, by the sudden sight of such
incalculable wealth. Fortunately for them, however, they were in the
pink of health and condition, thanks to their long, arduous journey
through the wilderness and their continuous life in the open air; and
since a sound mind goes with a sound body, their mental processes were
in the best possible condition for withstanding the shock, thus suddenly
brought to bear upon them; and eventually after their hysterical
outburst of joy had spent itself, they once more became rational beings,
and fell to discussing the momentous question of how all this treasure
was to be transported to England. They soon came to the conclusion that
to transport it all to England--or rather to the coast, for, once there,
the rest should be easy--would be an impossibility; and they finally
decided to take the gems, and as much of the gold as they could find
means of conveyance for. This last, namely, the means of conveyance to
the coast, was the problem that now confronted them; and they eventually
agreed that there was only one way of solving it, and that was by
returning to Huancane and enlisting the services of the high priest and
the other authorities of the town in their favour. Accordingly, with
that object in view, they closed the door of the treasure chamber again,
and made it temporarily secure; after which they returned to the upper
air and electrified their Peruvian followers by directing them to make
immediate preparations for a return to Huancane; and such was the energy
which they contrived to infuse into the natives that they not only
crossed to the mainland but also accomplished a very satisfactory return
march before sunset, that night.

The return of the adventurers to Huancane with the news that the secret
hiding-place of the treasure had been discovered caused the utmost
rejoicing among the inhabitants, for somehow the idea that the elder of
the two strangers was the reincarnated Manco Capac had got abroad, and
what is more, had found general acceptance; and now every native in the
place, and for miles round, was in a perfect fever of impatience that
operations for the recovery of the country from the Spaniards should be
pressed forward with all possible speed. Therefore when Phil intimated
that he required a strong transport train to assist in the conveyance of
the treasure to the coast, nobody thought of demanding his reasons for
the conveyance of the treasure out of the country; they simply