next, however; for, faithful and devoted as the Indian had proved
himself in the past, Harry remembered that it was through his
instrumentality and direct intervention that all the pother had arisen.
Arima seemed to be as completely convinced as any of the others that
Harry was the person foreordained to restore the ancient Peruvian nation
to its former power and splendour, and Escombe knew enough of the
fellow's character to feel certain that he would not permit personal
feeling to interfere with so glorious a consummation. It seemed, then,
as though fate, or destiny, or whatever one pleased to call it, willed
that he--Harry Escombe--should see the mysterious city; and he finally
concluded that, taking everything into consideration, perhaps the wisest
thing would be to go quietly and with as much semblance of goodwill as
possible, since it appeared that no other course was open to him.

This thought naturally suggested others, each more wild and extravagant
than the last, until by the time that the party at length reached the
camping ground that had been their objective all through the day, the
young Englishman discovered, to his unqualified amazement, that not only
did there exist within him a strong vein of hitherto entirely
unsuspected romance--awakened and brought to light by the extraordinary
nature of the adventure of which he was the hero--but also that, quite
unconsciously to himself, his views relative to the exigency and binding
character of his engagement to Sir Philip Swinburne had become so far
modified that it no longer appeared imperatively necessary for him to
jeopardise his life in a practically hopeless endeavour to escape.

The journey had been an up-and-down one all day, that is to say, the
party had been either climbing or descending almost the whole of the
time; the general tendency, however, had been distinctly upward, and
when at length a bare, rocky plateau was reached about sunset, affording
ample space upon which to camp, the greatly increased keenness of the
atmosphere indicated a net rise of probably some two or three thousand
feet. The scene was one of almost indescribable but dreary grandeur,
titanic peaks crowned with snow and ice towering high on every hand,
divided by gorges of immeasurable depth, their sides for the most part
shaggy with pine forests, and never a sign of human habitation to be
seen, nor indeed any sign of life in any form, save where, here and
there, a small moving