Something had to happen, and I suppose it was as well that the
Incas should start it. For we had met with a misfortune that made
us see the beginning of the end. Our fish was no longer fit to
eat, and we had been forced to throw the remainder of it in the
lake.
Then we held a council of war. The words we uttered, standing
together at the mouth of the crevice, come to me now as in a
dream; if my memory of them were not so vivid I should doubt
their reality. We discussed death with a calmness that spoke
eloquently of our experience.
Desiree's position may be given in a word--she was ready for the
end, and invited it.
I was but little behind her, but advised waiting for one more
watch--a sop to Harry. And there was one other circumstance that
moved me to delay--the hope for a sight of the Inca king and a
chance at him.
Desiree had refused to tell us her experiences between the time
of our dive from the column and our rescue of her; but she had
said enough to cause me to guess at its nature. There was a
suppressed but ever present horror in her eyes that made me long
to stand once more before the Child of the Sun; then to go, but
not alone.
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