Page 46 - Fables volume 1

How the Troglodyte was Tracked Down

mountainside. He was curious to see what had been left at the site of
his former observation post.
Not much, he concluded. Just garbage and empty boxes. And the
Serabellans hadn’t once looked up at the caves to locate me! Wonder
when they’ll be back. The way communication is in this part of the
world, it might give me another week or two to find the troglodyte.
The sun dropped out of sight. Planarius quickly gathered bananas
and berries from the area and scurried back to his cave before it was
too dark to see. Once inside, he squatted near the mouth of the cave
and gorged himself on fruit. His ears detected nothing but the usual
night sounds.
If I were to do this again, he thought, I wouldn’t come so close in a
noisy vehicle. It was clearly audible inside the cave; were I the
troglodyte I’d be long gone by the time the jeep actually arrived. No,
much better to leave it ten miles away and come in on foot. All I can
hope for is that the beast decides to return after a few days.
The professor was fatigued by his long vigil. He stretched out on
some banana leaves and fell fast asleep.
It was well past noon the next day when he took his position in the
shadows of the cave entrance. For the rest of the afternoon he sat,
patiently waiting for signs of the troglodyte. His hair, beard and skin
were covered with a mottled layer of mud and leaves. From time to
time he slapped at a mosquito or scratched at old bites.
Just before sunset he left the cave and cautiously crept down to the
jungle to gather fruit He moved close to the ground, stopping behind
rocks and trees to catch his breath and look for his prey.
The last rays of the sun played obliquely over the tree tops as the
professor shuffled up the mountainside laden with bananas. As he was
about to slip into the cave, he cast a final glance back at the thick
groves of bamboo and ferns. The jungle wall seemed to sway in one
place and open, shifting a dim pattern of light and shadow.
At last! Professor Planarius ran into the cave and threw down his
bananas. He grabbed the binoculars and edged up to the mouth of the
cave. Trembling, he focused the eyepieces on the spot he had seen
movement. Yes! There!
With a start he recognized the creature lifting binoculars to its eyes
and staring back at him. It was Kornbacher, head of the Peoria Zoo!

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