Page:Gaston Leroux--The bride of the sun.djvu/102

88, bowing as if to make them understand that he had intervened to do them a favor.

Extraordinarily enough, this interruption, almost sacrilegious as it was, did not stir a man. The Indian in the red poncho paused for a moment, and continued in Spanish.

"In those days," he said, "the Inca was all-powerful, and a vast army bowed to his will. The city was surrounded by a triple wall of stone, in the heart of which stood the citadel and the home of the Virgins of the Sun. The Inca, knowing no fear, and ignorant of all treason, allowed the white men to enter the city and received them as friends, as envoys from that other great emperor beyond the seas.

"But the leader of the Strangers, doubting the generous heart of the Inca, had divided his army into three bands, marching toward the city in battle array. Then the Inca said, 'Since they fear our hospitality, let us all leave the city, so that peace may enter their hearts.' Thus it was that when the Conquistador rode through our streets, he met not a living soul, and heard no sound but the stamp of his own warriors' feet."

Here the speaker stopped, as if to gather his thoughts, and continued:

"This was at a late hour in the afternoon. The Stranger then sent an ambassador to the Inca's camp. He sent his brother, Fernando,