“No, my dear young friend, my arms are not broken. I am not hurt at all.”
“Then, why can’t you put the rope under your arms?”
“Because I have a very rare specimen of a big, red lizard in one hand, and a strange kind of a bat in the other. They are both alive, and if I let them go to fix the rope they’ll get away, and they’re worth five hundred dollars each. I’d rather stay here all my life than lose these specimens.”
“How will we ever get him up?” asked Bob.
[CHAPTER II.]
THE PROFESSOR’S STORY.
For a little while it did seem like a hard proposition. The professor could not, or rather would not, aid himself. Once the rope was around him it would be an easy matter for the boys to haul him out of the hole.
“If we could lasso him it would be the proper thing,” said Bob.
“I have it!” exclaimed Ned.