am very happy – Clothilda continued – that this case delivered me interesting acquaintance. I read your books about the primitive person, and very much it are pleasant to me…
Likorn bowed. He did not expect in any way to meet here the venerator of the scientific works.
– Tell, professor, this young man who caught a bird on my hat whether the wild person is that whom you found in the Himalayas in your last expedition? All newspapers wrote about it, and I terribly wanted to look at this celebrity.
– Yes, it it. The wild person, or rather the white savage whom I found in the Himalayas, at the height of several thousand feet.
Clothilda made the bystry movement.
– As it is interesting…
– Really, this white savage is of extraordinary scientific interest. He is not just a savage. It is incidentally remained copy of absolutely disappeared human breed, the last representative of people who lived many tens of thousands years ago and who as I assume, were primogenitors of the European people.
– You named him Adam?
– This name was given it for fun, and then was assigned to it. Exclusively interesting copy. But … – professor Likorn sighed – if you knew how many he brought to me cares and troubles! At first I, certainly, could not release him from prison. He had to be trained as an animal. But he missed locked up. And when it «was a little civilized», I began to take it with myself on walk. It is attached to me and is obedient as a dog.
When I for the first time went with it to the Luxembourg garden, he literally went gaga over. And before I came round, he already climbed up a tree and cried for joy so that the walking children with crying in horror jumped aside aside. The watchman hardened from such sacrilege. Another time Adam rushed to the pool of the fountain of Carnot – he wanted to bathe. At the Place de la Concorde he climbed up a horse statue, having gathered around himself crowd of gapers…
Clothilda laughed. She listened to it with great interest.
– Once, when we came back with Adam on the carrier, to him bothered to go too slowly. Adam seized the carrier by a collar, put off from a trestle, one jump of villages astride a horse and rushed off at full speed.
Clothilda again loudly burst out laughing.
– You will not retell everything. And on my head protocols, penalties, trials pour. Shampollio-na Street where we live with it, was simply completely terrorized. At first the administration of Sorbonne disentangled me from a trouble, also the Ministry of Public Education sometimes came to the rescue. But eventually they were bothered by it. Fortunately, Adam considerably settled down. He already decently speaks French. I already rejoiced that with its wild tricks is through, and here the day before yesterday this unpleasant case with you…
– Let’s not speak about this case, dear professor. Tell better as you managed to tear off from native mountains of a biped young of wild animal and to transport to Paris.
– I prepare for printing my traveling diary. If you are interested, I can give you proof-sheets.
– Lovely professor, as I am grateful to you! Tomorrow send. – Clothilda fitfully got up and reaped both hands of Likorn.
III. DIARY OF PROFESSOR LIKORN
Next day the maid gave morning mail on a tray.
– It is the diary! – Clothilda exclaimed. – Mari, today I accept nobody.
When the maid left, Clothilda with nervous haste broke off a big envelope, took seat in a deep chair and began to read.
«June 11. When I went to an expedition to the Himalayas, one my colleague playfully wished me to meet among eternal snow of mountain tops «the living namesake» [73]. This wish was not executed. «The snow dwelling» [74] accepted me quite inhospitably. And in general my travel in the scientific relation went quite unsuccessfully.
I began the travel with a sole of the southern slope adjoining the Province of Assam. The mountains below covered with magnificent tropical vegetation shelter tigers, elephants, monkeys. Bright greens of all shades, from light yellow to dark blue, are decked by brighter paints of flowers of plumage of birds: parrots, pheasants, hens of the most unusual coloring. If not clouds of insects and unpleasant dampness at night and even in the afternoon, rising from the boggy lowland at a sole of mountains, this place would be worthy names of earthly paradise.
Also the second belt, at the height of 1000 meters, with its vegetation familiar to the European eye – oaks and wild chestnuts is fine.
It is higher than 2500 meters – already a kingdom of coniferous trees, and at the height of 5600 meters «the snow dwelling» begins in the true sense. Here the bear or a mountain goat only occasionally rises. As it is strange to stand on top of six-seven thousand meters, in ice air from which takes breath and to look down, at a green belt of tropical vegetation. Amazing show.
But I came not for the sake of beauty of the nature here. I looked for «the namesakes», traces of those who lived in this snow dwelling one hundred, one thousand, million years ago. My searches, however, were unsuccessful. Himalaja jealously hid the secrets under ice blocks.
The travel is accompanied by extraordinary difficulties here. Mountains are broken, crossed by gorges. At night intolerable cold. At all there is no fuel – either a bunch of a dry grass, or a bush. Snow, both ice, and eternal silence.
Conductors grumbled, and many of them abandoned me after one conductor fell in an abyss and broke. With me there were only three. To cut with them ice in search of remains of minerals would be madness. It was necessary to hope for the help of the nature: sometimes at a collapse of rocks or ice blocks bones of primitive animals are bared. But the destiny did not send me such lucky coincidence. And I already thought of disgraceful return.
But today’s morning rewarded me for everything. I represent how many noise will be done by my find in all scientific world.
Here is how it was.
Early in the morning I wandered between frozen rocks alone, with a rifle behind shoulders.
Having turned for the rock, I uvidat something forced me to shudder. It seemed to me that I hallucinate. I steps in twenty, at the rock, was faced a back to me by a biped animal. Otherwise I cannot call this being. Only the raincoat from the animal skin which is chopped off on the left shoulder was thrown his naked bronze body. A thick hair turned its head of hear into a shock. On hands and under skin of naked shoulders and a right shoulder-blade played muscles as huge spheres. He rested naked legs against ice as though it was the parquet, and held an ice block in hand. But this block did not constrain its movements at all. Holding suspended this weight, he all case moved forward and looked out for something below. At last, having snatched some moment, it with wild growl which was carried on the mountains as the thunderclap, threw a block down.
And immediately furious growl of a bear in reply sounded. The biped animal broke off still a big block and threw it down, and after that with the same growl itself rushed down.
In several jumps I was on its place.
Before me the new picture as if snatched
