Gerald Breckenridge

“ All day I have waited, with the gates of the fortress open, but no move has been made.
“My poor people,” he groaned, “my poor city.”
Abruptly he left them.
“But, Dad,” said Jack, “think of it. A whole city in danger of destruction merely because a ruler is stubborn. Can’t we do something? Can’t we persuade them to flee? And such a city, too. The Enchanted City of the Caesars! Here we go and find it, and are about to give it to the world, and now it may be wiped out. ”

“ Ah, I would know of the world beyond our mountain fastnesses. Without knowledge a man is like a worm crawling in the soil. But when he knows, it is like the Sun shedding his beneficent light into the gorges of our mountains and dispelling the gloom. You come from this outside world. You are not commoners, like the one or two we have captured in the Forbidden Land in other days. No, you are nobles, men of knowledge and power. ”

“ Ferdinand sprang to a loophole and stared out on a tossing, surging mass of humanity, lighted fitfully by the glare of the bonfires and the tossing flame of torches. All around the edges of the square, men, women and children were fleeing as if in panic. Before the great stairs of the Temple, where glowed the hugest bonfire of all, could be seen a force of men in gleaming armor—something which caused Ferdinand to rub his eyes and wonder if he were dreaming. ”

“ Jack sprang forward and snatched the headphones from the Inca’s head. The audience gasped, and then its fear of these strangers, created by their marvels piled upon marvels, gave way before the deep-seated instinct of reverence for their ruler, the personal representative of their god. Hoarse cries of rage arose, and courtiers, nobles and soldiers, all jumbled together, began to surge forward toward them. ”

“ My spirits seem depressed.”
“Ah, Father Felipe, you have not dined well today,” said Don Ernesto, in a sympathetic tone belied by his dancing eyes. “A trace of indigestion, maybe. I, too, often feel depressed for like cause.”
“Nay,” said Father Felipe, indignantly. “A little fish, coffee—what is there in this to give me indigestion? But you must joke, you crazy man, eager to run up and down mountains and poke your nose into places where white men have never trod. There will be trouble, I tell you, trouble.”
And the good Abbot sighed like a miniature earthquake. ”

“ Hampton interrupted quickly.
“The thought does you credit, Jack. But there is something else to consider. I really believe Frank’s plan for aweing the Inca and his Council a good one. This is a matter of life and death. If the plan is to succeed it must be capable of thoroughly frightening these people and convincing them of our magical powers. And, as Michac and his escort are the same sort of people on whom our tricks would have to be tried in earnest, it is well to give a dress rehearsal, so to speak, and see what our luck will be.” ”

“ Hampton and Don Ernesto, an hour or so after their dismissal by Prince Huaca, were summoned by a servant again to his apartments with the understanding that they were to be escorted thence to appear before the Inca’s Council. Left to themselves, the four boys chatted together at first about their strange interview; but, as the hours passed with no word from the older men, they grew more and more to feel as if some evil impended, and lapsed at length into a gloomy silence. ”

“ The Inca is old. The High Priest, Cinto, who has his ear, fears me. He has made capital of my appearance today with you before the Council. To the Inca who, like an old man, clings with love to life and finds it sweeter as it grows to an end, he has said that I am in league with devils and that you are evil spirits, and not men from the outside world, who spoke as you did in order to aid my plans to seize the supreme power and slay the Inca. ”

“ Their city is ringed round with terrible mountains, abounding in gold and precious stones, unscalable by an enemy. The only approach is through a tunnel they have cut through the flank of a mountain. From these broad fields they draw their sustenance. ”

“ Hampton nodded.
“It is hard to believe, isn’t it, Frank?”
“Hard? It’s impossible to believe. Why, this is like stepping back thousands of years to the shores of the Mediterranean and the Greek galleys of the days before Christ.”
“These fellows seem like Greeks or Romans, too,” mused Mr. Hampton. “The commoners, with their bobbed hair, their tunics and sandals, and Prince Huaca, proud and stately as a Roman noble, are not exactly what one would expect to find in the world of today.”
Don Ernesto agreed. ”

“ The older folks might be content to let well enough alone, to remain secluded and unknown in their city, ringed round by mountains, protected from intrusion by the great tunnel, by trackless forests, arid deserts and staggering precipices. But the more adventurous younger spirits, as I say, would want to know what lay over the hills, and would adventure forth.”
“But what would wipe them out?” asked Bob, always the practical.
Mr. Hampton shrugged his shoulders. “Perhaps a plague. Perhaps the Auraucanos. Who knows? Maybe, some cataclysm of nature like an earthquake. ”

“ Few as are the men who push into these trackless forests and vast mountains, there yet must have been some who did so in the last two or three centuries. They may have been captured and either killed or imprisoned, in order to guard the secret of the city.”
Jack was thinking of these words of his father as he continued to climb higher and higher into the tree, and his heart sank. That premonition of evil which weighed him down! Did it mean, perhaps, that there really still did exist dwellers in the Enchanted City, and that his father’s party had been surprised and captured? ”

“ Hampton looked at Don Ernesto and bowed.
“Prince Huaca,” said the latter, “I have not told you. But I am the brother-in-law of the President of Chile. That is the nation within whose boundaries lies Cusco Hurrin. The President is the ruler. He rules not by force of arms, not by divine right, but because the people have selected him to administer affairs of State for them. I can assure you that no conquest of Cusco Hurrin will be attempted, if you seek in peace to break from your isolation.” ”

“ They have built mighty cities. There is one beyond your mountains to the east called Buenos Ayres where dwell more than two million souls. They——”
“But can they read and write, can they do this?” cried Prince Huaca, eagerly. “Our ancestors, the ancient Incas of Cusco, kept accounts only by means of quippus, knotted strings. But we of Inca lineage here have that knowledge of reading and writing handed down to us by the three priests of de Arguello. This is knowledge, and power.”
“Today, the simplest of the commoners can read and write in that world beyond your mountains,” said Mr. Hampton. ”

“ It is their great festival. The fast has come to an end.”
“Look,” said Jack excitedly, “Who is that?”
He pointed to a figure, upright amidst all those kneeling figures, the only dark spot, moreover, amidst those gaily-clad hosts. He wore a robe descending to his feet, so darkly crimson that it appeared to be black.
“That,” said Don Ernesto, “is the Inca.”
But Jack had run back to the table and picked up the field glasses which he had placed there on retiring the night before.
“No. The Inca?” he cried. “Why, it is—No, not Prince Huaca, but he looks so much like him. Yet he is older. ”

“ CHAPTER XXIV—THE MIRACLE WORKER
“We found Prince Huaca, the heir to the throne,” he said, “an enlightened and intelligent man, filled with enthusiasm for the betterment of his people and very desirous of learning of the many wonders and marvels in our country.
“But”—and pausing deliberately and significantly, Mr. Hampton stared directly at the High Priest Cinto—“but,” he added, “he told us evil counsellors surrounded the throne. He was captured and imprisoned. And now, O Inca, we ask that the evil men be punished and Prince Huaca be restored to the favor of your countenance.” ”

“ Could it be possible that here they were in the most secret and unknown city on earth, that the unparalleled experience which had come to Pizarro centuries before, of discovering the Inca civilization, was now coming to them?
They marched in step, shoulders squared, heads erect, looking very military in their camping outfits and campaign hats. By each man’s side swung his automatic in a holster, ready for instant use.
“If they do not know the purpose of these weapons,” said Mr. Hampton, as they set out, “it is not likely they will attempt to take them from us. ”

“ His feet were already over the edge of the precipice.
“Give me a hand, Frank, and you, Mr. Hampton,” panted Bob.
They sprang to obey.
Inch by inch at first, Jack was pulled back from the brink, until he was sufficiently far removed from it to warrant him in gaining his feet. Then he made his way, limping, helped by the steady tug on the rope, back to his comrades.
“Bob, you saved my life,” he said. “I won’t forget.”
Then he sat down weakly, and dropped his head to his hands.
“Here, Jack,” said his father, “take a sip of this. It will steady you,” and he set a flask to Jack’s lips. ”

“ Hampton and Don Ernesto were thoughtful. They looked at each other understanding and spoke together, low-voiced. Then Mr. Hampton turned to the lads.
“We’re afraid it can’t be done,” he said. “It was good fun, and all that. But the chances of failure are too great to warrant us in imperiling our lives. It is true, we might go to the Inca as a delegation under a flag of truce, but we have no guarantee its sanctity would be regarded.”
“Oh, Dad, everybody regards the sanctity of a flag of truce.”
Jack’s tone was disappointed. ”

“ Hampton commanded Don Ernesto, extending his pocket knife.
The latter screwed up his face as if in agony, ran the knife blade seemingly around his head, then with a tug lifted off his toupee, revealing his hairless dome.
It was too much. The soldiers fell over each other trying to get away. There were shrieks and cries, as they darted off with tossing torches.
“Quick,” cried Mr. Hampton, seizing Michac’s arm urgently. “Command them to return. ’Tis but a trick.” ”

“ Ferdinand, who had told his chum of the proposed expedition, laughed heartily. So did Rodriguez.
“My dear fellow,” said the latter, “wait. You will encounter the mightiest mountains in the Western Hemisphere, mountains to dwarf your Rockies. You will disappear from all human habitation. You will cross trackless deserts; perhaps, you will find rivers never explored by white man. You may run foul of unconquered Indians. Perhaps, you may discover a new race. Anything is possible in this fascinating and little known land. ”

“ Long have my enemies plotted to compass my downfall, but insidious though they were, the Inca had not reached that stage of suspicion of me that he could be asked to cause my death.
“Now, however,” he added, “Cinto has taken my championship of the truth of what reports you bring from the outside world to work upon the Inca’s credulous mind.
“No, I do not wish to rebel, and cause bloodshed among my people. I do not desire power for itself alone, but in order that I may help my people, not enslave them.”
He was silent, thinking, and Mr. Hampton and the others respected his silence. ”

“ In reality, this was a signal to Michac’s spy at the parapet of the Acropolis battlement to pass word to Michac to speak.
The next moment, Michac’s voice, sonorous and deep, was heard in the receivers.
“Great guns,” whispered Frank, in English, “what a wonderful radio speaker he is. Why, you can hear him plainly.”
“Wish I could understand what he’s saying,” said Jack, excitedly. “Look at these counsellors and courtiers, will you? They get him, and, boy, they’re scared stiff.”
It was true. Michac had one of those rare voices with a bell-like quality that carries beautifully by radio. ”

“ As you know, I am wealthy. The lure of gold does not draw me for itself. But, Jack, I’m very much afraid that in some respects I have never grown up. Buried treasure has a magical appeal; it captivates my imagination.
“When I was in South America last, in connection with the mining interests developing a new district on the borders of Peru and Bolivia, I heard many tales of Inca treasure. Those old Indians had a great civilization, and if the Spanish conquerors under Pizarro, Almagro and others had treated the Incas decently, who knows what they would have given the world. ”

“ CHAPTER XII—IMPRISONED IN THE ACROPOLIS
“What a tremendous engineering feat to have been accomplished without modern machinery,” said Mr. Hampton, at one stage of their journey through the tunnel. The words were surprised from him. “It seems,” he added, “like an impossible task.”
Jack, who was close to him, heard the remarks, and agreed with his father.
“I hope,” he added, “they haven’t brought us this long distance, merely to tumble us into some bottomless pit in the heart of the mountain.”
“Don’t worry, my boy,” his father replied. ”