"J. F. Rivkin - Age of Dinosaurs 01 - Tyrannosaurus Rex" - читать интересную книгу автора (Rivkin J F)

sound the stone floor, but we could find nothing. Then, as suddenly as he
had disappeared, he was back, raving of terrible monsters tall as trees and
demons that flew shrieking in the skies.

I will write no more of what we discovered. Suffice it to say that we
have plumbed the secrets of this place. When we return, it will be with
such a tale to tell as will astonish and amaze the world for many a long
year to come.

Jack and I are well enough, although somewhat tired and thin from the
rigors of the journey. I am quite worried about Raleigh, whose foot is
badly infected. Blood poisoning is on all our minds, although we do not
speak of it.

I will entrust this letter to Cuyaba. He has no desire to remain here and
has agreed to deliver this letter to the missionaries living at the
headwaters of the Xingu.

Your affectionate husband,

Percy

***

Lips swollen, delirious with fever, Cuyaba lay still in the boat. His
breathing was shallow, labored. The boat was snagged in the weeds, but
he had no strength to free it. Through dull eyes he watched as the sun's
light, always pale and slightly green because of the thick jungle, faded into
nothingness.

Was it night or death that blinded him? The distinction was
unimportant. He knew that for him the two were one and the same. His
mind turned away from worldly matters to matters of the spirit. The white
men's paper, their urgent words, was forgotten. He wondered if the land
he had glimpsed in the temple was the land of the dead. He steeled his
soul for the great journey that lay before him. With a last hoarse gasp, he
died.

Chapter One
The gigantic beast curved its serpentine neck around the tree and
snapped at the man caught halfway up the trunk. "My God, don't leave
me," he shrieked, but his companions ran on, desperate to escape from the
nightmare that hunted them.

The beast lunged again and snatched the man up with its pointed
teeth. The mouth clamped down. He gave a horrible scream that ascended
in pitch like a siren gone mad. Then there was an abrupt, dreadful silence.
The rest of the crew plunged ahead blindly, going deeper into the jungle.

"Honestly, Chris, how can you watch that juvenile drivel?" Tony