Then snatching the volume from the hand of the priest, Atahuallpa scornfully threw it on the ground, saying, "What right have you in my country? I will call you and your companions to an account for the indignities heaped upon me." Picking up the book, the priest forthwith went to Pizarro and reported the conduct of the Inca, saying, "It is useless to talk to this dog. At them at once; I absolve you." Immediately Pizarro raised his handkerchief for the preconcerted signal, the firing of a gun. Thereupon his soldiers, infantry and cavalry, rushed from their places of concealment upon the defenceless Indians, slaughtering them unmercifully right and left. The discharge of the arquebuses and cannon, with their smoke, and the charge of the cavalry paralyzed the unsuspecting natives, and the attack became a horrible massacre. Not until thousands of the Indians had been killed and the Inca ruler had been captured did darkness cause the Spaniards to desist from their bloody work. So sudden and terrible had been the onslaught that the haughty monarch himself seemed stunned by the effect. Realizing the irresistible power of the white men with their wonderful weapons and horses, the natives gave up for a time all thoughts of resistance. In fact, they regarded the Spaniards as superior beings endowed with preternatural gifts. When the ruler had been kept a prisoner several months, he desired to regain his freedom. By this time he realized the Spaniards' thirst for gold, and therefore promised to fill the room in which he was confined with it as high as he could reach, and twice to fill an adjoining room with silver, if they would release him. Pizarro agreed to this proposal; Atahuallpa thereupon sent out messengers to all parts of his empire requesting that the metals in the shape of utensils and ornaments be collected from the royal palaces, temples, and elsewhere and brought to Caxamalca. On account of the difficulty of transportation, since all the treasure had to be carried on the backs of the natives, many months elapsed before the collections could be made. When fifteen and one-half million dollars' worth of gold and a large amount of silver had been delivered at Caxamalca, Pizarro excused the imprisoned ruler from further contributions. At this juncture of affairs Almagro, a co-partner in the Peruvian expedition, arrived on the scene with a strong reinforcement. On learning of the immense amount of gold and silver collected, the followers of both leaders loudly clamored for its distribution among them, and, taking out the royal fifth part, the remainder was divided according to the rank and service rendered. Then came rumors of an uprising among the natives and of the collection of an army to drive out the invaders, but on investigation these reports were found to be false.