Villac Vmu and his deputy, Motahuana--were distinctly out of
sympathy with him. True, the Villac Vmu had expressed himself as
puzzled, disturbed, anxious at the attitude of the Inca towards the
religious question; but it was perfectly clear that the frame of mind of
the High Priest was not nearly acute enough to induce him to regard with
favour, or even with patience, any suggestion at all savouring of
sedition. And he, Huanacocha, in his heat and impatience, had been
foolish enough to throw out such a suggestion. The question that now
disturbed him was: what would be Tiahuana's attitude toward him
henceforward in view of what he had said; nay more, what would be the
attitude of the High Priest toward his friends in view of what they had
said? Would the Villac Vmu and his deputy accept a suggestion which he
had thrown out, that this momentous and imprudent conversation should be
regarded as private and confidential, and treat it as such, or would
they consider it their duty to report the affair to the Inca? If they
did, then Huanacocha knew that he and his friends would have good cause
to regret their imprudence; for, despite all his cavilling, the late
Chief of the Council of Seven had already seen enough of Escombe's
methods to feel certain that the young monarch would stand no nonsense,
particularly of the seditious kind, and that, at the first hint of
anything of that sort, if the culprits did not lose their heads, they
would at least find themselves bestowed where their seditious views
could work no mischief.

As these reflections passed through the mind of Huanacocha, that
somewhat impulsive and overbearing individual grew increasingly uneasy,
and he now began to fear that he had been altogether too outspoken.

For, be it known, this man Huanacocha had conceived nothing less than
the audacious idea of overthrowing the Inca, and securing his own
election in his stead. In his capacity of Chief of the Council of Seven
he had for a long term of years enjoyed a measure of power scarcely less
than that invested in the Inca himself; for, being by nature of an
unusually arrogant and domineering disposition, while the other members
of the Council had been exceedingly pliant and easy-going, he had never
experienced any difficulty in browbeating them into tolerably quick
compliance with his wishes, however extravagant they might happen to
have been. As for the people, they had rendered the same implicit,
unquestionin