menced. Both
parties fought with great fury. In the midst of the conflict a large
reinforcement of the natives came rushing upon the field, under the
leadership of a young Peruvian noble, who displayed truly chivalric
courage and energy. De Soto was ever where the blows fell thickest and
where danger was most imminent.

Quite a number of the Peruvians were slain, and many dead horses were
strewed over the field. At one time De Soto, separated from his
comrades by the surging tides of the battle, found himself surrounded
by twenty Peruvians, who, with arrows, javelins and battle clubs,
assailed him with the utmost impetuosity. Javelins and arrows glanced
harmless from the Spanish armor. But war clubs, armed with copper and
wielded by sinewy arms, were formidable weapons even for the belted
knight to encounter. De Soto, with his keen and ponderous sword, cut
his way through his assailants, strewing the ground with the dead. The
young Peruvian, who, it is said, was heir to the throne of the Inca,
had assumed the general command.

He gazed with astonishment upon the exploits of De Soto, and said in
despairing tones to his attendants: "It is useless to contend with
such enemies! These men are destined to be our masters."

Immediately he approached De Soto, throwing down his arms, advancing
alone, and indicating by gestures that he was ready to surrender. The
battle at once ceased, and most of the Peruvian army rushed
precipitately back towards the city. In a state of frenzy they applied
the torch in all directions, resolved to thwart the avarice of the
conqueror by laying the whole city and all its treasures in ashes. The
inhabitants of Cuzco, almost without exception, fled. Each one seized
upon whatever of value could be carried away. Volumes of smoke and the
bursting flames soon announced to the Spaniards the doom of the city.

De Soto and his dragoons put spurs to their horses and hastened
forward, hoping to extinguish the conflagration. Now that the battle
was fought and the victory won, Francisco Pizarro, with his band of
miscreants, came rushing on to seize the plunder.

"They came like wolves or jackals to fatten on the prey
which never could have been attained by their own courage or
prowess. The disappointment of Pizarro and his congenial
associates, when they found that the principal wealth of the
city had been carried off by the Peruvians, vented itself in
acts of diabolical cru