their ears. Almost before he was aware of it they had gained the point of rocks, and a boat awaiting him bore him away to the caravel. Christoval Balboa, with tear-dimmed eyes, stood on the great rock watching the caravel bound over the waves bearing him she loved to Panama and adventures and dangers greater than she imagined.

CHAPTER XVII.

A MYSTERIOUS FRIEND.

THE first arrival of white men on the South American shore was nearly ten years before the death of a powerful Inca named Huayna Capac, when Balboa crossed the Gulf of St. Michael and obtained the first clear report of the empire of the Incas. Hitherto this powerful nation, the farthest advanced in civilization of any tribe on the western continent, had lived in its secure retreat unknown to the European. Rumors of pale men, charged with thunder and lightning, breathing death and destruction, and riding terrible life-destroying beasts, reached their ears and filled the breast of the Inca and his nobles with alarm. Huayna Capac was disturbed not only by this news, but by the many supernatural appearances which filled the whole nation with dismay. Comets were seen flaming athwart the heavens; earthquakes shook the land; the moon was girdled with rings of fire of many colors; a thunderbolt fell on one of the royal palaces and consumed it to ashes, aud an

eagle, chased by several hawks, was seen one day screaming in the air above the great square of Cuzco. When pierced by the talons of his tormentors, the king of birds fell lifeless in the presence of the Inca's nobles, who interpreted it as an augury of their own destruction. Believing his end to be drawing near, the Inca called his chief officers about him, and prophesied the downfall of his empire by a race of white and bearded strangers, as the consummation predicted by the oracles after the reign of the twelfth Inca. Thereupon he warned his vassals not to resist the decrees of heaven.

On a former visit to Tumbez, Pizarro brought back with him two or three Peruvians to be instructed in Spanish and to act as guides and interpreters. Among them was a youth whom the Spaniards named Felipillo, or "Little Philip." Not having time, and, in fact, not being competent to instruct the Peruvians himself, Pizarro entrusted that duty to others, and Felipillo proved to be an apt scholar. By the time Pizarro returned to Panama to push matters for the final invasion, Felipillo had almost mastered the tongue of his conquerors.

"I know enough Spanish now to talk with you, and I want to tell my story," he said, one day, to Pizarro.

Knowing that he might have some valuable information to impart, Pizarro bade him proceed, as he would gladly hear anything he had to say.

“I have heard that you are going to Peru to dethrone the Inca Atahualpa, now at war with his brother Huascar, whose power he usurped. If such is the case, great captain, I will gladly join you in slaying the bold, bad man. "Do you hate him, Felipillo?" "I have cause to hate him.” “Why?”

"Lend an ear to me, great captain, and I will tell you my story. I once lived happily in Peru in my mountain home on the great road not far from Caxamalca. I loved a Peruvian maiden; she loved me and was to become my wife, but one day the evil eye of the Inca Atahualpa fell on her and from that moment we were doomed. He determined to make her another victim of his infernal harem, where so much of the beauty of Peru languishes. I protested, but was declared an outlaw, and driven to the forests, where for days I lived like a wild beast, hunted day and night by the Inca's spies. I made my way to Tumbez, and, after a hundred hair-breadth escapes, was leaving the country in a balsa, when you found me. Meanwhile my beautiful Pruilla was seized and carried away to the harem of the hated Inca. When I

met you, I thought, 'Here are the pale men charged with thunder and lightning, who breathe destruction, and bestride those life-destroying beasts. If I can but enlist them in my cause, I can invade the country of the cruel Atahualpa, slay him in his palace, and recover my beautiful Pruilla, for the Inca dare not resist the pale men from the unknown world."

Pizarro, shrewd old warrior that he was, realized that here was an opportunity to secure a faithful ally. There was a flash in the Peruvian's eye and an earnestness in his voice which proved that his story was no idle romance. Felipillo was more anxious for the overthrow of the Peruvian empire than any steel-clad warrior from Spain. The general assured him that Pruilla should be restored to him, and the face of the Peruvian glowed with delight.

During preparations for the expedition to Peru, Estevan reached Panama, about the latter part of December, 1530. He had escaped his foes in Cuba, and, being with Pizarro, he was now perfectly safe from their machinations. A few days later supplies and recruits from the ship which had touched at Cuba arrived. Many Cubans, some Spaniards, and some Indians had joined the expedition. Among the recruits was an olive-complexioned boy, a very quiet young fellow, named