The Lost World
descending on the farther side of the pinnacle; but before he could
reach the ground Lord John had run along the edge of the plateau and
gained a point from which he could see his man. There was a single
crack of his rifle, and, though we saw nothing, we heard the scream and
then the distant thud of the falling body. Roxton came back to us with
a face of granite.
"I have been a blind simpleton," said he, bitterly, "It's my folly
that has brought you all into this trouble. I should have remembered
that these people have long memories for blood-feuds, and have been
more upon my guard."
"What about the other one? It took two of them to lever that tree over
the edge."
"I could have shot him, but I let him go. He may have had no part in
it. Perhaps it would have been better if I had killed him, for he
must, as you say, have lent a hand."
Now that we had the clue to his action, each of us could cast back and
remember some sinister act upon the part of the half-breed--his
constant desire to know our plans, his arrest outside our tent when he
was over-hearing them, the furtive looks of hatred which from time to
time one or other of us had surprised. We were still discussing it,
endeavoring to adjust our minds to these new conditions, when a
singular scene in the plain below arrested our attention.
A man in white clothes, who could only be the surviving half-breed, was
running as one does run when Death is the pacemaker. Behind him, only
a few yards in his rear, bounded the huge ebony figure of Zambo, our
devoted negro. Even as we looked, he sprang upon the back of the
fugitive and flung his arms round his neck. They rolled on the ground
together. An instant afterwards Zambo rose, looked at the prostrate
man, and then, waving his hand joyously to us, came running in our
direction. The white figure lay motionless in the middle of the great
plain.
Our two traitors had been destroyed, but the mischief that they had
done lived after them. By no possible means could we get back to the
pinnacle. We had been natives of the world; now we were natives of the
plateau. The two things were separate and apart. There was the plain
which led to the canoes. Yonder, beyond the violet, hazy horizon, was
the stream which led back to civilization. But the link between was
missing. No human ingenuity could suggest a means of bridging the
chasm which yawned between ourselves and our past lives. One instant
had altered the whole conditions of our existence.
It was at such a moment that I learned the stuff of which my three
comrades were composed. They were grave, it is true, and thoughtful,
but of an invincible serenity. For the moment we could only sit among
the bushes in patience and wait the coming of Zambo. Presently his
honest black face topped the rocks and his Herculean figure emerged
upon the top of the pinnacle.
"What I do now?" he cried. "You tell me and I do it."
It was a question which it was easier to ask than to answer. One thing
only was clear. He was our one trusty link with the outside world. On
no account must he leave us.
"No no!" he cried. "I not leave you. Whatever come, you always find
me here. But no able to keep Indians. Already they say too much
Curupuri live on this place, and they go home. Now you leave them me
no able to keep them."
It was a fact that our Indians had shown in many ways of late that they
were weary of their journey and anxious to return. We realized that
Zambo spoke the truth, and that it would be impossible for him to keep
them.
"Make them wait till to-morrow, Zambo," I shouted; "then I can send
letter back by them."
"Very good, sarr! I promise they wait till to-morrow," said the negro.
"But what I do for you now?"
There was plenty for him to do, and admirably the faithful fellow did
it. First of all, under our directions, he undid the rope from the
tree-stump and threw one end of it across to us. It was not thicker
than a clothes-line, but it was of great strength, and though we could
not make a bridge of it, we might well find it invaluable if we had any
climbing to do. He then fastened his end of the rope to the package of
supplies which had been carried up, and we were able to drag it across.
This gave us the means of life for at least a week, even if we found
nothing else. Finally he descended and carried up two other packets of
mixed goods--a box of ammunition and a number of other things, all of
which we got across by throwing our rope to him and hauling it back.
It was evening when he at last climbed down, with a final assurance
that he would keep the Indians till next morning.
And so it is that I have spent nearly the whole of this our first night
upon the plateau writing up our experiences by the light of a single
candle-lantern.
We supped and camped at the very edge of the cliff, quenching our
thirst with two bottles of Apollinaris which were in one of the cases.
It is vital to us to find water, but I think even Lord John himself had
had adventures enough for one day, and none of us felt inclined to make
the first push into the unknown. We forbore to light a fire or to make
any unnecessary sound.
To-morrow (or to-day, rather, for it is already dawn as I write) we
shall make our first venture into this strange land. When I shall be
able to write again--or if I ever shall write again--I know not.
Meanwhile, I can see that the Indians are still in their place, and I
am sure that the faithful Zambo will be here presently to get my
letter. I only trust that it will come to hand.
P.S.--The more I think the more desperate does our position seem. I
see no possible hope of our return. If there were a high tree near the
edge of the plateau we might drop a return bridge across, but there is
none within fifty yards. Our united strength could not carry a trunk
which would serve our purpose. The rope, of course, is far too short
that we could descend by it. No, our position is hopeless--hopeless!
CHAPTER X
"The most Wonderful Things have Happened"
The most wonderful things have happened and are continually happening
to us. All the paper that I possess consists of five old note-books
and a lot of scraps, and I have only the one stylographic pencil; but
so long as I can move my hand I will continue to set down our
experiences and impressions, for, since we are the only men of the
whole human race to see such things, it is of enormous importance that
I should record them whilst they are fresh in my memory and before that
fate which seems to be constantly impending does actually overtake us.
Whether Zambo can at last take these letters to the river, or whether I
shall myself in some miraculous way carry them back with me, or,
finally, whether some daring explorer, coming upon our tracks with the
advantage, perhaps, of a perfected monoplane, should find this bundle
of manuscript, in any case I can see that what I am writing is destined
to immortality as a classic of true adventure.
On the morning after our being trapped upon the plateau by the
villainous Gomez we began a new stage in our experiences. The first
incident in it was not such as to give me a very favorable opinion of
the place to which we had wandered. As I roused myself from a short
nap after day had dawned, my eyes fell upon a most singular appearance
upon my own leg. My trouser had slipped up, exposing a few inches of
my skin above my sock. On this there rested a large, purplish grape.
Astonished at the sight, I leaned forward to pick it off, when, to my
horror, it burst between my finger and thumb, squirting blood in every
direction. My cry of disgust had brought the two professors to my side.
"Most interesting," said Summerlee, bending over my shin. "An enormous
blood-tick, as yet, I believe, unclassified."
"The first-fruits of our labors," said Challenger in his booming,
pedantic fashion. "We cannot do less than call it Ixodes Maloni. The
very small inconvenience of being bitten, my young friend, cannot, I am
sure, weigh with you as against the glorious privilege of having your
name inscribed in the deathless roll of zoology. Unhappily you have
crushed this fine specimen at the moment of satiation."
"Filthy vermin!" I cried.
Professor Challenger raised his great eyebrows in protest, and placed a
soothing paw upon my shoulder.
"You should cultivate the scientific eye and the detached scientific
mind," said he. "To a man of philosophic temperament like myself the
blood-tick, with its lancet-like proboscis and its distending stomach,
is as beautiful a work of Nature as the peacock or, for that matter,
the aurora borealis. It pains me to hear you speak of it in so
unappreciative a fashion. No doubt, with due diligence, we can secure
some other specimen."
"There can be no doubt of that," said Summerlee, grimly, "for one has
just disappeared behind your shirt-collar."
Challenger sprang into the air bellowing like a bull, and tore
frantically at his coat and shirt to get them off. Summerlee and I
laughed so that we could hardly help him. At last we exposed that
monstrous torso (fifty-four inches, by the tailor's tape). His body
was all matted with black hair, out of which jungle we picked the
wandering tick before it had bitten him. But the bushes round were
full of the horrible pests, and it was clear that we must shift our
camp.
But first of all it was necessary to make our arrangements with the
faithful negro, who appeared presently on the pinnacle with a number of
tins of cocoa and biscuits, which he tossed over to us. Of the stores
which remained below he was ordered to retain as much as would keep him
for two months. The Indians were to have the remainder as a reward for
their services and as payment for taking our letters back to the
Amazon. Some hours later we saw them in single file far out upon the
plain, each with a bundle on his head, making their way back along the
path we had come. Zambo occupied our little tent at the base of the
pinnacle, and there he remained, our one link with the world below.
And now we had to decide upon our immediate movements. We shifted our
position from among the tick-laden bushes until we came to a small
clearing thickly surrounded by trees upon all sides. There were some
flat slabs of rock in the center, with an excellent well close by, and
there we sat in cleanly comfort while we made our first plans for the
invasion of this new country. Birds were calling among the
foliage--especially one with a peculiar whooping cry which was new to
us--but beyond these sounds there were no signs of life.
Our first care was to make some sort of list of our own stores, so that
we might know what we had to rely upon. What with the things we had
ourselves brought up and those which Zambo had sent across on the rope,
we were fairly well supplied. Most important of all, in view of the
dangers which might surround us, we had our four rifles and one
thousand three hundred rounds, also a shot-gun, but not more than a
hundred and fifty medium pellet cartridges. In the matter of
provisions we had enough to last for several weeks, with a sufficiency
of tobacco and a few scientific implements, including a large telescope
and a good field-glass. All these things we collected together in the
clearing, and as a first precaution, we cut down with our hatchet and
knives a number of thorny bushes, which we piled round in a circle some
fifteen yards in diameter. This was to be our headquarters for the
time--our place of refuge against sudden danger and the guard-house for
our stores. Fort Challenger, we called it.
It was midday before we had made ourselves secure, but the heat was not