The Lost World
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