g the
procession, he was preceded by a priest, scarcely less gorgeously robed
than himself, who held aloft a beautiful banner of crimson cloth
emblazoned with the figure of the Sun. Other banners, equally rich and
beautiful, about twenty in all, were borne by the main body of the
priests.

But no sooner was the procession--singing a peculiarly sweet and
plaintive air--fairly inside the body of the temple than Escombe aroused
himself with a violent start, for walking in the midst of the priests,
attired in a simple white robe, from the hem of which her little bare
feet peeped as she walked with downcast eyes, and wreathed and garlanded
about with a long chain of magnificent crimson roses, and with her hands
bound behind her, there walked the most lovely maiden that the young man
had ever seen. Although there was little doubt that she was of pure
Indian blood, she was as fair as a Spaniard, but without a vestige of
colour--as might well be expected under the circumstances. Her long,
dark hair, unbound, clustered in wavy ringlets upon her shoulders and
far enough below her waist to completely veil her tied hands. Every eye
in the building was instantly turned upon this fair vision as the
congregation rose _en masse_, and a loud gasp of what sounded very much
like dismay drew Escombe's attention to Umu, who distinctly staggered as
he rose to his feet, while his face went a sickly, yellowish-white, and
the perspiration poured from his forehead like rain. The poor fellow
stared at the girl as though he could scarcely believe his eyes; yet
that he did believe them was perfectly evident, while the anguished
expression of his countenance made it equally evident that he was very
deeply interested in the young lady and her fate. As to what that fate
was to be there could be no shadow of doubt, even in the mind of one so
ignorant of the details of the religious ceremonial of the Peruvians as
was its new monarch. The girl's awful pallor, her very presence in the
procession, and the fact of her being garlanded with flowers, each had
its own significance, and pointed indubitably to the fact that she was
the destined victim in a human sacrifice!

Turning to Motahuana, Harry demanded, in a fierce whisper:

"Who is that girl, and why is she taking part in the procession?" To
which Motahuana replied:

"She is Maia, the daughter of Umu, captain of my Lord's bodyguard; and,
as the most beautiful maiden in the city, she has been