TALKING DRUMS 79
ing around in the brush and then it went away.”
As he listened to the weird story, Darcy Creel became almost as agitated as Bud. “I told you there were reports of huge animals in this jungle!” he burst out. “What’s more, they tie in with other stories about a large reptilian creature that exists in the lakes and rivers of the Central African rain forest-terrain almost identical with this.”
“Wait a minute. Let’s not go off the deep end about this,” Tom said cautiously.
“Where’d you hear these rumors about a big reptile?”
“They’re in zoological literature.”
“Did any of the writers ever see one of these monsters?” Tom asked.
Creel scowled. “Well-no. But their reports were based on good evidence.”
Tom grew thoughtful. Bud’s story of a gigantic animal “as big a house” had suddenly reminded the young inventor of Professor Eldreth and his “growth-process” theories mentioned by the museum curator. Was there really something in the Ngombian jungle that could make living creatures grow to gigantic size? The seven-foot Wanguru tribesmen were certainly above average!
“We don’t even know if this was a dinosaur that Bud saw,” Tom said aloud.
“Then what was it?” Bud countered.
“Let’s track the creature,” Creel pleaded.
“Obimbi and I tried to after daylight,” Bud said, referring to his native companion.
“From the looks of the underbrush, the creature must have 80 REPELATRON SKYWAY
gone into a creek or river that flowed close to our camp. Then, after these big fellows picked us up, I wanted to search for the spot where it came out -if it did come out-but they wouldn’t let us.”
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