Thou hast come , but behold the shadow of the stone ! Thou art too late , oh Lord of the Earth and the Sea ! '' Then he pointed to the shadow , which , naturally , was growing shorter , as the sun drew near mid-day . He spoke in the language of the ancient Incas of Peru , which of course Prigio knew very well ; and he also knew that Pachacamac was the god of that people . `` I have come , '' Prigio said , with presence of mind , `` as it has been prophesied of old . '' `` Riding on a beast that flies , '' said the old priest , `` even as the oracle declared . Glory to Pachacamac , even though we die to-day ! '' `` In what can I help my people ? '' said Prigio . `` Thou knowest ; why should we instruct thee ? Thou knowest that on midsummer-day , every year , before the shadow shrinks back to the base of the huaca -LCB- 190 -RCB- of Manoa , we must offer a maiden to lull the Earthquaker with a new song . Lo , now the shadow shrinks to the foot of the huaca , and the maid is not offered ! For the lot fell on the daughter of thy servant the Inca , and he refuses to give her up . One daughter of his , he says , has been sacrificed to the sacred birds , the Cunturs : the birds were found slain on the hill-top , no man knows how ; but the maiden vanished . '' `` Why , it must have been Jaqueline . I killed the birds , '' said Ricardo , in Pantouflian . `` Silence , not a word ! '' said the king , sternly . `` And what makes you bear arms against the Inca ? '' he asked the old man .
`` We would slay him and her , '' answered the priest ; `` for , when the shadow shrinks to the foot of the stone , the sun will shine straight down into the hollow hill XXXXX the Earthquaker , and he will waken and destroy Manoa and the Temples of the Sun . ''
For against as in near of on that though to