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Rh did not then attack them, lest, if the child was alive, they might kill him. As time went on the bereaved father began to despair of ever seeing his beloved son again.

Meanwhile the prince was well watched by the shepherds and by a strong guard, which had been sent to ensure his remaining in unknown captivity. But help was at hand. One of the concubines of Tocay Ccapac, named Chimpu Urma, or 'the fallen halo,' had probably been a witness of the impressive scene when the child wept blood. At all events, she was filled with pity and the desire to befriend the forlorn prince. She was a native of Anta, a small town at no great distance from Cuzco. As a friend of Tocay Ccapac she was free to go where she liked, within his dominions and those of the chief of Anta, who was her father.

Chimpu Urma persuaded her relations and friends at Anta to join with her in an attempt to rescue the young prince. It had been arranged by the shepherds and guards that, on a certain day, some boys, including Cusi Hualpa, should have a race up to the top of a hill in front of the shepherds' huts. Hearing this, Chimpu Urma stationed her friends from Anta, well armed, on the other side of the same hill. The race was started, and the prince reached the summit first, where he was taken up in the arms of his Anta friends, who made a rapid retreat. The other boys gave the alarm, and the jailers (shepherds and guards) followed in chase. On the banks of a small lake called