The murmur of water came to their ears, and following the sound they came upon a basin hewn in the solid stone and lined with silver. It was the Inca’s bath. Streams of water flowing from silver tubes poured into the pool on two sides. Vines covered with brilliant flowers formed a canopy over it.
“Just what I have been looking for,” Stanley exclaimed gleefully. “I have not had a bath in ages.”
“Huayna Capac would turn in his grave if he saw us profane the sacred bath of the Incas.”
“Let him turn. I am certainly going in for a swim.”
“If you can, I will too.”
They splashed about for a while and had hardly finished dressing again when Soncco appeared and greeted them with a low bow.
“I am at the service of the king,” he said humbly.
“Remember,” Stanley rebuked him, “I do not want to be addressed that way. And stop the bowing—at least for a while. What news?”
“Villac Umu has been captured.”
“Good work! Now we have both the troublemakers.”