"Leslie F. Stone - Men With Wings" - читать интересную книгу автора (Stone Leslie F)

The Story of Majes
"AH..ay.." he cried, "I knew them well. Ay..they were men! Children of the
Sun
were they indeed. They will come . . . truly . . . they will come . .. and
they
will lead my poor people back again to the lands that rightfully are theirs,
for
know you . . . they are most surely the children of the Inca who came to us
once
. . . from the Sun. Ay . . . ay . . . they will come. Never fear!"
"Where did you know them?" I broke into his ravings.
He waved his hand to the north-east, and then sat with his eyes turned to the
distant horizon. When he spoke his voice was low. "Many, many years ago I was
young, I was strong. A mighty man was I! Now there are none as strong as I
was
once. My people lose their strength even as they lose their hearts. Yet that
will be different when They come again . . . ay . . . ay . . .
"I was hunting in the jungles for I was a warrior then . . . And as I crept
along tracking the deer a man appeared before me with a suddenness that is
only
possible to god-things. I fell upon my face for lo! he was different from
other
men; he had wings like the condor!
"He bent and helped me to my feet and then I found that he had pressed a
piece
of silver into my hand. 'I have paid for your labor,' said he, 'your labor
belongs to me'. I nodded for that is our custom. He named then a place where
we
should meet and with his great wings he rose straight into the sky."
"And did you meet him?" I asked.
The peon nodded. "Ay . . .ay . . had he not paid me for my labor? I bid good
bye
to my wife, my little ones and my friends, and I went to the place where he
had
bidden me go. There were others there, all fine strong men like me. He was
there
and with him many of his kind. With them they had a great hammock of woven
bark
shaped like a canoe and we were hidden to take our places therein. There were
fifty of us.
"We did not hesitate but sat in the hammock. Then the men with wings each took
a
hold of the air-boat, for such it was and together they bore us up and over
the
trees! For many hours we sailed more smoothly than a boat sails the river,
and
with the setting of the western sun we descended. We found ourselves on a
vast
plantation, and we were given food and drink and a place to lay our heads.
"Ah, never before was there such a farm. This poor cultivation that you see