do pretty much as they liked. So
far from that, however, she made them do as she liked, and when some of
the caciques raised a rebellion she took the field in person, beat them in
a pitched battle, and put all the leaders and many of their followers to
death. Since that time there had been no serious attempt to dispute her
authority, which, so far as I could gather, she used, on the whole, to
good purpose. Though cruel and vindictive, she was also shrewd and
resolute, and semi-civilized races are not ruled with rose-water. She
could only maintain order by making herself feared, and even civilized
governments often act on the principle that the end justifies the means.

Mamcuna had never married because, as she said, there was no man in the
country fit to mate with a daughter of the Incas; but as Gondocori and
some others thought, the man did not exist with whom she would consent to
share her power.

The Pachatupec braves were fine horsemen and expert with the lasso and the
spear and very fine archers. They were bold mountaineers, too, and
occasionally made long forays as far as the pampas, where, I presume, they
had brought the progenitors of the _nandus_, of which there were a
considerable number in the country, both wild and tame. The latter were
sometimes ridden, but rather as a feat than a pleasure. The largest flock
belonged to the queen.

By the time I had so far mastered the language as to be able to converse
without much difficulty, the queen had fully regained her health. This
result--which was of course entirely due to temperate living and regular
exercise--she ascribed to my skill, and I was in high favor. She made me a
cacique and court medicine-man; I had quarters in her house, and horses
and servants were always at my disposal. Had her Majesty's gratitude gone
no further than this I should have had nothing to complain of; but she
never let me alone, and I had no peace. I was continually being summoned
to her presence; she kept me talking for hours at a time, and never went
out for a ride or a walk without making me bear her company. Her
attentions became so marked, in fact, that I began to have an awful fear
that she had fallen in love with me. As to this she did not leave me long
in doubt.

One day when I had been entertaining her with an account of my travels,
she startled me by inquiring, _a propos_ to nothing in particular, if I
knew why she had not married.

"Because you are a daughter of the Inc