The Romance of Golden Star ...Griffith, George Chetwynd
Science
The Romance of Golden Star ...
Griffith, George Chetwynd
Fantasy fiction
So I turned back to the city, and made haste to the place where Djama
and Ullullo would be waiting for me. I found them there talking
together, and without discovering myself to Djama, I told Ullullo in
Quichua to follow me with the Englishman. Then I went on swiftly along
the rivulet of Tullamayo, past the terrace of Rocca Inca, and along the
smooth, dark wall of what had once been the Yachahuasi, or College of
the Youths, and so out of the city and the gorge of the little river
Rodadero. Then, with the two still following me a few yards behind, I
climbed the lower terraces of the Colcompata, or the Granaries, where
the divine Manco built his first palace, and then on up the hillside to
the Tiupunco, or Gate of Sand, which led through the fragments of what
had once been the outer wall of the great fortress, and so on to the
little level pampa of the Rodadero, which was my meeting-place with
Tupac.
Now as I went I began to sing one of our ancient songs, which was the
signal that I had agreed upon with Tupac, and presently, one after
another, silent, stealthy forms crept out from the angles of the great
zig-zag wall and came towards me. One of them, taller than the rest,
threw an iron bar that he was carrying across his shoulders, and came
and stood before me with bowed-down head, waiting for me to speak. I
knew that it was Tupac, and I said to him,--
'Are the Children of the Sun ready to do the bidding of his Son?'
'They are, Lord!' he replied. 'Here are twenty who have sworn by the
heart of the divine Manco to do all things lawful and unlawful, even to
the death, at the bidding of him who shall prove himself to be the true
heir of the royal Llautu.'
'It is good,' I said, 'and the proof shall soon be given. Now, take the
stranger yonder; do him no harm, but bind his eyes so that he cannot
see, and tie his hands behind him. Then follow me.'
Instantly the stealthy forms closed around Djama. Not a word was spoken
save his startled, angry exclamation, which was soon stifled, and then
they brought him along after me, I going first and Tupac following close
behind me. Like a string of shadows we moved across the plain past the
great carved rock which is still called the Inca's Seat, and over the
ridge of the Sliding Stones and down into the valley beyond, which is
thickly strewn with great rock-masses carved into seats, and altars, and
baths, and chambers, of which no man knows the origin, and which were
ancient when Manco-Capac and Mama-Occlu first came into the land.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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