“Today, only a little while ago, Cinto came to my room. And he was greatly enraged and frightened, too. Why, I did not know. For I did not know of your presence. He had not spoken of it. He ordered the guards to take me from the Temple precincts, and I knew he meant to have me slain but feared to stain the Temple with my blood, lest the people turn against him. I resolved to use my weapon to escape, if possible, but, if that could not be done, at least to slay Cinto too.
“They took me to the portico of the Temple, and then I shot down my two guards, broke away, and, as I ran, turned and shot Cinto. You know the rest.”
As he ceased speaking, there was a rumble as of distant thunder, and the floor beneath them swayed slightly but perceptibly.
CHAPTER XXVII—THE DOOMED CITY
They looked at each other.
“The volcano,” said Jack. “Remember, I saw it smoking.”
Michac nodded, a troubled look on his face.
“The mountain speaks,” he said. “It was somewhat on that account, Prince Huaca, that I came to visit you, for from my valley I had seen it smoking.”