White Pine news weekly mining review. [volume] (East Ely, Nev.) 1910-1920, 1916-05-28

by A. Conan Doyle.
ract seer in the distance, with a slop-
Ing, tree clad plain in the FOREGROUND.
81 believe 1t Is the same place as the
painted picture said i.
"It is the same place" the professor
answered. 81 found traces of the fel
lows camp. Now look at this"
II was a nearer view of the same
scene. though the Photograph was ex-
tremely defective. ! could distinctly
see an isolated. tree crowned pinnacle
OF rock which was. detached from the
crag.
II have no doubt of 1t at nil" said l..
.Well. that is something gained
said be. we progress. do we not?
Now. will you please look at the top of
! nat rocky pinnacle: DO yau observe
something theref"
IAN enormous tree"
"But on the tree
"a large bird said |.
He handed me a lens.
YES" / said. neering through it, "a
large bird stands on the tree. 1t ap-
pears to have a considerable beak. |
should say IL was a pelican"
81 cannot congratulate you upon
your eyesight," said the professor. 1T
is not a pelican. nor. indeed. is 1t a
bird. 1t may interest you to know
that | succeeded in shooting that par
tlcular specimen. 1t was the only aD-
solute proof of my experiences which
| was able to bring away with me"
"A monstrous bait" | suggested.
Nothing of the Sort" said the pro-
lessor severely. Living, as ] do. In
an educated and scientific atmosphere,
| could not have conceived that the
lrst principles of zoology were so lit
tie known. Is II possible that you
do not know the elementary fact In
comparative anatomy that the wing
of a bird is really the forearm. while
the wing OF a bat consists of three
elongated fingers with membranes be-
tween? Now, in this case the bone is
certainly not the forearm, and you can
see for yourself that this Is a single
membrane hanging upon a single bone
and therefore that II cannot belong to
a bat. But. II 1t is neither bird nor
bat, what is itY'
My small stock of knowledge was
exhausted.
II really do not know" said /.
He opened the standard work to
which he had already referred me.
"Here," said he, pointing to the pic
ture of an extraordinary flying mon
ster, sis an excellent reproduction OF
the dimorphodon, or p~terodactyl. a 6y-
ing reptile of the %jurassic period. On
the next page Is n diagram of the
mechanism of Its wing. Kindly COM
pare 1t with the specimen In your
hand"
A wave of ama2ement passed over
me as l looked. l was convinced.
There could be no getting away from
1t. The cumulative proof was over
whelming. The sketch, the photo
graphs, the narrative and now the ac-
tual specimen-the evidence was COM
plete. l said SOL said SO warmly,
for | felt that the professor was an Ill
used man. He leaned back In his
chair with dropping eyelids and a toll
Grant smile. basking In this sudden
CLEAN of sunshine. He purred with
satisfaction.
And then. sir. what did you do
next?"
ut was the wet season, Mr.. Malone,
and my stores were exhausted. | X.
plored some portion of this huge cliff.
but | was unable to find any way to
scale 1t. The pyramidal rock upon
which l saw and shot the pterodactyl
was more accessible. Being something
OF a cragsman. l did manage to get
halfway to the top of that. From that
height i had n better idea of the plateau
upon the top of the crags. 1t appeared
to be very large. Neither to east nor
to west could see any end to the WIS.,
Ia of green capped cliffs. Below It is a
swampy. jungly region. full Of snakes,
insects and fever. II Is a natural pro-
lection to this singular country"
ibid you see any other trace of life?"
mo. sir, did not, but during the
week that we lay encamped at the
base OF the cliff we heard some very
strange noises from above"
But the creature that the American
drew-how do you account for that?"
ave can only suppose that he must
have made his way to the summit md
seen Ii there. We know. therefore,
p ~