14 The Peruvian commander
was encamped, it was said, with an army of five-and-thirty thousand men
at only a few miles' distance from the town. With some difficulty he was
persuaded to an interview with Pizarro. The latter addressed him
courteously, and urged his return with him to the Castilian quarters in
Caxamalca, representing it as the command of the Inca. Ever since the
capture of his master, Challcuchima had remained uncertain what course
to take. The capture of the Inca in this sudden and mysterious manner by
a race of beings who seemed to have dropped from the clouds, and that
too in the very hour of his triumph, had entirely bewildered the Peruvian
chief. He had concerted no plan for the rescue of Atahuallpa, nor,
indeed, did he know whether any such movement would be acceptable to
him. He now acquiesced in his commands, and was willing, at all events,
to have a personal interview with his sovereign. Pizarro gained his end
without being obliged to strike a single blow to effect it. The barbarian,
when brought into contact with the white man, would seem to have been
rebuked by his superior genius, in the same manner as the wild animal of
the forest is said to quail before the steady glance of the hunter.
Challcuchima came attended by a numerous retinue.
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