It would have been an easy matter for the monster to have thrown his head and neck over the rocks, which were not more than a dozen feet high above the water, but there was no trace of the Plesiosaurus to be seen now.
“Do you suppose he hit him, Doc?” asked Dick, anxiously.
“No, I don’t,” was the reply. “We should see blood here somewhere if he had, and there is none.”
“Anyhow, the shot must have sent the monster down under the water again. It’s too bad, too bad.”
“Well, I don’t know,” said Dr. Dan. “It seems to me that it’s about all right. You couldn’t have done anything anyway. You’ve seen the thing with your own eyes now, Dick. You can’t accuse me of lying any more.”
“I never did,” replied Dick. “It was hard to believe that one of these strange creatures had survived, for they belong to the animal creation of one of the most distant prehistoric periods, but seeing is believing, so no more need be said about it. Question now is what’s to be done?”
“Your orders are to take the monster alive if possible?”
“Yes, and to telegraph Professor Poynter at once if I caught a sight of it.”
“That’s impossible. We can’t pull up stakes and go back to Node Ranch without accomplishing more than we have already. It would be ridiculous.”
“It seems so to me. I didn’t give it any thought at the time I received my instructions, but I see it now.”