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.
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