Part 15 (2/2)
”And first as to the charge which Huanacocha brings againstan impostor Let me remind you ere present of what took place in the teht here by Tiahuana and Motahuana Tiahuana was the man responsible for my presence in this valley, andheard certain particulars concerning ue that I fulfilled in my person all the conditions referred to in a certain prophecy, and brought h the preli my consent It was he hen he presented me before you all here in the temple, convinced you all, with two or three exceptions, of whom Huanacocha was one, that I was the re-incarnated Manco Capac, the Inca destined to restore the ancient Peruvian nation to its forrandeur; and it was you who, convinced by his argu whatever to do with that; I made no claihout But when, convinced by Tiahuana's arguments and proofs, you had placed me on the throne, and I learned as expected of ies to the performance of the task which I felt had been laid upon me; and you kno far I have succeeded You know that those of pure Peruvian blood are being daily gathered into this valley fro trained to play their part as fighting men; and you know also--at least Huanacocha does--that I aements for the secret introduction into the country of an adequate supply of the most modern weapons, in order that, when the proper ht upon equal ter decreed an alteration in your religion, I did so because when I ca you I found you to be idolaters, worshi+ppers of the Sun, which is but one of the ifts which Pachacaiven to His children The sun can only give you his light and heat according to God's will and pleasure; and therefore it is God, and not the sun, whom you should worshi+p And I tell you that until you transfer your adoration from the sun to Him who made it, you will never be a prosperous and happy people; nor will I consent to rule over you, or help to restore you as a nation to your ancient power and glory Choose, therefore, nohether you orshi+p God, or continue in idolatry; whether you will achieve the great destiny which titucocha, your prophet, foretold for you, or whether you will remain thehere in obscurity in this valley from which you dare not venture forth lest those who now hold the land that once was yours fall upon and destroy you If you choose the latter fate, as you seeo forth from this valley, and leave you to your own devices; for, as I have said, I will not rule a nation of idolaters
But if you choose to obey ly to such ordinances as I shall proe, then will I undertake to make you all that titucocha foretold you should become”
It was evident that Harry's address had produced an exceedingly powerful impression upon the bulk of his audience, for the reat hubbub a those who co up into little knots and groups, the erly the several points of the speech It was a result as unwelcome as unlooked for by the prilance which Huanacocha shot at the Villac Vmu was full of dismay and apprehension The latter, however, who had noted so, saw also how to avail himself of that effect and at the same time achieve his own and his friend's purpose He therefore allowed the commotion to continue unchecked for full ten minutes, before he rose and held up his hand for silence Then, when the disturbance had subsided sufficiently to allow his voice to be heard, he said:
”My friends, I perceive that, like myself, you are in a difficulty, and know not what to believe You feel, as I do, that if this youth is in very truth the re-incarnated Manco whose return to earth was promised by the prophet titucocha, it would not only be rankest folly but absolute sacrilege to reject him But how are we to kno is this most important, this vital point to be determined? There is but one way--a hich I have already provided for: we must subject him to the ordeal by fire! If he survives that ordeal, well and good; we shall then know for certain who he is, and ill serve and obey hiot no further; for at the htning flash, the villainous trap into which he had been betrayed, and the hideous fate to which it was intended to consign hi to his feet, he snatched the draord frouards who surrounded him and, before any of them could interpose to prevent hiuana by the throat with one hand, while with the shich he held in the other he threatened to run the quaking wretch through the heart
”Oh no, you don't,” he cried, as he tightened his grip upon the struggling priest's throat; ”no fire ordeal for , you villain, or I'll pin you to the back of the chair you sit in Do you hear me? Ah, that's better; put your hands down by your sides and keep them there And you other fellows stand still where you are, and don't atteainst me, unless you wish to see rasp the seat of your chair with both hands--just to keep them out of mischief, you know--and do as I tell you First order those men of yours to lay down their ar--see, I release your throat that you ive the order--ah! would you, you treacherous scoundrel? Then take that!”
For as Harry released his grip upon the priest's throat the latter sprang to his feet and endeavoured to clasp the young English to the others to come to his help But Harry was too quick for his would-be captor; he sprang back a single pace, thus just eluding the grip of the priest, and at the saed at hiht through the reat roar of dise, he quickly withdrew his reeking weapon fro his cloak about his left arm, leaped to the wall, placed his back to it, and prepared to sell his life as dearly as ave hile-handed do against the swords, bloodthirsty croho now ca toward him They could overwhelm him in aupon the dais, with glea through the cha fool alive, and harm him not, as you value your lives!
He has slain the Villac Vmu; and for that reason, if for no other, he h the fire Hem him in, take his weapon from him, and then bind hiive that order than to obey it; for Esob had always been passionately fond of sword-play--to such an extent, indeed, that he had placed himself in the hands of a certain well-known _maitre d'arentleood weapon in his hand, and his back to a solid, substantial wall, he felt quite in the ht
The swords themselves upon hi hiround by sheer preponderance of nu, with their faces slashed open, as Harry ht Then a fourth hastly wound in his throat, while the rest drew back in dismay and wonder at a feat of swordsmanshi+p that to their coly of eitherbreath, and told hiht be able to hold out for as h it was, showed him that these men had not the remotest idea of how to handle a sword, while as for hiripped the hilt of his weapon than he felt all the keen delight of the practised fencer thrill through hiood fight, such a fight as these people should reh of course one of theet hied in the body of an enelish of a breath Then he braced hiainst the wall to meet a second and much more wary attack--his ene themselves upon him pell-mell, as at the first rush, they attacked him three at a ti plenty of room for the play of their blades Also they strove, by every stratagem they could think of, to entice hiht be able to slip round and take him in the rear; but to keep one's back to the as one of the fundamental rules of self defence that had been dinned into hiet it, and Harry was not to be te himself only just sufficient rooth the attacking trio, losing patience, attempted to rush in upon him, his point seemed to threaten all three at once, and the next moment two of the three were _hors de combat_, one with his sword hand half severed at the wrist, and the other with his right arm laid open from wrist to elbow
The ineffectiveness of the attack proved tooon at the fray with a sardonic grin upon his countenance Now, as he saw the swords back, obviously afraid to approach that charmed semicircle, the whole of which Esob's blade seemed to cover at the sary roar, dashed forward, snatched a weapon frohters, and called upon all present to help hiner who seemed deter at his call, an idea suddenly seized hiarled in the folds for just the fraction of a second But it was enough; the others, seeing in an instant what had happened, tossed away their weapons and, flinging themselves upon Esob before he could clear his sword, tore his weapon froely with his fists, to the ground In anothereach of his limbs, and two or three more piled upon his prostrate body, poor Harry was soon overcome and reduced to a condition of comparative quiescence, after which it was not a very difficult h, raw-hide rope that further movement beca with howls and shouts of fiendish rejoicing at the brilliance of the feat which had culner, whose gallant resistance, so far fro admiration in the breasts of his captors, seemed to have filled them with the ferocity of wild beasts As he was raised to his feet preparatory to bearing him away to the place where a fiery death even noaited hih the yelling crowd to glare into his face with ferocious glee, and to hiss into his ear bloodcurdling hints of the dooht when Esob's preternaturally sharpened ear detected a new note in it, a note of astonishment, consternation, and terror that quickly overbore and drowned the tones of savage exultation The next instant the air was vibrant with shrieks and cries for ht and left,blades of the Inca's bodyguard; while the voice of Uh above the din, exhorting his followers to let not one of those present escape Within aa heavy battle e freedom, had forced his way to Harry's side, and had either beaten down or driven off those who had constituted themselves his custodians
”Are you hurt, Lord; have these sacrilegious beasts dared to har arm about Esob's bound and helpless body
”No,” answered Harry, s rather wanly upon him; ”I am as sound as ever I was, thank God! But you have only arrived in the very nick of time, Uood and trusty friend How did you knohere I was, and as happening?”
”The tale is too long to tell just now, Lord,” answered U Harry from his bonds; ”it shall be told later, when I have disposed of these vile wretches It was Ariht me the first hint of as afoot Pachacaet here in time! What were they about to do with you, Lord?”
”They talked of putting me to the fire ordeal,” answered Harry; ”but I had a word to say against that, as you uana, one of the chief conspirators, has already paid the penalty of his perfidy, and lies there dead”
”Truly, Lord, you fought well,” exclailanced about hi this rabble?”
”He is--unless he has escaped,” answered Harry
”If he has, every tenth uard shall lose his hands and feet,” snarled U at theup, he detected Huanacocha alive, and apparently unhurt, a them ”Ah, no! he is there, I see,” he continued ”Very well; this plot was of his hatching
He shall undergo the fire ordeal hiood Umu; not that,” protested Harry ”Such a fate is too horrible to be thought of Punish him by all means, if you will, for indeed he deserves punishment; but not in that way”