The Inca's Daughter

Huascar,the Inca of Peru, who ! ed at the besrinningof tho sixteenth ' Lury, and who was rernarkable for hi.s ' ove of art espeoially those conneetud with the improvernent of his capital, ' proclaimed whosoever would find nena ' :t conveyiDg water with facility to his ' place and to Cuzco, - should receive in 1 inarriage hi.s youngest daughter, thon a f beautiful gsri in tho first bloora of ' womanhood. This offer was no soonor 1 made. than a young man appeared, led Hassan, ivho declared ble of performing the great work. He I was immediately furnished with as many men, and all the rnaterials, which i he thought proper to d=mand, and tho work was comrnenced. While the work, however, was in i progress, an incident oeccurred which dampened the ardor of the youth for tho accomplishment of what he had undertaken, and seemed to overthrow i all expeetations of its ever. being completed. Amongtl'C nurnerous ' ants upon the workmen for the ] ration of their food, and the caro of the i camp they dwelt in, there appeared a i girl oí great beauty, who whila attend ing upoQ her father, was observed by i the young engineer, who bocame so ' lently ecamored that his attention was i distracted and turnod from the object ' upon which his mind had hitherto been bent. Hesaw that the acomplishment of the work that hehad undertaken ■ would resol t in his marriage with tho daughter of the Tnca, and this though i accompaniedby all the honors the sovereign could bestow, would deprive him of that which he valued more than life, and lio him to a brido whom he had never seen, and now ceasod to desire to know. Owing to the state of Hassan's mind, negloct, languor and and disorder reigned in the encampment of the workmen, which at first seemed toevery one to arise from a conviction on the part of the engineer that the accomplishment of the work was beyond his power. Sometime passed without any change, d uring which Hassan had frequent opportunities of meeting the voung attendant to whom he had become attached. This, however, was by and by remarked by the people in such a mnnner as to induce the young girl to retire, and return no more to the camp - distracting still more tho mind of the engineer, who was unable to obtain any further information concerning her. The confusión in which everything was now thrown became known to Inca, who soon learned also the cause of the engineer's default, aDd determincd to take his revenge by putting to death tho subject who had so grossly and so openly insultod his soveroign. The character, however, of tho ofFenco was sush that Hassan was sent for before his exocution, and appeared guarded, in the presonce of the Inca, who sat npon his throne surrounded by his nobles. Huáscar happening to be a man of moderate passions, asked the culprit, in the presence of his nobles, whether he had anything to say before the execution in exteni'ation of the crime ho had committed by reating his sovereign with contempt. To this the young man replied, that he had only to thank his sovereign for all tho favors he had received and more especially for that he was about to re ceive, which would place him beyond the reach of such suffering as ho had endured sinco he had become acquainted with the innocent cause of his misfortune. At the moment that the Inca was about to conimit hiin to the tender mercies of the executioners, the girl we have mentioned suddenly appeared arnong the crowd of nobles, dressed as she had been in tho camp of the workmen, and rushing iuto the centro of the hall, exclaimed : 11 Stay, Inca ! Arrest the hand of justice for a moment, while I put one qaestion to the unfortunate culprit. It ahall be sucli as the Inca will not disapprove." From the moment of this apparitron, until tho domand ot the girl, there was not a sound heard. The whole of the nobles present retnained motionless and silent. But had no einbarrassment overwhelmed them.the presence of their sovereign would havo restrained equally their worda and their acts. Huasca, who alone stood unmoved, nodded assent to the demand of the girl, who now walked up totbeyoath, andlaying her right hand upoa his left shoulder, and standing a little or. one side, that his countenance might be well seen by the Inca, said : "Young man of tho hills where Inca the is ever known! subject of Huáscar! has thou chosen the ehild of the vales in preferenco to the daughter of thy sovereign ?" To whicb the youth, after steadfastly regarding the Inca, replied : " The will of the Great Soureo of Light he done. The santence of the Inca is juut." Then turning to the girl, he added: " I go now with joy to dvveli where I shall await tby coming, to possoss thoe for over. " "But whcrofore couldst thou not," then said the girl, "accomplish the work wliich thou hast undertaken ?" " Tt had been done," said thejouth, had tho labor been aceompanied with the hope of possessing thee." At thia reply theyoung girl, auddeny throwing off hor uppor garments, which had hiddea those irkiob would have betrayed her true charaotor, and taking the entranced youth by the hand. advanced to the foot of tha throno of the Inca, and exclaimed : 11 Great fathor of the children of tho sin, I who'ti thou lovest as thyself, demand the remission of the sentonce against the youth now bowed down boforo thnc, until it bo known whether the great work he has undtrtaken can be accomplished or nor." Inca Huáscar, whose affections for bis daughter was boyond all other teelings, eleotrified by the occurrenoe, signified his assont to tho proposal. Á few months aftor this tha great aqueduct was cornpletod, and tho engineer and tho princesa became man and wifo.