different purposes--historical, sacred, narrative, et cetera. Then the
particulars came to me, and immediately I recognized the formula of the
quipos before the throne. They were arranged for adjudication--for the
rendering of a verdict.

Harry and I were prisoners before the bar of the quipos! I turned to
him, but there was not time for talk. The king had risen and stretched
out his hand.

Immediately the vast assemblage rose from their stone seats and fell
flat on their faces. It was then that I noticed, for the first time,
an oval or elliptical plate of shining gold set in the wall of the
cavern just above the outer edge of the alcove.

This, of course, was the representation of Pachacamac, the "unknown
god" in the Inca religion. Well, I would as soon worship a plate of
gold as that little black dwarf.

For perhaps a minute the king stood with outstretched arm and the Incas
remained motionless on their faces. Then he resumed his seat and they
rose. And then the trial began.

The king turned on his throne and laid his hand on Desiree's arm; we
could see her draw away from his touch with an involuntary shudder.
But this apparent antipathy bothered his kingship not at all; it was
probably a most agreeable sensation to feel her soft, white flesh under
his black, hairy hand, and he kept it there, while with the other arm
he made a series of sweeping gestures which I understood at once, but
which had no meaning for Desiree. By her hand he meant the quipos to
speak.

We had a friend in court, but she was dumb, and I must give her voice.
There was no time to be lost; I stepped to the edge of the column and
spoke in a voice loud enough to carry across the cavern--which was not
difficult in the universal silence.

"He means that you are to judge us by the quipos. The meaning is
this--yellow, slavery, white, mercy; purple, reward; black, death. The
lengths of the cords and the number of knots indicate the degree of
punishment or reward. Attached to the frame you will find a knife.
With that detach the cord of judgment and lay it at the feet of the
king."

Again silence; and not one of the vast throng, nor the king himself,
appeared to pay the slightest attention to my voice. The king
continued his gestures to Desiree.

She rose and walked to the frame of quipos and took in her hand the
knife which she found there suspended by a cord. There she hesitated,
with the knife poised in the air, while her ey