Part 6 (1/2)
Now, Ari at the tiether to Ma the adventurous hunt for theButler, had steadily developed until it had beco as that of a parent for an idolised child The Indian could not bear his young ht for a encies of work necessitated a separation of the two He had been known to resort to the most extraordinary devices to prevent such an occurrence, and when the tere together Ariaze to wander for a ularly enough, it was not until this particular evening that the Indian had becoely fished up froht of it But he saw it now, as Esob undressed at a few yards' distance, the light falling strongly upon the dull red gold and the emeralds, as the lad carefully removed it from his neck and laid it upon the top of his clothes ere he rushed, with a joyous shout, and placed hi water of the fall The sight appeared to arouse a feeling of very powerful curiosity in the breast of the Indian, for it was only with the utmost difficulty that he contrived to retain his attitude of passivity until theBannister had joined his friend upon the slab beneath the fall; but no sooner had this happened than, abandoning the horses to their own devices, Arima crept cautiously forward until he reached Esob's heap of clothing, and, availing himself of the preoccupation of the bathers, took the jewel in his hand and examined it with the most rapt attention and care For a space of nearly five minutes he continued his exahtfullyupon the luscious grass to stray far For the reed in a state of meditation so profound as to be quite oblivious of all outward things save his young master, his conduct toas marked by a new and yet subtle attitude of al reverence But when the hands were , Ari the night, saying nothing to anyone, and leaving no trace behind
Harry was very much upset at this sudden and inexplicable disappearance of the servant who, in a thousand little unobtrusive ways, had ministered so effectually to his comfort that his loss was at once felt as a serious misfortune, and he devoted thole days to a search for thethat the fellow had strayed away fro untoward had befallen hi, and on the third day it was abandoned, the only conclusion at which Esob could arrive being that the Indian had deserted under the influence of pique at soone back to his own people
It was so near to Santa Rosa, and the great railway survey was approaching coht three Indians stealthily approached the surveyors' caround as carefully as the pitch darkness would permit, made their way, noiseless as shadows, to the tent occupied by young Esob The leading Indian was Arima, the tho folloere very oldto their shoulders, their ascetic, clean-cut features sharp and shrunken, yet they carried theh they had been in the heyday of youth, and their sunken eyes glowed and sparkled with undiminished fire They wore sleeveless shi+rts of pure white, finely woven of vicuna wool, reaching to the knee, the opening at the throat and ar richly ornaarold coether, and each elaborately sculptured with conventional representations of the sun Over this orn a long cloak, dyed blue, also woven of vicuna wool, but without ornament of any description Their heads were bare, and the lobe of each ear was pierced and distended to receive a gold medallion nearly four inches in diameter, also heavily sculptured with a representation of the sun Their legs were bare, but each wore sandals bound to the feet and ankles by thongs of leather To judge froarments they must have come a considerable distance, and have been exposed toEsob's tent, which was di lamp turned low, Arima noiselessly moved aside and silently, with outstretched hand, indicated to his two co lad, who lay stretched at length upon his ca, deep breath of profound slu silently, one of the tithdrew fro suspended fro the stopper from the latter, he emptied the contents of the phial upon the cloth, which he then very gradually approached to the nostrils of the sleeper until it ithin an inch of the the fumes of the liquid to enter the sleeper's nostrils, while his coers upon the pulse of Esob's right hand, which happened to be lying outside the coverlet At length the second Indian--he who held Harry's wrist--nodded to the first, saying, in a low voice, in the ancient Quichua language: ”It is enough; nothing will noaken him,”--whereupon the holder of the cloth returned it and the phial to his pouch and stepped back fro to Arie:
”Say you, Arima, that this youth alears the collar upon his person, night and day?”
”Even so, Lord,” answered Arima ”At least,” he modified his statement, ”so I surmise; for I have never seen the jewel save the once whereof I told you, and again on that saht when I stole into his tent while he slept, and found that he earing it then Whereupon I hastened to you with my momentous news”
”You have done well, friend,” answered the first speaker ”Should all prove to be as you say, you shall be richly rewarded And now,”--he caught his breath with sudden excite to his companion, he said:
”Approach, brother, and look with aze upon the sacred ened to Arima, who turned up the flame of the laers actually were-- bent over Esob's sleeping figure, one on each side of the bed, and while one dren the coverlet the other unbuttoned the lad's sleeping jacket, exposing to view the jehich he had fished up from Lake Chinchaycocha, and which, for safety, he alore round his neck
Eagerly the two priests bent down and scrutinised thebreast of the sleeper; and as their eyes hungrily took in the several peculiarities of the jewel a thrill of excitement visibly swept over them Finally, he who appeared to be the elder of the two said to the other:
”There can scarcely be a doubt that Arima's surmise is correct; nevertheless, brother, pass your hand beneath the young htly that I may remove the collar and examine it”
The priest addressed at once obeyed the request of the other, who thereupon gently passed the orna it immediately beneath the lamp, proceeded to examine every part of it with the closest scrutiny, his co Esob's limp body to subside back on the pillow before he, too, joined in the inspection
Every link, almost every mark of the chisel, was subjected to the raved ; for on more than one occasion the elder of the two priests pointed to such a , ”Behold, Motahuana, here is, unn,” while the other would nod his head solemnly and respond, ”Even so, Tiahuana; I see it”
Finally he who had been addressed by the other as Tiahuana turned the jewel over in his hand and exaaze instantly fell upon the cabalistic characters engraved upon the backs of the e the jewel gently down upon the bed, he prostrated hi his example, as also did Arima
For a space of some three or four minutes the trio appeared to be absorbed in some act of silent devotion, then Tiahuana rose to his feet and fixed his gaze on the jehich lay upon the coverlet of Esob's bed Meditatively his eyes rested upon the great eraved representation of a human face, and fro lad Suddenly he started, and his gaze became alert, alraved features intently, then quickly diverted his gaze to those on the pillow Was it soht, he asked himself, or were the two sets of features identical?
”Look, Motahuana, look!” he whispered in tense accents; ”see you the resemblance? I have but observed it this instant Nay, man, you can scarcely see it from where you stand, for that side of his face is in shadow Come to this side of the couch--or, stay, I willthe laht fell full upon the sleeper's face, while with the other hand he rearranged the collar so that the pendant lay upright upon Esob's breast In this position, and in the stronger light, the likeness was evened pair bent intently over the object of their scrutiny with an ever-growing expression of wonder and awe upon their attenuated features
”Well, brother,” at length demanded Tiahuana, somewhat sharply, ”see you what I ination?”
”Nay, Lord,” answered Motahuana in an awestruck whisper, ”it is no figment, no fancy; the likeness is wonderful, marvellous, perfect; the features are identical, curve for curve and line for line, save that those engraved on the emerald bear the impress of a few more years of life That, however, is immaterial, and in no wise affects the fact that in this sleeping youth we behold the reincarnation of him who first wore the sacred jewel, the lord and father of our people, Manco Capac!”
”Even so; you say truly, Motahuana,” agreed Tiahuana in tones of exultation ”The revelation is cohty Manco Capac has returned to earth fro the stars, and soon now shall Peru resureatest and reat Manco returns to us in the guise of a young Englishman, for which circumstance I was scarcely prepared; but what of that? It is better so; for England is to-day the wisest and hty nation on the face of the earth, and doubtless the Inca brings ith hiland Co, for we must be far hence and beyond the reach of pursuit ere our father the Sun awakens his children and discloses the fact of our Lord's disappearance Go thou, Arima, and summon hither the litter bearers and the others”
In a perfect ecstasy of pride and delight that it should have fallen to his lot to become the humble instrulorious fact of the great Inca's reincarnation in the person of Esob--as he never for a moment doubted was the case--Arima hurried out to where the remainder of the party lay patiently in ambush, briefly announced to them that all ell, and bade them follow him in perfect silence to the tent in which Harry still lay plunged in a deathlike yet quite har structure, fraed that it could be co thrown back, and Esob was lifted, on his mattress and still covered with the bedclothes, off the little iron camp bedstead and carefully placed in the litter, the jeas replaced about his neck, the pillow under his head was coed by Arima, the litter was closed, and then a little procession, consisting of the litter and its four bearers, with the eight other men who acted as reliefs, headed by the two priests, filed silently out into the darkness, leaving Arima, with six men, armed to the teeth with bows and arrows--the latter tipped with copper--lances of hardwood sharpened by fire, and short swords, the copper blades of which were hardened and tempered almost to the consistency of steel by a process known only to the Peruvians theether and pack, under Arima's supervision, the whole of Esob's private and personal belongings; and this they did with such expedition that, in less than half an hour from the involuntary departure of its owner, the tent was almost entirely stripped of its contents and left deserted
Under the anaesthetic influence of the vapour which he had unconsciously inhaled, Esob continued to sleep soundly until close upon midday, by which tian to awake very gradually to the consciousness that sos was happening The first thing to i senses was the fact that the bed upon which he was lying was inmotion, unlike any movement that he had ever before experienced
Yet the bed seemed to be the same as that upon which he had retired to rest upon the preceding night, so far as he could judge; the mattress had the old familiar feel, and--yes, certainly, he was still under the shelter of the bedclothes, and his head still rested upon the familiar pillow--he could feel the luether But why thefor the first time the effects of a Peruvian earthquake? Slowly and reluctantly he opened his eyes, and saw that his bed was indeed the same, yet with a certain difference, the precise nature of which he was at first unable to define But presently he saw that the bed or couch upon which he was lying was closely encohtly strained over a light ba a sort of canopy And the motion? He was by this time sufficiently awake to understand that it was real; nor was it due to earthquake, as he had at first been inclined to think it ular, rhyth carried!
With a rush his senses ca posture It was high tiet to the bottom of this th the side curtains which enclosed hi out his hand, he wrenched the loudly for Arima
In an instant the Indian was by the side of the litter and peering in through the opening between the parted curtains, to his masters intense astonishment
”You called, Senor--my Lord, I mean?” exclaimed the man submissively