“Oh, he’s lifting up his head!” cried Clara. “He’s waking up!”
The Plesiosaurus perhaps had been disturbed by the loud talking. Slowly the great head came up through the water, rose above the surface and surveyed the party with its huge eyes in a fashion which seemed to show a decided bump of curiosity.
Suddenly its mouth opened and the monster let out one mighty bellow which made the rocks around fairly ring.
Clara screamed in terror, but old P. D. drew his head down in a dignified way and tucked it under his body again.
“I could have lassoed him then!” cried Doctor Dan. “Pity we didn’t have the rope ready.”
“We’ll get it ready right away,” said Dick, “for he may take a notion to have another look at us any moment. I wonder if this post will hold.”
“It’s pretty firm,” said Doctor Dan, trying it. “I feel more worried about the rope. Lay hold here, boys, we will unwind it and tie one end to the post. Leave the knots to me. I’ll fix them so that two P. D.’s could not unloose them, but I don’t want to guarantee that the rope won’t break.”
It took half an hour of good hard work to get everything in readiness and during all that time old P. D. had never moved.
As there would be no chance to lasso him until he did, Dick and Charley undertook to stir the monster up by throwing big stones into the pool.
Meanwhile Clara had taken her place at the top of the ridge behind the hut, rather a dangerous spot, too, for behind her there was a sheer descent down over the cliffs of several hundred feet to a narrow ledge below.