“I don’t know—maybe I’m wrong—but it seemed to me there was a look of longing in his eyes—as if he wondered about the great outside world, perhaps, from which we came.”
Mr. Hampton, who had overheard, threw Frank an understanding and approving glance.
“You have an observant mind, Frank,” he said. “It is not unlikely that a gallant young fellow like that noble would wonder about the world beyond, and think at times that he would like, perhaps, to penetrate it. And your words give me an idea. We will bear in mind the possibility of young blood becoming irked at this self-immurement, no matter how idyllic the conditions. Perhaps, if no other way of escape suggests itself, we may induce some such young fellow to aid us by painting to him the wonders of the world to which we can introduce him.”
The party moved along in silence, until Bob declared:
“Fellows, did you ever see a finer road?”
The highway upon which they had entered from the estate drive was, indeed, a fine thoroughfare. It was made of concrete, and so broad that, a procession of farm carts drawn by horses, approaching from the opposite direction, was enabled to pass, although they moved three abreast.
“Ah, these Incas once more resemble their ancestors,” said Don Ernesto.
“Yes, they were great road-builders,” said Mr. Hampton.
“Great road-builders, indeed,” Don Ernesto rejoined. “When the Conquerors entered the Peruvian empire under Pizarro, they found the Incas had built a road not then equalled in any part of the world, perhaps not even equalled today. It was a road even finer than anything built by Rome. For more than twelve hundred miles it extended, bringing into communication all the provinces of the empire.
“Moreover, it must be remembered that road was built at a great elevation through the mountains, all of which added to the difficulty of the enterprise. At some places it was more than 12,000 feet above sea level. It went northward from Cusco to a point beyond Quito, in the province of Guaca, and southward from Cusco to Chuquisaca, not far from the mines of Potosi.