Had the Inca come as a humble suppliant, the fate of the nation might
have been postponed, if not altogether altered. The appearance of these
resplendent beings signalled its instant doom. As Atahualpa was borne on
his litter of state towards where Pizarro stood expectant in front of
his soldiers, a priest strode forward, and, approaching him, urged him
heatedly to embrace the religion of the Cross.

It is certain that the Inca understood nothing whatever of what was
going on. What might have been his state of mind when he was handed the
breviary is unknown; in any case he flung it to the ground. This was the
signal for the attack on the part of the Spaniards. Drawing their
swords, they flung themselves furiously upon the altogether unprepared
Indians, slaying thousands of their numbers. Pizarro himself, hacking
and striking as he went, fought his way to the Inca's litter of state,
and it was his own hand which dragged the unfortunate ruler from his
golden chair. The next moment he was guarding his captive fiercely from
the chance blows which were rained upon the dusky monarch by the
Spaniards who went charging by. He knew well enough the value of the
Inca alive and captive in his hands. It was for this reason alone that
he warded off the blows which his men would have dealt the fallen Child
of the Sun.

[Illustration: A PERUVIAN CASSE-TÊTE AND A PIPE OF PEACE.

_From "Histoire des Yncas."_]

The main onslaught had now died away. The field of the massacre was
covered with the bodies of the dead and dying Peruvians; the rest had
fled. Pizarro lost no time in improving the occasion from a financial