Part 17 (1/2)
”All right, Dan,” he said, ”I'll go you. I've still got some of the money I saved up from my work this summer and I was going to spend part of it on tutoring this winter, anyway. I'll tutor under you, whenever I'm off duty, and if you can teach me to like figures, you're a good one. Any way, your cottage is so near that I can get right on the job if the station calls.”
True to his word, a few days later Eric appeared at the tiny little cottage--it was scarcely more than a hut--which was the home of the eccentric old puzzle-maker. The top part of it was a home-made observatory, and the whole building looked a good deal like a large beehive.
”String in the corner,” said the old man, after welcoming him. ”Get him.”
”It's all knotted, Dan,” the boy replied, holding up a piece of rope with a couple of dozen strings hanging from it, of various colors, all intertwined.
”Of course he is,” the old man replied. ”Read him.”
”What?” asked the boy.
”Read him,” repeated the old man.
”What does it mean?”
”He's what Incas used to count treasure with,” the old man said. ”He's quipu, a copy of one Cortez found in City of Sun. You like to read what he says?”
”You bet I would.”
”Bring him here.”
Wondering a good deal at the odd puzzle-maker's manner, for the lad had gone to the cottage in good faith with his books, expecting to work on the problems that were disturbing him, he brought over the knotted quipu.
”Green string means corn,” said the puzzle-maker, ”because he's the color of growing corn. What you suppose white is?”
”Silver,” guessed the boy.
”Right. And yellow?”
”Gold.”
”Right, too. And red?”
”Copper?” hazarded the boy.
”Not bad guess,” the old man said. ”Not copper color, red.”
”Red stands for war,” said Eric meditatively, then, with an inspiration, ”in those days a country was rich if it had soldiers. Does the red mean soldiers, Dan?”
”Soldiers, right,” the old man answered. ”The Quipucamayocuna--”
”The what, Dan?”
”Knot officers,” explained the other, ”kept track of him all. They counted tens, single knot meant ten; double knot, hundred. Now read him.
Cross-knotting is for groups.”
Eric worked for a quarter of an hour and then looked up.
”I've got it,” he said.
”What is he?”