CHAPTER IX
"Who could have Foreseen it?"
A dreadful thing has happened to us. Who could have foreseen it? Icannot foresee any end to our troubles. It may be that we arecondemned to spend our whole lives in this strange, inaccessible place.I am still so confused that I can hardly think clearly of the facts ofthe present or of the chances of the future. To my astounded sensesthe one seems most terrible and the other as black as night.
No men have ever found themselves in a worse position; nor is there anyuse in disclosing to you our exact geographical situation and askingour friends for a relief party. Even if they could send one, our fatewill in all human probability be decided long before it could arrive inSouth 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 saveus. I have as companions three remarkable men, men of greatbrain-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 Isee some glimmer through the darkness. Outwardly I trust that I appearas unconcerned as they. Inwardly I am filled with apprehension.
Let me give you, with as much detail as I can, the sequence of eventswhich have led us to this catastrophe.
When I finished my last letter I stated that we were within seven milesfrom an enormous line of ruddy cliffs, which encircled, beyond alldoubt, the plateau of which Professor Challenger spoke. Their height,as we approached them, seemed to me in some places to be greater thanhe had stated--running up in parts to at least a thousand feet--andthey were curiously striated, in a manner which is, I believe,characteristic of basaltic upheavals. Something of the sort is to beseen in Salisbury Crags at Edinburgh. The summit showed every sign ofa luxuriant vegetation, with bushes near the edge, and farther backmany 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 wildand 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 Imentioned earlier in this narrative. It is like a broad red churchspire, the top of it being level with the plateau, but a great chasmgaping between. On the summit of it there grew one high tree. Bothpinnacle and cliff were comparatively low--some five or six hundredfeet, 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 rockbefore I shot him. I am inclined to think that a good mountaineer likemyself could ascend the rock to the top, though he would, of course, beno nearer to the plateau when he had done so."
As Challenger spoke of his pterodactyl I glanced at ProfessorSummerlee, and for the first time I seemed to see some signs of adawning credulity and repentance. There was no sneer upon his thinlips, but, on the contrary, a gray, drawn look of excitement andamazement. Challenger saw it, too, and reveled in the first taste ofvictory.
"Of course," said he, with his clumsy and ponderous sarcasm,"Professor Summerlee will understand that when I speak of a pterodactylI mean a stork--only it is the kind of stork which has no feathers, aleathery skin, membranous wings, and teeth in its jaws." He grinnedand blinked and bowed until his colleague turned and walked away.
In the morning, after a frugal breakfast of coffee and manioc--we hadto be economical of our stores--we held a council of war as to the bestmethod of ascending to the plateau above us.
Challenger presided with a solemnity as if he were the Lord ChiefJustice on the Bench. Picture him seated upon a rock, his absurdboyish straw hat tilted on the back of his head, his supercilious eyesdominating us from under his drooping lids, his great black beardwagging as he slowly defined our present situation and our futuremovements.
Beneath him you might have seen the three of us--myself, sunburnt,young, and vigorous after our open-air tramp; Summerlee, solemn butstill critical, behind his eternal pipe; Lord John, as keen as arazor-edge, with his supple, alert figure leaning upon his rifle, andhis eager eyes fixed eagerly upon the speaker. Behind us were groupedthe two swarthy half-breeds and the little knot of Indians, while infront and above us towered those huge, ruddy ribs of rocks which keptus from our goal.
"I need not say," said our leader, "that on the occasion of my lastvisit I exhausted every means of climbing the cliff, and where I failedI do not think that anyone else is likely to succeed, for I amsomething of a mountaineer. I had none of the appliances of arock-climber with me, but I have taken the precaution to bring themnow. With their aid I am positive I could climb that detached pinnacleto the summit; but so long as the main cliff overhangs, it is vain toattempt ascending that. I was hurried upon my last visit by theapproach of the rainy season and by the exhaustion of my supplies.These considerations limited my time, and I can only claim that I havesurveyed about six miles of the cliff to the east of us, finding nopossible way up. What, then, shall we now do?"
"There seems to be only one reasonable course," said ProfessorSummerlee. "If you have explored the east, we should travel along thebase of the cliff to the west, and seek for a practicable point for ourascent."
"That's it," said Lord John. "The odds are that this plateau is of nogreat size, and we shall travel round it until we either find an easyway 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 yearsold), "that it is quite impossible that there should be an easy way upanywhere, for the simple reason that if there were the summit would notbe isolated, and those conditions would not obtain which have effectedso singular an interference with the general laws of survival. Yet Iadmit that there may very well be places where an expert human climbermay reach the summit, and yet a cumbrous and heavy animal be unable todescend. It is certain that there is a point where an ascent ispossible."
"How do you know that, sir?" asked Summerlee, sharply.
"Because my predecessor, the American Maple White, actually made suchan ascent. How otherwise could he have seen the monster which hesketched in his notebook?"
"There you reason somewhat ahead of the proved facts," said thestubborn Summerlee. "I admit your plateau, because I have seen it; butI have not as yet satisfied myself that it contains any form of lifewhatever."
"What you admit, sir, or what you do not admit, is really ofinconceivably small importance. I am glad to perceive that the plateauitself has actually obtruded itself upon your intelligence." He glancedup 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. "Nowsir!" he shouted, hoarse with excitement. "Do I help you to realizethat the plateau contains some animal life?"
I have said that a thick fringe of green overhung the edge of thecliff. Out of this there had emerged a black, glistening object. Asit came slowly forth and overhung the chasm, we saw that it was a verylarge snake with a peculiar flat, spade-like head. It wavered andquivered above us for a minute, the morning sun gleaming upon itssleek, sinuous coils. Then it slowly drew inwards and disappeared.
Summerlee had been so interested that he had stood unresisting whileChallenger tilted his head into the air. Now he shook his colleagueoff and came back to his dignity.
"I should be glad, Professor Challenger," said he, "if you could seeyour way to make any remarks which may occur to you without seizing meby the chin. Even the appearance of a very ordinary rock python doesnot appear to justify such a liberty."
"But there is life upon the plateau all the same," his colleaguereplied in triumph. "And now, having demonstrated this importantconclusion 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 andtravel to westward until we find some means of ascent."
The ground
at the foot of the cliff was rocky and broken so that thegoing was slow and difficult. Suddenly we came, however, uponsomething which cheered our hearts. It was the site of an oldencampment, 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 theChicago 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 whichovershadowed the encampment. "I say, look at this," said he. "Ibelieve it is meant for a sign-post."
A slip of hard wood had been nailed to the tree in such a way as topoint to the westward.
"Most certainly a sign-post," said Challenger. "What else? Findinghimself upon a dangerous errand, our pioneer has left this sign so thatany party which follows him may know the way he has taken. Perhaps weshall 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 highbamboo, like that which we had traversed in our journey. Many of thesestems were twenty feet high, with sharp, strong tops, so that even asthey stood they made formidable spears. We were passing along the edgeof this cover when my eye was caught by the gleam of something whitewithin it. Thrusting in my head between the stems, I found myselfgazing at a fleshless skull. The whole skeleton was there, but theskull had detached itself and lay some feet nearer to the open.
With a few blows from the machetes of our Indians we cleared the spotand were able to study the details of this old tragedy. Only a fewshreds of clothes could still be distinguished, but there were theremains of boots upon the bony feet, and it was very clear that thedead man was a European. A gold watch by Hudson, of New York, and achain which held a stylographic pen, lay among the bones. There wasalso a silver cigarette-case, with "J. C., from A. E. S.," upon thelid. The state of the metal seemed to show that the catastrophe hadoccurred no great time before.
"Who can he be?" asked Lord John. "Poor devil! every bone in his bodyseems to be broken."
"And the bamboo grows through his smashed ribs," said Summerlee. "Itis a fast-growing plant, but it is surely inconceivable that this bodycould 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 doubtwhatever upon that point. As I made my way up the river before Ireached you at the fazenda I instituted very particular inquiries aboutMaple White. At Para they knew nothing. Fortunately, I had a definiteclew, for there was a particular picture in his sketch-book whichshowed him taking lunch with a certain ecclesiastic at Rosario. Thispriest I was able to find, and though he proved a very argumentativefellow, who took it absurdly amiss that I should point out to him thecorrosive effect which modern science must have upon his beliefs, henone the less gave me some positive information. Maple White passedRosario four years ago, or two years before I saw his dead body. Hewas not alone at the time, but there was a friend, an American namedJames Colver, who remained in the boat and did not meet thisecclesiastic. I think, therefore, that there can be no doubt that weare 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. Howelse could he come by his broken bones, and how could he have beenstuck through by these canes with their points so high above our heads?"
A hush came over us as we stood round these shattered remains andrealized the truth of Lord John Roxton's words. The beetling head ofthe cliff projected over the cane-brake. Undoubtedly he had fallenfrom above. But had he fallen? Had it been an accident? Or--alreadyominous and terrible possibilities began to form round that unknownland.
We moved off in silence, and continued to coast round the line ofcliffs, which were as even and unbroken as some of those monstrousAntarctic ice-fields which I have seen depicted as stretching fromhorizon to horizon and towering high above the mast-heads of theexploring vessel.
In five miles we saw no rift or break. And then suddenly we perceivedsomething which filled us with new hope. In a hollow of the rock,protected from rain, there was drawn a rough arrow in chalk, pointingstill to the westwards.
"Maple White again," said Professor Challenger. "He had somepresentiment 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 accepthis guidance and follow on to the westward."
We had proceeded some five more miles when again we saw a white arrowupon the rocks. It was at a point where the face of the cliff was forthe first time split into a narrow cleft. Inside the cleft was asecond guidance mark, which pointed right up it with the tip somewhatelevated, 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 ofblue sky so narrow and so obscured by a double fringe of verdure, thatonly a dim and shadowy light penetrated to the bottom. We had had nofood for many hours, and were very weary with the stony and irregularjourney, but our nerves were too strung to allow us to halt. Weordered the camp to be pitched, however, and, leaving the Indians toarrange it, we four, with the two half-breeds, proceeded up the narrowgorge.
It was not more than forty feet across at the mouth, but it rapidlyclosed until it ended in an acute angle, too straight and smooth for anascent. Certainly it was not this which our pioneer had attempted toindicate. We made our way back--the whole gorge was not more than aquarter of a mile deep--and then suddenly the quick eyes of Lord Johnfell upon what we were seeking. High up above our heads, amid the darkshadows, there was one circle of deeper gloom. Surely it could only bethe opening of a cave.
The base of the cliff was heaped with loose stones at the spot, and itwas not difficult to clamber up. When we reached it, all doubt wasremoved. Not only was it an opening into the rock, but on the side ofit there was marked once again the sign of the arrow. Here was thepoint, and this the means by which Maple White and his ill-fatedcomrade had made their ascent.
We were too excited to return to the camp, but must make our firstexploration at once. Lord John had an electric torch in his knapsack,and this had to serve us as light. He advanced, throwing his littleclear circlet of yellow radiance before him, while in single file wefollowed at his heels.
The cave had evidently been water-worn, the sides being smooth and thefloor covered with rounded stones. It was of such a size that a singleman could just fit through by stooping. For fifty yards it ran almoststraight into the rock, and then it ascended at an angle of forty-five.Presently this incline became even steeper, and we found ourselvesclimbing upon hands and knees among loose rubble which slid frombeneath 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 ofbroken basalt which extended to the ceiling.
"The roof has fallen in!"
In vain we dragged out some of the pieces. The only effect was thatthe larger ones became detached and threatened to roll down thegradient and crush us. It was evident that the obstacle was far beyondany efforts which we could make to remove it. The road by which MapleWhite had ascended was no longer available.
Too much cast down to speak, we stumbled down the dark tunnel and madeour way back to the camp.
One incident occurred, however, before we left the gorge, which is ofimportance in view of what came afterwards.
We had gathered in a little group at the bottom of the chasm, someforty feet beneath the mouth of the cave, when a huge rock rolledsuddenly downwards--and shot past us with tremendous force. It was thenarrowest escape for one or all of us
. We could not ourselves seewhence the rock had come, but our half-breed servants, who were stillat the opening of the cave, said that it had flown past them, and musttherefore have fallen from the summit. Looking upwards, we could seeno sign of movement above us amidst the green jungle which topped thecliff. There could be little doubt, however, that the stone was aimedat us, so the incident surely pointed to humanity--and malevolenthumanity--upon the plateau.
We withdrew hurriedly from the chasm, our minds full of this newdevelopment and its bearing upon our plans. The situation wasdifficult enough before, but if the obstructions of Nature wereincreased by the deliberate opposition of man, then our case was indeeda hopeless one. And yet, as we looked up at that beautiful fringe ofverdure only a few hundreds of feet above our heads, there was not oneof us who could conceive the idea of returning to London until we hadexplored it to its depths.
On discussing the situation, we determined that our best course was tocontinue to coast round the plateau in the hope of finding some othermeans of reaching the top. The line of cliffs, which had decreasedconsiderably in height, had already begun to trend from west to north,and if we could take this as representing the arc of a circle, thewhole circumference could not be very great. At the worst, then, weshould 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 aneroidshows us that in the continual incline which we have ascended since weabandoned our canoes we have risen to no less than three thousand feetabove sea-level. Hence there is a considerable change both in thetemperature and in the vegetation. We have shaken off some of thathorrible insect life which is the bane of tropical travel. A few palmsstill survive, and many tree-ferns, but the Amazonian trees have beenall left behind. It was pleasant to see the convolvulus, thepassion-flower, and the begonia, all reminding me of home, here amongthese inhospitable rocks. There was a red begonia just the same coloras one that is kept in a pot in the window of a certain villa inStreatham--but I am drifting into private reminiscence.
That night--I am still speaking of the first day of ourcircumnavigation of the plateau--a great experience awaited us, and onewhich for ever set at rest any doubt which we could have had as to thewonders so near us.
You will realize as you read it, my dear Mr. McArdle, and possibly forthe first time that the paper has not sent me on a wild-goose chase,and that there is inconceivably fine copy waiting for the worldwhenever we have the Professor's leave to make use of it. I shall notdare to publish these articles unless I can bring back my proofs toEngland, or I shall be hailed as the journalistic Munchausen of alltime. I have no doubt that you feel the same way yourself, and thatyou would not care to stake the whole credit of the Gazette upon thisadventure until we can meet the chorus of criticism and scepticismwhich such articles must of necessity elicit. So this wonderfulincident, which would make such a headline for the old paper, muststill wait its turn in the editorial drawer.
And yet it was all over in a flash, and there was no sequel to it, savein our own convictions.
What occurred was this. Lord John had shot an ajouti--which is asmall, pig-like animal--and, half of it having been given to theIndians, we were cooking the other half upon our fire. There is achill 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 seefor a little distance across the plain. Well, suddenly out of thedarkness, out of the night, there swooped something with a swish likean aeroplane. The whole group of us were covered for an instant by acanopy 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 instantit was gone--and so was our dinner. A huge black shadow, twenty feetacross, skimmed up into the air; for an instant the monster wingsblotted out the stars, and then it vanished over the brow of the cliffabove us. We all sat in amazed silence round the fire, like the heroesof Virgil when the Harpies came down upon them. It was Summerlee whowas the first to speak.
"Professor Challenger," said he, in a solemn voice, which quavered withemotion, "I owe you an apology. Sir, I am very much in the wrong, andI 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 notsuperabundant, for we had no further glimpse of it during the nextthree days. During this time we traversed a barren and forbiddingcountry, which alternated between stony desert and desolate marshesfull of many wild-fowl, upon the north and east of the cliffs. Fromthat direction the place is really inaccessible, and, were it not for ahardish ledge which runs at the very base of the precipice, we shouldhave had to turn back. Many times we were up to our waists in theslime and blubber of an old, semi-tropical swamp. To make mattersworse, the place seemed to be a favorite breeding-place of the Jaracacasnake, the most venomous and aggressive in South America. Again andagain these horrible creatures came writhing and springing towards usacross the surface of this putrid bog, and it was only by keeping ourshot-guns for ever ready that we could feel safe from them. Onefunnel-shaped depression in the morass, of a livid green in color fromsome lichen which festered in it, will always remain as a nightmarememory in my mind. It seems to have been a special nest of thesevermins, and the slopes were alive with them, all writhing in ourdirection, for it is a peculiarity of the Jaracaca that he will alwaysattack man at first sight. There were too many for us to shoot, so wefairly took to our heels and ran until we were exhausted. I shallalways remember as we looked back how far behind we could see the headsand 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, beingchocolate-brown in color; the vegetation was more scattered along thetop 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. Ifanything, they were more impossible than at the first point where wehad met them. Their absolute steepness is indicated in the photographwhich I took over the stony desert.
"Surely," said I, as we discussed the situation, "the rain must findits way down somehow. There are bound to be water-channels in therocks."
"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 wehave conclusively proved by ocular demonstration that there are nowater 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 itmust 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," saidSummerlee. "The whole formation is, of course, highly volcanic. But,however that may be, I should expect to find the surface of the plateauslope inwards with a considerable sheet of water in the center, whichmay drain off, by some subterranean channel, into the marshes of theJaracaca Swamp."
"Or evaporation might preserve an equilibrium," remarked Challenger,and the two learned men wandered off into one of their usual scientificarguments, which were as comprehensible as Chinese to the layman.
On the sixth day we completed our first circuit of the cliffs, andfound ourselves back at the first camp, beside the isolated pinnacle ofrock. We were a disconsolate party, for nothing could have been moreminute than our investigation, and it was absolutely certain that therewas no single point where the most active human being could possiblyhope to scale the cliff. The place which Maple White's chalk-marks hadindicated as
his own means of access was now entirely impassable.
What were we to do now? Our stores of provisions, supplemented by ourguns, were holding out well, but the day must come when they would needreplenishment. In a couple of months the rains might be expected, andwe 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 thanour time or resources would admit. No wonder that we looked gloomilyat each other that night, and sought our blankets with hardly a wordexchanged. I remember that as I dropped off to sleep my lastrecollection was that Challenger was squatting, like a monstrousbull-frog, by the fire, his huge head in his hands, sunk apparently inthe deepest thought, and entirely oblivious to the good-night which Iwished him.
But it was a very different Challenger who greeted us in the morning--aChallenger with contentment and self-congratulation shining from hiswhole person. He faced us as we assembled for breakfast with adeprecating false modesty in his eyes, as who should say, "I know thatI deserve all that you can say, but I pray you to spare my blushes bynot saying it." His beard bristled exultantly, his chest was thrownout, and his hand was thrust into the front of his jacket. So, in hisfancy, may he see himself sometimes, gracing the vacant pedestal inTrafalgar Square, and adding one more to the horrors of the Londonstreets.
"Eureka!" he cried, his teeth shining through his beard. "Gentlemen,you may congratulate me and we may congratulate each other. Theproblem 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 beclimbed we had our companion's assurance. But a horrible abyss laybetween 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 maybe able to show you that the resources of an inventive mind are not yetexhausted."
After breakfast we unpacked the bundle in which our leader had broughthis climbing accessories. From it he took a coil of the strongest andlightest 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 Iwas really the novice at rock-work of the party; but my strength andactivity may have made up for my want of experience.
It was not in reality a very stiff task, though there were momentswhich made my hair bristle upon my head. The first half was perfectlyeasy, but from there upwards it became continually steeper until, forthe last fifty feet, we were literally clinging with our fingers andtoes to tiny ledges and crevices in the rock. I could not haveaccomplished it, nor could Summerlee, if Challenger had not gained thesummit (it was extraordinary to see such activity in so unwieldy acreature) and there fixed the rope round the trunk of the considerabletree which grew there. With this as our support, we were soon able toscramble up the jagged wall until we found ourselves upon the smallgrassy platform, some twenty-five feet each way, which formed thesummit.
The first impression which I received when I had recovered my breathwas of the extraordinary view over the country which we had traversed.The whole Brazilian plain seemed to lie beneath us, extending away andaway until it ended in dim blue mists upon the farthest sky-line. Inthe foreground was the long slope, strewn with rocks and dotted withtree-ferns; farther off in the middle distance, looking over thesaddle-back hill, I could just see the yellow and green mass of bamboosthrough which we had passed; and then, gradually, the vegetationincreased until it formed the huge forest which extended as far as theeyes could reach, and for a good two thousand miles beyond.
I was still drinking in this wonderful panorama when the heavy hand ofthe Professor fell upon my shoulder.
"This way, my young friend," said he; "vestigia nulla retrorsum. Neverlook rearwards, but always to our glorious goal."
The level of the plateau, when I turned, was exactly that on which westood, and the green bank of bushes, with occasional trees, was so nearthat it was difficult to realize how inaccessible it remained. At arough 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 thetrunk of the tree and leaned over the abyss. Far down were the smalldark figures of our servants, looking up at us. The wall wasabsolutely precipitous, as was that which faced me.
"This is indeed curious," said the creaking voice of ProfessorSummerlee.
I turned, and found that he was examining with great interest the treeto which I clung. That smooth bark and those small, ribbed leavesseemed 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, "butalso, if I may be allowed to enlarge your simile, an ally of the firstvalue. 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 expendedan hour last night in focusing my mind upon the situation. I have somerecollection 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 admitthat all our backs were to the wall. But where will-power andintellect go together, there is always a way out. A drawbridge had tobe found which could be dropped across the abyss. Behold it!"
It was certainly a brilliant idea. The tree was a good sixty feet inheight, and if it only fell the right way it would easily cross thechasm. Challenger had slung the camp axe over his shoulder when heascended. Now he handed it to me.
"Our young friend has the thews and sinews," said he. "I think he willbe the most useful at this task. I must beg, however, that you willkindly refrain from thinking for yourself, and that you will do exactlywhat you are told."
Under his direction I cut such gashes in the sides of the trees aswould ensure that it should fall as we desired. It had already astrong, natural tilt in the direction of the plateau, so that thematter was not difficult. Finally I set to work in earnest upon thetrunk, taking turn and turn with Lord John. In a little over an hourthere was a loud crack, the tree swayed forward, and then crashed over,burying its branches among the bushes on the farther side. The severedtrunk rolled to the very edge of our platform, and for one terriblesecond we all thought it was over. It balanced itself, however, a fewinches from the edge, and there was our bridge to the unknown.
All of us, without a word, shook hands with Professor Challenger, whoraised his straw hat and bowed deeply to each in turn.
"I claim the honor," said he, "to be the first to cross to the unknownland--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 leadbecause you are by way of bein' a man of science. But it's up to youto 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 bechock-full of enemies of sorts. To barge blindly into it for want of alittle common sense and patience isn't my notion of management."
The remonstrance was too reasonable to be disregarded. Challengertossed 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' forlunch-time among those very bushes," said Lord John, looking across thebridge. "It's better to learn wisdom before you get into acookin'-pot; so we will content ourselves with hopin' that there is notrouble waitin' for us, and at the same time we will act as i
f therewere. Malone and I will go down again, therefore, and we will fetch upthe four rifles, together with Gomez and the other. One man can thengo across and the rest will cover him with guns, until he sees that itis safe for the whole crowd to come along."
Challenger sat down upon the cut stump and groaned his impatience; butSummerlee and I were of one mind that Lord John was our leader whensuch practical details were in question. The climb was a more simplething now that the rope dangled down the face of the worst part of theascent. 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 theyhad carried up a bale of provisions in case our first explorationshould 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 theangry Professor; for never was a man so intolerant of every form ofauthority. "Since you are good enough to allow it, I shall mostcertainly take it upon myself to act as pioneer upon this occasion."
Seating himself with a leg overhanging the abyss on each side, and hishatchet slung upon his back, Challenger hopped his way across the trunkand was soon at the other side. He clambered up and waved his arms inthe air.
"At last!" he cried; "at last!"
I gazed anxiously at him, with a vague expectation that some terriblefate would dart at him from the curtain of green behind him. But allwas quiet, save that a strange, many-colored bird flew up from underhis feet and vanished among the trees.
Summerlee was the second. His wiry energy is wonderful in so frail aframe. He insisted upon having two rifles slung upon his back, so thatboth 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 waspassing. Summerlee held out the butt-end of his rifle, and an instantlater I was able to grasp his hand. As to Lord John, he walkedacross--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 supremetriumph. Who could have guessed that it was the prelude to our supremedisaster? 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 yardsof close brushwood, when there came a frightful rending crash frombehind 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 tangledmass of branches and splintered trunk. It was our beech tree. Had theedge of the platform crumbled and let it through? For a moment thisexplanation was in all our minds. The next, from the farther side ofthe rocky pinnacle before us a swarthy face, the face of Gomez thehalf-breed, was slowly protruded. Yes, it was Gomez, but no longer theGomez of the demure smile and the mask-like expression. Here was aface with flashing eyes and distorted features, a face convulsed withhatred 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! Ihave waited and waited, and now has come my chance. You found it hardto get up; you will find it harder to get down. You cursed fools, youare trapped, every one of you!"
We were too astounded to speak. We could only stand there staring inamazement. A great broken bough upon the grass showed whence he hadgained 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 isbetter. It is slower and more terrible. Your bones will whiten upthere, and none will know where you lie or come to cover them. As youlie dying, think of Lopez, whom you shot five years ago on the PutomayoRiver. I am his brother, and, come what will I will die happy now, forhis memory has been avenged." A furious hand was shaken at us, and thenall was quiet.
Had the half-breed simply wrought his vengeance and then escaped, allmight have been well with him. It was that foolish, irresistible Latinimpulse to be dramatic which brought his own downfall. Roxton, the manwho had earned himself the name of the Flail of the Lord through threecountries, was not one who could be safely taunted. The half-breed wasdescending on the farther side of the pinnacle; but before he couldreach the ground Lord John had run along the edge of the plateau andgained a point from which he could see his man. There was a singlecrack of his rifle, and, though we saw nothing, we heard the scream andthen the distant thud of the falling body. Roxton came back to us witha face of granite.
"I have been a blind simpleton," said he, bitterly, "It's my follythat has brought you all into this trouble. I should have rememberedthat these people have long memories for blood-feuds, and have beenmore upon my guard."
"What about the other one? It took two of them to lever that tree overthe edge."
"I could have shot him, but I let him go. He may have had no part init. Perhaps it would have been better if I had killed him, for hemust, as you say, have lent a hand."
Now that we had the clue to his action, each of us could cast back andremember some sinister act upon the part of the half-breed--hisconstant desire to know our plans, his arrest outside our tent when hewas over-hearing them, the furtive looks of hatred which from time totime one or other of us had surprised. We were still discussing it,endeavoring to adjust our minds to these new conditions, when asingular scene in the plain below arrested our attention.
A man in white clothes, who could only be the surviving half-breed, wasrunning as one does run when Death is the pacemaker. Behind him, onlya few yards in his rear, bounded the huge ebony figure of Zambo, ourdevoted negro. Even as we looked, he sprang upon the back of thefugitive and flung his arms round his neck. They rolled on the groundtogether. An instant afterwards Zambo rose, looked at the prostrateman, and then, waving his hand joyously to us, came running in ourdirection. The white figure lay motionless in the middle of the greatplain.
Our two traitors had been destroyed, but the mischief that they haddone lived after them. By no possible means could we get back to thepinnacle. We had been natives of the world; now we were natives of theplateau. The two things were separate and apart. There was the plainwhich led to the canoes. Yonder, beyond the violet, hazy horizon, wasthe stream which led back to civilization. But the link between wasmissing. No human ingenuity could suggest a means of bridging thechasm which yawned between ourselves and our past lives. One instanthad altered the whole conditions of our existence.
It was at such a moment that I learned the stuff of which my threecomrades were composed. They were grave, it is true, and thoughtful,but of an invincible serenity. For the moment we could only sit amongthe bushes in patience and wait the coming of Zambo. Presently hishonest black face topped the rocks and his Herculean figure emergedupon 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 thingonly was clear. He was our one trusty link with the outside world. Onno account must he leave us.
"No no!" he cried. "I not leave you. Whatever come, you always findme here. But no able to keep Indians. Already they say too muchCurupuri live on this place, and they go home. Now you leave them meno able to keep them."
It was a fact that our Indians had shown in many ways of late that theywere weary of their journey and anxious to return. We realized thatZambo spoke the truth, and that it would be impossible for him to keepthem.
"Make them wait till to-morrow, Zambo," I shouted; "then I can sendletter 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 didit. First of all, under our directions, he undid the rope from thetree-stump and threw one end of it across to us. It was not thickerthan a clothes-line, but it was of great strength, and though we couldnot make a bridge of it, we might well find it invaluable if we had anyclimbing to do. He then fastened his end of the rope to the package ofsupplies 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 foundnothing else. Finally he descended and carried up two other packets ofmixed goods--a box of ammunition and a number of other things, all ofwhich 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 assurancethat he would keep the Indians till next morning.
And so it is that I have spent nearly the whole of this our first nightupon the plateau writing up our experiences by the light of a singlecandle-lantern.
We supped and camped at the very edge of the cliff, quenching ourthirst 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 hadhad adventures enough for one day, and none of us felt inclined to makethe first push into the unknown. We forbore to light a fire or to makeany unnecessary sound.
To-morrow (or to-day, rather, for it is already dawn as I write) weshall make our first venture into this strange land. When I shall beable 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 Iam sure that the faithful Zambo will be here presently to get myletter. I only trust that it will come to hand.
P.S.--The more I think the more desperate does our position seem. Isee no possible hope of our return. If there were a high tree near theedge of the plateau we might drop a return bridge across, but there isnone within fifty yards. Our united strength could not carry a trunkwhich would serve our purpose. The rope, of course, is far too shortthat we could descend by it. No, our position is hopeless--hopeless!
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