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SUNDAY, MAY 21.
“The Lost World”
The level of the plateau when I turn
ed was exactly that on which we stood,
and the green bank of bushes, with oc
casional trees, was so near that it was
difficult to realize how inaccessible it
Semained. At a rough guess the gulf
was torfy feet across; but, so far as I
could see, it might as well have been
forty miles. .1 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 ua The wall was absolutely pre
cipitous, as was that which faced me.
“This Is Indeed curious,” said the
Creaking voice of Professor Summerlee.
I turned and found that he was ex
amining with gTeat interest the tree to
which I clung. That smooth bark and
those small, ribbed leaves seemed fa
miliar to my eyes. “Why,” I cried.
“It’s a beech 1”
"Exactly,” said Summerlee—“a fel
low 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 savior.”
“By George,” cried Lord John, “a
fcrtdge!”
"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 recol
lection of once remarking to our young
friend here that G. E. C. is at tils best
when his back is to the wail. Last
night you will admit that all our backs
were to the wall. But where will pow
er and Intellect go together there is al
ways 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 fell only the right way it
would easily cross the chasm. Chal
lenger had slung the camp nx 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 re
frain 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 tree as would insure
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 far
ther 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 fu
ture historical painting.”
CHAPTER XI.
The Half Breed’s Revenge.
SEATING himself with a leg over
hanging the abyss on each side
and his hatchet slung upon his
bnck. 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 lastl” he cried. “At last!”
I gazed anxiously at him. with a
vague expectation that some terrible
fate would dart at him from the cur
tain 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 hack, 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 gnlf over which I was pass
ing. Summerlee held out the butt end
es his rifle, and an Instant later I was
able to grasp his hand. As to Lord
John, he walked across—actually walk
ed without support! He must have
nerves of iron.
And there we were, the four of ns,
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 fls I looked over a tangled mass of
and splintered trunk. It was
cur 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 be
fore us, a swarthy face, the fa>'e of
Gomez, the half breed, was slowly
protruded. Yes, it was Gomez, but no
longer the Gomez of the demure smile
and the masklike expression. Here
was a face with flashing eyes and dis
torted features, a face convulsed with
hatred and with the mad Joy of grati
fied revenge.
“Lord Roxtonl” he shouted. “Lord
John Boston r
“Wall,” said our companion, “here I
ASM **
BBL
A shriek of laughter came across the
abyss.
By A. CONAN DOYLE
“At teat!” he cried.
"Tea, there you are, yon 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 yon!”
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 onr
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 terri
ble. 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 yon 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 hnlf breed simply wrought
his vengeance and then escaped all
might have been well with him. It
was that foolish, irresistible Latin im
pulse to be dramatic which brought his
own downfall. Hoxton, the man who
had earned himself the name of the
“Flail of the Lord” through three coun
tries, was not one who could be safely
taunted. The half breed was descend
ing 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 clew to his
action each of us could cast back and
remember some sinister act upon the
part of the half breed—hte constant
desire to know our plans, his arrest
outside our tent when he was over
hearing them, the furtive looks of ha
tred which from time to time one or
other of ns had surprised. We were
still discussing it, endeavoring to ad
just our minds to these new condi
tions, 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 doee run when death
is the pacemaker. Behind him, only
a few yards In his rear, bounded the
huge ebony figure of Zambo, our de
voted 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 afterward Zambo rose,
looked at the prostrate man and then,
waving bis 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 bad done
lived after them. By no possible
means could we get back to the pin
nacle. We had been natives of the
world; now w© were natives of the
plateau. The two things were sepa
rate and apart There was the plain
which led to the canoes. Yonder, be
yond 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
all the 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, lint
of an Invincible serenity. For the mo
ment we could only sit among the
bushes in patience and wait the com
ing of Zambo. Presently hi# 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!”
i* vn" r pm wh'**’ <t w» r-«t
ier to ask than to answer. One thing
only was clear. He was our one trusty
link with the outside world. On no ac
count 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 nax
ons to return. We realized that Zam
bo spoke the truth and that it would
be impossible for him to keep them
with us.
“Make them wait till tomorrow, Zam
bo,’’ I shouted; “then I can send letter
back by them.”
“Very good, sarr! I promise they
wait till tomorrow,” 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
No Human Ingenuity
Means of Bridg-
C the Chasm.
undid the rope from the tree stump and
threw one end of it across to us. It
was not thicker than a clothesline, 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 enrried up,
and we were able to drag it across.
This gave us the menns of life for at
least a week, even if we found nothing
else.
Finally he descended and enrried
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 haul
ing it back. It wns evening when he
at last climbed down, with a final ns
surnnee that he would keep the Indians
till next morning.
P. S.—The more I think the more des
perate 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, hut 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 XII.
Penetrating Maple White Land.
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 sur
rounded by trees ui*on all sides. There
were some flat slabs of rock in the cen
ter, with an excellent well close by,
and there we sat In cleanly comfort
while we mado our first plans for the
invasion of this new country. Birds
were calling among the foliage, espe
cially one with a peculiar whooping
try 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 own own stores, so that we
might know what we had to rely upon.
What with the things w© had our
selves brought up and those which
Zambo had scut across on the rope we
were fAirly well supplied. Most im
portant of all, In view of the dangers
which might surround us, we had our
four rifles and 1,800 rounds; also a
shotgun, but not more than 150 medi
um pellet cartridges. In the matter of
provisions we had enough to last for
several weeks, with a sufficiency of
tobaoco and a few scientlfc' imple
ments, including a large telescope and
a good fieldglass. 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 dism
eter. This was to he our headquarters
for the time—our place of refuge
against sudden danger and the guurd
house for our stores. Fort Challenger
we called it.
The peaceful penetration of Maple
Whits Land, which we called the now
country, was the pressing subject be
fore us. We had the evidence of our
own eyes that the place was Inhabited
by aome unknown creatures, and there
was that of Maple White's sketchbook
to show that more dreadful and dan
gerous monsters might still appear.
That there might also prove to be
human occupanta and that they were
of a malevolent character was sug
gested by the akeleton impaled upon
the bamboos, which oould not have got
IHE AI'GUSIA HEKALU, AUGUSTA, Ga.
there had it not been dropped from
above. Our situation, stranded with
out possibility of escape in such a
land, was clearly full of danger, and
our reasons indorsed every measure
of caution which Lord John’s experi
ence 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 im
patience to push forward and to pluck
the heart from it.
We therefore blocked the entrance
to our zareba by filling it up with sev
eral thorny.hushes and left our camp
with the stores entirely surrounded by
this protecting hedge. We then slowly
and cautiously set forth into the un
known, following the course of the lit
tle 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 in
deed wonders awaiting us. After n
few hundred yards of thick forest con
tnining many trees which were quite
unknown to me, but which Summer
lee. who was the botanist of the par
ty, recognized as forms of conifera
and of e.vcadneeous plants which have
long passed away in the world below,
we entered a region where the stream
widened out and formed a considerable
bog. Suddenly I,ord John, who was
walking first, halted with uplifted
hand.
“Look at this!” said lie. “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 ex
amine 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 eager
ly round him and .slipped two car
tridges into his elephant gun.
“I’ll stake my good name as a shikar
rce,” / safd he, “that the track is a
fresh one. The creature has not pass
ed 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 par
allol to the large ones.
“But what do you make of this?”
cried Professor Summerlee triumphant-
-*■ s
We Observed Them at Our Leisure.
ly, pointing to whnt looked like the
huge print of a live fingered human
hand appearing among the three toed
marks.
“Wenlden!” cried Challenger In an
ecstasy. “I’ve seen them in the Weal
den clay. It is a creature walking
erect upon three toed feel and occa
sionally putting one of its five fingered
forepaws upon the ground. Not a bird,
my dear Itoxton —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 slood in motionless amaze
ment. Following the tracks, we had
left the morass and passed through a
screen of brushwood and trees. Be
yond was an open glade, and In this
wero five of the most extraordinary
creatures that I have ever seen.
Crouching down among the bushes,
we observed them at our leisure.
There were, us I say, five of them,
two lieing adults and three young ones.
In size they were enormous. Even
the babies were us big us elephants,
while the two large ones were far he
yond all creatures I have ever seen..
They had slate colored skin, which
was scaled like a lizard’s aud shim
inered where the sun shone upon 11.
All five were sitting up, balancing
themselves upon their broad, powerful
tails and their huge three toed bind
feet, while w’ltli their small five fin
gered front feet they pulled down the
branches upon which they browsed. I
do not know that. I can tiring their ap
pearance home to you better than by
saying that they looked like monstrous
kangaroos, twenty feet In length, and
wlfh skins like Mack crocodile*.
We saw the shimmering slaty gleam
of their skins between the tree trunks
and their heads undulating high alaive
the brushwood. Then they vanished
from our sight
(To be continued tomorrow)
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THREE