Peals of laughter from Quizquiz recalled them to their senses.
“It is better than I had hoped,” he said in a shrill voice. “Praised be Villac Umu, who is father of the idea.”
The high priest, who was seated in his own golden sedan by the Inca’s side, rose and bowed in recognition of this compliment.
“For the pleasure of my adored one I would arrange any spectacle,” he said.
“Now let us feast and sing and dance to while away the time,” Quizquiz continued. “Bring the sparkling wine that we may drink to the evil fortune of the men from the outer world.”
Golden cups of large size, filled with a beverage made from ground, fermented maize, were brought by attendants, and after the Inca and Villac Umu had partaken liberally, the others of the nobility were served. The drinking continued throughout the remainder of the morning, interrupted only when Soncco came to report the progress of the preparations that were being made for the other victims.
“The spear-point glows with a reddish heat, and Toparca lies on the ground, bound hand and foot,” he said on one occasion, and, “The oil is bubbling in the caldron; Huascar is near by, well guarded and sullenly awaiting his fate,” on another. But Quizquiz only laughed and bade Soncco stay his hand and to place the condemned men in a position so they could see what was happening to the strangers.
To Ted and Stanley the hours seemed like eternity. Would Quizquiz never succumb to the influence of the liquor? The amount he could consume was prodigious! The strain of remaining in one position was becoming unbearable. They dared not shift their feet; the snakes, now motionless, with heads raised a few inches above their coiled bodies, were quietly waiting for the decisive moment.
“It must be noon now,” Ted finally ventured.
“Yes,” said Stanley slowly, looking up at the glaring sun almost overhead in a cloudless sky.