"06 - Master Mind of Mars, The" - читать интересную книгу автора (Burroughs Edgar Rice)

sprawling upon the scarlet sward; so that the duel from its inception became but
a series of efforts, upon his part to reach and crush me with his great club,
and upon mine to dodge and elude him. It was mortifying but it is the truth.
However, this did not last indefinitely, for soon I learned, and quickly too
under the exigencies of the situation, to command my muscles, and then I stood
my ground and when he aimed a blow at me, and I had dodged it, I touched him
with my point and brought blood along with a savage roar of pain. He went more
cautiously then, and taking advantage of the change I pressed him so that he
fell back. The effect upon me was magical, giving me new confidence, so that I
set upon him in good earnest, thrusting and cutting until I had him bleeding in
a half-dozen places, yet taking good care to avoid his mighty swings, any one of
which would have felled an ox.
In my attempts to elude him in the beginning of the duel we had crossed the
enclosure and were now fighting at a considerable distance from the point of our
first meeting. It now happened that I stood facing towards that point at the
moment that the old man regained his spectacles, which he quickly adjusted to
his eyes. Immediately he looked about until he discovered us, whereupon he
commenced to yell excitedly at us at the same time running in our direction and
drawing his short-sword as he ran. The red-man was pressing me hard, but I had
gained almost complete control of myself, and fearing that I was soon to have
two antagonists instead of one I set upon him with redoubled intensity. He
missed me by the fraction of an inch, the wind in the wake of his bludgeon
fanning my scalp, but he left an opening into which I stepped, running my word
fairly through his heart. At least I thought that I had pierced his heart but I
had forgotten what I had once read in one of John Carter's manuscripts to the
effect that all the Martian internal organs are not disposed identically with
those of Earthmen. However, the immediate results were quite as satisfactory as
though I had found his heart for the wound was sufficiently grievous to place
him hors de combat, and at that instant the old gentleman arrived. He found me
ready, but I had mistaken his intentions. He made no unfriendly gestures with
his weapon, but seemed to be trying to convince me that he had no intention of
harming me. He was very excited and apparently tremendously annoyed that I could
not understand him, and perplexed, too. He hopped about screaming strange
sentences at me that bore the tones of peremptory commands, rabid invective and
impotent rage. But the fact that he had returned his sword to its scabbard had
greater significance than all his jabbering, and when he ceased to yell at me
and commenced to talk in a sort of pantomime I realized that he was making
overtures of peace if not of friendship, so I lowered my point and bowed. It was
all that I could think of to assure him that I had no immediate intention of
spitting him.
He seemed satisfied and at once turned his attention to the fallen man. He
examined his pulse and listened to his heart, then, nodding his head, he arose
and taking a whistle from one of his pocket pouches sounded a single loud blast.
There emerged immediately from one of the surrounding buildings a score of naked
red-men who came running towards us. None was armed. To these he issued a few
curt orders, whereupon they gathered the fallen one in their arms and bore him
off. Then the old man started towards the building, motioning me to accompany
him. There seemed nothing else for me to do but obey. Wherever I might be upon
Mars, the chances were a million to one that I would be among enemies; and so I
was as well off here as elsewhere and must depend upon my own resourcefulness,