Read Online The Dragon's Eye by Dugald A. Steer - Free Book Online Page A

S.A.S.D. It is called the Dragon’s Eye. Woe betide us if Ignatius Crook should ever lay his hands on it. But as I have told you far more than I needed to, do not ask me any more questions. Time is drawing on.”
    Mademoiselle Gamay and Emery left, and Dr. Drake, who I supposed must be a Dragonologist First Class, asked Billy to show us the “signs” of the Dragonological Apprentices. There were three of these, and they were the means by which one dragonologist could recognise another in secret. The first sign was a gesture — a fist held loosely at one’s side while the index finger pointed to the ground. It could be made without drawing attention to oneself and symbolised the fact that dragonologists have sworn to conserve and protect all dragons even were there to be only one single dragon left. The second was a call for assistance — the hands were crossed and raised over the head in fists. This sign was easy to see from a distance, and dragonologists were duty-bound to answer such a call if they ever saw it. Finally, there were the words. Billy explained that there was an ancient dragon riddle that was used as a password. Dr. Drake asked him and Darcy to demonstrate it to us.
    Billy smiled. He and Darcy stood up and went to the front of the class.
    â€œWhen a dragon flies . . . ?” he asked.
    â€œHe seeks it with his eyes,” said Darcy.
    â€œWhen a dragon roars . . . ?” asked Billy.
    â€œHe holds it in his claws,” concluded Darcy.
    â€œYou see,” said Dr. Drake. “It is quite simple. This is the password, but it is only the first part of the riddle. The rest of it goes like this:
    When he slumbers deep, he dreams of it in sleep,
    But there beneath his head, it forms his stony bed.
    â€œNow, I wonder: Can any of you new apprentices guess the answer to that riddle?”
    I thought about it. But it wasn’t a very difficult riddle. I soon had the answer, and so did Beatrice and Alicia. Our hands shot up.
    â€œWhat is it?” asked Dr. Drake.
    â€œTreasure!” we chorused, smiling.
    After lunch, classes in dragonology began in earnest. Dr. Drake went to the blackboard and drew a diagram showing how dragons breathed fire.
    â€œToday,” he said, “we are going to begin our lessons by remembering that dragons can be very dangerous. They can breathe fire, after all.”
    Dr. Drake then gave us a brief lesson on fire breathing. Apparently, some dragonologists believed the theory that dragons produce helium gas or methane, which they then ignite with a spark. In fact, as Dr. Drake pointed out, they actually spray out a fine mist of venom that has evolved so as to be flammable. They light the spray with a spark produced by knocking together a piece of rock, known as iron pyrites, and a piece of flint. They even carry these around with them in a special pouch in their mouths that has actually evolved for the purpose over millions of years.
    â€œSome dragons must travel a great distance to find the necessary rocks to produce the spark,” said Dr. Drake. “But fire breathing is just one of the ways in which dragons can be dangerous. To counter this danger, the experienced dragonologist must remember five simple words beginning with
F.
They are known as the Five
F
’s of Dragonology.”
    And he wrote the following words on the blackboard:
Fieldwork, Foresight, Forwardness, Frankness,
and
Fatalities.
He underlined the last word three times before turning back to us.
    â€œCan you tell me about fieldwork, Beatrice? You have been doing some with the knucker.”
    â€œDoes it mean studying dragons in the wild?” asked Beatrice.
    â€œWell, it’s a
bit
more complicated,” said Billy.
    â€œWhy is that?” asked Dr. Drake.
    â€œWell, you need a record book, and you need to remember the other four
F
’s,” said Billy. “And it’s best by far to study dragons in their natural