inkle their eyes, shake their heads, and there was the end of it.
Even the old chief met us with the same obstinate denial, and it was
only Maretas, the youngster whom we had saved, who looked wistfully at
us and told us by his gestures that he was grieved for our thwarted
wishes. Ever since their crowning triumph with the ape-men they looked
upon us as supermen, who bore victory in the tubes of strange weapons,
and they believed that so long as we remained with them good fortune
would be theirs. A little red-skinned wife and a cave of our own were
freely offered to each of us if we would but forget our own people and
dwell forever upon the plateau. So far all had been kindly, however
far apart our desires might be; but we felt well assured that our
actual plans of a descent must be kept secret, for we had reason to
fear that at the last they might try to hold us by force.

In spite of the danger from dinosaurs (which is not great save at
night, for, as I may have said before, they are mostly nocturnal in
their habits) I have twice in the last three weeks been over to our old
camp in order to see our negro who still kept watch and ward below the
cliff. My eyes strained eagerly across the great plain in the hope of
seeing afar off the help for which we had prayed. But the long
cactus-strewn levels still stretched away, empty and bare, to the
distant line of the cane-brake.

"They will soon come now, Massa Malone. Before another week pass
Indian come back and bring rope and fetch you down." Such was the
cheery cry of our excellent Zambo.

I had one strange experience as I came from this second visit which had
involved my being away for a night from my companions. I was returning
along the well-remembered route, and had reached a spot within a mile
or so of the marsh of the pterodactyls, when I saw an extraordinary
object approaching me. It was a man who walked inside a framework made
of bent canes so that he was enclosed on all sides in a bell-shaped
cage. As I drew nearer I was more amazed still to see that it was Lord
John Roxton. When he saw me he slipped from under his curious
protection and came towards me laughing, and yet, as I thought, with
some confusion in his manner.

"Well, young fellah," said he, "who would have thought of meetin' you
up here?"

"What in the world are you doing?" I asked.

"Visitin' my friends, the pterodactyls," said he.

"But why?"

"Interestin' beasts, don't you think