this story must have an epilogue, for i have not yet had occasion to speak again of oviedo runtu, bank-clerk and last king of the incas. after a thousand adventures in the andes, which i may describe to you some day, oviedo runtu and his lieutenants in the revolt with garcia were tracked down by natividad’s police.
oviedo runtu surrendered and saved his life by promising to quench the last embers of revolt. tried by court-martial, he was sentenced to perpetual exile, but natividad subsequently interceded and obtained his pardon. it was, moreover, the new chief of police of lima who secured him a post at punho, in a branch of the franco-belgian bank. there natividad could watch him, and finally convinced himself that the bank-clerk king did nothing to resuscitate the marvelous fêtes of the interaymi.
oviedo runtu died very prosaically, after marrying a lady of lima who had made the trip to lake titicaca specially to see the last king of the incas. of that journey was born a romance, and in after years travelers passing through punho would have the royal couple pointed out to them. they were always very much amused when they heard that the king, working daily in a bank, earned just one hundred’ and fifty soles a month.
one day, when some charitable souls were chaffing the king’s widow about the mediocre state in which she lived, the coya, as she was derisively called, retorted that had she and her husband so wished, they could have been the wealthiest couple on earth. but the treasures of the incas, she added, belonged to the gods and the dead, and none might touch them.
asked if she had ever seen those treasures, the coya asserted that her husband had shown them to her once, and she told fabulous stories of the riches hidden in the temple of death. * naturally, nobody believed her.
* the anonymous author of the ms. “antiy y monumentos del
peru” says:—
“it is widely known, and generally admitted, that there
exists in the ancient fortress of the cuzco a secret room in
which is hidden a vast treasure, consisting chiefly of
golden statues of all the incas. a lady who has been in this
room is still living. this is do?a maria de esquivel, wife
of the last inca. i have heard her tell how she was taken
there.
“don carlos, husband of this lady, did not live in a manner
suited to his rank, and she often upbraided him, saying that
she had been cozened into marrying a poor indian under the
pompous style of ‘lord of the incas.9 she said this so often
that don carlos grew angry, and one day retorted: ‘madam, i
will show you whether i am rich or poor. too will see that
no lord, no monarch on this earth, has a greater treasure
than i.’ taking her to the ruined fortress, he bound her
eyes, and led her only a few steps before removing the
bandage again.
“she was in a great quadrangular hall, and ranged all about
it were the statues of the incas, each about the size of a
twelve-year-old child, and all of massive gold. she saw also
many vases of gold and silver, the whole making one of the
most magnificent treasures in the world.”
even so, none believed the soldiers of pizarro when they said that in peru their horses had been shod with silver!
