Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-06-09
THE LOST WORLD

y
it a name" said Challenger.
Then" said I,-blushing, | dare say, as
said it. "let it be named Lake Gladys"
Don't YOU think the Central Lake would
be more descrptive?' remarked Summerlee.
a should prefer Lake Gladys
Challenger looked at me sympathetlcally
and shook his great head in mock disap-
prevail @Boys will be boys, said he. Lake
Gladys let it be.
CHAPTER XII.
1T Was Dreadful In the Forest
T HAVE sailor perhaps | have not said;
l for my memory plays me sad tricks these
days-that l glowed with pride when three
such men as my comrades thanked me tor
having saved, or at least greatly helped, the
situation. As the youngster OF the party,
not merely in years, but in experience, char
acter, knowledge, and all that goes to make
man, | had been overshadowed from the
first And now | was coming into my own!
/ warmed at the thought. Alas for the pride
which goes before fall! That little glow of
self satisfaction, that added measure of self
confidence, was to lead me that very night
to the most dreadful experience of my life,
ending with a shock which turns my heart
sick when think of it.
It came about in this way: | had been
unduly excited by the adventure OF the tree,
and sleep seemed to be impossible. Sum-
merlee was on guard sitting hunched over
our small fire,-a quaint, angular figure, his
rifle across his knee, and his pointed, goat
like beard wagging with each weary nod OF
his head. Lord Roxton lay silent, wrapped
in the North American poncho which he
wore, while Challenger snored with roll and
rattle which reverberated through the
woods. The full moon was shining brightly,
and the air was crisply cold. What night
for a walk.
And then suddenly came the thought,
"Why noto" Suppose | stole softly away,
suppose | made my way down to the central
lake, suppose | was back at breakfast with
some record of the place. would not in
that case be thought an even more worthy
associate? Then, if Summerlee carried the
day and some means of escape were found,
we should return to London with first hand
knowledge of the central mystery of the
plateau, to which | alone, of all men, would
have penetrated. l thought of Gladys with
her "there are heroisms all around us" l
seemed to hear her voice as she said it. l
thought also of McArdle. What three
column article for the paper! What foun
dation for a career! A correspondentship IN
the next great war might be within my reach.
clutched at a gun, my pockets were full
of cartridges, and, parting the thorn bushes
at the gate OF Our ZaTeDa, quickly Snppeu
out My last glance showed me the uncon-
scious Summerlee, most futile of sentinels,
still nodding away like queer mechanical
toy, in front of the smoldering fire.
T HAD not gone a hundred yards before |
deeply repented my rashness. | may
have said somewhere in this chronicle that
| am too imaginative to be a really courage
Gus man, but that have an overpowering
fear of seeming afraid This was the power
which now carried me onward. | simply
could not stink back with nothing done!
Even if my comrades should not have missed
me, and should never know of my weakness,
there would still remain some intolerable
self shame in my own soul. And yet shud-
dcred at the position in which | found my
SELF and would have given all possessed at
that moment to have been honorably free
Of the whole business.
1t was dreadful in the forest. The trees
grew so thick and their foliage spread so wide
that | could see nothing of the moonlight,
save that here and there the high branches
made tangled fligree against the starry
sky. As the eyes became more used to the
obscurity, one learned that there were differ
ent degrees of darkness among the trees,-
that some were dimly visible, while between
and among them were coal-black, Swallowed
patches, like the mouths of caves, from