CHAPTER III
IN THE HALL OF GOLD
I went first to Ullullo's house and changed my clothing, so that I mightthe more easily lose myself among the hundreds of Indians about thestreets of the city, for something told me that Djama might make anattempt to discover the meaning of what I had said about the house byfollowing me and learning, if possible, the secret of my movements; forhe must have known that, being without money as I was, save for the fewdollars that the professor had lent me, it would not be possible for meto do as I had said, unless one, at least, of the hiding-places of theold treasures was within easy reach so that I could take sufficient goldout of it by the next day to fulfil my promise.
When I changed my clothes I put a dagger into my belt, and a revolver,which Francis Hartness had already taught me how to use, into a caseslung at my hip, and hidden by my jacket and the long folds of myponcho. Then I went back into the great square, and across it up thestreet in which we had our lodgings. As I passed the house I saw Djamastanding in the archway leading into the courtyard, smoking a cigar. Iturned and looked him in the face as I went by, slouching and trailingmy sandalled feet after the fashion of the natives. He looked at me, butI saw no recognition in his eyes. Then as I walked on there came athought to me.
I hurried to Ullullo's house once more and brought him back with me,telling him on the way what I wanted him to do for me. When we reachedthe house again we saw Djama standing in the courtyard, and Ullullo,doing as I had bid him, went in to him, and told him in Spanish, which Icould not speak, that if he would give him ten dollars he should learnthe secret of my goings and comings, and where I was to find the goldwith which to pay for the hacienda. Djama instantly promised him themoney, as I thought he would, and Ullullo told him to be at the end ofthe street which is now called El Triunfo at eleven o'clock that night.He was to come alone, for if anyone came with him he would learnnothing. As you will soon see, I had two objects to serve in doing this.
When Ullullo came back and told me that Djama would be there, I badehim wait for me at the same place and hour, and then I went away aloneout of the city and up a path which led towards the mountains to thenorth. There, alone and in silence, I communed with my own soul, atfirst in sorrow, yet slowly becoming more and more peaceful in heart,even as one who is told that he is to die on a certain day first ragesagainst his doom and then learns to contemplate with calmness that whichthere is no hope of escaping. The words of the professor and FrancisHartness had shown me that in the world to which I had returned mysister Golden Star could now never be my wife and queen, and the more Ipondered on what they had said, the more plainly it appeared to me thatthis was the truth, however bitter it might seem.
Yet there was something else in my heart, although at that time I didnot dare even to let my inmost thoughts dwell upon it, which in some waydulled the pain of the blow that had fallen upon me, and reconciled meto the parting which in one sense must now be eternal. The longer Ipondered the more deeply did that look of horror which I had seen in theeyes of Joyful Star burn into my soul, and the more clearly did thewords that she had spoken ring in my ears. She had said that it washorrible and that it was impossible, and she was to me as one of thosebright angels who, according to our ancient faith, awaited the heroesand sages of our race in the Mansions of the Sun--a being so far aboveme that I could look upon her only as a mortal might look from afar upona daughter of the Celestials.
Thus, musing in silence and solitude on the wild mountain-side, nowlooking back into my distant past, and now hazarding a glance into thefast-approaching future, the hours slipped by quickly for me, and Iheard the bells of the churches--bells which they had told me had beencast out of the copper and gold and silver that our conquerors had takenfrom our temples and palaces--chiming the half-hour before eleven.
So I turned back to the city, and made haste to the place where Djamaand Ullullo would be waiting for me. I found them there talkingtogether, and without discovering myself to Djama, I told Ullullo inQuichua to follow me with the Englishman. Then I went on swiftly alongthe rivulet of Tullamayo, past the terrace of Rocca Inca, and along thesmooth, dark wall of what had once been the Yachahuasi, or College ofthe Youths, and so out of the city and the gorge of the little riverRodadero. Then, with the two still following me a few yards behind, Iclimbed the lower terraces of the Colcompata, or the Granaries, wherethe divine Manco built his first palace, and then on up the hillside tothe Tiupunco, or Gate of Sand, which led through the fragments of whathad once been the outer wall of the great fortress, and so on to thelittle level pampa of the Rodadero, which was my meeting-place withTupac.
Now as I went I began to sing one of our ancient songs, which was thesignal that I had agreed upon with Tupac, and presently, one afteranother, silent, stealthy forms crept out from the angles of the greatzig-zag wall and came towards me. One of them, taller than the rest,threw an iron bar that he was carrying across his shoulders, and cameand stood before me with bowed-down head, waiting for me to speak. Iknew that it was Tupac, and I said to him,--
'Are the Children of the Sun ready to do the bidding of his Son?'
'They are, Lord!' he replied. 'Here are twenty who have sworn by theheart of the divine Manco to do all things lawful and unlawful, even tothe death, at the bidding of him who shall prove himself to be the trueheir of the royal Llautu.'
'It is good,' I said, 'and the proof shall soon be given. Now, take thestranger yonder; do him no harm, but bind his eyes so that he cannotsee, and tie his hands behind him. Then follow me.'
Instantly the stealthy forms closed around Djama. Not a word was spokensave his startled, angry exclamation, which was soon stifled, and thenthey brought him along after me, I going first and Tupac following closebehind me. Like a string of shadows we moved across the plain past thegreat carved rock which is still called the Inca's Seat, and over theridge of the Sliding Stones and down into the valley beyond, which isthickly strewn with great rock-masses carved into seats, and altars, andbaths, and chambers, of which no man knows the origin, and which wereancient when Manco-Capac and Mama-Occlu first came into the land.
The greatest of these is a high white rock carved all over into stepsand seats and altars and basins, which are said to have been made tocatch the blood of the living sacrifices that were offered up here by arace of men whose name has been forgotten. It is called in our languagethe Sayacusca, or Tired Stone, for an old tradition says that ages agoit was brought from the mountains by the toil of ten thousand men, andwhen it reached its present place it rolled over and killed threehundred of them, and could never be moved again upon its journey.
On the south side of this there is a great cleft from the top to thebottom, and up the sides of this cleft are the two halves of a stairway,which was carved there before some earthquake rent the stone in twain,and under this is a deep dark pool of water. At the entrance to thecleft I stopped and beckoned to the others to come round me. Then I toldthem that they were about to see that which no man then alive on earthhad ever seen, and made all swear by the Glory of the Sun that each andevery one of them would slay without pity him who revealed anything seenor heard that night, even though he were his own brother, or his ownfather, or his own son. As for Djama, they held him there bound andblindfolded amongst them, and when he tried to speak they stopped hismouth at my bidding, for I had told them that I would be answerable forhim, since I had brought him here for my own purposes.
Then I made two of the men stretch a cord tightly across the mouth ofthe cleft close down to the ground, and to the middle of this I tiedanother cord, and stretched it out straight twelve foot-lengths from thecentre, and here I bade them clear away the bushes, and dig. Then axeand hoe and spade went to work. In that clear air, and under thatcloudless sky, the stars gave light enough to work by, and soon a spacehad been cleared, and a round hole about three feet across was being dugdown through the loose, rocky soil.
When it was about half the depth of a man the spades struck on the solidrock below, and coul
d go no farther. When Tupac told me of this, I, whohad been standing by the cleft, looking--full of strange thoughts--downinto the dark pool of water, called the man who had been digging out ofthe hole, and, taking an iron bar from Tupac, I dropped into it.
I sought about the bottom with my hands for a few moments till I foundthe outline of a squared stone that had been let into the rock. In thecentre of this I found a hole, out of which I picked the dirt with mydagger. Then, putting the end of my iron bar into it, I pulled, and thestone turned over on a hinge, leaving an opening half its size. Downthis I thrust my arm, and found a chain of copper which hung down into adeep well below. I pulled this with all my strength until something gaveway at the bottom, then I drew the chain up, and cast my iron bar underit across the hole. As I did this, I heard the deep, smothered roar ofwaters rushing away far below me into the bowels of the earth.
Then I got out of the hole and went back to the cleft. I lit a candleand looked down at the pool. It was no longer stagnant now, but seethingand eddying like a whirlpool. I beckoned to Tupac, who was standing alittle way behind me, and as he came and looked over my shoulder Ipointed down into the dark gulf, out of which the bottom was rapidlyfalling, and said,--
'See, the waters are opening the way by which the Son of the Sun shallgo into his kingdom. Watch now, and listen!'
'Son of the Sun and Lord of the Four Regions, it is true!' he whisperedas the waters eddied round faster and faster, and gurgled and rattleddown into some unknown abyss. Soon they vanished altogether, leavingonly a dark, black, and seemingly fathomless cavern in the place wherethey had been. I waited until the sound of the last gurgle had died awayin the depths, and then I turned to Tupac and said,--
'The way is open. Tell Ullullo to bring the lantern and light it. Theremust be no other light. You and the rest follow me, and let two strongmen bring the stranger.'
He did as I bade him, and when I had lit the lantern I cast its raysabout the gulf beneath me till I found the continuation of the brokenstairway above, and then picking my way carefully down the dank, slimysteps, I led the way into the heart of the rock, the rest following,guided by the spreading ray of light in front of me.'
I counted fifty steps, and then stopped and turned sharply to the right.The fiftieth step ended against a wall of rock, still dripping with thewater that was running down from the arched roof of the chamber. Imeasured ten spans with my hand from the wall where the steps ended,and made a mark with my dagger on the rock. Then from the floor Imeasured eight spans in a line across the mark. Where the eighth spanended I made another mark, and with the help of my lantern I found asilver socket let into the rock. It was a plate with a hole in thecentre large enough to admit the iron bar which I had brought for thepurpose. I put it in, and whispering to Tupac to help me, we gripped thebar, and after two or three hard pulls felt it coming towards us.
A great slab of rock, which fitted into the wall with all the perfectionthat our old Inca masons could give it, turned on a central hinge,leaving a space that two men could have walked through abreast.
'Go in,' I said to Tupac, 'and let all follow you.'
He obeyed, and standing by the opening with a ray of my lantern shootingacross it, I watched them file past one by one until all had gone in.Then I followed, and as I crossed the threshold set my shoulder againstthe edge of the slab and pushed it back into its place.
Now I covered my lantern with my poncho and cried aloud in thedarkness,--
'Let the torches be got ready, but let no light be struck till thatwhich is to be revealed may be seen.'
A low murmur answered me, and then, still keeping my lantern hidden, Ifelt my way along the wall, treading softly as a mountain lionapproaching its prey, until I had counted forty paces. The fortiethbrought me to a doorway, through which I turned. Five paces more broughtme to another turning, ten more to the end of the passage, and then Iuncovered my light and found myself in a little square chamber hewn outof the rock and surrounded with stone chests covered with lids ofcopper.
In the centre of the chamber stood a smaller one, all of metal. I set mylantern down on one of the others so that the light fell across thisone; then I raised the lid, and there before me lay, perfect as they hadbeen on the day when Anda-Huillac, last High Priest of the Sun, had laidthem there, the imperial robes and insignia that had last been worn bythe ill-fated Huascar, son of the great Huayna-Capac.
Quickly throwing off the mean garments that I wore, I dressed myself inthem. Then, binding the golden sandals on my feet, and clasping the longmantle emblazoned in gold and jewels with the symbols of the Sun and hissister-wife the Moon across my shoulders, I wound the scarlet Llautuaround my head, with the crimson fringe of the Borla interlaced withgold falling upon my brow, and then, closing the chest, I took up mylantern and went back along the passages I had traversed.
In the middle of the last one I put my lantern down with the glassagainst the wall, and feeling my way into the doorway, which opened onto the chamber in which the others were awaiting me, I cried, in a voicethat echoed strangely through the great chamber,--
'Let the torches be kindled, and let the Children of the Sun look upontheir Lord!'
I heard a shuffling of feet and a whispering of many voices. Then lightswere struck, and I stepped back quickly into the shadow of the doorway.I saw the glow of light grow into a glare that was flashed back in athousand many-coloured rays from the walls of the chamber. I heard adeep, low cry of wonder, and then I strode out into the midst andsaid,--
'I am he who went into the shadows at the bidding of our Father the Sun,and by his will I have returned to bring deliverance to his children!'
For one moment of affrighted amazement they stared wide-eyed at mestanding there before them, as though Huayna-Capac himself had returnedfrom the Mansions of the Sun to resume his sceptre and his crown. Then,with one accord, they sank on their knees before me, holding theirtorches above their bent heads and murmuring,--
'Hail, Son of the Sun and deliverer of his children, who hast come tobring the daylight back to the long-darkened Land of the Four Regions!'
I looked at them and saw Djama standing erect, still bound andblindfold, in the midst of them. I went through the kneeling forms tohim, and taking the bandage from his eyes stepped back, and while he wasblinking at the light of the torches, said to him in English,--
'Look about you, Laurens Djama, and tell me if you believe now that I,the friend of the filthy Indians whom you despise, can do that which Ihave said?'
He was still half dazzled by the glare of the torches and the thousandrays of many colours that were flashing about him. Wherever hiswondering glance fell it saw great golden plates covering the walls,thick-set with jewels, and in front of him, piled up against the endwall of the chamber, a shining heap of gold bars in the shape of apyramid reaching to the roof of the chamber, and on either side of this,half way up, was a great image of the Sun, like to that which in theolden times stood above the altar in the sanctuary of the great templeof Cuzco, each with its centre fashioned as a human face, with greatflashing diamonds for eyes, with lips of rubies, and long pendants ofemeralds hanging from the ears, and all round a hundred curving rays ofgold edged and lined with jewels.
He stared about him, open-eyed and open-mouthed with amazement. Then hiseyes fell on me, and he started forward and stared me in the face for amoment. Then he gasped,--
'Vilcaroya, is it you, or am I dreaming? Where have you brought me to?'
'To one of the treasure-houses that you so longed to see,' I said, 'sothat you might see and believe that I told you no idle tale, and that Ican perform my promise if you can perform yours.'
Then I turned my back on him and went to the foot of the pyramid, and,taking my place in front of it, I said to those who still knelt beforeme in silence,--
'Let those of his children who are faithful to their Father the Sun riseand come without falsehood in their hearts, and say if they now believethat that which was foretold long ago, when the darkness
fell over theland, has in very truth come to pass.'
They rose from their knees and came towards me in a half circle,carrying their torches. They stopped about five paces from me, lookingat me through a little space with wondering eyes full of worship. Thenthey bowed their heads again, and Tupac came from the midst of them,and, casting himself prone at my feet, yet not daring even to touch mysandals, said in a broken voice,--
'Son of the Sun, heir of heaven and lord of earth, we have seen thywisdom and thy majesty. None but one of thy royal line--nay, none butthee, oh, Vilcaroya, son of Huayna-Capac, and brother of Huascar, lastof the Incas, could have known the secret that thou hast brought withthee from the past into the present. We are thy children and thy slaves,and all the men of the Blood that are left in the Land of the FourRegions shall hail thee lord as we do, and own no other master savethee, Vilcaroya Inca, from now until the hour when their father, theLord of Life, shall call them back to the Mansions of the Sun. We arethine, and we will serve thee, ourselves and our wives and our children,as our fathers served thy father in the days when there was yet peaceand happiness in the land.'
'And if ye are but faithful,' I said, 'and if the Lord, my father, whorules the day, and his sister, my mother, who rules the night, shallgive me strength and wisdom to use the power that is mine, I will giveyou back peace and happiness, and the stranger and the oppressor shallbe driven from the land, and the homes of the Children of the Sun shallagain be full of light. Rise now, Tupac, and let ten of the men givetheir torches to the others and make ready to do my bidding.'
He rose, and it was done. Then I called Djama to me and said,--
'What you have seen here to-night is a dream. When your eyes open againon the outer world, remember what I have said. Your hand has brought mefrom the grave to the throne, and you must obey me as these do. Let mebut know that you have spoken one word, even to Joyful Star herself,concerning what you have seen here to-night, and I will show you how anInca deals with one who dares to disobey him. Keep silence and havepatience, and perform that which you have promised, and you shall goback to your own land loaded with gold and jewels. Fail, and thefragments of your body shall be sent north and south and east and westthroughout the Land of the Four Regions, and your name shall be one ofshame in the ears of my people for ever.'
For a moment he looked me in the eyes, and I saw his lips moving asthough he was striving to shape some answer to my words. Then his facegrew grey, and his knees shook as he stood. Then I called to Tupac, andbade him bind his eyes again and lead him away, and as soon as his sightwas taken from him I bade the ten men who had given up their torchestake off their ponchos and fill them with as many of the golden bars aseach one could carry, and when this was done, I ordered all the torchessave one to be extinguished. This one I took, and went with it into thepassage where I had left my lantern. Then I dashed it against the walland vanished into the darkness.
I took my lantern, and hiding the light carefully, went back to thelittle chamber, where I took off my robes and sandals and the imperialLlautu, and put them back into the chest. Then I put on my mean attireagain and went back into the Hall of Gold. Signing to the others tofollow me, I turned the stone door on its pivot again, and watched themfile past me as before. Then, going out last, I closed the portal afterme and lighted them up the steps with my lantern.
When we all once more stood in the open air by the cleft I went to thehole and released the chain. Instantly the roar of waters broke outagain, and I bade them fill the hole up and put turf over it, andtrample it down and scatter the bushes over it; and that being done, wetook our way back again across the plain towards the fortress, stillleading Djama blindfold in our midst.
We took him by the gate of Viracocha into the fortress, across its upperpart, where the three crosses stood, and down on to the zigzag roadwhich leads into the eastern part of the city, and there we unbound hiseyes, and I bade him go to the house and make ready to receive me earlyin the morning, telling our friends that I should arrive with somepackages of Indian merchandise and metals from one of my mines, for, asI should have told you before, I had come to Cuzco in the character ofan owner of mines who had lived long in Europe and had returned tosupervise the working of my property.
I and Tupac and his companions then went back into the hills, andwithout entering the city made our way by twos and threes into thevillage of San Sebastian. We met at Tupac's house, and there I explainedto them as much of my plans and purposes as I thought fit for them toknow, and showed them that the time was not yet come for them to makeuse of the treasures that I would share with them. But to each man Igave two pounds' weight of gold to be left in Tupac's care till it couldbe taken into the cities of the south and there changed for silvercoins. Then I had a list made of their names, and promised them, afterreminding them of their oaths, that when I once more sat on the throneof the divine Manco, their fidelity should be well remembered.
The next morning we loaded the gold in bales of the coca-leaf, greatquantities of which are taken every day into Cuzco, upon four mules, andthese I sent to our house while I went back with Ullullo and put on myEnglish clothing. Then I followed, and found that the bags of coca hadalready arrived. They were carried up to my own room, and there, in thepresence of Djama and Joyful Star, the professor and Francis Hartness, Itook out the gold ingots and built them up in a pyramid before them.
I could see from their amazement that, whether from fear or faith, Djamahad obeyed me, and said nothing of what he had seen during the night. Asfor me, I said but little. I gave them the gold, and that day theprofessor and Djama, acting as my agents, sold it to some of themerchants of Cuzco as the product of my mines. The price was more thantwice as much as was needed for the hacienda, so with the rest Idischarged my debt and made myself once more a free man.
There is no need for me to dwell upon our dealings with the owner of thehacienda, and therefore it will suffice for me to say, before ten daysmore had passed the purchase-money had been paid, we had taken up ourabode there, and installed Joyful Star as housewife, with faithfulservants chosen by myself from among the Children of the Blood. Djama,who had been strangely silent and reserved with all of us since thelesson I had taught him in the Hall of Gold, had taken possession of thechamber which was devoted to his uses, and had put all his apparatus inorder for the great work that was to be done there.
So on the fourteenth day, such was the power of my gold and of mylongings, all things were ready, and at daybreak on the fifteenth day werode at the head of our little mule train out of the courtyard of thehacienda on our way to the resting-place of Golden Star.
The Romance of Golden Star ... Page 7