CURTIS--[With an earnest enthusiasm.] And this expedition IS what
you call a large affair, Big. It's the largest thing of its kind
ever undertaken. The possibilities, from the standpoint of
anthropology, are limitless.

BIGELOW--[With a grin.] Aha! Now we come to the Missing Link!

CURTIS--[Frowning.] Darn your Barnum and Bailey circus lingo, Big.
This isn't a thing to mock at. I should think the origin of man
would be something that would appeal even to your hothouse
imagination. Modern science believes--knows--that Asia was the
first home of the human race. That's where we're going, to the
great Central Asian plateau north of the Himalayas.

BIGELOW--[More soberly.] And there you hope to dig up--our first
ancestor?

CURTIS--It's a chance in a million, but I believe we may, myself--
at least find authentic traces of him so that we can reconstruct
his life and habits. I was up in that country a lot while I was
mining advisor to the Chinese government--did some of my own work
on the side. The extraordinary results I obtained with the little
means at my disposal convinced me of the riches yet to be
uncovered. The First Man may be among them.

BIGELOW--[Turning to MARTHA.] And you were with him on that Asian
plateau?

MARTHA--Yes, I've always been with him.