“O la diablatita! ohe! ohe! Ah, carramba!—what a devil of a beast to carry so holy a man! Does she think the good father hasn’t been baptized yet, or that this heathen river is the Jordan and she is John the Baptist? Ohe! ohe! the holy father has come out to baptize the heathen and got a dose of his own physic. Ah, well, it is a good thing to see a brace of clerics washed; you don’t see it every day!” and then he roared out his deep laugh, and the rest joined him till a quick, sharp word of command from the Captain brought them back to their discipline.
Now this, though but a simple if laughable thing in itself, yet had somewhat considerable consequences, for it was seen by many of the natives, and from it they got the idea, as in their simplicity they might well have done, that the sad-robed clerics were not true sons of Viracocha at all, since they had no shining raiment or weapons, nor did they see how the god could permit any of his children to be overcome by a beast and put into such a ludicrous and contemptible position.
Another thing, too, they noticed which had a strange result, for after they had watched the horses drink they saw their riders put the bits back into their mouths, and from this they concluded that these wondrous animals fed upon the strange white metal, and afterwards when the troop had been hospitably and with high respect received into the town, which they reached in about another hour, they had spread this rumour abroad, with what consequence shall presently be told.
The men-at-arms and the horse-troopers were lodged in the barracks which the garrison had left, and Pizarro and his chief cavaliers were entertained with great honour in the houses of the Curaca and his officers; but first of all, like the good soldiers that they were, they saw to the comfort of their beasts, which indeed were priceless to them, since not all the gold of El-Dorado could buy one now nearer than far-off Panama.
Now while they were doing this a very strange thing happened, and one that pleased the cavaliers better than the horses, for many of the townspeople, having heard that they ate the strange white metal in which the strangers were clad, came in their kindly, simple way with handfuls of little pieces of gold and silver and prayed Filipillo to get permission for these to be given to the animals, and to this, as the old chroniclers tell us, the cavaliers made no sort of objection, but rather encouraged them to lay the gold and silver among the green stuff that the beasts were eating, bidding Filipillo tell them that these wondrous creatures, sons of those which drew the chariot of the Sun, relished them greatly since they were softer and sweeter than iron, and that they would love them for their gifts. After which, the chroniclers go on to say, they went secretly at night and gathered up the spoil, and so the precious fodder went to fatten their pouches, which pleased them well and did no hurt to the beasts.
That night Don Francisco learnt from the Curaca that at Caxas, a more important town lying some ten leagues off among the mountains, there was a strong garrison under the command of a general of the Inca blood, and after consultation it was decided that Hernando de Soto should take twenty mounted troopers with him and go as an embassy with presents to this general to learn what manner of reception might be expected from him and also to discover the defences of the country, since they were now assured that they were actually within the dominions of the great Inca.
By sunrise the next day de Soto started, and for eight days Pizarro lay in Zaran awaiting his return more and more anxiously as each day went by, for he had ridden away with his little troop into an unknown country amidst those long-dreaded mountains, and it might be that the news had been but a pretence to lure him into some strong place or fearful gorge among the mountains whence neither man nor beast might ever return.
CHAPTER III.
WHAT DE SOTO HAD TO TELL
But while the level beams of the sinking sun were still glancing redly across the low hills that bordered the wilderness to seaward runners came in on the eighth day bringing the welcome news that the sons of Viracocha were returning, and the sun had not long set before the paved causeway that led up to the principal gate of the town was ringing with the music of clanging hoofs, most welcome to the Captain’s ears.
That night, in the principal chamber of the Curaca’s house, by the light of burning cotton wicks floating on oil contained in curiously worked lamps of silver, another council of war was held, and de Soto, most highly bred and gentlest warrior of them all, made the report of his journey.