He handed me a photograph.
“This is one of the few which partially escaped – on our way back our boat was upset. There was talk of faking. I am not in a mood to argue such a point.”
The photograph was certainly very off-coloured. It represented a long and enormously high line of cliffs, with trees in the foreground.
“The same place as the painted picture…” said I.
“Yes,” the Professor answered. “We progress, do we not? Now, will you please look at the top of that rock? Do you observe something there?”
“An enormous tree.”
“But on the tree?”
“A large bird,” said I.
He handed me a lens.
“Yes,” I said, looking through it, “a large bird stands on the tree. It has a great beak. A pelican?”
“It may interest you that I shot it. It was the only absolute proof of my experiences.”
“You have it, then?”
“I had it. It was unfortunately lost in the same boat accident which ruined my photographs. Only a part of its wing was left in my hand.”
He took it out. It was at least two feet in length, a curved bone, with a membranous veil beneath it.
“A monstrous bat!” I suggested.
“Nothing of the sort,” said the Professor, severely. “The wing of a bat consists of three fingers with membranes between. Now, you can see that this is a single membrane hanging upon a single bone, and therefore that it cannot belong to a bat. What is it then?”
“I really do not know,” I said.
“Here,” said he, pointing to the picture of an extraordinary flying monster, “is an excellent reproduction of the pterodactyl, a flying reptile of the Jurassic period. On the next page is a diagram of the mechanism of its wing. Compare it with the specimen in your hand.”
A wave of amazement passed over me as I looked. I was convinced. There could be no getting away from it. The proof was overwhelming. The sketch, the photographs, the narrative, and now the actual specimen… the evidence was complete.
“It’s just the very biggest thing that I ever heard of!” I cried. “It is colossal. You have discovered a lost world! I’m awfully sorry if I seemed to doubt you.”
The Professor purred with satisfaction.[25]
“And then, sir, what did you do next?”
“I managed to see the plateau from the pyramidal rock upon which I saw and shot the pterodactyl. It appeared to be very large; I could not see the end of it. Below, it is jungly region, full of snakes, insects, and fever. It is a natural protection to this country.”
“Did you see any other trace of life?”
“No, I did not, but we heard some very strange noises from above.”
“But what about the creature that the American drew?”
“We can only suppose that he must have made his way to the rock and seen it there. The way is a very difficult one. That’s why the creatures do not come down and overrun the surrounding country.”
“But how did they come to be there?”
“There can only be one explanation. South America is a granite continent. At this single point in the interior there has been a great, sudden volcanic upheaval.[26] These cliffs, I may remark, are basaltic, and therefore plutonic. And a large area has been lifted up with all its living contents. What is the result? Creatures survive which would otherwise disappear. You will observe that both the pterodactyl and the stegosaurus are Jurassic. They have been artificially conserved by those strange accidental conditions.”
“Your evidence is conclusive. You have only to tell the world about it.”
“I can only tell you that I was met by incredulity,[27] born partly of stupidity and partly of jealousy. It is not my nature, sir, to prove a fact if my word has been doubted. When men like yourself, who represent the foolish curiosity of the public, came to disturb my privacy I was unable to meet them with open arms. By nature I am fiery. I fear you may have remarked it.”
I touched my eye and was silent.
“Well, I invite you to be present at the exhibition.” Challenger handed me a card from his desk. “Mr. Percival Waldron, a naturalist of some popular repute, is to lecture at eight-thirty at the Zoological Institute’s Hall upon ‘The Record of the Ages’. I have been specially invited. Maybe a few remarks may arouse the interest of the audience. We’ll see… By all means,[28] come. It will be a comfort to me to know that I have one ally in the hall, however inefficient and ignorant of the subject. No public use is to be made of any of the material that I have given you.”
“But Mr. McArdle… my news editor… will want to know what I have done.”
“Tell him what you like. I leave it to you that nothing of all this appears in print. Very good. Then the Zoological Institute’s Hall at eight-thirty tonight.”
Chapter 5
Question!
McArdle was at his post as usual.
“Well,” he cried, expectantly, “Don’t tell me that he attacked you.”
“We had a little difference[29] at first.”
“What a man it is! What did you do?”
“Well, he became more reasonable and we had a chat. But I got nothing out of him… nothing for publication.”
“You got a black eye[30] out of him, and that’s for publication. Mr. Malone, we must bring the man to his bearings.[31] Just give me the material. I’ll show him up for the fraud he is.”
“I wouldn’t do that, sir.”
“Why not?”
“Because he is not a fraud at all.”
“You don’t mean to say you really believe this stuff about mammoths and mastodons?”
“I do believe he has got something new.”
I told him the Professor’s narrative in a few sentences.
“Well, Mr. Malone,” he said at last, “about this scientific meeting tonight. You’ll be there in any case, so you’ll just give us a pretty full report.”
That day I met Tarp Henry. He listened to my story with a sceptical smile on his face, and roared with laughter on hearing that the Professor had convinced me.
“My dear friend, things don’t happen like that in real life. People don’t stumble upon enormous discoveries and then lose their evidence. Leave that to the novelists. The man is full of tricks.”
“Will you come to the meeting with me?” I asked suddenly.
Tarp Henry looked thoughtful.
“He is not a popular person,” said he. “I should say he is about the best-hated man in London. If the medical students turn out there will be no end of a mess.”
“You might at least do him justice[32] to hear him state his own case.”
“Well, it’s fair. All right. I’m your man for the evening.”
When we arrived at