Part 9 (2/2)
”I ah Priest To ”
Theto his feet and said:
”I find it quite impossible to come to a definite decision, one way or the other On the one hand, I regard the proofs adduced by my Lord Tiahuana as perfectly satisfactory; but on the other I think there is reason in the objection raised by my Lord Huanacocha that the aspirant is a white h Priest, my conviction is that the true Manco, when he appears, will be born a us and be one of ourselves I am unconvinced”
Thus the expression of opinion went on until all had given one, when it appeared that Huanacocha had four adherents to his views, the re quite unanimous in their conviction that Harry was in very deed the re-incarnation of the first Manco He was therefore accepted by an overwhel majority, as Tiahuana had confidently anticipated; and the discomfited Huanacocha and his friends were co theht have been expected
Then can, which was done by every individual present, beginning with Tiahuana, as followed by Motahuana and the entire body of the priests, who, in their turn, were succeeded by the nobles, beginning with Huanacocha
By the time that this ceremony was concluded the afternoon ell advanced and it was time to repair to thewas to be held; and in consideration of the fact that Harry was a stranger, and of course coious ritual followed by the worshi+ppers of the Sun, Motahuana was told off to accoh Priest, the youngcorridor and, wheeling to the left, passed through an enorold-e drawn aside at their approach, revealed the whole of the vast interior of the temple proper in which the ceremony was to be held
When, an hour or two earlier, the young Inca--whose official na in which he now found himself, he had promptly co of its i character to the skill of the architect; for, so far as architectural beauty was concerned, it was almost as plain and unpretentious as his own palace: it was i merely because of its iular block of pure white ht to ten feet thick, without columns, or pediment, or even so much as a few pilasters to break up the ularity of its exterior surface, the only aids in this direction being the great east doorway, or main entrance, which was soh, with an ih which and the doorway entered all the light which illus were each surrounded by heavy old elaborately ornan
There was also a heavy gold string course and bull-nosesiold-tiled roof, there was no atteht have been dee in this direction, however, was more than compensated for by the barbaric splendour and profusion of the interior decorations The entire all of the building was covered with a solid plate of burnished gold eantic face froreat eyes being reproduced in a perfect blaze of ge thickly powdered also all over the plate, which was prih the great east door in the early --at which hour the most impressive cereht back upon the people The two side walls were also decorated with great gold plates, about two feet square, richly engraved, and arranged in a chequer pattern, a square of gold alternating with a square of the whitefrom top to botto in its centre a gold ornament about the size of one's hand which for the leamed here and there Had the stones been cut and polished, instead of being set in the rough, the effect would have been gorgeous beyond description Perhaps the , however, was the ceiling This was composed entirely of white reat beams of solid marble made up of enorly ”scarphed”, or fitted together, that the joints were invisible and gripped each other so tightly that neither cement nor bolts were needed to complete the union And in the centre of each panel of the ceiling, and at each crossing of the bea some rese was decorated like the two side walls, save that in place of the bare old one And, finally, the great doors in the western ere of solid silver wrought to represent ti imitated with old
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
THE DAUGHTER OF UMU
Piloted by Motahuana, Harry presently found himself installed in a marble throne raised on a dais at the western extre, behind the altars--of which there were three--and facing them and the vast asse the ala attire, Ueous unifor them
And behind the nobles, seated on wooden benches, was the people ranged row after row, until, so vast was the building, the features of those seated near the eastern ere quite indistinguishable to the young Inca
The slight stir in that ie caused by the entrance of the monarch and his train of nobles had scarcely subsided when the strains of distantin power and voluh an archway immediately opposite that by which Esob had entered, there filed a small ar his wand So on a variety of wind and string instruestive of those known to civilised nations, while the remainder chanted to their acco estive of rejoicing The words of the song--or hymn, rather--were Quichua, and Esob was therefore unable to gather the sense of them
In the midst of the priests walked a band of some twenty youths attired in richly eirt about the waist with a gold-embroidered belt; and each youth bore in his arms a mass of beautiful flowers, the delicate perfu Priests and youths were alike barefooted; and a more careful scrutiny soon revealed to Harry the fact that he was the only individual in the building--so far as he could see--who remained shod
Led by the instruht and passed slowly down the first aisle of the building to its eastern extrereat eastern door, up the fourth aisle, down the third, and up the second, which brought theht of the h altar, as looked at from Esob's point of view Then, while the priests continued their chanting, the flower-laden youths piled their fragrant burdens upon the right-hand altar and twined them about it until it was completely hidden froe This done, the youths retired, and the High Priest-- or Villac V before the flower-draped altar, with his back to the people, uttered what appeared to be a short invocation or prayer, during which the worshi+ppers all knelt upon the beautifully tessellated marble pavement This prayer lasted three or four minutes, and upon its conclusion the people rose and resu theth, after which another hy by both priests and people, the for, and so ti the last priest disappeared through the arch, and the curtain fell behind him
Harry not unnaturally concluded that this ended the ceremonial; but he was quickly undeceived by Motahuana, who informed him that one, if not two, burnt sacrifices yet remained to be offered And indeed, scarcely had this piece of inforainonceyouths, there appeared a llaarlands and wreaths of flowers, and led by two young priests This time the order of procedure was reversed, the procession crossing over to the fourth aisle, passing down it and up the first, down the second, and up the third, which finally brought the in which the llah to allow this operation to be completed Then followed another prayer, succeeded by another address, during which the unfortunate llaeniously that the unhappy creature was rendered incapable of le Then a number of priests seized the helpless animal and laid it upon the top of the altar, upon which hs and other scented wood had been carefully piled This done, two priests strode forward, one bearing a very fore andthe lla its head back, the first of these two priests raised his knife on high There was a yellow flash as the keen and heavy blade descended upon the animal's throat, and the next instant the lla into the basin which the second priest held to receive it And so dexterously was the whole thing done that not a single drop of blood stained the white garment of either priest; had it been otherwise, it would have been regarded as an unfavourable os which confined the poor beast's limbs to its body were released, the carcass was turned upon its back, the belly was ripped open, and the Villac V which the people appeared to be held in a state of the most painfully breathless suspense This, however, was happily not prolonged, for it lasted only a few seconds when Tiahuana, stepping forward and facing the assembly, threw up his hands and shouted:
”Blessed be our Father the Sun, the omens are all exceptionally, n Lord the Inca is assured of a long and prosperous reign, during which he will be per him”
Instantly the priests burst into a loud paean of praise, which was proing of which a priest appeared, bearing a torch kindled at the sacred fire, which was kept alight throughout the year This torch he presented to Harry, who, at Motahuana's pro, and with several qual the pile of wood on the top of the altar, beneath the body of the llas that fored pile, and the curling wreaths of fragrant sht; and as the little tongues of yellow flaathered power, and the sht colu fairly resounded with the shouts of jubilation of the enoration, for this was the last and most important omen of all If the smoke column had bent or wavered in the least it would have foretold trouble--ay, or even disaster, had the wavering been sufficiently pronounced But, on the contrary, every omen, from first to last, had been of so exceptionally favourable a character that the special sacrifice of thank-offering that was always tentatively arranged for upon such occasions as the present becaone conclusion, and the asse, as they would have done had the oain into their seats with a great sigh and shudder of tense expectancy; for this would be the first time that many of them had ever been present at a cere
Esob, as by this ti to feel very tired, as well as distinctly dissatisfied with hiuely that so out of the cohly distrait to even seek an explanation fro procession of priests file out of the building to the acco of triu back again; but in the comparatively brief interval of their absence they had contrived to effect a coarments which they had previously worn, they were now robed in criold embroidery, while Tiahuana's robe was so coems, that it was as stiff as a board, the crih it He still bore his wand in his hands, and the old and precious stones On this occasion, instead of leading the procession, he was preceded by a priest, scarcely less gorgeously robed than himself, who held aloft a beautiful banner of criure of the Sun Other banners, equally rich and beautiful, about twenty in all, were borne by the main body of the priests
But no sooner was the procession--singing a peculiarly sweet and plaintive air--fairly inside the body of the temple than Esob aroused hi in the midst of the priests, attired in a simple white robe, from the hem of which her little bare feet peeped as she walked with downcast eyes, and wreathed and garlanded about with a long chain of nificent crimson roses, and with her hands bound behind her, there walked the h there was little doubt that she was of pure Indian blood, she was as fair as a Spaniard, but without a vestige of colour--as , dark hair, unbound, clustered in wavy ringlets upon her shoulders and far enough below her waist to co was instantly turned upon this fair vision as the congregation rose _en asp of what sounded very much like disered as he rose to his feet, while his face went a sickly, yellohite, and the perspiration poured froirl as though he could scarcely believe his eyes; yet that he did believe theuished expression of his countenance made it equally evident that he was very deeply interested in the young lady and her fate As to what that fate was to be there could be no shadow of doubt, even in the ious cereirl's awful pallor, her very presence in the procession, and the fact of her being garlanded with flowers, each had its own significance, and pointed indubitably to the fact that she was the destined victi to Motahuana, Harry deirl, and why is she taking part in the procession?” To which Motahuana replied:
”She is Maia, the daughter of Uuard; and, as the most beautiful maiden in the city, she has been chosen by the Villac V offered in sacrifice upon the altar of thanksgiving on this reat surprise to U her present proud position, for by the order of Tiahuana she was taken from her father's house within an hour of his departure to meet my Lord and escort him to the city; and his duties have probably not perht of his daughter in the procession is the first intimation which he has received of the honour conferred upon her--and hiuish of those chiefly concerned which Motahuana betrayed in this speech ust and abhorrence, which feelings were increased a hundredfold by the knowledge that this young maiden was to be forced to lay down her life, and her parent's home was to be made desolate, in order that his-- Harry Esob's--accession to the throne of the Incas round his teeth in impotent fury, and unrestrainedly execrated the stupendous folly which had induced hiht with eleinable horror True, he had done so with the very best intentions; yes, but how often, even in his comparatively brief experience of life, had he known of actions instigated by ”the very best intentions” that had cul yet another to the long list!
But stay; was this thing inevitable? He suddenly reood intentions that had determined him to acquiesce passively in the events that had placed him where he noere based upon the fact that, as Inca, he would be the possessor of absolute power, and would be able to mould events to his will; that, as Inca, he would be superior to everybody, even the priesthood, for the Inca was not only the head of the priesthood but was actually credited with the possession of a certain measure of divinity in his own person If all this were really true, noas the time to assert his authority and test his power He would forbid the sacrifice, and see what calanced up, to find Uaze fixed fully upon hiuish and entreaty in the gaze that Harry unhesitatingly answered it with a nod and an encouraging sasp of almost incredulous joy and relief from its recipient