CHAPTER VIII
HOW THE SOUL OF GOLDEN STAR CAME BACK
When the two chairs had been brought in and placed according to myorders, I rose from my throne and led Joyful Star to the one on my lefthand and placed her in it, still silent with the wonder and perplexityof what she had seen and heard since her eyes were opened. Then, seatingmyself again, I bade Tupac summon the Children of the Blood to taketheir places, and presently he ushered them in from the chambers thatopened out of the great hall on either hand at the other end.
There were threescore of them, the heads of the families of Ayllos,whose blood was the purest and whose descent was most direct from theold nobility of my own days. Each of them, too, under the outward huskof his forlorn and degraded state, had preserved unsullied the ancientfaith and traditions of the sacred race, and, against all appearances,had steadfastly hoped for the fulfilment of the promises that had beengiven in the olden times. More than this, too--each had treasured, as amiser hoards his gold, the ever-growing legacy of hate which theoppression and contempt of the Spaniards and their meaner descendantshad heaped up from generation to generation against the long-awaited dayof vengeance which, as but two or three in that strange company aloneknew, was now so near at hand.
Ever since I had revealed myself to them in the Hall of Gold they hadbeen working for the end in view with the swift, subtle arts known onlyto those of their race, and already, from Quito in the north to Santiagoin the south, tidings had gone forth that the day of deliverance wasapproaching, and that ere long the Rainbow Banner would be raised by thehands of him for whom the Children of the Sun had waited.
Each of the fathers of the people was dressed, as Tupac was, in thelong-forbidden garb of the ancient nobility, and each as he enteredstopped in the centre of the hall and paid his homage before he went tohis seat. Then, when all were seated, I ordered that the strangersshould be brought in, and they were led into the midst of the silentassembly, with their eyes still bandaged. Over Golden Star's head a veilhad been thrown, hiding her face, for it was my purpose that it shouldnot be seen for the present, and how strangely this purpose worked youshall soon see.
As she came up the middle of the hall, following Tupac, who was leadingher as obedient as a little child, I descended from the throne and wentto meet her, and led her to the seat on my right hand and placed her init. Francis Hartness, the professor and Djama I left standing in themiddle of the hall, each with one of Tupac's chosen guards beside him.When Golden Star was seated, I stood up in front of the throne and saidto those assembled, speaking in the ancient tongue,--
'Sons of the Blood and fathers of the Oppressed, you know already howthe promise that was made by our Father the Sun, through the lips of hishigh priest, in the days when first the oppressors came, has been inpart most faithfully and marvellously fulfilled. I, Vilcaroya--son ofHuayna-Capac, son of the great Yupanqui Inca, before whose throne-seat Iam now standing alive in your presence--am he of whom it was said thatone who should pass from life to life through the shadows of deathshould grasp the sceptre of the divine Manco, and restore the ancientglory of the Children of the Sun. And with me, as you know, there wasanother, at whose call and for love of whom I dared the ordeal of thedeath-sleep and swore the oath which I have returned to the world ofliving men to fulfil. I have already given you some proof that I am whatI say I am, for I have revealed to you secrets which were buried in thegrave with me and in those faithful hearts which have been pulseless nowfor many generations.
'But now, that all things may be made plain to you, and that no doubtsmay remain in your hearts to hinder the working of our sacred purpose, Ihave brought here before you witnesses of the wonders that have beenworked--even those who wrought them themselves, that their own lips maytell you the story; and with them I have brought yet another witnesswho, though she cannot speak to you in our ancient tongue, of which ourFather, for his own wise purposes, has deprived her during her longsleep, will yet in her own person and even with silent lips be witnessenough that I have not lied to you. Now let the eyes of the strangers beuncovered and their mouths opened that they may see and speak.'
Even as the words left my lips they were obeyed, and at the same time Istretched out my right hand and raised the veil from the head of GoldenStar, and unloosed the bandage from her eyes.
A deep murmur of wonder ran round the hall; a sharp cry of amazementbroke from Djama's lips, and the two others stared blankly about them.Then I raised my left hand to command silence, and, still speaking theancient speech and pointing with my right hand to Golden Star, said,--
'This, O Fathers of the People, is she who drank the death-draught withme. This is Cory-Coyllur, daughter of Huayna-Capac, and sister of thelong-ago murdered Huascar, and my sister, too, since her great fatherwas mine also. With her, as the tradition was told to you, I plightedthe marriage-troth before the altar in the Sanctuary of the Sun, and ofthat troth I would speak to you now. Such marriage is no longer lawfulin the world to which we have returned, and in token of this our Fatherthe Sun has sent this other likeness of Golden Star, who sits upon myleft hand, to tell me that it may not be; and to make the message surer,it has pleased him also to put into my heart a love for her differingfrom, though not greater than that which I have borne for Golden Star,and if my Father who has given me this love shall also look withkindness upon my longing, then Joyful Star, as I have named her, shallbe my Coya[C] and my queen, and Golden Star shall be her sister andmine, and I doubt not that in his own good time our Father will send hera fitting mate, that her heart may not be empty nor her life lonely.'
As I said these last words I saw the eyes of all who were sitting in thechairs turn, as if moved by one impulse, and rest on Francis Hartness,standing strong and stately in the midst of the little group in themiddle of the hall, overtopping the others by nearly a span, and crownedwith his curling golden hair; and as I, too, looked at him, a newthought came into my mind, and I spoke aloud again and said,--
'Yes, Brothers of the Blood, I read your thought. The stranger from theland which is the greatest of all lands in the world of to-day, is atrue Son of the Sun, though not of our blood, for his heart is clean andhis tongue is straight and his arm strong, and perchance it may pleaseour Father to bring about that which he has put into our hearts.'
At this another murmur ran round the hall, and every head was bowed inassent.
Now all this time the three Englishmen had been standing patiently inthe midst of the hall, looking about them at its splendours, and waitingtill I should speak to them, for the professor knew enough of theQuichua tongue to follow what I had been saying, and had told the othersthat I was speaking of them. Now I spoke to them in English, and toldthem what I had brought them to the throne-room for, and then I hadchairs placed for them at top of the hall, to my left hand.
When they had taken their places, I asked the professor to speak inSpanish to those assembled, and tell them whether or not the story of myreturn to life was true, and whether or not Golden Star had been foundwhere Anda-Huillac and the priests had placed her, and had been, likeme, restored to life by the arts of Djama his friend. This he did infew, straight words, and after him Djama rose at my bidding and toldthem also what he had done. When he had finished I took the Llautu frommy head and raised it above me with outstretched arms and said in a loudvoice,--
'If you, O Children of the Blood and Sons of the Ancient Race, believenow that I am in truth Vilcaroya, son of Huayna-Capac, and lawful heirof the divine Manco, from whom all the Incas of our race draw theirroyal blood, then take me for your lord as my father was the lord ofyour fathers; or if any shall have yet doubt in his heart, let himspeak now or for ever be silent.'
Then with one accord they rose from their seats and came before me andprostrated themselves on the shining pavement of the throne-room, andbegan to chant, in a low, soft tone, the Song of Homage with which ofold the new-crowned Incas had been hailed, generation after generation,Sons of the Sun and lords of life and death throughout the Land of
theFour Regions.
And now a wondrous thing happened. As I stood there facing the prostratethrong, lowering the Llautu on to my head, I heard a low, sharp crybeside me on my right hand. I turned half round, and there I saw GoldenStar staring at me with eyes burning with the light that shone throughthem from her new-awakened soul.
Her hands were clasped to her temples, pushing back her thick, brighthair from her forehead. Her face was flushed, and her half-open lipswere working as though they were striving to shape some long-forgottenwords. At the instant that the Llautu touched my brows, she rose to herfeet. Then a cry burst from her lips and went ringing down the hall, andthe next moment she had thrown herself forward and I had caught her inmy arms.
As I did so our eyes met, and our hearts looked at each other throughthem. In that one burning glance the mists of the long years weremelted, all things else were forgotten, and for the moment we stoodalone--the children of a long-dead generation--in the solitude that ourstrange fate had made about us. Then her lips moved, not dumbly thistime, and in a voice that woke, who shall say how many memories in myheart, she said,--
'Have they awakened us, my lord? Tell me how long we have slept, myVilcaroya. It seems long to me, and I have had strange, dim dreams, andthought I was not one, but two, and that one of myselves was your sisterand the other was your Coya and queen. It was strange, was it not, todream like that?'
'Not so strange but that it may be true, O my sister, Golden Star,' Isaid, my wonder for the moment overcome by a new hope that uprose withinme at her words. 'Stranger things than that have happened since we fellasleep together in the distant days that are no more. See, Nusta mi,here is your other self, the living shape of that sister-soul of yours,who has watched over you and cared for you and loved you since you drewthe first breath of your new life. She cannot speak our tongue, for sheis the daughter of another age than ours, but she has taught me hers andI will speak for you.'
As I said this I took her hands from where they rested on my shoulders,and led her to the seat of Joyful Star, who was standing in front of it,with one hand on the arm of her chair and the other one clasped to herheart, her face white with fear and her eyes wide with wonder.
'What has happened, Vilcaroya?' she said, in a voice so low that it wasalmost a whisper. 'Has her memory come back, and does she believeherself to be your--your wife?'
As she forced the last word from her hesitating lips I saw the hot bloodflow into her cheeks, and a new light that shot like a dart of fire intomy heart leapt into her eyes.
'No,' I said, with a smile that was quickly answered by one that cameunawares to her lips. 'She calls herself my sister and me her lord, andsays that she has dreamed that she is not one but two, and that herother sister-self is Vilcaroya's wife and queen. Now, if that dream maybe the truth, tell her so!'
And with that I took her hand gently from where it rested on the chairand laid Golden Star's in it.
'But--I cannot speak your language, and she wouldn't understand me,' shesaid softly, with one swift glance at me and another longer look atGolden Star's smiling face, so wondrous like her own.
'There is another speech than that of the tongue,' I answered, 'whichall men understand.'
'Yes!' she said, and then she drew Golden Star gently to her and kissedher.
All this while the Ayllos had remained silent and prostrate before thethrone, none daring to raise their heads till I bade them, and the threeEnglishmen sat still, hearing what I had said to Joyful Star and heranswer to it, and yet neither speaking nor rising from their seats, eachfull of his own thoughts and not willing to betray his feelings by anyrash word that he might speak in the wonder of the moment. But now Iturned with my heart full of joy and new hope, and said in a voice inwhich my gladness seemed to sing like a bird in the morning sky,--
'Rise up, Brothers of the Blood, and look upon your lord and rejoicewith him, for our Father the Sun has looked kindly upon him and filledall his life with light. He has given back memory and speech to GoldenStar, his daughter, and put it into the heart of Joyful Star, her othersister-self, to love her and to make plain that which might else havebeen dark.'
Then they all rose to their feet and saluted me and paid their homage toGolden Star and Joyful Star as well, and then I waved them to theirseats, and when they had gone I led Golden Star back to her chair, andthen I called Djama to me, and when he came and stood before me Isaid,--
'You have seen what has happened, and you have heard the words that havebeen said. You see now that there is no need for Golden Star to go toEngland. Therefore it remains but for you and for your friend to takethe treasure that is yours, and for us to say farewell.'
'And Ruth?' he asked. 'You know, of course, that that will mean farewellto her also.'
I could see that he was ill at ease, and that his words were not thewords that his true thoughts would have spoken. As I looked at him I sawthat his eyes shifted and wandered from my gaze, and I said coldly,--
'Much has happened since we last spoke of this. It will be for JoyfulStar herself to say whether she will bid me farewell or not. Is she notfree to go or stay where she pleases? Say, now, when I shall command thetreasure to be taken out of the Hall of Gold for you, and where you wishit to be placed.'
'I must ask you to give me time to think about that and talk it overwith the professor,' he said, 'for we have no means of taking such animmense amount of gold to the coast and getting it on board ship withoutsuspicion.'
'Go, then,' I said, 'and speak with him, but remember that it must bedone quickly, for ere many days are past there will be war in the land,and neither your lives nor your gold will be safe.'
'I will take good care of that,' he said in a tone whose strangenesstold me more than his words, and with that he turned away and sat downbeside the professor, with the thoughts that were within his heart stillunspoken. As soon as he had gone back to his seat I called FrancisHartness to me and set him beside me on the right hand of the throne,and then I told who he was and showed that he was well skilled in thosenew arts of warfare which had taken the place of our ancient methods,and how he had promised to use his knowledge for me and lead my armiesinto battle, hazarding his own life on the chance of our success; andwhen I had said this I named him leader of all those who should rangethemselves under the Rainbow Banner when the day of battle came, andbade all present obey his orders and enforce obedience to them, even asthough his commands were my own.
Then I bade Francis Hartness himself speak all that was in his mindfreely and without fear of betrayal concerning the war that was soon tobe waged between the rival factions of our oppressors and the means thatwere to be used to turn their strife to our own account, and this hedid, speaking in fluent Spanish and in short, clear sentences, as a manof action and a soldier should speak.
He told how he had made himself acquainted with the forces on bothsides, and how, with the help of Tupac, he had sounded the feelings ofthose by whom the fighting would have to be done, and had found themwilling to leave the service of the schemers who sought to makethemselves tyrants over the land, and fight for those whose purpose itwas to restore the ancient rule and give liberty to all to use theirlives as they thought best and to win for themselves as many of thegifts of the All-Father as they were able to do. He told, too, how hehad sent many messages over the lightning-wires to his own country,bidding friends like himself in war to come out as quickly as might beto find the fortune that awaited them, yet saying nothing of war butonly of gold that was to be had for the taking.
When he had finished, I bade Tupac summon all who were present to thefoot of the throne, and then I spoke to them of the plans that I hadmade with Francis Hartness in all their details, and showed them howeach, according to his opportunities, could give his help in carryingthem out, and then, as by this time the night was far spent and therewas yet work of another sort to do, I sent them back to their seats, andcalling Ruth and Golden Star to me, I bade them follow me, and led theway down the hall and through one of the pa
ssages at the end until Ibrought them to a chamber which Tupac and his comrades had alreadyprepared for them by my orders, and here I left them to take their resttogether, promising to return in the morning.
When I got back into the throne-room Djama asked me whither I had takenhis sister, and I told him what I had done, saying that the hour was nowtoo late for us to return to our home on the other side of the valley,and that, moreover, it was needful for us to go back to the Hall of Goldto make a proper count of the treasure and to let him and the professorswear their oaths of secrecy in the presence of the fathers of mypeople.
Then I left him, looking much more ill at ease than such tidings shouldhave made him feel, and told Tupac in the ancient tongue to take threeof his companions and go and do that which it was now time to do. So hewent and chose his men and departed through the bronze doors by which wehad entered the hall. After that I named a guard to remain all night inthe hall, and bade the rest go and put on their everyday clothing, andI, too, went back into the chamber behind the throne and changed myimperial garments for the others that I had put off.
Then I ordered the torches and candles to be extinguished, all saving afew that were left for the guards, and then the eyes of Djama and theprofessor were bandaged afresh, though those of Francis Hartness--hebeing now one of us and devoted to our cause--were left open; and whenthis was done the lanterns were lit and I led the way into theante-chamber of the throne-room, where the bronze doors still stood openas Tupac had left them.
I stood by them till the last man had passed out, then I went throughand closed them. Then I followed the rest and again placed myself attheir head. But when we reached the end of the straight passage, insteadof turning the revolving pillar which closed the entrance of thewinding passage leading to the Hall of Gold, I sought about with mylantern on the floor until I found three marks in the shape of atriangle in one corner of a great square slab of stone, and, taking along staff which one of the men carried, I placed the end on thetriangle and calling two others to help me, we bore downwards with allour weight, and when we had thrust awhile on the staff the corner of theslab sank into the floor and it turned on a diagonal axis until it stoodupright, leaving a three-cornered space large enough for a man's body topass through easily. Then I made a sign to one of the Ayllos and said,--
'Anahuac, take your lantern down there and light the way down thesteps.'
'Truly there are no secrets in the land hidden from the eyes of ourLord!' he said, glancing round in wonder at the rest, and then helowered himself with his lantern into the hole and disappeared.
Then I bade the rest follow him one by one, and so all went down, Igoing last with Francis Hartness, who helped me to put the stone backinto its place.
Our way now led along a rough-hewn gallery that sloped gently upwardsfor some twelve hundred paces, and at the end of it there was a littlechamber measuring some twenty feet each way and having no apparentoutlet, but in the middle of one of the walls there was another of thecunningly-constructed revolving stones which our ancient masons everused to bar their secret ways, and this three of our men, working as Itold them, turned on its hinge, and through the opening that was thusmade we passed out in single file to a little rock-walled valley overwhich the stars were shining.
The door was closed behind us, and dust and dirt were rubbed over thethin lines which marked where it fitted into the rock, and then weextinguished our lanterns and passed out of the valley on to the pampa.
The place where we had come out was about a thousand paces from thewalls of the Sacsahuaman. We halted on the plain and I gave my lastorders to the Ayllos. Then we set out in the direction of the Fortress,and as we went one by one my followers disappeared silently into thehalf darkness about us till at last only four of them were left, twoleading Djama and two the professor.
I had been talking of many things with Francis Hartness on the way, andshowing him how in the olden times we had made use of the secretpassages such as those he had already seen, and when we saw that we hadcome out by a way different to that which we had entered, he asked methe reason of it, and I answered him in a low voice and said,--
'Because the other way is closed. Have patience a little while and youshall see why.'
Then we went on our way in silence until we came to the edge of thevalley in which the Sayacusca stands. Here I halted and whispered a fewwords to the men who were leading Djama and the professor. They slippedoff their ponchos and threw them over the heads of their prisoners, forsuch the two were now to be for the present. I heard a muffled cry fromDjama, and I went to him and put my hand on his shoulder and said in awhisper,--
'Keep quiet and lie down. These men have knives and will use them at mybidding.'
Then they pulled him and the professor down, and they lay quiet, knowingthat their lives were in my hands, and I lay down on the edge of thevalley, signing to Francis Hartness to come and lie beside me. Then Ipointed into the valley and bade him watch. Presently, in the dim light,we made out figures moving about the rock, and caught every now and thenthe glint of the star-rays along thin lines of polished metal.
'Rifle barrels!' he whispered. 'What are they doing here? I didn't knowthat your men had any weapons yet.'
'No,' I said, 'those are in the hands of soldiers from Cuzco. The timehas come sooner than I thought for, and yet not too soon. You will seethe first blow struck for the freedom of my people before to-morrow'ssun rises.'
FOOTNOTES:
[C] The queen-consort of the Inca, as distinguished from the many otherswhom the ancient laws allowed him to marry.