"11 - John Carter of Mars" - читать интересную книгу автора (Burroughs Edgar Rice)

microcephalia is a sign of idiocy, although in the case of Pew Mogel, the
condition did not mean idiocy, but extreme craftiness, and madness, which might
indicate that, since Pew Mogel was an artificial, synthetic product of Ras
Thavas, one of Mars' most famous scientists, his microcephalia was either caused
by a disease, or by inability of the brain to adapt itself to a foreign,
ill-fitting cranial cavity. Pew Mogel's head was obviously too small for his
body, or for his brain. ЦED.
In spite of having the features of a man, Pew Mogel did not look quite human.
There was something indescribably repulsive about him, the thin lips, the hollow
cheeks, the close-set eyes.
Then Carter realized that those eyes were unblinking.
There were no eyelids. The man's eyes could never close. Pew Mogel spoke coldly.
"I am greatly indebted to you for this visit. I was fortunate enough to be able
to entertain your princess and your best friend; but I hardly dared to hope you
would honor me, too."
Carter's face was expressionless. Slowly he repeated. "Where is Dejah Thoris?"
Pew Mogel leered mockingly.
The earthman advanced toward the throne. The white ape at Pew Mogel's feet
growled, the hairs on its neck bristling upright as Pew Mogel flinched slightly.
Again the twisted smile passed over his face as he raised his hand toward John
Carter and drawled.
"Have patience, John Carter, and I will show you your princess; but first,
perhaps you will be interested in seeing the man who, last night, told you to
meet him at the main bridge outside the city."
Pew Mogel hooked one of his fingers over a lever projecting from the golden arm
of his throne and slipped it toward himself. A pillar to the left of his throne,
half set in the wall, began to revolve slowly.
A giant green man appeared, chained to the pillar. His four mighty arms were
strapped securely; and for Pew Mogel's additional safety, several steel chains
were wrapped around his body and cinched with massive padlocks. His neck and
ankles were also secured with bands of steel, also padlocked.
"Tars Tarkas!" Carter exclaimed.
"Kaor, John Carter," there was a grim smile on Tars Tarkas' face as he replied.
"I see our friend here trapped us both the same way; but it took a giant fifteen
times my size to hold me while they trussed me in these chains."
"The message you sent me last nightЦ" In a flash, Carter realized the truth. Pew
Mogel had faked the messages from Kantos Kan and Tars Tarkas, trapping them both
in the city the night before.
"Yes, I sent you both identical messages," said Pew Mogel, "each message
apparently from the other. The proper broadcasting length I ascertained from
listening to the concealed microphone I had planted in the Jeddak's throne room.
Clever, eh?"
Pew Mogel's left eye suddenly popped out of its socket and dangled on his cheek.
He took no notice of it, but continued to speak, glancing first at Carter and
then at Tars Tarkas with the other eye.
"You have both met Joog," stated Pew Mogel. "One hundred and thirty feet tall,
he is all muscle, a product of science, the result of my great brain.
"With my own hands I created him from living flesh, the greatest fighting
monster that Barsoom has ever seen.
"I modeled him from the organs, tissues, and bones of ten thousand red men and