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."
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