. v< THE CRIMSON CONQUEST THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA IRVINE GIFT OF LEISURE WORLD LIBRARY "Quick!" Cristoval whispered, "They are upon us !" [Page 196] THE CRIMSON CONQUEST A Romance of Pizarro and Peru BY CHARLES BRADFORD HUDSON With Frontispiece in full color by J. C. LEYENDECKER CHICAGO A. C. McCLURG & CO. 1907 Copyright A. C. McClurg & Co. 1907 Published October 5, 1907 Entered at Stationers' Hall, London, England T5 35/5" C7 The University Press, Cambridge, U.S.A. CONTENTS Chapter Page I Booty from Peru n II The Senora Declares a Purpose 20 III Nipping a Conspiracy 29 IV The Inca's Encampment 40 V The Monarch and the Princess Rava 48 VI The Massacre 56 VII Cavalier and Cantinero 69 VIII An Arm of the Inquisition 82 IX Cristoval Meets the Princess 89 X A Royal Ransom 101 XI The Inca's Last Prayer 109 XII Vengeance Foiled 118 XIII Cristoval a Prisoner 136 XIV Pedro to the Rescue 144 XV The Flight 159 XVI Pedro in the Thumbscrews 171 XVII The Fugitives in the Wilderness 187 XVIII The Vale of Xilcala 204 XIX Hearts Perplexed 220 XX Hearts Revealed and Sundered 231 XXI The Senora Descends upon Pedro 243 XXII Rava in the Toils 254 XXIII Rogelio Finds Gall and Wormwood 265 XXIV Pedro Seeks Tidings of Cristoval 277 XXV A Glimpse of Cuzco 284 XXVI The Inca Manco 289 vi CONTENTS Chapter Page XXVII The Incarial Diadem on a Spanish Saddle-Bow . . 304 XXVIII Two Comrades Reunited 314 XXIX A March and Another Reunion 320 XXX An Encounter on the Plain of Chita 333 XXXI Inca and Conquistador 344 XXXII The Storm Breaks 352 XXXIII The Doomed City 361 XXXIV In the Burning Palace 372 XXXV The Lurking Morisco 384 XXXVI The Barricades 398 XXXVII A Night Attack and a Deliverance 409 XXXVIII A Tie of Mingled Blood 424 XXXIX Again the Senora Descends 435 XL Glory and Peace 448 FOREWORD THIS tale is to be of days when the green forest- aisles and mountain trails of America saw the glint of the steel of men in armor. It will have to do with times when the aborigine looked upon the sparkle of lance, the flutter of pennon, the gleam of corse let, helm, and morion, and felt his primeval turf tremble beneath the hoofs of steeds in full panoply. It will tell of plumed and plated cavaliers, " In brave pursuit of chiv alrous emprise," who found in the wilderness of the New World adventures no less hardy, and near as strange, as any fabled one encountered by knight of old. It is easily half forgotten that our continent has its chronicles which link us with the age of chivalry ; that its soil once sustained the march of men armed cap-a-pie, as bold of heart, greedy for renown, and thirsty for blood, as ever a crusader. They came, proof-valiant against all peril; of a fire-eating, eager courage surpassed alone by their truculence and cruelty ; of a courage to meet not only dangers real, but a myriad direful ones born of fancy. For they were, withal, men of imagination and fine, wide cre dulity. They peopled the West with Amazons, giants, dragons, and legions of beings of varied and curious mon strosity. They were prepared in mind not only to fight battles, but to encounter sorcerers, witches, and the Fiend^ himself; to undergo all manner of spells, charms, en chantments, and kindred grisly experiences and phenom ena. They sought earnestly, conscientiously, and with diligence, for