Under the Andes
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Rex Stout >> Under the Andes
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The blow nearly broke my hand, but he dropped to the floor. The
next instant I was joined by Harry, who had overcome the other
Inca with little difficulty, and in a trice we had them both
bound and gagged along with the remainder of the family in the
corner.
Owing to my strategy in withholding our attack until the Incas
had got well within the room and to one side, we had not been
seen by those constantly passing up and down in the corridor
without; at least, none of them had entered. We seemed by this
stroke to have assured our safety so long as we remained in the
room.
But it was still necessary to remain against the wall, for the
soft patter of footsteps could still be heard in the corridor.
They now came at irregular intervals, and there were not many of
them. Otherwise the silence was unbroken.
"What does it all mean?" Harry whispered.
"The Incas are coming home to their women," I guessed. "Though,
after seeing the women, it is little wonder if they spend most of
their time away from them. He is welcome to his repose in the
bosom of his family."
There passed an uneventful hour. Long before it ended the sound
of footsteps had entirely ceased; but we thought it best to take
no chances, and waited for the last minute our impatience would
allow us. Then, uncomfortable and stiff from the long period of
immobility and silence, we rose to our feet and made ready to
start.
Harry was for appropriating some of the strips of dried fish we
saw suspended from the ceiling, but I objected that our danger
lay in any direction other than that of hunger, and we set out
with only our spears.
The corridor was deserted. One quick glance in either direction
assured us of that; then we turned to the right and set out at a
rapid pace, down the long passage past a succession of rooms
exactly similar to the one we had just left--scores, hundreds of
them.
Each one was occupied by from one to ten of the Incas lying on
the couch which each contained, or stretched on hides on the
floor. No one was stirring. Everywhere was silence save the
patter of our own feet, which we let fall as noiselessly as
possible.
"Will it never end?" whispered Harry at length, after we had
traversed upward of a mile without any sign of a cross-passage or
a termination.
"Forward, and silence!" I breathed for a reply.
The end--at least, of the silence--came sooner than we had
expected. Hardly were the last words out of my mouth when a
whirring noise sounded behind us. We glanced over our shoulders
as we ran, and at the same instant an Inca spear flew by not two
inches from my head and struck the ground in front.
Not a hundred feet to the rear we saw a group of Incas rushing
along the passage toward us. Harry wheeled about, raising his
spear, but I grasped him by the arm, crying, "Run; it's our only
chance!" The next moment we were leaping forward side by side
down the passage.
It would have fared ill with any who appeared to block our way in
that mad dash; but it remained clear. The corridor led straight
ahead, with never a turn. We were running as we had never run
before; the black walls flashed past us an indistinguishable
blur, and the open doorways were blended into one.
Glancing back over my shoulder, I saw that the small group of
Incas was no longer small. Away to the rear the corridor was
filled with rushing black forms. But I saw plainly that we were
gaining on them; the distance that separated us was twice as
great as when we had first started to run.
"How about it?" I panted. "Can you hold out?"
"If it weren't for this knee," Harry returned between breaths and
through clenched teeth. "But--I'm with you." He was limping
painfully, and I slackened my pace a little, but he urged me
forward with an oath, and himself sprang to the front. His knee
must have been causing him the keenest agony; his face was white
as death.
Then I uttered a cry of joy as I saw a bend in the passage ahead.
We reached it, and wheeled to the right. There was solid wall on
either side; the series of doors was ended.
"We'll shake 'em off now," I panted.
Harry nodded.
A short distance ahead we came to another cross-passage, and
turned to the left. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw that our
pursuers had not yet reached the first turn. Harry kept in the
lead, and was giving me all I could do to keep up with him.
We found ourselves now in a veritable maze of lanes and
cross-passages, and we turned to one side or the other at every
opportunity. At length I grasped Harry by the arm and stopped
him. We stood for two full minutes listening intently. There was
absolutely no sound of any kind.
"Thank Heaven!" Harry breathed, and would have fallen to the
ground if I had not supported him.
We started out then in search of water, moving slowly and
cautiously. But we found none, and soon Harry declared that he
could go no further. We sat down with our backs against the wall
of the passage, still breathing heavily and all but exhausted.
In that darkness and silence the minutes passed into hours. We
talked but little, and then only in whispers. Finally Harry fell
into a restless sleep, if it may be called that, and several
times I dozed off and was awakened by my head nodding against the
stone wall.
At length, finding Harry awake, I urged him to his feet. His
knee barely supported his weight, but he gritted his teeth and
told me to lead on.
"We can wait--" I began; but he broke in savagely:
"No! I want to find her, that's all--and end it. Just one more
chance!"
We searched for an hour before we found the stream of water we
sought. After Harry had bathed his knee and drunk his fill he
felt more fit, and we pushed on more rapidly, but still quite at
random.
We turned first one way, then another, in the never-ending
labyrinth, always in darkness and silence. We seemed to get
nowhere; and I for one was about to give up the disheartening
task when suddenly a sound smote our ears that caused us first to
start violently, then stop and gaze at each other in
comprehension and eager surprise.
"The bell!" cried Harry. "They are being summoned to the great
cavern!"
It was the same sound we had heard twice before; a sound as of a
great, deep-toned bell ringing sonorously throughout the passages
and caverns with a roar that was deafening. And it seemed to be
close--quite close.
"It came from the left," said Harry; but I disagreed with him and
was so sure of myself that we started off to the right. The
echoes of the bell were still floating from wall to wall as we
went rapidly forward. I do not know what we expected to find, and
the Lord knows what we intended to do after we found it.
A short distance ahead we came to another passage, crossing at
right angles, broad and straight, and somehow familiar. As with
one impulse we took it, turning to the left, and then flattened
ourselves back against the wall as we saw a group of Incas
passing at its farther end, some two hundred yards away.
There we stood, motionless and scarcely breathing, while group
after group of the savages passed in the corridor ahead. Their
number swelled to a continuous stream, which in turn gradually
became thinner and thinner until only a few stragglers were seen
trotting behind. Finally they, too, ceased to appear; the
corridor was deserted.
We waited a while longer, then as no more appeared we started
forward and soon had reached the corridor down which they had
passed. We followed in the direction they had taken, turning to
the right.
We had no sooner turned than we saw that which caused us to
glance quickly at each other and hasten our step, while I
smothered the ejaculation that rose to my lips. The corridor in
which we now found ourselves stretched straight ahead for a
distance, then turned to one side; and the corner thus formed was
flooded with a brilliant blaze of light!
There was no longer any doubt of it: we were on our way to the
great cavern. For a moment I hesitated, asking myself for what
purpose we hastened on thus into the very arms of our enemies;
then, propelled by instinct or premonition--I know not what--I
took a firmer grasp on my spear and followed Harry without word,
throwing caution to the winds.
Yet we avoided foolhardiness, for as we approached the last turn
we proceeded slowly, keeping an eye on the rear. But all the
Incas appeared to have assembled within, for the corridor
remained deserted.
We crept silently to the corner, avoiding the circle of light as
far as possible, and, crouching side by side on the rock, looked
out together on a scene none the less striking because we had
seen it twice before.
It was the great cavern. We saw it from a different viewpoint
than before; the alcove which held the golden throne was far off
to our left, nearly half-way round the vast circumference. On the
throne was seated the king, surrounded by guards and attendants.
As before, the stone seats which surrounded the amphitheater on
every side were filled with the Incas, crouching motionless and
silent. The flames in the massive urns mounted in steady tongues,
casting their blinding glare in every direction.
All this I saw in a flash, when suddenly Harry's fingers sank
into the flesh of my arm with such force that I all but cried out
in actual pain. And then, glancing at him and following the
direction of his gaze, I saw Desiree.
She was standing on the top of the lofty column in the center of
the lake.
Her white body, uncovered, was outlined sharply against the black
background of the cavern above.
Chapter XXII.
THE BEGINNING OF THE END.
Neither Harry nor I spoke; our eyes were concentrated on the
scene before us, trying to comprehend its meaning.
It was something indefinable in Desiree's attitude that told me
the truth--what, I cannot tell. Her profile was toward us; it
could not have been her eyes or any expression of her face; but
there was a tenseness about her pose, a stiffening of the muscles
of her body, an air of lofty scorn and supreme triumph coming
somehow from every line of her motionless figure, that flashed
certainty into my brain.
And on the instant I turned to Harry.
"Follow me," I whispered; and he must have read the force of my
knowledge in my eyes, for he obeyed without a word. Back down the
passage we ran, halting at its end. Harry opened his lips to
speak, but I took the words from his mouth; seconds were
precious.
"They have fired the column--you remember. Follow me; keep your
spear ready; not a sound, if you love her."
I saw that he understood, and saw too, by the expression that
shot into his face, that it would go ill with any Incas who tried
to stop us then.
We rushed forward side by side, guessing at our way, seeking the
entrance to the tunnel that led to the foot of the column. A
prayer was on my lips that we might not be too late; Harry's lips
were compressed together tightly as a vise. Death we did not
fear, even for Desiree; but we remembered the horror of our own
experience on the top of that column, and shuddered as we ran.
As I have said, we had entered the great cavern at a point almost
directly opposite the alcove, and therefore at a distance from
the entrance we sought. It was necessary to half encircle the
cavern, and the passages were so often crossed by other passages
that many times we had to guess at the proper road.
But not for an instant did we hesitate; we flew rather than ran.
I felt within me the strength and resolve of ten men, and I knew
then that there was something I must do and would do before I
died, though a thousand devils stood in my way.
I do not know what led us; whether a remorseful Providence, who
suddenly decided that we had been played with long enough, or the
mere animal instinct of direction, or blind luck. But so fast did
we go that it seemed to me we had left the great cavern scarcely
a minute behind us when I suddenly saw the steps of a steep
stairway leading down from an opening on our right.
How my heart leaped then! Harry uttered a hoarse cry of
exultation. The next instant we were dashing headlong down the
steps, avoiding a fall by I know not what miracle. And there
before us was the entrance to the tunnel.
I held Harry back, almost shouting: "You stay here; guard the
entrance. I'll get her."
"No," he cried, pushing forward. "I can't stay."
"Fool!" I cried, dashing him back. "We would be caught like rats
in a trap. Defend that entrance--with your life!"
I saw him hesitate, and, knowing that he would obey, I dashed
forward into the tunnel. When nearly to its end I made a misstep
on the uneven ground and precipitated myself against the wall. A
sharp pain shot through my left shoulder, but at the time I was
scarcely conscious of it as I picked myself up and leaped
forward. The end was in sight.
Just as I reached the foot of the spiral stairway I saw a black
form descending from it. That Inca never knew what hit him. I did
not use my spear; time was too precious. He disappeared in the
whirlpool beneath the base of the column through which Harry and
I had once miraculously escaped.
But despair filled my heart as, with my feet on the first step of
the spiral stairway, I cast a quick glance upward. The upper half
of the inside of the column was a raging furnace of fire. How or
from what it came I did not stop to inquire; I bounded up the
stairway in desperate fury.
I did not know then that the stone steps were baking and
blistering my feet; I did not know, as I came level with the base
of the flames, that every hair was being singed from my head and
body--I only knew that I must reach the top of the column.
Then I saw the source of the flames as I reached them. Huge vats
of oil--six, a dozen, twenty--I know not how many--were ranged in
a circle on a ledge of stone encircling the column, and from
their tops the fire leaped upward to a great height. I saw what
must be done; how I did it God only knows; I shut my eyes now as
I remember it.
Hooking the rim of the vat nearest me with the point of my spear,
I sent it tumbling down the length of the column into the
whirlpool, many feet below. Then another, and another, and
another, until the ledge was empty.
Some of the burning oil, flying from the overturned vats,
alighted on the stairway, casting weird patches of light up and
down the whole length of the column. Some of it landed on my
body, my face, my hands. It was a very hell of heat; my lungs,
all the inside of me, was on fire.
My brain sang and whirled. My eyes felt as though they were
being burned from their sockets with red-hot irons. I bounded
upward.
A few more steps--I could not see, I could hardly feel--and my
head bumped against the stone at the top of the column. I put out
my hand, groping around half crazily, and by some wild chance it
came in contact with the slide that moved the stone stab. I
pushed, hardly knowing what I did, and the stone flew to one
side. I stuck my head through the opening and saw Desiree.
Her back was toward me. As I emerged from the opening the Incas
seated round the vast amphitheater and the king, seated on the
golden throne in the alcove, rose involuntarily from their seats
in astonished wonder.
Desiree saw the movement and, turning, caught sight of me. A
sudden cry of amazement burst from her lips; she made a hasty
step forward and fell fainting into my arms.
I shook her violently, but she remained unconscious, and this
added catastrophe all but unnerved me. For a moment I stood on
the upper step with the upper half of my body, swaying from side
to side, extending beyond the top of the column; then I turned
and began to descend with Desiree in my arms.
Every step of that descent was unspeakable agony. Feeling was
hardly in me; my whole body was an engine of pain. Somehow, I
staggered and stumbled downward; at every step I expected to fall
headlong to the bottom with my burden. Desiree's form remained
limp and lifeless in my arms.
I reached the ledge on which the vats had been placed and passed
it; air entered my burning lungs like a breeze from the
mountains. Every step now made the next one easier. I began to
think that I might, after all, reach the bottom in safety.
Another twenty steps and I could see the beginning of the tunnel
below.
Desiree's form stirred slightly in my arms. A glance showed me
her eyes looking up into mine as her head lay back on my
shoulder.
"Why?" she moaned. "In the name of Heaven above us, why?" I had
no time for answer; my lips were locked tightly together as I
sought the step below with a foot that had no feeling even for
the stone. We were nearly to the bottom; we reached it.
I placed Desiree on her feet.
"Can you stand?" I gasped; and the words were torn from my throat
with a great effort.
"But you!" she cried, and I saw that her eyes were filled with
horror. No doubt I was a pitiful thing to look at.
But there was no time to be lost, and, seeing that her feet
supported her, I grasped her arm and started down the tunnel just
as Harry's voice, raised in a great shout, came to us from its
farther end.
"No!" cried Desiree, shrinking back in terror. "Paul--" I
dragged her forward.
Then, as Harry's cry was repeated, she seemed to understand and
sprang forward beside me.
Another second wasted and we would have been too late. Just as
we reached Harry's side, at the end of the tunnel, the Incas,
warned by my appearance at the top of the column, appeared above
on the stairway, at the foot of which Harry had made his stand.
At the sight of Desiree Harry uttered a cry of joy, then gazed in
astonishment as I appeared behind her.
"Run for your lives!" he shouted, pointing down the passage
leading to the apartments beyond. As he spoke a shower of spears
descended from above, rattling on the steps and on the ground
beside us. I stooped to pick up two of them, and as Desiree and I
darted forward into the passage, with Harry bringing up the rear,
the Incas dashed down the stairway after us.
We found ourselves at once in the maze of lanes and passages
leading to the royal apartments. That, I thought, was as good a
goal as any; and, besides, the way led to the cavern where we had
once before successfully withstood our enemies. But the way was
not so easy to find.
Turn and twist about as we would, we could not shake off our
pursuers. Harry kept urging me forward, but I was using every
ounce of strength that was left to me. Desiree, too, was becoming
weaker at every step, and I could hear Harry's cry of despair as
she perceptibly faltered and slackened her pace.
I soon realized that we were no longer in the passage or group of
passages that led to the royal apartments and the cavern beyond.
But there was no time to seek our way; well enough if we went
forward. We found ourselves in a narrow lane, strewn with rocks,
crooked and winding.
Desiree stumbled and would have fallen but for my outstretched
arm. A spear from behind whistled past my ear as we again bounded
forward. Harry was shouting to us that the Incas were upon us.
I caught Desiree's arm and pulled her on with a last great
effort. The lane became narrower still; we brushed the wall on
either side, and I pushed Desiree ahead of me and followed
behind. Suddenly she stopped short, turning to face me so
suddenly that I was thrown against her, nearly knocking her down.
"Your spear!" she cried desperately. "I can go no farther," and
she sank to the ground.
At the same moment there came a cry from Harry in the rear--a cry
that held joy and wonder--and I turned to see him standing some
distance away, gazing down the lane through which we had come.
"They've given up!" he called. "They're gone!"
And I saw that it was true. No sound came, and no Inca was to be
seen.
Then, seeing Desiree on the ground, Harry ran to us and sprang to
her side. "Desiree!" he cried, lifting her in his arms. She
opened her eyes and smiled at him, and he kissed her many
times--her hair, her lips, her eyes. Then he placed her gently on
her feet, and, supporting her with his arm, moved forward slowly.
I led the way.
The lane ahead of us was scarcely more than a crevice between the
rocks; I squeezed my way through with difficulty. Then the walls
ended abruptly, just when I had begun to think we could go no
farther, and we found ourselves at the entrance to a cavern so
large that no wall was to be seen on any side save the one behind
us.
On the instant I guessed at the reason why the Incas had ceased
their pursuit so abruptly, and I turned to Harry:
"I'm afraid we've jumped from the frying-pan into the fire. If
this cavern holds anything like that other--you remember--"
"If it does, we shall see," he replied.
Supporting Desiree on either side, we struck out directly across
the cavern, halting every few steps to listen for a sound, either
of the Incas, which we feared, or of running water, which we
desired. We heard neither. All was blackness and the most
complete silence.
Then I became aware, for the first time, of intolerable pains
shooting up through my legs into my body. The danger past, reason
returned and feeling. I could not suppress a low cry, wrung
inexorably from my chest, and I halted, leaning my whole weight
on Desiree's shoulder.
"What is it?" she cried, and for answer--though I strained every
atom of my will and strength to prevent it--I toppled to the
ground, dragging her with me.
What followed came to me as in a dream, though I was not wholly
unconscious. I was aware that Harry and Desiree were bending over
me; then I felt my head and shoulders being lifted from the
ground, and a soft, warm arm supporting me.
A minute passed, or an hour--I did not know--and I felt hot drops
of moisture fall on my cheek. I struggled to open my eyes, and
saw Desiree's face quite near my own; my head was resting on her
shoulder. She was weeping silently, and great tears rolled down
her cheeks unrestrained.
To have seen the sun or stars shining down upon me would not have
astonished me more. I gazed at her a long moment in silence; she
saw that I did so, but made no effort to turn her head or avoid
my gaze. Finally I found my tongue.
"Where is Harry?" I asked.
"He is gone to look for water," she replied; and, curiously
enough, her voice was quite steady.
I smiled.
"It is useless. I am done for!"
"That isn't true," she denied, in a voice almost of anger. "You
will get well. You are--injured badly--" After a short pause she
added, "for me."
There was a long silence--I thought it hardly worth while to
contradict her--and then I said simply, "Why are you crying,
Desiree?"
She looked at me as though she had not heard; then, after another
silence, her voice came, so low that it barely reached my ears:
"For this--and for what might have been, my friend."
"But you have said--"
"I know! Would you make me doubt again? Do not! Ah"--she
passed her hand gently over my forehead and touched the tips of
her fingers to my burning eyes--"you must have cared for me in
that other world. I will not doubt it; unless you speak, and you
must not. Nothing would have been too high for us. We could have
opened any door--even the door to happiness."
"But you said once--forgive me if I remind you of it now--you
said that you are--you called yourself 'La Marana.'"
She shrank back, exclaiming: "Paul! Indeed, I need to forgive
you!"
"Still, it is true," I persisted, turning to look at her. The
movement caused me to halt, closing my eyes, while a great wave
of pain swept over me from head to foot. Then I went on: "Could
you expect to confine your heart? You say we could have opened
any door--well, tell me, what could we have done, you and I?"
"But that is what I do not think of!" cried Desiree impatiently.
"I would perhaps have placed my hand on your heart, as I do now;
you would perhaps have fought for me, as you have done. I might
even--" She hesitated, while the ghost of a smile that had died
before it reached the light appeared on her lips, as her head was
lowered close, quite close, to mine.
A long moment, and then, "Must I ask for it?" I breathed.
She jerked her head up sharply.
"You do not want it," she said dryly.
I raised my hand, groping for her fingers, but could not find
them. She saw, and slowly, very slowly, her hand crept to mine
and was caught and held there.
"Desiree--I want it," I said half fiercely, and I forgot my pain
and our danger--forgot everything but her white face in dim
outline above me, and her eyes, glowing and tender against her
wish, and her hand that nestled in my hand. "Be merciful to me--I
want it as I have never wanted anything in my life. Desiree, I
love you."
At that I felt her hand move quickly, as for freedom, but I held
it fast. And then slowly her head was lowered. I waited
breathlessly. I felt her quick breath on my face, and the next
moment her lips had found my lips, hot and dry, and remained
there.
Then she raised her head, saying tremulously:
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