national anthem, and every officer and man raised his sword in salute,
after which, as Harry ascended the steps and passed through the wide
doorway of the palace, Umu shouted a command, the swords flashed in the
glaring afternoon sunshine as they were returned to their scabbards, and
the weary horses and their riders trotted soberly off to the cavalry
stables. The nobles who had accompanied Harry on his ride, and also
Tiahuana, entered the palace with the young Inca, doing the honours of
the building, and indicating the character of the various apartments
which they passed as they conducted him to a superb bathroom, where they
assisted him to disrobe, and where he enjoyed a most welcome "tub" in
tepid water, made additionally refreshing by the mingling with it of a
certain liquid which imparted to it a most exquisite fragrance. Then,
attired in a fresh costume, they conducted him to a small but very
handsome room, the chairs and tables in which were made of solid silver,
where, waited on by a small army of servants in the royal livery, he
partook of a light meal. Tiahuana, who, at Harry's special invitation,
joined him at the repast, explaining that there was still much to be
done that day, since in little more than an hour a solemn service of
thanksgiving was to be held in the great Temple of the Sun to
commemorate the return of the great Manco to his long-expectant people,
and to inaugurate suitably the commencement of a new and glorious era in
that people's history.

CHAPTER TWELVE.

HUANACOCHA IS UNCONVINCED.

The meal over, it became necessary for Escombe to effect another change
of attire, the simple garb that he had assumed upon emerging from the
bath being discarded in favour of certain gorgeous garments that had
been especially prepared for the solemn service in the great Temple of
the Sun. There was only one item in this costume which Harry had worn
before, and that was the borla or tasselled fringe of scarlet round the
temples, which proclaimed his royal rank. On this occasion also, the
ceremony in which he was about to take part being a strictly religious
one, he wore no weapons. The great Temple of the Sun being the most
important building in the city, not even excepting the royal palace, was
built on the crest of a hill which dominated the entire city, and was
situated about a mile from the palace; the journey thither, therefore,
afforded opportunity for another royal procession, in which Har