We cleared the spot and were able to study the details of this old tragedy. Only a few shreds of clothes could still be distinguished, but it was very clear that the dead man was a European. A gold watch by Hudson, of New York, and a chain which held a stylographic pen, lay among the bones. There was also a silver cigarette-case. The state of the metal seemed to show that the catastrophe had occurred no great time before.
“Who can he be?” asked Lord John. “Poor man! Every bone in his body seems to be broken.”
“And the bamboo grows through his ribs,” said Summerlee. “It is a fast-growing plant, but it is surely inconceivable that this body could have been here while the canes grew to be twenty feet in length.”
“As to the man’s identity,” said Professor Challenger, “I have no doubt who he is. Maple White was not alone all the time. He had a companion, an American named James Colver. I think, therefore, that there can be no doubt that we are now looking at the remains of this James Colver.”
“And we know how he met his death,” said Lord John. “He has fallen from the top, and so been impaled.”
We stood silently round these shattered remains and realized the truth of Lord John Roxton’s words. Undoubtedly he had fallen from above. But had he fallen? Had it been an accident? Or…
We moved off in silence, and continued to coast round the line of cliffs. In five miles we saw no rift or break. And then suddenly we saw something which filled us with new hope. In a hollow of the rock, there was drawn an arrow in chalk, pointing still to the west.
“Maple White again,” said Professor Challenger.
We had proceeded some five more miles when again we saw a white arrow on the rocks, pointing higher up. We came to a solemn place, the walls were so gigantic and the slit of blue sky so narrow, so that only a shadowy light penetrated to the bottom. We had had no food for many hours, and were very tired with the journey, but our nerves were too strung to allow us to relax. Suddenly the quick eyes of Lord John fell on what we were seeking. High up above our heads, there was a hole. Surely it could only be the opening of a cave. Here was the point, where Maple White and his ill-fated companion had made their ascent. We were too excited to return to the camp and made our first exploration at once.
Lord John took out an electric torch and entered the cave and we followed at his heels. First the cave ran straight into the rock. Finally we found ourselves climbing upon our hands and knees. Suddenly an exclamation broke from Lord Roxton.
“It’s blocked!” said he. “The roof has fallen in!”
It was evident that the obstacle was far beyond any efforts which we could make to remove it. The road by which Maple White had ascended was no longer available.
Too much depressed to speak, we made our way back to the camp. And then something terrible happened. We had gathered in a little group, when a huge rock rolled suddenly downwards. We could not see where the rock had come, but our half-breed servants said that it must therefore have fallen from the summit. Looking upwards, we could see no sign of movement above us. There could be little doubt, however, that the stone was aimed at us, so the incident surely pointed to humanity… upon the plateau.
Our minds were full of this new development. The situation was difficult enough before, but if the obstacles of Nature were increased by the opposition of man, then our case was a hopeless one. And yet, as we looked up at that beautiful world only a few hundreds of feet above our heads, nobody thought of returning to London until we had explored it.
