h
their countless attendant evils, were unknown. But it will not last for
ever, I tell you; brighter and happier days are in store for us of the
ancient race, and perhaps even I, old as I am, may live to see it. Yes,
I, poor though I am, and compelled to lodge my worn-out body in a cave,
have royal blood in my veins, as had my husband, Yupanqui; we are both
descended from Huayna Capac, and, but for Atahuallpa's incredible folly,
I might have been enjoying comfort and affluence to-day; ay, and
possibly my husband might also have been living."

Escombe had read Prescott's _Conquest of Peru_ during his schooldays,
and the romantic story had implanted within his mind a keen interest in
everything pertaining to the history of the country, which had never
waned, and which had received a fresh stimulus when he learned that he
was not only to visit and spend some time in Peru but also to explore
certain parts of it. And now, to find himself actually conversing with
someone who claimed descent from those proud Incas, who appeared to have
lived in a regal splendour only to be equalled by that of the potentates
of the _Arabian Nights_, seemed to him to be a rare slice of good luck;
he was therefore careful to say nothing calculated to divert the
conversation from the channel in which it was so satisfactorily flowing,
but, on the contrary, did everything he could to keep it there. He was,
however, very much surprised to find his hostess looking forward so
confidently to brighter and happier times for the despised Indian race;
for if any one thing seemed absolutely certain, it was that the time was
not very far distant when the few scattered survivors must perish, and
the race vanish from the face of the earth. It was therefore in
somewhat incredulous tones that he turned to Cachama and said:

"What grounds have you for the hope--or should I call it the certainty--
that better days are in store for your race? To me it seems that there
are very few of you left."

"Ay," she answered, "it may so seem to you, for you have as yet seen but
little of the country save the _terra caliente_, and very few of us are
now to be found near the coast. But when you get farther up among the
mountains, and especially when you get into the neighbourhood of Lake
Titicaca, you will find that we have not all perished. Furthermore, it
is said--with what truth I know not--that when Atahuallpa fell into the
hands of the _Conquistadors_, and was str