Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-08-30
CHAPTER TX.
"Who Could Have Foreseen III"

VINO CoNiG rave oreSeen liz"
q DREADFUL thing has happen
"a ed to us. Who could have fore
seen it? I cannot foresee any
end TO our troubles. 1t may
be that we are condemned to spend
our whole lives in this strange, mac
cesSibie place. I am still so confused
that ! can hardly think clearly of the
facts OF the present or Of the chances
Of the future. To my astounded senses
the one seems most terrible and the
other as black as night.
When I finished my last letter stat
ed that we were within seven miles
from an enormous line of rudy cliffs
which encircled, beyond all doubt, the
plateau of which Professor Challenger
spoke. Their height as we approach
ed them, seemed to me in some places
to be greater than he had stated. run
ming up in parts TO at least a thousand
feet and they were curiously striated
in a manner which is, I believe, char
acterisuc Of basaltic upheavals. Some
thing of the sort is to be seen in Sails
bury Crags, at Edinburgh. The sum-
NIT showed every sign of a luxuriant
and farther back many high trees.
There was no indication Of any life
that we could see.
That night VIC pitched our camp i'm
mediately under the clif-a most wild
and desolate spot. The crags above
US were rot merely perpendicular, but
curved outward at the top. so that as
cent was out Of the question.
In the morning, after a frugal break
fast Of coffee and manioc-we had to
be economical Of our stOres-we held
council OF war as TO the best method
of ascending to the plateau above US.
Challenger presided with a solemnity
as If he were the lord chief justice on
the bench. Picture him seated upon a
rock. his absurd boyish straw hat tilt
ed on the back of his head, his super
cilious eyes dominating US from undGr
his dropping lids, his great black beard
wagging as he slowly defined our pres
ent situation and our future move
ments.
Il need not say" said our leader,
that on the occasion of my last visit
I exhausted every means of climbing
the cliff. and where l failed / do not
think any one else is likely to succeed,
for ] am something of mountaineer.
I had none of the appliances of rock
climber with me. but l have taken the
precaution to bring them now. With
their aid 1 am positive l could climb
that detached pinnacle to the summit.
But so long as the main cliff overhangs
1t Is vain to attempt ascending that.
I was hurried upon my last visit by
the approach of the rainy season and
by the exhaustion of my supplies
These considerations limited my time,
and I can only claim that I have sur
veyed ABOUT SIX mics or Une Cnn 70
the east Of US, finding no possible way
up. What, then, shall we now do?"
There seems to be only one reason
able course" said Professor Summer
lee. If you have explored she east |
we should travel along the base of the !
cliff TO the west and seek for a prac- |
ticable point for our ascent"
That's it," said Lord John. The |
odds are that this plateau is of great |
size, and we shall travel round it until |
we either find an easy way up it or |
come back to the point from which |
we started"
Lie S1OGAu dI Inc LOU Oh the CHI
was rocky and broken, so that the 60 |
ing was slow and difficult Suddenly /
we came, however, upon something
which cheered our hearts. 1t was the
site Of an old encampment, with sew
eral empty Chicago meat tins. a bottle
labeled Brandy" a broken tin opener
and a quantity Of other travellers de-
brts. A crurnpled. distntegrated news
paper revealed itself as the Chicago
Democrat, though the date had been
obliterated.
Not mine" said Challenger. "It
must be Maple Whites"