mens of exquisite workmanship should be preserved intact.
Much of the treasure was in the shape of plates or tiles, from the
interior of the temples or palaces which did not take up much space.
The great temple of the Sun at Cuzco had a heavy outside cornice, or
moulding, of pure gold. It was stripped of this dazzling ornament to
satisfy the rapacity of the conquerors. There was also a vast quantity
of silver which was stored in other chambers. Silver hardly counted in
view of the deluge of the more precious metal.

[Illustration: "The Three Pizarros . . . Sallied Out to Meet Them"]

Atahualpa did not quite succeed in filling the space, but he came so
near it that Pizarro, in a formal agreement executed before a notary,
declared that the Inca had paid his ransom and that he was released
from any further obligation concerning it. That is the only release,
however, which the unfortunate Inca ever got. Obviously, it was
dangerous to turn loose such a man. Therefore, in spite of his legal
quittance, he still was held in captivity. The Spaniards concluded
finally that the only safe course was to get rid of him.

The ransom amounted in our money to over seventeen million dollars,
according to Prescott; to nearly eighteen million dollars, according to
Markham. Pizarro's personal share was seven hundred thousand dollars;
Hernando received three hundred and fifty thousand dollars; De Soto two
hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Each horse soldier received nearly
one hundred thousand; the principal foot soldiers, fifty thousand, and
the others smaller sums in accordance {88} with their rank and service.
The precious metals were so plentiful that for the time being they lost
their value, for men cheerfully paid thousands of dollars for a horse.
Indeed so bulky and unwieldly was the treasure with which the soldiers
were loaded, that it is solemnly averred that creditors avoided their
debtors fearing lest the latter should pay them what they owed in
further heaps of the bulky treasure; and it is certainly a fact that
even the animals shared in the opulence of the conquest, for the horses
were shod with silver. Silver was cheaper and easier to get than iron.

While they were revelling in the treasure, dividing the spoils and
deliberating what was to be done with Atahualpa, Almagro arrived with
his reenforcements. Naturally he and his men demanded a share of the
booty. Great was their disgust and furious their anger when