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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Lost World, by Arthur Conan Doyle
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Lost World
+
+Author: Arthur Conan Doyle
+
+Release Date: June 19, 2008 [EBook #139]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LOST WORLD ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Judith Boss.  HTML version by Al Haines.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                          THE LOST WORLD
+
+                   I have wrought my simple plan
+                    If I give one hour of joy
+                  To the boy who's half a man,
+                    Or the man who's half a boy.
+
+
+
+                          The Lost World
+
+
+                                By
+
+                     SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
+
+                         COPYRIGHT, 1912
+
+
+
+                             Foreword
+
+            Mr. E. D. Malone desires to state that
+          both the injunction for restraint and the
+          libel action have been withdrawn unreservedly
+          by Professor G. E. Challenger, who, being
+          satisfied that no criticism or comment in
+          this book is meant in an offensive spirit,
+          has guaranteed that he will place no
+          impediment to its publication and circulation.
+
+
+
+
+
+                             Contents
+
+CHAPTER
+
+    I.  "THERE ARE HEROISMS ALL ROUND US"
+   II.  "TRY YOUR LUCK WITH PROFESSOR CHALLENGER"
+  III.  "HE IS A PERFECTLY IMPOSSIBLE PERSON"
+   IV.  "IT'S JUST THE VERY BIGGEST THING IN THE WORLD"
+    V.  "QUESTION!"
+   VI.  "I WAS THE FLAIL OF THE LORD"
+  VII.  "TO-MORROW WE DISAPPEAR INTO THE UNKNOWN"
+ VIII.  "THE OUTLYING PICKETS OF THE NEW WORLD"
+   IX.  "WHO COULD HAVE FORESEEN IT?"
+    X.  "THE MOST WONDERFUL THINGS HAVE HAPPENED"
+   XI.  "FOR ONCE I WAS THE HERO"
+  XII.  "IT WAS DREADFUL IN THE FOREST"
+ XIII.  "A SIGHT I SHALL NEVER FORGET"
+  XIV.  "THOSE WERE THE REAL CONQUESTS"
+   XV.  "OUR EYES HAVE SEEN GREAT WONDERS"
+  XVI.  "A PROCESSION!  A PROCESSION!"
+
+
+
+
+                          THE LOST WORLD
+
+
+
+
+                          The Lost World
+
+                            CHAPTER I
+
+                "There Are Heroisms All Round Us"
+
+Mr. Hungerton, her father, really was the most tactless person upon
+earth,--a fluffy, feathery, untidy cockatoo of a man, perfectly
+good-natured, but absolutely centered upon his own silly self.  If
+anything could have driven me from Gladys, it would have been the
+thought of such a father-in-law.  I am convinced that he really
+believed in his heart that I came round to the Chestnuts three days a
+week for the pleasure of his company, and very especially to hear his
+views upon bimetallism, a subject upon which he was by way of being an
+authority.
+
+For an hour or more that evening I listened to his monotonous chirrup
+about bad money driving out good, the token value of silver, the
+depreciation of the rupee, and the true standards of exchange.
+
+"Suppose," he cried with feeble violence, "that all the debts in the
+world were called up simultaneously, and immediate payment insisted
+upon,--what under our present conditions would happen then?"
+
+I gave the self-evident answer that I should be a ruined man, upon
+which he jumped from his chair, reproved me for my habitual levity,
+which made it impossible for him to discuss any reasonable subject in
+my presence, and bounced off out of the room to dress for a Masonic
+meeting.
+
+At last I was alone with Gladys, and the moment of Fate had come!  All
+that evening I had felt like the soldier who awaits the signal which
+will send him on a forlorn hope; hope of victory and fear of repulse
+alternating in his mind.
+
+She sat with that proud, delicate profile of hers outlined against the
+red curtain.  How beautiful she was!  And yet how aloof!  We had been
+friends, quite good friends; but never could I get beyond the same
+comradeship which I might have established with one of my
+fellow-reporters upon the Gazette,--perfectly frank, perfectly kindly,
+and perfectly unsexual.  My instincts are all against a woman being too
+frank and at her ease with me.  It is no compliment to a man.  Where
+the real sex feeling begins, timidity and distrust are its companions,
+heritage from old wicked days when love and violence went often hand in
+hand.  The bent head, the averted eye, the faltering voice, the wincing
+figure--these, and not the unshrinking gaze and frank reply, are the
+true signals of passion.  Even in my short life I had learned as much
+as that--or had inherited it in that race memory which we call instinct.
+
+Gladys was full of every womanly quality.  Some judged her to be cold
+and hard; but such a thought was treason.  That delicately bronzed
+skin, almost oriental in its coloring, that raven hair, the large
+liquid eyes, the full but exquisite lips,--all the stigmata of passion
+were there.  But I was sadly conscious that up to now I had never found
+the secret of drawing it forth.  However, come what might, I should
+have done with suspense and bring matters to a head to-night.  She
+could but refuse me, and better be a repulsed lover than an accepted
+brother.
+
+So far my thoughts had carried me, and I was about to break the long
+and uneasy silence, when two critical, dark eyes looked round at me,
+and the proud head was shaken in smiling reproof.  "I have a
+presentiment that you are going to propose, Ned.  I do wish you
+wouldn't; for things are so much nicer as they are."
+
+I drew my chair a little nearer.  "Now, how did you know that I was
+going to propose?" I asked in genuine wonder.
+
+"Don't women always know?  Do you suppose any woman in the world was
+ever taken unawares?  But--oh, Ned, our friendship has been so good and
+so pleasant!  What a pity to spoil it!  Don't you feel how splendid it
+is that a young man and a young woman should be able to talk face to
+face as we have talked?"
+
+"I don't know, Gladys.  You see, I can talk face to face with--with the
+station-master."  I can't imagine how that official came into the
+matter; but in he trotted, and set us both laughing.  "That does not
+satisfy me in the least.  I want my arms round you, and your head on my
+breast, and--oh, Gladys, I want----"
+
+She had sprung from her chair, as she saw signs that I proposed to
+demonstrate some of my wants.  "You've spoiled everything, Ned," she
+said.  "It's all so beautiful and natural until this kind of thing
+comes in!  It is such a pity!  Why can't you control yourself?"
+
+"I didn't invent it," I pleaded.  "It's nature.  It's love."
+
+"Well, perhaps if both love, it may be different.  I have never felt
+it."
+
+"But you must--you, with your beauty, with your soul!  Oh, Gladys, you
+were made for love!  You must love!"
+
+"One must wait till it comes."
+
+"But why can't you love me, Gladys?  Is it my appearance, or what?"
+
+She did unbend a little.  She put forward a hand--such a gracious,
+stooping attitude it was--and she pressed back my head.  Then she
+looked into my upturned face with a very wistful smile.
+
+"No it isn't that," she said at last.  "You're not a conceited boy by
+nature, and so I can safely tell you it is not that.  It's deeper."
+
+"My character?"
+
+She nodded severely.
+
+"What can I do to mend it?  Do sit down and talk it over.  No, really,
+I won't if you'll only sit down!"
+
+She looked at me with a wondering distrust which was much more to my
+mind than her whole-hearted confidence.  How primitive and bestial it
+looks when you put it down in black and white!--and perhaps after all
+it is only a feeling peculiar to myself.  Anyhow, she sat down.
+
+"Now tell me what's amiss with me?"
+
+"I'm in love with somebody else," said she.
+
+It was my turn to jump out of my chair.
+
+"It's nobody in particular," she explained, laughing at the expression
+of my face: "only an ideal.  I've never met the kind of man I mean."
+
+"Tell me about him.  What does he look like?"
+
+"Oh, he might look very much like you."
+
+"How dear of you to say that!  Well, what is it that he does that I
+don't do?  Just say the word,--teetotal, vegetarian, aeronaut,
+theosophist, superman.  I'll have a try at it, Gladys, if you will only
+give me an idea what would please you."
+
+She laughed at the elasticity of my character.  "Well, in the first
+place, I don't think my ideal would speak like that," said she.  "He
+would be a harder, sterner man, not so ready to adapt himself to a
+silly girl's whim.  But, above all, he must be a man who could do, who
+could act, who could look Death in the face and have no fear of him, a
+man of great deeds and strange experiences.  It is never a man that I
+should love, but always the glories he had won; for they would be
+reflected upon me.  Think of Richard Burton!  When I read his wife's
+life of him I could so understand her love!  And Lady Stanley!  Did you
+ever read the wonderful last chapter of that book about her husband?
+These are the sort of men that a woman could worship with all her soul,
+and yet be the greater, not the less, on account of her love, honored
+by all the world as the inspirer of noble deeds."
+
+She looked so beautiful in her enthusiasm that I nearly brought down
+the whole level of the interview.  I gripped myself hard, and went on
+with the argument.
+
+"We can't all be Stanleys and Burtons," said I; "besides, we don't get
+the chance,--at least, I never had the chance.  If I did, I should try
+to take it."
+
+"But chances are all around you.  It is the mark of the kind of man I
+mean that he makes his own chances.  You can't hold him back.  I've
+never met him, and yet I seem to know him so well.  There are heroisms
+all round us waiting to be done.  It's for men to do them, and for
+women to reserve their love as a reward for such men.  Look at that
+young Frenchman who went up last week in a balloon.  It was blowing a
+gale of wind; but because he was announced to go he insisted on
+starting.  The wind blew him fifteen hundred miles in twenty-four
+hours, and he fell in the middle of Russia.  That was the kind of man I
+mean.  Think of the woman he loved, and how other women must have
+envied her!  That's what I should like to be,--envied for my man."
+
+"I'd have done it to please you."
+
+"But you shouldn't do it merely to please me.  You should do it because
+you can't help yourself, because it's natural to you, because the man
+in you is crying out for heroic expression.  Now, when you described
+the Wigan coal explosion last month, could you not have gone down and
+helped those people, in spite of the choke-damp?"
+
+"I did."
+
+"You never said so."
+
+"There was nothing worth bucking about."
+
+"I didn't know."  She looked at me with rather more interest.  "That
+was brave of you."
+
+"I had to.  If you want to write good copy, you must be where the
+things are."
+
+"What a prosaic motive!  It seems to take all the romance out of it.
+But, still, whatever your motive, I am glad that you went down that
+mine."  She gave me her hand; but with such sweetness and dignity that
+I could only stoop and kiss it.  "I dare say I am merely a foolish
+woman with a young girl's fancies.  And yet it is so real with me, so
+entirely part of my very self, that I cannot help acting upon it.  If I
+marry, I do want to marry a famous man!"
+
+"Why should you not?" I cried.  "It is women like you who brace men up.
+Give me a chance, and see if I will take it!  Besides, as you say, men
+ought to MAKE their own chances, and not wait until they are given.
+Look at Clive--just a clerk, and he conquered India!  By George!  I'll
+do something in the world yet!"
+
+She laughed at my sudden Irish effervescence.  "Why not?" she said.
+"You have everything a man could have,--youth, health, strength,
+education, energy.  I was sorry you spoke.  And now I am glad--so
+glad--if it wakens these thoughts in you!"
+
+"And if I do----"
+
+Her dear hand rested like warm velvet upon my lips.  "Not another word,
+Sir!  You should have been at the office for evening duty half an hour
+ago; only I hadn't the heart to remind you.  Some day, perhaps, when
+you have won your place in the world, we shall talk it over again."
+
+And so it was that I found myself that foggy November evening pursuing
+the Camberwell tram with my heart glowing within me, and with the eager
+determination that not another day should elapse before I should find
+some deed which was worthy of my lady.  But who--who in all this wide
+world could ever have imagined the incredible shape which that deed was
+to take, or the strange steps by which I was led to the doing of it?
+
+And, after all, this opening chapter will seem to the reader to have
+nothing to do with my narrative; and yet there would have been no
+narrative without it, for it is only when a man goes out into the world
+with the thought that there are heroisms all round him, and with the
+desire all alive in his heart to follow any which may come within sight
+of him, that he breaks away as I did from the life he knows, and
+ventures forth into the wonderful mystic twilight land where lie the
+great adventures and the great rewards.  Behold me, then, at the office
+of the Daily Gazette, on the staff of which I was a most insignificant
+unit, with the settled determination that very night, if possible, to
+find the quest which should be worthy of my Gladys!  Was it hardness,
+was it selfishness, that she should ask me to risk my life for her own
+glorification?  Such thoughts may come to middle age; but never to
+ardent three-and-twenty in the fever of his first love.
+
+
+
+
+                            CHAPTER II
+
+            "Try Your Luck with Professor Challenger"
+
+I always liked McArdle, the crabbed, old, round-backed, red-headed news
+editor, and I rather hoped that he liked me.  Of course, Beaumont was
+the real boss; but he lived in the rarefied atmosphere of some Olympian
+height from which he could distinguish nothing smaller than an
+international crisis or a split in the Cabinet.  Sometimes we saw him
+passing in lonely majesty to his inner sanctum, with his eyes staring
+vaguely and his mind hovering over the Balkans or the Persian Gulf.  He
+was above and beyond us.  But McArdle was his first lieutenant, and it
+was he that we knew.  The old man nodded as I entered the room, and he
+pushed his spectacles far up on his bald forehead.
+
+"Well, Mr. Malone, from all I hear, you seem to be doing very well,"
+said he in his kindly Scotch accent.
+
+I thanked him.
+
+"The colliery explosion was excellent.  So was the Southwark fire.  You
+have the true descreeptive touch.  What did you want to see me about?"
+
+"To ask a favor."
+
+He looked alarmed, and his eyes shunned mine. "Tut, tut!  What is it?"
+
+"Do you think, Sir, that you could possibly send me on some mission for
+the paper?  I would do my best to put it through and get you some good
+copy."
+
+"What sort of meesion had you in your mind, Mr. Malone?"
+
+"Well, Sir, anything that had adventure and danger in it.  I really
+would do my very best.  The more difficult it was, the better it would
+suit me."
+
+"You seem very anxious to lose your life."
+
+"To justify my life, Sir."
+
+"Dear me, Mr. Malone, this is very--very exalted.  I'm afraid the day
+for this sort of thing is rather past.  The expense of the 'special
+meesion' business hardly justifies the result, and, of course, in any
+case it would only be an experienced man with a name that would command
+public confidence who would get such an order.  The big blank spaces in
+the map are all being filled in, and there's no room for romance
+anywhere.  Wait a bit, though!" he added, with a sudden smile upon his
+face.  "Talking of the blank spaces of the map gives me an idea.  What
+about exposing a fraud--a modern Munchausen--and making him
+rideeculous?  You could show him up as the liar that he is!  Eh, man,
+it would be fine.  How does it appeal to you?"
+
+"Anything--anywhere--I care nothing."
+
+McArdle was plunged in thought for some minutes.
+
+"I wonder whether you could get on friendly--or at least on talking
+terms with the fellow," he said, at last.  "You seem to have a sort of
+genius for establishing relations with people--seempathy, I suppose, or
+animal magnetism, or youthful vitality, or something.  I am conscious
+of it myself."
+
+"You are very good, sir."
+
+"So why should you not try your luck with Professor Challenger, of
+Enmore Park?"
+
+I dare say I looked a little startled.
+
+"Challenger!" I cried.  "Professor Challenger, the famous zoologist!
+Wasn't he the man who broke the skull of Blundell, of the Telegraph?"
+
+The news editor smiled grimly.
+
+"Do you mind?  Didn't you say it was adventures you were after?"
+
+"It is all in the way of business, sir," I answered.
+
+"Exactly.  I don't suppose he can always be so violent as that.  I'm
+thinking that Blundell got him at the wrong moment, maybe, or in the
+wrong fashion.  You may have better luck, or more tact in handling him.
+There's something in your line there, I am sure, and the Gazette should
+work it."
+
+"I really know nothing about him," said I.  "I only remember his name
+in connection with the police-court proceedings, for striking Blundell."
+
+"I have a few notes for your guidance, Mr. Malone.  I've had my eye on
+the Professor for some little time."  He took a paper from a drawer.
+"Here is a summary of his record.  I give it you briefly:--
+
+"'Challenger, George Edward.  Born: Largs, N. B., 1863.  Educ.: Largs
+Academy; Edinburgh University.  British Museum Assistant, 1892.
+Assistant-Keeper of Comparative Anthropology Department, 1893.
+Resigned after acrimonious correspondence same year.  Winner of
+Crayston Medal for Zoological Research.  Foreign Member of'--well,
+quite a lot of things, about two inches of small type--'Societe Belge,
+American Academy of Sciences, La Plata, etc., etc.  Ex-President
+Palaeontological Society.  Section H, British Association'--so on, so
+on!--'Publications: "Some Observations Upon a Series of Kalmuck
+Skulls"; "Outlines of Vertebrate Evolution"; and numerous papers,
+including "The underlying fallacy of Weissmannism," which caused heated
+discussion at the Zoological Congress of Vienna.  Recreations: Walking,
+Alpine climbing.  Address: Enmore Park, Kensington, W.'
+
+"There, take it with you.  I've nothing more for you to-night."
+
+I pocketed the slip of paper.
+
+"One moment, sir," I said, as I realized that it was a pink bald head,
+and not a red face, which was fronting me.  "I am not very clear yet
+why I am to interview this gentleman.  What has he done?"
+
+The face flashed back again.
+
+"Went to South America on a solitary expedeetion two years ago.  Came
+back last year.  Had undoubtedly been to South America, but refused to
+say exactly where.  Began to tell his adventures in a vague way, but
+somebody started to pick holes, and he just shut up like an oyster.
+Something wonderful happened--or the man's a champion liar, which is
+the more probable supposeetion.  Had some damaged photographs, said to
+be fakes.  Got so touchy that he assaults anyone who asks questions,
+and heaves reporters down the stairs.  In my opinion he's just a
+homicidal megalomaniac with a turn for science.  That's your man, Mr.
+Malone.  Now, off you run, and see what you can make of him.  You're
+big enough to look after yourself.  Anyway, you are all safe.
+Employers' Liability Act, you know."
+
+A grinning red face turned once more into a pink oval, fringed with
+gingery fluff; the interview was at an end.
+
+I walked across to the Savage Club, but instead of turning into it I
+leaned upon the railings of Adelphi Terrace and gazed thoughtfully for
+a long time at the brown, oily river.  I can always think most sanely
+and clearly in the open air.  I took out the list of Professor
+Challenger's exploits, and I read it over under the electric lamp.
+Then I had what I can only regard as an inspiration.  As a Pressman, I
+felt sure from what I had been told that I could never hope to get into
+touch with this cantankerous Professor.  But these recriminations,
+twice mentioned in his skeleton biography, could only mean that he was
+a fanatic in science.  Was there not an exposed margin there upon which
+he might be accessible?  I would try.
+
+I entered the club.  It was just after eleven, and the big room was
+fairly full, though the rush had not yet set in.  I noticed a tall,
+thin, angular man seated in an arm-chair by the fire.  He turned as I
+drew my chair up to him.  It was the man of all others whom I should
+have chosen--Tarp Henry, of the staff of Nature, a thin, dry, leathery
+creature, who was full, to those who knew him, of kindly humanity.  I
+plunged instantly into my subject.
+
+"What do you know of Professor Challenger?"
+
+"Challenger?" He gathered his brows in scientific disapproval.
+"Challenger was the man who came with some cock-and-bull story from
+South America."
+
+"What story?"
+
+"Oh, it was rank nonsense about some queer animals he had discovered.
+I believe he has retracted since.  Anyhow, he has suppressed it all.
+He gave an interview to Reuter's, and there was such a howl that he saw
+it wouldn't do.  It was a discreditable business.  There were one or
+two folk who were inclined to take him seriously, but he soon choked
+them off."
+
+"How?"
+
+"Well, by his insufferable rudeness and impossible behavior.  There was
+poor old Wadley, of the Zoological Institute.  Wadley sent a message:
+'The President of the Zoological Institute presents his compliments to
+Professor Challenger, and would take it as a personal favor if he would
+do them the honor to come to their next meeting.'  The answer was
+unprintable."
+
+"You don't say?"
+
+"Well, a bowdlerized version of it would run:  'Professor Challenger
+presents his compliments to the President of the Zoological Institute,
+and would take it as a personal favor if he would go to the devil.'"
+
+"Good Lord!"
+
+"Yes, I expect that's what old Wadley said.  I remember his wail at the
+meeting, which began:  'In fifty years experience of scientific
+intercourse----'  It quite broke the old man up."
+
+"Anything more about Challenger?"
+
+"Well, I'm a bacteriologist, you know.  I live in a
+nine-hundred-diameter microscope.  I can hardly claim to take serious
+notice of anything that I can see with my naked eye.  I'm a
+frontiersman from the extreme edge of the Knowable, and I feel quite
+out of place when I leave my study and come into touch with all you
+great, rough, hulking creatures.  I'm too detached to talk scandal, and
+yet at scientific conversaziones I HAVE heard something of Challenger,
+for he is one of those men whom nobody can ignore.  He's as clever as
+they make 'em--a full-charged battery of force and vitality, but a
+quarrelsome, ill-conditioned faddist, and unscrupulous at that.  He had
+gone the length of faking some photographs over the South American
+business."
+
+"You say he is a faddist.  What is his particular fad?"
+
+"He has a thousand, but the latest is something about Weissmann and
+Evolution.  He had a fearful row about it in Vienna, I believe."
+
+"Can't you tell me the point?"
+
+"Not at the moment, but a translation of the proceedings exists.  We
+have it filed at the office.  Would you care to come?"
+
+"It's just what I want.  I have to interview the fellow, and I need
+some lead up to him.  It's really awfully good of you to give me a
+lift.  I'll go with you now, if it is not too late."
+
+
+Half an hour later I was seated in the newspaper office with a huge
+tome in front of me, which had been opened at the article "Weissmann
+versus Darwin," with the sub heading, "Spirited Protest at Vienna.
+Lively Proceedings."  My scientific education having been somewhat
+neglected, I was unable to follow the whole argument, but it was
+evident that the English Professor had handled his subject in a very
+aggressive fashion, and had thoroughly annoyed his Continental
+colleagues.  "Protests," "Uproar," and "General appeal to the Chairman"
+were three of the first brackets which caught my eye.  Most of the
+matter might have been written in Chinese for any definite meaning that
+it conveyed to my brain.
+
+"I wish you could translate it into English for me," I said,
+pathetically, to my help-mate.
+
+"Well, it is a translation."
+
+"Then I'd better try my luck with the original."
+
+"It is certainly rather deep for a layman."
+
+"If I could only get a single good, meaty sentence which seemed to
+convey some sort of definite human idea, it would serve my turn.  Ah,
+yes, this one will do.  I seem in a vague way almost to understand it.
+I'll copy it out.  This shall be my link with the terrible Professor."
+
+"Nothing else I can do?"
+
+"Well, yes; I propose to write to him.  If I could frame the letter
+here, and use your address it would give atmosphere."
+
+"We'll have the fellow round here making a row and breaking the
+furniture."
+
+"No, no; you'll see the letter--nothing contentious, I assure you."
+
+"Well, that's my chair and desk.  You'll find paper there.  I'd like to
+censor it before it goes."
+
+It took some doing, but I flatter myself that it wasn't such a bad job
+when it was finished.  I read it aloud to the critical bacteriologist
+with some pride in my handiwork.
+
+
+"DEAR PROFESSOR CHALLENGER," it said, "As a humble student of Nature, I
+have always taken the most profound interest in your speculations as to
+the differences between Darwin and Weissmann.  I have recently had
+occasion to refresh my memory by re-reading----"
+
+
+"You infernal liar!" murmured Tarp Henry.
+
+
+--"by re-reading your masterly address at Vienna.  That lucid and
+admirable statement seems to be the last word in the matter.  There is
+one sentence in it, however--namely:  'I protest strongly against the
+insufferable and entirely dogmatic assertion that each separate id is a
+microcosm possessed of an historical architecture elaborated slowly
+through the series of generations.' Have you no desire, in view of
+later research, to modify this statement?  Do you not think that it is
+over-accentuated?  With your permission, I would ask the favor of an
+interview, as I feel strongly upon the subject, and have certain
+suggestions which I could only elaborate in a personal conversation.
+With your consent, I trust to have the honor of calling at eleven
+o'clock the day after to-morrow (Wednesday) morning.
+
+"I remain, Sir, with assurances of profound respect, yours very truly,
+
+EDWARD D. MALONE."
+
+
+"How's that?" I asked, triumphantly.
+
+"Well if your conscience can stand it----"
+
+"It has never failed me yet."
+
+"But what do you mean to do?"
+
+"To get there.  Once I am in his room I may see some opening.  I may
+even go the length of open confession.  If he is a sportsman he will be
+tickled."
+
+"Tickled, indeed!  He's much more likely to do the tickling.  Chain
+mail, or an American football suit--that's what you'll want.  Well,
+good-bye.  I'll have the answer for you here on Wednesday morning--if
+he ever deigns to answer you.  He is a violent, dangerous, cantankerous
+character, hated by everyone who comes across him, and the butt of the
+students, so far as they dare take a liberty with him.  Perhaps it
+would be best for you if you never heard from the fellow at all."
+
+
+
+
+                           CHAPTER III
+
+              "He is a Perfectly Impossible Person"
+
+My friend's fear or hope was not destined to be realized.  When I
+called on Wednesday there was a letter with the West Kensington
+postmark upon it, and my name scrawled across the envelope in a
+handwriting which looked like a barbed-wire railing.  The contents were
+as follows:--
+
+
+                              "ENMORE PARK, W.
+
+"SIR,--I have duly received your note, in which you claim to endorse my
+views, although I am not aware that they are dependent upon endorsement
+either from you or anyone else.  You have ventured to use the word
+'speculation' with regard to my statement upon the subject of
+Darwinism, and I would call your attention to the fact that such a word
+in such a connection is offensive to a degree.  The context convinces
+me, however, that you have sinned rather through ignorance and
+tactlessness than through malice, so I am content to pass the matter
+by.  You quote an isolated sentence from my lecture, and appear to have
+some difficulty in understanding it.  I should have thought that only a
+sub-human intelligence could have failed to grasp the point, but if it
+really needs amplification I shall consent to see you at the hour
+named, though visits and visitors of every sort are exceeding
+distasteful to me.  As to your suggestion that I may modify my opinion,
+I would have you know that it is not my habit to do so after a
+deliberate expression of my mature views.  You will kindly show the
+envelope of this letter to my man, Austin, when you call, as he has to
+take every precaution to shield me from the intrusive rascals who call
+themselves 'journalists.'
+
+                          "Yours faithfully,
+                            "GEORGE EDWARD CHALLENGER."
+
+
+This was the letter that I read aloud to Tarp Henry, who had come down
+early to hear the result of my venture.  His only remark was, "There's
+some new stuff, cuticura or something, which is better than arnica."
+Some people have such extraordinary notions of humor.
+
+It was nearly half-past ten before I had received my message, but a
+taxicab took me round in good time for my appointment.  It was an
+imposing porticoed house at which we stopped, and the heavily-curtained
+windows gave every indication of wealth upon the part of this
+formidable Professor.  The door was opened by an odd, swarthy, dried-up
+person of uncertain age, with a dark pilot jacket and brown leather
+gaiters.  I found afterwards that he was the chauffeur, who filled the
+gaps left by a succession of fugitive butlers.  He looked me up and
+down with a searching light blue eye.
+
+"Expected?" he asked.
+
+"An appointment."
+
+"Got your letter?"
+
+I produced the envelope.
+
+"Right!"  He seemed to be a person of few words.  Following him down
+the passage I was suddenly interrupted by a small woman, who stepped
+out from what proved to be the dining-room door.  She was a bright,
+vivacious, dark-eyed lady, more French than English in her type.
+
+"One moment," she said.  "You can wait, Austin.  Step in here, sir.
+May I ask if you have met my husband before?"
+
+"No, madam, I have not had the honor."
+
+"Then I apologize to you in advance.  I must tell you that he is a
+perfectly impossible person--absolutely impossible.  If you are
+forewarned you will be the more ready to make allowances."
+
+"It is most considerate of you, madam."
+
+"Get quickly out of the room if he seems inclined to be violent.  Don't
+wait to argue with him.  Several people have been injured through doing
+that.  Afterwards there is a public scandal and it reflects upon me and
+all of us.  I suppose it wasn't about South America you wanted to see
+him?"
+
+I could not lie to a lady.
+
+"Dear me!  That is his most dangerous subject.  You won't believe a
+word he says--I'm sure I don't wonder.  But don't tell him so, for it
+makes him very violent.  Pretend to believe him, and you may get
+through all right.  Remember he believes it himself.  Of that you may
+be assured.  A more honest man never lived.  Don't wait any longer or
+he may suspect.  If you find him dangerous--really dangerous--ring the
+bell and hold him off until I come.  Even at his worst I can usually
+control him."
+
+With these encouraging words the lady handed me over to the taciturn
+Austin, who had waited like a bronze statue of discretion during our
+short interview, and I was conducted to the end of the passage.  There
+was a tap at a door, a bull's bellow from within, and I was face to
+face with the Professor.
+
+He sat in a rotating chair behind a broad table, which was covered with
+books, maps, and diagrams.  As I entered, his seat spun round to face
+me.  His appearance made me gasp.  I was prepared for something
+strange, but not for so overpowering a personality as this.  It was his
+size which took one's breath away--his size and his imposing presence.
+His head was enormous, the largest I have ever seen upon a human being.
+I am sure that his top-hat, had I ever ventured to don it, would have
+slipped over me entirely and rested on my shoulders.  He had the face
+and beard which I associate with an Assyrian bull; the former florid,
+the latter so black as almost to have a suspicion of blue, spade-shaped
+and rippling down over his chest.  The hair was peculiar, plastered
+down in front in a long, curving wisp over his massive forehead.  The
+eyes were blue-gray under great black tufts, very clear, very critical,
+and very masterful.  A huge spread of shoulders and a chest like a
+barrel were the other parts of him which appeared above the table, save
+for two enormous hands covered with long black hair.  This and a
+bellowing, roaring, rumbling voice made up my first impression of the
+notorious Professor Challenger.
+
+"Well?" said he, with a most insolent stare.  "What now?"
+
+I must keep up my deception for at least a little time longer,
+otherwise here was evidently an end of the interview.
+
+"You were good enough to give me an appointment, sir," said I, humbly,
+producing his envelope.
+
+He took my letter from his desk and laid it out before him.
+
+"Oh, you are the young person who cannot understand plain English, are
+you?  My general conclusions you are good enough to approve, as I
+understand?"
+
+"Entirely, sir--entirely!"  I was very emphatic.
+
+"Dear me!  That strengthens my position very much, does it not?  Your
+age and appearance make your support doubly valuable.  Well, at least
+you are better than that herd of swine in Vienna, whose gregarious
+grunt is, however, not more offensive than the isolated effort of the
+British hog."  He glared at me as the present representative of the
+beast.
+
+"They seem to have behaved abominably," said I.
+
+"I assure you that I can fight my own battles, and that I have no
+possible need of your sympathy.  Put me alone, sir, and with my back to
+the wall.  G. E. C. is happiest then.  Well, sir, let us do what we can
+to curtail this visit, which can hardly be agreeable to you, and is
+inexpressibly irksome to me.  You had, as I have been led to believe,
+some comments to make upon the proposition which I advanced in my
+thesis."
+
+There was a brutal directness about his methods which made evasion
+difficult.  I must still make play and wait for a better opening.  It
+had seemed simple enough at a distance.  Oh, my Irish wits, could they
+not help me now, when I needed help so sorely?  He transfixed me with
+two sharp, steely eyes.  "Come, come!" he rumbled.
+
+"I am, of course, a mere student," said I, with a fatuous smile,
+"hardly more, I might say, than an earnest inquirer.  At the same time,
+it seemed to me that you were a little severe upon Weissmann in this
+matter.  Has not the general evidence since that date tended to--well,
+to strengthen his position?"
+
+"What evidence?"  He spoke with a menacing calm.
+
+"Well, of course, I am aware that there is not any what you might call
+DEFINITE evidence.  I alluded merely to the trend of modern thought and
+the general scientific point of view, if I might so express it."
+
+He leaned forward with great earnestness.
+
+"I suppose you are aware," said he, checking off points upon his
+fingers, "that the cranial index is a constant factor?"
+
+"Naturally," said I.
+
+"And that telegony is still sub judice?"
+
+"Undoubtedly."
+
+"And that the germ plasm is different from the parthenogenetic egg?"
+
+"Why, surely!" I cried, and gloried in my own audacity.
+
+"But what does that prove?" he asked, in a gentle, persuasive voice.
+
+"Ah, what indeed?" I murmured.  "What does it prove?"
+
+"Shall I tell you?" he cooed.
+
+"Pray do."
+
+"It proves," he roared, with a sudden blast of fury, "that you are the
+damnedest imposter in London--a vile, crawling journalist, who has no
+more science than he has decency in his composition!"
+
+He had sprung to his feet with a mad rage in his eyes.  Even at that
+moment of tension I found time for amazement at the discovery that he
+was quite a short man, his head not higher than my shoulder--a stunted
+Hercules whose tremendous vitality had all run to depth, breadth, and
+brain.
+
+"Gibberish!" he cried, leaning forward, with his fingers on the table
+and his face projecting.  "That's what I have been talking to you,
+sir--scientific gibberish!  Did you think you could match cunning with
+me--you with your walnut of a brain?  You think you are omnipotent, you
+infernal scribblers, don't you?  That your praise can make a man and
+your blame can break him?  We must all bow to you, and try to get a
+favorable word, must we?  This man shall have a leg up, and this man
+shall have a dressing down!  Creeping vermin, I know you!  You've got
+out of your station.  Time was when your ears were clipped.  You've
+lost your sense of proportion.  Swollen gas-bags!  I'll keep you in
+your proper place.  Yes, sir, you haven't got over G. E. C.  There's
+one man who is still your master.  He warned you off, but if you WILL
+come, by the Lord you do it at your own risk.  Forfeit, my good Mr.
+Malone, I claim forfeit!  You have played a rather dangerous game, and
+it strikes me that you have lost it."
+
+"Look here, sir," said I, backing to the door and opening it; "you can
+be as abusive as you like.  But there is a limit.  You shall not
+assault me."
+
+"Shall I not?"  He was slowly advancing in a peculiarly menacing way,
+but he stopped now and put his big hands into the side-pockets of a
+rather boyish short jacket which he wore.  "I have thrown several of
+you out of the house.  You will be the fourth or fifth.  Three pound
+fifteen each--that is how it averaged.  Expensive, but very necessary.
+Now, sir, why should you not follow your brethren?  I rather think you
+must."  He resumed his unpleasant and stealthy advance, pointing his
+toes as he walked, like a dancing master.
+
+I could have bolted for the hall door, but it would have been too
+ignominious.  Besides, a little glow of righteous anger was springing
+up within me.  I had been hopelessly in the wrong before, but this
+man's menaces were putting me in the right.
+
+"I'll trouble you to keep your hands off, sir.  I'll not stand it."
+
+"Dear me!"  His black moustache lifted and a white fang twinkled in a
+sneer.  "You won't stand it, eh?"
+
+"Don't be such a fool, Professor!" I cried.  "What can you hope for?
+I'm fifteen stone, as hard as nails, and play center three-quarter
+every Saturday for the London Irish.  I'm not the man----"
+
+It was at that moment that he rushed me.  It was lucky that I had
+opened the door, or we should have gone through it.  We did a
+Catharine-wheel together down the passage.  Somehow we gathered up a
+chair upon our way, and bounded on with it towards the street.  My
+mouth was full of  his beard, our arms were locked, our bodies
+intertwined, and that infernal chair radiated its legs all round us.
+The watchful Austin had thrown open the hall door.  We went with a back
+somersault down the front steps.  I have seen the two Macs attempt
+something of the kind at the halls, but it appears to take some
+practise to do it without hurting oneself.  The chair went to matchwood
+at the bottom, and we rolled apart into the gutter.  He sprang to his
+feet, waving his fists and wheezing like an asthmatic.
+
+"Had enough?" he panted.
+
+"You infernal bully!" I cried, as I gathered myself together.
+
+Then and there we should have tried the thing out, for he was
+effervescing with fight, but fortunately I was rescued from an odious
+situation.  A policeman was beside us, his notebook in his hand.
+
+"What's all this?  You ought to be ashamed" said the policeman.  It was
+the most rational remark which I had heard in Enmore Park.  "Well," he
+insisted, turning to me, "what is it, then?"
+
+"This man attacked me," said I.
+
+"Did you attack him?" asked the policeman.
+
+The Professor breathed hard and said nothing.
+
+"It's not the first time, either," said the policeman, severely,
+shaking his head.  "You were in trouble last month for the same thing.
+You've blackened this young man's eye.  Do you give him in charge, sir?"
+
+I relented.
+
+"No," said I, "I do not."
+
+"What's that?" said the policeman.
+
+"I was to blame myself.  I intruded upon him.  He gave me fair warning."
+
+The policeman snapped up his notebook.
+
+"Don't let us have any more such goings-on," said he.  "Now, then!
+Move on, there, move on!"  This to a butcher's boy, a maid, and one or
+two loafers who had collected.  He clumped heavily down the street,
+driving this little flock before him.  The Professor looked at me, and
+there was something humorous at the back of his eyes.
+
+"Come in!" said he.  "I've not done with you yet."
+
+The speech had a sinister sound, but I followed him none the less into
+the house.  The man-servant, Austin, like a wooden image, closed the
+door behind us.
+
+
+
+
+                            CHAPTER IV
+
+         "It's Just the very Biggest Thing in the World"
+
+Hardly was it shut when Mrs. Challenger darted out from the
+dining-room.  The small woman was in a furious temper.  She barred her
+husband's way like an enraged chicken in front of a bulldog.  It was
+evident that she had seen my exit, but had not observed my return.
+
+"You brute, George!" she screamed.  "You've hurt that nice young man."
+
+He jerked backwards with his thumb.
+
+"Here he is, safe and sound behind me."
+
+She was confused, but not unduly so.
+
+"I am so sorry, I didn't see you."
+
+"I assure you, madam, that it is all right."
+
+"He has marked your poor face!  Oh, George, what a brute you are!
+Nothing but scandals from one end of the week to the other.  Everyone
+hating and making fun of you.  You've finished my patience.  This ends
+it."
+
+"Dirty linen," he rumbled.
+
+"It's not a secret," she cried.  "Do you suppose that the whole
+street--the whole of London, for that matter----  Get away, Austin, we
+don't want you here.  Do you suppose they don't all talk about you?
+Where is your dignity?  You, a man who should have been Regius
+Professor at a great University with a thousand students all revering
+you.  Where is your dignity, George?"
+
+"How about yours, my dear?"
+
+"You try me too much.  A ruffian--a common brawling ruffian--that's
+what you have become."
+
+"Be good, Jessie."
+
+"A roaring, raging bully!"
+
+"That's done it!  Stool of penance!" said he.
+
+To my amazement he stooped, picked her up, and placed her sitting upon
+a high pedestal of black marble in the angle of the hall.  It was at
+least seven feet high, and so thin that she could hardly balance upon
+it.  A more absurd object than she presented cocked up there with her
+face convulsed with anger, her feet dangling, and her body rigid for
+fear of an upset, I could not imagine.
+
+"Let me down!" she wailed.
+
+"Say 'please.'"
+
+"You brute, George!  Let me down this instant!"
+
+"Come into the study, Mr. Malone."
+
+"Really, sir----!" said I, looking at the lady.
+
+"Here's Mr. Malone pleading for you, Jessie.  Say 'please,' and down
+you come."
+
+"Oh, you brute!  Please! please!"
+
+He took her down as if she had been a canary.
+
+"You must behave yourself, dear.  Mr. Malone is a Pressman.  He will
+have it all in his rag to-morrow, and sell an extra dozen among our
+neighbors.  'Strange story of high life'--you felt fairly high on that
+pedestal, did you not?  Then a sub-title, 'Glimpse of a singular
+menage.'  He's a foul feeder, is Mr. Malone, a carrion eater, like all
+of his kind--porcus ex grege diaboli--a swine from the devil's herd.
+That's it, Malone--what?"
+
+"You are really intolerable!" said I, hotly.
+
+He bellowed with laughter.
+
+"We shall have a coalition presently," he boomed, looking from his wife
+to me and puffing out his enormous chest.  Then, suddenly altering his
+tone, "Excuse this frivolous family badinage, Mr. Malone.  I called you
+back for some more serious purpose than to mix you up with our little
+domestic pleasantries.  Run away, little woman, and don't fret."  He
+placed a huge hand upon each of her shoulders.  "All that you say is
+perfectly true.  I should be a better man if I did what you advise, but
+I shouldn't be quite George Edward Challenger.  There are plenty of
+better men, my dear, but only one G. E. C.  So make the best of him."
+He suddenly gave her a resounding kiss, which embarrassed me even more
+than his violence had done.  "Now, Mr. Malone," he continued, with a
+great accession of dignity, "this way, if YOU please."
+
+We re-entered the room which we had left so tumultuously ten minutes
+before.  The Professor closed the door carefully behind us, motioned me
+into an arm-chair, and pushed a cigar-box under my nose.
+
+"Real San Juan Colorado," he said.  "Excitable people like you are the
+better for narcotics.  Heavens! don't bite it!  Cut--and cut with
+reverence!  Now lean back, and listen attentively to whatever I may
+care to say to you.  If any remark should occur to you, you can reserve
+it for some more opportune time.
+
+"First of all, as to your return to my house after your most
+justifiable expulsion"--he protruded his beard, and stared at me as one
+who challenges and invites contradiction--"after, as I say, your
+well-merited expulsion.  The reason lay in your answer to that most
+officious policeman, in which I seemed to discern some glimmering of
+good feeling upon your part--more, at any rate, than I am accustomed to
+associate with your profession.  In admitting that the fault of the
+incident lay with you, you gave some evidence of a certain mental
+detachment and breadth of view which attracted my favorable notice.
+The sub-species of the human race to which you unfortunately belong has
+always been below my mental horizon.  Your words brought you suddenly
+above it.  You swam up into my serious notice.  For this reason I asked
+you to return with me, as I was minded to make your further
+acquaintance.  You will kindly deposit your ash in the small Japanese
+tray on the bamboo table which stands at your left elbow."
+
+All this he boomed forth like a professor addressing his class.  He had
+swung round his revolving chair so as to face me, and he sat all puffed
+out like an enormous bull-frog, his head laid back and his eyes
+half-covered by supercilious lids.  Now he suddenly turned himself
+sideways, and all I could see of him was tangled hair with a red,
+protruding ear.  He was scratching about among the litter of papers
+upon his desk.  He faced me presently with what looked like a very
+tattered sketch-book in his hand.
+
+"I am going to talk to you about South America," said he.  "No comments
+if you please.  First of all, I wish you to understand that nothing I
+tell you now is to be repeated in any public way unless you have my
+express permission.  That permission will, in all human probability,
+never be given.  Is that clear?"
+
+"It is very hard," said I. "Surely a judicious account----"
+
+He replaced the notebook upon the table.
+
+"That ends it," said he.  "I wish you a very good morning."
+
+"No, no!" I cried.  "I submit to any conditions.  So far as I can see,
+I have no choice."
+
+"None in the world," said he.
+
+"Well, then, I promise."
+
+"Word of honor?"
+
+"Word of honor."
+
+He looked at me with doubt in his insolent eyes.
+
+"After all, what do I know about your honor?" said he.
+
+"Upon my word, sir," I cried, angrily, "you take very great liberties!
+I have never been so insulted in my life."
+
+He seemed more interested than annoyed at my outbreak.
+
+"Round-headed," he muttered.  "Brachycephalic, gray-eyed, black-haired,
+with suggestion of the negroid.  Celtic, I presume?"
+
+"I am an Irishman, sir."
+
+"Irish Irish?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"That, of course, explains it.  Let me see; you have given me your
+promise that my confidence will be respected?  That confidence, I may
+say, will be far from complete.  But I am prepared to give you a few
+indications which will be of interest.  In the first place, you are
+probably aware that two years ago I made a journey to South
+America--one which will be classical in the scientific history of the
+world?  The object of my journey was to verify some conclusions of
+Wallace and of Bates, which could only be done by observing their
+reported facts under the same conditions in which they had themselves
+noted them.  If my expedition had no other results it would still have
+been noteworthy, but a curious incident occurred to me while there
+which opened up an entirely fresh line of inquiry.
+
+"You are aware--or probably, in this half-educated age, you are not
+aware--that the country round some parts of the Amazon is still only
+partially explored, and that a great number of tributaries, some of
+them entirely uncharted, run into the main river.  It was my business
+to visit this little-known back-country and to examine its fauna, which
+furnished me with the materials for several chapters for that great and
+monumental work upon zoology which will be my life's justification.  I
+was returning, my work accomplished, when I had occasion to spend a
+night at a small Indian village at a point where a certain
+tributary--the name and position of which I withhold--opens into the
+main river.  The natives were Cucama Indians, an amiable but degraded
+race, with mental powers hardly superior to the average Londoner.  I
+had effected some cures among them upon my way up the river, and had
+impressed them considerably with my personality, so that I was not
+surprised to find myself eagerly awaited upon my return.  I gathered
+from their signs that someone had urgent need of my medical services,
+and I followed the chief to one of his huts.  When I entered I found
+that the sufferer to whose aid I had been summoned had that instant
+expired.  He was, to my surprise, no Indian, but a white man; indeed, I
+may say a very white man, for he was flaxen-haired and had some
+characteristics of an albino.  He was clad in rags, was very emaciated,
+and bore every trace of prolonged hardship.  So far as I could
+understand the account of the natives, he was a complete stranger to
+them, and had come upon their village through the woods alone and in
+the last stage of exhaustion.
+
+"The man's knapsack lay beside the couch, and I examined the contents.
+His name was written upon a tab within it--Maple White, Lake Avenue,
+Detroit, Michigan.  It is a name to which I am prepared always to lift
+my hat.  It is not too much to say that it will rank level with my own
+when the final credit of this business comes to be apportioned.
+
+"From the contents of the knapsack it was evident that this man had
+been an artist and poet in search of effects.  There were scraps of
+verse.  I do not profess to be a judge of such things, but they
+appeared to me to be singularly wanting in merit.  There were also some
+rather commonplace pictures of river scenery, a paint-box, a box of
+colored chalks, some brushes, that curved bone which lies upon my
+inkstand, a volume of Baxter's 'Moths and Butterflies,' a cheap
+revolver, and a few cartridges.  Of personal equipment he either had
+none or he had lost it in his journey.  Such were the total effects of
+this strange American Bohemian.
+
+"I was turning away from him when I observed that something projected
+from the front of his ragged jacket.  It was this sketch-book, which
+was as dilapidated then as you see it now.  Indeed, I can assure you
+that a first folio of Shakespeare could not be treated with greater
+reverence than this relic has been since it came into my possession.  I
+hand it to you now, and I ask you to take it page by page and to
+examine the contents."
+
+He helped himself to a cigar and leaned back with a fiercely critical
+pair of eyes, taking note of the effect which this document would
+produce.
+
+I had opened the volume with some expectation of a revelation, though
+of what nature I could not imagine.  The first page was disappointing,
+however, as it contained nothing but the picture of a very fat man in a
+pea-jacket, with the legend, "Jimmy Colver on the Mail-boat," written
+beneath it.  There followed several pages which were filled with small
+sketches of Indians and their ways.  Then came a picture of a cheerful
+and corpulent ecclesiastic in a shovel hat, sitting opposite a very
+thin European, and the inscription:  "Lunch with Fra Cristofero at
+Rosario."  Studies of women and babies accounted for several more
+pages, and then there was an unbroken series of animal drawings with
+such explanations as "Manatee upon Sandbank," "Turtles and Their Eggs,"
+"Black Ajouti under a Miriti Palm"--the matter disclosing some sort of
+pig-like animal; and finally came a double page of studies of
+long-snouted and very unpleasant saurians.  I could make nothing of it,
+and said so to the Professor.
+
+"Surely these are only crocodiles?"
+
+"Alligators!  Alligators!  There is hardly such a thing as a true
+crocodile in South America.  The distinction between them----"
+
+"I meant that I could see nothing unusual--nothing to justify what you
+have said."
+
+He smiled serenely.
+
+"Try the next page," said he.
+
+I was still unable to sympathize.  It was a full-page sketch of a
+landscape roughly tinted in color--the kind of painting which an
+open-air artist takes as a guide to a future more elaborate effort.
+There was a pale-green foreground of feathery vegetation, which sloped
+upwards and ended in a line of cliffs dark red in color, and curiously
+ribbed like some basaltic formations which I have seen.  They extended
+in an unbroken wall right across the background.  At one point was an
+isolated pyramidal rock, crowned by a great tree, which appeared to be
+separated by a cleft from the main crag.  Behind it all, a blue
+tropical sky.  A thin green line of vegetation fringed the summit of
+the ruddy cliff.
+
+"Well?" he asked.
+
+"It is no doubt a curious formation," said I "but I am not geologist
+enough to say that it is wonderful."
+
+"Wonderful!" he repeated.  "It is unique.  It is incredible.  No one on
+earth has ever dreamed of such a possibility.  Now the next."
+
+I turned it over, and gave an exclamation of surprise.  There was a
+full-page picture of the most extraordinary creature that I had ever
+seen.  It was the wild dream of an opium smoker, a vision of delirium.
+The head was like that of a fowl, the body that of a bloated lizard,
+the trailing tail was furnished with upward-turned spikes, and the
+curved back was edged with a high serrated fringe, which looked like a
+dozen cocks' wattles placed behind each other.  In front of this
+creature was an absurd mannikin, or dwarf, in human form, who stood
+staring at it.
+
+"Well, what do you think of that?" cried the Professor, rubbing his
+hands with an air of triumph.
+
+"It is monstrous--grotesque."
+
+"But what made him draw such an animal?"
+
+"Trade gin, I should think."
+
+"Oh, that's the best explanation you can give, is it?"
+
+"Well, sir, what is yours?"
+
+"The obvious one that the creature exists.  That is actually sketched
+from the life."
+
+I should have laughed only that I had a vision of our doing another
+Catharine-wheel down the passage.
+
+"No doubt," said I, "no doubt," as one humors an imbecile.  "I confess,
+however," I added, "that this tiny human figure puzzles me.  If it were
+an Indian we could set it down as evidence of some pigmy race in
+America, but it appears to be a European in a sun-hat."
+
+The Professor snorted like an angry buffalo.  "You really touch the
+limit," said he.  "You enlarge my view of the possible.  Cerebral
+paresis!  Mental inertia!  Wonderful!"
+
+He was too absurd to make me angry.  Indeed, it was a waste of energy,
+for if you were going to be angry with this man you would be angry all
+the time.  I contented myself with smiling wearily.  "It struck me that
+the man was small," said I.
+
+"Look here!" he cried, leaning forward and dabbing a great hairy
+sausage of a finger on to the picture.  "You see that plant behind the
+animal; I suppose you thought it was a dandelion or a Brussels
+sprout--what?  Well, it is a vegetable ivory palm, and they run to
+about fifty or sixty feet.  Don't you see that the man is put in for a
+purpose?  He couldn't really have stood in front of that brute and
+lived to draw it.  He sketched himself in to give a scale of heights.
+He was, we will say, over five feet high.  The tree is ten times
+bigger, which is what one would expect."
+
+"Good heavens!" I cried.  "Then you think the beast was---- Why,
+Charing Cross station would hardly make a kennel for such a brute!"
+
+"Apart from exaggeration, he is certainly a well-grown specimen," said
+the Professor, complacently.
+
+"But," I cried, "surely the whole experience of the human race is not
+to be set aside on account of a single sketch"--I had turned over the
+leaves and ascertained that there was nothing more in the book--"a
+single sketch by a wandering American artist who may have done it under
+hashish, or in the delirium of fever, or simply in order to gratify a
+freakish imagination.  You can't, as a man of science, defend such a
+position as that."
+
+For answer the Professor took a book down from a shelf.
+
+"This is an excellent monograph by my gifted friend, Ray Lankester!"
+said he.  "There is an illustration here which would interest you.  Ah,
+yes, here it is!  The inscription beneath it runs:  'Probable
+appearance in life of the Jurassic Dinosaur Stegosaurus.  The hind leg
+alone is twice as tall as a full-grown man.'  Well, what do you make of
+that?"
+
+He handed me the open book.  I started as I looked at the picture.  In
+this reconstructed animal of a dead world there was certainly a very
+great resemblance to the sketch of the unknown artist.
+
+"That is certainly remarkable," said I.
+
+"But you won't admit that it is final?"
+
+"Surely it might be a coincidence, or this American may have seen a
+picture of the kind and carried it in his memory.  It would be likely
+to recur to a man in a delirium."
+
+"Very good," said the Professor, indulgently; "we leave it at that.  I
+will now ask you to look at this bone." He handed over the one which he
+had already described as part of the dead man's possessions.  It was
+about six inches long, and thicker than my thumb, with some indications
+of dried cartilage at one end of it.
+
+"To what known creature does that bone belong?" asked the Professor.
+
+I examined it with care and tried to recall some half-forgotten
+knowledge.
+
+"It might be a very thick human collar-bone," I said.
+
+My companion waved his hand in contemptuous deprecation.
+
+"The human collar-bone is curved.  This is straight.  There is a groove
+upon its surface showing that a great tendon played across it, which
+could not be the case with a clavicle."
+
+"Then I must confess that I don't know what it is."
+
+"You need not be ashamed to expose your ignorance, for I don't suppose
+the whole South Kensington staff could give a name to it." He took a
+little bone the size of a bean out of a pill-box.  "So far as I am a
+judge this human bone is the analogue of the one which you hold in your
+hand.  That will give you some idea of the size of the creature.  You
+will observe from the cartilage that this is no fossil specimen, but
+recent.  What do you say to that?"
+
+"Surely in an elephant----"
+
+He winced as if in pain.
+
+"Don't!  Don't talk of elephants in South America.  Even in these days
+of Board schools----"
+
+"Well," I interrupted, "any large South American animal--a tapir, for
+example."
+
+"You may take it, young man, that I am versed in the elements of my
+business.  This is not a conceivable bone either of a tapir or of any
+other creature known to zoology.  It belongs to a very large, a very
+strong, and, by all analogy, a very fierce animal which exists upon the
+face of the earth, but has not yet come under the notice of science.
+You are still unconvinced?"
+
+"I am at least deeply interested."
+
+"Then your case is not hopeless.  I feel that there is reason lurking
+in you somewhere, so we will patiently grope round for it.  We will now
+leave the dead American and proceed with my narrative.  You can imagine
+that I could hardly come away from the Amazon without probing deeper
+into the matter.  There were indications as to the direction from which
+the dead traveler had come.  Indian legends would alone have been my
+guide, for I found that rumors of a strange land were common among all
+the riverine tribes.  You have heard, no doubt, of Curupuri?"
+
+"Never."
+
+"Curupuri is the spirit of the woods, something terrible, something
+malevolent, something to be avoided.  None can describe its shape or
+nature, but it is a word of terror along the Amazon.  Now all tribes
+agree as to the direction in which Curupuri lives.  It was the same
+direction from which the American had come.  Something terrible lay
+that way.  It was my business to find out what it was."
+
+"What did you do?"  My flippancy was all gone.  This massive man
+compelled one's attention and respect.
+
+"I overcame the extreme reluctance of the natives--a reluctance which
+extends even to talk upon the subject--and by judicious persuasion and
+gifts, aided, I will admit, by some threats of coercion, I got two of
+them to act as guides.  After many adventures which I need not
+describe, and after traveling a distance which I will not mention, in a
+direction which I withhold, we came at last to a tract of country which
+has never been described, nor, indeed, visited save by my unfortunate
+predecessor.  Would you kindly look at this?"
+
+He handed me a photograph--half-plate size.
+
+"The unsatisfactory appearance of it is due to the fact," said he,
+"that on descending the river the boat was upset and the case which
+contained the undeveloped films was broken, with disastrous results.
+Nearly all of them were totally ruined--an irreparable loss.  This is
+one of the few which partially escaped.  This explanation of
+deficiencies or abnormalities you will kindly accept.  There was talk
+of faking.  I am not in a mood to argue such a point."
+
+The photograph was certainly very off-colored.  An unkind critic might
+easily have misinterpreted that dim surface.  It was a dull gray
+landscape, and as I gradually deciphered the details of it I realized
+that it represented a long and enormously high line of cliffs exactly
+like an immense cataract seen in the distance, with a sloping,
+tree-clad plain in the foreground.
+
+"I believe it is the same place as the painted picture," said I.
+
+"It is the same place," the Professor answered.  "I found traces of the
+fellow's camp.  Now look at this."
+
+It was a nearer view of the same scene, though the photograph was
+extremely defective.  I could distinctly see the isolated, tree-crowned
+pinnacle of rock which was detached from the crag.
+
+"I have no doubt of it at all," said I.
+
+"Well, that is something gained," said he.  "We progress, do we not?
+Now, will you please look at the top of that rocky pinnacle?  Do you
+observe something there?"
+
+"An enormous tree."
+
+"But on the tree?"
+
+"A large bird," said I.
+
+He handed me a lens.
+
+"Yes," I said, peering through it, "a large bird stands on the tree.
+It appears to have a considerable beak.  I should say it was a pelican."
+
+"I cannot congratulate you upon your eyesight," said the Professor.
+"It is not a pelican, nor, indeed, is it a bird.  It may interest you
+to know that I succeeded in shooting that particular specimen.  It was
+the only absolute proof of my experiences which I was able to bring
+away with me."
+
+"You have it, then?"  Here at last was tangible corroboration.
+
+"I had it.  It was unfortunately lost with so much else in the same
+boat accident which ruined my photographs.  I clutched at it as it
+disappeared in the swirl of the rapids, and part of its wing was left
+in my hand.  I was insensible when washed ashore, but the miserable
+remnant of my superb specimen was still intact; I now lay it before
+you."
+
+From a drawer he produced what seemed to me to be the upper portion of
+the wing of a large bat.  It was at least two feet in length, a curved
+bone, with a membranous veil beneath it.
+
+"A monstrous bat!" I suggested.
+
+"Nothing of the sort," said the Professor, severely.  "Living, as I do,
+in an educated and scientific atmosphere, I could not have conceived
+that the first principles of zoology were so little known.  Is it
+possible that you do not know the elementary fact in comparative
+anatomy, that the wing of a bird is really the forearm, while the wing
+of a bat consists of three elongated fingers with membranes between?
+Now, in this case, the bone is certainly not the forearm, and you can
+see for yourself that this is a single membrane hanging upon a single
+bone, and therefore that it cannot belong to a bat.  But if it is
+neither bird nor bat, what is it?"
+
+My small stock of knowledge was exhausted.
+
+"I really do not know," said I.
+
+He opened the standard work to which he had already referred me.
+
+"Here," said he, pointing to the picture of an extraordinary flying
+monster, "is an excellent reproduction of the dimorphodon, or
+pterodactyl, a flying reptile of the Jurassic period.  On the next page
+is a diagram of the mechanism of its wing.  Kindly compare it with the
+specimen in your hand."
+
+A wave of amazement passed over me as I looked.  I was convinced.
+There could be no getting away from it.  The cumulative proof was
+overwhelming.  The sketch, the photographs, the narrative, and now the
+actual specimen--the evidence was complete.  I said so--I said so
+warmly, for I felt that the Professor was an ill-used man.  He leaned
+back in his chair with drooping eyelids and a tolerant smile, basking
+in this sudden gleam of sunshine.
+
+"It's just the very biggest thing that I ever heard of!" said I, though
+it was my journalistic rather than my scientific enthusiasm that was
+roused.  "It is colossal.  You are a Columbus of science who has
+discovered a lost world.  I'm awfully sorry if I seemed to doubt you.
+It was all so unthinkable.  But I understand evidence when I see it,
+and this should be good enough for anyone."
+
+The Professor purred with satisfaction.
+
+"And then, sir, what did you do next?"
+
+"It was the wet season, Mr. Malone, and my stores were exhausted.  I
+explored some portion of this huge cliff, but I was unable to find any
+way to scale it.  The pyramidal rock upon which I saw and shot the
+pterodactyl was more accessible.  Being something of a cragsman, I did
+manage to get half way to the top of that.  From that height I had a
+better idea of the plateau upon the top of the crags.  It appeared to
+be very large; neither to east nor to west could I see any end to the
+vista of green-capped cliffs.  Below, it is a swampy, jungly region,
+full of snakes, insects, and fever.  It is a natural protection to this
+singular country."
+
+"Did you see any other trace of life?"
+
+"No, sir, I did not; but during the week that we lay encamped at the
+base of the cliff we heard some very strange noises from above."
+
+"But the creature that the American drew?  How do you account for that?"
+
+"We can only suppose that he must have made his way to the summit and
+seen it there.  We know, therefore, that there is a way up.  We know
+equally that it must be a very difficult one, otherwise the creatures
+would have come down and overrun the surrounding country.  Surely that
+is clear?"
+
+"But how did they come to be there?"
+
+"I do not think that the problem is a very obscure one," said the
+Professor; "there can only be one explanation.  South America is, as
+you may have heard, a granite continent.  At this single point in the
+interior there has been, in some far distant age, a great, sudden
+volcanic upheaval.  These cliffs, I may remark, are basaltic, and
+therefore plutonic.  An area, as large perhaps as Sussex, has been
+lifted up en bloc with all its living contents, and cut off by
+perpendicular precipices of a hardness which defies erosion from all
+the rest of the continent.  What is the result?  Why, the ordinary laws
+of Nature are suspended.  The various checks which influence the
+struggle for existence in the world at large are all neutralized or
+altered.  Creatures survive which would otherwise disappear.  You will
+observe that both the pterodactyl and the stegosaurus are Jurassic, and
+therefore of a great age in the order of life.  They have been
+artificially conserved by those strange accidental conditions."
+
+"But surely your evidence is conclusive.  You have only to lay it
+before the proper authorities."
+
+"So in my simplicity, I had imagined," said the Professor, bitterly.
+"I can only tell you that it was not so, that I was met at every turn
+by incredulity, born partly of stupidity and partly of jealousy.  It is
+not my nature, sir, to cringe to any man, or to seek to prove a fact if
+my word has been doubted.  After the first I have not condescended to
+show such corroborative proofs as I possess.  The subject became
+hateful to me--I would not speak of it.  When men like yourself, who
+represent the foolish curiosity of the public, came to disturb my
+privacy I was unable to meet them with dignified reserve.  By nature I
+am, I admit, somewhat fiery, and under provocation I am inclined to be
+violent.  I fear you may have remarked it."
+
+I nursed my eye and was silent.
+
+"My wife has frequently remonstrated with me upon the subject, and yet
+I fancy that any man of honor would feel the same.  To-night, however,
+I propose to give an extreme example of the control of the will over
+the emotions.  I invite you to be present at the exhibition."  He
+handed me a card from his desk.  "You will perceive that Mr. Percival
+Waldron, a naturalist of some popular repute, is announced to lecture
+at eight-thirty at the Zoological Institute's Hall upon 'The Record of
+the Ages.' I have been specially invited to be present upon the
+platform, and to move a vote of thanks to the lecturer.  While doing
+so, I shall make it my business, with infinite tact and delicacy, to
+throw out a few remarks which may arouse the interest of the audience
+and cause some of them to desire to go more deeply into the matter.
+Nothing contentious, you understand, but only an indication that there
+are greater deeps beyond.  I shall hold myself strongly in leash, and
+see whether by this self-restraint I attain a more favorable result."
+
+"And I may come?" I asked eagerly.
+
+"Why, surely," he answered, cordially.  He had an enormously massive
+genial manner, which was almost as overpowering as his violence.  His
+smile of benevolence was a wonderful thing, when his cheeks would
+suddenly bunch into two red apples, between his half-closed eyes and
+his great black beard.  "By all means, come.  It will be a comfort to
+me to know that I have one ally in the hall, however inefficient and
+ignorant of the subject he may be.  I fancy there will be a large
+audience, for Waldron, though an absolute charlatan, has a considerable
+popular following.  Now, Mr. Malone, I have given you rather more of my
+time than I had intended.  The individual must not monopolize what is
+meant for the world.  I shall be pleased to see you at the lecture
+to-night.  In the meantime, you will understand that no public use is
+to be made of any of the material that I have given you."
+
+"But Mr. McArdle--my news editor, you know--will want to know what I
+have done."
+
+"Tell him what you like.  You can say, among other things, that if he
+sends anyone else to intrude upon me I shall call upon him with a
+riding-whip.  But I leave it to you that nothing of all this appears in
+print.  Very good.  Then the Zoological Institute's Hall at
+eight-thirty to-night."  I had a last impression of red cheeks, blue
+rippling beard, and intolerant eyes, as he waved me out of the room.
+
+
+
+
+                            CHAPTER V
+
+                           "Question!"
+
+What with the physical shocks incidental to my first interview with
+Professor Challenger and the mental ones which accompanied the second,
+I was a somewhat demoralized journalist by the time I found myself in
+Enmore Park once more.  In my aching head the one thought was throbbing
+that there really was truth in this man's story, that it was of
+tremendous consequence, and that it would work up into inconceivable
+copy for the Gazette when I could obtain permission to use it.  A
+taxicab was waiting at the end of the road, so I sprang into it and
+drove down to the office.  McArdle was at his post as usual.
+
+"Well," he cried, expectantly, "what may it run to?  I'm thinking,
+young man, you have been in the wars.  Don't tell me that he assaulted
+you."
+
+"We had a little difference at first."
+
+"What a man it is!  What did you do?"
+
+"Well, he became more reasonable and we had a chat.  But I got nothing
+out of him--nothing for publication."
+
+"I'm not so sure about that.  You got a black eye out of him, and
+that's for publication.  We can't have this reign of terror, Mr.
+Malone.  We must bring the man to his bearings.  I'll have a leaderette
+on him to-morrow that will raise a blister.  Just give me the material
+and I will engage to brand the fellow for ever.  Professor
+Munchausen--how's that for an inset headline?  Sir John Mandeville
+redivivus--Cagliostro--all the imposters and bullies in history.  I'll
+show him up for the fraud he is."
+
+"I wouldn't do that, sir."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"Because he is not a fraud at all."
+
+"What!" roared McArdle.  "You don't mean to say you really believe this
+stuff of his about mammoths and mastodons and great sea sairpents?"
+
+"Well, I don't know about that.  I don't think he makes any claims of
+that kind.  But I do believe he has got something new."
+
+"Then for Heaven's sake, man, write it up!"
+
+"I'm longing to, but all I know he gave me in confidence and on
+condition that I didn't."  I condensed into a few sentences the
+Professor's narrative.  "That's how it stands."
+
+McArdle looked deeply incredulous.
+
+"Well, Mr. Malone," he said at last, "about this scientific meeting
+to-night; there can be no privacy about that, anyhow.  I don't suppose
+any paper will want to report it, for Waldron has been reported already
+a dozen times, and no one is aware that Challenger will speak.  We may
+get a scoop, if we are lucky.  You'll be there in any case, so you'll
+just give us a pretty full report.  I'll keep space up to midnight."
+
+My day was a busy one, and I had an early dinner at the Savage Club
+with Tarp Henry, to whom I gave some account of my adventures.  He
+listened with a sceptical smile on his gaunt face, and roared with
+laughter on hearing that the Professor had convinced me.
+
+"My dear chap, things don't happen like that in real life.  People
+don't stumble upon enormous discoveries and then lose their evidence.
+Leave that to the novelists.  The fellow is as full of tricks as the
+monkey-house at the Zoo.  It's all bosh."
+
+"But the American poet?"
+
+"He never existed."
+
+"I saw his sketch-book."
+
+"Challenger's sketch-book."
+
+"You think he drew that animal?"
+
+"Of course he did.  Who else?"
+
+"Well, then, the photographs?"
+
+"There was nothing in the photographs.  By your own admission you only
+saw a bird."
+
+"A pterodactyl."
+
+"That's what HE says.  He put the pterodactyl into your head."
+
+"Well, then, the bones?"
+
+"First one out of an Irish stew.  Second one vamped up for the
+occasion.  If you are clever and know your business you can fake a bone
+as easily as you can a photograph."
+
+I began to feel uneasy.  Perhaps, after all, I had been premature in my
+acquiescence.  Then I had a sudden happy thought.
+
+"Will you come to the meeting?" I asked.
+
+Tarp Henry looked thoughtful.
+
+"He is not a popular person, the genial Challenger," said he.  "A lot
+of people have accounts to settle with him.  I should say he is about
+the best-hated man in London.  If the medical students turn out there
+will be no end of a rag.  I don't want to get into a bear-garden."
+
+"You might at least do him the justice to hear him state his own case."
+
+"Well, perhaps it's only fair.  All right.  I'm your man for the
+evening."
+
+When we arrived at the hall we found a much greater concourse than I
+had expected.  A line of electric broughams discharged their little
+cargoes of white-bearded professors, while the dark stream of humbler
+pedestrians, who crowded through the arched door-way, showed that the
+audience would be popular as well as scientific.  Indeed, it became
+evident to us as soon as we had taken our seats that a youthful and
+even boyish spirit was abroad in the gallery and the back portions of
+the hall.  Looking behind me, I could see rows of faces of the familiar
+medical student type.  Apparently the great hospitals had each sent
+down their contingent.  The behavior of the audience at present was
+good-humored, but mischievous.  Scraps of popular songs were chorused
+with an enthusiasm which was a strange prelude to a scientific lecture,
+and there was already a tendency to personal chaff which promised a
+jovial evening to others, however embarrassing it might be to the
+recipients of these dubious honors.
+
+Thus, when old Doctor Meldrum, with his well-known curly-brimmed
+opera-hat, appeared upon the platform, there was such a universal query
+of "Where DID you get that tile?" that he hurriedly removed it, and
+concealed it furtively under his chair.  When gouty Professor Wadley
+limped down to his seat there were general affectionate inquiries from
+all parts of the hall as to the exact state of his poor toe, which
+caused him obvious embarrassment.  The greatest demonstration of all,
+however, was at the entrance of my new acquaintance, Professor
+Challenger, when he passed down to take his place at the extreme end of
+the front row of the platform.  Such a yell of welcome broke forth when
+his black beard first protruded round the corner that I began to
+suspect Tarp Henry was right in his surmise, and that this assemblage
+was there not merely for the sake of the lecture, but because it had
+got rumored abroad that the famous Professor would take part in the
+proceedings.
+
+There was some sympathetic laughter on his entrance among the front
+benches of well-dressed spectators, as though the demonstration of the
+students in this instance was not unwelcome to them.  That greeting
+was, indeed, a frightful outburst of sound, the uproar of the carnivora
+cage when the step of the bucket-bearing keeper is heard in the
+distance.  There was an offensive tone in it, perhaps, and yet in the
+main it struck me as mere riotous outcry, the noisy reception of one
+who amused and interested them, rather than of one they disliked or
+despised.  Challenger smiled with weary and tolerant contempt, as a
+kindly man would meet the yapping of a litter of puppies.  He sat
+slowly down, blew out his chest, passed his hand caressingly down his
+beard, and looked with drooping eyelids and supercilious eyes at the
+crowded hall before him.  The uproar of his advent had not yet died
+away when Professor Ronald Murray, the chairman, and Mr. Waldron, the
+lecturer, threaded their way to the front, and the proceedings began.
+
+Professor Murray will, I am sure, excuse me if I say that he has the
+common fault of most Englishmen of being inaudible.  Why on earth
+people who have something to say which is worth hearing should not take
+the slight trouble to learn how to make it heard is one of the strange
+mysteries of modern life.  Their methods are as reasonable as to try to
+pour some precious stuff from the spring to the reservoir through a
+non-conducting pipe, which could by the least effort be opened.
+Professor Murray made several profound remarks to his white tie and to
+the water-carafe upon the table, with a humorous, twinkling aside to
+the silver candlestick upon his right.  Then he sat down, and Mr.
+Waldron, the famous popular lecturer, rose amid a general murmur of
+applause.  He was a stern, gaunt man, with a harsh voice, and an
+aggressive manner, but he had the merit of knowing how to assimilate
+the ideas of other men, and to pass them on in a way which was
+intelligible and even interesting to the lay public, with a happy knack
+of being funny about the most unlikely objects, so that the precession
+of the Equinox or the formation of a vertebrate became a highly
+humorous process as treated by him.
+
+It was a bird's-eye view of creation, as interpreted by science, which,
+in language always clear and sometimes picturesque, he unfolded before
+us.  He told us of the globe, a huge mass of flaming gas, flaring
+through the heavens.  Then he pictured the solidification, the cooling,
+the wrinkling which formed the mountains, the steam which turned to
+water, the slow preparation of the stage upon which was to be played
+the inexplicable drama of life.  On the origin of life itself he was
+discreetly vague.  That the germs of it could hardly have survived the
+original roasting was, he declared, fairly certain.  Therefore it had
+come later.  Had it built itself out of the cooling, inorganic elements
+of the globe?  Very likely.  Had the germs of it arrived from outside
+upon a meteor?  It was hardly conceivable.  On the whole, the wisest
+man was the least dogmatic upon the point.  We could not--or at least
+we had not succeeded up to date in making organic life in our
+laboratories out of inorganic materials.  The gulf between the dead and
+the living was something which our chemistry could not as yet bridge.
+But there was a higher and subtler chemistry of Nature, which, working
+with great forces over long epochs, might well produce results which
+were impossible for us.  There the matter must be left.
+
+This brought the lecturer to the great ladder of animal life, beginning
+low down in molluscs and feeble sea creatures, then up rung by rung
+through reptiles and fishes, till at last we came to a kangaroo-rat, a
+creature which brought forth its young alive, the direct ancestor of
+all mammals, and presumably, therefore, of everyone in the audience.
+("No, no," from a sceptical student in the back row.)  If the young
+gentleman in the red tie who cried "No, no," and who presumably claimed
+to have been hatched out of an egg, would wait upon him after the
+lecture, he would be glad to see such a curiosity.  (Laughter.)  It was
+strange to think that the climax of all the age-long process of Nature
+had been the creation of that gentleman in the red tie.  But had the
+process stopped?  Was this gentleman to be taken as the final type--the
+be-all and end-all of development?  He hoped that he would not hurt the
+feelings of the gentleman in the red tie if he maintained that,
+whatever virtues that gentleman might possess in private life, still
+the vast processes of the universe were not fully justified if they
+were to end entirely in his production.  Evolution was not a spent
+force, but one still working, and even greater achievements were in
+store.
+
+Having thus, amid a general titter, played very prettily with his
+interrupter, the lecturer went back to his picture of the past, the
+drying of the seas, the emergence of the sand-bank, the sluggish,
+viscous life which lay upon their margins, the overcrowded lagoons, the
+tendency of the sea creatures to take refuge upon the mud-flats, the
+abundance of food awaiting them, their consequent enormous growth.
+"Hence, ladies and gentlemen," he added, "that frightful brood of
+saurians which still affright our eyes when seen in the Wealden or in
+the Solenhofen slates, but which were fortunately extinct long before
+the first appearance of mankind upon this planet."
+
+"Question!" boomed a voice from the platform.
+
+Mr. Waldron was a strict disciplinarian with a gift of acid humor, as
+exemplified upon the gentleman with the red tie, which made it perilous
+to interrupt him.  But this interjection appeared to him so absurd that
+he was at a loss how to deal with it.  So looks the Shakespearean who
+is confronted by a rancid Baconian, or the astronomer who is assailed
+by a flat-earth fanatic.  He paused for a moment, and then, raising his
+voice, repeated slowly the words:  "Which were extinct before the
+coming of man."
+
+"Question!" boomed the voice once more.
+
+Waldron looked with amazement along the line of professors upon the
+platform until his eyes fell upon the figure of Challenger, who leaned
+back in his chair with closed eyes and an amused expression, as if he
+were smiling in his sleep.
+
+"I see!" said Waldron, with a shrug.  "It is my friend Professor
+Challenger," and amid laughter he renewed his lecture as if this was a
+final explanation and no more need be said.
+
+But the incident was far from being closed.  Whatever path the lecturer
+took amid the wilds of the past seemed invariably to lead him to some
+assertion as to extinct or prehistoric life which instantly brought the
+same bulls' bellow from the Professor.  The audience began to
+anticipate it and to roar with delight when it came.  The packed
+benches of students joined in, and every time Challenger's beard
+opened, before any sound could come forth, there was a yell of
+"Question!" from a hundred voices, and an answering counter cry of
+"Order!" and "Shame!" from as many more.  Waldron, though a hardened
+lecturer and a strong man, became rattled.  He hesitated, stammered,
+repeated himself, got snarled in a long sentence, and finally turned
+furiously upon the cause of his troubles.
+
+"This is really intolerable!" he cried, glaring across the platform.
+"I must ask you, Professor Challenger, to cease these ignorant and
+unmannerly interruptions."
+
+There was a hush over the hall, the students rigid with delight at
+seeing the high gods on Olympus quarrelling among themselves.
+Challenger levered his bulky figure slowly out of his chair.
+
+"I must in turn ask you, Mr. Waldron," he said, "to cease to make
+assertions which are not in strict accordance with scientific fact."
+
+The words unloosed a tempest.  "Shame!  Shame!"  "Give him a hearing!"
+"Put him out!"  "Shove him off the platform!"  "Fair play!" emerged
+from a general roar of amusement or execration.  The chairman was on
+his feet flapping both his hands and bleating excitedly.  "Professor
+Challenger--personal--views--later," were the solid peaks above his
+clouds of inaudible mutter.  The interrupter bowed, smiled, stroked his
+beard, and relapsed into his chair.  Waldron, very flushed and warlike,
+continued his observations.  Now and then, as he made an assertion, he
+shot a venomous glance at his opponent, who seemed to be slumbering
+deeply, with the same broad, happy smile upon his face.
+
+At last the lecture came to an end--I am inclined to think that it was
+a premature one, as the peroration was hurried and disconnected.  The
+thread of the argument had been rudely broken, and the audience was
+restless and expectant.  Waldron sat down, and, after a chirrup from
+the chairman, Professor Challenger rose and advanced to the edge of the
+platform.  In the interests of my paper I took down his speech verbatim.
+
+"Ladies and Gentlemen," he began, amid a sustained interruption from
+the back.  "I beg pardon--Ladies, Gentlemen, and Children--I must
+apologize, I had inadvertently omitted a considerable section of this
+audience" (tumult, during which the Professor stood with one hand
+raised and his enormous head nodding sympathetically, as if he were
+bestowing a pontifical blessing upon the crowd), "I have been selected
+to move a vote of thanks to Mr. Waldron for the very picturesque and
+imaginative address to which we have just listened.  There are points
+in it with which I disagree, and it has been my duty to indicate them
+as they arose, but, none the less, Mr. Waldron has accomplished his
+object well, that object being to give a simple and interesting account
+of what he conceives to have been the history of our planet.  Popular
+lectures are the easiest to listen to, but Mr. Waldron" (here he beamed
+and blinked at the lecturer) "will excuse me when I say that they are
+necessarily both superficial and misleading, since they have to be
+graded to the comprehension of an ignorant audience."  (Ironical
+cheering.)  "Popular lecturers are in their nature parasitic."  (Angry
+gesture of protest from Mr. Waldron.)  "They exploit for fame or cash
+the work which has been done by their indigent and unknown brethren.
+One smallest new fact obtained in the laboratory, one brick built into
+the temple of science, far outweighs any second-hand exposition which
+passes an idle hour, but can leave no useful result behind it.  I put
+forward this obvious reflection, not out of any desire to disparage Mr.
+Waldron in particular, but that you may not lose your sense of
+proportion and mistake the acolyte for the high priest." (At this point
+Mr. Waldron whispered to the chairman, who half rose and said something
+severely to his water-carafe.)  "But enough of this!"  (Loud and
+prolonged cheers.)  "Let me pass to some subject of wider interest.
+What is the particular point upon which I, as an original investigator,
+have challenged our lecturer's accuracy?  It is upon the permanence of
+certain types of animal life upon the earth.  I do not speak upon this
+subject as an amateur, nor, I may add, as a popular lecturer, but I
+speak as one whose scientific conscience compels him to adhere closely
+to facts, when I say that Mr. Waldron is very wrong in supposing that
+because he has never himself seen a so-called prehistoric animal,
+therefore these creatures no longer exist.  They are indeed, as he has
+said, our ancestors, but they are, if I may use the expression, our
+contemporary ancestors, who can still be found with all their hideous
+and formidable characteristics if one has but the energy and hardihood
+to seek their haunts.  Creatures which were supposed to be Jurassic,
+monsters who would hunt down and devour our largest and fiercest
+mammals, still exist." (Cries of "Bosh!" "Prove it!" "How do YOU know?"
+"Question!") "How do I know, you ask me? I know because I have visited
+their secret haunts.  I know because I have seen some of them."
+(Applause, uproar, and a voice, "Liar!")  "Am I a liar?" (General
+hearty and noisy assent.)  "Did I hear someone say that I was a liar?
+Will the person who called me a liar kindly stand up that I may know
+him?"  (A voice, "Here he is, sir!" and an inoffensive little person in
+spectacles, struggling violently, was held up among a group of
+students.)  "Did you venture to call me a liar?"  ("No, sir, no!"
+shouted the accused, and disappeared like a jack-in-the-box.)  "If any
+person in this hall dares to doubt my veracity, I shall be glad to have
+a few words with him after the lecture."  ("Liar!")  "Who said that?"
+(Again the inoffensive one plunging desperately, was elevated high into
+the air.) "If I come down among you----" (General chorus of "Come,
+love, come!" which interrupted the proceedings for some moments, while
+the chairman, standing up and waving both his arms, seemed to be
+conducting the music.  The Professor, with his face flushed, his
+nostrils dilated, and his beard bristling, was now in a proper Berserk
+mood.)  "Every great discoverer has been met with the same
+incredulity--the sure brand of a generation of fools.  When great facts
+are laid before you, you have not the intuition, the imagination which
+would help you to understand them.  You can only throw mud at the men
+who have risked their lives to open new fields to science.  You
+persecute the prophets!  Galileo!  Darwin, and I----" (Prolonged
+cheering and complete interruption.)
+
+All this is from my hurried notes taken at the time, which give little
+notion of the absolute chaos to which the assembly had by this time
+been reduced.  So terrific was the uproar that several ladies had
+already beaten a hurried retreat.  Grave and reverend seniors seemed to
+have caught the prevailing spirit as badly as the students, and I saw
+white-bearded men rising and shaking their fists at the obdurate
+Professor.  The whole great audience seethed and simmered like a
+boiling pot.  The Professor took a step forward and raised both his
+hands.  There was something so big and arresting and virile in the man
+that the clatter and shouting died gradually away before his commanding
+gesture and his masterful eyes.  He seemed to have a definite message.
+They hushed to hear it.
+
+"I will not detain you," he said.  "It is not worth it.  Truth is
+truth, and the noise of a number of foolish young men--and, I fear I
+must add, of their equally foolish seniors--cannot affect the matter.
+I claim that I have opened a new field of science.  You dispute it."
+(Cheers.)  "Then I put you to the test.  Will you accredit one or more
+of your own number to go out as your representatives and test my
+statement in your name?"
+
+Mr. Summerlee, the veteran Professor of Comparative Anatomy, rose among
+the audience, a tall, thin, bitter man, with the withered aspect of a
+theologian.  He wished, he said, to ask Professor Challenger whether
+the results to which he had alluded in his remarks had been obtained
+during a journey to the headwaters of the Amazon made by him two years
+before.
+
+Professor Challenger answered that they had.
+
+Mr. Summerlee desired to know how it was that Professor Challenger
+claimed to have made discoveries in those regions which had been
+overlooked by Wallace, Bates, and other previous explorers of
+established scientific repute.
+
+Professor Challenger answered that Mr. Summerlee appeared to be
+confusing the Amazon with the Thames; that it was in reality a somewhat
+larger river; that Mr. Summerlee might be interested to know that with
+the Orinoco, which communicated with it, some fifty thousand miles of
+country were opened up, and that in so vast a space it was not
+impossible for one person to find what another had missed.
+
+Mr. Summerlee declared, with an acid smile, that he fully appreciated
+the difference between the Thames and the Amazon, which lay in the fact
+that any assertion about the former could be tested, while about the
+latter it could not.  He would be obliged if Professor Challenger would
+give the latitude and the longitude of the country in which prehistoric
+animals were to be found.
+
+Professor Challenger replied that he reserved such information for good
+reasons of his own, but would be prepared to give it with proper
+precautions to a committee chosen from the audience.  Would Mr.
+Summerlee serve on such a committee and test his story in person?
+
+Mr. Summerlee:  "Yes, I will."  (Great cheering.)
+
+Professor Challenger:  "Then I guarantee that I will place in your
+hands such material as will enable you to find your way.  It is only
+right, however, since Mr. Summerlee goes to check my statement that I
+should have one or more with him who may check his.  I will not
+disguise from you that there are difficulties and dangers.  Mr.
+Summerlee will need a younger colleague.  May I ask for volunteers?"
+
+It is thus that the great crisis of a man's life springs out at him.
+Could I have imagined when I entered that hall that I was about to
+pledge myself to a wilder adventure than had ever come to me in my
+dreams?  But Gladys--was it not the very opportunity of which she
+spoke?  Gladys would have told me to go.  I had sprung to my feet.  I
+was speaking, and yet I had prepared no words.  Tarp Henry, my
+companion, was plucking at my skirts and I heard him whispering, "Sit
+down, Malone! Don't make a public ass of yourself."  At the same time I
+was aware that a tall, thin man, with dark gingery hair, a few seats in
+front of me, was also upon his feet.  He glared back at me with hard
+angry eyes, but I refused to give way.
+
+"I will go, Mr. Chairman," I kept repeating over and over again.
+
+"Name!  Name!" cried the audience.
+
+"My name is Edward Dunn Malone.  I am the reporter of the Daily
+Gazette.  I claim to be an absolutely unprejudiced witness."
+
+"What is YOUR name, sir?" the chairman asked of my tall rival.
+
+"I am Lord John Roxton.  I have already been up the Amazon, I know all
+the ground, and have special qualifications for this investigation."
+
+"Lord John Roxton's reputation as a sportsman and a traveler is, of
+course, world-famous," said the chairman; "at the same time it would
+certainly be as well to have a member of the Press upon such an
+expedition."
+
+"Then I move," said Professor Challenger, "that both these gentlemen be
+elected, as representatives of this meeting, to accompany Professor
+Summerlee upon his journey to investigate and to report upon the truth
+of my statements."
+
+And so, amid shouting and cheering, our fate was decided, and I found
+myself borne away in the human current which swirled towards the door,
+with my mind half stunned by the vast new project which had risen so
+suddenly before it.  As I emerged from the hall I was conscious for a
+moment of a rush of laughing students--down the pavement, and of an arm
+wielding a heavy umbrella, which rose and fell in the midst of them.
+Then, amid a mixture of groans and cheers, Professor Challenger's
+electric brougham slid from the curb, and I found myself walking under
+the silvery lights of Regent Street, full of thoughts of Gladys and of
+wonder as to my future.
+
+Suddenly there was a touch at my elbow.  I turned, and found myself
+looking into the humorous, masterful eyes of the tall, thin man who had
+volunteered to be my companion on this strange quest.
+
+"Mr. Malone, I understand," said he.  "We are to be companions--what?
+My rooms are just over the road, in the Albany.  Perhaps you would have
+the kindness to spare me half an hour, for there are one or two things
+that I badly want to say to you."
+
+
+
+
+                            CHAPTER VI
+
+                  "I was the Flail of the Lord"
+
+Lord John Roxton and I turned down Vigo Street together and through the
+dingy portals of the famous aristocratic rookery.  At the end of a long
+drab passage my new acquaintance pushed open a door and turned on an
+electric switch.  A number of lamps shining through tinted shades
+bathed the whole great room before us in a ruddy radiance.  Standing in
+the doorway and glancing round me, I had a general impression of
+extraordinary comfort and elegance combined with an atmosphere of
+masculine virility.  Everywhere there were mingled the luxury of the
+wealthy man of taste and the careless untidiness of the bachelor.  Rich
+furs and strange iridescent mats from some Oriental bazaar were
+scattered upon the floor.  Pictures and prints which even my
+unpractised eyes could recognize as being of great price and rarity
+hung thick upon the walls.  Sketches of boxers, of ballet-girls, and of
+racehorses alternated with a sensuous Fragonard, a martial Girardet,
+and a dreamy Turner.  But amid these varied ornaments there were
+scattered the trophies which brought back strongly to my recollection
+the fact that Lord John Roxton was one of the great all-round sportsmen
+and athletes of his day.  A dark-blue oar crossed with a cherry-pink
+one above his mantel-piece spoke of the old Oxonian and Leander man,
+while the foils and boxing-gloves above and below them were the tools
+of a man who had won supremacy with each.  Like a dado round the room
+was the jutting line of splendid heavy game-heads, the best of their
+sort from every quarter of the world, with the rare white rhinoceros of
+the Lado Enclave drooping its supercilious lip above them all.
+
+In the center of the rich red carpet was a black and gold Louis Quinze
+table, a lovely antique, now sacrilegiously desecrated with marks of
+glasses and the scars of cigar-stumps.  On it stood a silver tray of
+smokables and a burnished spirit-stand, from which and an adjacent
+siphon my silent host proceeded to charge two high glasses.  Having
+indicated an arm-chair to me and placed my refreshment near it, he
+handed me a long, smooth Havana.  Then, seating himself opposite to me,
+he looked at me long and fixedly with his strange, twinkling, reckless
+eyes--eyes of a cold light blue, the color of a glacier lake.
+
+Through the thin haze of my cigar-smoke I noted the details of a face
+which was already familiar to me from many photographs--the
+strongly-curved nose, the hollow, worn cheeks, the dark, ruddy hair,
+thin at the top, the crisp, virile moustaches, the small, aggressive
+tuft upon his projecting chin.  Something there was of Napoleon III.,
+something of Don Quixote, and yet again something which was the essence
+of the English country gentleman, the keen, alert, open-air lover of
+dogs and of horses.  His skin was of a rich flower-pot red from sun and
+wind.  His eyebrows were tufted and overhanging, which gave those
+naturally cold eyes an almost ferocious aspect, an impression which was
+increased by his strong and furrowed brow.  In figure he was spare, but
+very strongly built--indeed, he had often proved that there were few
+men in England capable of such sustained exertions.  His height was a
+little over six feet, but he seemed shorter on account of a peculiar
+rounding of the shoulders.  Such was the famous Lord John Roxton as he
+sat opposite to me, biting hard upon his cigar and watching me steadily
+in a long and embarrassing silence.
+
+"Well," said he, at last, "we've gone and done it, young fellah my
+lad."  (This curious phrase he pronounced as if it were all one
+word--"young-fellah-me-lad.")  "Yes, we've taken a jump, you an' me.  I
+suppose, now, when you went into that room there was no such notion in
+your head--what?"
+
+"No thought of it."
+
+"The same here.  No thought of it.  And here we are, up to our necks in
+the tureen.  Why, I've only been back three weeks from Uganda, and
+taken a place in Scotland, and signed the lease and all.  Pretty goin's
+on--what?  How does it hit you?"
+
+"Well, it is all in the main line of my business.  I am a journalist on
+the Gazette."
+
+"Of course--you said so when you took it on.  By the way, I've got a
+small job for you, if you'll help me."
+
+"With pleasure."
+
+"Don't mind takin' a risk, do you?"
+
+"What is the risk?"
+
+"Well, it's Ballinger--he's the risk.  You've heard of him?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Why, young fellah, where HAVE you lived?  Sir John Ballinger is the
+best gentleman jock in the north country.  I could hold him on the flat
+at my best, but over jumps he's my master.  Well, it's an open secret
+that when he's out of trainin' he drinks hard--strikin' an average, he
+calls it.  He got delirium on Toosday, and has been ragin' like a devil
+ever since.  His room is above this.  The doctors say that it is all up
+with the old dear unless some food is got into him, but as he lies in
+bed with a revolver on his coverlet, and swears he will put six of the
+best through anyone that comes near him, there's been a bit of a strike
+among the serving-men.  He's a hard nail, is Jack, and a dead shot,
+too, but you can't leave a Grand National winner to die like
+that--what?"
+
+"What do you mean to do, then?" I asked.
+
+"Well, my idea was that you and I could rush him.  He may be dozin',
+and at the worst he can only wing one of us, and the other should have
+him.  If we can get his bolster-cover round his arms and then 'phone up
+a stomach-pump, we'll give the old dear the supper of his life."
+
+It was a rather desperate business to come suddenly into one's day's
+work.  I don't think that I am a particularly brave man.  I have an
+Irish imagination which makes the unknown and the untried more terrible
+than they are.  On the other hand, I was brought up with a horror of
+cowardice and with a terror of such a stigma.  I dare say that I could
+throw myself over a precipice, like the Hun in the history books, if my
+courage to do it were questioned, and yet it would surely be pride and
+fear, rather than courage, which would be my inspiration.  Therefore,
+although every nerve in my body shrank from the whisky-maddened figure
+which I pictured in the room above, I still answered, in as careless a
+voice as I could command, that I was ready to go.  Some further remark
+of Lord Roxton's about the danger only made me irritable.
+
+"Talking won't make it any better," said I. "Come on."
+
+I rose from my chair and he from his.  Then with a little confidential
+chuckle of laughter, he patted me two or three times on the chest,
+finally pushing me back into my chair.
+
+"All right, sonny my lad--you'll do," said he.  I looked up in surprise.
+
+"I saw after Jack Ballinger myself this mornin'.  He blew a hole in the
+skirt of my kimono, bless his shaky old hand, but we got a jacket on
+him, and he's to be all right in a week.  I say, young fellah, I hope
+you don't mind--what?  You see, between you an' me close-tiled, I look
+on this South American business as a mighty serious thing, and if I
+have a pal with me I want a man I can bank on.  So I sized you down,
+and I'm bound to say that you came well out of it.  You see, it's all
+up to you and me, for this old Summerlee man will want dry-nursin' from
+the first.  By the way, are you by any chance the Malone who is
+expected to get his Rugby cap for Ireland?"
+
+"A reserve, perhaps."
+
+"I thought I remembered your face.  Why, I was there when you got that
+try against Richmond--as fine a swervin' run as I saw the whole season.
+I never miss a Rugby match if I can help it, for it is the manliest
+game we have left.  Well, I didn't ask you in here just to talk sport.
+We've got to fix our business.  Here are the sailin's, on the first
+page of the Times.  There's a Booth boat for Para next Wednesday week,
+and if the Professor and you can work it, I think we should take
+it--what?  Very good, I'll fix it with him.  What about your outfit?"
+
+"My paper will see to that."
+
+"Can you shoot?"
+
+"About average Territorial standard."
+
+"Good Lord! as bad as that?  It's the last thing you young fellahs
+think of learnin'.  You're all bees without stings, so far as lookin'
+after the hive goes.  You'll look silly, some o' these days, when
+someone comes along an' sneaks the honey.  But you'll need to hold your
+gun straight in South America, for, unless our friend the Professor is
+a madman or a liar, we may see some queer things before we get back.
+What gun have you?"
+
+He crossed to an oaken cupboard, and as he threw it open I caught a
+glimpse of glistening rows of parallel barrels, like the pipes of an
+organ.
+
+"I'll see what I can spare you out of my own battery," said he.
+
+One by one he took out a succession of beautiful rifles, opening and
+shutting them with a snap and a clang, and then patting them as he put
+them back into the rack as tenderly as a mother would fondle her
+children.
+
+"This is a Bland's .577 axite express," said he.  "I got that big
+fellow with it."  He glanced up at the white rhinoceros.  "Ten more
+yards, and he'd would have added me to HIS collection.
+
+         'On that conical bullet his one chance hangs,
+         'Tis the weak one's advantage fair.'
+
+Hope you know your Gordon, for he's the poet of the horse and the gun
+and the man that handles both.  Now, here's a useful tool--.470,
+telescopic sight, double ejector, point-blank up to three-fifty.
+That's the rifle I used against the Peruvian slave-drivers three years
+ago.  I was the flail of the Lord up in those parts, I may tell you,
+though you won't find it in any Blue-book.  There are times, young
+fellah, when every one of us must make a stand for human right and
+justice, or you never feel clean again.  That's why I made a little war
+on my own.  Declared it myself, waged it myself, ended it myself.  Each
+of those nicks is for a slave murderer--a good row of them--what?  That
+big one is for Pedro Lopez, the king of them all, that I killed in a
+backwater of the Putomayo River.  Now, here's something that would do
+for you."  He took out a beautiful brown-and-silver rifle.  "Well
+rubbered at the stock, sharply sighted, five cartridges to the clip.
+You can trust your life to that."  He handed it to me and closed the
+door of his oak cabinet.
+
+"By the way," he continued, coming back to his chair, "what do you know
+of this Professor Challenger?"
+
+"I never saw him till to-day."
+
+"Well, neither did I.  It's funny we should both sail under sealed
+orders from a man we don't know.  He seemed an uppish old bird.  His
+brothers of science don't seem too fond of him, either.  How came you
+to take an interest in the affair?"
+
+I told him shortly my experiences of the morning, and he listened
+intently.  Then he drew out a map of South America and laid it on the
+table.
+
+"I believe every single word he said to you was the truth," said he,
+earnestly, "and, mind you, I have something to go on when I speak like
+that.  South America is a place I love, and I think, if you take it
+right through from Darien to Fuego, it's the grandest, richest, most
+wonderful bit of earth upon this planet.  People don't know it yet, and
+don't realize what it may become.  I've been up an' down it from end to
+end, and had two dry seasons in those very parts, as I told you when I
+spoke of the war I made on the slave-dealers.  Well, when I was up
+there I heard some yarns of the same kind--traditions of Indians and
+the like, but with somethin' behind them, no doubt.  The more you knew
+of that country, young fellah, the more you would understand that
+anythin' was possible--ANYTHIN'!  There are just some narrow
+water-lanes along which folk travel, and outside that it is all
+darkness.  Now, down here in the Matto Grande"--he swept his cigar over
+a part of the map--"or up in this corner where three countries meet,
+nothin' would surprise me.  As that chap said to-night, there are
+fifty-thousand miles of water-way runnin' through a forest that is very
+near the size of Europe.  You and I could be as far away from each
+other as Scotland is from Constantinople, and yet each of us be in the
+same great Brazilian forest.  Man has just made a track here and a
+scrape there in the maze.  Why, the river rises and falls the best part
+of forty feet, and half the country is a morass that you can't pass
+over.  Why shouldn't somethin' new and wonderful lie in such a country?
+And why shouldn't we be the men to find it out?  Besides," he added,
+his queer, gaunt face shining with delight, "there's a sportin' risk in
+every mile of it.  I'm like an old golf-ball--I've had all the white
+paint knocked off me long ago.  Life can whack me about now, and it
+can't leave a mark.  But a sportin' risk, young fellah, that's the salt
+of existence.  Then it's worth livin' again.  We're all gettin' a deal
+too soft and dull and comfy.  Give me the great waste lands and the
+wide spaces, with a gun in my fist and somethin' to look for that's
+worth findin'.  I've tried war and steeplechasin' and aeroplanes, but
+this huntin' of beasts that look like a lobster-supper dream is a
+brand-new sensation." He chuckled with glee at the prospect.
+
+Perhaps I have dwelt too long upon this new acquaintance, but he is to
+be my comrade for many a day, and so I have tried to set him down as I
+first saw him, with his quaint personality and his queer little tricks
+of speech and of thought.  It was only the need of getting in the
+account of my meeting which drew me at last from his company.  I left
+him seated amid his pink radiance, oiling the lock of his favorite
+rifle, while he still chuckled to himself at the thought of the
+adventures which awaited us.  It was very clear to me that if dangers
+lay before us I could not in all England have found a cooler head or a
+braver spirit with which to share them.
+
+That night, wearied as I was after the wonderful happenings of the day,
+I sat late with McArdle, the news editor, explaining to him the whole
+situation, which he thought important enough to bring next morning
+before the notice of Sir George Beaumont, the chief.  It was agreed
+that I should write home full accounts of my adventures in the shape of
+successive letters to McArdle, and that these should either be edited
+for the Gazette as they arrived, or held back to be published later,
+according to the wishes of Professor Challenger, since we could not yet
+know what conditions he might attach to those directions which should
+guide us to the unknown land.  In response to a telephone inquiry, we
+received nothing more definite than a fulmination against the Press,
+ending up with the remark that if we would notify our boat he would
+hand us any directions which he might think it proper to give us at the
+moment of starting.  A second question from us failed to elicit any
+answer at all, save a plaintive bleat from his wife to the effect that
+her husband was in a very violent temper already, and that she hoped we
+would do nothing to make it worse.  A third attempt, later in the day,
+provoked a terrific crash, and a subsequent message from the Central
+Exchange that Professor Challenger's receiver had been shattered.
+After that we abandoned all attempt at communication.
+
+And now my patient readers, I can address you directly no longer.  From
+now onwards (if, indeed, any continuation of this narrative should ever
+reach you) it can only be through the paper which I represent.  In the
+hands of the editor I leave this account of the events which have led
+up to one of the most remarkable expeditions of all time, so that if I
+never return to England there shall be some record as to how the affair
+came about.  I am writing these last lines in the saloon of the Booth
+liner Francisca, and they will go back by the pilot to the keeping of
+Mr. McArdle.  Let me draw one last picture before I close the
+notebook--a picture which is the last memory of the old country which I
+bear away with me.  It is a wet, foggy morning in the late spring; a
+thin, cold rain is falling.  Three shining mackintoshed figures are
+walking down the quay, making for the gang-plank of the great liner
+from which the blue-peter is flying.  In front of them a porter pushes
+a trolley piled high with trunks, wraps, and gun-cases.  Professor
+Summerlee, a long, melancholy figure, walks with dragging steps and
+drooping head, as one who is already profoundly sorry for himself.
+Lord John Roxton steps briskly, and his thin, eager face beams forth
+between his hunting-cap and his muffler.  As for myself, I am glad to
+have got the bustling days of preparation and the pangs of leave-taking
+behind me, and I have no doubt that I show it in my bearing.  Suddenly,
+just as we reach the vessel, there is a shout behind us.  It is
+Professor Challenger, who had promised to see us off.  He runs after
+us, a puffing, red-faced, irascible figure.
+
+"No thank you," says he; "I should much prefer not to go aboard.  I
+have only a few words to say to you, and they can very well be said
+where we are.  I beg you not to imagine that I am in any way indebted
+to you for making this journey.  I would have you to understand that it
+is a matter of perfect indifference to me, and I refuse to entertain
+the most remote sense of personal obligation.  Truth is truth, and
+nothing which you can report can affect it in any way, though it may
+excite the emotions and allay the curiosity of a number of very
+ineffectual people.  My directions for your instruction and guidance
+are in this sealed envelope.  You will open it when you reach a town
+upon the Amazon which is called Manaos, but not until the date and hour
+which is marked upon the outside.  Have I made myself clear?  I leave
+the strict observance of my conditions entirely to your honor.  No, Mr.
+Malone, I will place no restriction upon your correspondence, since the
+ventilation of the facts is the object of your journey; but I demand
+that you shall give no particulars as to your exact destination, and
+that nothing be actually published until your return.  Good-bye, sir.
+You have done something to mitigate my feelings for the loathsome
+profession to which you unhappily belong.  Good-bye, Lord John.
+Science is, as I understand, a sealed book to you; but you may
+congratulate yourself upon the hunting-field which awaits you.  You
+will, no doubt, have the opportunity of describing in the Field how you
+brought down the rocketing dimorphodon.  And good-bye to you also,
+Professor Summerlee.  If you are still capable of self-improvement, of
+which I am frankly unconvinced, you will surely return to London a
+wiser man."
+
+So he turned upon his heel, and a minute later from the deck I could
+see his short, squat figure bobbing about in the distance as he made
+his way back to his train.  Well, we are well down Channel now.
+There's the last bell for letters, and it's good-bye to the pilot.
+We'll be "down, hull-down, on the old trail" from now on.  God bless
+all we leave behind us, and send us safely back.
+
+
+
+
+                           CHAPTER VII
+
+            "To-morrow we Disappear into the Unknown"
+
+I will not bore those whom this narrative may reach by an account of
+our luxurious voyage upon the Booth liner, nor will I tell of our
+week's stay at Para (save that I should wish to acknowledge the great
+kindness of the Pereira da Pinta Company in helping us to get together
+our equipment).  I will also allude very briefly to our river journey,
+up a wide, slow-moving, clay-tinted stream, in a steamer which was
+little smaller than that which had carried us across the Atlantic.
+Eventually we found ourselves through the narrows of Obidos and reached
+the town of Manaos.  Here we were rescued from the limited attractions
+of the local inn by Mr. Shortman, the representative of the British and
+Brazilian Trading Company.  In his hospitable Fazenda we spent our time
+until the day when we were empowered to open the letter of instructions
+given to us by Professor Challenger.  Before I reach the surprising
+events of that date I would desire to give a clearer sketch of my
+comrades in this enterprise, and of the associates whom we had already
+gathered together in South America.  I speak freely, and I leave the
+use of my material to your own discretion, Mr. McArdle, since it is
+through your hands that this report must pass before it reaches the
+world.
+
+The scientific attainments of Professor Summerlee are too well known
+for me to trouble to recapitulate them.  He is better equipped for a
+rough expedition of this sort than one would imagine at first sight.
+His tall, gaunt, stringy figure is insensible to fatigue, and his dry,
+half-sarcastic, and often wholly unsympathetic manner is uninfluenced
+by any change in his surroundings.  Though in his sixty-sixth year, I
+have never heard him express any dissatisfaction at the occasional
+hardships which we have had to encounter.  I had regarded his presence
+as an encumbrance to the expedition, but, as a matter of fact, I am now
+well convinced that his power of endurance is as great as my own.  In
+temper he is naturally acid and sceptical.  From the beginning he has
+never concealed his belief that Professor Challenger is an absolute
+fraud, that we are all embarked upon an absurd wild-goose chase and
+that we are likely to reap nothing but disappointment and danger in
+South America, and corresponding ridicule in England.  Such are the
+views which, with much passionate distortion of his thin features and
+wagging of his thin, goat-like beard, he poured into our ears all the
+way from Southampton to Manaos.  Since landing from the boat he has
+obtained some consolation from the beauty and variety of the insect and
+bird life around him, for he is absolutely whole-hearted in his
+devotion to science.  He spends his days flitting through the woods
+with his shot-gun and his butterfly-net, and his evenings in mounting
+the many specimens he has acquired.  Among his minor peculiarities are
+that he is careless as to his attire, unclean in his person,
+exceedingly absent-minded in his habits, and addicted to smoking a
+short briar pipe, which is seldom out of his mouth.  He has been upon
+several scientific expeditions in his youth (he was with Robertson in
+Papua), and the life of the camp and the canoe is nothing fresh to him.
+
+Lord John Roxton has some points in common with Professor Summerlee,
+and others in which they are the very antithesis to each other.  He is
+twenty years younger, but has something of the same spare, scraggy
+physique.  As to his appearance, I have, as I recollect, described it
+in that portion of my narrative which I have left behind me in London.
+He is exceedingly neat and prim in his ways, dresses always with great
+care in white drill suits and high brown mosquito-boots, and shaves at
+least once a day.  Like most men of action, he is laconic in speech,
+and sinks readily into his own thoughts, but he is always quick to
+answer a question or join in a conversation, talking in a queer, jerky,
+half-humorous fashion.  His knowledge of the world, and very especially
+of South America, is surprising, and he has a whole-hearted belief in
+the possibilities of our journey which is not to be dashed by the
+sneers of Professor Summerlee.  He has a gentle voice and a quiet
+manner, but behind his twinkling blue eyes there lurks a capacity for
+furious wrath and implacable resolution, the more dangerous because
+they are held in leash.  He spoke little of his own exploits in Brazil
+and Peru, but it was a revelation to me to find the excitement which
+was caused by his presence among the riverine natives, who looked upon
+him as their champion and protector.  The exploits of the Red Chief, as
+they called him, had become legends among them, but the real facts, as
+far as I could learn them, were amazing enough.
+
+These were that Lord John had found himself some years before in that
+no-man's-land which is formed by the half-defined frontiers between
+Peru, Brazil, and Columbia.  In this great district the wild rubber
+tree flourishes, and has become, as in the Congo, a curse to the
+natives which can only be compared to their forced labor under the
+Spaniards upon the old silver mines of Darien.  A handful of villainous
+half-breeds dominated the country, armed such Indians as would support
+them, and turned the rest into slaves, terrorizing them with the most
+inhuman tortures in order to force them to gather the india-rubber,
+which was then floated down the river to Para.  Lord John Roxton
+expostulated on behalf of the wretched victims, and received nothing
+but threats and insults for his pains.  He then formally declared war
+against Pedro Lopez, the leader of the slave-drivers, enrolled a band
+of runaway slaves in his service, armed them, and conducted a campaign,
+which ended by his killing with his own hands the notorious half-breed
+and breaking down the system which he represented.
+
+No wonder that the ginger-headed man with the silky voice and the free
+and easy manners was now looked upon with deep interest upon the banks
+of the great South American river, though the feelings he inspired were
+naturally mixed, since the gratitude of the natives was equaled by the
+resentment of those who desired to exploit them.  One useful result of
+his former experiences was that he could talk fluently in the Lingoa
+Geral, which is the peculiar talk, one-third Portuguese and two-thirds
+Indian, which is current all over Brazil.
+
+I have said before that Lord John Roxton was a South Americomaniac.  He
+could not speak of that great country without ardor, and this ardor was
+infectious, for, ignorant as I was, he fixed my attention and
+stimulated my curiosity.  How I wish I could reproduce the glamour of
+his discourses, the peculiar mixture of accurate knowledge and of racy
+imagination which gave them their fascination, until even the
+Professor's cynical and sceptical smile would gradually vanish from his
+thin face as he listened.  He would tell the history of the mighty
+river so rapidly explored (for some of the first conquerors of Peru
+actually crossed the entire continent upon its waters), and yet so
+unknown in regard to all that lay behind its ever-changing banks.
+
+"What is there?" he would cry, pointing to the north.  "Wood and marsh
+and unpenetrated jungle.  Who knows what it may shelter?  And there to
+the south?  A wilderness of swampy forest, where no white man has ever
+been.  The unknown is up against us on every side.  Outside the narrow
+lines of the rivers what does anyone know?  Who will say what is
+possible in such a country?  Why should old man Challenger not be
+right?"  At which direct defiance the stubborn sneer would reappear
+upon Professor Summerlee's face, and he would sit, shaking his sardonic
+head in unsympathetic silence, behind the cloud of his briar-root pipe.
+
+
+So much, for the moment, for my two white companions, whose characters
+and limitations will be further exposed, as surely as my own, as this
+narrative proceeds.  But already we have enrolled certain retainers who
+may play no small part in what is to come.  The first is a gigantic
+negro named Zambo, who is a black Hercules, as willing as any horse,
+and about as intelligent.  Him we enlisted at Para, on the
+recommendation of the steamship company, on whose vessels he had
+learned to speak a halting English.
+
+It was at Para also that we engaged Gomez and Manuel, two half-breeds
+from up the river, just come down with a cargo of redwood.  They were
+swarthy fellows, bearded and fierce, as active and wiry as panthers.
+Both of them had spent their lives in those upper waters of the Amazon
+which we were about to explore, and it was this recommendation which
+had caused Lord John to engage them.  One of them, Gomez, had the
+further advantage that he could speak excellent English.  These men
+were willing to act as our personal servants, to cook, to row, or to
+make themselves useful in any way at a payment of fifteen dollars a
+month.  Besides these, we had engaged three Mojo Indians from Bolivia,
+who are the most skilful at fishing and boat work of all the river
+tribes.  The chief of these we called Mojo, after his tribe, and the
+others are known as Jose and Fernando.  Three white men, then, two
+half-breeds, one negro, and three Indians made up the personnel of the
+little expedition which lay waiting for its instructions at Manaos
+before starting upon its singular quest.
+
+At last, after a weary week, the day had come and the hour.  I ask you
+to picture the shaded sitting-room of the Fazenda St.  Ignatio, two
+miles inland from the town of Manaos.  Outside lay the yellow, brassy
+glare of the sunshine, with the shadows of the palm trees as black and
+definite as the trees themselves.  The air was calm, full of the
+eternal hum of insects, a tropical chorus of many octaves, from the
+deep drone of the bee to the high, keen pipe of the mosquito.  Beyond
+the veranda was a small cleared garden, bounded with cactus hedges and
+adorned with clumps of flowering shrubs, round which the great blue
+butterflies and the tiny humming-birds fluttered and darted in
+crescents of sparkling light.  Within we were seated round the cane
+table, on which lay a sealed envelope.  Inscribed upon it, in the
+jagged handwriting of Professor Challenger, were the words:--
+
+
+"Instructions to Lord John Roxton and party.  To be opened at Manaos
+upon July 15th, at 12 o'clock precisely."
+
+
+Lord John had placed his watch upon the table beside him.
+
+"We have seven more minutes," said he.  "The old dear is very precise."
+
+Professor Summerlee gave an acid smile as he picked up the envelope in
+his gaunt hand.
+
+"What can it possibly matter whether we open it now or in seven
+minutes?" said he.  "It is all part and parcel of the same system of
+quackery and nonsense, for which I regret to say that the writer is
+notorious."
+
+"Oh, come, we must play the game accordin' to rules," said Lord John.
+"It's old man Challenger's show and we are here by his good will, so it
+would be rotten bad form if we didn't follow his instructions to the
+letter."
+
+"A pretty business it is!" cried the Professor, bitterly.  "It struck
+me as preposterous in London, but I'm bound to say that it seems even
+more so upon closer acquaintance.  I don't know what is inside this
+envelope, but, unless it is something pretty definite, I shall be much
+tempted to take the next down-river boat and catch the Bolivia at Para.
+After all, I have some more responsible work in the world than to run
+about disproving the assertions of a lunatic.  Now, Roxton, surely it
+is time."
+
+"Time it is," said Lord John.  "You can blow the whistle." He took up
+the envelope and cut it with his penknife.  From it he drew a folded
+sheet of paper.  This he carefully opened out and flattened on the
+table.  It was a blank sheet.  He turned it over.  Again it was blank.
+We looked at each other in a bewildered silence, which was broken by a
+discordant burst of derisive laughter from Professor Summerlee.
+
+"It is an open admission," he cried.  "What more do you want?  The
+fellow is a self-confessed humbug.  We have only to return home and
+report him as the brazen imposter that he is."
+
+"Invisible ink!" I suggested.
+
+"I don't think!" said Lord Roxton, holding the paper to the light.
+"No, young fellah my lad, there is no use deceiving yourself.  I'll go
+bail for it that nothing has ever been written upon this paper."
+
+"May I come in?" boomed a voice from the veranda.
+
+The shadow of a squat figure had stolen across the patch of sunlight.
+That voice!  That monstrous breadth of shoulder!  We sprang to our feet
+with a gasp of astonishment as Challenger, in a round, boyish straw-hat
+with a colored ribbon--Challenger, with his hands in his jacket-pockets
+and his canvas shoes daintily pointing as he walked--appeared in the
+open space before us.  He threw back his head, and there he stood in
+the golden glow with all his old Assyrian luxuriance of beard, all his
+native insolence of drooping eyelids and intolerant eyes.
+
+"I fear," said he, taking out his watch, "that I am a few minutes too
+late.  When I gave you this envelope I must confess that I had never
+intended that you should open it, for it had been my fixed intention to
+be with you before the hour.  The unfortunate delay can be apportioned
+between a blundering pilot and an intrusive sandbank.  I fear that it
+has given my colleague, Professor Summerlee, occasion to blaspheme."
+
+"I am bound to say, sir," said Lord John, with some sternness of voice,
+"that your turning up is a considerable relief to us, for our mission
+seemed to have come to a premature end.  Even now I can't for the life
+of me understand why you should have worked it in so extraordinary a
+manner."
+
+Instead of answering, Professor Challenger entered, shook hands with
+myself and Lord John, bowed with ponderous insolence to Professor
+Summerlee, and sank back into a basket-chair, which creaked and swayed
+beneath his weight.
+
+"Is all ready for your journey?" he asked.
+
+"We can start to-morrow."
+
+"Then so you shall.  You need no chart of directions now, since you
+will have the inestimable advantage of my own guidance.  From the first
+I had determined that I would myself preside over your investigation.
+The most elaborate charts would, as you will readily admit, be a poor
+substitute for my own intelligence and advice.  As to the small ruse
+which I played upon you in the matter of the envelope, it is clear
+that, had I told you all my intentions, I should have been forced to
+resist unwelcome pressure to travel out with you."
+
+"Not from me, sir!" exclaimed Professor Summerlee, heartily.  "So long
+as there was another ship upon the Atlantic."
+
+Challenger waved him away with his great hairy hand.
+
+"Your common sense will, I am sure, sustain my objection and realize
+that it was better that I should direct my own movements and appear
+only at the exact moment when my presence was needed.  That moment has
+now arrived.  You are in safe hands.  You will not now fail to reach
+your destination.  From henceforth I take command of this expedition,
+and I must ask you to complete your preparations to-night, so that we
+may be able to make an early start in the morning.  My time is of
+value, and the same thing may be said, no doubt, in a lesser degree of
+your own.  I propose, therefore, that we push on as rapidly as
+possible, until I have demonstrated what you have come to see."
+
+Lord John Roxton has chartered a large steam launch, the Esmeralda,
+which was to carry us up the river.  So far as climate goes, it was
+immaterial what time we chose for our expedition, as the temperature
+ranges from seventy-five to ninety degrees both summer and winter, with
+no appreciable difference in heat.  In moisture, however, it is
+otherwise; from December to May is the period of the rains, and during
+this time the river slowly rises until it attains a height of nearly
+forty feet above its low-water mark.  It floods the banks, extends in
+great lagoons over a monstrous waste of country, and forms a huge
+district, called locally the Gapo, which is for the most part too
+marshy for foot-travel and too shallow for boating.  About June the
+waters begin to fall, and are at their lowest at October or November.
+Thus our expedition was at the time of the dry season, when the great
+river and its tributaries were more or less in a normal condition.
+
+The current of the river is a slight one, the drop being not greater
+than eight inches in a mile.  No stream could be more convenient for
+navigation, since the prevailing wind is south-east, and sailing boats
+may make a continuous progress to the Peruvian frontier, dropping down
+again with the current.  In our own case the excellent engines of the
+Esmeralda could disregard the sluggish flow of the stream, and we made
+as rapid progress as if we were navigating a stagnant lake.  For three
+days we steamed north-westwards up a stream which even here, a thousand
+miles from its mouth, was still so enormous that from its center the
+two banks were mere shadows upon the distant skyline.  On the fourth
+day after leaving Manaos we turned into a tributary which at its mouth
+was little smaller than the main stream.  It narrowed rapidly, however,
+and after two more days' steaming we reached an Indian village, where
+the Professor insisted that we should land, and that the Esmeralda
+should be sent back to Manaos.  We should soon come upon rapids, he
+explained, which would make its further use impossible.  He added
+privately that we were now approaching the door of the unknown country,
+and that the fewer whom we took into our confidence the better it would
+be.  To this end also he made each of us give our word of honor that we
+would publish or say nothing which would give any exact clue as to the
+whereabouts of our travels, while the servants were all solemnly sworn
+to the same effect.  It is for this reason that I am compelled to be
+vague in my narrative, and I would warn my readers that in any map or
+diagram which I may give the relation of places to each other may be
+correct, but the points of the compass are carefully confused, so that
+in no way can it be taken as an actual guide to the country.  Professor
+Challenger's reasons for secrecy may be valid or not, but we had no
+choice but to adopt them, for he was prepared to abandon the whole
+expedition rather than modify the conditions upon which he would guide
+us.
+
+It was August 2nd when we snapped our last link with the outer world by
+bidding farewell to the Esmeralda.  Since then four days have passed,
+during which we have engaged two large canoes from the Indians, made of
+so light a material (skins over a bamboo framework) that we should be
+able to carry them round any obstacle.  These we have loaded with all
+our effects, and have engaged two additional Indians to help us in the
+navigation.  I understand that they are the very two--Ataca and Ipetu
+by name--who accompanied Professor Challenger upon his previous
+journey.  They appeared to be terrified at the prospect of repeating
+it, but the chief has patriarchal powers in these countries, and if the
+bargain is good in his eyes the clansman has little choice in the
+matter.
+
+So to-morrow we disappear into the unknown.  This account I am
+transmitting down the river by canoe, and it may be our last word to
+those who are interested in our fate.  I have, according to our
+arrangement, addressed it to you, my dear Mr. McArdle, and I leave it
+to your discretion to delete, alter, or do what you like with it.  From
+the assurance of Professor Challenger's manner--and in spite of the
+continued scepticism of Professor Summerlee--I have no doubt that our
+leader will make good his statement, and that we are really on the eve
+of some most remarkable experiences.
+
+
+
+
+                           CHAPTER VIII
+
+             "The Outlying Pickets of the New World"
+
+Our friends at home may well rejoice with us, for we are at our goal,
+and up to a point, at least, we have shown that the statement of
+Professor Challenger can be verified.  We have not, it is true,
+ascended the plateau, but it lies before us, and even Professor
+Summerlee is in a more chastened mood.  Not that he will for an instant
+admit that his rival could be right, but he is less persistent in his
+incessant objections, and has sunk for the most part into an observant
+silence.  I must hark back, however, and continue my narrative from
+where I dropped it.  We are sending home one of our local Indians who
+is injured, and I am committing this letter to his charge, with
+considerable doubts in my mind as to whether it will ever come to hand.
+
+When I wrote last we were about to leave the Indian village where we
+had been deposited by the Esmeralda.  I have to begin my report by bad
+news, for the first serious personal trouble (I pass over the incessant
+bickerings between the Professors) occurred this evening, and might
+have had a tragic ending.  I have spoken of our English-speaking
+half-breed, Gomez--a fine worker and a willing fellow, but afflicted, I
+fancy, with the vice of curiosity, which is common enough among such
+men.  On the last evening he seems to have hid himself near the hut in
+which we were discussing our plans, and, being observed by our huge
+negro Zambo, who is as faithful as a dog and has the hatred which all
+his race bear to the half-breeds, he was dragged out and carried into
+our presence.  Gomez whipped out his knife, however, and but for the
+huge strength of his captor, which enabled him to disarm him with one
+hand, he would certainly have stabbed him.  The matter has ended in
+reprimands, the opponents have been compelled to shake hands, and there
+is every hope that all will be well.  As to the feuds of the two
+learned men, they are continuous and bitter.  It must be admitted that
+Challenger is provocative in the last degree, but Summerlee has an acid
+tongue, which makes matters worse.  Last night Challenger said that he
+never cared to walk on the Thames Embankment and look up the river, as
+it was always sad to see one's own eventual goal.  He is convinced, of
+course, that he is destined for Westminster Abbey.  Summerlee rejoined,
+however, with a sour smile, by saying that he understood that Millbank
+Prison had been pulled down.  Challenger's conceit is too colossal to
+allow him to be really annoyed.  He only smiled in his beard and
+repeated "Really!  Really!" in the pitying tone one would use to a
+child.  Indeed, they are children both--the one wizened and
+cantankerous, the other formidable and overbearing, yet each with a
+brain which has put him in the front rank of his scientific age.
+Brain, character, soul--only as one sees more of life does one
+understand how distinct is each.
+
+The very next day we did actually make our start upon this remarkable
+expedition.  We found that all our possessions fitted very easily into
+the two canoes, and we divided our personnel, six in each, taking the
+obvious precaution in the interests of peace of putting one Professor
+into each canoe.  Personally, I was with Challenger, who was in a
+beatific humor, moving about as one in a silent ecstasy and beaming
+benevolence from every feature.  I have had some experience of him in
+other moods, however, and shall be the less surprised when the
+thunderstorms suddenly come up amidst the sunshine.  If it is
+impossible to be at your ease, it is equally impossible to be dull in
+his company, for one is always in a state of half-tremulous doubt as to
+what sudden turn his formidable temper may take.
+
+For two days we made our way up a good-sized river some hundreds of
+yards broad, and dark in color, but transparent, so that one could
+usually see the bottom.  The affluents of the Amazon are, half of them,
+of this nature, while the other half are whitish and opaque, the
+difference depending upon the class of country through which they have
+flowed.  The dark indicate vegetable decay, while the others point to
+clayey soil.  Twice we came across rapids, and in each case made a
+portage of half a mile or so to avoid them.  The woods on either side
+were primeval, which are more easily penetrated than woods of the
+second growth, and we had no great difficulty in carrying our canoes
+through them.  How shall I ever forget the solemn mystery of it?  The
+height of the trees and the thickness of the boles exceeded anything
+which I in my town-bred life could have imagined, shooting upwards in
+magnificent columns until, at an enormous distance above our heads, we
+could dimly discern the spot where they threw out their side-branches
+into Gothic upward curves which coalesced to form one great matted roof
+of verdure, through which only an occasional golden ray of sunshine
+shot downwards to trace a thin dazzling line of light amidst the
+majestic obscurity.  As we walked noiselessly amid the thick, soft
+carpet of decaying vegetation the hush fell upon our souls which comes
+upon us in the twilight of the Abbey, and even Professor Challenger's
+full-chested notes sank into a whisper.  Alone, I should have been
+ignorant of the names of these giant growths, but our men of science
+pointed out the cedars, the great silk cotton trees, and the redwood
+trees, with all that profusion of various plants which has made this
+continent the chief supplier to the human race of those gifts of Nature
+which depend upon the vegetable world, while it is the most backward in
+those products which come from animal life.  Vivid orchids and
+wonderful colored lichens smoldered upon the swarthy tree-trunks and
+where a wandering shaft of light fell full upon the golden allamanda,
+the scarlet star-clusters of the tacsonia, or the rich deep blue of
+ipomaea, the effect was as a dream of fairyland.  In these great wastes
+of forest, life, which abhors darkness, struggles ever upwards to the
+light.  Every plant, even the smaller ones, curls and writhes to the
+green surface, twining itself round its stronger and taller brethren in
+the effort.  Climbing plants are monstrous and luxuriant, but others
+which have never been known to climb elsewhere learn the art as an
+escape from that somber shadow, so that the common nettle, the jasmine,
+and even the jacitara palm tree can be seen circling the stems of the
+cedars and striving to reach their crowns.  Of animal life there was no
+movement amid the majestic vaulted aisles which stretched from us as we
+walked, but a constant movement far above our heads told of that
+multitudinous world of snake and monkey, bird and sloth, which lived in
+the sunshine, and looked down in wonder at our tiny, dark, stumbling
+figures in the obscure depths immeasurably below them.  At dawn and at
+sunset the howler monkeys screamed together and the parrakeets broke
+into shrill chatter, but during the hot hours of the day only the full
+drone of insects, like the beat of a distant surf, filled the ear,
+while nothing moved amid the solemn vistas of stupendous trunks, fading
+away into the darkness which held us in.  Once some bandy-legged,
+lurching creature, an ant-eater or a bear, scuttled clumsily amid the
+shadows.  It was the only sign of earth life which I saw in this great
+Amazonian forest.
+
+And yet there were indications that even human life itself was not far
+from us in those mysterious recesses.  On the third day out we were
+aware of a singular deep throbbing in the air, rhythmic and solemn,
+coming and going fitfully throughout the morning.  The two boats were
+paddling within a few yards of each other when first we heard it, and
+our Indians remained motionless, as if they had been turned to bronze,
+listening intently with expressions of terror upon their faces.
+
+"What is it, then?" I asked.
+
+"Drums," said Lord John, carelessly; "war drums.  I have heard them
+before."
+
+"Yes, sir, war drums," said Gomez, the half-breed.  "Wild Indians,
+bravos, not mansos; they watch us every mile of the way; kill us if
+they can."
+
+"How can they watch us?" I asked, gazing into the dark, motionless void.
+
+The half-breed shrugged his broad shoulders.
+
+"The Indians know.  They have their own way.  They watch us.  They talk
+the drum talk to each other.  Kill us if they can."
+
+By the afternoon of that day--my pocket diary shows me that it was
+Tuesday, August 18th--at least six or seven drums were throbbing from
+various points.  Sometimes they beat quickly, sometimes slowly,
+sometimes in obvious question and answer, one far to the east breaking
+out in a high staccato rattle, and being followed after a pause by a
+deep roll from the north.  There was something indescribably
+nerve-shaking and menacing in that constant mutter, which seemed to
+shape itself into the very syllables of the half-breed, endlessly
+repeated, "We will kill you if we can.  We will kill you if we can."
+No one ever moved in the silent woods.  All the peace and soothing of
+quiet Nature lay in that dark curtain of vegetation, but away from
+behind there came ever the one message from our fellow-man.  "We will
+kill you if we can," said the men in the east.  "We will kill you if we
+can," said the men in the north.
+
+All day the drums rumbled and whispered, while their menace reflected
+itself in the faces of our colored companions.  Even the hardy,
+swaggering half-breed seemed cowed.  I learned, however, that day once
+for all that both Summerlee and Challenger possessed that highest type
+of bravery, the bravery of the scientific mind.  Theirs was the spirit
+which upheld Darwin among the gauchos of the Argentine or Wallace among
+the head-hunters of Malaya.  It is decreed by a merciful Nature that
+the human brain cannot think of two things simultaneously, so that if
+it be steeped in curiosity as to science it has no room for merely
+personal considerations.  All day amid that incessant and mysterious
+menace our two Professors watched every bird upon the wing, and every
+shrub upon the bank, with many a sharp wordy contention, when the snarl
+of Summerlee came quick upon the deep growl of Challenger, but with no
+more sense of danger and no more reference to drum-beating Indians than
+if they were seated together in the smoking-room of the Royal Society's
+Club in St.  James's Street.  Once only did they condescend to discuss
+them.
+
+"Miranha or Amajuaca cannibals," said Challenger, jerking his thumb
+towards the reverberating wood.
+
+"No doubt, sir," Summerlee answered.  "Like all such tribes, I shall
+expect to find them of poly-synthetic speech and of Mongolian type."
+
+"Polysynthetic certainly," said Challenger, indulgently.  "I am not
+aware that any other type of language exists in this continent, and I
+have notes of more than a hundred.  The Mongolian theory I regard with
+deep suspicion."
+
+"I should have thought that even a limited knowledge of comparative
+anatomy would have helped to verify it," said Summerlee, bitterly.
+
+Challenger thrust out his aggressive chin until he was all beard and
+hat-rim.  "No doubt, sir, a limited knowledge would have that effect.
+When one's knowledge is exhaustive, one comes to other conclusions."
+They glared at each other in mutual defiance, while all round rose the
+distant whisper, "We will kill you--we will kill you if we can."
+
+That night we moored our canoes with heavy stones for anchors in the
+center of the stream, and made every preparation for a possible attack.
+Nothing came, however, and with the dawn we pushed upon our way, the
+drum-beating dying out behind us.  About three o'clock in the afternoon
+we came to a very steep rapid, more than a mile long--the very one in
+which Professor Challenger had suffered disaster upon his first
+journey.  I confess that the sight of it consoled me, for it was really
+the first direct corroboration, slight as it was, of the truth of his
+story.  The Indians carried first our canoes and then our stores
+through the brushwood, which is very thick at this point, while we four
+whites, our rifles on our shoulders, walked between them and any danger
+coming from the woods.  Before evening we had successfully passed the
+rapids, and made our way some ten miles above them, where we anchored
+for the night.  At this point I reckoned that we had come not less than
+a hundred miles up the tributary from the main stream.
+
+It was in the early forenoon of the next day that we made the great
+departure.  Since dawn Professor Challenger had been acutely uneasy,
+continually scanning each bank of the river.  Suddenly he gave an
+exclamation of satisfaction and pointed to a single tree, which
+projected at a peculiar angle over the side of the stream.
+
+"What do you make of that?" he asked.
+
+"It is surely an Assai palm," said Summerlee.
+
+"Exactly.  It was an Assai palm which I took for my landmark.  The
+secret opening is half a mile onwards upon the other side of the river.
+There is no break in the trees.  That is the wonder and the mystery of
+it.  There where you see light-green rushes instead of dark-green
+undergrowth, there between the great cotton woods, that is my private
+gate into the unknown.  Push through, and you will understand."
+
+It was indeed a wonderful place.  Having reached the spot marked by a
+line of light-green rushes, we poled out two canoes through them for
+some hundreds of yards, and eventually emerged into a placid and
+shallow stream, running clear and transparent over a sandy bottom.  It
+may have been twenty yards across, and was banked in on each side by
+most luxuriant vegetation.  No one who had not observed that for a
+short distance reeds had taken the place of shrubs, could possibly have
+guessed the existence of such a stream or dreamed of the fairyland
+beyond.
+
+For a fairyland it was--the most wonderful that the imagination of man
+could conceive.  The thick vegetation met overhead, interlacing into a
+natural pergola, and through this tunnel of verdure in a golden
+twilight flowed the green, pellucid river, beautiful in itself, but
+marvelous from the strange tints thrown by the vivid light from above
+filtered and tempered in its fall.  Clear as crystal, motionless as a
+sheet of glass, green as the edge of an iceberg, it stretched in front
+of us under its leafy archway, every stroke of our paddles sending a
+thousand ripples across its shining surface.  It was a fitting avenue
+to a land of wonders.  All sign of the Indians had passed away, but
+animal life was more frequent, and the tameness of the creatures showed
+that they knew nothing of the hunter.  Fuzzy little black-velvet
+monkeys, with snow-white teeth and gleaming, mocking eyes, chattered at
+us as we passed.  With a dull, heavy splash an occasional cayman
+plunged in from the bank.  Once a dark, clumsy tapir stared at us from
+a gap in the bushes, and then lumbered away through the forest; once,
+too, the yellow, sinuous form of a great puma whisked amid the
+brushwood, and its green, baleful eyes glared hatred at us over its
+tawny shoulder.  Bird life was abundant, especially the wading birds,
+stork, heron, and ibis gathering in little groups, blue, scarlet, and
+white, upon every log which jutted from the bank, while beneath us the
+crystal water was alive with fish of every shape and color.
+
+For three days we made our way up this tunnel of hazy green sunshine.
+On the longer stretches one could hardly tell as one looked ahead where
+the distant green water ended and the distant green archway began.  The
+deep peace of this strange waterway was unbroken by any sign of man.
+
+"No Indian here.  Too much afraid.  Curupuri," said Gomez.
+
+"Curupuri is the spirit of the woods," Lord John explained.  "It's a
+name for any kind of devil.  The poor beggars think that there is
+something fearsome in this direction, and therefore they avoid it."
+
+On the third day it became evident that our journey in the canoes could
+not last much longer, for the stream was rapidly growing more shallow.
+Twice in as many hours we stuck upon the bottom.  Finally we pulled the
+boats up among the brushwood and spent the night on the bank of the
+river.  In the morning Lord John and I made our way for a couple of
+miles through the forest, keeping parallel with the stream; but as it
+grew ever shallower we returned and reported, what Professor Challenger
+had already suspected, that we had reached the highest point to which
+the canoes could be brought.  We drew them up, therefore, and concealed
+them among the bushes, blazing a tree with our axes, so that we should
+find them again.  Then we distributed the various burdens among
+us--guns, ammunition, food, a tent, blankets, and the rest--and,
+shouldering our packages, we set forth upon the more laborious stage of
+our journey.
+
+An unfortunate quarrel between our pepper-pots marked the outset of our
+new stage.  Challenger had from the moment of joining us issued
+directions to the whole party, much to the evident discontent of
+Summerlee.  Now, upon his assigning some duty to his fellow-Professor
+(it was only the carrying of an aneroid barometer), the matter suddenly
+came to a head.
+
+"May I ask, sir," said Summerlee, with vicious calm, "in what capacity
+you take it upon yourself to issue these orders?"
+
+Challenger glared and bristled.
+
+"I do it, Professor Summerlee, as leader of this expedition."
+
+"I am compelled to tell you, sir, that I do not recognize you in that
+capacity."
+
+"Indeed!" Challenger bowed with unwieldy sarcasm.  "Perhaps you would
+define my exact position."
+
+"Yes, sir.  You are a man whose veracity is upon trial, and this
+committee is here to try it.  You walk, sir, with your judges."
+
+"Dear me!" said Challenger, seating himself on the side of one of the
+canoes.  "In that case you will, of course, go on your way, and I will
+follow at my leisure.  If I am not the leader you cannot expect me to
+lead."
+
+Thank heaven that there were two sane men--Lord John Roxton and
+myself--to prevent the petulance and folly of our learned Professors
+from sending us back empty-handed to London.  Such arguing and pleading
+and explaining before we could get them mollified!  Then at last
+Summerlee, with his sneer and his pipe, would move forwards, and
+Challenger would come rolling and grumbling after.  By some good
+fortune we discovered about this time that both our savants had the
+very poorest opinion of Dr. Illingworth of Edinburgh.  Thenceforward
+that was our one safety, and every strained situation was relieved by
+our introducing the name of the Scotch zoologist, when both our
+Professors would form a temporary alliance and friendship in their
+detestation and abuse of this common rival.
+
+Advancing in single file along the bank of the stream, we soon found
+that it narrowed down to a mere brook, and finally that it lost itself
+in a great green morass of sponge-like mosses, into which we sank up to
+our knees.  The place was horribly haunted by clouds of mosquitoes and
+every form of flying pest, so we were glad to find solid ground again
+and to make a circuit among the trees, which enabled us to outflank
+this pestilent morass, which droned like an organ in the distance, so
+loud was it with insect life.
+
+On the second day after leaving our canoes we found that the whole
+character of the country changed.  Our road was persistently upwards,
+and as we ascended the woods became thinner and lost their tropical
+luxuriance.  The huge trees of the alluvial Amazonian plain gave place
+to the Phoenix and coco palms, growing in scattered clumps, with thick
+brushwood between.  In the damper hollows the Mauritia palms threw out
+their graceful drooping fronds.  We traveled entirely by compass, and
+once or twice there were differences of opinion between Challenger and
+the two Indians, when, to quote the Professor's indignant words, the
+whole party agreed to "trust the fallacious instincts of undeveloped
+savages rather than the highest product of modern European culture."
+That we were justified in doing so was shown upon the third day, when
+Challenger admitted that he recognized several landmarks of his former
+journey, and in one spot we actually came upon four fire-blackened
+stones, which must have marked a camping-place.
+
+The road still ascended, and we crossed a rock-studded slope which took
+two days to traverse.  The vegetation had again changed, and only the
+vegetable ivory tree remained, with a great profusion of wonderful
+orchids, among which I learned to recognize the rare Nuttonia
+Vexillaria and the glorious pink and scarlet blossoms of Cattleya and
+odontoglossum.  Occasional brooks with pebbly bottoms and fern-draped
+banks gurgled down the shallow gorges in the hill, and offered good
+camping-grounds every evening on the banks of some rock-studded pool,
+where swarms of little blue-backed fish, about the size and shape of
+English trout, gave us a delicious supper.
+
+On the ninth day after leaving the canoes, having done, as I reckon,
+about a hundred and twenty miles, we began to emerge from the trees,
+which had grown smaller until they were mere shrubs.  Their place was
+taken by an immense wilderness of bamboo, which grew so thickly that we
+could only penetrate it by cutting a pathway with the machetes and
+billhooks of the Indians.  It took us a long day, traveling from seven
+in the morning till eight at night, with only two breaks of one hour
+each, to get through this obstacle.  Anything more monotonous and
+wearying could not be imagined, for, even at the most open places, I
+could not see more than ten or twelve yards, while usually my vision
+was limited to the back of Lord John's cotton jacket in front of me,
+and to the yellow wall within a foot of me on either side.  From above
+came one thin knife-edge of sunshine, and fifteen feet over our heads
+one saw the tops of the reeds swaying against the deep blue sky.  I do
+not know what kind of creatures inhabit such a thicket, but several
+times we heard the plunging of large, heavy animals quite close to us.
+From their sounds Lord John judged them to be some form of wild cattle.
+Just as night fell we cleared the belt of bamboos, and at once formed
+our camp, exhausted by the interminable day.
+
+Early next morning we were again afoot, and found that the character of
+the country had changed once again.  Behind us was the wall of bamboo,
+as definite as if it marked the course of a river.  In front was an
+open plain, sloping slightly upwards and dotted with clumps of
+tree-ferns, the whole curving before us until it ended in a long,
+whale-backed ridge.  This we reached about midday, only to find a
+shallow valley beyond, rising once again into a gentle incline which
+led to a low, rounded sky-line.  It was here, while we crossed the
+first of these hills, that an incident occurred which may or may not
+have been important.
+
+Professor Challenger, who with the two local Indians was in the van of
+the party, stopped suddenly and pointed excitedly to the right.  As he
+did so we saw, at the distance of a mile or so, something which
+appeared to be a huge gray bird flap slowly up from the ground and skim
+smoothly off, flying very low and straight, until it was lost among the
+tree-ferns.
+
+"Did you see it?" cried Challenger, in exultation.  "Summerlee, did you
+see it?"
+
+His colleague was staring at the spot where the creature had
+disappeared.
+
+"What do you claim that it was?" he asked.
+
+"To the best of my belief, a pterodactyl."
+
+Summerlee burst into derisive laughter "A pter-fiddlestick!" said he.
+"It was a stork, if ever I saw one."
+
+Challenger was too furious to speak.  He simply swung his pack upon his
+back and continued upon his march.  Lord John came abreast of me,
+however, and his face was more grave than was his wont.  He had his
+Zeiss glasses in his hand.
+
+"I focused it before it got over the trees," said he. "I won't
+undertake to say what it was, but I'll risk my reputation as a
+sportsman that it wasn't any bird that ever I clapped eyes on in my
+life."
+
+So there the matter stands.  Are we really just at the edge of the
+unknown, encountering the outlying pickets of this lost world of which
+our leader speaks?  I give you the incident as it occurred and you will
+know as much as I do.  It stands alone, for we saw nothing more which
+could be called remarkable.
+
+And now, my readers, if ever I have any, I have brought you up the
+broad river, and through the screen of rushes, and down the green
+tunnel, and up the long slope of palm trees, and through the bamboo
+brake, and across the plain of tree-ferns.  At last our destination lay
+in full sight of us.  When we had crossed the second ridge we saw
+before us an irregular, palm-studded plain, and then the line of high
+red cliffs which I have seen in the picture.  There it lies, even as I
+write, and there can be no question that it is the same.  At the
+nearest point it is about seven miles from our present camp, and it
+curves away, stretching as far as I can see.  Challenger struts about
+like a prize peacock, and Summerlee is silent, but still sceptical.
+Another day should bring some of our doubts to an end.  Meanwhile, as
+Jose, whose arm was pierced by a broken bamboo, insists upon returning,
+I send this letter back in his charge, and only hope that it may
+eventually come to hand.  I will write again as the occasion serves.  I
+have enclosed with this a rough chart of our journey, which may have
+the effect of making the account rather easier to understand.
+
+
+
+
+                            CHAPTER IX
+
+                  "Who could have Foreseen it?"
+
+A dreadful thing has happened to us.  Who could have foreseen it?  I
+cannot foresee any end to our troubles.  It may be that we are
+condemned to spend our whole lives in this strange, inaccessible place.
+I am still so confused that I can hardly think clearly of the facts of
+the present or of the chances of the future.  To my astounded senses
+the one seems most terrible and the other as black as night.
+
+No men have ever found themselves in a worse position; nor is there any
+use in disclosing to you our exact geographical situation and asking
+our friends for a relief party.  Even if they could send one, our fate
+will in all human probability be decided long before it could arrive in
+South America.
+
+We are, in truth, as far from any human aid as if we were in the moon.
+If we are to win through, it is only our own qualities which can save
+us.  I have as companions three remarkable men, men of great
+brain-power and of unshaken courage.  There lies our one and only hope.
+It is only when I look upon the untroubled faces of my comrades that I
+see some glimmer through the darkness.  Outwardly I trust that I appear
+as unconcerned as they.  Inwardly I am filled with apprehension.
+
+Let me give you, with as much detail as I can, the sequence of events
+which have led us to this catastrophe.
+
+When I finished my last letter I stated that we were within seven miles
+from an enormous line of ruddy cliffs, which encircled, beyond all
+doubt, the plateau of which Professor Challenger spoke.  Their height,
+as we approached them, seemed to me in some places to be greater than
+he had stated--running up in parts to at least a thousand feet--and
+they were curiously striated, in a manner which is, I believe,
+characteristic of basaltic upheavals.  Something of the sort is to be
+seen in Salisbury Crags at Edinburgh.  The summit showed every sign of
+a luxuriant vegetation, with bushes near the edge, and farther back
+many high trees.  There was no indication of any life that we could see.
+
+That night we pitched our camp immediately under the cliff--a most wild
+and desolate spot.  The crags above us were not merely perpendicular,
+but curved outwards at the top, so that ascent was out of the question.
+Close to us was the high thin pinnacle of rock which I believe I
+mentioned earlier in this narrative.  It is like a broad red church
+spire, the top of it being level with the plateau, but a great chasm
+gaping between.  On the summit of it there grew one high tree.  Both
+pinnacle and cliff were comparatively low--some five or six hundred
+feet, I should think.
+
+"It was on that," said Professor Challenger, pointing to this tree,
+"that the pterodactyl was perched.  I climbed half-way up the rock
+before I shot him.  I am inclined to think that a good mountaineer like
+myself could ascend the rock to the top, though he would, of course, be
+no nearer to the plateau when he had done so."
+
+As Challenger spoke of his pterodactyl I glanced at Professor
+Summerlee, and for the first time I seemed to see some signs of a
+dawning credulity and repentance.  There was no sneer upon his thin
+lips, but, on the contrary, a gray, drawn look of excitement and
+amazement.  Challenger saw it, too, and reveled in the first taste of
+victory.
+
+"Of course," said he,  with his clumsy and ponderous sarcasm,
+"Professor Summerlee will understand that when I speak of a pterodactyl
+I mean a stork--only it is the kind of stork which has no feathers, a
+leathery skin, membranous wings, and teeth in its jaws."  He grinned
+and blinked and bowed until his colleague turned and walked away.
+
+In the morning, after a frugal breakfast of coffee and manioc--we had
+to be economical of our stores--we held a council of war as to the best
+method of ascending to the plateau above us.
+
+Challenger presided with a solemnity as if he were the Lord Chief
+Justice on the Bench.  Picture him seated upon a rock, his absurd
+boyish straw hat tilted on the back of his head, his supercilious eyes
+dominating us from under his drooping lids, his great black beard
+wagging as he slowly defined our present situation and our future
+movements.
+
+Beneath him you might have seen the three of us--myself, sunburnt,
+young, and vigorous after our open-air tramp; Summerlee, solemn but
+still critical, behind his eternal pipe; Lord John, as keen as a
+razor-edge, with his supple, alert figure leaning upon his rifle, and
+his eager eyes fixed eagerly upon the speaker.  Behind us were grouped
+the two swarthy half-breeds and the little knot of Indians, while in
+front and above us towered those huge, ruddy ribs of rocks which kept
+us from our goal.
+
+"I need not say," said our leader, "that on the occasion of my last
+visit I exhausted every means of climbing the cliff, and where I failed
+I do not think that anyone else is likely to succeed, for I am
+something of a mountaineer.  I had none of the appliances of a
+rock-climber with me, but I have taken the precaution to bring them
+now.  With their aid I am positive I could climb that detached pinnacle
+to the summit; but so long as the main cliff overhangs, it is vain to
+attempt ascending that.  I was hurried upon my last visit by the
+approach of the rainy season and by the exhaustion of my supplies.
+These considerations limited my time, and I can only claim that I have
+surveyed about six miles of the cliff to the east of us, finding no
+possible way up.  What, then, shall we now do?"
+
+"There seems to be only one reasonable course," said Professor
+Summerlee.  "If you have explored the east, we should travel along the
+base of the cliff to the west, and seek for a practicable point for our
+ascent."
+
+"That's it," said Lord John.  "The odds are that this plateau is of no
+great size, and we shall travel round it until we either find an easy
+way up it, or come back to the point from which we started."
+
+"I have already explained to our young friend here," said Challenger
+(he has a way of alluding to me as if I were a school child ten years
+old), "that it is quite impossible that there should be an easy way up
+anywhere, for the simple reason that if there were the summit would not
+be isolated, and those conditions would not obtain which have effected
+so singular an interference with the general laws of survival.  Yet I
+admit that there may very well be places where an expert human climber
+may reach the summit, and yet a cumbrous and heavy animal be unable to
+descend.  It is certain that there is a point where an ascent is
+possible."
+
+"How do you know that, sir?" asked Summerlee, sharply.
+
+"Because my predecessor, the American Maple White, actually made such
+an ascent.  How otherwise could he have seen the monster which he
+sketched in his notebook?"
+
+"There you reason somewhat ahead of the proved facts," said the
+stubborn Summerlee.  "I admit your plateau, because I have seen it; but
+I have not as yet satisfied myself that it contains any form of life
+whatever."
+
+"What you admit, sir, or what you do not admit, is really of
+inconceivably small importance.  I am glad to perceive that the plateau
+itself has actually obtruded itself upon your intelligence." He glanced
+up at it, and then, to our amazement, he sprang from his rock, and,
+seizing Summerlee by the neck, he tilted his face into the air.  "Now
+sir!" he shouted, hoarse with excitement.  "Do I help you to realize
+that the plateau contains some animal life?"
+
+I have said that a thick fringe of green overhung the edge of the
+cliff.  Out of this there had emerged a black, glistening object.  As
+it came slowly forth and overhung the chasm, we saw that it was a very
+large snake with a peculiar flat, spade-like head.  It wavered and
+quivered above us for a minute, the morning sun gleaming upon its
+sleek, sinuous coils.  Then it slowly drew inwards and disappeared.
+
+Summerlee had been so interested that he had stood unresisting while
+Challenger tilted his head into the air.  Now he shook his colleague
+off and came back to his dignity.
+
+"I should be glad, Professor Challenger," said he, "if you could see
+your way to make any remarks which may occur to you without seizing me
+by the chin.  Even the appearance of a very ordinary rock python does
+not appear to justify such a liberty."
+
+"But there is life upon the plateau all the same," his colleague
+replied in triumph.  "And now, having demonstrated this important
+conclusion so that it is clear to anyone, however prejudiced or obtuse,
+I am of opinion that we cannot do better than break up our camp and
+travel to westward until we find some means of ascent."
+
+The ground at the foot of the cliff was rocky and broken so that the
+going was slow and difficult.  Suddenly we came, however, upon
+something which cheered our hearts.  It was the site of an old
+encampment, with several empty Chicago meat tins, a bottle labeled
+"Brandy," a broken tin-opener, and a quantity of other travelers'
+debris.  A crumpled, disintegrated newspaper revealed itself as the
+Chicago Democrat, though the date had been obliterated.
+
+"Not mine," said Challenger.  "It must be Maple White's."
+
+Lord John had been gazing curiously at a great tree-fern which
+overshadowed the encampment.  "I say, look at this," said he.  "I
+believe it is meant for a sign-post."
+
+A slip of hard wood had been nailed to the tree in such a way as to
+point to the westward.
+
+"Most certainly a sign-post," said Challenger.  "What else?  Finding
+himself upon a dangerous errand, our pioneer has left this sign so that
+any party which follows him may know the way he has taken.  Perhaps we
+shall come upon some other indications as we proceed."
+
+We did indeed, but they were of a terrible and most unexpected nature.
+Immediately beneath the cliff there grew a considerable patch of high
+bamboo, like that which we had traversed in our journey.  Many of these
+stems were twenty feet high, with sharp, strong tops, so that even as
+they stood they made formidable spears.  We were passing along the edge
+of this cover when my eye was caught by the gleam of something white
+within it.  Thrusting in my head between the stems, I found myself
+gazing at a fleshless skull.  The whole skeleton was there, but the
+skull had detached itself and lay some feet nearer to the open.
+
+With a few blows from the machetes of our Indians we cleared the spot
+and were able to study the details of this old tragedy.  Only a few
+shreds of clothes could still be distinguished, but there were the
+remains of boots upon the bony feet, and it was very clear that the
+dead man was a European.  A gold watch by Hudson, of New York, and a
+chain which held a stylographic pen, lay among the bones.  There was
+also a silver cigarette-case, with "J. C., from A. E. S.," upon the
+lid.  The state of the metal seemed to show that the catastrophe had
+occurred no great time before.
+
+"Who can he be?" asked Lord John.  "Poor devil! every bone in his body
+seems to be broken."
+
+"And the bamboo grows through his smashed ribs," said Summerlee.  "It
+is a fast-growing plant, but it is surely inconceivable that this body
+could have been here while the canes grew to be twenty feet in length."
+
+"As to the man's identity," said Professor Challenger, "I have no doubt
+whatever upon that point.  As I made my way up the river before I
+reached you at the fazenda I instituted very particular inquiries about
+Maple White.  At Para they knew nothing.  Fortunately, I had a definite
+clew, for there was a particular picture in his sketch-book which
+showed him taking lunch with a certain ecclesiastic at Rosario.  This
+priest I was able to find, and though he proved a very argumentative
+fellow, who took it absurdly amiss that I should point out to him the
+corrosive effect which modern science must have upon his beliefs, he
+none the less gave me some positive information.  Maple White passed
+Rosario four years ago, or two years before I saw his dead body.  He
+was not alone at the time, but there was a friend, an American named
+James Colver, who remained in the boat and did not meet this
+ecclesiastic.  I think, therefore, that there can be no doubt that we
+are now looking upon the remains of this James Colver."
+
+"Nor," said Lord John, "is there much doubt as to how he met his death.
+He has fallen or been chucked from the top, and so been impaled.  How
+else could he come by his broken bones, and how could he have been
+stuck through by these canes with their points so high above our heads?"
+
+A hush came over us as we stood round these shattered remains and
+realized the truth of Lord John Roxton's words.  The beetling head of
+the cliff projected over the cane-brake.  Undoubtedly he had fallen
+from above.  But had he fallen?  Had it been an accident?  Or--already
+ominous and terrible possibilities began to form round that unknown
+land.
+
+We moved off in silence, and continued to coast round the line of
+cliffs, which were as even and unbroken as some of those monstrous
+Antarctic ice-fields which I have seen depicted as stretching from
+horizon to horizon and towering high above the mast-heads of the
+exploring vessel.
+
+In five miles we saw no rift or break.  And then suddenly we perceived
+something which filled us with new hope.  In a hollow of the rock,
+protected from rain, there was drawn a rough arrow in chalk, pointing
+still to the westwards.
+
+"Maple White again," said Professor Challenger.  "He had some
+presentiment that worthy footsteps would follow close behind him."
+
+"He had chalk, then?"
+
+"A box of colored chalks was among the effects I found in his knapsack.
+I remember that the white one was worn to a stump."
+
+"That is certainly good evidence," said Summerlee.  "We can only accept
+his guidance and follow on to the westward."
+
+We had proceeded some five more miles when again we saw a white arrow
+upon the rocks.  It was at a point where the face of the cliff was for
+the first time split into a narrow cleft.  Inside the cleft was a
+second guidance mark, which pointed right up it with the tip somewhat
+elevated, as if the spot indicated were above the level of the ground.
+
+It was a solemn place, for the walls were so gigantic and the slit of
+blue sky so narrow and so obscured by a double fringe of verdure, that
+only a dim and shadowy light penetrated to the bottom.  We had had no
+food for many hours, and were very weary with the stony and irregular
+journey, but our nerves were too strung to allow us to halt.  We
+ordered the camp to be pitched, however, and, leaving the Indians to
+arrange it, we four, with the two half-breeds, proceeded up the narrow
+gorge.
+
+It was not more than forty feet across at the mouth, but it rapidly
+closed until it ended in an acute angle, too straight and smooth for an
+ascent.  Certainly it was not this which our pioneer had attempted to
+indicate.  We made our way back--the whole gorge was not more than a
+quarter of a mile deep--and then suddenly the quick eyes of Lord John
+fell upon what we were seeking.  High up above our heads, amid the dark
+shadows, there was one circle of deeper gloom.  Surely it could only be
+the opening of a cave.
+
+The base of the cliff was heaped with loose stones at the spot, and it
+was not difficult to clamber up.  When we reached it, all doubt was
+removed.  Not only was it an opening into the rock, but on the side of
+it there was marked once again the sign of the arrow.  Here was the
+point, and this the means by which Maple White and his ill-fated
+comrade had made their ascent.
+
+We were too excited to return to the camp, but must make our first
+exploration at once.  Lord John had an electric torch in his knapsack,
+and this had to serve us as light.  He advanced, throwing his little
+clear circlet of yellow radiance before him, while in single file we
+followed at his heels.
+
+The cave had evidently been water-worn, the sides being smooth and the
+floor covered with rounded stones.  It was of such a size that a single
+man could just fit through by stooping.  For fifty yards it ran almost
+straight into the rock, and then it ascended at an angle of forty-five.
+Presently this incline became even steeper, and we found ourselves
+climbing upon hands and knees among loose rubble which slid from
+beneath us.  Suddenly an exclamation broke from Lord Roxton.
+
+"It's blocked!" said he.
+
+Clustering behind him we saw in the yellow field of light a wall of
+broken basalt which extended to the ceiling.
+
+"The roof has fallen in!"
+
+In vain we dragged out some of the pieces.  The only effect was that
+the larger ones became detached and threatened to roll down the
+gradient and crush us.  It was evident that the obstacle was far beyond
+any efforts which we could make to remove it.  The road by which Maple
+White had ascended was no longer available.
+
+Too much cast down to speak, we stumbled down the dark tunnel and made
+our way back to the camp.
+
+One incident occurred, however, before we left the gorge, which is of
+importance in view of what came afterwards.
+
+We had gathered in a little group at the bottom of the chasm, some
+forty feet beneath the mouth of the cave, when a huge rock rolled
+suddenly downwards--and shot past us with tremendous force.  It was the
+narrowest escape for one or all of us.  We could not ourselves see
+whence the rock had come, but our half-breed servants, who were still
+at the opening of the cave, said that it had flown past them, and must
+therefore have fallen from the summit.  Looking upwards, we could see
+no sign of movement above us amidst the green jungle which topped the
+cliff.  There could be little doubt, however, that the stone was aimed
+at us, so the incident surely pointed to humanity--and malevolent
+humanity--upon the plateau.
+
+We withdrew hurriedly from the chasm, our minds full of this new
+development and its bearing upon our plans.  The situation was
+difficult enough before, but if the obstructions of Nature were
+increased by the deliberate opposition of man, then our case was indeed
+a hopeless one.  And yet, as we looked up at that beautiful fringe of
+verdure only a few hundreds of feet above our heads, there was not one
+of us who could conceive the idea of returning to London until we had
+explored it to its depths.
+
+On discussing the situation, we determined that our best course was to
+continue to coast round the plateau in the hope of finding some other
+means of reaching the top.  The line of cliffs, which had decreased
+considerably in height, had already begun to trend from west to north,
+and if we could take this as representing the arc of a circle, the
+whole circumference could not be very great.  At the worst, then, we
+should be back in a few days at our starting-point.
+
+We made a march that day which totaled some two-and-twenty miles,
+without any change in our prospects.  I may mention that our aneroid
+shows us that in the continual incline which we have ascended since we
+abandoned our canoes we have risen to no less than three thousand feet
+above sea-level.  Hence there is a considerable change both in the
+temperature and in the vegetation.  We have shaken off some of that
+horrible insect life which is the bane of tropical travel.  A few palms
+still survive, and many tree-ferns, but the Amazonian trees have been
+all left behind.  It was pleasant to see the convolvulus, the
+passion-flower, and the begonia, all reminding me of home, here among
+these inhospitable rocks.  There was a red begonia just the same color
+as one that is kept in a pot in the window of a certain villa in
+Streatham--but I am drifting into private reminiscence.
+
+That night--I am still speaking of the first day of our
+circumnavigation of the plateau--a great experience awaited us, and one
+which for ever set at rest any doubt which we could have had as to the
+wonders so near us.
+
+You will realize as you read it, my dear Mr. McArdle, and possibly for
+the first time that the paper has not sent me on a wild-goose chase,
+and that there is inconceivably fine copy waiting for the world
+whenever we have the Professor's leave to make use of it.  I shall not
+dare to publish these articles unless I can bring back my proofs to
+England, or I shall be hailed as the journalistic Munchausen of all
+time.  I have no doubt that you feel the same way yourself, and that
+you would not care to stake the whole credit of the Gazette upon this
+adventure until we can meet the chorus of criticism and scepticism
+which such articles must of necessity elicit.  So this wonderful
+incident, which would make such a headline for the old paper, must
+still wait its turn in the editorial drawer.
+
+And yet it was all over in a flash, and there was no sequel to it, save
+in our own convictions.
+
+What occurred was this.  Lord John had shot an ajouti--which is a
+small, pig-like animal--and, half of it having been given to the
+Indians, we were cooking the other half upon our fire.  There is a
+chill in the  air after dark, and we had all drawn close to the blaze.
+The night was moonless, but there were some stars, and one could see
+for a little distance across the plain.  Well, suddenly out of the
+darkness, out of the night, there swooped something with a swish like
+an aeroplane.  The whole group of us were covered for an instant by a
+canopy of leathery wings, and I had a momentary vision of a long,
+snake-like neck, a fierce, red, greedy eye, and a great snapping beak,
+filled, to my amazement, with little, gleaming teeth.  The next instant
+it was gone--and so was our dinner.  A huge black shadow, twenty feet
+across, skimmed up into the air; for an instant the monster wings
+blotted out the stars, and then it vanished over the brow of the cliff
+above us.  We all sat in amazed silence round the fire, like the heroes
+of Virgil when the Harpies came down upon them.  It was Summerlee who
+was the first to speak.
+
+"Professor Challenger," said he, in a solemn voice, which quavered with
+emotion, "I owe you an apology.  Sir, I am very much in the wrong, and
+I beg that you will forget what is past."
+
+It was handsomely said, and the two men for the first time shook hands.
+So much we have gained by this clear vision of our first pterodactyl.
+It was worth a stolen supper to bring two such men together.
+
+But if prehistoric life existed upon the plateau it was not
+superabundant, for we had no further glimpse of it during the next
+three days.  During this time we traversed a barren and forbidding
+country, which alternated between stony desert and desolate marshes
+full of many wild-fowl, upon the north and east of the cliffs.  From
+that direction the place is really inaccessible, and, were it not for a
+hardish ledge which runs at the very base of the precipice, we should
+have had to turn back.  Many times we were up to our waists in the
+slime and blubber of an old, semi-tropical swamp.  To make matters
+worse, the place seemed to be a favorite breeding-place of the Jaracaca
+snake, the most venomous and aggressive in South America.  Again and
+again these horrible creatures came writhing and springing towards us
+across the surface of this putrid bog, and it was only by keeping our
+shot-guns for ever ready that we could feel safe from them.  One
+funnel-shaped depression in the morass, of a livid green in color from
+some lichen which festered in it, will always remain as a nightmare
+memory in my mind.  It seems to have been a special nest of these
+vermins, and the slopes were alive with them, all writhing in our
+direction, for it is a peculiarity of the Jaracaca that he will always
+attack man at first sight.  There were too many for us to shoot, so we
+fairly took to our heels and ran until we were exhausted.  I shall
+always remember as we looked back how far behind we could see the heads
+and necks of our horrible pursuers rising and falling amid the reeds.
+Jaracaca Swamp we named it in the map which we are constructing.
+
+The cliffs upon the farther side had lost their ruddy tint, being
+chocolate-brown in color; the vegetation was more scattered along the
+top of them, and they had sunk to three or four hundred feet in height,
+but in no place did we find any point where they could be ascended.  If
+anything, they were more impossible than at the first point where we
+had met them.  Their absolute steepness is indicated in the photograph
+which I took over the stony desert.
+
+"Surely," said I, as we discussed the situation, "the rain must find
+its way down somehow.  There are bound to be water-channels in the
+rocks."
+
+"Our young friend has glimpses of lucidity," said Professor Challenger,
+patting me upon the shoulder.
+
+"The rain must go somewhere," I repeated.
+
+"He keeps a firm grip upon actuality.  The only drawback is that we
+have conclusively proved by ocular demonstration that there are no
+water channels down the rocks."
+
+"Where, then, does it go?" I persisted.
+
+"I think it may be fairly assumed that if it does not come outwards it
+must run inwards."
+
+"Then there is a lake in the center."
+
+"So I should suppose."
+
+"It is more than likely that the lake may be an old crater," said
+Summerlee.  "The whole formation is, of course, highly volcanic.  But,
+however that may be, I should expect to find the surface of the plateau
+slope inwards with a considerable sheet of water in the center, which
+may drain off, by some subterranean channel, into the marshes of the
+Jaracaca Swamp."
+
+"Or evaporation might preserve an equilibrium," remarked Challenger,
+and the two learned men wandered off into one of their usual scientific
+arguments, which were as comprehensible as Chinese to the layman.
+
+On the sixth day we completed our first circuit of the cliffs, and
+found ourselves back at the first camp, beside the isolated pinnacle of
+rock.  We were a disconsolate party, for nothing could have been more
+minute than our investigation, and it was absolutely certain that there
+was no single point where the most active human being could possibly
+hope to scale the cliff.  The place which Maple White's chalk-marks had
+indicated as his own means of access was now entirely impassable.
+
+What were we to do now?  Our stores of provisions, supplemented by our
+guns, were holding out well, but the day must come when they would need
+replenishment.  In a couple of months the rains might be expected, and
+we should be washed out of our camp.  The rock was harder than marble,
+and any attempt at cutting a path for so great a height was more than
+our time or resources would admit.  No wonder that we looked gloomily
+at each other that night, and sought our blankets with hardly a word
+exchanged.  I remember that as I dropped off to sleep my last
+recollection was that Challenger was squatting, like a monstrous
+bull-frog, by the fire, his huge head in his hands, sunk apparently in
+the deepest thought, and entirely oblivious to the good-night which I
+wished him.
+
+But it was a very different Challenger who greeted us in the morning--a
+Challenger with contentment and self-congratulation shining from his
+whole person.  He faced us as we assembled for breakfast with a
+deprecating false modesty in his eyes, as who should say, "I know that
+I deserve all that you can say, but I pray you to spare my blushes by
+not saying it."  His beard bristled exultantly, his chest was thrown
+out, and his hand was thrust into the front of his jacket.  So, in his
+fancy, may he see himself sometimes, gracing the vacant pedestal in
+Trafalgar Square, and adding one more to the horrors of the London
+streets.
+
+"Eureka!" he cried, his teeth shining through his beard.  "Gentlemen,
+you may congratulate me and we may congratulate each other.  The
+problem is solved."
+
+"You have found a way up?"
+
+"I venture to think so."
+
+"And where?"
+
+For answer he pointed to the spire-like pinnacle upon our right.
+
+Our faces--or mine, at least--fell as we surveyed it.  That it could be
+climbed we had our companion's assurance.  But a horrible abyss lay
+between it and the plateau.
+
+"We can never get across," I gasped.
+
+"We can at least all reach the summit," said he.  "When we are up I may
+be able to show you that the resources of an inventive mind are not yet
+exhausted."
+
+After breakfast we unpacked the bundle in which our leader had brought
+his climbing accessories.  From it he took a coil of the strongest and
+lightest rope, a hundred and fifty feet in length, with climbing irons,
+clamps, and other devices.  Lord John was an experienced mountaineer,
+and Summerlee had done some rough climbing at various times, so that I
+was really the novice at rock-work of the party; but my strength and
+activity may have made up for my want of experience.
+
+It was not in reality a very stiff task, though there were moments
+which made my hair bristle upon my head.  The first half was perfectly
+easy, but from there upwards it became continually steeper until, for
+the last fifty feet, we were literally clinging with our fingers and
+toes to tiny ledges and crevices in the rock.  I could not have
+accomplished it, nor could Summerlee, if Challenger had not gained the
+summit (it was extraordinary to see such activity in so unwieldy a
+creature) and there fixed the rope round the trunk of the considerable
+tree which grew there.  With this as our support, we were soon able to
+scramble up the jagged wall until we found ourselves upon the small
+grassy platform, some twenty-five feet each way, which formed the
+summit.
+
+The first impression which I received when I had recovered my breath
+was of the extraordinary view over the country which we had traversed.
+The whole Brazilian plain seemed to lie beneath us, extending away and
+away until it ended in dim blue mists upon the farthest sky-line.  In
+the foreground was the long slope, strewn with rocks and dotted with
+tree-ferns; farther off in the middle distance, looking over the
+saddle-back hill, I could just see the yellow and green mass of bamboos
+through which we had passed; and then, gradually, the vegetation
+increased until it formed the huge forest which extended as far as the
+eyes could reach, and for a good two thousand miles beyond.
+
+I was still drinking in this wonderful panorama when the heavy hand of
+the Professor fell upon my shoulder.
+
+"This way, my young friend," said he; "vestigia nulla retrorsum.  Never
+look rearwards, but always to our glorious goal."
+
+The level of the plateau, when I turned, was exactly that on which we
+stood, and the green bank of bushes, with occasional trees, was so near
+that it was difficult to realize how inaccessible it remained.  At a
+rough guess the gulf was forty feet across, but, so far as I could see,
+it might as well have been forty miles.  I placed one arm round the
+trunk of the tree and leaned over the abyss.  Far down were the small
+dark figures of our servants, looking up at us.  The wall was
+absolutely precipitous, as was that which faced me.
+
+"This is indeed curious," said the creaking voice of Professor
+Summerlee.
+
+I turned, and found that he was examining with great interest the tree
+to which I clung.  That smooth bark and those small, ribbed leaves
+seemed familiar to my eyes.  "Why," I cried, "it's a beech!"
+
+"Exactly," said Summerlee.  "A fellow-countryman in a far land."
+
+"Not only a fellow-countryman, my good sir," said Challenger, "but
+also, if I may be allowed to enlarge your simile, an ally of the first
+value.  This beech tree will be our saviour."
+
+"By George!" cried Lord John, "a bridge!"
+
+"Exactly, my friends, a bridge!  It is not for nothing that I expended
+an hour last night in focusing my mind upon the situation.  I have some
+recollection of once remarking to our young friend here that G. E. C.
+is at his best when his back is to the wall.  Last night you will admit
+that all our backs were to the wall.  But where will-power and
+intellect go together, there is always a way out.  A drawbridge had to
+be found which could be dropped across the abyss.  Behold it!"
+
+It was certainly a brilliant idea.  The tree was a good sixty feet in
+height, and if it only fell the right way it would easily cross the
+chasm.  Challenger had slung the camp axe over his shoulder when he
+ascended.  Now he handed it to me.
+
+"Our young friend has the thews and sinews," said he.  "I think he will
+be the most useful at this task.  I must beg, however, that you will
+kindly refrain from thinking for yourself, and that you will do exactly
+what you are told."
+
+Under his direction I cut such gashes in the sides of the trees as
+would ensure that it should fall as we desired.  It had already a
+strong, natural tilt in the direction of the plateau, so that the
+matter was not difficult.  Finally I set to work in earnest upon the
+trunk, taking turn and turn with Lord John.  In a little over an hour
+there was a loud crack, the tree swayed forward, and then crashed over,
+burying its branches among the bushes on the farther side.  The severed
+trunk rolled to the very edge of our platform, and for one terrible
+second we all thought it was over.  It balanced itself, however, a few
+inches from the edge, and there was our bridge to the unknown.
+
+All of us, without a word, shook hands with Professor Challenger, who
+raised his straw hat and bowed deeply to each in turn.
+
+"I claim the honor," said he, "to be the first to cross to the unknown
+land--a fitting subject, no doubt, for some future historical painting."
+
+He had approached the bridge when Lord John laid his hand upon his coat.
+
+"My dear chap," said he, "I really cannot allow it."
+
+"Cannot allow it, sir!"  The head went back and the beard forward.
+
+"When it is a matter of science, don't you know, I follow your lead
+because you are by way of bein' a man of science.  But it's up to you
+to follow me when you come into my department."
+
+"Your department, sir?"
+
+"We all have our professions, and soldierin' is mine.  We are,
+accordin' to my ideas, invadin' a new country, which may or may not be
+chock-full of enemies of sorts.  To barge blindly into it for want of a
+little common sense and patience isn't my notion of management."
+
+The remonstrance was too reasonable to be disregarded.  Challenger
+tossed his head and shrugged his heavy shoulders.
+
+"Well, sir, what do you propose?"
+
+"For all I know there may be a tribe of cannibals waitin' for
+lunch-time among those very bushes," said Lord John, looking across the
+bridge.  "It's better to learn wisdom before you get into a
+cookin'-pot; so we will content ourselves with hopin' that there is no
+trouble waitin' for us, and at the same time we will act as if there
+were.  Malone and I will go down again, therefore, and we will fetch up
+the four rifles, together with Gomez and the other.  One man can then
+go across and the rest will cover him with guns, until he sees that it
+is safe for the whole crowd to come along."
+
+Challenger sat down upon the cut stump and groaned his impatience; but
+Summerlee and I were of one mind that Lord John was our leader when
+such practical details were in question.  The climb was a more simple
+thing now that the rope dangled down the face of the worst part of the
+ascent.  Within an hour we had brought up the rifles and a shot-gun.
+The half-breeds had ascended also, and under Lord John's orders they
+had carried up a bale of provisions in case our first exploration
+should be a long one.  We had each bandoliers of cartridges.
+
+"Now, Challenger, if you really insist upon being the first man in,"
+said Lord John, when every preparation was complete.
+
+"I am much indebted to you for your gracious permission," said the
+angry Professor; for never was a man so intolerant of every form of
+authority.  "Since you are good enough to allow it, I shall most
+certainly take it upon myself to act as pioneer upon this occasion."
+
+Seating himself with a leg overhanging the abyss on each side, and his
+hatchet slung upon his back, Challenger hopped his way across the trunk
+and was soon at the other side.  He clambered up and waved his arms in
+the air.
+
+"At last!" he cried; "at last!"
+
+I gazed anxiously at him, with a vague expectation that some terrible
+fate would dart at him from the curtain of green behind him.  But all
+was quiet, save that a strange, many-colored bird flew up from under
+his feet and vanished among the trees.
+
+Summerlee was the second.  His wiry energy is wonderful in so frail a
+frame.  He insisted upon having two rifles slung upon his back, so that
+both Professors were armed when he had made his transit.  I came next,
+and tried hard not to look down into the horrible gulf over which I was
+passing.  Summerlee held out the butt-end of his rifle, and an instant
+later I was able to grasp his hand.  As to Lord John, he walked
+across--actually walked without support!  He must have nerves of iron.
+
+And there we were, the four of us, upon the dreamland, the lost world,
+of Maple White.  To all of us it seemed the moment of our supreme
+triumph.  Who could have guessed that it was the prelude to our supreme
+disaster?  Let me say in a few words how the crushing blow fell upon us.
+
+We had turned away from the edge, and had penetrated about fifty yards
+of close brushwood, when there came a frightful rending crash from
+behind us.  With one impulse we rushed back the way that we had come.
+The bridge was gone!
+
+Far down at the base of the cliff I saw, as I looked over, a tangled
+mass of branches and splintered trunk.  It was our beech tree.  Had the
+edge of the platform crumbled and let it through?  For a moment this
+explanation was in all our minds.  The next, from the farther side of
+the rocky pinnacle before us a swarthy face, the face of Gomez the
+half-breed, was slowly protruded.  Yes, it was Gomez, but no longer the
+Gomez of the demure smile and the mask-like expression.  Here was a
+face with flashing eyes and distorted features, a face convulsed with
+hatred and with the mad joy of gratified revenge.
+
+"Lord Roxton!" he shouted.  "Lord John Roxton!"
+
+"Well," said our companion, "here I am."
+
+A shriek of laughter came across the abyss.
+
+"Yes, there you are, you English dog, and there you will remain!  I
+have waited and waited, and now has come my chance.  You found it hard
+to get up; you will find it harder to get down.  You cursed fools, you
+are trapped, every one of you!"
+
+We were too astounded to speak.  We could only stand there staring in
+amazement.  A great broken bough upon the grass showed whence he had
+gained his leverage to tilt over our bridge.  The face had vanished,
+but presently it was up again, more frantic than before.
+
+"We nearly killed you with a stone at the cave," he cried; "but this is
+better.  It is slower and more terrible.  Your bones will whiten up
+there, and none will know where you lie or come to cover them.  As you
+lie dying, think of Lopez, whom you shot five years ago on the Putomayo
+River.  I am his brother, and, come what will I will die happy now, for
+his memory has been avenged." A furious hand was shaken at us, and then
+all was quiet.
+
+Had the half-breed simply wrought his vengeance and then escaped, all
+might have been well with him.  It was that foolish, irresistible Latin
+impulse to be dramatic which brought his own downfall.  Roxton, the man
+who had earned himself the name of the Flail of the Lord through three
+countries, was not one who could be safely taunted.  The half-breed was
+descending on the farther side of the pinnacle; but before he could
+reach the ground Lord John had run along the edge of the plateau and
+gained a point from which he could see his man.  There was a single
+crack of his rifle, and, though we saw nothing, we heard the scream and
+then the distant thud of the falling body.  Roxton came back to us with
+a face of granite.
+
+"I have been a blind simpleton," said he, bitterly,  "It's my folly
+that has brought you all into this trouble.  I should have remembered
+that these people have long memories for blood-feuds, and have been
+more upon my guard."
+
+"What about the other one?  It took two of them to lever that tree over
+the edge."
+
+"I could have shot him, but I let him go.  He may have had no part in
+it.  Perhaps it would have been better if I had killed him, for he
+must, as you say, have lent a hand."
+
+Now that we had the clue to his action, each of us could cast back and
+remember some sinister act upon the part of the half-breed--his
+constant desire to know our plans, his arrest outside our tent when he
+was over-hearing them, the furtive looks of hatred which from time to
+time one or other of us had surprised.  We were still discussing it,
+endeavoring to adjust our minds to these new conditions, when a
+singular scene in the plain below arrested our attention.
+
+A man in white clothes, who could only be the surviving half-breed, was
+running as one does run when Death is the pacemaker.  Behind him, only
+a few yards in his rear, bounded the huge ebony figure of Zambo, our
+devoted negro.  Even as we looked, he sprang upon the back of the
+fugitive and flung his arms round his neck.  They rolled on the ground
+together.  An instant afterwards Zambo rose, looked at the prostrate
+man, and then, waving his hand joyously to us, came running in our
+direction.  The white figure lay motionless in the middle of the great
+plain.
+
+Our two traitors had been destroyed, but the mischief that they had
+done lived after them.  By no possible means could we get back to the
+pinnacle.  We had been natives of the world; now we were natives of the
+plateau.  The two things were separate and apart.  There was the plain
+which led to the canoes.  Yonder, beyond the violet, hazy horizon, was
+the stream which led back to civilization.  But the link between was
+missing.  No human ingenuity could suggest a means of bridging the
+chasm which yawned between ourselves and our past lives.  One instant
+had altered the whole conditions of our existence.
+
+It was at such a moment that I learned the stuff of which my three
+comrades were composed.  They were grave, it is true, and thoughtful,
+but of an invincible serenity.  For the moment we could only sit among
+the bushes in patience and wait the coming of Zambo.  Presently his
+honest black face topped the rocks and his Herculean figure emerged
+upon the top of the pinnacle.
+
+"What I do now?" he cried.  "You tell me and I do it."
+
+It was a question which it was easier to ask than to answer.  One thing
+only was clear.  He was our one trusty link with the outside world.  On
+no account must he leave us.
+
+"No no!" he cried.  "I not leave you.  Whatever come, you always find
+me here.  But no able to keep Indians.  Already they say too much
+Curupuri live on this place, and they go home.  Now you leave them me
+no able to keep them."
+
+It was a fact that our Indians had shown in many ways of late that they
+were weary of their journey and anxious to return.  We realized that
+Zambo spoke the truth, and that it would be impossible for him to keep
+them.
+
+"Make them wait till to-morrow, Zambo," I shouted; "then I can send
+letter back by them."
+
+"Very good, sarr! I promise they wait till to-morrow," said the negro.
+"But what I do for you now?"
+
+There was plenty for him to do, and admirably the faithful fellow did
+it.  First of all, under our directions, he undid the rope from the
+tree-stump and threw one end of it across to us.  It was not thicker
+than a clothes-line, but it was of great strength, and though we could
+not make a bridge of it, we might well find it invaluable if we had any
+climbing to do.  He then fastened his end of the rope to the package of
+supplies which had been carried up, and we were able to drag it across.
+This gave us the means of life for at least a week, even if we found
+nothing else.  Finally he descended and carried up two other packets of
+mixed goods--a box of ammunition and a number of other things, all of
+which we got across by throwing our rope to him and hauling it back.
+It was evening when he at last climbed down, with a final assurance
+that he would keep the Indians till next morning.
+
+And so it is that I have spent nearly the whole of this our first night
+upon the plateau writing up our experiences by the light of a single
+candle-lantern.
+
+We supped and camped at the very edge of the cliff, quenching our
+thirst with two bottles of Apollinaris which were in one of the cases.
+It is vital to us to find water, but I think even Lord John himself had
+had adventures enough for one day, and none of us felt inclined to make
+the first push into the unknown.  We forbore to light a fire or to make
+any unnecessary sound.
+
+To-morrow (or to-day, rather, for it is already dawn as I write) we
+shall make our first venture into this strange land.  When I shall be
+able to write again--or if I ever shall write again--I know not.
+Meanwhile, I can see that the Indians are still in their place, and I
+am sure that the faithful Zambo will be here presently to get my
+letter.  I only trust that it will come to hand.
+
+
+P.S.--The more I think the more desperate does our position seem.  I
+see no possible hope of our return.  If there were a high tree near the
+edge of the plateau we might drop a return bridge across, but there is
+none within fifty yards.  Our united strength could not carry a trunk
+which would serve our purpose.  The rope, of course, is far too short
+that we could descend by it.  No, our position is hopeless--hopeless!
+
+
+
+
+                            CHAPTER X
+
+            "The most Wonderful Things have Happened"
+
+The most wonderful things have happened and are continually happening
+to us.  All the paper that I possess consists of five old note-books
+and a lot of scraps, and I have only the one stylographic pencil; but
+so long as I can move my hand I will continue to set down our
+experiences and impressions, for, since we are the only men of the
+whole human race to see such things, it is of enormous importance that
+I should record them whilst they are fresh in my memory and before that
+fate which seems to be constantly impending does actually overtake us.
+Whether Zambo can at last take these letters to the river, or whether I
+shall myself in some miraculous way carry them back with me, or,
+finally, whether some daring explorer, coming upon our tracks with the
+advantage, perhaps, of a perfected monoplane, should find this bundle
+of manuscript, in any case I can see that what I am writing is destined
+to immortality as a classic of true adventure.
+
+On the morning after our being trapped upon the plateau by the
+villainous Gomez we began a new stage in our experiences.  The first
+incident in it was not such as to give me a very favorable opinion of
+the place to which we had wandered.  As I roused myself from a short
+nap after day had dawned, my eyes fell upon a most singular appearance
+upon my own leg.  My trouser had slipped up, exposing a few inches of
+my skin above my sock.  On this there rested a large, purplish grape.
+Astonished at the sight, I leaned forward to pick it off, when, to my
+horror, it burst between my finger and thumb, squirting blood in every
+direction.  My cry of disgust had brought the two professors to my side.
+
+"Most interesting," said Summerlee, bending over my shin.  "An enormous
+blood-tick, as yet, I believe, unclassified."
+
+"The first-fruits of our labors," said Challenger in his booming,
+pedantic fashion.  "We cannot do less than call it Ixodes Maloni.  The
+very small inconvenience of being bitten, my young friend, cannot, I am
+sure, weigh with you as against the glorious privilege of having your
+name inscribed in the deathless roll of zoology.  Unhappily you have
+crushed this fine specimen at the moment of satiation."
+
+"Filthy vermin!" I cried.
+
+Professor Challenger raised his great eyebrows in protest, and placed a
+soothing paw upon my shoulder.
+
+"You should cultivate the scientific eye and the detached scientific
+mind," said he.  "To a man of philosophic temperament like myself the
+blood-tick, with its lancet-like proboscis and its distending stomach,
+is as beautiful a work of Nature as the peacock or, for that matter,
+the aurora borealis.  It pains me to hear you speak of it in so
+unappreciative a fashion.  No doubt, with due diligence, we can secure
+some other specimen."
+
+"There can be no doubt of that," said Summerlee, grimly, "for one has
+just disappeared behind your shirt-collar."
+
+Challenger sprang into the air bellowing like a bull, and tore
+frantically at his coat and shirt to get them off.  Summerlee and I
+laughed so that we could hardly help him.  At last we exposed that
+monstrous torso (fifty-four inches, by the tailor's tape).  His body
+was all matted with black hair, out of which jungle we picked the
+wandering tick before it had bitten him.  But the bushes round were
+full of the horrible pests, and it was clear that we must shift our
+camp.
+
+But first of all it was necessary to make our arrangements with the
+faithful negro, who appeared presently on the pinnacle with a number of
+tins of cocoa and biscuits, which he tossed over to us.  Of the stores
+which remained below he was ordered to retain as much as would keep him
+for two months.  The Indians were to have the remainder as a reward for
+their services and as payment for taking our letters back to the
+Amazon.  Some hours later we saw them in single file far out upon the
+plain, each with a bundle on his head, making their way back along the
+path we had come.  Zambo occupied our little tent at the base of the
+pinnacle, and there he remained, our one link with the world below.
+
+And now we had to decide upon our immediate movements.  We shifted our
+position from among the tick-laden bushes until we came to a small
+clearing thickly surrounded by trees upon all sides.  There were some
+flat slabs of rock in the center, with an excellent well close by, and
+there we sat in cleanly comfort while we made our first plans for the
+invasion of this new country.  Birds were calling among the
+foliage--especially one with a peculiar whooping cry which was new to
+us--but beyond these sounds there were no signs of life.
+
+Our first care was to make some sort of list of our own stores, so that
+we might know what we had to rely upon.  What with the things we had
+ourselves brought up and those which Zambo had sent across on the rope,
+we were fairly well supplied.  Most important of all, in view of the
+dangers which might surround us, we had our four rifles and one
+thousand three hundred rounds, also a shot-gun, but not more than a
+hundred and fifty medium pellet cartridges.  In the matter of
+provisions we had enough to last for several weeks, with a sufficiency
+of tobacco and a few scientific implements, including a large telescope
+and a good field-glass.  All these things we collected together in the
+clearing, and as a first precaution, we cut down with our hatchet and
+knives a number of thorny bushes, which we piled round in a circle some
+fifteen yards in diameter.  This was to be our headquarters for the
+time--our place of refuge against sudden danger and the guard-house for
+our stores.  Fort Challenger, we called it.
+
+It was midday before we had made ourselves secure, but the heat was not
+oppressive, and the general character of the plateau, both in its
+temperature and in its vegetation, was almost temperate.  The beech,
+the oak, and even the birch were to be found among the tangle of trees
+which girt us in.  One huge gingko tree, topping all the others, shot
+its great limbs and maidenhair foliage over the fort which we had
+constructed.  In its shade we continued our discussion, while Lord
+John, who had quickly taken command in the hour of action, gave us his
+views.
+
+"So long as neither man nor beast has seen or heard us, we are safe,"
+said he.  "From the time they know we are here our troubles begin.
+There are no signs that they have found us out as yet.  So our game
+surely is to lie low for a time and spy out the land.  We want to have
+a good look at our neighbors before we get on visitin' terms."
+
+"But we must advance," I ventured to remark.
+
+"By all means, sonny my boy!  We will advance.  But with common sense.
+We must never go so far that we can't get back to our base.  Above all,
+we must never, unless it is life or death, fire off our guns."
+
+"But YOU fired yesterday," said Summerlee.
+
+"Well, it couldn't be helped.  However, the wind was strong and blew
+outwards.  It is not likely that the sound could have traveled far into
+the plateau.  By the way, what shall we call this place?  I suppose it
+is up to us to give it a name?"
+
+There were several suggestions, more or less happy, but Challenger's
+was final.
+
+"It can only have one name," said he.  "It is called after the pioneer
+who discovered it.  It is Maple White Land."
+
+Maple White Land it became, and so it is named in that chart which has
+become my special task.  So it will, I trust, appear in the atlas of
+the future.
+
+The peaceful penetration of Maple White Land was the pressing subject
+before us.  We had the evidence of our own eyes that the place was
+inhabited by some unknown creatures, and there was that of Maple
+White's sketch-book to show that more dreadful and more dangerous
+monsters might still appear.  That there might also prove to be human
+occupants and that they were of a malevolent character was suggested by
+the skeleton impaled upon the bamboos, which could not have got there
+had it not been dropped from above.  Our situation, stranded without
+possibility of escape in such a land, was clearly full of danger, and
+our reasons endorsed every measure of caution which Lord John's
+experience could suggest.  Yet it was surely impossible that we should
+halt on the edge of this world of mystery when our very souls were
+tingling with impatience to push forward and to pluck the heart from it.
+
+We therefore blocked the entrance to our zareba by filling it up with
+several thorny bushes, and left our camp with the stores entirely
+surrounded by this protecting hedge.  We then slowly and cautiously set
+forth into the unknown, following the course of the little stream which
+flowed from our spring, as it should always serve us as a guide on our
+return.
+
+Hardly had we started when we came across signs that there were indeed
+wonders awaiting us.  After a few hundred yards of thick forest,
+containing many trees which were quite unknown to me, but which
+Summerlee, who was the botanist of the party, recognized as forms of
+conifera and of cycadaceous plants which have long passed away in the
+world below, we entered a region where the stream widened out and
+formed a considerable bog.  High reeds of a peculiar type grew thickly
+before us, which were pronounced to be equisetacea, or mare's-tails,
+with tree-ferns scattered amongst them, all of them swaying in a brisk
+wind.  Suddenly Lord John, who was walking first, halted with uplifted
+hand.
+
+"Look at this!" said he.  "By George, this must be the trail of the
+father of all birds!"
+
+An enormous three-toed track was imprinted in the soft mud before us.
+The creature, whatever it was, had crossed the swamp and had passed on
+into the forest.  We all stopped to examine that monstrous spoor.  If
+it were indeed a bird--and what animal could leave such a mark?--its
+foot was so much larger than an ostrich's that its height upon the same
+scale must be enormous.  Lord John looked eagerly round him and slipped
+two cartridges into his elephant-gun.
+
+"I'll stake my good name as a shikarree," said he, "that the track is a
+fresh one.  The creature has not passed ten minutes.  Look how the
+water is still oozing into that deeper print!  By Jove!  See, here is
+the mark of a little one!"
+
+Sure enough, smaller tracks of the same general form were running
+parallel to the large ones.
+
+"But what do you make of this?" cried Professor Summerlee,
+triumphantly, pointing to what looked like the huge print of a
+five-fingered human hand appearing among the three-toed marks.
+
+"Wealden!" cried Challenger, in an ecstasy.  "I've seen them in the
+Wealden clay.  It is a creature walking erect upon three-toed feet, and
+occasionally putting one of its five-fingered forepaws upon the ground.
+Not a bird, my dear Roxton--not a bird."
+
+"A beast?"
+
+"No; a reptile--a dinosaur.  Nothing else could have left such a track.
+They puzzled a worthy Sussex doctor some ninety years ago; but who in
+the world could have hoped--hoped--to have seen a sight like that?"
+
+His words died away into a whisper, and we all stood in motionless
+amazement.  Following the tracks, we had left the morass and passed
+through a screen of brushwood and trees.  Beyond was an open glade, and
+in this were five of the most extraordinary creatures that I have ever
+seen.  Crouching down among the bushes, we observed them at our leisure.
+
+There were, as I say, five of them, two being adults and three young
+ones.  In size they were enormous.  Even the babies were as big as
+elephants, while the two large ones were far beyond all creatures I
+have ever seen.  They had slate-colored skin, which was scaled like a
+lizard's and shimmered where the sun shone upon it.  All five were
+sitting up, balancing themselves upon their broad, powerful tails and
+their huge three-toed hind-feet, while with their small five-fingered
+front-feet they pulled down the branches upon which they browsed.  I do
+not know that I can bring their appearance home to you better than by
+saying that they looked like monstrous kangaroos, twenty feet in
+length, and with skins like black crocodiles.
+
+I do not know how long we stayed motionless gazing at this marvelous
+spectacle.  A strong wind blew towards us and we were well concealed,
+so there was no chance of discovery.  From time to time the little ones
+played round their parents in unwieldy gambols, the great beasts
+bounding into the air and falling with dull thuds upon the earth.  The
+strength of the parents seemed to be limitless, for one of them, having
+some difficulty in reaching a bunch of foliage which grew upon a
+considerable-sized tree, put his fore-legs round the trunk and tore it
+down as if it had been a sapling.  The action seemed, as I thought, to
+show not only the great development of its muscles, but also the small
+one of its brain, for the whole weight came crashing down upon the top
+of it, and it uttered a series of shrill yelps to show that, big as it
+was, there was a limit to what it could endure.  The incident made it
+think, apparently, that the neighborhood was dangerous, for it slowly
+lurched off through the wood, followed by its mate and its three
+enormous infants.  We saw the shimmering slaty gleam of their skins
+between the tree-trunks, and their heads undulating high above the
+brush-wood.  Then they vanished from our sight.
+
+I looked at my comrades.  Lord John was standing at gaze with his
+finger on the trigger of his elephant-gun, his eager hunter's soul
+shining from his fierce eyes.  What would he not give for one such head
+to place between the two crossed oars above the mantelpiece in his
+snuggery at the Albany!  And yet his reason held him in, for all our
+exploration of the wonders of this unknown land depended upon our
+presence being concealed from its inhabitants.  The two professors were
+in silent ecstasy.  In their excitement they had unconsciously seized
+each other by the hand, and stood like two little children in the
+presence of a marvel, Challenger's cheeks bunched up into a seraphic
+smile, and Summerlee's sardonic face softening for the moment into
+wonder and reverence.
+
+"Nunc dimittis!" he cried at last.  "What will they say in England of
+this?"
+
+"My dear Summerlee, I will tell you with great confidence exactly what
+they will say in England," said Challenger.  "They will say that you
+are an infernal liar and a scientific charlatan, exactly as you and
+others said of me."
+
+"In the face of photographs?"
+
+"Faked, Summerlee!  Clumsily faked!"
+
+"In the face of specimens?"
+
+"Ah, there we may have them!  Malone and his filthy Fleet Street crew
+may be all yelping our praises yet.  August the twenty-eighth--the day
+we saw five live iguanodons in a glade of Maple White Land.  Put it
+down in your diary, my young friend, and send it to your rag."
+
+"And be ready to get the toe-end of the editorial boot in return," said
+Lord John.  "Things look a bit different from the latitude of London,
+young fellah my lad.  There's many a man who never tells his
+adventures, for he can't hope to be believed.  Who's to blame them?
+For this will seem a bit of a dream to ourselves in a month or two.
+WHAT did you say they were?"
+
+"Iguanodons," said Summerlee.  "You'll find their footmarks all over
+the Hastings sands, in Kent, and in Sussex.  The South of England was
+alive with them when there was plenty of good lush green-stuff to keep
+them going.  Conditions have changed, and the beasts died.  Here it
+seems that the conditions have not changed, and the beasts have lived."
+
+"If ever we get out of this alive, I must have a head with me," said
+Lord John.  "Lord, how some of that Somaliland-Uganda crowd would turn
+a beautiful pea-green if they saw it!  I don't know what you chaps
+think, but it strikes me that we are on mighty thin ice all this time."
+
+I had the same feeling of mystery and danger around us.  In the gloom
+of the trees there seemed a constant menace and as we looked up into
+their shadowy foliage vague terrors crept into one's heart.  It is true
+that these monstrous creatures which we had seen were lumbering,
+inoffensive brutes which were unlikely to hurt anyone, but in this
+world of wonders what other survivals might there not be--what fierce,
+active horrors ready to pounce upon us from their lair among the rocks
+or brushwood?  I knew little of prehistoric life, but I had a clear
+remembrance of one book which I had read in which it spoke of creatures
+who would live upon our lions and tigers as a cat lives upon mice.
+What if these also were to be found in the woods of Maple White Land!
+
+It was destined that on this very morning--our first in the new
+country--we were to find out what strange hazards lay around us.  It
+was a loathsome adventure, and one of which I hate to think.  If, as
+Lord John said, the glade of the iguanodons will remain with us as a
+dream, then surely the swamp of the pterodactyls will forever be our
+nightmare.  Let me set down exactly what occurred.
+
+We passed very slowly through the woods, partly because Lord Roxton
+acted as scout before he would let us advance, and partly because at
+every second step one or other of our professors would fall, with a cry
+of wonder, before some flower or insect which presented him with a new
+type.  We may have traveled two or three miles in all, keeping to the
+right of the line of the stream, when we came upon a considerable
+opening in the trees.  A belt of brushwood led up to a tangle of
+rocks--the whole plateau was strewn with boulders.  We were walking
+slowly towards these rocks, among bushes which reached over our waists,
+when we became aware of a strange low gabbling and whistling sound,
+which filled the air with a constant clamor and appeared to come from
+some spot immediately before us.  Lord John held up his hand as a
+signal for us to stop, and he made his way swiftly, stooping and
+running, to the line of rocks.  We saw him peep over them and give a
+gesture of amazement.  Then he stood staring as if forgetting us, so
+utterly entranced was he by what he saw.  Finally he waved us to come
+on, holding up his hand as a signal for caution.  His whole bearing
+made me feel that something wonderful but dangerous lay before us.
+
+Creeping to his side, we looked over the rocks.  The place into which
+we gazed was a pit, and may, in the early days, have been one of the
+smaller volcanic blow-holes of the plateau.  It was bowl-shaped and at
+the bottom, some hundreds of yards from where we lay, were pools of
+green-scummed, stagnant water, fringed with bullrushes.  It was a weird
+place in itself, but its occupants made it seem like a scene from the
+Seven Circles of Dante.  The place was a rookery of pterodactyls.
+There were hundreds of them congregated within view.  All the bottom
+area round the water-edge was alive with their young ones, and with
+hideous mothers brooding upon their leathery, yellowish eggs.  From
+this crawling flapping mass of obscene reptilian life came the shocking
+clamor which filled the air and the mephitic, horrible, musty odor
+which turned us sick.  But above, perched each upon its own stone,
+tall, gray, and withered, more like dead and dried specimens than
+actual living creatures, sat the horrible males, absolutely motionless
+save for the rolling of their red eyes or an occasional snap of their
+rat-trap beaks as a dragon-fly went past them.  Their huge, membranous
+wings were closed by folding their fore-arms, so that they sat like
+gigantic old women, wrapped in hideous web-colored shawls, and with
+their ferocious heads protruding above them.  Large and small, not less
+than a thousand of these filthy creatures lay in the hollow before us.
+
+Our professors would gladly have stayed there all day, so entranced
+were they by this opportunity of studying the life of a prehistoric
+age.  They pointed out the fish and dead birds lying about among the
+rocks as proving the nature of the food of these creatures, and I heard
+them congratulating each other on having cleared up the point why the
+bones of this flying dragon are found in such great numbers in certain
+well-defined areas, as in the Cambridge Green-sand, since it was now
+seen that, like penguins, they lived in gregarious fashion.
+
+Finally, however, Challenger, bent upon proving some point which
+Summerlee had contested, thrust his head over the rock and nearly
+brought destruction upon us all.  In an instant the nearest male gave a
+shrill, whistling cry, and flapped its twenty-foot span of leathery
+wings as it soared up into the air.  The females and young ones huddled
+together beside the water, while the whole circle of sentinels rose one
+after the other and sailed off into the sky.  It was a wonderful sight
+to see at least a hundred creatures of such enormous size and hideous
+appearance all swooping like swallows with swift, shearing wing-strokes
+above us; but soon we realized that it was not one on which we could
+afford to linger.  At first the great brutes flew round in a huge ring,
+as if to make sure what the exact extent of the danger might be.  Then,
+the flight grew lower and the circle narrower, until they were whizzing
+round and round us, the dry, rustling flap of their huge slate-colored
+wings filling the air with a volume of sound that made me think of
+Hendon aerodrome upon a race day.
+
+"Make for the wood and keep together," cried Lord John, clubbing his
+rifle.  "The brutes mean mischief."
+
+The moment we attempted to retreat the circle closed in upon us, until
+the tips of the wings of those nearest to us nearly touched our faces.
+We beat at them with the stocks of our guns, but there was nothing
+solid or vulnerable to strike.  Then suddenly out of the whizzing,
+slate-colored circle a long neck shot out, and a fierce beak made a
+thrust at us.  Another and another followed.  Summerlee gave a cry and
+put his hand to his face, from which the blood was streaming.  I felt a
+prod at the back of my neck, and turned dizzy with the shock.
+Challenger fell, and as I stooped to pick him up I was again struck
+from behind and dropped on the top of him.  At the same instant I heard
+the crash of Lord John's elephant-gun, and, looking up, saw one of the
+creatures with a broken wing struggling upon the ground, spitting and
+gurgling at us with a wide-opened beak and blood-shot, goggled eyes,
+like some devil in a medieval picture.  Its comrades had flown higher
+at the sudden sound, and were circling above our heads.
+
+"Now," cried Lord John, "now for our lives!"
+
+We staggered through the brushwood, and even as we reached the trees
+the harpies were on us again.  Summerlee was knocked down, but we tore
+him up and rushed among the trunks.  Once there we were safe, for those
+huge wings had no space for their sweep beneath the branches.  As we
+limped homewards, sadly mauled and discomfited, we saw them for a long
+time flying at a great height against the deep blue sky above our
+heads, soaring round and round, no bigger than wood-pigeons, with their
+eyes no doubt still following our progress.  At last, however, as we
+reached the thicker woods they gave up the chase, and we saw them no
+more.
+
+"A most interesting and convincing experience," said Challenger, as we
+halted beside the brook and he bathed a swollen knee.  "We are
+exceptionally well informed, Summerlee, as to the habits of the enraged
+pterodactyl."
+
+Summerlee was wiping the blood from a cut in his forehead, while I was
+tying up a nasty stab in the muscle of the neck.  Lord John had the
+shoulder of his coat torn away, but the creature's teeth had only
+grazed the flesh.
+
+"It is worth noting," Challenger continued, "that our young friend has
+received an undoubted stab, while Lord John's coat could only have been
+torn by a bite.  In my own case, I was beaten about the head by their
+wings, so we have had a remarkable exhibition of their various methods
+of offence."
+
+"It has been touch and go for our lives," said Lord John, gravely, "and
+I could not think of a more rotten sort of death than to be outed by
+such filthy vermin.  I was sorry to fire my rifle, but, by Jove! there
+was no great choice."
+
+"We should not be here if you hadn't," said I, with conviction.
+
+"It may do no harm," said he.  "Among these woods there must be many
+loud cracks from splitting or falling trees which would be just like
+the sound of a gun.  But now, if you are of my opinion, we have had
+thrills enough for one day, and had best get back to the surgical box
+at the camp for some carbolic.  Who knows what venom these beasts may
+have in their hideous jaws?"
+
+But surely no men ever had just such a day since the world began.  Some
+fresh surprise was ever in store for us.  When, following the course of
+our brook, we at last reached our glade and saw the thorny barricade of
+our camp, we thought that our adventures were at an end.  But we had
+something more to think of before we could rest.  The gate of Fort
+Challenger had been untouched, the walls were unbroken, and yet it had
+been visited by some strange and powerful creature in our absence.  No
+foot-mark showed a trace of its nature, and only the overhanging branch
+of the enormous ginko tree suggested how it might have come and gone;
+but of its malevolent strength there was ample evidence in the
+condition of our stores.  They were strewn at random all over the
+ground, and one tin of meat had been crushed into pieces so as to
+extract the contents.  A case of cartridges had been shattered into
+matchwood, and one of the brass shells lay shredded into pieces beside
+it.  Again the feeling of vague horror came upon our souls, and we
+gazed round with frightened eyes at the dark shadows which lay around
+us, in all of which some fearsome shape might be lurking.  How good it
+was when we were hailed by the voice of Zambo, and, going to the edge
+of the plateau, saw him sitting grinning at us upon the top of the
+opposite pinnacle.
+
+"All well, Massa Challenger, all well!" he cried.  "Me stay here.  No
+fear.  You always find me when you want."
+
+His honest black face, and the immense view before us, which carried us
+half-way back to the affluent of the Amazon, helped us to remember that
+we really were upon this earth in the twentieth century, and had not by
+some magic been conveyed to some raw planet in its earliest and wildest
+state.  How difficult it was to realize that the violet line upon the
+far horizon was well advanced to that great river upon which huge
+steamers ran, and folk talked of the small affairs of life, while we,
+marooned among the creatures of a bygone age, could but gaze towards it
+and yearn for all that it meant!
+
+One other memory remains with me of this wonderful day, and with it I
+will close this letter.  The two professors, their tempers aggravated
+no doubt by their injuries, had fallen out as to whether our assailants
+were of the genus pterodactylus or dimorphodon, and high words had
+ensued.  To avoid their wrangling I moved some little way apart, and
+was seated smoking upon the trunk of a fallen tree, when Lord John
+strolled over in my direction.
+
+"I say, Malone," said he, "do you remember that place where those
+beasts were?"
+
+"Very clearly."
+
+"A sort of volcanic pit, was it not?"
+
+"Exactly," said I.
+
+"Did you notice the soil?"
+
+"Rocks."
+
+"But round the water--where the reeds were?"
+
+"It was a bluish soil.  It looked like clay."
+
+"Exactly.  A volcanic tube full of blue clay."
+
+"What of that?" I asked.
+
+"Oh, nothing, nothing," said he, and strolled back to where the voices
+of the contending men of science rose in a prolonged duet, the high,
+strident note of Summerlee rising and falling to the sonorous bass of
+Challenger.  I should have thought no more of Lord John's remark were
+it not that once again that night I heard him mutter to himself:  "Blue
+clay--clay in a volcanic tube!" They were the last words I heard before
+I dropped into an exhausted sleep.
+
+
+
+
+                            CHAPTER XI
+
+                    "For once I was the Hero"
+
+Lord John Roxton was right when he thought that some specially toxic
+quality might lie in the bite of the horrible creatures which had
+attacked us.  On the morning after our first adventure upon the
+plateau, both Summerlee and I were in great pain and fever, while
+Challenger's knee was so bruised that he could hardly limp.  We kept to
+our camp all day, therefore, Lord John busying himself, with such help
+as we could give him, in raising the height and thickness of the thorny
+walls which were our only defense.  I remember that during the whole
+long day I was haunted by the feeling that we were closely observed,
+though by whom or whence I could give no guess.
+
+So strong was the impression that I told Professor Challenger of it,
+who put it down to the cerebral excitement caused by my fever.  Again
+and again I glanced round swiftly, with the conviction that I was about
+to see something, but only to meet the dark tangle of our hedge or the
+solemn and cavernous gloom of the great trees which arched above our
+heads.  And yet the feeling grew ever stronger in my own mind that
+something observant and something malevolent was at our very elbow.  I
+thought of the Indian superstition of the Curupuri--the dreadful,
+lurking spirit of the woods--and I could have imagined that his
+terrible presence haunted those who had invaded his most remote and
+sacred retreat.
+
+That night (our third in Maple White Land) we had an experience which
+left a fearful impression upon our minds, and made us thankful that
+Lord John had worked so hard in making our retreat impregnable.  We
+were all sleeping round our dying fire when we were aroused--or,
+rather, I should say, shot out of our slumbers--by a succession of the
+most frightful cries and screams to which I have ever listened.  I know
+no sound to which I could compare this amazing tumult, which seemed to
+come from some spot within a few hundred yards of our camp.  It was as
+ear-splitting as any whistle of a railway-engine; but whereas the
+whistle is a clear, mechanical, sharp-edged sound, this was far deeper
+in volume and vibrant with the uttermost strain of agony and horror.
+We clapped our hands to our ears to shut out that nerve-shaking appeal.
+A cold sweat broke out over my body, and my heart turned sick at the
+misery of it.  All the woes of tortured life, all its stupendous
+indictment of high heaven, its innumerable sorrows, seemed to be
+centered and condensed into that one dreadful, agonized cry.  And then,
+under this high-pitched, ringing sound there was another, more
+intermittent, a low, deep-chested laugh, a growling, throaty gurgle of
+merriment which formed a grotesque accompaniment to the shriek with
+which it was blended.  For three or four minutes on end the fearsome
+duet continued, while all the foliage rustled with the rising of
+startled birds.  Then it shut off as suddenly as it began.  For a long
+time we sat in horrified silence.  Then Lord John threw a bundle of
+twigs upon the fire, and their red glare lit up the intent faces of my
+companions and flickered over the great boughs above our heads.
+
+"What was it?" I whispered.
+
+"We shall know in the morning," said Lord John.  "It  was close to
+us--not farther than the glade."
+
+"We have been privileged to overhear a prehistoric tragedy, the sort of
+drama which occurred among the reeds upon the border of some Jurassic
+lagoon, when the greater dragon pinned the lesser among the slime,"
+said Challenger, with more solemnity than I had ever heard in his
+voice.  "It was surely well for man that he came late in the order of
+creation.  There were powers abroad in earlier days which no courage
+and no mechanism of his could have met.  What could his sling, his
+throwing-stick, or his arrow avail him against such forces as have been
+loose to-night?  Even with a modern rifle it would be all odds on the
+monster."
+
+"I think I should back my little friend," said Lord John, caressing his
+Express.  "But the beast would certainly have a good sporting chance."
+
+Summerlee raised his hand.
+
+"Hush!" he cried.  "Surely I hear something?"
+
+From the utter silence there emerged a deep, regular pat-pat.  It was
+the tread of some animal--the rhythm of soft but heavy pads placed
+cautiously upon the ground.  It stole slowly round the camp, and then
+halted near our gateway.  There was a low, sibilant rise and fall--the
+breathing of the creature.  Only our feeble hedge separated us from
+this horror of the night.  Each of us had seized his rifle, and Lord
+John had pulled out a small bush to make an embrasure in the hedge.
+
+"By George!" he whispered.  "I think I can see it!"
+
+I stooped and peered over his shoulder through the gap.  Yes, I could
+see it, too.  In the deep shadow of the tree there was a deeper shadow
+yet, black, inchoate, vague--a crouching form full of savage vigor and
+menace.  It was no higher than a horse, but the dim outline suggested
+vast bulk and strength.  That hissing pant, as regular and full-volumed
+as the exhaust of an engine, spoke of a monstrous organism.  Once, as
+it moved, I thought I saw the glint of two terrible, greenish eyes.
+There was an uneasy rustling, as if it were crawling slowly forward.
+
+"I believe it is going to spring!" said I, cocking my rifle.
+
+"Don't fire!  Don't fire!" whispered Lord John.  "The crash of a gun in
+this silent night would be heard for miles.  Keep it as a last card."
+
+"If it gets over the hedge we're done," said Summerlee, and his voice
+crackled into a nervous laugh as he spoke.
+
+"No, it must not get over," cried Lord John; "but hold your fire to the
+last.  Perhaps I can make something of the fellow.  I'll chance it,
+anyhow."
+
+It was as brave an act as ever I saw a man do.  He stooped to the fire,
+picked up a blazing branch, and slipped in an instant through a
+sallyport which he had made in our gateway.  The thing moved forward
+with a dreadful snarl.  Lord John never hesitated, but, running towards
+it with a quick, light step, he dashed the flaming wood into the
+brute's face.  For one moment I had a vision of a horrible mask like a
+giant toad's, of a warty, leprous skin, and of a loose mouth all
+beslobbered with fresh blood.  The next, there was a crash in the
+underwood and our dreadful visitor was gone.
+
+"I thought he wouldn't face the fire," said Lord John, laughing, as he
+came back and threw his branch among the faggots.
+
+"You should not have taken such a risk!" we all cried.
+
+"There was nothin' else to be done.  If he had got among us we should
+have shot each other in tryin' to down him.  On the other hand, if we
+had fired through the hedge and wounded him he would soon have been on
+the top of us--to say nothin' of giving ourselves away.  On the whole,
+I think that we are jolly well out of it.  What was he, then?"
+
+Our learned men looked at each other with some hesitation.
+
+"Personally, I am unable to classify the creature with any certainty,"
+said Summerlee, lighting his pipe from the fire.
+
+"In refusing to commit yourself you are but showing a proper scientific
+reserve," said Challenger, with massive condescension.  "I am not
+myself prepared to go farther than to say in general terms that we have
+almost certainly been in contact to-night with some form of carnivorous
+dinosaur.  I have already expressed my anticipation that something of
+the sort might exist upon this plateau."
+
+"We have to bear in mind," remarked Summerlee, "that there are many
+prehistoric forms which have never come down to us.  It would be rash
+to suppose that we can give a name to all that we are likely to meet."
+
+"Exactly.  A rough classification may be the best that we can attempt.
+To-morrow some further evidence may help us to an identification.
+Meantime we can only renew our interrupted slumbers."
+
+"But not without a sentinel," said Lord John, with decision.  "We can't
+afford to take chances in a country like this.  Two-hour spells in the
+future, for each of us."
+
+"Then I'll just finish my pipe in starting the first one," said
+Professor Summerlee; and from that time onwards we never trusted
+ourselves again without a watchman.
+
+In the morning it was not long before we discovered the source of the
+hideous uproar which had aroused us in the night.  The iguanodon glade
+was the scene of a horrible butchery.  From the pools of blood and the
+enormous lumps of flesh scattered in every direction over the green
+sward we imagined at first that a number of animals had been killed,
+but on examining the remains more closely we discovered that all this
+carnage came from one of these unwieldy monsters, which had been
+literally torn to pieces by some creature not larger, perhaps, but far
+more ferocious, than itself.
+
+Our two professors sat in absorbed argument, examining piece after
+piece, which showed the marks of savage teeth and of enormous claws.
+
+"Our judgment must still be in abeyance," said Professor Challenger,
+with a huge slab of whitish-colored flesh across his knee.  "The
+indications would be consistent with the presence of a saber-toothed
+tiger, such as are still found among the breccia of our caverns; but
+the creature actually seen was undoubtedly of a larger and more
+reptilian character.  Personally, I should pronounce for allosaurus."
+
+"Or megalosaurus," said Summerlee.
+
+"Exactly.  Any one of the larger carnivorous dinosaurs would meet the
+case.  Among them are to be found all the most terrible types of animal
+life that have ever cursed the earth or blessed a museum." He laughed
+sonorously at his own conceit, for, though he had little sense of
+humor, the crudest pleasantry from his own lips moved him always to
+roars of appreciation.
+
+"The less noise the better," said Lord Roxton, curtly.  "We don't know
+who or what may be near us.  If this fellah comes back for his
+breakfast and catches us here we won't have so much to laugh at.  By
+the way, what is this mark upon the iguanodon's hide?"
+
+On the dull, scaly, slate-colored skin somewhere above the shoulder,
+there was a singular black circle of some substance which looked like
+asphalt.  None of us could suggest what it meant, though Summerlee was
+of opinion that he had seen something similar upon one of the young
+ones two days before.  Challenger said nothing, but looked pompous and
+puffy, as if he could if he would, so that finally Lord John asked his
+opinion direct.
+
+"If your lordship will graciously permit me to open my mouth, I shall
+be happy to express my sentiments," said he, with elaborate sarcasm.
+"I am not in the habit of being taken to task in the fashion which
+seems to be customary with your lordship.  I was not aware that it was
+necessary to ask your permission before smiling at a harmless
+pleasantry."
+
+It was not until he had received his apology that our touchy friend
+would suffer himself to be appeased.  When at last his ruffled feelings
+were at ease, he addressed us at some length from his seat upon a
+fallen tree, speaking, as his habit was, as if he were imparting most
+precious information to a class of a thousand.
+
+"With regard to the marking," said he, "I am inclined to agree with my
+friend and colleague, Professor Summerlee, that the stains are from
+asphalt.  As this plateau is, in its very nature, highly volcanic, and
+as asphalt is a substance which one associates with Plutonic forces, I
+cannot doubt that it exists in the free liquid state, and that the
+creatures may have come in contact with it.  A much more important
+problem is the question as to the existence of the carnivorous monster
+which has left its traces in this glade.  We know roughly that this
+plateau is not larger than an average English county.  Within this
+confined space a certain number of creatures, mostly types which have
+passed away in the world below, have lived together for innumerable
+years.  Now, it is very clear to me that in so long a period one would
+have expected that the carnivorous creatures, multiplying unchecked,
+would have exhausted their food supply and have been compelled to
+either modify their flesh-eating habits or die of hunger.  This we see
+has not been so.  We can only imagine, therefore, that the balance of
+Nature is preserved by some check which limits the numbers of these
+ferocious creatures.  One of the many interesting problems, therefore,
+which await our solution is to discover what that check may be and how
+it operates.  I venture to trust that we may have some future
+opportunity for the closer study of the carnivorous dinosaurs."
+
+"And I venture to trust we may not," I observed.
+
+The Professor only raised his great eyebrows, as the schoolmaster meets
+the irrelevant observation of the naughty boy.
+
+"Perhaps Professor Summerlee may have an observation to make," he said,
+and the two savants ascended together into some rarefied scientific
+atmosphere, where the possibilities of a modification of the birth-rate
+were weighed against the decline of the food supply as a check in the
+struggle for existence.
+
+That morning we mapped out a small portion of the plateau, avoiding the
+swamp of the pterodactyls, and keeping to the east of our brook instead
+of to the west.  In that direction the country was still thickly
+wooded, with so much undergrowth that our progress was very slow.
+
+I have dwelt up to now upon the terrors of Maple White Land; but there
+was another side to the subject, for all that morning we wandered among
+lovely flowers--mostly, as I observed, white or yellow in color, these
+being, as our professors explained, the primitive flower-shades.  In
+many places the ground was absolutely covered with them, and as we
+walked ankle-deep on that wonderful yielding carpet, the scent was
+almost intoxicating in its sweetness and intensity.  The homely English
+bee buzzed everywhere around us.  Many of the trees under which we
+passed had their branches bowed down with fruit, some of which were of
+familiar sorts, while other varieties were new.  By observing which of
+them were pecked by the birds we avoided all danger of poison and added
+a delicious variety to our food reserve.  In the jungle which we
+traversed were numerous hard-trodden paths made by the wild beasts, and
+in the more marshy places we saw a profusion of strange footmarks,
+including many of the iguanodon.  Once in a grove we observed several
+of these great creatures grazing, and Lord John, with his glass, was
+able to report that they also were spotted with asphalt, though in a
+different place to the one which we had examined in the morning.  What
+this phenomenon meant we could not imagine.
+
+We saw many small animals, such as porcupines, a scaly ant-eater, and a
+wild pig, piebald in color and with long curved tusks.  Once, through a
+break in the trees, we saw a clear shoulder of green hill some distance
+away, and across this a large dun-colored animal was traveling at a
+considerable pace.  It passed so swiftly that we were unable to say
+what it was; but if it were a deer, as was claimed by Lord John, it
+must have been as large as those monstrous Irish elk which are still
+dug up from time to time in the bogs of my native land.
+
+Ever since the mysterious visit which had been paid to our camp we
+always returned to it with some misgivings.  However, on this occasion
+we found everything in order.
+
+That evening we had a grand discussion upon our present situation and
+future plans, which I must describe at some length, as it led to a new
+departure by which we were enabled to gain a more complete knowledge of
+Maple White Land than might have come in many weeks of exploring.  It
+was Summerlee who opened the debate.  All day he had been querulous in
+manner, and now some remark of Lord John's as to what we should do on
+the morrow brought all his bitterness to a head.
+
+"What we ought to be doing to-day, to-morrow, and all the time," said
+he, "is finding some way out of the trap into which we have fallen.
+You are all turning your brains towards getting into this country.  I
+say that we should be scheming how to get out of it."
+
+"I am surprised, sir," boomed Challenger, stroking his majestic beard,
+"that any man of science should commit himself to so ignoble a
+sentiment.  You are in a land which offers such an inducement to the
+ambitious naturalist as none ever has since the world began, and you
+suggest leaving it before we have acquired more than the most
+superficial knowledge of it or of its contents.  I expected better
+things of you, Professor Summerlee."
+
+"You must remember," said Summerlee, sourly, "that I have a large class
+in London who are at present at the mercy of an extremely inefficient
+locum tenens.  This makes my situation different from yours, Professor
+Challenger, since, so far as I know, you have never been entrusted with
+any responsible educational work."
+
+"Quite so," said Challenger.  "I have felt it to be a sacrilege to
+divert a brain which is capable of the highest original research to any
+lesser object.  That is why I have sternly set my face against any
+proffered scholastic appointment."
+
+"For example?" asked Summerlee, with a sneer; but Lord John hastened to
+change the conversation.
+
+"I must say," said he, "that I think it would be a mighty poor thing to
+go back to London before I know a great deal more of this place than I
+do at present."
+
+"I could never dare to walk into the back office of my paper and face
+old McArdle," said I.  (You will excuse the frankness of this report,
+will you not, sir?)  "He'd never forgive me for leaving such
+unexhausted copy behind me.  Besides, so far as I can see it is not
+worth discussing, since we can't get down, even if we wanted."
+
+"Our young friend makes up for many obvious mental lacunae by some
+measure of primitive common sense," remarked Challenger.  "The
+interests of his deplorable profession are immaterial to us; but, as he
+observes, we cannot get down in any case, so it is a waste of energy to
+discuss it."
+
+"It is a waste of energy to do anything else," growled Summerlee from
+behind his pipe.  "Let me remind you that we came here upon a perfectly
+definite mission, entrusted to us at the meeting of the Zoological
+Institute in London.  That mission was to test the truth of Professor
+Challenger's statements.  Those statements, as I am bound to admit, we
+are now in a position to endorse.  Our ostensible work is therefore
+done.  As to the detail which remains to be worked out upon this
+plateau, it is so enormous that only a large expedition, with a very
+special equipment, could hope to cope with it.  Should we attempt to do
+so ourselves, the only possible result must be that we shall never
+return with the important contribution to science which we have already
+gained.  Professor Challenger has devised means for getting us on to
+this plateau when it appeared to be inaccessible; I think that we
+should now call upon him to use the same ingenuity in getting us back
+to the world from which we came."
+
+I confess that as Summerlee stated his view it struck me as altogether
+reasonable.  Even Challenger was affected by the consideration that his
+enemies would never stand confuted if the confirmation of his
+statements should never reach those who had doubted them.
+
+"The problem of the descent is at first sight a formidable one," said
+he, "and yet I cannot doubt that the intellect can solve it.  I am
+prepared to agree with our colleague that a protracted stay in Maple
+White Land is at present inadvisable, and that the question of our
+return will soon have to be faced.  I absolutely refuse to leave,
+however, until we have made at least a superficial examination of this
+country, and are able to take back with us something in the nature of a
+chart."
+
+Professor Summerlee gave a snort of impatience.
+
+"We have spent two long days in exploration," said he, "and we are no
+wiser as to the actual geography of the place than when we started.  It
+is clear that it is all thickly wooded, and it would take months to
+penetrate it and to learn the relations of one part to another.  If
+there were some central peak it would be different, but it all slopes
+downwards, so far as we can see.  The farther we go the less likely it
+is that we will get any general view."
+
+It was at that moment that I had my inspiration.  My eyes chanced to
+light upon the enormous gnarled trunk of the gingko tree which cast its
+huge branches over us.  Surely, if its bole exceeded that of all
+others, its height must do the same.  If the rim of the plateau was
+indeed the highest point, then why should this mighty tree not prove to
+be a watchtower which commanded the whole country?  Now, ever since I
+ran wild as a lad in Ireland I have been a bold and skilled
+tree-climber.  My comrades might be my masters on the rocks, but I knew
+that I would be supreme among those branches.  Could I only get my legs
+on to the lowest of the giant off-shoots, then it would be strange
+indeed if I could not make my way to the top.  My comrades were
+delighted at my idea.
+
+"Our young friend," said Challenger, bunching up the red apples of his
+cheeks, "is capable of acrobatic exertions which would be impossible to
+a man of a more solid, though possibly of a more commanding,
+appearance.  I applaud his resolution."
+
+"By George, young fellah, you've put your hand on it!" said Lord John,
+clapping me on the back.  "How we never came to think of it before I
+can't imagine!  There's not more than an hour of daylight left, but if
+you take your notebook you may be able to get some rough sketch of the
+place.  If we put these three ammunition cases under the branch, I will
+soon hoist you on to it."
+
+He stood on the boxes while I faced the trunk, and was gently raising
+me when Challenger sprang forward and gave me such a thrust with his
+huge hand that he fairly shot me into the tree.  With both arms
+clasping the branch, I scrambled  hard with my feet until I had worked,
+first my body, and then my knees, onto it.  There were three excellent
+off-shoots, like huge rungs of a ladder, above my head, and a tangle of
+convenient branches beyond, so that I clambered onwards with such speed
+that I soon lost sight of the ground and had nothing but foliage
+beneath me.  Now and then I encountered a check, and once I had to shin
+up a creeper for eight or ten feet, but I made excellent progress, and
+the booming of Challenger's voice seemed to be a great distance beneath
+me. The tree was, however, enormous, and, looking upwards, I could see
+no thinning of the leaves above my head.  There was some thick,
+bush-like clump which seemed to be a parasite upon a branch up which I
+was swarming.  I leaned my head round it in order to see what was
+beyond, and I nearly fell out of the tree in my surprise and horror at
+what I saw.
+
+A face was gazing into mine--at the distance of only a foot or two.
+The creature that owned it had been crouching behind the parasite, and
+had looked round it at the same instant that I did.  It was a human
+face--or at least it was far more human than any monkey's that I have
+ever seen.  It was long, whitish, and blotched with pimples, the nose
+flattened, and the lower jaw projecting, with a bristle of coarse
+whiskers round the chin.  The eyes, which were under thick and heavy
+brows, were bestial and ferocious, and as it opened its mouth to snarl
+what sounded like a curse at me I observed that it had curved, sharp
+canine teeth.  For an instant I read hatred and menace in the evil
+eyes.  Then, as quick as a flash, came an expression of overpowering
+fear.  There was a crash of broken boughs as it dived wildly down into
+the tangle of green.  I caught a glimpse of a hairy body like that of a
+reddish pig, and then it was gone amid a swirl of leaves and branches.
+
+"What's the matter?" shouted Roxton from below.  "Anything wrong with
+you?"
+
+"Did you see it?" I cried, with my arms round the branch and all my
+nerves tingling.
+
+"We heard a row, as if your foot had slipped.  What was it?"
+
+I was so shocked at the sudden and strange appearance of this ape-man
+that I hesitated whether I should not climb down again and tell my
+experience to my companions.  But I was already so far up the great
+tree that it seemed a humiliation to return without having carried out
+my mission.
+
+After a long pause, therefore, to recover my breath and my courage, I
+continued my ascent.  Once I put my weight upon a rotten branch and
+swung for a few seconds by my hands, but in the main it was all easy
+climbing.  Gradually the leaves thinned around me, and I was aware,
+from the wind upon my face, that I had topped all the trees of the
+forest.  I was determined, however, not to look about me before I had
+reached the very highest point, so I scrambled on until I had got so
+far that the topmost branch was bending beneath my weight.  There I
+settled into a convenient fork, and, balancing myself securely, I found
+myself looking down at a most wonderful panorama of this strange
+country in which we found ourselves.
+
+The sun was just above the western sky-line, and the evening was a
+particularly bright and clear one, so that the whole extent of the
+plateau was visible beneath me.  It was, as seen from this height, of
+an oval contour, with a breadth of about thirty miles and a width of
+twenty.  Its general shape was that of a shallow funnel, all the sides
+sloping down to a considerable lake in the center.  This lake may have
+been ten miles in circumference, and lay very green and beautiful in
+the evening light, with a thick fringe of reeds at its edges, and with
+its surface broken by several yellow sandbanks, which gleamed golden in
+the mellow sunshine.  A number of long dark objects, which were too
+large for alligators and too long for canoes, lay upon the edges of
+these patches of sand.  With my glass I could clearly see that they
+were alive, but what their nature might be I could not imagine.
+
+From the side of the plateau on which we were, slopes of woodland, with
+occasional glades, stretched down for five or six miles to the central
+lake.  I could see at my very feet the glade of the iguanodons, and
+farther off was a round opening in the trees which marked the swamp of
+the pterodactyls.  On the side facing me, however, the plateau
+presented a very different aspect.  There the basalt cliffs of the
+outside were reproduced upon the inside, forming an escarpment about
+two hundred feet high, with a woody slope beneath it.  Along the base
+of these red cliffs, some distance above the ground, I could see a
+number of dark holes through the glass, which I conjectured to be the
+mouths of caves.  At the opening of one of these something white was
+shimmering, but I was unable to make out what it was.  I sat charting
+the country until the sun had set and it was so dark that I could no
+longer distinguish details.  Then I climbed down to my companions
+waiting for me so eagerly at the bottom of the great tree.  For once I
+was the hero of the expedition.  Alone I had thought of it, and alone I
+had done it; and here was the chart which would save us a month's blind
+groping among unknown dangers.  Each of them shook me solemnly by the
+hand.
+
+But before they discussed the details of my map I had to tell them of
+my encounter with the ape-man among the branches.
+
+"He has been there all the time," said I.
+
+"How do you know that?" asked Lord John.
+
+"Because I have never been without that feeling that something
+malevolent was watching us. I mentioned it to you, Professor
+Challenger."
+
+"Our young friend certainly said something of the kind.  He is also the
+one among us who is endowed with that Celtic temperament which would
+make him sensitive to such impressions."
+
+"The whole theory of telepathy----" began Summerlee, filling his pipe.
+
+"Is too vast to be now discussed," said Challenger, with decision.
+"Tell me, now," he added, with the air of a bishop addressing a
+Sunday-school, "did you happen to observe whether the creature could
+cross its thumb over its palm?"
+
+"No, indeed."
+
+"Had it a tail?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Was the foot prehensile?"
+
+"I do not think it could have made off so fast among the branches if it
+could not get a grip with its feet."
+
+"In South America there are, if my memory serves me--you will check the
+observation, Professor Summerlee--some thirty-six species of monkeys,
+but the anthropoid ape is unknown.  It is clear, however, that he
+exists in this country, and that he is not the hairy, gorilla-like
+variety, which is never seen out of Africa or the East."  (I was
+inclined to interpolate, as I looked at him, that I had seen his first
+cousin in Kensington.)  "This is a whiskered and colorless type, the
+latter characteristic pointing to the fact that he spends his days in
+arboreal seclusion.  The question which we have to face is whether he
+approaches more closely to the ape or the man.  In the latter case, he
+may well approximate to what the vulgar have called the 'missing link.'
+The solution of this problem is our immediate duty."
+
+"It is nothing of the sort," said Summerlee, abruptly.  "Now that,
+through the intelligence and activity of Mr. Malone" (I cannot help
+quoting the words), "we have got our chart, our one and only immediate
+duty is to get ourselves safe and sound out of this awful place."
+
+"The flesh-pots of civilization," groaned Challenger.
+
+"The ink-pots of civilization, sir.  It is our task to put on record
+what we have seen, and to leave the further exploration to others.  You
+all agreed as much before Mr. Malone got us the chart."
+
+"Well," said Challenger, "I admit that my mind will be more at ease
+when I am assured that the result of our expedition has been conveyed
+to our friends.  How we are to get down from this place I have not as
+yet an idea.  I have never yet encountered any problem, however, which
+my inventive brain was unable to solve, and I promise you that
+to-morrow I will turn my attention to the question of our descent."
+And so the matter was allowed to rest.
+
+But that evening, by the light of the fire and of a single candle, the
+first map of the lost world was elaborated.  Every detail which I had
+roughly noted from my watch-tower was drawn out in its relative place.
+Challenger's pencil hovered over the great blank which marked the lake.
+
+"What shall we call it?" he asked.
+
+"Why should you not take the chance of perpetuating your own name?"
+said Summerlee, with his usual touch of acidity.
+
+"I trust, sir, that my name will have other and more personal claims
+upon posterity," said Challenger, severely.  "Any ignoramus can hand
+down his worthless memory by imposing it upon a mountain or a river.  I
+need no such monument."
+
+Summerlee, with a twisted smile, was about to make some fresh assault
+when Lord John hastened to intervene.
+
+"It's up to you, young fellah, to name the lake," said he.  "You saw it
+first, and, by George, if you choose to put 'Lake Malone' on it, no one
+has a better right."
+
+"By all means.  Let our young friend give it a name," said Challenger.
+
+"Then," said I, blushing, I dare say, as I said it, "let it be named
+Lake Gladys."
+
+"Don't you think the Central Lake would be more descriptive?" remarked
+Summerlee.
+
+"I should prefer Lake Gladys."
+
+Challenger looked at me sympathetically, and shook his great head in
+mock disapproval.  "Boys will be boys," said he.  "Lake Gladys let it
+be."
+
+
+
+
+                           CHAPTER XII
+
+                "It was Dreadful in the Forest"
+
+I have said--or perhaps I have not said, for my memory plays me sad
+tricks these days--that I glowed with pride when three such men as my
+comrades thanked me for having saved, or at least greatly helped, the
+situation.  As the youngster of the party, not merely in years, but in
+experience, character, knowledge, and all that goes to make a man, I
+had been overshadowed from the first.  And now I was coming into my
+own.  I warmed at the thought.  Alas! for the pride which goes before a
+fall!  That little glow of self-satisfaction, that added measure of
+self-confidence, were to lead me on that very night to the most
+dreadful experience of my life, ending with a shock which turns my
+heart sick when I think of it.
+
+It came about in this way.  I had been unduly excited by the adventure
+of the tree, and sleep seemed to be impossible.  Summerlee was on
+guard, sitting hunched over our small fire, a quaint, angular figure,
+his rifle across his knees and his pointed, goat-like beard wagging
+with each weary nod of his head.  Lord John lay silent, wrapped in the
+South American poncho which he wore, while Challenger snored with a
+roll and rattle which reverberated through the woods.  The full moon
+was shining brightly, and the air was crisply cold.  What a night for a
+walk!  And then suddenly came the thought, "Why not?"  Suppose I stole
+softly away, suppose I made my way down to the central lake, suppose I
+was back at breakfast with some record of the place--would I not in
+that case be thought an even more worthy associate?  Then, if Summerlee
+carried the day and some means of escape were found, we should return
+to London with first-hand knowledge of the central mystery of the
+plateau, to which I alone, of all men, would have penetrated.  I thought
+of Gladys, with her "There are heroisms all round us."  I seemed to hear
+her voice as she said it.  I thought also of McArdle.  What a three
+column article for the paper!  What a foundation for a career!  A
+correspondentship in the next great war might be within my reach.  I
+clutched at a gun--my pockets were full of cartridges--and, parting the
+thorn bushes at the gate of our zareba, quickly slipped out.  My last
+glance showed me the unconscious Summerlee, most futile of sentinels,
+still nodding away like a queer mechanical toy in front of the
+smouldering fire.
+
+I had not gone a hundred yards before I deeply repented my rashness.  I
+may have said somewhere in this chronicle that I am too imaginative to
+be a really courageous man, but that I have an overpowering fear of
+seeming afraid.  This was the power which now carried me onwards.  I
+simply could not slink back with nothing done.  Even if my comrades
+should not have missed me, and should never know of my weakness, there
+would still remain some intolerable self-shame in my own soul.  And yet
+I shuddered at the position in which I found myself, and would have
+given all I possessed at that moment to have been honorably free of the
+whole business.
+
+It was dreadful in the forest.  The trees grew so thickly and their
+foliage spread so widely that I could see nothing of the moon-light
+save that here and there the high branches made a tangled filigree
+against the starry sky.  As the eyes became more used to the obscurity
+one learned that there were different degrees of darkness among the
+trees--that some were dimly visible, while between and among them there
+were coal-black shadowed patches, like the mouths of caves, from which
+I shrank in horror as I passed.  I thought of the despairing yell of
+the tortured iguanodon--that dreadful cry which had echoed through the
+woods.  I thought, too, of the glimpse I had in the light of Lord
+John's torch of that bloated, warty, blood-slavering muzzle.  Even now
+I was on its hunting-ground.  At any instant it might spring upon me
+from the shadows--this nameless and horrible monster.  I stopped, and,
+picking a cartridge from my pocket, I opened the breech of my gun.  As
+I touched the lever my heart leaped within me.  It was the shot-gun,
+not the rifle, which I had taken!
+
+Again the impulse to return swept over me.  Here, surely, was a most
+excellent reason for my failure--one for which no one would think the
+less of me.  But again the foolish pride fought against that very word.
+I could not--must not--fail.  After all, my rifle would probably have
+been as useless as a shot-gun against such dangers as I might meet.  If
+I were to go back to camp to change my weapon I could hardly expect to
+enter and to leave again without being seen.  In that case there would
+be explanations, and my attempt would no longer be all my own.  After a
+little hesitation, then, I screwed up my courage and continued upon my
+way, my useless gun under my arm.
+
+The darkness of the forest had been alarming, but even worse was the
+white, still flood of moonlight in the open glade of the iguanodons.
+Hid among the bushes, I looked out at it.  None of the great brutes
+were in sight.  Perhaps the tragedy which had befallen one of them had
+driven them from their feeding-ground.  In the misty, silvery night I
+could see no sign of any living thing.  Taking courage, therefore, I
+slipped rapidly across it, and among the jungle on the farther side I
+picked up once again the brook which was my guide.  It was a cheery
+companion, gurgling and chuckling as it ran, like the dear old
+trout-stream in the West Country where I have fished at night in my
+boyhood.  So long as I followed it down I must come to the lake, and so
+long as I followed it back I must come to the camp.  Often I had to
+lose sight of it on account of the tangled brush-wood, but I was always
+within earshot of its tinkle and splash.
+
+As one descended the slope the woods became thinner, and bushes, with
+occasional high trees, took the place of the forest.  I could make good
+progress, therefore, and I could see without being seen.  I passed
+close to the pterodactyl swamp, and as I did so, with a dry, crisp,
+leathery rattle of wings, one of these great creatures--it was twenty
+feet at least from tip to tip--rose up from somewhere near me and
+soared into the air.  As it passed across the face of the moon the
+light shone clearly through the membranous wings, and it looked like a
+flying skeleton against the white, tropical radiance.  I crouched low
+among the bushes, for I knew from past experience that with a single
+cry the creature could bring a hundred of its loathsome mates about my
+ears.  It was not until it had settled again that I dared to steal
+onwards upon my journey.
+
+The night had been exceedingly still, but as I advanced I became
+conscious of a low, rumbling sound, a continuous murmur, somewhere in
+front of me.  This grew louder as I proceeded, until at last it was
+clearly quite close to me.  When I stood still the sound was constant,
+so that it seemed to come from some stationary cause.  It was like a
+boiling kettle or the bubbling of some great pot.  Soon I came upon the
+source of it, for in the center of a small clearing I found a lake--or
+a pool, rather, for it was not larger than the basin of the Trafalgar
+Square fountain--of some black, pitch-like stuff, the surface of which
+rose and fell in great blisters of bursting gas.  The air above it was
+shimmering with heat, and the ground round was so hot that I could
+hardly bear to lay my hand on it.  It was clear that the great volcanic
+outburst which had raised this strange plateau so many years ago had
+not yet entirely spent its forces.  Blackened rocks and mounds of lava
+I had already seen everywhere peeping out from amid the luxuriant
+vegetation which draped them, but this asphalt pool in the jungle was
+the first sign that we had of actual existing activity on the slopes of
+the ancient crater.  I had no time to examine it further for I had need
+to hurry if I were to be back in camp in the morning.
+
+It was a fearsome walk, and one which will be with me so long as memory
+holds.  In the great moonlight clearings I slunk along among the
+shadows on the margin.  In the jungle I crept forward, stopping with a
+beating heart whenever I heard, as I often did, the crash of breaking
+branches as some wild beast went past.  Now and then great shadows
+loomed up for an instant and were gone--great, silent shadows which
+seemed to prowl upon padded feet.  How often I stopped with the
+intention of returning, and yet every time my pride conquered my fear,
+and sent me on again until my object should be attained.
+
+At last (my watch showed that it was one in the morning) I saw the
+gleam of water amid the openings of the jungle, and ten minutes later I
+was among the reeds upon the borders of the central lake.  I was
+exceedingly dry, so I lay down and took a long draught of its waters,
+which were fresh and cold.  There was a broad pathway with many tracks
+upon it at the spot which I had found, so that it was clearly one of
+the drinking-places of the animals.  Close to the water's edge there
+was a huge isolated block of lava.  Up this I climbed, and, lying on
+the top, I had an excellent view in every direction.
+
+The first thing which I saw filled me with amazement.  When I described
+the view from the summit of the great tree, I said that on the farther
+cliff I could see a number of dark spots, which appeared to be the
+mouths of caves.  Now, as I looked up at the same cliffs, I saw discs
+of light in every direction, ruddy, clearly-defined patches, like the
+port-holes of a liner in the darkness.  For a moment I thought it was
+the lava-glow from some volcanic action; but this could not be so.  Any
+volcanic action would surely be down in the hollow and not high among
+the rocks.  What, then, was the alternative?  It was wonderful, and yet
+it must surely be.  These ruddy spots must be the reflection of fires
+within the caves--fires which could only be lit by the hand of man.
+There were human beings, then, upon the plateau.  How gloriously my
+expedition was justified!  Here was news indeed for us to bear back
+with us to London!
+
+For a long time I lay and watched these red, quivering blotches of
+light.  I suppose they were ten miles off from me, yet even at that
+distance one could observe how, from time to time, they twinkled or
+were obscured as someone passed before them.  What would I not have
+given to be able to crawl up to them, to peep in, and to take back some
+word to my comrades as to the appearance and character of the race who
+lived in so strange a place!  It was out of the question for the
+moment, and yet surely we could not leave the plateau until we had some
+definite knowledge upon the point.
+
+Lake Gladys--my own lake--lay like a sheet of quicksilver before me,
+with a reflected moon shining brightly in the center of it.  It was
+shallow, for in many places I saw low sandbanks protruding above the
+water.  Everywhere upon the still surface I could see signs of life,
+sometimes mere rings and ripples in the water, sometimes the gleam of a
+great silver-sided fish in the air, sometimes the arched, slate-colored
+back of some passing monster.  Once upon a yellow sandbank I saw a
+creature like a huge swan, with a clumsy body and a high, flexible
+neck, shuffling about upon the margin.  Presently it plunged in, and
+for some time I could see the arched neck and darting head undulating
+over the water.  Then it dived, and I saw it no more.
+
+My attention was soon drawn away from these distant sights and brought
+back to what was going on at my very feet.  Two creatures like large
+armadillos had come down to the drinking-place, and were squatting at
+the edge of the water, their long, flexible tongues like red ribbons
+shooting in and out as they lapped.  A huge deer, with branching horns,
+a magnificent creature which carried itself like a king, came down with
+its doe and two fawns and drank beside the armadillos.  No such deer
+exist anywhere else upon earth, for the moose or elks which I have seen
+would hardly have reached its shoulders.  Presently it gave a warning
+snort, and was off with its family among the reeds, while the
+armadillos also scuttled for shelter.  A new-comer, a most monstrous
+animal, was coming down the path.
+
+For a moment I wondered where I could have seen that ungainly shape,
+that arched back with triangular fringes along it, that strange
+bird-like head held close to the ground.  Then it came back, to me.  It
+was the stegosaurus--the very creature which Maple White had preserved
+in his sketch-book, and which had been the first object which arrested
+the attention of Challenger!  There he was--perhaps the very specimen
+which the American artist had encountered.  The ground shook beneath
+his tremendous weight, and his gulpings of water resounded through the
+still night.  For five minutes he was so close to my rock that by
+stretching out my hand I could have touched the hideous waving hackles
+upon his back.  Then he lumbered away and was lost among the boulders.
+
+Looking at my watch, I saw that it was half-past two o'clock, and high
+time, therefore, that I started upon my homeward journey.  There was no
+difficulty about the direction in which I should return for all along I
+had kept the little brook upon my left, and it opened into the central
+lake within a stone's-throw of the boulder upon which I had been lying.
+I set off, therefore, in high spirits, for I felt that I had done good
+work and was bringing back a fine budget of news for my companions.
+Foremost of all, of course, were the sight of the fiery caves and the
+certainty that some troglodytic race inhabited them.  But besides that
+I could speak from experience of the central lake.  I could testify
+that it was full of strange creatures, and I had seen several land
+forms of primeval life which we had not before encountered.  I
+reflected as I walked that few men in the world could have spent a
+stranger night or added more to human knowledge in the course of it.
+
+I was plodding up the slope, turning these thoughts over in my mind,
+and had reached a point which may have been half-way to home, when my
+mind was brought back to my own position by a strange noise behind me.
+It was something between a snore and a growl, low, deep, and
+exceedingly menacing.  Some strange creature was evidently near me, but
+nothing could be seen, so I hastened more rapidly upon my way.  I had
+traversed half a mile or so when suddenly the sound was repeated, still
+behind me, but louder and more menacing than before.  My heart stood
+still within me as it flashed across me that the beast, whatever it
+was, must surely be after ME.   My skin grew cold and my hair rose at
+the thought.  That these monsters should tear each other to pieces was
+a part of the strange struggle for existence, but that they should turn
+upon modern man, that they should deliberately track and hunt down the
+predominant human, was a staggering and fearsome thought.  I remembered
+again the blood-beslobbered face which we had seen in the glare of Lord
+John's torch, like some horrible vision from the deepest circle of
+Dante's hell.  With my knees shaking beneath me, I stood and glared
+with starting eyes down the moonlit path which lay behind me.  All was
+quiet as in a dream landscape.  Silver clearings and the black patches
+of the bushes--nothing else could I see.  Then from out of the silence,
+imminent and threatening, there came once more that low, throaty
+croaking, far louder and closer than before.  There could no longer be
+a doubt.  Something was on my trail, and was closing in upon me every
+minute.
+
+I stood like a man paralyzed, still staring at the ground which I had
+traversed.  Then suddenly I saw it.  There was movement among the
+bushes at the far end of the clearing which I had just traversed.  A
+great dark shadow disengaged itself and hopped out into the clear
+moonlight.  I say "hopped" advisedly, for the beast moved like a
+kangaroo, springing along in an erect position upon its powerful hind
+legs, while its front ones were held bent in front of it.  It was of
+enormous size and power, like an erect elephant, but its movements, in
+spite of its bulk, were exceedingly alert.  For a moment, as I saw its
+shape, I hoped that it was an iguanodon, which I knew to be harmless,
+but, ignorant as I was, I soon saw that this was a very different
+creature.  Instead of the gentle, deer-shaped head of the great
+three-toed leaf-eater, this beast had a broad, squat, toad-like face
+like that which had alarmed us in our camp.  His ferocious cry and the
+horrible energy of his pursuit both assured me that this was surely one
+of the great flesh-eating dinosaurs, the most terrible beasts which
+have ever walked this earth.  As the huge brute loped along it dropped
+forward upon its fore-paws and brought its nose to the ground every
+twenty yards or so.  It was smelling out my trail.  Sometimes, for an
+instant, it was at fault.  Then it would catch it up again and come
+bounding swiftly along the path I had taken.
+
+Even now when I think of that nightmare the sweat breaks out upon my
+brow.  What could I do?  My useless fowling-piece was in my hand.  What
+help could I get from that?  I looked desperately round for some rock
+or tree, but I was in a bushy jungle with nothing higher than a sapling
+within sight, while I knew that the creature behind me could tear down
+an ordinary tree as though it were a reed.  My only possible chance lay
+in flight.  I could not move swiftly over the rough, broken ground, but
+as I looked round me in despair I saw a well-marked, hard-beaten path
+which ran across in front of me.  We had seen several of the sort, the
+runs of various wild beasts, during our expeditions.  Along this I
+could perhaps hold my own, for I was a fast runner, and in excellent
+condition.  Flinging away my useless gun, I set myself to do such a
+half-mile as I have never done before or since.  My limbs ached, my
+chest heaved, I felt that my throat would burst for want of air, and
+yet with that horror behind me I ran and I ran and ran.  At last I
+paused, hardly able to move.  For a moment I thought that I had thrown
+him off.  The path lay still behind me.  And then suddenly, with a
+crashing and a rending, a thudding of giant feet and a panting of
+monster lungs the beast was upon me once more.  He was at my very
+heels.  I was lost.
+
+Madman that I was to linger so long before I fled!  Up to then he had
+hunted by scent, and his movement was slow.  But he had actually seen
+me as I started to run.  From then onwards he had hunted by sight, for
+the path showed him where I had gone.  Now, as he came round the curve,
+he was springing in great bounds.  The moonlight shone upon his huge
+projecting eyes, the row of enormous teeth in his open mouth, and the
+gleaming fringe of claws upon his short, powerful forearms.  With a
+scream of terror I turned and rushed wildly down the path.  Behind me
+the thick, gasping breathing of the creature sounded louder and louder.
+His heavy footfall was beside me.  Every instant I expected to feel his
+grip upon my back.  And then suddenly there came a crash--I was falling
+through space, and everything beyond was darkness and rest.
+
+As I emerged from my unconsciousness--which could not, I think, have
+lasted more than a few minutes--I was aware of a most dreadful and
+penetrating smell.  Putting out my hand in the darkness I came upon
+something which felt like a huge lump of meat, while my other hand
+closed upon a large bone.  Up above me there was a circle of starlit
+sky, which showed me that I was lying at the bottom of a deep pit.
+Slowly I staggered to my feet and felt myself all over.  I was stiff
+and sore from head to foot, but there was no limb which would not move,
+no joint which would not bend.  As the circumstances of my fall came
+back into my confused brain, I looked up in terror, expecting to see
+that dreadful head silhouetted against the paling sky.  There was no
+sign of the monster, however, nor could I hear any sound from above.  I
+began to walk slowly round, therefore, feeling in every direction to
+find out what this strange place could be into which I had been so
+opportunely precipitated.
+
+It was, as I have said, a pit, with sharply-sloping walls and a level
+bottom about twenty feet across.  This bottom was littered with great
+gobbets of flesh, most of which was in the last state of putridity.
+The atmosphere was poisonous and horrible.  After tripping and
+stumbling over these lumps of decay, I came suddenly against something
+hard, and I found that an upright post was firmly fixed in the center
+of the hollow.  It was so high that I could not reach the top of it
+with my hand, and it appeared to be covered with grease.
+
+Suddenly I remembered that I had a tin box of wax-vestas in my pocket.
+Striking one of them, I was able at last to form some opinion of this
+place into which I had fallen.  There could be no question as to its
+nature.  It was a trap--made by the hand of man.  The post in the
+center, some nine feet long, was sharpened at the upper end, and was
+black with the stale blood of the creatures who had been impaled upon
+it.  The remains scattered about were fragments of the victims, which
+had been cut away in order to clear the stake for the next who might
+blunder in.  I remembered that Challenger had declared that man could
+not exist upon the plateau, since with his feeble weapons he could not
+hold his own against the monsters who roamed over it.  But now it was
+clear enough how it could be done.  In their narrow-mouthed caves the
+natives, whoever they might be, had refuges into which the huge
+saurians could not penetrate, while with their developed brains they
+were capable of setting such traps, covered with branches, across the
+paths which marked the run of the animals as would destroy them in
+spite of all their strength and activity.  Man was always the master.
+
+The sloping wall of the pit was not difficult for an active man to
+climb, but I hesitated long before I trusted myself within reach of the
+dreadful creature which had so nearly destroyed me.  How did I know
+that he was not lurking in the nearest clump of bushes, waiting for my
+reappearance?  I took heart, however, as I recalled a conversation
+between Challenger and Summerlee upon the habits of the great saurians.
+Both were agreed that the monsters were practically brainless, that
+there was no room for reason in their tiny cranial cavities, and that
+if they have disappeared from the rest of the world it was assuredly on
+account of their own stupidity, which made it impossible for them to
+adapt themselves to changing conditions.
+
+To lie in wait for me now would mean that the creature had appreciated
+what had happened to me, and this in turn would argue some power
+connecting cause and effect.  Surely it was more likely that a
+brainless creature, acting solely by vague predatory instinct, would
+give up the chase when I disappeared, and, after a pause of
+astonishment, would wander away in search of some other prey?  I
+clambered to the edge of the pit and looked over.  The stars were
+fading, the sky was whitening, and the cold wind of morning blew
+pleasantly upon my face.  I could see or hear nothing of my enemy.
+Slowly I climbed out and sat for a while upon the ground, ready to
+spring back into my refuge if any danger should appear.  Then,
+reassured by the absolute stillness and by the growing light, I took my
+courage in both hands and stole back along the path which I had come.
+Some distance down it I picked up my gun, and shortly afterwards struck
+the brook which was my guide.  So, with many a frightened backward
+glance, I made for home.
+
+And suddenly there came something to remind me of my absent companions.
+In the clear, still morning air there sounded far away the sharp, hard
+note of a single rifle-shot.  I paused and listened, but there was
+nothing more.  For a moment I was shocked at the thought that some
+sudden danger might have befallen them.  But then a simpler and more
+natural explanation came to my mind.  It was now broad daylight.  No
+doubt my absence had been noticed.  They had imagined, that I was lost
+in the woods, and had fired this shot to guide me home.  It is true
+that we had made a strict resolution against firing, but if it seemed
+to them that I might be in danger they would not hesitate.  It was for
+me now to hurry on as fast as possible, and so to reassure them.
+
+I was weary and spent, so my progress was not so fast as I wished; but
+at last I came into regions which I knew.  There was the swamp of the
+pterodactyls upon my left; there in front of me was the glade of the
+iguanodons.  Now I was in the last belt of trees which separated me
+from Fort Challenger.  I raised my voice in a cheery shout to allay
+their fears.  No answering greeting came back to me.  My heart sank at
+that ominous stillness.  I quickened my pace into a run.  The zareba
+rose before me, even as I had left it, but the gate was open.  I rushed
+in.  In the cold, morning light it was a fearful sight which met my
+eyes.  Our effects were scattered in wild confusion over the ground; my
+comrades had disappeared, and close to the smouldering ashes of our
+fire the grass was stained crimson with a hideous pool of blood.
+
+I was so stunned by this sudden shock that for a time I must have
+nearly lost my reason.  I have a vague recollection, as one remembers a
+bad dream, of rushing about through the woods all round the empty camp,
+calling wildly for my companions.  No answer came back from the silent
+shadows.  The horrible thought that I might never see them again, that
+I might find myself abandoned all alone in that dreadful place, with no
+possible way of descending into the world below, that I might live and
+die in that nightmare country, drove me to desperation.  I could have
+torn my hair and beaten my head in my despair.  Only now did I realize
+how I had learned to lean upon my companions, upon the serene
+self-confidence of Challenger, and upon the masterful, humorous
+coolness of Lord John Roxton.  Without them I was like a child in the
+dark, helpless and powerless.  I did not know which way to turn or what
+I should do first.
+
+After a period, during which I sat in bewilderment, I set myself to try
+and discover what sudden misfortune could have befallen my companions.
+The whole disordered appearance of the camp showed that there had been
+some sort of attack, and the rifle-shot no doubt marked the time when
+it had occurred.  That there should have been only one shot showed that
+it had been all over in an instant.  The rifles still lay upon the
+ground, and one of them--Lord John's--had the empty cartridge in the
+breech.  The blankets of Challenger and of Summerlee beside the fire
+suggested that they had been asleep at the time.  The cases of
+ammunition and of food were scattered about in a wild litter, together
+with our unfortunate cameras and plate-carriers, but none of them were
+missing.  On the other hand, all the exposed provisions--and I
+remembered that there were a considerable quantity of them--were gone.
+They were animals, then, and not natives, who had made the inroad, for
+surely the latter would have left nothing behind.
+
+But if animals, or some single terrible animal, then what had become of
+my comrades?  A ferocious beast would surely have destroyed them and
+left their remains.  It is true that there was that one hideous pool of
+blood, which told of violence.  Such a monster as had pursued me during
+the night could have carried away a victim as easily as a cat would a
+mouse.  In that case the others would have followed in pursuit.  But
+then they would assuredly have taken their rifles with them.  The more
+I tried to think it out with my confused and weary brain the less could
+I find any plausible explanation.  I searched round in the forest, but
+could see no tracks which could help me to a conclusion.  Once I lost
+myself, and it was only by good luck, and after an hour of wandering,
+that I found the camp once more.
+
+Suddenly a thought came to me and brought some little comfort to my
+heart.  I was not absolutely alone in the world.  Down at the bottom of
+the cliff, and within call of me, was waiting the faithful Zambo.  I
+went to the edge of the plateau and looked over.  Sure enough, he was
+squatting among his blankets beside his fire in his little camp.  But,
+to my amazement, a second man was seated in front of him.  For an
+instant my heart leaped for joy, as I thought that one of my comrades
+had made his way safely down.  But a second glance dispelled the hope.
+The rising sun shone red upon the man's skin.  He was an Indian.  I
+shouted loudly and waved my handkerchief.  Presently Zambo looked up,
+waved his hand, and turned to ascend the pinnacle.  In a short time he
+was standing close to me and listening with deep distress to the story
+which I told him.
+
+"Devil got them for sure, Massa Malone," said he.  "You got into the
+devil's country, sah, and he take you all to himself.  You take advice,
+Massa Malone, and come down quick, else he get you as well."
+
+"How can I come down, Zambo?"
+
+"You get creepers from trees, Massa Malone.  Throw them over here.  I
+make fast to this stump, and so you have bridge."
+
+"We have thought of that.  There are no creepers here which could bear
+us."
+
+"Send for ropes, Massa Malone."
+
+"Who can I send, and where?"
+
+"Send to Indian villages, sah.  Plenty hide rope in Indian village.
+Indian down below; send him."
+
+"Who is he?
+
+"One of our Indians.  Other ones beat him and take away his pay.  He
+come back to us.  Ready now to take letter, bring rope,--anything."
+
+To take a letter!  Why not?  Perhaps he might bring help; but in any
+case he would ensure that our lives were not spent for nothing, and
+that news of all that we had won for Science should reach our friends
+at home.  I had two completed letters already waiting.  I would spend
+the day in writing a third, which would bring my experiences absolutely
+up to date.  The Indian could bear this back to the world.  I ordered
+Zambo, therefore, to come again in the evening, and I spent my
+miserable and lonely day in recording my own adventures of the night
+before.  I also drew up a note, to be given to any white merchant or
+captain of a steam-boat whom the Indian could find, imploring them to
+see that ropes were sent to us, since our lives must depend upon it.
+These documents I threw to Zambo in the evening, and also my purse,
+which contained three English sovereigns.  These were to be given to
+the Indian, and he was promised twice as much if he returned with the
+ropes.
+
+So now you will understand, my dear Mr. McArdle, how this communication
+reaches you, and you will also know the truth, in case you never hear
+again from your unfortunate correspondent.  To-night I am too weary and
+too depressed to make my plans.  To-morrow I must think out some way by
+which I shall keep in touch with this camp, and yet search round for
+any traces of my unhappy friends.
+
+
+
+
+                           CHAPTER XIII
+
+               "A Sight which I shall Never Forget"
+
+Just as the sun was setting upon that melancholy night I saw the lonely
+figure of the Indian upon the vast plain beneath me, and I watched him,
+our one faint hope of salvation, until he disappeared in the rising
+mists of evening which lay, rose-tinted from the setting sun, between
+the far-off river and me.
+
+It was quite dark when I at last turned back to our stricken camp, and
+my last vision as I went was the red gleam of Zambo's fire, the one
+point of light in the wide world below, as was his faithful presence in
+my own shadowed soul.  And yet I felt happier than I had done since
+this crushing blow had fallen upon me, for it was good to think that
+the world should know what we had done, so that at the worst our names
+should not perish with our bodies, but should go down to posterity
+associated with the result of our labors.
+
+It was an awesome thing to sleep in that ill-fated camp; and yet it was
+even more unnerving to do so in the jungle.  One or the other it must
+be.  Prudence, on the one hand, warned me that I should remain on
+guard, but exhausted Nature, on the other, declared that I should do
+nothing of the kind.  I climbed up on to a limb of the great gingko
+tree, but there was no secure perch on its rounded surface, and I
+should certainly have fallen off and broken my neck the moment I began
+to doze.  I got down, therefore, and pondered over what I should do.
+Finally, I closed the door of the zareba, lit three separate fires in a
+triangle, and having eaten a hearty supper dropped off into a profound
+sleep, from which I had a strange and most welcome awakening.  In the
+early morning, just as day was breaking, a hand was laid upon my arm,
+and starting up, with all my nerves in a tingle and my hand feeling for
+a rifle, I gave a cry of joy as in the cold gray light I saw Lord John
+Roxton kneeling beside me.
+
+It was he--and yet it was not he.  I had left him calm in his bearing,
+correct in his person, prim in his dress.  Now he was pale and
+wild-eyed, gasping as he breathed like one who has run far and fast.
+His gaunt face was scratched and bloody, his clothes were hanging in
+rags, and his hat was gone.  I stared in amazement, but he gave me no
+chance for questions.  He was grabbing at our stores all the time he
+spoke.
+
+"Quick, young fellah!  Quick!" he cried.  "Every moment counts.  Get
+the rifles, both of them.  I have the other two.  Now, all the
+cartridges you can gather.  Fill up your pockets.  Now, some food.
+Half a dozen tins will do.  That's all right!  Don't wait to talk or
+think.  Get a move on, or we are done!"
+
+Still half-awake, and unable to imagine what it all might mean, I found
+myself hurrying madly after him through the wood, a rifle under each
+arm and a pile of various stores in my hands.  He dodged in and out
+through the thickest of the scrub until he came to a dense clump of
+brush-wood.  Into this he rushed, regardless of thorns, and threw
+himself into the heart of it, pulling me down by his side.
+
+"There!" he panted.  "I think we are safe here.  They'll make for the
+camp as sure as fate.  It will be their first idea.  But this should
+puzzle 'em."
+
+"What is it all?" I asked, when I had got my breath.  "Where are the
+professors?  And who is it that is after us?"
+
+"The ape-men," he cried.  "My God, what brutes!  Don't raise your
+voice, for they have long ears--sharp eyes, too, but no power of scent,
+so far as I could judge, so I don't think they can sniff us out.  Where
+have you been, young fellah?  You were well out of it."
+
+In a few sentences I whispered what I had done.
+
+"Pretty bad," said he, when he had heard of the dinosaur and the pit.
+"It isn't quite the place for a rest cure.  What?  But I had no idea
+what its possibilities were until those devils got hold of us.  The
+man-eatin' Papuans had me once, but they are Chesterfields compared to
+this crowd."
+
+"How did it happen?" I asked.
+
+"It was in the early mornin'.  Our learned friends were just stirrin'.
+Hadn't even begun to argue yet.  Suddenly it rained apes.  They came
+down as thick as apples out of a tree.  They had been assemblin' in the
+dark, I suppose, until that great tree over our heads was heavy with
+them.  I shot one of them through the belly, but before we knew where
+we were they had us spread-eagled on our backs.  I call them apes, but
+they carried sticks and stones in their hands and jabbered talk to each
+other, and ended up by tyin' our hands with creepers, so they are ahead
+of any beast that I have seen in my wanderin's.  Ape-men--that's what
+they are--Missin' Links, and I wish they had stayed missin'.  They
+carried off their wounded comrade--he was bleedin' like a pig--and then
+they sat around us, and if ever I saw frozen murder it was in their
+faces.  They were big fellows, as big as a man and a deal stronger.
+Curious glassy gray eyes they have, under red tufts, and they just sat
+and gloated and gloated.  Challenger is no chicken, but even he was
+cowed.  He managed to struggle to his feet, and yelled out at them to
+have done with it and get it over.  I think he had gone a bit off his
+head at the suddenness of it, for he raged and cursed at them like a
+lunatic.  If they had been a row of his favorite Pressmen he could not
+have slanged them worse."
+
+"Well, what did they do?"  I was enthralled by the strange story which
+my companion was whispering into my ear, while all the time his keen
+eyes were shooting in every direction and his hand grasping his cocked
+rifle.
+
+"I thought it was the end of us, but instead of that it started them on
+a new line.  They all jabbered and chattered together.  Then one of
+them stood out beside Challenger.  You'll smile, young fellah, but 'pon
+my word they might have been kinsmen.  I couldn't have believed it if I
+hadn't seen it with my own eyes.  This old ape-man--he was their
+chief--was a sort of red Challenger, with every one of our friend's
+beauty points, only just a trifle more so.  He had the short body, the
+big shoulders, the round chest, no neck, a great ruddy frill of a
+beard, the tufted eyebrows, the 'What do you want, damn you!' look
+about the eyes, and the whole catalogue.  When the ape-man stood by
+Challenger and put his paw on his shoulder, the thing was complete.
+Summerlee was a bit hysterical, and he laughed till he cried.  The
+ape-men laughed too--or at least they put up the devil of a
+cacklin'--and they set to work to drag us off through the forest.  They
+wouldn't touch the guns and things--thought them dangerous, I
+expect--but they carried away all our loose food.  Summerlee and I got
+some rough handlin' on the way--there's my skin and my clothes to prove
+it--for they took us a bee-line through the brambles, and their own
+hides are like leather.  But Challenger was all right.  Four of them
+carried him shoulder high, and he went like a Roman emperor.  What's
+that?"
+
+It was a strange clicking noise in the distance not unlike castanets.
+
+"There they go!" said my companion, slipping cartridges into the second
+double barrelled "Express."  "Load them all up, young fellah my lad,
+for we're not going to be taken alive, and don't you think it!  That's
+the row they make when they are excited.  By George! they'll have
+something to excite them if they put us up.  The 'Last Stand of the
+Grays' won't be in it.   'With their rifles grasped in their stiffened
+hands, mid a ring of the dead and dyin',' as some fathead sings.  Can
+you hear them now?"
+
+"Very far away."
+
+"That little lot will do no good, but I expect their search parties are
+all over the wood.  Well, I was telling you my tale of woe.  They got
+us soon to this town of theirs--about a thousand huts of branches and
+leaves in a great grove of trees near the edge of the cliff.  It's
+three or four miles from here.  The filthy beasts fingered me all over,
+and I feel as if I should never be clean again.  They tied us up--the
+fellow who handled me could tie like a bosun--and there we lay with our
+toes up, beneath a tree, while a great brute stood guard over us with a
+club in his hand.  When I say 'we' I mean Summerlee and myself.  Old
+Challenger was up a tree, eatin' pines and havin' the time of his life.
+I'm bound to say that he managed to get some fruit to us, and with his
+own hands he loosened our bonds.  If you'd seen him sitting up in that
+tree hob-nobbin' with his twin brother--and singin' in that rollin'
+bass of his, 'Ring out, wild bells,' cause music of any kind seemed to
+put 'em in a good humor, you'd have smiled; but we weren't in much mood
+for laughin', as you can guess.  They were inclined, within limits, to
+let him do what he liked, but they drew the line pretty sharply at us.
+It was a mighty consolation to us all to know that you were runnin'
+loose and had the archives in your keepin'.
+
+"Well, now, young fellah, I'll tell you what will surprise you.  You
+say you saw signs of men, and fires, traps, and the like.  Well, we
+have seen the natives themselves.  Poor devils they were, down-faced
+little chaps, and had enough to make them so.  It seems that the humans
+hold one side of this plateau--over yonder, where you saw the
+caves--and the ape-men hold this side, and there is bloody war between
+them all the time.  That's the situation, so far as I could follow it.
+Well, yesterday the ape-men got hold of a dozen of the humans and
+brought them in as prisoners.  You never heard such a jabberin' and
+shriekin' in your life.  The men were little red fellows, and had been
+bitten and clawed so that they could hardly walk.  The ape-men put two
+of them to death there and then--fairly pulled the arm off one of
+them--it was perfectly beastly.  Plucky little chaps they are, and
+hardly gave a squeak.  But it turned us absolutely sick.  Summerlee
+fainted, and even Challenger had as much as he could stand.  I think
+they have cleared, don't you?"
+
+We listened intently, but nothing save the calling of the birds broke
+the deep peace of the forest.  Lord Roxton went on with his story.
+
+"I think you have had the escape of your life, young fellah my lad.  It
+was catchin' those Indians that put you clean out of their heads, else
+they would have been back to the camp for you as sure as fate and
+gathered you in.  Of course, as you said, they have been watchin' us
+from the beginnin' out of that tree, and they knew perfectly well that
+we were one short.  However, they could think only of this new haul; so
+it was I, and not a bunch of apes, that dropped in on you in the
+morning.  Well, we had a horrid business afterwards.  My God!  what a
+nightmare the whole thing is!  You remember the great bristle of sharp
+canes down below where we found the skeleton of the American?  Well,
+that is just under ape-town, and that's the jumpin'-off place of their
+prisoners.  I expect there's heaps of skeletons there, if we looked for
+'em.  They have a sort of clear parade-ground on the top, and they make
+a proper ceremony about it.  One by one the poor devils have to jump,
+and the game is to see whether they are merely dashed to pieces or
+whether they get skewered on the canes.  They took us out to see it,
+and the whole tribe lined up on the edge.  Four of the Indians jumped,
+and the canes went through 'em like knittin' needles through a pat of
+butter.  No wonder we found that poor Yankee's skeleton with the canes
+growin' between his ribs.  It was horrible--but it was doocedly
+interestin' too.  We were all fascinated to see them take the dive,
+even when we thought it would be our turn next on the spring-board.
+
+"Well, it wasn't.  They kept six of the Indians up for to-day--that's
+how I understood it--but I fancy we were to be the star performers in
+the show.  Challenger might get off, but Summerlee and I were in the
+bill.  Their language is more than half signs, and it was not hard to
+follow them.  So I thought it was time we made a break for it.  I had
+been plottin' it out a bit, and had one or two things clear in my mind.
+It was all on me, for Summerlee was useless and Challenger not much
+better.  The only time they got together they got slangin' because they
+couldn't agree upon the scientific classification of these red-headed
+devils that had got hold of us.  One said it was the dryopithecus of
+Java, the other said it was pithecanthropus.  Madness, I call
+it--Loonies, both.  But, as I say, I had thought out one or two points
+that were helpful.  One was that these brutes could not run as fast as
+a man in the open.  They have short, bandy legs, you see, and heavy
+bodies.  Even Challenger could give a few yards in a hundred to the
+best of them, and you or I would be a perfect Shrubb.  Another point
+was that they knew nothin' about guns.  I don't believe they ever
+understood how the fellow I shot came by his hurt.  If we could get at
+our guns there was no sayin' what we could do.
+
+"So I broke away early this mornin', gave my guard a kick in the tummy
+that laid him out, and sprinted for the camp.  There I got you and the
+guns, and here we are."
+
+"But the professors!" I cried, in consternation.
+
+"Well, we must just go back and fetch 'em.  I couldn't bring 'em with
+me.  Challenger was up the tree, and Summerlee was not fit for the
+effort.  The only chance was to get the guns and try a rescue.  Of
+course they may scupper them at once in revenge.  I don't think they
+would touch Challenger, but I wouldn't answer for Summerlee.  But they
+would have had him in any case.  Of that I am certain.  So I haven't
+made matters any worse by boltin'.  But we are honor bound to go back
+and have them out or see it through with them.  So you can make up your
+soul, young fellah my lad, for it will be one way or the other before
+evenin'."
+
+I have tried to imitate here Lord Roxton's jerky talk, his short,
+strong sentences, the half-humorous, half-reckless tone that ran
+through it all.  But he was a born leader.  As danger thickened his
+jaunty manner would increase, his speech become more racy, his cold
+eyes glitter into ardent life, and his Don Quixote moustache bristle
+with joyous excitement.  His love of danger, his intense appreciation
+of the drama of an adventure--all the more intense for being held
+tightly in--his consistent view that every peril in life is a form of
+sport, a fierce game betwixt you and Fate, with Death as a forfeit,
+made him a wonderful companion at such hours.  If it were not for our
+fears as to the fate of our companions, it would have been a positive
+joy to throw myself with such a man into such an affair.  We were
+rising from our brushwood hiding-place when suddenly I felt his grip
+upon my arm.
+
+"By George!" he whispered, "here they come!"
+
+From where we lay we could look down a brown aisle, arched with green,
+formed by the trunks and branches.  Along this a party of the ape-men
+were passing.  They went in single file, with bent legs and rounded
+backs, their hands occasionally touching the ground, their heads
+turning to left and right as they trotted along.  Their crouching gait
+took away from their height, but I should put them at five feet or so,
+with long arms and enormous chests.  Many of them carried sticks, and
+at the distance they looked like a line of very hairy and deformed
+human beings.  For a moment I caught this clear glimpse of them.  Then
+they were lost among the bushes.
+
+"Not this time," said Lord John, who had caught up his rifle.  "Our
+best chance is to lie quiet until they have given up the search.  Then
+we shall see whether we can't get back to their town and hit 'em where
+it hurts most.  Give 'em an hour and we'll march."
+
+We filled in the time by opening one of our food tins and making sure
+of our breakfast.  Lord Roxton had had nothing but some fruit since the
+morning before and ate like a starving man.  Then, at last, our pockets
+bulging with cartridges and a rifle in each hand, we started off upon
+our mission of rescue.  Before leaving it we carefully marked our
+little hiding-place among the brush-wood and its bearing to Fort
+Challenger, that we might find it again if we needed it.  We slunk
+through the bushes in silence until we came to the very edge of the
+cliff, close to the old camp.  There we halted, and Lord John gave me
+some idea of his plans.
+
+"So long as we are among the thick trees these swine are our masters,"
+said he.  "They can see us and we cannot see them.  But in the open it
+is different.  There we can move faster than they.  So we must stick to
+the open all we can.  The edge of the plateau has fewer large trees
+than further inland.  So that's our line of advance.  Go slowly, keep
+your eyes open and your rifle ready.  Above all, never let them get you
+prisoner while there is a cartridge left--that's my last word to you,
+young fellah."
+
+When we reached the edge of the cliff I looked over and saw our good
+old black Zambo sitting smoking on a rock below us.  I would have given
+a great deal to have hailed him and told him how we were placed, but it
+was too dangerous, lest we should be heard.  The woods seemed to be
+full of the ape-men; again and again we heard their curious clicking
+chatter.  At such times we plunged into the nearest clump of bushes and
+lay still until the sound had passed away.  Our advance, therefore, was
+very slow, and two hours at least must have passed before I saw by Lord
+John's cautious movements that we must be close to our destination.  He
+motioned to me to lie still, and he crawled forward himself.  In a
+minute he was back again, his face quivering with eagerness.
+
+"Come!" said he.  "Come quick! I hope to the Lord we are not too late
+already!"
+
+I found myself shaking with nervous excitement as I scrambled forward
+and lay down beside him, looking out through the bushes at a clearing
+which stretched before us.
+
+It was a sight which I shall never forget until my dying day--so weird,
+so impossible, that I do not know how I am to make you realize it, or
+how in a few years I shall bring myself to believe in it if I live to
+sit once more on a lounge in the Savage Club and look out on the drab
+solidity of the Embankment.  I know that it will seem then to be some
+wild nightmare, some delirium of fever.  Yet I will set it down now,
+while it is still fresh in my memory, and one at least, the man who lay
+in the damp grasses by my side, will know if I have lied.
+
+A wide, open space lay before us--some hundreds of yards across--all
+green turf and low bracken growing to the very edge of the cliff.
+Round this clearing there was a semi-circle of trees with curious huts
+built of foliage piled one above the other among the branches.  A
+rookery, with every nest a little house, would best convey the idea.
+The openings of these huts and the branches of the trees were thronged
+with a dense mob of ape-people, whom from their size I took to be the
+females and infants of the tribe.  They formed the background of the
+picture, and were all looking out with eager interest at the same scene
+which fascinated and bewildered us.
+
+In the open, and near the edge of the cliff, there had assembled a
+crowd of some hundred of these shaggy, red-haired creatures, many of
+them of immense size, and all of them horrible to look upon.  There was
+a certain discipline among them, for none of them attempted to break
+the line which had been formed.  In front there stood a small group of
+Indians--little, clean-limbed, red fellows, whose skins glowed like
+polished bronze in the strong sunlight.  A tall, thin white man was
+standing beside them, his head bowed, his arms folded, his whole
+attitude expressive of his horror and dejection.  There was no
+mistaking the angular form of Professor Summerlee.
+
+In front of and around this dejected group of prisoners were several
+ape-men, who watched them closely and made all escape impossible.
+Then, right out from all the others and close to the edge of the cliff,
+were two figures, so strange, and under other circumstances so
+ludicrous, that they absorbed my attention.  The one was our comrade,
+Professor Challenger.  The remains of his coat still hung in strips
+from his shoulders, but his shirt had been all torn out, and his great
+beard merged itself in the black tangle which covered his mighty chest.
+He had lost his hat, and his hair, which had grown long in our
+wanderings, was flying in wild disorder.  A single day seemed to have
+changed him from the highest product of modern civilization to the most
+desperate savage in South America.  Beside him stood his master, the
+king of the ape-men.  In all things he was, as Lord John had said, the
+very image of our Professor, save that his coloring was red instead of
+black.  The same short, broad figure, the same heavy shoulders, the
+same forward hang of the arms, the same bristling beard merging itself
+in the hairy chest.  Only above the eyebrows, where the sloping
+forehead and low, curved skull of the ape-man were in sharp contrast to
+the broad brow and magnificent cranium of the European, could one see
+any marked difference.  At every other point the king was an absurd
+parody of the Professor.
+
+All this, which takes me so long to describe, impressed itself upon me
+in a few seconds.  Then we had very different things to think of, for
+an active drama was in progress.  Two of the ape-men had seized one of
+the Indians out of the group and dragged him forward to the edge of the
+cliff.  The king raised his hand as a signal.  They caught the man by
+his leg and arm, and swung him three times backwards and forwards with
+tremendous violence.  Then, with a frightful heave they shot the poor
+wretch over the precipice.  With such force did they throw him that he
+curved high in the air before beginning to drop.  As he vanished from
+sight, the whole assembly, except the guards, rushed forward to the
+edge of the precipice, and there was a long pause of absolute silence,
+broken by a mad yell of delight.  They sprang about, tossing their
+long, hairy arms in the air and howling with exultation.  Then they
+fell back from the edge, formed themselves again into line, and waited
+for the next victim.
+
+This time it was Summerlee.  Two of his guards caught him by the wrists
+and pulled him brutally to the front.  His thin figure and long limbs
+struggled and fluttered like a chicken being dragged from a coop.
+Challenger had turned to the king and waved his hands frantically
+before him.  He was begging, pleading, imploring for his comrade's
+life.  The ape-man pushed him roughly aside and shook his head.  It was
+the last conscious movement he was to make upon earth.  Lord John's
+rifle cracked, and the king sank down, a tangled red sprawling thing,
+upon the ground.
+
+"Shoot into the thick of them!  Shoot! sonny, shoot!" cried my
+companion.
+
+There are strange red depths in the soul of the most commonplace man.
+I am tenderhearted by nature, and have found my eyes moist many a time
+over the scream of a wounded hare.  Yet the blood lust was on me now.
+I found myself on my feet emptying one magazine, then the other,
+clicking open the breech to re-load, snapping it to again, while
+cheering and yelling with pure ferocity and joy of slaughter as I did
+so.  With our four guns the two of us made a horrible havoc.  Both the
+guards who held Summerlee were down, and he was staggering about like a
+drunken man in his amazement, unable to realize that he was a free man.
+The dense mob of ape-men ran about in bewilderment, marveling whence
+this storm of death was coming or what it might mean.  They waved,
+gesticulated, screamed, and tripped up over those who had fallen.
+Then, with a sudden impulse, they all rushed in a howling crowd to the
+trees for shelter, leaving the ground behind them spotted with their
+stricken comrades.  The prisoners were left for the moment standing
+alone in the middle of the clearing.
+
+Challenger's quick brain had grasped the situation.  He seized the
+bewildered Summerlee by the arm, and they both ran towards us.  Two of
+their guards bounded after them and fell to two bullets from Lord John.
+We ran forward into the open to meet our friends, and pressed a loaded
+rifle into the hands of each.  But Summerlee was at the end of his
+strength.  He could hardly totter.  Already the ape-men were recovering
+from their panic.  They were coming through the brushwood and
+threatening to cut us off.  Challenger and I ran Summerlee along, one
+at each of his elbows, while Lord John covered our retreat, firing
+again and again as savage heads snarled at us out of the bushes.  For a
+mile or more the chattering brutes were at our very heels.  Then the
+pursuit slackened, for they learned our power and would no longer face
+that unerring rifle.  When we had at last reached the camp, we looked
+back and found ourselves alone.
+
+So it seemed to us; and yet we were mistaken.  We had hardly closed the
+thornbush door of our zareba, clasped each other's hands, and thrown
+ourselves panting upon the ground beside our spring, when we heard a
+patter of feet and then a gentle, plaintive crying from outside our
+entrance.  Lord Roxton rushed forward, rifle in hand, and threw it
+open.  There, prostrate upon their faces, lay the little red figures of
+the four surviving Indians, trembling with fear of us and yet imploring
+our protection.  With an expressive sweep of his hands one of them
+pointed to the woods around them, and indicated that they were full of
+danger.  Then, darting forward, he threw his arms round Lord John's
+legs, and rested his face upon them.
+
+"By George!" cried our peer, pulling at his moustache in great
+perplexity, "I say--what the deuce are we to do with these people?  Get
+up, little chappie, and take your face off my boots."
+
+Summerlee was sitting up and stuffing some tobacco into his old briar.
+
+"We've got to see them safe," said he.  "You've pulled us all out of
+the jaws of death.  My word! it was a good bit of work!"
+
+"Admirable!" cried Challenger.  "Admirable!  Not only we as
+individuals, but European science collectively, owe you a deep debt of
+gratitude for what you have done.  I do not hesitate to say that the
+disappearance of Professor Summerlee and myself would have left an
+appreciable gap in modern zoological history.  Our young friend here
+and you have done most excellently well."
+
+He beamed at us with the old paternal smile, but European science would
+have been somewhat amazed could they have seen their chosen child, the
+hope of the future, with his tangled, unkempt head, his bare chest, and
+his tattered clothes.  He had one of the meat-tins between his knees,
+and sat with a large piece of cold Australian mutton between his
+fingers.  The Indian looked up at him, and then, with a little yelp,
+cringed to the ground and clung to Lord John's leg.
+
+"Don't you be scared, my bonnie boy," said Lord John, patting the
+matted head in front of him.  "He can't stick your appearance,
+Challenger; and, by George! I don't wonder.  All right, little chap,
+he's only a human, just the same as the rest of us."
+
+"Really, sir!" cried the Professor.
+
+"Well, it's lucky for you, Challenger, that you ARE a little out of the
+ordinary.  If you hadn't been so like the king----"
+
+"Upon my word, Lord John, you allow yourself great latitude."
+
+"Well, it's a fact."
+
+"I beg, sir, that you will change the subject.  Your remarks are
+irrelevant and unintelligible.  The question before us is what are we
+to do with these Indians?  The obvious thing is to escort them home, if
+we knew where their home was."
+
+"There is no difficulty about that," said I.  "They live in the caves
+on the other side of the central lake."
+
+"Our young friend here knows where they live.  I gather that it is some
+distance."
+
+"A good twenty miles," said I.
+
+Summerlee gave a groan.
+
+"I, for one, could never get there.  Surely I hear those brutes still
+howling upon our track."
+
+As he spoke, from the dark recesses of the woods we heard far away the
+jabbering cry of the ape-men.  The Indians once more set up a feeble
+wail of fear.
+
+"We must move, and move quick!" said Lord John.  "You help Summerlee,
+young fellah.  These Indians will carry stores.  Now, then, come along
+before they can see us."
+
+In less than half-an-hour we had reached our brushwood retreat and
+concealed ourselves.  All day we heard the excited calling of the
+ape-men in the direction of our old camp, but none of them came our
+way, and the tired fugitives, red and white, had a long, deep sleep.  I
+was dozing myself in the evening when someone plucked my sleeve, and I
+found Challenger kneeling beside me.
+
+"You keep a diary of these events, and you expect eventually to publish
+it, Mr. Malone," said he, with solemnity.
+
+"I am only here as a Press reporter," I answered.
+
+"Exactly.  You may have heard some rather fatuous remarks of Lord John
+Roxton's which seemed to imply that there was some--some
+resemblance----"
+
+"Yes, I heard them."
+
+"I need not say that any publicity given to such an idea--any levity in
+your narrative of what occurred--would be exceedingly offensive to me."
+
+"I will keep well within the truth."
+
+"Lord John's observations are frequently exceedingly fanciful, and he
+is capable of attributing the most absurd reasons to the respect which
+is always shown by the most undeveloped races to dignity and character.
+You follow my meaning?"
+
+"Entirely."
+
+"I leave the matter to your discretion."  Then, after a long pause, he
+added:  "The king of the ape-men was really a creature of great
+distinction--a most remarkably handsome and intelligent personality.
+Did it not strike you?"
+
+"A most remarkable creature," said I.
+
+And the Professor, much eased in his mind, settled down to his slumber
+once more.
+
+
+
+
+                           CHAPTER XIV
+
+                "Those Were the Real Conquests"
+
+We had imagined that our pursuers, the ape-men, knew nothing of our
+brush-wood hiding-place, but we were soon to find out our mistake.
+There was no sound in the woods--not a leaf moved upon the trees, and
+all was peace around us--but we should have been warned by our first
+experience how cunningly and how patiently these creatures can watch
+and wait until their chance comes.  Whatever fate may be mine through
+life, I am very sure that I shall never be nearer death than I was that
+morning.  But I will tell you the thing in its due order.
+
+We all awoke exhausted after the terrific emotions and scanty food of
+yesterday.  Summerlee was still so weak that it was an effort for him
+to stand; but the old man was full of a sort of surly courage which
+would never admit defeat.  A council was held, and it was agreed that
+we should wait quietly for an hour or two where we were, have our
+much-needed breakfast, and then make our way across the plateau and
+round the central lake to the caves where my observations had shown
+that the Indians lived.  We relied upon the fact that we could count
+upon the good word of those whom we had rescued to ensure a warm
+welcome from their fellows.  Then, with our mission accomplished and
+possessing a fuller knowledge of the secrets of Maple White Land, we
+should turn our whole thoughts to the vital problem of our escape and
+return.  Even Challenger was ready to admit that we should then have
+done all for which we had come, and that our first duty from that time
+onwards was to carry back to civilization the amazing discoveries we
+had made.
+
+We were able now to take a more leisurely view of the Indians whom we
+had rescued.  They were small men, wiry, active, and well-built, with
+lank black hair tied up in a bunch behind their heads with a leathern
+thong, and leathern also were their loin-clothes.  Their faces were
+hairless, well formed, and good-humored.  The lobes of their ears,
+hanging ragged and bloody, showed that they had been pierced for some
+ornaments which their captors had torn out.  Their speech, though
+unintelligible to us, was fluent among themselves, and as they pointed
+to each other and uttered the word "Accala" many times over, we
+gathered that this was the name of the nation.  Occasionally, with
+faces which were convulsed with fear and hatred, they shook their
+clenched hands at the woods round and cried:  "Doda!  Doda!" which was
+surely their term for their enemies.
+
+"What do you make of them, Challenger?" asked Lord John.  "One thing is
+very clear to me, and that is that the little chap with the front of
+his head shaved is a chief among them."
+
+It was indeed evident that this man stood apart from the others, and
+that they never ventured to address him without every sign of deep
+respect.  He seemed to be the youngest of them all, and yet, so proud
+and high was his spirit that, upon Challenger laying his great hand
+upon his head, he started like a spurred horse and, with a quick flash
+of his dark eyes, moved further away from the Professor.  Then, placing
+his hand upon his breast and holding himself with great dignity, he
+uttered the word "Maretas" several times.  The Professor, unabashed,
+seized the nearest Indian by the shoulder and proceeded to lecture upon
+him as if he were a potted specimen in a class-room.
+
+"The type of these people," said he in his sonorous fashion, "whether
+judged by cranial capacity, facial angle, or any other test, cannot be
+regarded as a low one; on the contrary, we must place it as
+considerably higher in the scale than many South American tribes which
+I can mention.  On no possible supposition can we explain the evolution
+of such a race in this place.  For that matter, so great a gap
+separates these ape-men from the primitive animals which have survived
+upon this plateau, that it is inadmissible to think that they could
+have developed where we find them."
+
+"Then where the dooce did they drop from?" asked Lord John.
+
+"A question which will, no doubt, be eagerly discussed in every
+scientific society in Europe and America," the Professor answered.  "My
+own reading of the situation for what it is worth--" he inflated his
+chest enormously and looked insolently around him at the words--"is
+that evolution has advanced under the peculiar conditions of this
+country up to the vertebrate stage, the old types surviving and living
+on in company with the newer ones.  Thus we find such modern creatures
+as the tapir--an animal with quite a respectable length of
+pedigree--the great deer, and the ant-eater in the companionship of
+reptilian forms of jurassic type.  So much is clear.  And now come the
+ape-men and the Indian.  What is the scientific mind to think of their
+presence?  I can only account for it by an invasion from outside.  It
+is probable that there existed an anthropoid ape in South America, who
+in past ages found his way to this place, and that he developed into
+the creatures we have seen, some of which"--here he looked hard at
+me--"were of an appearance and shape which, if it had been accompanied
+by corresponding intelligence, would, I do not hesitate to say, have
+reflected credit upon any living race.  As to the Indians I cannot
+doubt that they are more recent immigrants from below.  Under the
+stress of famine or of conquest they have made their way up here.
+Faced by ferocious creatures which they had never before seen, they
+took refuge in the caves which our young friend has described, but they
+have no doubt had a bitter fight to hold their own against wild beasts,
+and especially against the ape-men who would regard them as intruders,
+and wage a merciless war upon them with a cunning which the larger
+beasts would lack.  Hence the fact that their numbers appear to be
+limited.  Well, gentlemen, have I read you the riddle aright, or is
+there any point which you would query?"
+
+Professor Summerlee for once was too depressed to argue, though he
+shook his head violently as a token of general disagreement.  Lord John
+merely scratched his scanty locks with the remark that he couldn't put
+up a fight as he wasn't in the same weight or class.  For my own part I
+performed my usual role of bringing things down to a strictly prosaic
+and practical level by the remark that one of the Indians was missing.
+
+"He has gone to fetch some water," said Lord Roxton.  "We fitted him up
+with an empty beef tin and he is off."
+
+"To the old camp?" I asked.
+
+"No, to the brook.  It's among the trees there.  It can't be more than
+a couple of hundred yards.  But the beggar is certainly taking his
+time."
+
+"I'll go and look after him," said I.  I picked up my rifle and
+strolled in the direction of the brook, leaving my friends to lay out
+the scanty breakfast.  It may seem to you rash that even for so short a
+distance I should quit the shelter of our friendly thicket, but you
+will remember that we were many miles from Ape-town, that so far as we
+knew the creatures had not discovered our retreat, and that in any case
+with a rifle in my hands I had no fear of them.  I had not yet learned
+their cunning or their strength.
+
+I could hear the murmur of our brook somewhere ahead of me, but there
+was a tangle of trees and brushwood between me and it.  I was making my
+way through this at a point which was just out of sight of my
+companions, when, under one of the trees, I noticed something red
+huddled among the bushes.  As I approached it, I was shocked to see
+that it was the dead body of the missing Indian.  He lay upon his side,
+his limbs drawn up, and his head screwed round at a most unnatural
+angle, so that he seemed to be looking straight over his own shoulder.
+I gave a cry to warn my friends that something was amiss, and running
+forwards I stooped over the body.  Surely my guardian angel was very
+near me then, for some instinct of fear, or it may have been some faint
+rustle of leaves, made me glance upwards.  Out of the thick green
+foliage which hung low over my head, two long muscular arms covered
+with reddish hair were slowly descending.  Another instant and the
+great stealthy hands would have been round my throat.  I sprang
+backwards, but quick as I was, those hands were quicker still.  Through
+my sudden spring they missed a fatal grip, but one of them caught the
+back of my neck and the other one my face.  I threw my hands up to
+protect my throat, and the next moment the huge paw had slid down my
+face and closed over them.  I was lifted lightly from the ground, and I
+felt an intolerable pressure forcing my head back and back until the
+strain upon the cervical spine was more than I could bear.  My senses
+swam, but I still tore at the hand and forced it out from my chin.
+Looking up I saw a frightful face with cold inexorable light blue eyes
+looking down into mine.  There was something hypnotic in those terrible
+eyes.  I could struggle no longer.  As the creature felt me grow limp
+in his grasp, two white canines gleamed for a moment at each side of
+the vile mouth, and the grip tightened still more upon my chin, forcing
+it always upwards and back.  A thin, oval-tinted mist formed before my
+eyes and little silvery bells tinkled in my ears.  Dully and far off I
+heard the crack of a rifle and was feebly aware of the shock as I was
+dropped to the earth, where I lay without sense or motion.
+
+I awoke to find myself on my back upon the grass in our lair within the
+thicket.  Someone had brought the water from the brook, and Lord John
+was sprinkling my head with it, while Challenger and Summerlee were
+propping me up, with concern in their faces.  For a moment I had a
+glimpse of the human spirits behind their scientific masks.  It was
+really shock, rather than any injury, which had prostrated me, and in
+half-an-hour, in spite of aching head and stiff neck, I was sitting up
+and ready for anything.
+
+"But you've had the escape of your life, young fellah my lad," said
+Lord Roxton.  "When I heard your cry and ran forward, and saw your head
+twisted half-off and your stohwassers kickin' in the air, I thought we
+were one short.  I missed the beast in my flurry, but he dropped you
+all right and was off like a streak.  By George!  I wish I had fifty
+men with rifles.  I'd clear out the whole infernal gang of them and
+leave this country a bit cleaner than we found it."
+
+It was clear now that the ape-men had in some way marked us down, and
+that we were watched on every side.  We had not so much to fear from
+them during the day, but they would be very likely to rush us by night;
+so the sooner we got away from their neighborhood the better.  On three
+sides of us was absolute forest, and there we might find ourselves in
+an ambush.  But on the fourth side--that which sloped down in the
+direction of the lake--there was only low scrub, with scattered trees
+and occasional open glades.  It was, in fact, the route which I had
+myself taken in my solitary journey, and it led us straight for the
+Indian caves.  This then must for every reason be our road.
+
+One great regret we had, and that was to leave our old camp behind us,
+not only for the sake of the stores which remained there, but even more
+because we were losing touch with Zambo, our link with the outside
+world.  However, we had a fair supply of cartridges and all our guns,
+so, for a time at least, we could look after ourselves, and we hoped
+soon to have a chance of returning and restoring our communications
+with our negro.  He had faithfully promised to stay where he was, and
+we had not a doubt that he would be as good as his word.
+
+It was in the early afternoon that we started upon our journey.  The
+young chief walked at our head as our guide, but refused indignantly to
+carry any burden.  Behind him came the two surviving Indians with our
+scanty possessions upon their backs.  We four white men walked in the
+rear with rifles loaded and ready.  As we started there broke from the
+thick silent woods behind us a sudden great ululation of the ape-men,
+which may have been a cheer of triumph at our departure or a jeer of
+contempt at our flight.  Looking back we saw only the dense screen of
+trees, but that long-drawn yell told us how many of our enemies lurked
+among them.  We saw no sign of pursuit, however, and soon we had got
+into more open country and beyond their power.
+
+As I tramped along, the rearmost of the four, I could not help smiling
+at the appearance of my three companions in front.  Was this the
+luxurious Lord John Roxton who had sat that evening in the Albany
+amidst his Persian rugs and his pictures in the pink radiance of the
+tinted lights?  And was this the imposing Professor who had swelled
+behind the great desk in his massive study at Enmore Park?  And,
+finally, could this be the austere and prim figure which had risen
+before the meeting at the Zoological Institute?  No three tramps that
+one could have met in a Surrey lane could have looked more hopeless and
+bedraggled.  We had, it is true, been only a week or so upon the top of
+the plateau, but all our spare clothing was in our camp below, and the
+one week had been a severe one upon us all, though least to me who had
+not to endure the handling of the ape-men.  My three friends had all
+lost their hats, and had now bound handkerchiefs round their heads,
+their clothes hung in ribbons about them, and their unshaven grimy
+faces were hardly to be recognized.  Both Summerlee and Challenger were
+limping heavily, while I still dragged my feet from weakness after the
+shock of the morning, and my neck was as stiff as a board from the
+murderous grip that held it.  We were indeed a sorry crew, and I did
+not wonder to see our Indian companions glance back at us occasionally
+with horror and amazement on their faces.
+
+In the late afternoon we reached the margin of the lake, and as we
+emerged from the bush and saw the sheet of water stretching before us
+our native friends set up a shrill cry of joy and pointed eagerly in
+front of them.  It was indeed a wonderful sight which lay before us.
+Sweeping over the glassy surface was a great flotilla of canoes coming
+straight for the shore upon which we stood.  They were some miles out
+when we first saw them, but they shot forward with great swiftness, and
+were soon so near that the rowers could distinguish our persons.
+Instantly a thunderous shout of delight burst from them, and we saw
+them rise from their seats, waving their paddles and spears madly in
+the air.  Then bending to their work once more, they flew across the
+intervening water, beached their boats upon the sloping sand, and
+rushed up to us, prostrating themselves with loud cries of greeting
+before the young chief.  Finally one of them, an elderly man, with a
+necklace and bracelet of great lustrous glass beads and the skin of
+some beautiful mottled amber-colored animal slung over his shoulders,
+ran forward and embraced most tenderly the youth whom we had saved.  He
+then looked at us and asked some questions, after which he stepped up
+with much dignity and embraced us also each in turn.  Then, at his
+order, the whole tribe lay down upon the ground before us in homage.
+Personally I felt shy and uncomfortable at this obsequious adoration,
+and I read the same feeling in the faces of Roxton and Summerlee, but
+Challenger expanded like a flower in the sun.
+
+"They may be undeveloped types," said he, stroking his beard and
+looking round at them, "but their deportment in the presence of their
+superiors might be a lesson to some of our more advanced Europeans.
+Strange how correct are the instincts of the natural man!"
+
+It was clear that the natives had come out upon the war-path, for every
+man carried his spear--a long bamboo tipped with bone--his bow and
+arrows, and some sort of club or stone battle-axe slung at his side.
+Their dark, angry glances at the woods from which we had come, and the
+frequent repetition of the word "Doda," made it clear enough that this
+was a rescue party who had set forth to save or revenge the old chief's
+son, for such we gathered that the youth must be.  A council was now
+held by the whole tribe squatting in a circle, whilst we sat near on a
+slab of basalt and watched their proceedings.  Two or three warriors
+spoke, and finally our young friend made a spirited harangue with such
+eloquent features and gestures that we could understand it all as
+clearly as if we had known his language.
+
+"What is the use of returning?" he said.  "Sooner or later the thing
+must be done.  Your comrades have been murdered.  What if I have
+returned safe?  These others have been done to death.  There is no
+safety for any of us.  We are assembled now and ready." Then he pointed
+to us.  "These strange men are our friends.  They are great fighters,
+and they hate the ape-men even as we do.  They command," here he
+pointed up to heaven, "the thunder and the lightning.  When shall we
+have such a chance again?  Let us go forward, and either die now or
+live for the future in safety.  How else shall we go back unashamed to
+our women?"
+
+The little red warriors hung upon the words of the speaker, and when he
+had finished they burst into a roar of applause, waving their rude
+weapons in the air.  The old chief stepped forward to us, and asked us
+some questions, pointing at the same time to the woods.  Lord John made
+a sign to him that he should wait for an answer and then he turned to
+us.
+
+"Well, it's up to you to say what you will do," said he; "for my part I
+have a score to settle with these monkey-folk, and if it ends by wiping
+them off the face of the earth I don't see that the earth need fret
+about it.  I'm goin' with our little red pals and I mean to see them
+through the scrap.  What do you say, young fellah?"
+
+"Of course I will come."
+
+"And you, Challenger?"
+
+"I will assuredly co-operate."
+
+"And you, Summerlee?"
+
+"We seem to be drifting very far from the object of this expedition,
+Lord John.  I assure you that I little thought when I left my
+professional chair in London that it was for the purpose of heading a
+raid of savages upon a colony of anthropoid apes."
+
+"To such base uses do we come," said Lord John, smiling.  "But we are
+up against it, so what's the decision?"
+
+"It seems a most questionable step," said Summerlee, argumentative to
+the last, "but if you are all going, I hardly see how I can remain
+behind."
+
+"Then it is settled," said Lord John, and turning to the chief he
+nodded and slapped his rifle.
+
+The old fellow clasped our hands, each in turn, while his men cheered
+louder than ever.  It was too late to advance that night, so the
+Indians settled down into a rude bivouac.  On all sides their fires
+began to glimmer and smoke.  Some of them who had disappeared into the
+jungle came back presently driving a young iguanodon before them.  Like
+the others, it had a daub of asphalt upon its shoulder, and it was only
+when we saw one of the natives step forward with the air of an owner
+and give his consent to the beast's slaughter that we understood at
+last that these great creatures were as much private property as a herd
+of cattle, and that these symbols which had so perplexed us were
+nothing more than the marks of the owner.  Helpless, torpid, and
+vegetarian, with great limbs but a minute brain, they could be rounded
+up and driven by a child.  In a few minutes the huge beast had been cut
+up and slabs of him were hanging over a dozen camp fires, together with
+great scaly ganoid fish which had been speared in the lake.
+
+Summerlee had lain down and slept upon the sand, but we others roamed
+round the edge of the water, seeking to learn something more of this
+strange country.  Twice we found pits of blue clay, such as we had
+already seen in the swamp of the pterodactyls.  These were old volcanic
+vents, and for some reason excited the greatest interest in Lord John.
+What attracted Challenger, on the other hand, was a bubbling, gurgling
+mud geyser, where some strange gas formed great bursting bubbles upon
+the surface.  He thrust a hollow reed into it and cried out with
+delight like a schoolboy then he was able, on touching it with a
+lighted match, to cause a sharp explosion and a blue flame at the far
+end of the tube.  Still more pleased was he when, inverting a leathern
+pouch over the end of the reed, and so filling it with the gas, he was
+able to send it soaring up into the air.
+
+"An inflammable gas, and one markedly lighter than the atmosphere.  I
+should say beyond doubt that it contained a considerable proportion of
+free hydrogen.  The resources of G. E. C. are not yet exhausted, my
+young friend.  I may yet show you how a great mind molds all Nature to
+its use." He swelled with some secret purpose, but would say no more.
+
+There was nothing which we could see upon the shore which seemed to me
+so wonderful as the great sheet of water before us.  Our numbers and
+our noise had frightened all living creatures away, and save for a few
+pterodactyls, which soared round high above our heads while they waited
+for the carrion, all was still around the camp.  But it was different
+out upon the rose-tinted waters of the central lake.  It boiled and
+heaved with strange life.  Great slate-colored backs and high serrated
+dorsal fins shot up with a fringe of silver, and then rolled down into
+the depths again.  The sand-banks far out were spotted with uncouth
+crawling forms, huge turtles, strange saurians, and one great flat
+creature like a writhing, palpitating mat of black greasy leather,
+which flopped its way slowly to the lake.  Here and there high serpent
+heads projected out of the water, cutting swiftly through it with a
+little collar of foam in front, and a long swirling wake behind, rising
+and falling in graceful, swan-like undulations as they went.  It was
+not until one of these creatures wriggled on to a sand-bank within a
+few hundred yards of us, and exposed a barrel-shaped body and huge
+flippers behind the long serpent neck, that Challenger, and Summerlee,
+who had joined us, broke out into their duet of wonder and admiration.
+
+"Plesiosaurus!  A fresh-water plesiosaurus!" cried Summerlee.  "That I
+should have lived to see such a sight!  We are blessed, my dear
+Challenger, above all zoologists since the world began!"
+
+It was not until the night had fallen, and the fires of our savage
+allies glowed red in the shadows, that our two men of science could be
+dragged away from the fascinations of that primeval lake.  Even in the
+darkness as we lay upon the strand, we heard from time to time the
+snort and plunge of the huge creatures who lived therein.
+
+At earliest dawn our camp was astir and an hour later we had started
+upon our memorable expedition.  Often in my dreams have I thought that
+I might live to be a war correspondent.  In what wildest one could I
+have conceived the nature of the campaign which it should be my lot to
+report!  Here then is my first despatch from a field of battle:
+
+Our numbers had been reinforced during the night by a fresh batch of
+natives from the caves, and we may have been four or five hundred
+strong when we made our advance.  A fringe of scouts was thrown out in
+front, and behind them the whole force in a solid column made their way
+up the long slope of the bush country until we were near the edge of
+the forest.  Here they spread out into a long straggling line of
+spearmen and bowmen.  Roxton and Summerlee took their position upon the
+right flank, while Challenger and I were on the left.  It was a host of
+the stone age that we were accompanying to battle--we with the last
+word of the gunsmith's art from St. James' Street and the Strand.
+
+We had not long to wait for our enemy.  A wild shrill clamor rose from
+the edge of the wood and suddenly a body of ape-men rushed out with
+clubs and stones, and made for the center of the Indian line.  It was a
+valiant move but a foolish one, for the great bandy-legged creatures
+were slow of foot, while their opponents were as active as cats.  It
+was horrible to see the fierce brutes with foaming mouths and glaring
+eyes, rushing and grasping, but forever missing their elusive enemies,
+while arrow after arrow buried itself in their hides.  One great fellow
+ran past me roaring with pain, with a dozen darts sticking from his
+chest and ribs.  In mercy I put a bullet through his skull, and he fell
+sprawling among the aloes.  But this was the only shot fired, for the
+attack had been on the center of the line, and the Indians there had
+needed no help of ours in repulsing it.  Of all the ape-men who had
+rushed out into the open, I do not think that one got back to cover.
+
+But the matter was more deadly when we came among the trees.  For an
+hour or more after we entered the wood, there was a desperate struggle
+in which for a time we hardly held our own.  Springing out from among
+the scrub the ape-men with huge clubs broke in upon the Indians and
+often felled three or four of them before they could be speared.  Their
+frightful blows shattered everything upon which they fell.  One of them
+knocked Summerlee's rifle to matchwood and the next would have crushed
+his skull had an Indian not stabbed the beast to the heart.  Other
+ape-men in the trees above us hurled down stones and logs of wood,
+occasionally dropping bodily on to our ranks and fighting furiously
+until they were felled.  Once our allies broke under the pressure, and
+had it not been for the execution done by our rifles they would
+certainly have taken to their heels.  But they were gallantly rallied
+by their old chief and came on with such a rush that the ape-men began
+in turn to give way.  Summerlee was weaponless, but I was emptying my
+magazine as quick as I could fire, and on the further flank we heard
+the continuous cracking of our companion's rifles.
+
+Then in a moment came the panic and the collapse.  Screaming and
+howling, the great creatures rushed away in all directions through the
+brushwood, while our allies yelled in their savage delight, following
+swiftly after their flying enemies.  All the feuds of countless
+generations, all the hatreds and cruelties of their narrow history, all
+the memories of ill-usage and persecution were to be purged that day.
+At last man was to be supreme and the man-beast to find forever his
+allotted place.  Fly as they would the fugitives were too slow to
+escape from the active savages, and from every side in the tangled
+woods we heard the exultant yells, the twanging of bows, and the crash
+and thud as ape-men were brought down from their hiding-places in the
+trees.
+
+I was following the others, when I found that Lord John and Challenger
+had come across to join us.
+
+"It's over," said Lord John.  "I think we can leave the tidying up to
+them.  Perhaps the less we see of it the better we shall sleep."
+
+Challenger's eyes were shining with the lust of slaughter.
+
+"We have been privileged," he cried, strutting about like a gamecock,
+"to be present at one of the typical decisive battles of history--the
+battles which have determined the fate of the world.  What, my friends,
+is the conquest of one nation by another?  It is meaningless.  Each
+produces the same result.  But those fierce fights, when in the dawn of
+the ages the cave-dwellers held their own against the tiger folk, or
+the elephants first found that they had a master, those were the real
+conquests--the victories that count.  By this strange turn of fate we
+have seen and helped to decide even such a contest.  Now upon this
+plateau the future must ever be for man."
+
+It needed a robust faith in the end to justify such tragic means.  As
+we advanced together through the woods we found the ape-men lying
+thick, transfixed with spears or arrows.  Here and there a little group
+of shattered Indians marked where one of the anthropoids had turned to
+bay, and sold his life dearly.  Always in front of us we heard the
+yelling and roaring which showed the direction of the pursuit.  The
+ape-men had been driven back to their city, they had made a last stand
+there, once again they had been broken, and now we were in time to see
+the final fearful scene of all.  Some eighty or a hundred males, the
+last survivors, had been driven across that same little clearing which
+led to the edge of the cliff, the scene of our own exploit two days
+before.  As we arrived the Indians, a semicircle of spearmen, had
+closed in on them, and in a minute it was over, Thirty or forty died
+where they stood.  The others, screaming and clawing, were thrust over
+the precipice, and went hurtling down, as their prisoners had of old,
+on to the sharp bamboos six hundred feet below.  It was as Challenger
+had said, and the reign of man was assured forever in Maple White Land.
+The males were exterminated, Ape Town was destroyed, the females and
+young were driven away to live in bondage, and the long rivalry of
+untold centuries had reached its bloody end.
+
+For us the victory brought much advantage.  Once again we were able to
+visit our camp and get at our stores.  Once more also we were able to
+communicate with Zambo, who had been terrified by the spectacle from
+afar of an avalanche of apes falling from the edge of the cliff.
+
+"Come away, Massas, come away!" he cried, his eyes starting from his
+head.  "The debbil get you sure if you stay up there."
+
+"It is the voice of sanity!" said Summerlee with conviction.  "We have
+had adventures enough and they are neither suitable to our character or
+our position.  I hold you to your word, Challenger.  From now  onwards
+you devote your energies to getting us out of this horrible country and
+back once more to civilization."
+
+
+
+
+                            CHAPTER XV
+
+                "Our Eyes have seen Great Wonders"
+
+I write this from day to day, but I trust that before I come to the end
+of it, I may be able to say that the light shines, at last, through our
+clouds.  We are held here with no clear means of making our escape, and
+bitterly we chafe against it. Yet, I can well imagine that the day may
+come when we may be glad that we were kept, against our will, to see
+something more of the wonders of this singular place, and of the
+creatures who inhabit it.
+
+The victory of the Indians and the annihilation of the ape-men, marked
+the turning point of our fortunes.  From then onwards, we were in truth
+masters of the plateau, for the natives looked upon us with a mixture
+of fear and gratitude, since by our strange powers we had aided them to
+destroy their hereditary foe.  For their own sakes they would, perhaps,
+be glad to see the departure of such formidable and incalculable
+people, but they have not themselves suggested any way by which we may
+reach the plains below.  There had been, so far as we could follow
+their signs, a tunnel by which the place could be approached, the lower
+exit of which we had seen from below.  By this, no doubt, both ape-men
+and Indians had at different epochs reached the top, and Maple White
+with his companion had taken the same way.  Only the year before,
+however, there had been a terrific earthquake, and the upper end of the
+tunnel had fallen in and completely disappeared.  The Indians now could
+only shake their heads and shrug their shoulders when we expressed by
+signs our desire to descend.  It may be that they cannot, but it may
+also be that they will not, help us to get away.
+
+At the end of the victorious campaign the surviving ape-folk were
+driven across the plateau (their wailings were horrible) and
+established in the neighborhood of the Indian caves, where they would,
+from now onwards, be a servile race under the eyes of their masters.
+It was a rude, raw, primeval version of the Jews in Babylon or the
+Israelites in Egypt.  At night we could hear from amid the trees the
+long-drawn cry, as some primitive Ezekiel mourned for fallen greatness
+and recalled the departed glories of Ape Town.  Hewers of wood and
+drawers of water, such were they from now onwards.
+
+We had returned across the plateau with our allies two days after the
+battle, and made our camp at the foot of their cliffs.  They would have
+had us share their caves with them, but Lord John would by no means
+consent to it considering that to do so would put us in their power if
+they were treacherously disposed.  We kept our independence, therefore,
+and had our weapons ready for any emergency, while preserving the most
+friendly relations.  We also continually visited their caves, which
+were most remarkable places, though whether made by man or by Nature we
+have never been able to determine.  They were all on the one stratum,
+hollowed out of some soft rock which lay between the volcanic basalt
+forming the ruddy cliffs above them, and the hard granite which formed
+their base.
+
+The openings were about eighty feet above the ground, and were led up
+to by long stone stairs, so narrow and steep that no large animal could
+mount them.  Inside they were warm and dry, running in straight
+passages of varying length into the side of the hill, with smooth gray
+walls decorated with many excellent pictures done with charred sticks
+and representing the various animals of the plateau.  If every living
+thing were swept from the country the future explorer would find upon
+the walls of these caves ample evidence of the strange fauna--the
+dinosaurs, iguanodons, and fish lizards--which had lived so recently
+upon earth.
+
+Since we had learned that the huge iguanodons were kept as tame herds
+by their owners, and were simply walking meat-stores, we had conceived
+that man, even with his primitive weapons, had established his
+ascendancy upon the plateau.  We were soon to discover that it was not
+so, and that he was still there upon tolerance.
+
+It was on the third day after our forming our camp near the Indian
+caves that the tragedy occurred.  Challenger and Summerlee had gone off
+together that day to the lake where some of the natives, under their
+direction, were engaged in harpooning specimens of the great lizards.
+Lord John and I had remained in our camp, while a number of the Indians
+were scattered about upon the grassy slope in front of the caves
+engaged in different ways.  Suddenly there was a shrill cry of alarm,
+with the word "Stoa" resounding from a hundred tongues.  From every
+side men, women, and children were rushing wildly for shelter, swarming
+up the staircases and into the caves in a mad stampede.
+
+Looking up, we could see them waving their arms from the rocks above
+and beckoning to us to join them in their refuge.  We had both seized
+our magazine rifles and ran out to see what the danger could be.
+Suddenly from the near belt of trees there broke forth a group of
+twelve or fifteen Indians, running for their lives, and at their very
+heels two of those frightful monsters which had disturbed our camp and
+pursued me upon my solitary journey.  In shape they were like horrible
+toads, and moved in a succession of springs, but in size they were of
+an incredible bulk, larger than the largest elephant.  We had never
+before seen them save at night,  and indeed they are nocturnal animals
+save when disturbed in their lairs, as these had been.  We now stood
+amazed at the sight, for their blotched and warty skins were of a
+curious fish-like iridescence, and the sunlight struck them with an
+ever-varying rainbow bloom as they moved.
+
+We had little time to watch them, however, for in an instant they had
+overtaken the fugitives and were making a dire slaughter among them.
+Their method was to fall forward with their full weight upon each in
+turn, leaving him crushed and mangled, to bound on after the others.
+The wretched Indians screamed with terror, but were helpless, run as
+they would, before the relentless purpose and horrible activity of
+these monstrous creatures.  One after another they went down, and there
+were not half-a-dozen surviving by the time my companion and I could
+come to their help.  But our aid was of little avail and only involved
+us in the same peril.  At the range of a couple of hundred yards we
+emptied our magazines, firing bullet after bullet into the beasts, but
+with no more effect than if we were pelting them with pellets of paper.
+Their slow reptilian natures cared nothing for wounds, and the springs
+of their lives, with no special brain center but scattered throughout
+their spinal cords, could not be tapped by any modern weapons.  The
+most that we could do was to check their progress by distracting their
+attention with the flash and roar of our guns, and so to give both the
+natives and ourselves time to reach the steps which led to safety.  But
+where the conical explosive bullets of the twentieth century were of no
+avail, the poisoned arrows of the natives, dipped in the juice of
+strophanthus and steeped afterwards in decayed carrion, could succeed.
+Such arrows were of little avail to the hunter who attacked the beast,
+because their action in that torpid circulation was slow, and before
+its powers failed it could certainly overtake and slay its assailant.
+But now, as the two monsters hounded us to the very foot of the stairs,
+a drift of darts came whistling from every chink in the cliff above
+them.  In a minute they were feathered with them, and yet with no sign
+of pain they clawed and slobbered with impotent rage at the steps which
+would lead them to their victims, mounting clumsily up for a few yards
+and then sliding down again to the ground.  But at last the poison
+worked.  One of them gave a deep rumbling groan and dropped his huge
+squat head on to the earth.  The other bounded round in an eccentric
+circle with shrill, wailing cries, and then lying down writhed in agony
+for some minutes before it also stiffened and lay still.  With yells of
+triumph the Indians came flocking down from their caves and danced a
+frenzied dance of victory round the dead bodies, in mad joy that two
+more of the most dangerous of all their enemies had been slain.  That
+night they cut up and removed the bodies, not to eat--for the poison
+was still active--but lest they should breed a pestilence.  The great
+reptilian hearts, however, each as large as a cushion, still lay there,
+beating slowly and steadily, with a gentle rise and fall, in horrible
+independent life.  It was only upon the third day that the ganglia ran
+down and the dreadful things were still.
+
+Some day, when I have a better desk than a meat-tin and more helpful
+tools than a worn stub of pencil and a last, tattered note-book, I will
+write some fuller account of the Accala Indians--of our life amongst
+them, and of the glimpses which we had of the strange conditions of
+wondrous Maple White Land.  Memory, at least, will never fail me, for
+so long as the breath of life is in me, every hour and every action of
+that period will stand out as hard and clear as do the first strange
+happenings of our childhood.  No new impressions could efface those
+which are so deeply cut.  When the time comes I will describe that
+wondrous moonlit night upon the great lake when a young
+ichthyosaurus--a strange creature, half seal, half fish, to look at,
+with bone-covered eyes on each side of his snout, and a third eye fixed
+upon the top of his head--was entangled in an Indian net, and nearly
+upset our canoe before we towed it ashore; the same night that a green
+water-snake shot out from the rushes and carried off in its coils the
+steersman of Challenger's canoe.  I will tell, too, of the great
+nocturnal white thing--to this day we do not know whether it was beast
+or reptile--which lived in a vile swamp to the east of the lake, and
+flitted about with a faint phosphorescent glimmer in the darkness.  The
+Indians were so terrified at it that they would not go near the place,
+and, though we twice made expeditions and saw it each time, we could
+not make our way through the deep marsh in which it lived.  I can only
+say that it seemed to be larger than a cow and had the strangest musky
+odor.  I will tell also of the huge bird which chased Challenger to the
+shelter of the rocks one day--a great running bird, far taller than an
+ostrich, with a vulture-like neck and cruel head which made it a
+walking death.  As Challenger climbed to safety one dart of that savage
+curving beak shore off the heel of his boot as if it had been cut with
+a chisel.  This time at least modern weapons prevailed and the great
+creature, twelve feet from head to foot--phororachus its name,
+according to our panting but exultant Professor--went down before Lord
+Roxton's rifle in a flurry of waving feathers and kicking limbs, with
+two remorseless yellow eyes glaring up from the midst of it.  May I
+live to see that flattened vicious skull in its own niche amid the
+trophies of the Albany.  Finally, I will assuredly give some account of
+the toxodon, the giant ten-foot guinea pig, with projecting chisel
+teeth, which we killed as it drank in the gray of the morning by the
+side of the lake.
+
+All this I shall some day write at fuller length, and amidst these more
+stirring days I would tenderly sketch in these lovely summer evenings,
+when with the deep blue sky above us we lay in good comradeship among
+the long grasses by the wood and marveled at the strange fowl that
+swept over us and the quaint new creatures which crept from their
+burrows to watch us, while above us the boughs of the bushes were heavy
+with luscious fruit, and below us strange and lovely flowers peeped at
+us from among the herbage; or those long moonlit nights when we lay out
+upon the shimmering surface of the great lake and watched with wonder
+and awe the huge circles rippling out from the sudden splash of some
+fantastic monster; or the greenish gleam, far down in the deep water,
+of some strange creature upon the confines of darkness.  These are the
+scenes which my mind and my pen will dwell upon in every detail at some
+future day.
+
+But, you will ask, why these experiences and why this delay, when you
+and your comrades should have been occupied day and night in the
+devising of some means by which you could return to the outer world?
+My answer is, that there was not one of us who was not working for this
+end, but that our work had been in vain.  One fact we had very speedily
+discovered:  The Indians would do nothing to help us.  In every other
+way they were our friends--one might almost say our devoted slaves--but
+when it was suggested that they should help us to make and carry a
+plank which would bridge the chasm, or when we wished to get from them
+thongs of leather or liana to weave ropes which might help us, we were
+met by a good-humored, but an invincible, refusal.  They would smile,
+twinkle their eyes, shake their heads, and there was the end of it.
+Even the old chief met us with the same obstinate denial, and it was
+only Maretas, the youngster whom we had saved, who looked wistfully at
+us and told us by his gestures that he was grieved for our thwarted
+wishes.  Ever since their crowning triumph with the ape-men they looked
+upon us as supermen, who bore victory in the tubes of strange weapons,
+and they believed that so long as we remained with them good fortune
+would be theirs.  A little red-skinned wife and a cave of our own were
+freely offered to each of us if we would but forget our own people and
+dwell forever upon the plateau.  So far all had been kindly, however
+far apart our desires might be; but we felt well assured that our
+actual plans of a descent must be kept secret, for we had reason to
+fear that at the last they might try to hold us by force.
+
+In spite of the danger from dinosaurs (which is not great save at
+night, for, as I may have said before, they are mostly nocturnal in
+their habits) I have twice in the last three weeks been over to our old
+camp in order to see our negro who still kept watch and ward below the
+cliff.  My eyes strained eagerly across the great plain in the hope of
+seeing afar off the help for which we had prayed.  But the long
+cactus-strewn levels still stretched away, empty and bare, to the
+distant line of the cane-brake.
+
+"They will soon come now, Massa Malone.  Before another week pass
+Indian come back and bring rope and fetch you down."  Such was the
+cheery cry of our excellent Zambo.
+
+I had one strange experience as I came from this second visit which had
+involved my being away for a night from my companions.  I was returning
+along the well-remembered route, and had reached a spot within a mile
+or so of the marsh of the pterodactyls, when I saw an extraordinary
+object approaching me.  It was a man who walked inside a framework made
+of bent canes so that he was enclosed on all sides in a bell-shaped
+cage.  As I drew nearer I was more amazed still to see that it was Lord
+John Roxton.  When he saw me he slipped from under his curious
+protection and came towards me laughing, and yet, as I thought, with
+some confusion in his manner.
+
+"Well, young fellah," said he, "who would have thought of meetin' you
+up here?"
+
+"What in the world are you doing?" I asked.
+
+"Visitin' my friends, the pterodactyls," said  he.
+
+"But why?"
+
+"Interestin' beasts, don't you think?  But unsociable!  Nasty rude ways
+with strangers, as you may remember.  So I rigged this framework which
+keeps them from bein' too pressin' in their attentions."
+
+"But what do you want in the swamp?"
+
+He looked at me with a very questioning eye, and I read hesitation in
+his face.
+
+"Don't you think other people besides Professors can want to know
+things?" he said at last.  "I'm studyin' the pretty dears.  That's
+enough for you."
+
+"No offense," said I.
+
+His good-humor returned and he laughed.
+
+"No offense, young fellah.  I'm goin' to get a young devil chick for
+Challenger.  That's one of my jobs.  No, I don't want your company.
+I'm safe in this cage, and you are not.  So long, and I'll be back in
+camp by night-fall."
+
+He turned away and I left him wandering on through the wood with his
+extraordinary cage around him.
+
+If Lord John's behavior at this time was strange, that of Challenger
+was more so.  I may say that he seemed to possess an extraordinary
+fascination for the Indian women, and that he always carried a large
+spreading palm branch with which he beat them off as if they were
+flies, when their attentions became too pressing.  To see him walking
+like a comic opera Sultan, with this badge of authority in his hand,
+his black beard bristling in front of him, his toes pointing at each
+step, and a train of wide-eyed Indian girls behind him, clad in their
+slender drapery of bark cloth, is one of the most grotesque of all the
+pictures which I will carry back with me.  As to Summerlee, he was
+absorbed in the insect and bird life of the plateau, and spent his
+whole time (save that considerable portion which was devoted to abusing
+Challenger for not getting us out of our difficulties) in cleaning and
+mounting his specimens.
+
+Challenger had been in the habit of walking off by himself every
+morning and returning from time to time with looks of portentous
+solemnity, as one who bears the full weight of a great enterprise upon
+his shoulders.  One day, palm branch in hand, and his crowd of adoring
+devotees behind him, he led us down to his hidden work-shop and took us
+into the secret of his plans.
+
+The place was a small clearing in the center of a palm grove.  In this
+was one of those boiling mud geysers which I have already described.
+Around its edge were scattered a number of leathern thongs cut from
+iguanodon hide, and a large collapsed membrane which proved to be the
+dried and scraped stomach of one of the great fish lizards from the
+lake.  This huge sack had been sewn up at one end and only a small
+orifice left at the other.  Into this opening several bamboo canes had
+been inserted and the other ends of these canes were in contact with
+conical clay funnels which collected the gas bubbling up through the
+mud of the geyser.  Soon the flaccid organ began to slowly expand and
+show such a tendency to upward movements that Challenger fastened the
+cords which held it to the trunks of the surrounding trees.  In half an
+hour a good-sized gas-bag had been formed, and the jerking and
+straining upon the thongs showed that it was capable of considerable
+lift.  Challenger, like a glad father in the presence of his
+first-born, stood smiling and stroking his beard, in silent,
+self-satisfied content as he gazed at the creation of his brain.  It
+was Summerlee who first broke the silence.
+
+"You don't mean us to go up in that thing, Challenger?" said he, in an
+acid voice.
+
+"I mean, my dear Summerlee, to give you such a demonstration of its
+powers that after seeing it you will, I am sure, have no hesitation in
+trusting yourself to it."
+
+"You can put it right out of your head now, at once," said Summerlee
+with decision, "nothing on earth would induce me to commit such a
+folly.  Lord John, I trust that you will not countenance such madness?"
+
+"Dooced ingenious, I call it," said our peer.  "I'd like to see how it
+works."
+
+"So you shall," said Challenger.  "For some days I have exerted my
+whole brain force upon the problem of how we shall descend from these
+cliffs.  We have satisfied ourselves that we cannot climb down and that
+there is no tunnel.  We are also unable to construct any kind of bridge
+which may take us back to the pinnacle from which we came.  How then
+shall I find a means to convey us?  Some little time ago I had remarked
+to our young friend here that free hydrogen was evolved from the
+geyser.  The idea of a balloon naturally followed.  I was, I will
+admit, somewhat baffled by the difficulty of discovering an envelope to
+contain the gas, but the contemplation of the immense entrails of these
+reptiles supplied me with a solution to the problem.  Behold the
+result!"
+
+He put one hand in the front of his ragged jacket and pointed proudly
+with the other.
+
+By this time the gas-bag had swollen to a goodly rotundity and was
+jerking strongly upon its lashings.
+
+"Midsummer madness!" snorted Summerlee.
+
+Lord John was delighted with the whole idea.  "Clever old dear, ain't
+he?" he whispered to me, and then louder to Challenger.  "What about a
+car?"
+
+"The car will be my next care.  I have already planned how it is to be
+made and attached.  Meanwhile I will simply show you how capable my
+apparatus is of supporting the weight of each of us."
+
+"All of us, surely?"
+
+"No, it is part of my plan that each in turn shall descend as in a
+parachute, and the balloon be drawn back by means which I shall have no
+difficulty in perfecting.  If it will support the weight of one and let
+him gently down, it will have done all that is required of it.  I will
+now show you its capacity in that direction."
+
+He brought out a lump of basalt of a considerable size, constructed in
+the middle so that a cord could be easily attached to it.  This cord
+was the one which we had brought with us on to the plateau after we had
+used it for climbing the pinnacle.  It was over a hundred feet long,
+and though it was thin it was very strong.  He had prepared a sort of
+collar of leather with many straps depending from it.  This collar was
+placed over the dome of the balloon, and the hanging thongs were
+gathered together below, so that the pressure of any weight would be
+diffused over a considerable surface.  Then the lump of basalt was
+fastened to the thongs, and the rope was allowed to hang from the end
+of it, being passed three times round the Professor's arm.
+
+"I will now," said Challenger, with a smile of pleased anticipation,
+"demonstrate the carrying power of my balloon." As he said so he cut
+with a knife the various lashings that held it.
+
+Never was our expedition in more imminent danger of complete
+annihilation.  The inflated membrane shot up with frightful velocity
+into the air.  In an instant Challenger was pulled off his feet and
+dragged after it.  I had just time to throw my arms round his ascending
+waist when I was myself whipped up into the air.  Lord John had me with
+a rat-trap grip round the legs, but I felt that he also was coming off
+the ground.  For a moment I had a vision of four adventurers floating
+like a string of sausages over the land that they had explored.  But,
+happily, there were limits to the strain which the rope would stand,
+though none apparently to the lifting powers of this infernal machine.
+There was a sharp crack, and we were in a heap upon the ground with
+coils of rope all over us.  When we were able to stagger to our feet we
+saw far off in the deep blue sky one dark spot where the lump of basalt
+was speeding upon its way.
+
+"Splendid!" cried the undaunted Challenger, rubbing his injured arm.
+"A most thorough and satisfactory demonstration!  I could not have
+anticipated such a success.  Within a week, gentlemen, I promise that a
+second balloon will be prepared, and that you can count upon taking in
+safety and comfort the first stage of our homeward journey." So far I
+have written each of the foregoing events as it occurred.  Now I am
+rounding off my narrative from the old camp, where Zambo has waited so
+long, with all our difficulties and dangers left like a dream behind us
+upon the summit of those vast ruddy crags which tower above our heads.
+We have descended in safety, though in a most unexpected fashion, and
+all is well with us.  In six weeks or two months we shall be in London,
+and it is possible that this letter may not reach you much earlier than
+we do ourselves.  Already our hearts yearn and our spirits fly towards
+the great mother city which holds so much that is dear to us.
+
+It was on the very evening of our perilous adventure with Challenger's
+home-made balloon that the change came in our fortunes.  I have said
+that the one person from whom we had had some sign of sympathy in our
+attempts to get away was the young chief whom we had rescued.  He alone
+had no desire to hold us against our will in a strange land.  He had
+told us as much by his expressive language of signs.  That evening,
+after dusk, he came down to our little camp, handed me (for some reason
+he had always shown his attentions to me, perhaps because I was the one
+who was nearest his age) a small roll of the bark of a tree, and then
+pointing solemnly up at the row of caves above him, he had put his
+finger to his lips as a sign of secrecy and had stolen back again to
+his people.
+
+I took the slip of bark to the firelight and we examined it together.
+It was about a foot square, and on the inner side there was a singular
+arrangement of lines, which I here reproduce:
+
+
+They were neatly done in charcoal upon the white surface, and looked to
+me at first sight like some sort of rough musical score.
+
+"Whatever it is, I can swear that it is of importance to us," said I.
+"I could read that on his face as he gave it."
+
+"Unless we have come upon a primitive practical joker," Summerlee
+suggested, "which I should think would be one of the most elementary
+developments of man."
+
+"It is clearly some sort of script," said Challenger.
+
+"Looks like a guinea puzzle competition," remarked Lord John, craning
+his neck to have a look at it.  Then suddenly he stretched out his hand
+and seized the puzzle.
+
+"By George!" he cried, "I believe I've got it.  The boy guessed right
+the very first time.  See here!  How many marks are on that paper?
+Eighteen.  Well, if you come to think of it there are eighteen cave
+openings on the hill-side above us."
+
+"He pointed up to the caves when he gave it to me," said I.
+
+"Well, that settles it.  This is a chart of the caves.  What!  Eighteen
+of them all in a row, some short, some deep, some branching, same as we
+saw them.  It's a map, and here's a cross on it. What's the cross for?
+It is placed to mark one that is much deeper than the others."
+
+"One that goes through," I cried.
+
+"I believe our young friend has read the riddle," said Challenger.  "If
+the cave does not go through I do not understand why this person, who
+has every reason to mean us well, should have drawn our attention to
+it.  But if it does go through and comes out at the corresponding point
+on the other side, we should not have more than a hundred feet to
+descend."
+
+"A hundred feet!" grumbled Summerlee.
+
+"Well, our rope is still more than a hundred feet long," I cried.
+"Surely we could get down."
+
+"How about the Indians in the cave?" Summerlee objected.
+
+"There are no Indians in any of the caves above our heads," said I.
+"They are all used as barns and store-houses.  Why should we not go up
+now at once and spy out the land?"
+
+There is a dry bituminous wood upon the plateau--a species of
+araucaria, according to our botanist--which is always used by the
+Indians for torches.  Each of us picked up a faggot of this, and we
+made our way up weed-covered steps to the particular cave which was
+marked in the drawing.  It was, as I had said, empty, save for a great
+number of enormous bats, which flapped round our heads as we advanced
+into it.  As we had no desire to draw the attention of the Indians to
+our proceedings, we stumbled along in the dark until we had gone round
+several curves and penetrated a considerable distance into the cavern.
+Then, at last, we lit our torches.  It was a beautiful dry tunnel with
+smooth gray walls covered with native symbols, a curved roof which
+arched over our heads, and white glistening sand beneath our feet.  We
+hurried eagerly along it until, with a deep groan of bitter
+disappointment, we were brought to a halt.  A sheer wall of rock had
+appeared before us, with no chink through which a mouse could have
+slipped.  There was no escape for us there.
+
+We stood with bitter hearts staring at this unexpected obstacle.  It
+was not the result of any convulsion, as in the case of the ascending
+tunnel.  The end wall was exactly like the side ones.  It was, and had
+always been, a cul-de-sac.
+
+"Never mind, my friends," said the indomitable Challenger.  "You have
+still my firm promise of a balloon."
+
+Summerlee groaned.
+
+"Can we be in the wrong cave?" I suggested.
+
+"No use, young fellah," said Lord John, with his finger on the chart.
+"Seventeen from the right and second from the left.  This is the cave
+sure enough."
+
+I looked at the mark to which his finger pointed, and I gave a sudden
+cry of joy.
+
+"I believe I have it!  Follow me!  Follow me!"
+
+I hurried back along the way we had come, my torch in my hand.  "Here,"
+said I, pointing to some matches upon the ground, "is where we lit up."
+
+"Exactly."
+
+"Well, it is marked as a forked cave, and in the darkness we passed the
+fork before the torches were lit.  On the right side as we go out we
+should find the longer arm."
+
+It was as I had said.  We had not gone thirty yards before a great
+black opening loomed in the wall.  We turned into it to find that we
+were in a much larger passage than before.  Along it we hurried in
+breathless impatience for many hundreds of yards.  Then, suddenly, in
+the black darkness of the arch in front of us we saw a gleam of dark
+red light.  We stared in amazement.  A sheet of steady flame seemed to
+cross the passage and to bar our way.  We hastened towards it.  No
+sound, no heat, no movement came from it, but still the great luminous
+curtain glowed before us, silvering all the cave and turning the sand
+to powdered jewels, until as we drew closer it discovered a circular
+edge.
+
+"The moon, by George!" cried Lord John.  "We are through, boys!  We are
+through!"
+
+It was indeed the full moon which shone straight down the aperture
+which opened upon the cliffs.  It was a small rift, not larger than a
+window, but it was enough for all our purposes.  As we craned our necks
+through it we could see that the descent was not a very difficult one,
+and that the level ground was no very great way below us.  It was no
+wonder that from below we had not observed the place, as the cliffs
+curved overhead and an ascent at the spot would have seemed so
+impossible as to discourage close inspection.  We satisfied ourselves
+that with the help of our rope we could find our way down, and then
+returned, rejoicing, to our camp to make our preparations for the next
+evening.
+
+What we did we had to do quickly and secretly, since even at this last
+hour the Indians might hold us back.  Our stores we would leave behind
+us, save only our guns and cartridges.  But Challenger had some
+unwieldy stuff which he ardently desired to take with him, and one
+particular package, of which I may not speak, which gave us more labor
+than any.  Slowly the day passed, but when the darkness fell we were
+ready for our departure.  With much labor we got our things up the
+steps, and then, looking back, took one last long survey of that
+strange land, soon I fear to be vulgarized, the prey of hunter and
+prospector, but to each of us a dreamland of glamour and romance, a
+land where we had dared much, suffered much, and learned much--OUR
+land, as we shall ever fondly call it.  Along upon our left the
+neighboring caves each threw out its ruddy cheery firelight into the
+gloom.  From the slope below us rose the voices of the Indians as they
+laughed and sang.  Beyond was the long sweep of the woods, and in the
+center, shimmering vaguely through the gloom, was the great lake, the
+mother of strange monsters.  Even as we looked a high whickering cry,
+the call of some weird animal, rang clear out of the darkness.  It was
+the very voice of Maple White Land bidding us good-bye.  We turned and
+plunged into the cave which led to home.
+
+Two hours later, we, our packages, and all we owned, were at the foot
+of the cliff.  Save for Challenger's luggage we had never a difficulty.
+Leaving it all where we descended, we started at once for Zambo's camp.
+In the early morning we approached it, but only to find, to our
+amazement, not one fire but a dozen upon the plain.  The rescue party
+had arrived.  There were twenty Indians from the river, with stakes,
+ropes, and all that could be useful for bridging the chasm.  At least
+we shall have no difficulty now in carrying our packages, when
+to-morrow we begin to make our way back to the Amazon.
+
+And so, in humble and thankful mood, I close this account.  Our eyes
+have seen great wonders and our souls are chastened by what we have
+endured.  Each is in his own way a better and deeper man.  It may be
+that when we reach Para we shall stop to refit.  If we do, this letter
+will be a mail ahead.  If not, it will reach London on the very day
+that I do.  In either case, my dear Mr. McArdle, I hope very soon to
+shake you by the hand.
+
+
+
+
+                           CHAPTER XVI
+
+                  "A Procession!  A Procession!"
+
+I should wish to place upon record here our gratitude to all our
+friends upon the Amazon for the very great kindness and hospitality
+which was shown to us upon our return journey.  Very particularly would
+I thank Senhor Penalosa and other officials of the Brazilian Government
+for the special arrangements by which we were helped upon our way, and
+Senhor Pereira of Para, to whose forethought we owe the complete outfit
+for a decent appearance in the civilized world which we found ready for
+us at that town.  It seemed a poor return for all the courtesy which we
+encountered that we should deceive our hosts and benefactors, but under
+the circumstances we had really no alternative, and I hereby tell them
+that they will only waste their time and their money if they attempt to
+follow upon our traces.  Even the names have been altered in our
+accounts, and I am very sure that no one, from the most careful study
+of them, could come within a thousand miles of our unknown land.
+
+The excitement which had been caused through those parts of South
+America which we had to traverse was imagined by us to be purely local,
+and I can assure our friends in England that we had no notion of the
+uproar which the mere rumor of our experiences had caused through
+Europe.  It was not until the Ivernia was within five hundred miles of
+Southampton that the wireless messages from paper after paper and
+agency after agency, offering huge prices for a short return message as
+to our actual results, showed us how strained was the attention not
+only of the scientific world but of the general public.  It was agreed
+among us, however, that no definite statement should be given to the
+Press until we had met the members of the Zoological Institute, since
+as delegates it was our clear duty to give our first report to the body
+from which we had received our commission of investigation.  Thus,
+although we found Southampton full of Pressmen, we absolutely refused
+to give any information, which had the natural effect of focussing
+public attention upon the meeting which was advertised for the evening
+of November 7th.  For this gathering, the Zoological Hall which had
+been the scene of the inception of our task was found to be far too
+small, and it was only in the Queen's Hall in Regent Street that
+accommodation could be found.  It is now common knowledge the promoters
+might have ventured upon the Albert Hall and still found their space
+too scanty.
+
+It was for the second evening after our arrival that the great meeting
+had been fixed.  For the first, we had each, no doubt, our own pressing
+personal affairs to absorb us.  Of mine I cannot yet speak.  It may be
+that as it stands further from me I may think of it, and even speak of
+it, with less emotion.  I have shown the reader in the beginning of
+this narrative where lay the springs of my action.  It is but right,
+perhaps, that I should carry on the tale and show also the results.
+And yet the day may come when I would not have it otherwise.  At least
+I have been driven forth to take part in a wondrous adventure, and I
+cannot but be thankful to the force that drove me.
+
+And now I turn to the last supreme eventful moment of our adventure.
+As I was racking my brain as to how I should best describe it, my eyes
+fell upon the issue of my own Journal for the morning of the 8th of
+November with the full and excellent account of my friend and
+fellow-reporter Macdona.  What can I do better than transcribe his
+narrative--head-lines and all?  I admit that the paper was exuberant in
+the matter, out of compliment to its own enterprise in sending a
+correspondent, but the other great dailies were hardly less full in
+their account.  Thus, then, friend Mac in his report:
+
+
+                           THE NEW WORLD
+                 GREAT MEETING AT THE QUEEN'S HALL
+                          SCENES OF UPROAR
+                       EXTRAORDINARY INCIDENT
+                            WHAT WAS IT?
+                 NOCTURNAL RIOT IN REGENT STREET
+                             (Special)
+
+
+"The much-discussed meeting of the Zoological Institute, convened to
+hear the report of the Committee of Investigation sent out last year to
+South America to test the assertions made by Professor Challenger as to
+the continued existence of prehistoric life upon that Continent, was
+held last night in the greater Queen's Hall, and it is safe to say that
+it is likely to be a red letter date in the history of Science, for the
+proceedings were of so remarkable and sensational a character that no
+one present is ever likely to forget them."  (Oh, brother scribe
+Macdona, what a monstrous opening sentence!)  "The tickets were
+theoretically confined to members and their friends, but the latter is
+an elastic term, and long before eight o'clock, the hour fixed for the
+commencement of the proceedings, all parts of the Great Hall were
+tightly packed.  The general public, however, which most unreasonably
+entertained a grievance at having been excluded, stormed the doors at a
+quarter to eight, after a prolonged melee in which several people were
+injured, including Inspector Scoble of H. Division, whose leg was
+unfortunately broken.  After this unwarrantable invasion, which not
+only filled every passage, but even intruded upon the space set apart
+for the Press, it is estimated that nearly five thousand people awaited
+the arrival of the travelers.  When they eventually appeared, they took
+their places in the front of a platform which already contained all the
+leading scientific men, not only of this country, but of France and of
+Germany.  Sweden was also represented, in the person of Professor
+Sergius, the famous Zoologist of the University of Upsala.  The
+entrance of the four heroes of the occasion was the signal for a
+remarkable demonstration of welcome, the whole audience rising and
+cheering for some minutes.  An acute observer might, however, have
+detected some signs of dissent amid the applause, and gathered that the
+proceedings were likely to become more lively than harmonious.  It may
+safely be prophesied, however, that no one could have foreseen the
+extraordinary turn which they were actually to take.
+
+"Of the appearance of the four wanderers little need be said, since
+their photographs have for some time been appearing in all the papers.
+They bear few traces of the hardships which they are said to have
+undergone.  Professor Challenger's beard may be more shaggy, Professor
+Summerlee's features more ascetic, Lord John Roxton's figure more
+gaunt, and all three may be burned to a darker tint than when they left
+our shores, but each appeared to be in most excellent health.  As to
+our own representative, the well-known athlete and international Rugby
+football player, E. D.  Malone, he looks trained to a hair, and as he
+surveyed the crowd a smile of good-humored contentment pervaded his
+honest but homely face."  (All right, Mac, wait till I get you alone!)
+
+"When quiet had been restored and the audience resumed their seats
+after the ovation which they had given to the travelers, the chairman,
+the Duke of Durham, addressed the meeting.  'He would not,' he said,
+'stand for more than a moment between that vast assembly and the treat
+which lay before them.  It was not for him to anticipate what Professor
+Summerlee, who was the spokesman of the committee, had to say to them,
+but it was common rumor that their expedition had been crowned by
+extraordinary success.'  (Applause.)  'Apparently the age of romance
+was not dead, and there was common ground upon which the wildest
+imaginings of the novelist could meet the actual scientific
+investigations of the searcher for truth.  He would only add, before he
+sat down, that he rejoiced--and all of them would rejoice--that these
+gentlemen had returned safe and sound from their difficult and
+dangerous task, for it cannot be denied that any disaster to such an
+expedition would have inflicted a well-nigh irreparable loss to the
+cause of Zoological science.' (Great applause, in which Professor
+Challenger was observed to join.)
+
+"Professor Summerlee's rising was the signal for another extraordinary
+outbreak of enthusiasm, which broke out again at intervals throughout
+his address.  That address will not be given in extenso in these
+columns, for the reason that a full account of the whole adventures of
+the expedition is being published as a supplement from the pen of our
+own special correspondent.  Some general indications will therefore
+suffice. Having described the genesis of their journey, and paid a
+handsome tribute to his friend Professor Challenger, coupled with an
+apology for the incredulity with which his assertions, now fully
+vindicated, had been received, he gave the actual course of their
+journey, carefully withholding such information as would aid the public
+in any attempt to locate this remarkable plateau.  Having described, in
+general terms, their course from the main river up to the time that
+they actually reached the base of the cliffs, he enthralled his hearers
+by his account of the difficulties encountered by the expedition in
+their repeated attempts to mount them, and finally described how they
+succeeded in their desperate endeavors, which cost the lives of their
+two devoted half-breed servants." (This amazing reading of the affair
+was the result of Summerlee's endeavors to avoid raising any
+questionable matter at the meeting.)
+
+"Having conducted his audience in fancy to the summit, and marooned
+them there by reason of the fall of their bridge, the Professor
+proceeded to describe both the horrors and the attractions of that
+remarkable land.  Of personal adventures he said little, but laid
+stress upon the rich harvest reaped by Science in the observations of
+the wonderful beast, bird, insect, and plant life of the plateau.
+Peculiarly rich in the coleoptera and in the lepidoptera, forty-six new
+species of the one and ninety-four of the other had been secured in the
+course of a few weeks.  It was, however, in the larger animals, and
+especially in the larger animals supposed to have been long extinct,
+that the interest of the public was naturally centered.  Of these he
+was able to give a goodly list, but had little doubt that it would be
+largely extended when the place had been more thoroughly investigated.
+He and his companions had seen at least a dozen creatures, most of them
+at a distance, which corresponded with nothing at present known to
+Science.  These would in time be duly classified and examined.  He
+instanced a snake, the cast skin of which, deep purple in color, was
+fifty-one feet in length, and mentioned a white creature, supposed to
+be mammalian, which gave forth well-marked phosphorescence in the
+darkness; also a large black moth, the bite of which was supposed by
+the Indians to be highly poisonous.  Setting aside these entirely new
+forms of life, the plateau was very rich in known prehistoric forms,
+dating back in some cases to early Jurassic times.  Among these he
+mentioned the gigantic and grotesque stegosaurus, seen once by Mr.
+Malone at a drinking-place by the lake, and drawn in the sketch-book of
+that adventurous American who had first penetrated this unknown world.
+He described also the iguanodon and the pterodactyl--two of the first
+of the wonders which they had encountered.  He then thrilled the
+assembly by some account of the terrible carnivorous dinosaurs, which
+had on more than one occasion pursued members of the party, and which
+were the most formidable of all the creatures which they had
+encountered.  Thence he passed to the huge and ferocious bird, the
+phororachus, and to the great elk which still roams upon this upland.
+It was not, however, until he sketched the mysteries of the central
+lake that the full interest and enthusiasm of the audience were
+aroused.  One had to pinch oneself to be sure that one was awake as one
+heard this sane and practical Professor in cold measured tones
+describing the monstrous three-eyed fish-lizards and the huge
+water-snakes which inhabit this enchanted sheet of water.  Next he
+touched upon the Indians, and upon the extraordinary colony of
+anthropoid apes, which might be looked upon as an advance upon the
+pithecanthropus of Java, and as coming therefore nearer than any known
+form to that hypothetical creation, the missing link.  Finally he
+described, amongst some merriment, the ingenious but highly dangerous
+aeronautic invention of Professor Challenger, and wound up a most
+memorable address by an account of the methods by which the committee
+did at last find their way back to civilization.
+
+"It had been hoped that the proceedings would end there, and that a
+vote of thanks and congratulation, moved by Professor Sergius, of
+Upsala University, would be duly seconded and carried; but it was soon
+evident that the course of events was not destined to flow so smoothly.
+Symptoms of opposition had been evident from time to time during the
+evening, and now Dr. James Illingworth, of Edinburgh, rose in the
+center of the hall.  Dr. Illingworth asked whether an amendment should
+not be taken before a resolution.
+
+"THE CHAIRMAN:  'Yes, sir, if there must be an amendment.'
+
+"DR. ILLINGWORTH:  'Your Grace, there must be an amendment.'
+
+"THE CHAIRMAN:  'Then let us take it at once.'
+
+"PROFESSOR SUMMERLEE (springing to his feet):  'Might I explain, your
+Grace, that this man is my personal enemy ever since our controversy in
+the Quarterly Journal of Science as to the true nature of Bathybius?'
+
+"THE CHAIRMAN:  'I fear I cannot go into personal matters.  Proceed.'
+
+"Dr. Illingworth was imperfectly heard in part of his remarks on
+account of the strenuous opposition of the friends of the explorers.
+Some attempts were also made to pull him down.  Being a man of enormous
+physique, however, and possessed of a very powerful voice, he dominated
+the tumult and succeeded in finishing his speech.  It was clear, from
+the moment of his rising, that he had a number of friends and
+sympathizers in the hall, though they formed a minority in the
+audience.  The attitude of the greater part of the public might be
+described as one of attentive neutrality.
+
+"Dr. Illingworth began his remarks by expressing his high appreciation
+of the scientific work both of Professor Challenger and of Professor
+Summerlee.  He much regretted that any personal bias should have been
+read into his remarks, which were entirely dictated by his desire for
+scientific truth.  His position, in fact, was substantially the same as
+that taken up by Professor Summerlee at the last meeting.  At that last
+meeting Professor Challenger had made certain assertions which had been
+queried by his colleague.  Now this colleague came forward himself with
+the same assertions and expected them to remain unquestioned.  Was this
+reasonable?  ('Yes,' 'No,' and prolonged interruption, during which
+Professor Challenger was heard from the Press box to ask leave from the
+chairman to put Dr. Illingworth into the street.) A year ago one man
+said certain things.  Now four men said other and more startling ones.
+Was this to constitute a final proof where the matters in question were
+of the most revolutionary and incredible character?  There had been
+recent examples of travelers arriving from the unknown with certain
+tales which had been too readily accepted.  Was the London Zoological
+Institute to place itself in this position?  He admitted that the
+members of the committee were men of character.  But human nature was
+very complex.  Even Professors might be misled by the desire for
+notoriety.  Like moths, we all love best to flutter in the light.
+Heavy-game shots liked to be in a position to cap the tales of their
+rivals, and journalists were not averse from sensational coups, even
+when imagination had to aid fact in the process.  Each member of the
+committee had his own motive for making the most of his results.
+('Shame! shame!')  He had no desire to be offensive.  ('You are!' and
+interruption.)  The corroboration of these wondrous tales was really of
+the most slender description.  What did it amount to?  Some
+photographs. {Was it possible that in this age of ingenious
+manipulation photographs could be accepted as evidence?}  What more?
+We have a story of a flight and a descent by ropes which precluded the
+production of larger specimens.  It was ingenious, but not convincing.
+It was understood that Lord John Roxton claimed to have the skull of a
+phororachus.  He could only say that he would like to see that skull.
+
+"LORD JOHN ROXTON:  'Is this fellow calling me a liar?' (Uproar.)
+
+"THE CHAIRMAN:  'Order! order!  Dr. Illingworth, I must direct you to
+bring your remarks to a conclusion and to move your amendment.'
+
+"DR. ILLINGWORTH:  'Your Grace, I have more to say, but I bow to your
+ruling.  I move, then, that, while Professor Summerlee be thanked for
+his interesting address, the whole matter shall be regarded as
+'non-proven,' and shall be referred back to a larger, and possibly more
+reliable Committee of Investigation.'
+
+"It is difficult to describe the confusion caused by this amendment.  A
+large section of the audience expressed their indignation at such a
+slur upon the travelers by noisy shouts of dissent and cries of, 'Don't
+put it!'  'Withdraw!'  'Turn him out!'  On the other hand, the
+malcontents--and it cannot be denied that they were fairly
+numerous--cheered for the amendment, with cries of 'Order!' 'Chair!'
+and 'Fair play!'  A scuffle broke out in the back benches, and blows
+were freely exchanged among the medical students who crowded that part
+of the hall.  It was only the moderating influence of the presence of
+large numbers of ladies which prevented an absolute riot.  Suddenly,
+however, there was a pause, a hush, and then complete silence.
+Professor Challenger was on his feet.  His appearance and manner are
+peculiarly arresting, and as he raised his hand for order the whole
+audience settled down expectantly to give him a hearing.
+
+"'It will be within the recollection of many present,' said Professor
+Challenger, 'that similar foolish and unmannerly scenes marked the last
+meeting at which I have been able to address them.  On that occasion
+Professor Summerlee was the chief offender, and though he is now
+chastened and contrite, the matter could not be entirely forgotten.  I
+have heard to-night similar, but even more offensive, sentiments from
+the person who has just sat down, and though it is a conscious effort
+of self-effacement to come down to that person's mental level, I will
+endeavor to do so, in order to allay any reasonable doubt which could
+possibly exist in the minds of anyone.'  (Laughter and interruption.)
+'I need not remind this audience that, though Professor Summerlee, as
+the head of the Committee of Investigation, has been put up to speak
+to-night, still it is I who am the real prime mover in this business,
+and that it is mainly to me that any successful result must be
+ascribed.  I have safely conducted these three gentlemen to the spot
+mentioned, and I have, as you have heard, convinced them of the
+accuracy of my previous account.  We had hoped that we should find upon
+our return that no one was so dense as to dispute our joint
+conclusions.  Warned, however, by my previous experience, I have not
+come without such proofs as may convince a reasonable man.  As
+explained by Professor Summerlee, our cameras have been tampered with
+by the ape-men when they ransacked our camp, and most of our negatives
+ruined.' (Jeers, laughter, and 'Tell us another!' from the back.)  'I
+have mentioned the ape-men, and I cannot forbear from saying that some
+of the sounds which now meet my ears bring back most vividly to my
+recollection my experiences with those interesting creatures.'
+(Laughter.)  'In spite of the destruction of so many invaluable
+negatives, there still remains in our collection a certain number of
+corroborative photographs showing the conditions of life upon the
+plateau.  Did they accuse them of having forged these photographs?' (A
+voice, 'Yes,' and considerable interruption which ended in several men
+being put out of the hall.)  'The negatives were open to the inspection
+of experts.  But what other evidence had they?  Under the conditions of
+their escape it was naturally impossible to bring a large amount of
+baggage, but they had rescued Professor Summerlee's collections of
+butterflies and beetles, containing many new species.  Was this not
+evidence?'  (Several voices, 'No.') 'Who said no?'
+
+"DR. ILLINGWORTH (rising):  'Our point is that such a collection might
+have been made in other places than a prehistoric plateau.' (Applause.)
+
+"PROFESSOR CHALLENGER:  'No doubt, sir, we have to bow to your
+scientific authority, although I must admit that the name is
+unfamiliar.  Passing, then, both the photographs and the entomological
+collection, I come to the varied and accurate information which we
+bring with us upon points which have never before been elucidated.  For
+example, upon the domestic habits of the pterodactyl--'(A voice:
+'Bosh,' and uproar)--'I say, that upon the domestic habits of the
+pterodactyl we can throw a flood of light.  I can exhibit to you from
+my portfolio a picture of that creature taken from life which would
+convince you----'
+
+"DR. ILLINGWORTH:  'No picture could convince us of anything.'
+
+"PROFESSOR CHALLENGER:  'You would require to see the thing itself?'
+
+"DR. ILLINGWORTH:  'Undoubtedly.'
+
+"PROFESSOR CHALLENGER:  'And you would accept that?'
+
+"DR. ILLINGWORTH (laughing):  'Beyond a doubt.'
+
+"It was at this point that the sensation of the evening arose--a
+sensation so dramatic that it can never have been paralleled in the
+history of scientific gatherings.  Professor Challenger raised his hand
+in the air as a signal, and at once our colleague, Mr. E. D. Malone,
+was observed to rise and to make his way to the back of the platform.
+An instant later he re-appeared in company of a gigantic negro, the two
+of them bearing between them a large square packing-case.  It was
+evidently of great weight, and was slowly carried forward and placed in
+front of the Professor's chair.  All sound had hushed in the audience
+and everyone was absorbed in the spectacle before them.  Professor
+Challenger drew off the top of the case, which formed a sliding lid.
+Peering down into the box he snapped his fingers several times and was
+heard from the Press seat to say, 'Come, then, pretty, pretty!' in a
+coaxing voice.  An instant later, with a scratching, rattling sound, a
+most horrible and loathsome creature appeared from below and perched
+itself upon the side of the case.  Even the unexpected fall of the Duke
+of Durham into the orchestra, which occurred at this moment, could not
+distract the petrified attention of the vast audience.  The face of the
+creature was like the wildest gargoyle that the imagination of a mad
+medieval builder could have conceived.  It was malicious, horrible,
+with two small red eyes as bright as points of burning coal.  Its long,
+savage mouth, which was held half-open, was full of a double row of
+shark-like teeth.  Its shoulders were humped, and round them were
+draped what appeared to be a faded gray shawl.  It was the devil of our
+childhood in person.  There was a turmoil in the audience--someone
+screamed, two ladies in the front row fell senseless from their chairs,
+and there was a general movement upon the platform to follow their
+chairman into the orchestra.  For a moment there was danger of a
+general panic.  Professor Challenger threw up his hands to still the
+commotion, but the movement alarmed the creature beside him.  Its
+strange shawl suddenly unfurled, spread, and fluttered as a pair of
+leathery wings.  Its owner grabbed at its legs, but too late to hold
+it.  It had sprung from the perch and was circling slowly round the
+Queen's Hall with a dry, leathery flapping of its ten-foot wings, while
+a putrid and insidious odor pervaded the room.  The cries of the people
+in the galleries, who were alarmed at the near approach of those
+glowing eyes and that murderous beak, excited the creature to a frenzy.
+Faster and faster it flew, beating against walls and chandeliers in a
+blind frenzy of alarm.  'The window!  For heaven's sake shut that
+window!' roared the Professor from the platform, dancing and wringing
+his hands in an agony of apprehension.  Alas, his warning was too late!
+In a moment the creature, beating and bumping along the wall like a
+huge moth within a gas-shade, came upon the opening, squeezed its
+hideous bulk through it, and was gone.  Professor Challenger fell back
+into his chair with his face buried in his hands, while the audience
+gave one long, deep sigh of relief as they realized that the incident
+was over.
+
+"Then--oh! how shall one describe what took place then--when the full
+exuberance of the majority and the full reaction of the minority united
+to make one great wave of enthusiasm, which rolled from the back of the
+hall, gathering volume as it came, swept over the orchestra, submerged
+the platform, and carried the four heroes away upon its crest?"  (Good
+for you, Mac!)  "If the audience had done less than justice, surely it
+made ample amends.  Every one was on his feet.  Every one was moving,
+shouting, gesticulating.  A dense crowd of cheering men were round the
+four travelers.  'Up with them! up with them!' cried a hundred voices.
+In a moment four figures shot up above the crowd.  In vain they strove
+to break loose.  They were held in their lofty places of honor.  It
+would have been hard to let them down if it had been wished, so dense
+was the crowd around them.  'Regent Street!  Regent Street!' sounded
+the voices.  There was a swirl in the packed multitude, and a slow
+current, bearing the four upon their shoulders, made for the door.  Out
+in the street the scene was extraordinary.  An assemblage of not less
+than a hundred thousand people was waiting.  The close-packed throng
+extended from the other side of the Langham Hotel to Oxford Circus.  A
+roar of acclamation greeted the four adventurers as they appeared, high
+above the heads of the people, under the vivid electric lamps outside
+the hall.  'A procession!  A procession!' was the cry.  In a dense
+phalanx, blocking the streets from side to side, the crowd set forth,
+taking the route of Regent Street, Pall Mall, St. James's Street, and
+Piccadilly.  The whole central traffic of London was held up, and many
+collisions were reported between the demonstrators upon the one side
+and the police and taxi-cabmen upon the other.  Finally, it was not
+until after midnight that the four travelers were released at the
+entrance to Lord John Roxton's chambers in the Albany, and that the
+exuberant crowd, having sung 'They are Jolly Good Fellows' in chorus,
+concluded their program with 'God Save the King.' So ended one of the
+most remarkable evenings that London has seen for a considerable time."
+
+So far my friend Macdona; and it may be taken as a fairly accurate, if
+florid, account of the proceedings.  As to the main incident, it was a
+bewildering surprise to the audience, but not, I need hardly say, to
+us.  The reader will remember how I met Lord John Roxton upon the very
+occasion when, in his protective crinoline, he had gone to bring the
+"Devil's chick" as he called it, for Professor Challenger.  I have
+hinted also at the trouble which the Professor's baggage gave us when
+we left the plateau, and had I described our voyage I might have said a
+good deal of the worry we had to coax with putrid fish the appetite of
+our filthy companion.  If I have not said much about it before, it was,
+of course, that the Professor's earnest desire was that no possible
+rumor of the unanswerable argument which we carried should be allowed
+to leak out until the moment came when his enemies were to be confuted.
+
+One word as to the fate of the London pterodactyl.  Nothing can be said
+to be certain upon this point.  There is the evidence of two frightened
+women that it perched upon the roof of the Queen's Hall and remained
+there like a diabolical statue for some hours.  The next day it came
+out in the evening papers that Private Miles, of the Coldstream Guards,
+on duty outside Marlborough House, had deserted his post without leave,
+and was therefore courtmartialed.  Private Miles' account, that he
+dropped his rifle and took to his heels down the Mall because on
+looking up he had suddenly seen the devil between him and the moon, was
+not accepted by the Court, and yet it may have a direct bearing upon
+the point at issue.  The only other evidence which I can adduce is from
+the log of the SS. Friesland, a Dutch-American liner, which asserts
+that at nine next morning, Start Point being at the time ten miles upon
+their starboard quarter, they were passed by something between a flying
+goat and a monstrous bat, which was heading at a prodigious pace south
+and west.  If its homing instinct led it upon the right line, there can
+be no doubt that somewhere out in the wastes of the Atlantic the last
+European pterodactyl found its end.
+
+And Gladys--oh, my Gladys!--Gladys of the mystic lake, now to be
+re-named the Central, for never shall she have immortality through me.
+Did I not always see some hard fiber in her nature?  Did I not, even at
+the time when I was proud to obey her behest, feel that it was surely a
+poor love which could drive a lover to his death or the danger of it?
+Did I not, in my truest thoughts, always recurring and always
+dismissed, see past the beauty of the face, and, peering into the soul,
+discern the twin shadows of selfishness and of fickleness glooming at
+the back of it?  Did she love the heroic and the spectacular for its
+own noble sake, or was it for the glory which might, without effort or
+sacrifice, be reflected upon herself?  Or are these thoughts the vain
+wisdom which comes after the event?  It was the shock of my life.  For
+a moment it had turned me to a cynic.  But already, as I write, a week
+has passed, and we have had our momentous interview with Lord John
+Roxton and--well, perhaps things might be worse.
+
+Let me tell it in a few words.  No letter or telegram had come to me at
+Southampton, and I reached the little villa at Streatham about ten
+o'clock that night in a fever of alarm.  Was she dead or alive?  Where
+were all my nightly dreams of the open arms, the smiling face, the
+words of praise for her man who had risked his life to humor her whim?
+Already I was down from the high peaks and standing flat-footed upon
+earth.  Yet some good reasons given might still lift me to the clouds
+once more.  I rushed down the garden path, hammered at the door, heard
+the voice of Gladys within, pushed past the staring maid, and strode
+into the sitting-room.  She was seated in a low settee under the shaded
+standard lamp by the piano.  In three steps I was across the room and
+had both her hands in mine.
+
+"Gladys!" I cried, "Gladys!"
+
+She looked up with amazement in her face.  She was altered in some
+subtle way.  The expression of her eyes, the hard upward stare, the set
+of the lips, was new to me.  She drew back her hands.
+
+"What do you mean?" she said.
+
+"Gladys!" I cried.  "What is the matter?  You are my Gladys, are you
+not--little Gladys Hungerton?"
+
+"No," said she, "I am Gladys Potts.  Let me introduce you to my
+husband."
+
+How absurd life is!  I found myself mechanically bowing and shaking
+hands with a little ginger-haired man who was coiled up in the deep
+arm-chair which had once been sacred to my own use.  We bobbed and
+grinned in front of each other.
+
+"Father lets us stay here.  We are getting our house ready," said
+Gladys.
+
+"Oh, yes," said I.
+
+"You didn't get my letter at Para, then?"
+
+"No, I got no letter."
+
+"Oh, what a pity!  It would have made all clear."
+
+"It is quite clear," said I.
+
+"I've told William all about you," said she.  "We have no secrets.  I
+am so sorry about it.  But it couldn't have been so very deep, could
+it, if you could go off to the other end of the world and leave me here
+alone.  You're not crabby, are you?"
+
+"No, no, not at all.  I think I'll go."
+
+"Have some refreshment," said the little man, and he added, in a
+confidential way, "It's always like this, ain't it?  And must be unless
+you had polygamy, only the other way round; you understand." He laughed
+like an idiot, while I made for the door.
+
+I was through it, when a sudden fantastic impulse came upon me, and I
+went back to my successful rival, who looked nervously at the electric
+push.
+
+"Will you answer a question?" I asked.
+
+"Well, within reason," said he.
+
+"How did you do it?  Have you searched for hidden treasure, or
+discovered a pole, or done time on a pirate, or flown the Channel, or
+what?  Where is the glamour of romance?  How did you get it?"
+
+He stared at me with a hopeless expression upon his vacuous,
+good-natured, scrubby little face.
+
+"Don't you think all this is a little too personal?" he said.
+
+"Well, just one question," I cried.  "What are you?  What is your
+profession?"
+
+"I am a solicitor's clerk," said he.  "Second man at Johnson and
+Merivale's, 41 Chancery Lane."
+
+"Good-night!" said I, and vanished, like all disconsolate and
+broken-hearted heroes, into the darkness, with grief and rage and
+laughter all simmering within me like a boiling pot.
+
+One more little scene, and I have done.  Last night we all supped at
+Lord John Roxton's rooms, and sitting together afterwards we smoked in
+good comradeship and talked our adventures over.  It was strange under
+these altered surroundings to see the old, well-known faces and
+figures.  There was Challenger, with his smile of condescension, his
+drooping eyelids, his intolerant eyes, his aggressive beard, his huge
+chest, swelling and puffing as he laid down the law to Summerlee.  And
+Summerlee, too, there he was with his short briar between his thin
+moustache and his gray goat's-beard, his worn face protruded in eager
+debate as he queried all Challenger's propositions.  Finally, there was
+our host, with his rugged, eagle face, and his cold, blue, glacier eyes
+with always a shimmer of devilment and of humor down in the depths of
+them.  Such is the last picture of them that I have carried away.
+
+It was after supper, in his own sanctum--the room of the pink radiance
+and the innumerable trophies--that Lord John Roxton had something to
+say to us.  From a cupboard he had brought an old cigar-box, and this
+he laid before him on the table.
+
+"There's one thing," said he, "that maybe I should have spoken about
+before this, but I wanted to know a little more clearly where I was.
+No use to raise hopes and let them down again.  But it's facts, not
+hopes, with us now.  You may remember that day we found the pterodactyl
+rookery in the swamp--what?  Well, somethin' in the lie of the land
+took my notice.  Perhaps it has escaped you, so I will tell you.  It
+was a volcanic vent full of blue clay." The Professors nodded.
+
+"Well, now, in the whole world I've only had to do with one place that
+was a volcanic vent of blue clay.  That was the great De Beers Diamond
+Mine of Kimberley--what?  So you see I got diamonds into my head.  I
+rigged up a contraption to hold off those stinking beasts, and I spent
+a happy day there with a spud.  This is what I got."
+
+He opened his cigar-box, and tilting it over he poured about twenty or
+thirty rough stones, varying from the size of beans to that of
+chestnuts, on the table.
+
+"Perhaps you think I should have told you then.  Well, so I should,
+only I know there are a lot of traps for the unwary, and that stones
+may be of any size and yet of little value where color and consistency
+are clean off.  Therefore, I brought them back, and on the first day at
+home I took one round to Spink's, and asked him to have it roughly cut
+and valued."
+
+He took a pill-box from his pocket, and spilled out of it a beautiful
+glittering diamond, one of the finest stones that I have ever seen.
+
+"There's the result," said he.  "He prices the lot at a minimum of two
+hundred thousand pounds.  Of course it is fair shares between us.  I
+won't hear of anythin' else.  Well, Challenger, what will you do with
+your fifty thousand?"
+
+"If you really persist in your generous view," said the Professor, "I
+should found a private museum, which has long been one of my dreams."
+
+"And you, Summerlee?"
+
+"I would retire from teaching, and so find time for my final
+classification of the chalk fossils."
+
+"I'll use my own," said Lord John Roxton, "in fitting a well-formed
+expedition and having another look at the dear old plateau.  As to you,
+young fellah, you, of course, will spend yours in gettin' married."
+
+"Not just yet," said I, with a rueful smile.  "I think, if you will
+have me, that I would rather go with you."
+
+Lord Roxton said nothing, but a brown hand was stretched out to me
+across the table.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Lost World, by Arthur Conan Doyle
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