“Is that the message?” “That is my interpretation. A few days are needed for preparations for the momentous event. And then, the flight into the heavens which even an Inca has never visited.” If these speeches were calculated to flatter the vanity of Quizquiz, the two were doomed to disappointment. For a moment he regarded them with narrowing eyelids while his hands toyed nervously with the whip. Then he flew into a violent rage. “Now indeed do I know that you are not gods, nor even the messengers of gods,” he shrieked, rising from his cushions and raising his whip as if to strike in their direction, “for else you must know that I, Quizquiz, mightiest of all the great kings, never touch my foot upon the contaminating earth; I honor my highest nobles by permitting them to carry my holy person from place to place. I need not the radiance of the sun, for I am already more resplendent than his brightest rays; is it not through my benevolence that the sun shines at all, and the stars come forth at night? It is I who permits the wind to blow and the rain to fall. Your words are blasphemy to my ears. All who live are my slaves, and to them my words are laws. Depart at once or you remain here forever!” The two had no time to ponder the quandary in which this unexpected turn of affairs had placed them, and for a moment they were speechless. “Villac Umu!” Quizquiz called. “Come to my side!” Attendants brought forward the sedan containing the high priest, which had been kept a few paces to the rear previously. It was the same conveyance in which he had appeared some days before to interrogate them. “How may I serve my revered father?” Villac smirked, with a great show of humility. “My one hope, my one desire is that I may one day give my unworthy life to please the king.” “Speak not of death, Villac Umu, for I have need of you alone among all men. You, who relieve me of the burden of communing with the gods and with the spirits, tell me, who are these insolent ones who dare invade my kingdom, and who disobey me when I command them to depart.” The high priest languidly raised his hands to his eyes, and for a full minute appeared to be lost in thought. Then he stood up and pointed toward Ted and Stanley with one hand. “I have divined the mystery,” he announced. “Then speak, good Villac,” Quizquiz said indulgently. “Wisdom such as yours is given to few men. I knew I could depend on you.” “The visitors from the sky are no other than the two strangers from the outer world who came into the valley during the reign of Huayna Capac, your father, and then escaped after having been condemned to death for their treason against the king. The great bird on which they ride is a contrivance of the evil one, and I know not the limits of its power. But as for the men, I recognize their voices, even though they feign hoarseness, and the color of their eyes is not unfamiliar to me. Seize them, great king, before they escape.”