rate those who love each
other, and one that cannot be pleasing to Heaven. Therefore, great as
you are, and friend of mine as you are, I tell you to your face that if
I can take the lady Quilla out of that golden grave of hers I shall do
so."

"I know it, my brother," he answered, "and therefore, were I as some
Incas have been, I should cause this holy Spouse to travel more quickly
to the skies than Nature will take her. But this I will not do because
I know also that Destiny is above all things and that which Destiny
decrees will happen unhelped by man. Still I tell you that I will thwart
you if I can and that should you succeed in your ends, I will kill you
if I can and the lady also, because you have committed sacrilege. Yes,
although I love you better than any other man, I will kill you. And if
King Huaracha should be able to snatch her away by force I will make war
on him until either I and my people or he and his people are destroyed.
And now let us talk no more of this matter, but rather of our plans
against Urco, since in these at least, where no woman is concerned, I
know that you will be faithful to me and I sorely need your help."

So with a heavy heart I went back to the camp of Huaracha and told him
Kari's words. He was very wroth when he heard them, since his gods were
different to those of the Incas and he thought nothing of the holiness
of the Virgins of the Sun, and once again talked of renewing the war.
Still it came to nothing for sundry reasons of which the greatest was
that his sickness increased on him as the days went by. Also I told him
that much as I desired Quilla, I could not fight upon his side since
I was sworn to aid Kari against Urco and my word might not be broken.
Moreover, the Yuncas who had been our allies, wearying of their long
absence from home and satisfied with the gentle forgiveness and the
redress of their grievances which the new Inca had promised them, were
gone, having departed on their long march to the coast, while many
of the Chancas themselves were slipping back to their own country.
Therefore Huaracha's hour had passed by.

So at length we agreed that it would be foolish to attack Cuzco in
order to try to rescue Quilla, since even if Huaracha won in face of a
desperate defence, probably it would be only to find that his daughter
was dead or had vanished away to some unknown and distant convent. All
that we could do was to trust to fortune to deliver her into our ha