everything that passed. Did not I make to your leader all the signs of
amity and goodwill? But he rejected them; he called us dogs of
Spaniards; bade us go back by the way that we had come; and himself shot
the arrow which led to all the trouble. Is that the way in which the
Mayubuna treat those who come to them as friends?"

"How do I know that ye come as friends?" demanded the cacique. "When
the Spaniards first appeared in this land they, too, said that they came
as the friends of the Indian; and how have they proved their friendship?
By killing the Inca Atahuallpa and seizing his kingdom; by enslaving
the Indian and despoiling him of all that he possesses; by ravaging the
country with fire and sword! Nay, I believe not your story. If ye are
not Spaniards, ye are white-skinned, even as they are; your hearts are
evil and full of guile, like theirs; and if we were foolish enough to
listen to your lying words you would treat us even as they treated
Atahuallpa and his people. But there are only two of you, and you are
in our power; moreover ye have slain, or caused to be slain, seventeen
men of the Mayubuna; therefore shall ye die; not quickly and easily, but
little by little, so that ye shall die not once but a thousand times;
and your torments shall be as honey to the friends of those whom ye have
slain, and your groans and cries for mercy shall be more pleasant to
them than the songs of birds. Go; I have spoken!" And amid tumultuous
shouts of rejoicing from the assembled multitude the two Englishmen were
conducted back to their prison hut and once more placed under strict
guard. For they were trebly valuable now, having been condemned to die
by the torture, and it was seldom indeed that an Indian was afforded so
delectable a sight as that of a white man suffering the unspeakably
hideous torments which, with fiendish cleverness, were designed to
inflict the maximum amount of pain which the human frame could possibly
endure, and still continue to live. Moreover there were two of them;
big, strong men, apparently in the very pink of health and condition;
they would linger long and endure unimaginable torments before
succumbing; and the sight of their agonies would be one long-drawn-out
rapture to those who were privileged to witness them. Oh yes; they must
be guarded well, for their escape now would mean lifelong disappointment
to the whole village and its guests.

But they must not only be kept safe; their