“No,” answered Harry, smiling rather wanly upon him; “I am as sound as ever I was, thank God! But you have only arrived in the very nick of time, Umu. In another five minutes you would have been too late, my good and trusty friend. How did you know where I was, and what was happening?”
“The tale is too long to tell just now, Lord,” answered Umu, as he busied himself in freeing Harry from his bonds; “it shall be told later, when I have disposed of these vile wretches. It was Arima who brought me the first hint of what was afoot. Pachacamac be praised that I was able to get here in time! What were they about to do with you, Lord?”
“They talked of putting me to the fire ordeal,” answered Harry; “but I had a word to say against that, as you may see. Xaxaguana, one of the chief conspirators, has already paid the penalty of his perfidy, and lies there dead.”
“Truly, Lord, you fought well,” exclaimed Umu admiringly, as he glanced about him at the dead and wounded. “And Huanacocha—is he among this rabble?”
“He is—unless he has escaped,” answered Harry.
“If he has, every tenth man of your bodyguard shall lose his hands and feet,” snarled Umu savagely. And then his brow cleared as, glancing at the mob of prisoners which the troopers were now forming up, he detected Huanacocha alive, and apparently unhurt, among them. “Ah, no! he is there, I see,” he continued. “Very well; this plot was of his hatching. He shall undergo the fire ordeal himself.”
“Nay, not that, good Umu; not that,” protested Harry. “Such a fate is too horrible to be thought of. Punish him by all means, if you will, for indeed he deserves punishment; but not in that way.”
“Very well, Lord,” answered Umu; “it shall be as you wish. Meanwhile, I pray you to return to the palace, escorted by your bodyguard; while I, with a few men, attend to the safe disposal of these fellows.”
Five minutes later, Escombe found himself, he scarcely knew how, mounted on a trooper’s horse, wending his way back to the palace, surrounded by his devoted bodyguard, while the populace, quick to detect how matters were going, rent the air with their acclamations.
An hour later Umu bowed himself into Escombe’s presence to report progress.