. Then the High Priest stepped forward to
the edge of the dais, and said:

"Nobles of the ancient Peruvian blood-royal, I have now submitted to you
the last piece of evidence upon which I base my contention that the
young man whom I have brought into your midst--and of whose existence we
became aware through a sequence of events that can only be described as
miraculous--is in very truth he for whose appearance we and our
forefathers have been anxiously looking during a period of more than
three hundred years. You are all perfectly acquainted with the words of
the prophecy which foretold his appearance; for so important, so vital
to the interests of the nation, were those words regarded that it has
been our rule throughout the ages to teach them to every child until
that child can repeat them by heart. You are therefore perfectly
cognisant of all the signs and tokens of identification by which the re-
incarnated Manco was to be recognised when in the fulness of time he
should again come to us, to execute his great mission of our
regeneration. It now rests with you to decide whether those signs and
tokens have been fulfilled in the case of this young man so clearly and
unmistakably as to justify our acceptance of him as the being whom I
claim him to be. Although it is perhaps hardly necessary for me to do
so, it is my duty to remind you that never in the history of our nation
have the Peruvian nobility been called upon to decide a more momentous
question. I now ask you to rise in your places, one by one, beginning
with my Lord Huanacocha, and say whether or not you are satisfied that
this young man is in very truth the divine Manco returned to earth."

A very perceptible pause followed this appeal, and then Huanacocha rose
to his feet.

"Before replying to your question, my Lord Tiahuana," said he, "I should
like the young man to tell us what he can remember of his former
existence. The history of Manco Capac, our first Inca and the founder
of our nation, is well known to all of us, and if your claim be indeed
justified there must be many incidents in his career, well known to us
but quite unknown to the outer world, which the claimant can recall.
Let him mention a few of those incidents, and the most doubting among us
will be satisfied."

This speech was delivered in the Quichua language, and it was necessary
for Tiahuana to translate to Harry, who at once replied:

"I have already told you, I believe, that I