CHAPTER XIII THE GAMES
"Come on, you Tom! Oh, Tom--come on!" Nicky shouted and screeched abovethe roar of excitement. Neck and neck, down a circling path beaten inthe stubby grass, Tom and an Indian raced, stride for stride; behindthem came a fleet following.
"Come on, Tom," said Cliff, under his breath; he had to fight down hisdesire to shout; he was Chasca and must remember his pose.
Near the finish came the racers. Shouts and cries of encouragementdrowned Nicky's shrill yells.
But Tom put forth his remaining burst of strength and with scarcelythree inches to his credit, flitted over the mark--winner in the race inwhich all the young nobles contested except the Inca's son alone.
Not far beyond Quichaka there was a sudden rise of the hills in front ofwhose sharp slope a large tract had been leveled off. From early dawnthe lesser natives had streamed to their places on the hillside, andafter an early and ample breakfast Cliff and his companions had goneforth with the Inca and his retinue, Cliff being honored by a seat in ahamaca, as had been his fortune on their arrival. He and Bill, Mr.Whitley and Nicky, sat near one another, watching Tom in the foot races.Cliff sat in the place of honor at one side of the Inca whose otherplace on the further side was given to the high priest of the temple ofthe Sun. Below them, among the nobles, were his friends.
By his victory over the nobles Tom eliminated all competition and would,after a rest, have to race Challcuchima--and it had been privatelyagreed among the youths of Cliff's party that they might all best thenobles but it would be an act of wisdom to allow the Inca's favorite sonto be the final victor in any contest except those in which Cliff,himself a "son of the stars" would compete--there, since the Inca wasclaimed to be of celestial descent, the contest might fall to whom theFates and skill should decree. So, later, Tom failed to exert his utmostspeed, although he felt that by doing so he might have tied, if notoutdistanced, Challcuchima.
To the surprise of all the assembled natives, but not so much to that ofhis friends, Nicky came off victor--except against Challcuchima--intests with bow and arrow. While the willow of his own archery outfit waslighter than the stout war bows, even in the size which the youths ofsixteen employed, his arm was sturdy and his eye was well trained.
Then came battles with swords, very much like those used in actualfighting; of course their edges were blunted and their points roundedoff; nevertheless in the earnest thrust and swing of the mimic contests,several accidents of guard resulted in thrusts that came near to beingfatal; in these contests the three chums were spectators.
Then came matched wrestlers and there Cliff was in his element;wrestling, under fair rules, he loved; in its clever andstrength-testing grips and stresses he was a master.
Although they approached their supposedly celestial antagonist in someawe and perhaps because of that feeling did not use their best skill,nevertheless Cliff had several very arduous and breath-taxing struggleswith young nobles; but each he finally laid neatly down with bothshoulders touching the sward.
Finally he vanquished his third antagonist and threw himself down,panting. There were cheers and, with eyes turned, he saw thatChallcuchima had just completed his own final test with a noble's son.These two, if they came off victors in their respective combats, were torest and then strive for the final victory.
The time came and the two, evenly matched in weight and with equallyquick eyes and well matched skill, took their position on the grass.Cliff, of the two, had the disadvantage that he had not been in athletictraining as long as had Challcuchima and was, therefore, the more tiredat the end of his three bouts.
However, he had no fear or dismay in his mind. At the word of theirIndian referee, the youths came together, seeking for best holds andadvantages.
Cliff got a surprise. Hands gripping each others arms, straining for achance to slip quick muscles into knots when the right hold could bewon, Cliff felt his antagonist go suddenly as limp as a rag.Challcuchima seemed to be sagging, as if he were weak and was about tofall. Cliff was startled enough to let go in order to catch the youthand prevent a fall. To his dismay Challcuchima was on the very instant asteel spring and a panther for quickness and before his adversary couldrecover the ruler's son had caught him with arms that steadily bent theAmerican youth backward for the throw; but Cliff, in his turn, played asurprise trick, for he let his legs go straight out from under him sothat instead of being forced down he was falling backward. That threwhis weight on Challcuchima's wrist and the hold broke; Cliff twisted inair as he felt the lock break, so that while Challcuchima fought toregain his stand his opponent landed on all fours and was up and slidinghis hands up as Challcuchima caught his arms.
The pace slowed then; each realized that he could gain little by tricksthat were more acrobatic than wrestling. The half sneering curl leftChallcuchima's lips, however, and a look of considerable respect was inhis eyes as they strove and strained, hands slipping, gripping musclestensing and flexing, sinews straining to the turn and twist of theirsupple bodies.
As in the first strife the trickery of one was met by the quick thoughtand agility of the other, so, during the long minutes, for they wrestledcontinuously from start to final defeat of one or the other, each sawhimself equaled. When Challcuchima secured the Inca equivalent of ahalf-nelson, Cliff knew how to create overconfidence and eventuallydisarm the holder and himself get an advantage; when he seized afortunate instant to drive through into a hammerlock, Challcuchima had atrick that made Cliff's teeth snap in the pain of suddenly stressedmuscles and he had to release. For it seemed that each of them knew someprinciples of the science of causing a surprise reflex by some hold thattaxed a sensitive nerve more than a straining muscle; and both usedtheir knowledge.
Finally, wearied by strain and exertion they stood, arm to arm, panting,eyeing one another and then the Inca rose and spoke.
"Thus must end the contest," he told them, "the son of an Inca, himselfdescended from the god we worship, can not hope to put down Chasca,himself holy and from the stars. Nor can Chasca put down the son of themaster he has come to visit in friendship."
"Even so, royal Father," panted Challcuchima. "We were evenly matched."
Cliff smiled queerly, turning his head away; his chums wondered why. Therest of the ceremonial was rather tedious; long and flowery speecheswere made by the Inca and his chief priest, extolling the virtues of hisson and exhorting him to carry the wise and generous rule forward whenhe became Inca. Garlands were placed on the heads of all thecontestants, made of bright flowers with evergreen woven into that ofChallcuchima to show his endurance. Then he was crowned with thespecial, tasseled fillet of vicuna wool, yellow in color, which attestedhis appointment to be the next ruler.
When the ceremonies were over and, back in their temple, the contendersand Bill and Mr. Whitley discussed the previous events Tom turned toCliff.
"Why did you smile at the Inca's decision--when you and Chally wrestledto a standstill?" he demanded.
"He bribed me," Cliff answered. "Remember, when I had the hammerlockhold----?"
"I wondered how he broke that," Nicky interrupted and Bill nodded.
"He whispered that if I defeated him he would be disgraced, and promisedto give me anything I wanted if I would not win."
"Did you make him promise anything?" Nicky was eager.
"No--but I will."
"Oh!" Nicky was quick to see the idea in Cliff's mind. "At the Feast ofRaymi--before the sacrifice--Caya's sister."
"Yes, if Mr. Whitley doesn't get his chemicals to save the corn." Nickyturned a handspring, with a hurrah!