“Certainly. Quizquiz sent him on a spying mission, to find out who or what we are. He dared not come himself, the coward, but I would bet he is concealed somewhere in the background, at a safe distance. No doubt he connects this occurrence with our previous visit, but does not quite trust his own judgment.”
“So much the better. We do not want to see him.”
“I will call back the old man and tell him what we need and ask him to send it to us.”
“Good! Tell him to come on.”
Stanley waved his hand and the waiting figure approached.
“For the present we shall need food, water, and shelter,” he began, “and as soon as possible thereafter twenty of the most skilled workers in wood, who must bring with them their implements; also a dozen boards of the finest, hardest wood that grows in the valley, of these dimensions.” Here he threw to the priest a ball of cord, into which he had tied knots to show the required length, breadth, and thickness of the boards. “Let them bring an abundance of glue, also.”
“But there is no shelter near by,” the spokesman of the Indians interposed. “Let the visitors accompany me to the villa at the baths where the Inca sojourns, and where there is comfort and refreshment.”
“That is impossible. We shall remain here.”
“The king will want to know to whom these supplies are to be given.”
“Tell him they are for visitors from the sky who are disappointed and grieved at the suspicion with which they have been received, and who will therefore depart again after a short rest.”