Page:Gaston Leroux--The bride of the sun.djvu/44

30 and of as good family as possible.... It is vengeance against the race that destroys theirs."

Maria-Teresa was frankly laughing at her aunt's intense seriousness, only equaled by the gravity with which Uncle Francis listened. The savant looked at her smiling face half disapprovingly, and brought his scientific knowledge to the defense of the old ladies. Everything they said corresponded perfectly with what well-known writers and explorers had been able to discover about the Virgins of the Sun. There was no doubt that human sacrifice had been rife among the Incas, both in honor of the Sun and for the King himself, many of the victims going to the altar of their own free will. This was particularly the case when an Inca died—it was like Suttee of the East.

"Prescott and Wienjer, the greatest authorities on the subject, are agreed," said Uncle Francis. "Prescott tells us that at one royal burial, more than a thousand people, wives, maids and servants of the Inca, were sacrificed on his tomb."

Aunt Agnes shuddered, while Irene, bending her head, made the sign of the Cross.

"All this is very true, my dear sir," said Don Christobal, carrying on the conversation, "and I see that our Geographical Society here will be