powers and potentates on earth. One of the last of these popes had
commissioned the Spanish Emperor, the most mighty monarch in the world,
to conquer and convert the natives in this western hemisphere; and his
general, Francisco Pizarro, had now come to execute this important
mission. The friar concluded with beseeching the Peruvian monarch to
receive him kindly, to abjure the errors of his own faith and embrace
that of the Christians now proffered to him, the only one by which he
could hope for salvation; and, furthermore, to acknowledge himself a
tributary of the emperor Charles, who, in that event, would aid and
protect him as his loyal vassal.

Whether Atahualpa possessed himself of every link in the curious chain
of argument by which the monk connected Pizarro with St. Peter, may be
doubted. It is certain, however, that he must have had very incorrect
notions of the Trinity if, as Garcilasso states, the interpreter,
Felipillo, explained it by saying that "the Christians believed in three
gods and one God, and that made four." But there is no doubt he
perfectly comprehended that the drift of the discourse was to persuade
him to resign his sceptre and acknowledge the supremacy of another.

The eyes of the Indian monarch flashed fire and his dark brow grew
darker as he replied: "I will be no man's tributary! I am greater than
any prince upon earth. Your Emperor may be a great prince; I do not
doubt it when I see that he has sent his subjects so far across the
waters; and I am willing to hold him as a brother. As for the Pope of
whom you speak, he must be crazy to talk of giving away countries which
do not belong to him. For my faith," he continued, "I will not change
it. Your own God, as you say, was put to death by the very men whom he
created. But mine," he concluded, pointing to his deity--then, alas!
sinking in glory behind the mountains--"my God still lives in the
heavens and looks down on his children."

He then demanded of Valverde by what authority he had said these things.
The friar pointed to the book which he held as his authority. Atahualpa,
taking it, turned over the pages a moment; then, as the insult he had
received probably flashed across his mind, he threw it down with
vehemence and exclaimed: "Tell your comrades that they shall give me an
account of their doings in my land. I will not go from here till they
have made me full satisfaction for all the wrongs they have committed."

The friar, greatly