n the way of the assailants, and
strove, by tearing them from their saddles, or, at least, by offering
their own bosoms as a mark for their vengeance, to shield their beloved
master. It is said by some authorities that they carried weapons
concealed under their clothes. If so, it availed them little, as it is
not pretended that they used them. But the most timid animal will defend
itself when at bay. That they did not so in the present instance is
proof that they had no weapons to use. Yet they still continued to force
back the cavaliers, clinging to their horses with dying grasp, and, as
one was cut down, another taking the place of his fallen comrade with a
loyalty truly affecting.

The Indian monarch, stunned and bewildered, saw his faithful subjects
falling round him without hardly comprehending his situation. The litter
on which he rode heaved to and fro as the mighty press swayed backward
and forward; and he gazed on the overwhelming ruin, like some forlorn
mariner, who, tossed about in his bark by the furious elements, sees the
lightning's flash and hears the thunder bursting around him, with the
consciousness that he can do nothing to avert his fate. At length, weary
with the work of destruction, the Spaniards, as the shades of evening
grew deeper, felt afraid that the royal prize might, after all, elude
them; and some of the cavaliers made a desperate effort to end the
affray at once by taking Atahualpa's life. But Pizarro, who was nearest
his person, called out with stentorian voice, "Let no one who values his
life strike at the Inca"; and, stretching out his arm to shield him,
received a wound on the hand from one of his own men--the only wound
received by a Spaniard in the action.

The struggle now became fiercer than ever round the royal litter. It
reeled more and more, and at length, several of the nobles who supported
it having been slain, it was overturned, and the Indian prince would
have come with violence to the ground, had not his fall been broken by
the efforts of Pizarro and some other of the cavaliers, who caught him
in their arms. The imperial borla was instantly snatched from his
temples by a soldier named Estete, and the unhappy monarch, strongly
secured, was removed to a neighboring building, where he was carefully
guarded.

All attempt at resistance now ceased. The fate of the Inca soon spread
over town and country. The charm which might have held the Peruvians
together was dissolved. Ever