"That's right, Frank. But how can it benefit us?"
"Well, look here. Suppose we appeared before the Inca and his Council as
a delegation from the fortress and demanded Prince Huaca's release on
pain of working our magic on the Inca and all his forces. Then we'd give
them a demonstration. Your father has a little pointed beard. He could
make up to look like a magician. He'd make a few passes, utter some
words in English--anything would confound them, as English is unknown to
them--and then Pedro would pull out his teeth, Carlos would pluck out his
eye, and Don Ernesto would scalp himself. Wouldn't that just give them
fits? Wouldn't it just----"
But Jack's bewildered expression had given way to one of mirth,
uncontrollable mirth, and he laughed until he was weak, leaning back
against the wall, his hands pressed to his aching sides. Frank, too,
yielded to merriment, expostulating between spasms of laughter:
"You promised not to laugh, Jack. You promised."
The sound of their laughter reached Don Ernesto and Mr. Hampton, and
they looked inquiringly toward its source; then, as the boys continued
to go off into fresh gales of mirth, arose from the couch and approached
them.
"What's the joke, boys? Let us in on it," said Mr. Hampton, smiling.
"Oh, I can't, Dad. I can't speak. Ask Frank."
Jack was so weak he could hardly support himself. The ludicrous idea
propounded by his friend, coming on top of his nervous strain, had
induced a species of hysteria.
The two older men grinned in sympathy with the boys, although in the
dark as to the cause of their laughter.
"Some boyish joke, I suppose," said Mr. Hampton, and was about to turn
away, but Jack recovered himself sufficiently to lay a detaining hand on
his arm.
"Wait a minute, Dad. Give me a chance to get my breath. You must hear
this."
The two older men paused, expectant. Presently Jack recovered
sufficiently to attempt an explanation.
"Frank there," he said, pointing to his still quaking comrade. And then
he explained what Frank had proposed.
"I hope we won't give you offense, Don Ernesto," he said, with quick
compunction.
The latter, however, was a jolly sort. And he was struck with the
originality of the idea. With a comical gesture he put his hand to his
head, removed his toupee and held it aloft while Mr. Hampton, seeing
what he was about, pulled a long face and made several mysterious passes
before him.
They had moved close to the table and stood revealed in the light of the
rekindled lamp.
A wild shriek came from the doorway. They swung about startled, Don
Ernesto still holding his toupee aloft. The shriek brought Bob and
Ferdinand to the floor. Even Carlos and Pedro sprang upright on their
couch.
"Great guns, I forgot the jailer was sitting over there," said Mr.
Hampton. "Look at him."
"Hurray," cried Frank. "It worked."
"What do you mean? What worked?"
It was Bob, rubbing his eyes.
Frank, however, paid him no attention.
"Look, look," he said, seizing Mr. Hampton's arm. "He saw Don Ernesto
scalp himself and he's scared stiff."
"I believe you're right, Frank," said Mr. Hampton, delightedly.
They hurried to the recumbent form. The jailer lay on his face, his
hands up to his eyes, as if shutting out an horrific sight. He was
moaning like a man in the extremity of terror.
"Let's try the teeth and the false eye on him, too," said Frank, carried
away with enthusiasm at the unexpected proof of the plausibility of his
suggestion.
"No, no," protested Mr. Hampton. "The man is beside himself with terror
now."
Bending down, he began to pat the fellow on the back, and endeavor to
induce him to raise his head. Don Ernesto, meanwhile, restored his
toupee. Presently, although Mr. Hampton knew no words in the other's
tongue, he had brought him back to some semblance of sanity. The jailer
still trembling violently, was induced to get to his feet, but his hands
were still to his eyes, as if he feared to gaze upon a terrible sight.
The room grew lighter. A glance toward the loopholes revealed the sky
was becoming bright in the east.
"Look," said Jack, "it is dawn."
At that moment, while Mr. Hampton still patted the trembling form of the
jailer, steps were heard in the corridor, and the flickering light of
torches was reflected on the walls. Frank looked out.
"Here comes Michac with a bodyguard," he said. "Say----"
He faced the room, glancing at the others.
"What?" asked Jack.
"Let's try the whole works on Michac and his escort."
CHAPTER XXI--TO GO OR NOT TO GO
Jack laughed with the others, but, sobering, said:
"I'd like to, Frank. But don't you think it would be rather mean to
frighten our friends?"
Mr. Hampton interrupted quickly.
"The thought does you credit, Jack. But there is something else to
consider. I really believe Frank's plan for aweing the Inca and his
Council a good one. This is a matter of life and death. If the plan is
to succeed it must be capable of thoroughly frightening these people and
convincing them of our magical powers. And, as Michac and his escort are
the same sort of people on whom our tricks would have to be tried in
earnest, it is well to give a dress rehearsal, so to speak, and see what
our luck will be."
"Here they come," said Frank, looking out the door.
"Very well," said Mr. Hampton, rapidly. "Pedro, Carlos, when I make
mysterious signs and order you to remove your eye and teeth, do you do
so as if unwillingly, but under compulsion. If you can grimace and
pretend it pains you, so much the better. Ready. Here they are."
As Michac appeared in the doorway, Mr. Hampton faced Don Ernesto, Pedro
and Carlos, who stood shoulder to shoulder. He acted as if the young
noble and the half dozen soldiers behind him had not been seen. Waving
his hands like a mesmerist, in the faces of the trio, he began reciting
a rigmarole of whatever words came into his head.
The three controlled their features with commendable gravity, and,
indeed, acted as if in fear of Mr. Hampton. Michac paused in
astonishment. The soldiers betrayed mingled alarm and curiosity. As for
the jailer, he moaned and cowered against the wall. The boys had all
they could do to keep from laughing. Then Mr. Hampton made an especially
fierce gesture toward Pedro.
"Hocus pocus, abracadabra, pluck out thine eye," he commanded, in
Spanish.
Pedro grimaced as if in pain, brushed his hand across his right eye and
brought it away with the glass eyeball in his fingers. He held it out to
Mr. Hampton.
The jailer, whose curiosity got the better of prudence, had withdrawn
his hands from his eyes. Now he emitted another piercing shriek and once
more cowered down, too stricken to move. The soldiers pushed back
against each other, making little sounds of fear. Michac held his
ground, but he became pale.
"Pull out thy teeth and palate," commanded Mr. Hampton, ferociously,
making a pass with his hands before Carlos.
Out came the false teeth, with the palate of red gum, looking like the
roof of his mouth. He opened his mouth wide, exposing the toothless
gums.
It was too much for the jailer. He had had enough. He turned and dashed
wildly through the group of soldiers, and down the corridor.
"After him, after him, he'll turn the fortress topsy turvy," cried the
quick-witted Jack.
Frank, who was nearest the door, was off like a shot. Nobody attempted
to halt him. And he was fortunate enough to come upon the jailer within
a few yards, for the latter in his blind haste had stumbled and fallen.
The soldiers were on the verge of panic. Michac, too, was shaken, but
held his ground, either out of a fascinated curiosity to see what would
occur next, or else in the feeling that he must set an example to his
men.
"Now, take this knife and scalp thyself," Mr. Hampton commanded Don
Ernesto, extending his pocket knife.
The latter screwed up his face as if in agony, ran the knife blade
seemingly around his head, then with a tug lifted off his toupee,
revealing his hairless dome.
It was too much. The soldiers fell over each other trying to get away.
There were shrieks and cries, as they darted off with tossing torches.
"Quick," cried Mr. Hampton, seizing Michac's arm urgently. "Command them
to return. 'Tis but a trick."
But Michac, although he had resolutely held his ground and refused to
flee, was helpless. He was so stupefied that he could not move. He could
not even speak. He opened his mouth, but no sound came forth.
"Well, I guess they won't do any harm," said Mr. Hampton. "Let them go.
Jack, get this chap a drink of water from the table."
Michac accepted the cup gratefully, and put it to his lips, but his hand
shook so badly that he spilled most of the contents.
"There, you will feel better," said Mr. Hampton. "Now, Senor permit me
to explain."
Leading Michac to a couch, he explained as simply as he could how modern
surgical science made false teeth and eyes possible, while the toupee
was the outgrowth of a demand of fashion. Then he bade the others
restore their original appearance, and they complied. In conclusion, Mr.
Hampton explained Frank's idea that they proceed to the Incarial
Council, demand Prince Huaca's release on pain of incurring the white
man's vengeance, and then proceed to demonstrate their "magic."
"Do you consider it would succeed?" he asked.
Michac, a young man of intelligence and sense, grasped Mr. Hampton's
explanation quickly, and his fear disappeared. He smiled broadly and
delightedly.
"Succeed, Senor? You will make Cinto and his priests die of envy. No
such miracles can they perform."
"Yes, but think you we can obtain Prince Huaca's release?"
"Nay, I cannot say. They will be frightened, yes. Was not I? And I am a
man not easily scared. Yet Prince Huaca is bitterly hated by Cinto and
the Council. Not willingly will they give him up. I will be frank with
you. I would like the attempt made. Yet if you fail, it is death. Have
you no other magic greater than these?"
They looked at each other nonplussed. Suddenly Jack's face brightened.
"The radio outfit, Dad. Surely we can do something with that."
Mr. Hampton nodded quickly,
"Good, Jack, good. There must be a way to use it effectively."
Michac, who had not understood the rapid interchange of remarks, looked
inquiringly at Mr. Hampton.
"Will you come with us to the battlement, Senor?" Mr. Hampton said,
slowly, in Spanish. "Prince Huaca knows of further and greater magic,
and left sentries on guard there last night over it."
"I heard a strange tale from those men," said Michac. "For, yes, I found
them there upon my inspection of the fortress during the night.
Willingly will I accompany you."
Jack interposed.
"But first, Dad, perhaps Michac ought to round up his escort and prevent
them from demoralizing the fortress troops with wild tales of what
occurred here."
"Right," said Mr. Hampton, and turning to the young nobleman, he
communicated Jack's suggestion. The other nodded.
"Await me."
When he had left, the boys began to laugh over their recent experience,
but Mr. Hampton and Don Ernesto were thoughtful. They looked at each
other understanding and spoke together, low-voiced. Then Mr. Hampton
turned to the lads.
"We're afraid it can't be done," he said. "It was good fun, and all
that. But the chances of failure are too great to warrant us in
imperiling our lives. It is true, we might go to the Inca as a
delegation under a flag of truce, but we have no guarantee its sanctity
would be regarded."
"Oh, Dad, everybody regards the sanctity of a flag of truce."
Jack's tone was disappointed.
But Mr. Hampton shook his head.
"I'm afraid the risk is too great."
"Look here, Dad, I've got an idea. You know my ring radio set? I've got
it with me. We can take that along with us to the audience. Then we'll
tell the Inca that the white man's god wants to speak to him, clap the
ring on his finger, adjust the headphone for him, and, from our station
on top of the fortress, order him to release Prince Huaca and punish the
conspirators against him. Now don't say it can't be done, Dad, for it
can, and you know it can. We've got plenty of wire, and can run up all
the aerial necessary in a trice, stand the Inca on one of those gold
flagstones in his palace and give him what he asks for."
Mr. Hampton laughed.
"Not so bad, Jack, but----"
"Besides, Mr. Hampton," interposed Frank, "remember we have our
pistols--and automatics are something these people aren't accustomed to.
That is another marvel."
"But we couldn't take those along under a flag of truce."
"Why not?" asked Don Ernesto. "They would know nothing about them. The
weapons could be tucked away out of sight. And, although to carry them
would seem a breach of faith, yet if we would save Prince Huaca, the end
justifies the means, it seems to me."
At that moment Michac returned.
"Ask him about a flag of truce, Dad, whether the Incarial forces would
respect it?" suggested Jack.
Mr. Hampton did as proposed. Michac straightened proudly.
"It would be respected," he said.
"Then, Dad, your major objection of the danger to us is overborne."
"Yes, I see. But about the pistols, I don't know."
Mr. Hampton shook his head. Then he had an inspiration. Taking out his
pistol, he held it up for Michac to view.
"Do you know what this is?" he asked.
Michac regarded it curiously. He confessed ignorance. Then, on second
thought, he added:
"It is strange. Yet it looks like a tiny gun such as children might make
were they expert gunsmiths. Is it a toy?"
"The deadliest known to man," said Mr. Hampton. And he explained.
"Would we be deprived of these if we went to the Inca's palace?"
"Nay, I doubt it."
"Then we can take them," said Don Ernesto, who had been listening
closely. "That is good."
"But, under a flag of truce----"
"My friend," said Don Ernesto, "you are quixotic. We risk our lives in a
quixotic venture, as it is, if we go to attempt to obtain Prince Huaca's
release. At least let us take advantage of this fortunate circumstance
that pistols are unknown here and carry our weapons as protection
against treachery. For, though Senor Michac says a flag of truce will be
respected, you must remember we are dealing with the High Priest Cinto
and his nephew, not with the Inca, and they already have tried to
assassinate Prince Huaca and then carried him off captive. Though why,"
he added, "he was not assassinated this second time, but merely made
prisoner, I cannot see."
"Perhaps they thought better of it," said Mr. Hampton. "What think you,
Senor?" he added, addressing Michac.
"Nay, I do not know. The plans of this Cinto are beyond my
understanding. Yet it may be he repented of having directed
assassination and when his spies within the fortress reported failure of
the plan, he was glad. For Prince Huaca is beloved of the people, and
there might have been an uprising; whereas, if he be but prisoner, men
will not so willingly put their lives in danger. An it may be, too," he
added, as an afterthought, "that the man captured by you on the
battlement was not sent to slay but to aid in the capture of Prince
Huaca. It may be that the story he told of being sent to slay was false,
and was told the prince in order to cloak the real design. For the man,
as it has been proven, had little to fear. He was released from his
fetters by traitors within the fortress, and escaped during the night,
probably with those who carried off the prince."
Mr. Hampton shook his head. "Palace politics are beyond me," he said.
"Evidently this Cinto is a thorough-going scoundrel. But, to return to
the matter of whether we go before the Inca with our pistols
concealed----"
He was interrupted by the appearance of a soldier at the door, evidently
in great haste.
The latter saluted Michac, and the latter gave him permission to speak.
Then Michac turned to the others gravely, and interrupted.
"The Inca has sent a messenger, calling upon me to surrender you to him
at once, as you are Incarial prisoners. What shall I do?"
CHAPTER XXII--INTO THE INCA'S COURT
"Do?" cried Jack. "I'm for complying."
"Jack, you are talking wildly," rebuked his father, sternly. "It is
death."
"But, Dad, don't you see? Now we need have no scruples about going
armed."
"I know, Jack," said his father, gravely. "But don't you realize that if
we go now, we go as prisoners, and not under the protection of a flag of
truce?"
"I hadn't thought of that," said Jack, and fell silent.
They looked at each other, but none spoke for the moment.
"Senor Hampton," said Michac, resolutely, "I shall not comply with the
Inca's command, though it be for the first time in my life I have failed
to do so, and have put myself in open defiance of our supreme authority.
Let him declare my life forfeit and place a price upon my head in the
hope of finding traitors among the fortress garrison to slay me. I care
not. I am concerned solely for the life of my friend, Prince Huaca. I do
not ask that you go voluntarily and endanger yourselves in the hope of
saving him, but I do appeal to you to help me save him in some manner.
You are wiser men than I, with many wonders and marvels at your command,
and----"
"Think you, Senor Michac," interrupted Don Ernesto, "that if we reply to
the Inca that we come as delegates from a great lord beyond the
mountains with many marvels at his command, and that we wish to have an
audience with him, but not as prisoners, he will give us safe conduct?"
Michac's worried expression lightened.
"And then----"
"Having obtained an audience," said Don Ernesto, "we shall seek to so
impress him with our power that he will be overawed and will either
surrender Prince Huaca or promise that his life be spared."
"It may be," said Michac.
"Let us make the attempt, Senor Hampton," appealed Don Ernesto. "We are
eight in number, capable all of us, armed with modern automatics. I
believe we can protect ourselves, and, perhaps, even effect a gallant
deed in the rescue of Prince Huaca."
"Remember, Dad," said Jack, "that Pizarro, with a handful of warriors,
overthrew a far mightier host than we will face. And in a less worthy
cause, besides."
Mr. Hampton looked at the three lads, at Jack and Bob and Frank. He
thought of the responsibility devolving upon him of looking after their
safety. Nevertheless, there was much truth in what the others urged. In
the automatics, they had weapons the like of which were unknown to the
Inca's people. In the marvels at their command, they had something with
which to dazzle the others and convince them of the white man's greater
power. Besides, there was Prince Huaca--a man who had endeared himself.
Mr. Hampton rubbed his eyes. Was he living in the twentieth century? He,
himself, matter of fact though he was, felt the influence of another age
upon him. He could see the boys had entirely yielded to that influence
and that Don Ernesto was slipping fast. He felt reckless. After all, as
Don Ernesto had said, it would be a gallant deed to rescue Prince Huaca.
And in the mood that was upon him, he felt as if the doing of a gallant
deed was all that counted.
"Very well, let us send a message to the Inca as you propose, Don
Ernesto."
"Hurray, Dad."
"That's the stuff, Mr. Hampton."
"Senor, it is fine to be a boy again, is it not so?" Don Ernesto clasped
his hand.
Michac was elated. The message was given the Incarial messenger, and he
was sent back to the palace. Then they sat down to await developments.
But not for long, as the boys recalled at once that they had not yet
succeeded in calling the monastery, and all adjourned to the
battlements.
Almost at once Jack succeeded in obtaining a reply. And when Brother
Gregorio's voice sounded in the receivers, he gave a cry of joy.
"Senor Jack, is it you? Tell me. How have you fared?"
"It's Brother Gregorio, fellows. Hurray," cried Jack, turning to the
circle about him.
"We've found it, Brother Gregorio," he replied, interrupting the other's
eager flood of questions. "We are in the Enchanted City. And it is not
in ruins, but inhabited. By the descendants of the Incas. Oh, a
marvellous story. But I have little time now for conversation. Do you
call Father Felipe at once, as Don Ernesto has much to tell him."
Father Felipe, fortunately, was close at hand, and he and Don Ernesto
soon were engaged in conversation. Rapidly and concisely, Don Ernesto
related the sequence of their adventures, and what they now proposed to
do. In conclusion, he asked Father Felipe to take minute note of the
directions for finding the Enchanted City, and to communicate at once
with his brother-in-law, the President of Chile. From Don Ernesto's
remarks, those listening could tell that Father Felipe was protesting
vehemently at the carrying out of the proposed visit to the Inca, and
urging them not to do so. But Don Ernesto did not weaken.
So long did the conversation continue, that before its conclusion a
messenger appeared on the roof to inform Michac that the Inca's
messenger had returned and awaited him below. Michac disappeared. When
he returned, Don Ernesto still was talking, and Michac addressed himself
to Mr. Hampton.
"The Inca will receive you as delegates from the Lord Beyond the
Mountains," he said. "You are to appear at once for audience."
"And does he give safe conduct?"
"So states the message, yet Senor----"
"What?" asked Mr. Hampton, noting his hesitation.
"I fear treachery from Cinto. Remember you were told by Prince Huaca
that he and you were to appear for audience today--when apparently you
would be safe--yet were then to be seized and slain. I repeat me, Senor,
of urging you to make this visit. It is not yet too late to withdraw."
Don Ernesto meantime had concluded his conversation with Father Felipe.
"Treachery or not, Senor Hampton," he said firmly, "I believe we should
make the attempt to save Prince Huaca. Honor demands it."
"Yes," said Mr. Hampton, firmly. "I too, have decided in favor of it. We
shall keep our eyes open and be on our guard."
"Dad," interrupted Jack, "remember what I said about the ring radio?
Well, I've got another idea. Let us give the Inca a present. That will
be only natural. Now the box containing the tube transformers is a
handsome piece of work, and will look impressive. Let us take it and the
batteries and present it to him, string up an aerial and tell him the
Lord Beyond the Mountains is so great he can speak and make his voice
heard, although he isn't present. Then we'll get the Inca to put on the
headphone and give him an earful from the battlement."
"But who will speak from the battlement, Jack?"
"I've thought of that, too, Dad. Of course the Inca understands this
archaic Spanish that the high nobles speak. One of us might stay behind
and spring Spanish on him. But I've got a better plan. Wouldn't it
impress him to tell him that our Lord Beyond the Mountains is so
powerful that he speaks all tongues, even that of the Incas--the most
isolated people in the world?"
Mr. Hampton nodded. Frank interrupted eagerly.
"You mean----"
"Yes, sir, I mean Michac," said Jack. "He isn't going with us. He can
stay here and act the part of the Lord Beyond the Mountains, and speak
to the Inca. Besides, that will be all the better. For he knows all
about conditions here and knows everybody by his first name. He can show
such familiarity with the Inca's affairs as to dumbfound the old boy. As
for the generator, a couple of these husky soldiers can turn the handles
and give him the juice. Now I know what you're going to say, Dad. You're
going to object that Michac won't know when the Inca puts on the
receivers, aren't you?"
Mr. Hampton nodded, smiling slightly, for Jack's enthusiasm amused and
warned him, and he could see his son had a plan already worked out.
"Suppose, too," he said, "that the Inca refuses to don the headphones?
What then?"
"If he doesn't," said Jack, "what's to prevent us from bluffing this
High Priest, Cinto, into putting them on? We can ask simply whether he
is afraid. That ought to floor him. He won't dare admit fear of
another's magic. For that matter, we can bluff the Inca into listening
by the same method.
"Anyway," Jack continued, "either of your objections can be met. We can
say that the Lord from Beyond the Mountains speaks from the sky, and ask
the Inca to come to that great platform before the Temple. Then we can
put up our set there, and from the battlements here, Michac can see just
who is listening on the 'phones, and when to speak."
"Jack, I believe you've got it," said his father, heartily. "Well, let's
go."
"Look here," said Bob, suddenly. "Michac can't see from where this set
is located. He can't get sight of the square at all. But I've got an
idea, too. Jack, you give him your field glasses, and explain them to
him. Then he can station a trusty man in the embrasure there, with the
glasses, and this man can make sure beyond possibility of a doubt, who
is listening-in and when, and just call the information to Michac."
The glasses were brought, a soldier instructed in their use, and two
others put at the generator. Then Michac escorted the party to the
fortress gate, and they set out across the square. Before resuming his
station on the battlements, Michac assembled two strong parties under
trusty petty officers, and stationed them at the main gate and at the
sally port at the foot of the Acropolis, reached by a stairway hewn from
the living rock. It was there the surprise attack had been delivered the
night before.
"Keep close watch," he commanded, "and if you see these strangers return
in haste, pursued by the Palace Guard, dash forth to their rescue. They
go to attempt the delivery of Prince Huaca."
That last statement, he new, would steel their arms, for the common
soldiers of the fortress adored Prince Huaca. Then he returned to the
battlements to await developments.
By that time he could see the party, led by the Inca's messenger,
marching two abreast, in step, with Pedro and Carlos in the rear,
bearing the radio outfit, reach the wide stone stairway sweeping up to
the Incarial palace, which adjoined the Temple on the left. He was torn
by conflicting emotions at the sight, hope that the marvels of the
strangers would accomplish the impossible, fear for the possible effects
of Cinto's treachery.
Steadily they marched up the steps, received at the head of the flight
by an armed guard in glittering armor, which closed about them. Fear
overcame hope in Michac's breast. Against those splendid armor-clad
warriors, how could his newfound friends hope for success. His heart
failed him. Had he been wise in permitting them to go? Were they not
going to certain death, in spite of fair promises?
"Oh, Huaca, Huaca, my friend and leader," he said to himself, in
momentary despair, "I shall never see you alive again. My poor country!"
CHAPTER XXIII--THE OLD AND THE NEW
What a sensation that was, crossing the great square of Cusco Hurrin,
facing the tremendous Temple of the Sun and the Inca's Palace, in the
bright sunlight, with not a soul in sight in all the great expanse. The
boys again underwent that feeling to which they had been subject so
often since arrival, namely, that they were dreaming. Could it be
possible that here they were in the most secret and unknown city on
earth, that the unparalleled experience which had come to Pizarro
centuries before, of discovering the Inca civilization, was now coming
to them?
They marched in step, shoulders squared, heads erect, looking very
military in their camping outfits and campaign hats. By each man's side
swung his automatic in a holster, ready for instant use.
"If they do not know the purpose of these weapons," said Mr. Hampton, as
they set out, "it is not likely they will attempt to take them from us.
But, should they do so, we must not permit it. In that case, let each
man draw his automatic and await my instructions."
"What would you do, Dad?"
"Demonstrate my ability as a shot," said his father, grimly. "I would
bring down something or other, to convince them it were best not to
trifle with us. My hope, however, is that we shall not be asked to give
up our weapons."
Steadily the march continued, and now, as they drew nearer to the Inca's
Palace and could see the individual figures of the armor-clad guard
drawn up on the terrace at the head of the great stairway, Jack turned
for a last look at the Acropolis. As he did so, he gave an exclamation,
and halted, staring. The others turned at his words, and then also
halted in their tracks and stared.
For the first time since arrival they obtained a clear view of the
mountain peak behind the Acropolis. Through a flank of this lofty height
was cut the Tunnel Way by which they had gained the fortress. During
their only appearance on the battlements by day, only a very short time
previously, they had been too occupied in calling the monastery by radio
to look up at the towering peak beyond.
"Look at it smoke."
It was Bob's voice, breaking the silence.
At once the others gave tongue, too, and the air was filled with their
exclamations.
For out of the truncated top of the mountain was pouring a thick black
smoke, not of any great density, in reality, as yet, but still
pronounced.
"Is that a signal fire, or something like that, by any chance, Dad?"
asked Jack.
Mr. Hampton shook his head. His face was grave.
"That's a volcano," he said. "You know some of the most active volcanoes
in the world are located in the Andes. And the whole Andine region is
subject to earthquakes. The tremors are felt far out at sea, and when a
great earthquake occurs, it is usually accompanied by a tidal wave that
wreaks destruction along the Chilian and Peruvian coast. Valparaiso
practically was wiped out by a tidal wave not so many years ago."
"Does that look as if it would erupt soon, Mr. Hampton?" Frank anxiously
inquired.
Mr. Hampton shook his head, doubtfully.
"I don't know. But I do not believe so," he said. "What do you think,
Don Ernesto?"
The Chilian shrugged.
"Who can tell," he said. "It feels like earthquake weather, a little,
hot and muggy. But, come, we delay. Let us proceed."
Once more the party moved forward. Now they were at the bottom of the
great flight of stone stairs leading up to the Inca's Palace. Now they
were halfway up. Now they were at the top. And two lines of splendid
warriors formed an aisle through which they must pass to enter the great
doorway.
"Great guns," muttered Bob in a low voice, "I didn't realize--I didn't
suspect----"
"Ssh," whispered Frank, who was his partner.
Nevertheless, he, too, was awed by the sight.
So were they all.
For the members of the Palace Guard were in golden armor. Breastplate,
helmet, greaves, were all gold or gold-plated.
Stunned, almost, though they were, however, none of the party seemed to
take any notice of the warriors, but kept their eyes to the front as
they halted at a gesture from the herald who had brought them from the
Acropolis. Then down between the aisle of golden warriors, each standing
tall and straight and motionless, golden-tipped spear by his side, short
sword with hilt of gold at his belt, came a young man to receive them.
He, too, was clad in gold, but not in armor, except for the fine shirt
of mail, all of golden links. Below this appeared the short tunic with
the deep crimson border denoting a man of Incarial rank. By his side was
also a short sword but with a hilt that was not only gold but also
gem-encrusted. His head was bare, his hair long and straight, and raven
black. His face was thin and cruel. The soldiers saluted as he passed
by, raising their spears before them, and ringing the butts on the stone
flagging of the terrace. They rightly surmised he was the Captain of the
Palace Guards, Guascar, the High Priest's nephew.
Bowing low before Don Ernesto and Mr. Hampton, who led their little
column, he halted some six paces before them, and in halting, archaic
Spanish said:
"Ambassadors from the Lord Beyond the Mountains, I am instructed to lead
you to the August Presence."
"If you refer to the Inca of Cusco Hurrin," said Don Ernesto, "it is he
whom we have traveled thus far to see."
"What mean these strange objects borne by your men?" said Captain
Guascar, sharply, pointing to the radio outfit carried by Pedro and
Carlos.
"This," said Don Ernesto, "is a gift from the Lord Beyond the Mountains
to the Inca of Cusco Hurrin."
"Come, then," said Captain Guascar, turning on his heel.
All breathed easier. He had made no reference to their automatics. The
first difficulty had been no difficulty at all. Guascar retraced his
steps, the soldiers once more saluted, and the "ambassadors" marched up
the aisle. Pedro and Carlos, who carried the main part of the radio
outfit, and Jack and Ferdinand who assisted them, had their hands full.
But the others unostentatiously kept their hands near their automatics,
ready for action should treachery be displayed. The warriors, however,
stood as if cast in bronze, and the passage of the aisle between their
ranks was made without incident. As soon, however, as the "ambassadors"
had entered the doorway, the guard closed in and fell in behind them.
Inside the doorway was a great, bare, stone reception hall. Captain
Guascar led the way across this to another doorway covered by hanging
cloth of gold. Unseen hands pulled this back on either side and the
officer entered, beckoning them to follow. Soon he crossed the
threshold, he fell on his knees, his face bowed.
Doubtless, the others, according to Court etiquette, should have done
likewise. However, they had earlier talked this matter over among
themselves, and it had been decided that they should carry themselves in
proud fashion. They remained erect, therefore, awaiting developments.
The scene before them was one to take away a man's breath. Foursquare
and vast was the throne room, with the lofty stone ceiling supported by
carven pillars. On each of these gleamed a circle of lights like golden
censors hanging by chains, for, although it was broad day outdoors, it
was perpetual gloom within.
The floor was a mosaic of blue and red blocks of stone. And at the far
end, opposite the doorway where they stood, was the throne. It was a
great, high chair of gold, and on it was seated a man of great age whom
they recognized for the Inca, as they had seen him at the ceremonies of
the Festival of Raymi, the first morning of their captivity.
From the door to the throne, between two rows of pillars, stretched a
carpet of the Incarial crimson. Before the throne, which was raised upon
a dais, stood a rank of the golden-armored Palace Guards. At the Inca's
shoulder was the High Priest Cinto. Below the Inca, on an intermediate
dais, stood a group of eight or nine in tunics, bearing the crimson
border of Incarial rank. These were the members of the Cabinet or
Council, with whom Don Ernesto and Mr. Hampton had had audience the day
before.
The Inca lifted a hand slightly, and the gesture was understood.
"Advance, O Ambassadors, from the Lord Beyond the Mountains," rolled out
the voice of a herald who stood before the soldiers guarding the throne.
"The Inca of Cusco Hurrin will receive you."
"Steady, boys," cautioned Mr. Hampton, in a whisper over his shoulder,
in English, so as not to be understood by Captain Guascar.
Then they started forward down the carpet.
At the foot of the throne the party halted. To either side of them stood
the ranks of the Palace Guard. Behind these were groups of courtiers.
Before them and to the right stood the nobles of the Council. Above them
towered the Inca on his golden throne, and now they could see that the
gleaming background thereof was a representation of the sun with a halo
of projecting golden spikes. On the Inca's head was a crown also
radiating golden spikes. They were aware, too, that the Palace Guard
which had met them at the head of the outside stairway had closed in
behind.
Upon their wits depended their safety. They were completely hemmed in.
All realized the situation acutely, none more so than Mr. Hampton and
Don Ernesto. These two looked fleetingly at each other, and each read in
the other's eyes a growing anxiety as to whether their rash venture
after all had been advisable. But each read, too, an indomitable
courage, and knew he could count upon his comrade. Don Ernesto gave an
almost imperceptible nod, indicating Mr. Hampton should proceed, as it
had been agreed beforehand the American should act as spokesman. For one
thing, he wore a Vandyke beard, which in itself was a badge of
distinction, as all within Cusco Hurrin, like most Indians, were
smooth-faced.
Stepping slightly in advance of his party, therefore, Mr. Hampton bowed
low before the Inca, and then began. He spoke in Spanish, and slowly, so
that he might be understood. Representing that they came as ambassadors
from the "Lord Beyond the Mountains," he spoke briefly of the might of
that ruler. Then he told of the legend which for centuries had
persisted, of the existence of Cusco Hurrin, and how he and his
companions had come at length in search of the city. That they came in
peace, he added, was attested by the fact that they came without armed
followers. Having proceeded thus far, he next changed his tone to one of
sternness, and referred to Prince Huaca. A general stir and rustle in
the audience apprised him that not only the members of the Council but
others also could gather the import of his words. Over the sharp,
hawklike features of the High Priest Cinto passed an expression of
anger, and he made an involuntary step forward. But Mr. Hampton's voice
rang boldly forth.
CHAPTER XXIV--THE MIRACLE WORKER
"We found Prince Huaca, the heir to the throne," he said, "an
enlightened and intelligent man, filled with enthusiasm for the
betterment of his people and very desirous of learning of the many
wonders and marvels in our country.
"But"--and pausing deliberately and significantly, Mr. Hampton stared
directly at the High Priest Cinto--"but," he added, "he told us evil
counsellors surrounded the throne. He was captured and imprisoned. And
now, O Inca, we ask that the evil men be punished and Prince Huaca be
restored to the favor of your countenance."
It was too much for the High Priest. His face became convulsed with
rage. He made a step forward. But the Inca, whose eyes though old were
shrewd, and who showed none of the senility of age, lifted his hand. The
gesture was sufficient.
"O Ambassador of the Lord Beyond the Mountains," said he, in a thin,
clear voice, "you speak with a fearless tongue. But, tell me, by what
right do you thus seek to interfere in the affairs of Cusco Hurrin? Why
should I not command my soldiers to seize you at once?"
"O Inca," answered Mr. Hampton, stoutly, betraying no sign of
trepidation, "we have your safe conduct. Moreover, if any evil befall
us, the Lord Beyond the Mountains will know of it instantly and will
send his lightnings through the air for our protection."
"What mean you?" asked the Inca, staring at him keenly. "This talk of
knowing instantly is folly. Is not Cusco Hurrin a sealed city whence no
messengers may depart? And are we not separated from this Lord of whom
you speak by many leagues of wild land? And what means this talk of
lightnings? Is the Inca of Cusco Hurrin a child to be frightened by
foolish tales?"
"Nay, Sire," said Mr. Hampton, imperturbably, bowing, "this is no
foolish talk. Great is the power of the Lord Beyond the Mountains, and
such power also dwells in us his ambassadors."
"This talk of power does not please me," said the Inca, harshly. "Again
I ask, what mean you?"
"Would you have evidence of our power, O Inca," said Mr. Hampton, "then
behold. For I have brought with me certain marvels with which to
convince you. Shall I proceed, or is the Court of the Inca of Cusco
Hurrin timid as a child and unwilling to look upon these marvels?"
"Nay, nay, stranger, we are not fearful. For our power, too, is great,"
said the Inca. "Behold, here is my High Priest, who communes with our
Lord, the Sun, and knows many secrets."
On being thus indicated, Cinto assumed an expression of satisfaction.
"Ah," said Mr. Hampton, composedly. "But can he order a man to pluck out
his eye, to take his teeth from his mouth, or to remove the hair from
his head, and be obeyed without injuring that man? Can he do this, and
then restore that man to his original appearance?"
There was a renewed stir of interest among the members of the Council, a
renewed rustling in the audience. Cinto looked supercilious and haughty,
but Mr. Hampton thought he detected a gleam of worry. As for the Inca,
he leaned forward a bit and stared more sharply than before.
"Nay," said he, "and be cautious, O Ambassador, lest your tongue lead
you into idle boasting. For these matters of which you speak are for the
God Himself alone to perform."
"O Inca, I do not boast," said Mr. Hampton. "If you would behold, then
observe closely."
It was their cue. Pedro and Carlos advanced to take station beside Don
Ernesto. Mr. Hampton faced them, arms extended.
"Behold, O Inca," said he. "I speak, too, in the tongue of the Lord
Beyond the Mountains--a tongue of power."
And rapidly he began, in English:
"Hocus pocus, abracadabra, Pedro, give me your eye."
Pedro passed his hand over his glass eye, plucked it out, and then, good
actor that he was, and thoroughly enjoying the situation, he turned so
that the sightless cavity stared at the Inca and held up the eye between
thumb and forefinger.
A gasp of amazement and horror came from the audience. The boys who were
watching the proceedings with keenest enjoyment had difficulty in
restraining their laughter.
"Look at the High Priest. He's going to faint."
"Yes, and the Inca is paralyzed."
Not pausing, Mr. Hampton next cried his incantations over Carlos, and
the latter opened his mouth wide and brought forth his false teeth. He
held them up, so that all could see. And, indeed, they were a gruesome
sight, with the red rubber palate resembling the roof of the mouth. He,
too, profiting from Pedro's example, stared toward the throne, lips wide
apart, toothless gums displayed.
If before had been horror and amazement, now was stupefaction. Whimpers
of panic ran around the audience. The soldiers before the throne
trembled, so that their erect spears waved like saplings in a strong
wind. The Inca, the High Priest, the members of the Council, all were
endeavoring to restrain their fright, but they were palsied with terror.
"Good night," murmured Jack, suffocatingly. "He's got them. Oh, I'm
going to blow up if I can't laugh soon."
Mr. Hampton also realized he had his audience in his grip, and he
proceeded to strike while the iron was hot.
Extending a knife to Don Ernesto, he gestured with his hand to indicate
the latter was to scalp himself. Don Ernesto complied. And a thorough
job he did of it. Then he lifted off his toupee and held it, poised
above his head. The lights from the pillar behind him gleamed on his
shining bald head.
It was too much for Inca nerves. The courtiers in the audience cried out
whimperingly like frightened children and there was a great scurrying to
get behind pillars. The soldiers before the throne, as if with one
accord, threw themselves prone before this worker of wonders. There was
a rush of feet away from their party in the rear, and the boys, turning,
saw some of the soldiers of the rear guard, forgetful of discipline,
forgetful of everything, stricken by blind fear, dashing madly for the
doorway.
"You've got them, Dad," cried Jack. "Look at the Inca. Look at the High
Priest."
The High Priest had fallen back a step or two, and assumed a crouching
position. His attitude betokened not only fear, but desperation and
hatred. Plain as if he had spoken the words, could be read in his
expression the fear that here was a greater magician than he, the ruin
of his hopes. As for the Inca, he had attempted to rise from his throne,
but had fallen back and now cowered in the great chair, his hands over
his eyes.
Mr. Hampton's voice rang out.
"Behold, O Inca," he cried, "your people flee before these wonders. But
there are greater wonders to come. Bid them stay."
His voice had the effect of arresting the panic. The Inca withdrew his
hands, and by a tremendous effort pulled himself together. In a shaky
voice, he said:
"Continue."
"You will observe," said Mr. Hampton, "that though one of these men has
plucked out his eye, another his teeth, and a third has removed his
hair, yet none have suffered pain nor bled. This itself is a great
marvel, and by order of the beneficent Lord Beyond the Mountains, who
protects his children from all harm. Now I shall restore them to their
original appearance."
He clapped his hands three times, and at this, the previously
agreed-upon signal, Pedro replaced his eye, Carlos his teeth, and Don
Ernesto his toupee.
An audible shudder ran through the audience, most of whom, fascinated by
the promise of more wonders, had halted in their flight and returned.
The soldiers of the rear guard also had slunk back into place.
"Captain Guascar is going to overlook their having started to flee,"
whispered Bob to Frank. "He's not paying any attention to them."
"No wonder," whispered Frank, in reply. "He almost died of fright
himself, and he's not over it yet, either."
In truth, the doughty captain had a staring, hysterical look in his
eyes, as if he had seen some frightful apparition, and his limbs still
trembled.
"These, O Inca," said Mr. Hampton, "are simple matters. It surprises me
that your people should be surprised, for in my country any child can
perform them. Indeed, any of my young men"--waving toward the boys--"can
perform them as easily as I. Aye, if you so desire, I shall ask one of
them to do so. And, if it be your wish"--he added, daringly--"I shall ask
one of my young men to demonstrate upon one of your subjects. Shall we
tell this lad"--laying his hand on Jack's shoulder--"to pluck forth the
High Priest's eye?"
"Hey, Dad, you're taking a long chance," whispered Jack, anxiously.
He need not have worried.
With a howl, Cinto leaped to the Inca's side, hands outspread.
"O August One," he cried, "Representative of the Sun God, protect me
from these evil spirits who be not men but demons."
"Nay," said Mr. Hampton, "if the High Priest fears----" And he pushed Jack
back into column. He had produced the effect he desired. He had unmasked
the High Priest's fear, and publicly humiliated him. It would be better
not to press the matter. They were skating on thin ice. What if the Inca
should point to some man in disfavor and ask that they blind him, render
him toothless or scalp him?
He hurried on to another matter. Holding up his hand, index finger
extended, he said:
"O Inca, a greater marvel have I. Above me I can hear the voice of the
Lord Beyond the Mountains. He wishes to speak to you. This great Lord
speaks every tongue known to man; aye, even the Inca speech he knows,
even though for hundreds of years none have spoken it in the world
Beyond the Mountains. And this voice which I now hear, but which is
inaudible to you within this hall, commands that I invite you to appear
upon the terrace before your palace, where----"
Mr. Hampton paused. He had been wracking his brain for a good reason to
assign for urging the Inca to appear on the terrace in order to hear the
radio. Now, as by inspiration, it came to him. "----Where," he added, "you
will be under the protection of the Sun God and need fear no dark magic.
This Lord Beyond the Mountains would speak to you now, within this hall,
except that he desires you to feel secure.
"He will speak to you in your own tongue," he added. "And this," he
added, pointing to the radio outfit, "is the medium of his voice."
He turned to his own party.
"Come on, quick. Take up the outfit and let us march out. If we waver,
there may be trouble. If we put on a bold front, I think the Inca will
follow."
CHAPTER XXV--A VOICE WARNS THE INCA
That rear guard fell back before them, scrambling hastily to the sides
that they might pass. Bob, Frank and Ferdinand felt sore from restrained
laughter, and this new evidence of the panic they had created amused
them and made restraint even more difficult.
Jack, however, had fallen back beside Mr. Hampton and Don Ernesto, and
was bringing up the rear. His sharp eyes had discerned something which
caused him grave concern, and he spoke of it in a quick whisper.
"Cinto has disappeared," said he. "I have a hunch it means no good."
"Ah," said Don Ernesto, shrugging, "these soldiers, they are frightened
of us. The Golden Palace Guard is trembling in its armor. We have
nothing to fear."
"That's just it," said Jack. "Maybe Cinto realizes he cannot trust to
these soldiers to attack us, and so he has gone to get others who have
not fallen under our spell."
"We'll keep our eyes open, Jack," said his father. "That's a hunch worth
attention."
"By golly, Dad, the Inca is following us all right. They're bringing up
a litter for him. Four bearers are carrying it."
"We won't look back, Don Ernesto," said Mr. Hampton. "It would injure
our dignity to do so. Don't stare, Jack. Thank heaven, the old boy is
coming. That means not only that we have got him on the run, but also
that Cinto won't attempt any demonstration against us while the Inca is
present, in all likelihood."
The terrace was reached, and Jack and Frank at once began setting up the
aerial. They had brought along a second umbrella aerial similar to that
set up on the battlement of the Acropolis, which had been included in
the outfit, and this they proceeded to set up. Then the three, Jack, Bob
and Frank, connected up batteries, tube transformer and headphone.
Meanwhile Mr. Hampton was staring covertly at the battlement of the
Acropolis, towering high on the distant side of the square opposite.
Would Michac fail them? Or would he carry out his part in the plot
successfully? Mr. Hampton was thankful to think that, even if Michac
should fail them, they were out in the open where they stood a better
chance for their lives in a fight, and, also, that they had already
roused a wholesome respect for their power in the breasts of their
enemies.
The boys worked with lightning swiftness. They were grateful for the
delay in the arrival of the Inca, whose movements were attended by so
many ceremonies that it was a considerable time before he had reached
the terrace and was ensconced in a great chair brought out for him by
other bearers.
"Put on the headphone, Jack, and try it. See whether our friend Michac
is at his post," whispered Mr. Hampton, when the last connections were
completed.
Jack complied, adjusting the tuner to the meter wave length at which he
had set Michac's instrument. A smile broke over his face, and he nodded
to his father.
"Senor Jack, I am ready. My man at the parapet tells me you are at the
'phone. Thanks be to the gods, that you are safe out of that trap. I
have been in agony, lest you be overcome and go to your death. I saw the
soldiers move into the palace behind you. Now, if you let me speak to
the Inca, I shall do my part."
"Good man," whispered Mr. Hampton, when Jack repeated the conversation.
"I'm beginning now really to hope for success. If he scares the Inca
badly enough, we may hope for Prince Huaca's relief."
Approaching the Inca, Mr. Hampton bowed. Then he gestured toward the
radio instrument, the installation of which had been watched with
absorbing and breathless interest by soldiers, courtiers and
counsellors.
"The Lord Beyond the Mountains would speak to you in your own tongue, O
Inca," said he. "Will you deign to approach so as to put to your ears
this instrument even as the young man has done."
He indicated Jack, who at his father's direction, continued to wear the
headphone and smiled invitingly. This, Mr. Hampton had felt, would help
to assure the Inca no evil would come to him from acceptance of the
invitation.
"I assure you no evil will come to you thereby," Mr. Hampton added.
The Inca regarded him with impassive face. His shrewd eyes sought to
read the countenance of this strange magician and to detect whether he
spoke in good faith or was attempting deception. He decided Mr. Hampton
was honest. Moreover, it would not do for him to show fear.
"Ambassador from the Lord Beyond the Mountains," said he. "I will listen
to your master's voice, if, indeed, he can speak to me across the
forests and the mountains, and in my own tongue. But woe betide you if
this be false."
Signing to the bearers, he was lifted, chair and all, and set down where
Jack indicated. Then Mr. Hampton took the headphone, while a noble, at
the Inca's command, stepped forth and, after prostrating himself,
removed his crown. Thereupon Mr. Hampton placed the headphone upon the
Inca's head.
Stepping back quickly, he raised his hands aloft and looked to the
heavens, as if indicating to some unseen spirit overhead that the time
to speak had come. In reality, this was a signal to Michac's spy at the
parapet of the Acropolis battlement to pass word to Michac to speak.
The next moment, Michac's voice, sonorous and deep, was heard in the
receivers.
"Great guns," whispered Frank, in English, "what a wonderful radio
speaker he is. Why, you can hear him plainly."
"Wish I could understand what he's saying," said Jack, excitedly. "Look
at these counsellors and courtiers, will you? They get him, and, boy,
they're scared stiff."
It was true. Michac had one of those rare voices with a bell-like
quality that carries beautifully by radio. And he was obeying to the
letter Jack's hasty instructions as to where to place his mouth near the
transmitter so as to get the best effect. He spoke in the Inca tongue,
and, of course, the boys could not understand what he said.
Nevertheless, that it was having a powerful effect, not only on the
courtiers and nobles surrounding the Inca, but on the Inca himself, was
apparent.
What Michac was saying, the boys knew in general, for he had been
instructed to demand the release of Prince Huaca under threat of dire
catastrophes to be visited upon Cusco Hurrin otherwise. But Michac had
said that he would make his commands intimate, employing his knowledge
of the Inca and the affairs of Cusco Hurrin. And, quite evidently, he
was doing so.
The Inca's face became white, his eyelids fluttered, and then his head
fell forward.
"Great guns," cried Bob, "he's fainted. The shock was too much for him."
Jack sprang forward and snatched the headphones from the Inca's head.
The audience gasped, and then its fear of these strangers, created by
their marvels piled upon marvels, gave way before the deep-seated
instinct of reverence for their ruler, the personal representative of
their god. Hoarse cries of rage arose, and courtiers, nobles and
soldiers, all jumbled together, began to surge forward toward them.
Affairs looked bad, indeed.
At that moment a shot sounded from the direction of the Temple of the
Sun. Another followed. All spun about. Down the broad steps of the
Temple came flying a familiar figure. It was Prince Huaca. Behind him
was Cinto, followed by a detachment of the Palace Guard. The soldiers
were armed only with sword and lance. Whence, then, came the shots?
That was apparent the next instant. For, pausing in his flight, as with
one great bound he reached the bottom of the steps, Prince Huaca faced
about, leveled his arm, and fired.
"The automatic," cried Mr. Hampton. "I forgot I had given him one."
Cinto stumbled and fell in a crumpled heap on the steps.
CHAPTER XXVI--THE MOUNTAIN SPEAKS
"Come on, Dad," cried Jack. "Come on, fellows. Let's join him. We're in
a bad hole here."
So astounded was the crowd about them by this new development, that, for
the moment, it had forgotten the fainting of the Inca, forgotten the
strangers. It was their chance. Whipping out their automatics, the
eight, close together, burst through the fringe about them on the edge
of the terrace and darted down the steps.
"Run, Prince," cried Mr. Hampton, in Spanish. "Run for the fortress. We
are your friends. We follow."
Prince Huaca heard, glanced their way, and then stood stock-still in
amazement. He had known nothing of their presence. But sufficient that
they were at hand and were coming to his rescue. A smile of joy broke
forth on his face. Instead of starting directly across the square, he
dashed along the face of the steps of the Temple toward them.
Tumultuous cries broke out behind them now, and Bob and Jack, who
brought up the rear, facing about, saw the mob of courtiers and
soldiers, intermingled, start down the steps after them. One man was
ahead of the others. He was Captain Guascar. Sword uplifted, unhindered
by heavy armor as were his warriors, he came bounding down, three steps
at a time.
"I don't like his looks, anyway," Bob cried to Jack. "Here's where I
spoil 'em."
And, turning suddenly, the big fellow leaped back up the steps, dashed
in under Guascar's up-raised sword, seized him about the waist, and with
one mighty heave tossed his body into the face of the oncoming horde.
The flying form crashed into an armor-clad soldier and the two fell to
the steps, bringing down still others who stumbled over them, unable to
turn aside. In a trice the mass piled up.
"Run Bob, run," cried Jack, who had paused and turned back a step or
two, revolver raised, to help his comrade with a shot, if necessary.
Big Bob grinned, leaped back to Jack's side, and the two raced down the
steps.
This temporary diversion created by Bob's unexpected attack had given
the others a good start. Their figures were out on the great square,
darting for the distant fortress. Prince Huaca had joined them. The fall
of the High Priest Cinto, shot down so unexpectedly by the prince,
likewise had delayed pursuit from the Temple, as the soldiers had paused
uncertainly, mystified as to this new form of death wielded by the
prince.
Mr. Hampton at first had not noticed the absence of his son and Bob,
being interested in speeding on the others and in sweeping the prince
into their party. But as they started across the square, he looked back
to assure himself the boys were following. He was just in time to see
Bob's mighty heave, and the ruin which it wrought.
"Go on," he cried to the others. "We'll follow."
And he waited for the approach of the two lads.
When they came up, he started running swiftly with them.
"Great stuff, Bob," he cried. "I saw it. You certainly piled them up."
To gain the fortress seemed a simple matter, for pursuit was so far
behind that it could not catch up with them, and the reunited party was
congratulating itself on a safe return when, as they drew near the foot
of the Acropolis, shots began to fly overhead and they saw a party of
soldiers, armed with the ancient rifles, cutting obliquely from the
mouth of a street on the left side of the square to intercept them.
"We'll have to fight for it, after all," panted Don Ernesto, upon whom
the pace was beginning to tell.
But a cheer went up from Frank:
"Michac to the rescue. Hurray."
Out of the little sally port at the foot of the rock, reached by the
stairway hewn from the living rock, came the band posted there by Michac
upon their departure for just such an emergency. In the face of the fire
of this troop, the band of pursuers fell back.
A moment or two later, Prince Huaca was recognized by his soldiers with
cries of joy. Casting the restraints of discipline aside, they seized
him, raised him aloft in their arms with cries of "Huaca, Huaca." Some
even wept while pressing their lips to his feet.
Then, alarmed by the near approach of the main body of pursuers, they
put him down and all joined in a final dash for the sally port. It was
gained without casualties, although several shots whistled about them,
indicating the nobles had been re-enforced by some of the foot soldiers
armed with guns. The great gate clanged to behind them, and the pursuers
fell back, baffled.
They were safe. Safe, after incredible adventures.
"Whew," said Bob, sitting down on the cool stone steps. "That was a hot
one while it lasted."
Michac came running down the steps to meet them. He and Prince Huaca
embraced. Then the prince led the way up through the tunneled stairway,
lighted by torches taken from the guard room at the gate, to the
fortress above.
Another moving scene was enacted in the main guard room, where the
soldiers, laughing or weeping, according to their various temperaments,
gathered about their leader. The prince was as much moved at this
demonstration of esteem. At length, he broke away from them and, asking
Michac and the others to accompany him, led the way to his apartment.
There, while servants brought them refreshments of wine and cooling
drinks made from fruit juices, the various threads of their intertwined
adventures were straightened out.
"First of all," said he to Michac, "how came you here, my friend?"
When Michac explained, Prince Huaca embraced him.
"The fortress would have fallen but for you," he said. "And these good
friends here and I would have been slain."
Michac flushed and turned the subject to that of the exploits of the
others, whom he heartily praised. When he told of how they had ventured
forth to the Inca's court and put themselves in the power of Cinto and
the Palace Guard, in order to endeavor to obtain Prince Huaca's release,
the latter was much affected.
Mr. Hampton in his turn related what had occurred at their audience. And
when he spoke of the impression created by the false eye, false teeth
and false hair, nothing would do but that the whole performance be
restaged for Prince Huaca. The key had been supplied him and, of course,
he was not frightened. At Jack's explanation, added to by the others, of
the consternation which this exhibition had caused, he laughed heartily.
"Indeed, I can well believe it," he said. Then he sobered: "Ah, but how
wonderful that men should be able to do these things. I myself had an
aching tooth for long. Certainly, these blessings must come to Cusco
Hurrin."
He, in turn, related his own adventures. Surprised the previous night
while he slept, he had been bound and gagged and carried out of the
fortress by the sally port, the officer of which had turned traitor. For
the occasion, this officer had reduced the guard to a half dozen men and
had sent these into the guard room on some pretext. That he intended to
admit the enemy as soon as Prince Huaca's capture was assured, the
prince was convinced. Why, he asked, had plans miscarried? Why had the
enemy not entered?
"The soldiers became suspicious," answered Michac. "When you were
carried out, bound, although they did not at first know it was you, they
leaped for the gate and managed to close it in the face of the enemy.
Then the treacherous officer was overcome, and the guard room roused in
time to prevent other traitorous officers from throwing open the main
gate."
"These men----"
The prince half rose from his chair, his face dark.
"They have been attended to," said Michac, simply, but significantly.
"And then what, Prince Huaca?" asked Mr. Hampton. "What did they do with
you?"
"My life, though once attempted by an assassin," said Prince Huaca, "was
spared. Why, I know not."
"The man I captured wasn't an assassin, Prince Huaca," said Bob. "At
least Senor Michac so stated. But he can tell you."
Michac nodded, and briefly related what had since been learned or
suspected, that the man was one of the band to spirit Prince Huaca away.
"At any rate," continued the prince, "I was imprisoned in Cinto's
chambers in the Temple, and considered that, perhaps, I was to be made a
sacrifice to the Sun God. You know, Senor Hampton, that Michac and I and
numbers of others in Cusco Hurrin are not idolators, but worship the
true God as revealed in the teachings of the Spanish Fathers who came
centuries ago with de Arguello. It is one of my grievances that the Inca
permits himself to be dominated by this Cinto, who continues the old
idolatrous religion because of the hold it gives him upon the people.
"There, to continue, I was held close prisoner under guard, although my
bonds were removed. Yet the little weapon you gave me"--and he drew out
the automatic--"was not taken from me. I but awaited my chance. 'If I
must die,' I said to myself, 'I shall attempt to take Cinto and Guascar
with me and thus rid my land of their curse.'
"Today, only a little while ago, Cinto came to my room. And he was
greatly enraged and frightened, too. Why, I did not know. For I did not
know of your presence. He had not spoken of it. He ordered the guards to
take me from the Temple precincts, and I knew he meant to have me slain
but feared to stain the Temple with my blood, lest the people turn
against him. I resolved to use my weapon to escape, if possible, but, if
that could not be done, at least to slay Cinto too.
"They took me to the portico of the Temple, and then I shot down my two
guards, broke away, and, as I ran, turned and shot Cinto. You know the
rest."
As he ceased speaking, there was a rumble as of distant thunder, and the
floor beneath them swayed slightly but perceptibly.
CHAPTER XXVII--THE DOOMED CITY
They looked at each other.
"The volcano," said Jack. "Remember, I saw it smoking."
Michac nodded, a troubled look on his face.
"The mountain speaks," he said. "It was somewhat on that account, Prince
Huaca, that I came to visit you, for from my valley I had seen it
smoking."
"Look here," said Mr. Hampton, jumping to his feet, "this is dangerous.
Has it ever erupted?" he asked Michac.
"Never in our history," said the latter. "Yet, although it has smoked
slightly at times, never has it smoked as it is doing now. From the
battlement I could see a dense and growing column of smoke."
"Let us go and look."
Prince Huaca, too, looked grave. He acquiesced in Mr. Hampton's
suggestion, and at once led the way to the battlement. Although the
truncated top of the volcano could not be seen, being cut off from view
by the flank of the mountain against which the Acropolis was built, yet
the column of smoke rising above it could be seen plainly. It was black
and greasy in appearance, and there was even a faint suggestion of flame
at the base.
"This is alarming," said Don Ernesto gravely. "My advice is to leave
here at once, if we would gain the outer valley."
Prince Huaca was silent for a space.
"And is the city really threatened?"
"Prince," said Don Ernesto, "there are other volcanoes in these
mountains. I have had experience of them. I believe the danger is great.
There may not be an earthquake of serious proportions, but that slight
tremor which we felt is alarming. I fear there will be greater shocks
and that the mountain will erupt."
"There is no escape from Cusco Hurrin except by the Tunnel Way," said
the prince. "This earthquake of which you speak? What is it like?"
"It is a shaking of the earth which would close the Tunnel Way," said
Don Ernesto. "And the eruption is an outpouring of hot mud and stones
from the mountain, which would ruin the city and slay all in it."
"Then," said Prince Huaca, "we must abandon the fortress and flee to the
outer valley. And those in the city must be warned."
"But what if the earthquake do not come?" asked Michac. "You will have
lost the fortress and your power."
"The people must be saved," said Prince Huaca. "Come."
With a last look at the column of smoke, he started to go below. Frank,
however, pulled Jack and Bob aside.
"Better radio the monastery while we have the chance," said he. "And
tell them what's happened. Then we can dismount the set and take it
along for emergencies."
Mr. Hampton, who overheard, nodded.
"But hurry," he said.
Hurry the boys did. Brother Gregorio at the monastery was easily
reached. The conversation was brief. Then the set was dismantled, and
the three boys hurried below with the parts. Throughout the fortress all
was bustle and hurry. Men were hastening through the corridors on
various missions. They made their way to the prince's apartment, where
they were met by Michac, who told them their friends had gone on to
their own room. There they found the others hastily collecting their
belongings. Each assumed part of the load, while the balance, including
tents, was given bearers sent to their help by the prince.
Then they made their way to the main guard room, from there to the outer
courtyard behind its great walls, and thence to the Tunnel Way, opening
in the side of the mountain.
"It would be a fine idea," grumbled Bob, "if after all our adventures we
got in the middle of this tunnel and an earthquake came along and shook
it down on us."
Nevertheless, nothing of the sort occurred, and they reached the outer
valley in safety, piloted by Michac. He took them to his home.
Toward the end of the day they were joined there by Prince Huaca, with
the main body of troops from the fortress. These encamped in the grounds
about Michac's home.
"I sent a messenger to the Inca," the prince explained, "telling him of
the danger threatening Cusco Hurrin and advising him to order the
populace to flee through the Tunnel Way. I told him I was abandoning the
fortress, and leaving the tunnel open. The messenger returned with word
that the Inca, who had recovered from his attack of faintness, deemed me
a rebel and refused to be entrapped. I despatched the messenger again
with stronger representations, but again he returned with an even
stronger and more contemptuous refusal. All day I have waited, with the
gates of the fortress open, but no move has been made.
"My poor people," he groaned, "my poor city."
Abruptly he left them.
"But, Dad," said Jack, "think of it. A whole city in danger of
destruction merely because a ruler is stubborn. Can't we do something?
Can't we persuade them to flee? And such a city, too. The Enchanted City
of the Caesars! Here we go and find it, and are about to give it to the
world, and now it may be wiped out. But the people. Oh, this is
horrible."
Even as he spoke, the ground shook beneath his feet, for they had walked
down to the public highroad, and from the distant mountain sounded a
heavy rumbling and roaring. They were fully twenty miles removed, a
range of foothills intervened and they were safe from a volcanic
eruption, for the configuration of the land as such, Don Ernesto had
pointed out, that the lava flow would be away from them and directly
into the doomed city. The crash and the tremor were succeeded by a
sultriness that was almost unbearable. Then the ever-thickening cloud
overhanging the mountain seemed to their straining eyes to spread out
into a gigantic mushroom that blotted out the whole sky in the east.
Flames began to shoot high above the mountain top, illuminating the
under side of that sable pall.
There was another and stronger earth tremor, almost throwing them from
their feet. The flames shot higher.
"Now," said Don Ernesto, in an awed voice, "The Enchanted City is no
more. The lava is flowing over it now."
CHAPTER XXVIII--CONCLUSION
Back in the monastery, the party rested several days before making its
way to the railroad and Santiago. But they were not idle. By means of
the radio station, which the boys had built on their earlier visit, the
whole story of their adventures was communicated to _La Prensa_, and
thus for the first time the tale of the Enchanted City in its entirety,
of its centuries of history unknown to the rest of the world, of its
rediscovery and of its final wiping out by a volcanic eruption, was
given to the world by radio.
The Chilian President was communicated with, and, at Don Ernesto's
solicitation, he despatched a relief column to the refugees in the outer
valley of Cusco Hurrin who, while escaping the full force of the
destruction, had suffered considerable damage.
Prince Huaca had refused to accompany the party, but had stayed with
Michac to look after the welfare of the remainder of his people. He bade
the party farewell, with tears of mingled sadness for the fate that had
befallen the city of his fathers and of grief at parting with those who
had stood by him in his hour of need.
"It was the hand of God," he said, on bidding them adieu. "I fear that
Cusco Hurrin, as it was organized, could never have become part of the
wonderful modern world of which you have told me. There would have been
war and bloodshed, and prolonged ruin.
"As to me and my people who are left, we shall become citizens of this
country of which you speak, Don Ernesto, if your brother, the ruler,
will receive us."
And thus it is that today, in that remote fastness of the Andes, the
descendants of the Incas live in peace and prosperity, tilling their
lands, while Prince Huaca, who has brought in teachers from the outside
world, has made it possible for them to become taught the rudiments of
modern knowledge. On departing, the boys promised to fly to the valley
some day by airplane, and their visit is eagerly awaited.
At Santiago, in Ferdinand's home, the boys spent many pleasant days, for
they were the lions of the day. And the gracious homes of the fair city
were open to them, while everywhere they were plied with questions
regarding the Enchanted City and their adventures therein. Best of all
the stories was that of how the Inca's court had been dumbfounded by the
white man's magic which could induce a man to pluck out his eye, his
teeth or his hair, without fatal result. Many a laugh did they win with
this yarn.
"If you boys don't stop talking about my toupee," complained Don
Ernesto, one day, "I shall have no peace at all. Wherever I go, I am
asked to scalp myself."
"Well, Don Ernesto," said Mr. Hampton, "I am going to remove their
mischievous tongues to a distance, where they cannot do damage to your
reputation."
Don Ernesto immediately was filled with compunctions lest he have hurt
their feelings. But Mr. Hampton laughed these away.
"No, the truth of the matter is," he said, "that the boys have missed
the major part of their college year. Christmas has come and gone. It
would take considerable time for them to return to America. And I have
been in communication with Mr. Temple, who feels as I do that, inasmuch
as they have missed so much college work this year, we may as well let
them stay out the remainder of the term. Accordingly, I am going to take
them on a tour of South America. I want them to see the great cities of
your eastern seaboard, as well as the remains of the Inca civilization
in Peru and Bolivia.
"Bob and Frank, you see, will some day be partners in an import and
export business, and I want them to learn about South America while they
have the opportunity, for they will have many dealings with this
continent in the future."
Turning to the boys, he added:
"We will tour South America, and then return home by way of Seattle,
where I shall have to see some mining men about an Alaskan adventure.
Does that suit you?"
"Couldn't suit us better," said Bob, "except that I'm afraid old Frank
here is anxious to see a member of my family. I woke up the other night
and he was talking in his sleep. 'Della,' he said, 'Della, why----'"
But Frank had tripped him and sat on him, and the rest of the sentence
was lost in the resultant tussle.
"You big rascal," panted Frank. "I suppose I haven't seen you writing to
that girl Della rooms with at school. Oh, no. Thought you'd sneak it
over, hey?"
Jack looked on, grinning. In reality, however, Bob's remark had set him
to dreaming of a distant girl. He was thinking of a certain Senorita
Rafaela in the Sonora mountains in Old Mexico. This Spanish-American
atmosphere! Hang it, every time he was surrounded by it, his thoughts
turned to her. Some day----In this mood, he left his struggling companions
and walked to a window whence he stared unseeing.
So here we shall leave the three Radio Boys, content to know, however,
that when they eventually reached Seattle in the Northern winter, they
were drawn into a search for a lost expedition in the interior of
Alaska, no less thrilling than the adventure through which they had just
passed. And this will be duly chronicled in _The Radio Boys Rescue the
Lost Alaska Expedition_.
THE END
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THE RADIO BOYS RESCUE THE LOST ALASKA EXPEDITION
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For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the
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The Boy Allies
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Frank Chadwick and Jack Templeton, young American lads, meet each other
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THE BOY ALLIES ON THE NORTH SEA PATROL;
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In this series we follow the fortunes of two American lads unable to
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THE BOY ALLIES AT LIEGE;
or, Through Lines of Steel.
THE BOY ALLIES ON THE FIRING LINE;
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or, Courage and Bravery Rewarded.
THE BOY ALLIES AT VERDUN;
or, Saving France from the Enemy.
THE BOY ALLIES UNDER THE STARS AND STRIPES;
or, Leading the American Troops to the Firing Line.
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or, The Fighting Canadians of Vimy Ridge.
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or, Over the Top at Chateau Thierry.
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or, The Closing Days of the Great World War.
For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the
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or, Scouting through the Big Game Country.
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or, The New Test for the Silver Fox Patrol.
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or, The Search for the Lost Tenderfoot.
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or, The Secret of the Hidden Silver Mine.
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or, The Silver Fox Patrol Caught in a Flood.
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A Series of Remarkable Stories of the Adventures of Two Boy Flyers in
The European War Zone.
OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS IN FRANCE AND BELGIUM;
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OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS IN RUSSIA;
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or, Twin Stars in the London Sky Patrol.
OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS IN ITALY;
or, Flying with the War Eagles of the Alps.
OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS AT VERDUN;
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OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS IN THE WAR ZONE;
or, Serving Uncle Sam in the Great Cause of the Allies.
OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS FIGHTING TO THE FINISH;
or Striking Hard Over the Sea for the Stars and Stripes.
OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS AT THE MARNE;
or, Hurrying the Huns from Allied Battle Planes.
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or, Speedy High Flyers Smashing the Hindenburg Line.
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***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE RADIO BOYS' SEARCH FOR THE
INCA'S TREASURE***
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