“Yes,” said Mr. Hampton gravely, turning to Frank who had asked the question, “but the party which is blindly confident of the Inca’s ability to sweep all before him, would prefer to make a beginning with us. They would like to sacrifice us to the Sun God before setting forth. And what happened to the Incas after that would not matter very much to us.”
“Whew,” said Bob, “the bloody rascals.”
“And the third party, Dad?”
“Prince Huaca heads the third party,” Mr. Hampton said. “That is the party which, like the others, believes the centuries-old isolation of Cusco Hurrin must be broken up, in order that the inhabitants may have more territory in which to grow. But it is against attempting to use force of arms, believing my words that the outside world is too powerful to be overcome. It is inclined to discuss the possibility of sending ambassadors to the surrounding nations and opening relations, provided it can be assured that such a course will not be merely to invite destruction as was the case in old Cusco when the Inca Atahualpa opened his country to Pizarro, only to be destroyed treacherously by the Spaniards.”
“And they told you all this?”
“Oh, no, Jack,” Mr. Hampton said. “There were ten men in the Council, all of Incarial blood, the highest nobles of the country. Prince Huaca is a nephew of the present Inca, who is childless, and thus is his heir. He is the Captain of the Fortress, holder of the Tunnel Way. But I can see he has bitter enemies, and some of them have the ear of the Inca, chief among them being the High Priest, Cinto. Much that I have told you was not brought out directly at the Council, but was told us later by Prince Huaca, with whom we have been alone a second time since leaving the Council, and for a considerable period.”
“Did they question you about the outside world? And what did you tell them?”
“Yes,” said Mr. Hampton, “it was that of which we spoke. We told them in a general way of cannon, airplanes, steamships, automobiles and so on. But we did not speak of the telegraph or of radio.”
“Because Prince Huaca asked you not to?”
“That was the reason, yes. You see, he is a remarkable man. With no previous knowledge of the wonders of the world, he has accepted without question what we have told him. At once, apparently, after our first interview, the one which you boys attended, his mind busied itself with some plan or other, of which I haven’t the least idea, to use radio for his own purposes. And he wants any hint of it kept secret from the other members of the Council.”