How the captains García de Alvarado and Saucedo went to ask Cristóbal de Sotelo to pardon the soldiers he had in prison, and of their fate; and of what else happened until García de Alvarado killed the good knight Cristóbal de Sotelo.

AS the soldiers in Cuzco were not well under control, their feeling was that, provided it were not against military discipline or matters relating to the war, there ought to be no punishment for any crime they might commit. They therefore became very riotous when they heard of the imprisonment of the Machines. Don Diego presently knew of the arrest, but took no steps. García de Alvarado and Saucedo determined each to go to Sotelo, and ask him to pardon those men that he had under arrest. Saucedo being the first to call at the prison, admission was refused him, nor would Sotelo do anything in response to the request made to him. Then Saucedo shouted at him that he had better take care what he was about, for the prisoners were his friends and he was going to demand justice. Cristóbal de Sotelo was much enraged at these words, and answered by telling Saucedo to go to his lodging; if not, he would put him where he was soon going to put the prisoners. Saucedo then went away and joined García de Alvarado, who, by this time, was also near; but although he too knocked at the door, they would not open it nor answer him. Sotelo, after holding an enquiry into[216] the affair for which the men had been arrested, sentenced one of them to be hanged.

Now that the day was approaching when the field of Chupas and its slopes would absorb much noble Spanish blood, and the party of the Almagros would come to an end, it was meet, and necessary for its destruction, and for the due commemoration of the Marquis\'s obsequies, that envy and malice should bring about the death and removal of the principal captains among the men of Chile, so that those of the Pachacama party might encounter less resistance in completing the triumph that was to be theirs. For Francisco de Chaves being already dead, and Juan de Herrada having been poisoned (as they say) by Juan Balsa, the only captains left to them were Cristóbal de Sotelo and García de Alvarado. And so, that these should come to an end like the others, it fell out in this wise.[106]

García de Alvarado, being a spirited youth, and having come from Arequipa very proud of bringing in so much stolen treasure, began to feel aggrieved because Sotelo was more considered than himself and always first and foremost above the rest. He set about to making friendships, feigned or true, with many who had been soldiers under Francisco de Chaves, and were on bad terms with Sotelo because they said their old captain\'s death was due to him. García de Alvarado now wormed himself into their[217] favour so as to make use of them when necessity should arise; though he thought little of Don Diego de Almagro himself. He next began to distribute the money he had brought among those who were his friends and who appeared to him to be on his side, glad always to asperse Sotelo and to belittle his affairs. The accomplices with García de Alvarado in this business, and those who went among the soldiers for him, probing their dispositions, were Rodrigo Nú?ez, who had been the old Adelantado\'s Camp Master, a man of little knowledge and less judgment, Martín Carrillo, Juan Rodríguez Barragán, and many others.

Cristóbal de Sotelo did not fail to perceive García de Alvarado\'s design against him, but as he was prudent he pretended to treat it with unconcern and not pay much attention to it. Nevertheless they say that he spoke to Don Diego on the subject. But since García de Alvarado had won over many of the soldiers who were in the city, and some of the veterans who had followed the banners of the old Adelantado, he covertly and of set purpose raised the question as to who was to be General of the camp, himself or Cristóbal de Sotelo, so that they should declare that he and no other should be the one. In those days Sotelo was laid up with a calenture, owing to which he passed a serpent or worm from below, a fa............