[00:00.01] Chapter 6, In deadly peril.
[00:06.98] Perhaps we should have moved camp, but we were too sick and exhausted after the pterodactyl attack.
[00:16.37] The bites of those flying monsters must have been poisonous.
[00:21.86] Professor Summerly and I both had a fever, and we were in great pain all the next day.
[00:33.46] When night came, Lord John sat on guard by our camp fence.
[00:39.98] We three others were sleeping by the fire.
[00:44.87] Suddenly, I sat bolt upright.
[00:49.46] A terrible cry came from the darkness outside.
[00:54.83] More came, awful nerve-shattering shrieks of torment, and then a terrible throaty rumbling roar.
[01:07.57] At first, I thought it was my fevered mind, but the screams had woken Challenger and Summerly too.
[01:18.68] What on earth is that? I whispered.
[01:23.78] The shrieks stopped, but then we heard more awful sounds.
[01:29.73] A thump, thump, thump, like heavy footsteps was coming closer.
[01:42.06] Something big was out there, prowling round our camp fence.
[01:48.83] The beast must have smelled us.
[01:52.47] It stopped by our gate.
[01:56.83] We could hear it breathing, then it snarled.
[02:02.71] I felt the hairs rise on the back of my neck, but Lord John kept cool, as always.
[02:10.32] He made a spy hole in the fence and peered out into the darkness beyond.
[02:18.53] I think I can see it, he said.
[02:22.97] I crawled over and joined him at the spy hole.
[02:28.89] I can see a huge crouching shape with savage gleaming eyes, I told the professors.
[02:39.08] Straight away, they started discussing what it could be, as if we weren't in deadly peril.
[02:50.53] No doubt a carnivorous dinosaur, declared Challenger, perhaps an Allosaurus.
[03:01.37] Most likely, said Summerly in his dry boffin's voice.
[03:09.14] It's going to jump! I hissed.
[03:14.46] Lord John said, if it gets over that fence, we're done for.
[03:22.18] He sprang into action, grabbing a blazing branch from the fire.
[03:29.14] He slipped outside.
[03:32.98] Through the hole in the fence, I saw everything.
[03:38.82] There was a gleam of fangs as the creature rushed forward.
[03:45.14] But Lord John didn't hesitate.
[03:49.79] He ran to meet it and thrust the blazing branch into its face.
[03:58.05] I heard a furious roar, caught a glimpse of a warty face, like a giant toad's, dripping with blood.
[04:11.24] Then the creature turned and plunged back into the forest.
[04:17.92] I took my first breath, it seemed for several minutes.
[04:26.90] Lord John came back into camp.
[04:32.07] I thought it wouldn't like fire, he said.
[04:39.44] That was the bravest thing I've ever seen, I told him.
[04:45.54] You're a hero!
[04:48.45] What rubbish, laughed Lord John, shrugging off my praise.
[04:55.48] He went back to his guard duty as if nothing had happened.
[05:02.75] The next morning, we found the reason for those dreadful shrieks in the night.
[05:10.27] The Allosaurus had torn a gentle Iguanadon to pieces and eaten it outside our camp.
[05:20.54] We were lucky that it hadn't been hungry when it attacked us.
[05:28.83] Summerly was white with horror.
[05:32.51] I believe, he said, we should get down from this plateau as soon as possible.
[05:44.14] After all, we have done what we came for and proved Challenger's story true.
[05:54.96] I agree, I nodded.
[05:58.91] I had my own reasons for wanting to get back to London.
[06:04.97] What a story this would make.
[06:08.85] I'd always wanted the scoop of the century, and now I'd got it.
[06:18.49] But Challenger, of course, protested.
[06:23.95] He glared fiercely at us.
[06:29.69] I'm not going back until I have made a map of my lost world.
[06:37.18] For that, we must explore every corner.
[06:42.87] But that could take weeks, complained Summerly.
[06:49.93] Then suddenly, I had a brainwave.
[06:56.16] See that tall tree over there? I said.
[07:02.98] From the top, I should be able to see all of the plateau.
[07:08.61] I'll sketch a map of it in my notebook.
[07:15.07] To my amazement, Challenger didn't argue.
[07:22.40] He even said, as if surprised, young man, that's a good idea.
[07:32.60] Since we'd started, I'd felt like the baby of the expedition.
[07:39.30] My companions were older than me and more experienced, but they couldn't climb trees like I could.
[07:50.79] At last, I'd found a way of being useful.
[07:56.15] I couldn't wait to get climbing.
[08:01.99] Take my binoculars, said Lord John.
[08:09.11] I slung them over my shoulder and began scrambling up the trunk.
[08:15.12] I climbed quickly.
[08:19.71] Soon, even Challenger's booming voice seemed far away.
[08:27.71] I swung from branch to branch.
[08:31.40] It seemed I was climbing to the clouds.
[08:36.30] But the tree was very tall, and there was still a great spread of branches above my head.
[08:47.71] I pulled myself up higher.
[08:52.51] Ah! I gave a terrified shriek.
[08:59.69] I almost fell out of the tree.
[09:07.06] A face was peering into mine.
[09:13.70] It had a low forehead and a jutting jaw.
[09:21.49] Its tiny squinting eyes peered at me with malice.
[09:27.63] Was it ape or human?
[09:33.48] I was sure it would attack me, but then fear filled its eyes, and it crashed down through the tree, swinging from branch to branch.
[09:49.22] Its whole body was covered with downy red hair.
[09:57.81] One last crash, and it was gone.
[10:05.88] I collapsed over the branch, gasping with relief.
[10:12.51] I almost started back down.
[10:17.82] But after a few minutes, my courage came back.
[10:24.67] I'd promised Challenger a map of his plateau.
[10:30.48] Imagine how he'd sneer if I went back without it.
[10:37.69] You must go on, I told myself sternly.
[10:45.79] I met no more apemen as I climbed to the top and wedged myself between two branches.
[10:56.07] From up here, I could see the whole plateau.
[11:02.43] The clearing where the iguanadons grazed, the pterodactyl nesting place.
[11:11.17] I could also see parts of the plateau we hadn't explored.
[11:19.93] In its center was a great round lake, sparkling in the sun.
[11:27.47] Through the binoculars, I saw strange creatures sunning themselves on its banks, but I couldn't make out what they were.
[11:40.62] Then I looked beyond the lake.
[11:47.01] Through the binoculars, I saw cliffs with dark holes in them.
[11:58.91] Could they be caves? I wondered.
[12:05.83] I heard an impatient bellow from below.
[12:11.28] I quickly sketched out a map of what I could see and scrambled down the tree.
[12:19.26] Did you see it? I asked breathlessly.
[12:24.55] See what? asked Lord John.
[12:29.32] The ape man.
[12:33.16] He was up in that tree.
[12:35.83] He must have been watching our camp all this time.
[12:44.15] All three shook their heads.
[12:47.95] The professors discussed it for a moment in great excitement.
[12:55.76] Was it more ape than human or more human than ape?
[13:03.52] Could it be the missing link between the two that scientists have been seeking for years?
[13:14.81] Then they looked at my map.
[13:19.85] It's saved us weeks, perhaps months of dangerous exploration, said Summerly.
[13:30.84] This is most valuable information, said Challenger.
[13:38.07] What could those creatures be on the lakeshore?
[13:43.58] Perhaps plesiosaurus, a swimming dinosaur?
[13:52.78] Well done, young man, said Lord John.
[13:59.69] Then all three of them shook my hand.
[14:04.62] I couldn't help feeling a glow of pride, for once, I was the hero of the expedition.