Page:Gaston Leroux--The bride of the sun.djvu/42

28 "Human sacrifices!"

"Oh, Auntie!" laughed Maria-Teresa.

"Curious," remarked the savant. "And there may be some truth in it I know that they were customary at the Festival of the Sun among the Incas. And Prescott makes it clear that the Quichuas have kept not only the language of their ancestors, but also many of the ancient customs."

"Yes, but they became Christians when the Spaniards conquered their country," suggested Dick.

"Not that that affects them much," commented the Marquis. "It gives them two religions instead of one, and they have mixed up the rites and beliefs of the two in a most amazing fashion."

"What do they want to do, then? Re-build the Empire of the Incas?"

"They don't know what they want," replied Maria-Teresa. "In the days of the Incas every living being in the Empire had to work, they were practically the slaves of the Sons of the Sun. When that iron discipline was removed they gradually learned to do nothing but sleep. Of course, that meant poverty and misery, which they attribute, not to their laziness, but to the fact that they are no longer ruled by the descendants of Mono-Capac! From what Huascar told