They arose and hastened together, hand in hand, along the margin of the lake towards the town. But, ere they reached it, it became evident that some unexpected events had occurred. Torches were glittering through the streets, a vast pyre sent up its column of flame from the mighty altar of the sun, and the clanging of the cymbals was heard. "What is this, Ilazopli?" cried Manco Capl to a young Peruvian, whose countenance bore token of strong excitement; "what means this sudden uproar?" "The gods have descended in a human shape, and the Emperor has asked them to a banquet!" "Peace, impious!" said Manco sternly. "Art thou beside thyself?" "It is a fact, and there's no denying it!" replied the other. "I have seen them myself. Such grand heroic figures, all clothed in shining steel, with beards like the tail of a llama! By Beersheba!" exclaimed the young man--for the Peruvians had not yet altogether forgotten the traditions of their ancestors,--"by Beersheba! you should see the creatures that brought them hither! their snorting is like that of a he-alligator: when they toss their heads the foam flies out like flakes of the cotton-tree in autumn, and the smite of their iron hoofs is heavy as the fall of a stone from heaven! Huzza for the new deities!" "Blasphemer!" cried Manco, "what knowest thou of the gods? are there not demons who can take their form?" "I never saw any," replied Ilazopli. "I am no priest, Inca, but I can tell you that Axtloxcl is quite delighted with them, and says that they have come down from the sun on purpose." "Axtloxcl! my father!" cried Oneiza. "Hush, dearest!" said her husband. "Let us hope the best. It may be that he has received a revelation from above, and that the omens and thy dreams were false." "Oh never--never!" said Oneiza. "The sun and the stars do not lie. Are not these the very shapes, the same terrible phantoms I beheld in slumber, when the voice from the unknown world proclaimed the downfall of Peru? Hast not thou, too, read the signs of its downfall in the heavens? and can the coming of those new deities--if deities they are--bring us good?" "Well!" said Ilazopli, "tastes differ. For my own part I prefer deities who can walk about, and talk, to our old images of the sun, who never say so much as thank ye in return for all our offerings. But I must away--there is a great feast going on at the palace, and the Emperor expects all the Incas. You, Manco Capl, will be looked for."