The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1925-03-12
THE LOST WORLD
BIZ Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

removed. Not only wac 1t an open
ing into the rock. but ca the side
Of 1t there was marked once again
the sign of the arrow. Here was
the point. and this the means by
which Maple White and his Inflated
comradc had made their ascent
We we're too excited TO return
to the camp, but must make our
first exploration at once. Lord
John had am electric torch In his
knapsack. and this had to serve as
as light.
The cave had evidently been wa
ter1worn, the sides being smooth
and the floor covered with rounded
stones. It was OF such a size that
q single man could Just fit through
by STOPPING. For fifty yards 1t ran
almost straight into the rock, and
then It assembled at an angle OF forty
five. Presently this incline became
even sleeper, and we found our
selves climbing upon hands and
knees among loose rubble which slid
from beneath us. Suddenly an ex.
clamation broke from Lord Roxton.
tits blockedp' said he.
Clustering behind him we saw in
the yellow field of light wall Of
broken basat which extended to the
calling.
THE roof has fallen in"
In vain we dragged out some of
the pieces. The oriy effect was
that the larger ones became de-
tached and threatened to roll down
the gradient and crush us. 1t was
evident that the obstacle was far
beyond any efforts which we could
make to remove it. The road by
which Maple White had assembled
was no longer available.
Too much cast down to speak we
stumbled down the dark tunnel and
made our way back to the camp.
One incident occurred, however,
before we left the gorge, which is
of Importance in view of what came
afterwards. a
We had gathered in a little group
at the bottom OF the chasm, some
forty feet beneath the mouth of the
cave when a huge rock rolled sud
denly downwards ana shot past us
with tremendous force. 1t was the
narrowest escape for one or all of
us. We could not ourselves see
whence the rock had come, but our
half-breed servants, who were still at
the opening of the cave. said that II
had flown past them, and must
therefore have fallen from the sum-
nit. Looking upwards. we could see
no sign Of movement above us
amidst the green jungle which
topped the cliff. There could be little
doubt. however, that the stone was
aimed at us, so the incident surely
pointed to hufnanhy-and malevol-
Fent acknowledgement the plateau.
/ The situation was difficult enough
before, but II the distractions of Ma
ture were increased by the deliberate
opposition of man, then our case was
indeed hopeless one. And. yet, as
we looked up at that beautiful
fringe of verdure only a few hun
dreds of feet above our heads. there
was not one Of us who could con-
ceive the idea of returning to Lon
don until we had explored 1t to its
depths.
We determined that our best
course was to continue to coast
round the plateau in the hope Of
fifding some other means of reach
ing the top. The line OF cliffs, which
had decreased considerably in height.
had already begun to trend from
west to north. and II we could take
this az representing the arc Of a
circle, the whole circumference could
not be very great. At the worst,
then, we should be back in a few
DAYS at our starting-point.
We made march tnat day which
totaled some two-and-twenty miles,
without any change in our PROSPECTS.
may mention that our aneroid
shows us that in the continual In
CuDe WHICH we nave dsSCcDucQ SinCc
we abandoned our canoes we have
risen to no less than 1900 feet above
the sea-level. Hence there is ., con-
siderable change both in the tenn
perature and in the vegetation. 81
That night am still speaking of
the first day of our circum-naviga-
ton of the plateau--a great expert
aence awaited us. and one which for
ever set at rest any doubt which we
could have had as to the wonders so
near us.
You will realize as you read 1t. my
dear Mr.. McArdle. and possibly for
the first time that the paper has not
sent me on a wild-goose chase. and
that there is irconceivably fine cccy
waiting for the world whenever we
have the Professors leave to make
use Of it. / shall not dare to pub
lish these articles unless can bring
back my proofs 70 England, or I
shall be hailed as the journalistic
Munchausen of all time.
ITO Be Continued.)
Copyright, 1912. by A. Conan Doyie.)