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

as well as all ships of the searching party, be dispatched to your aid in the
Great Toonolian Marshes."
"The Toonolian Marshes!" Carter gasped. "They're a thousand miles from Helium in
the other direction."
A little scream from Dejah Thoris brought the men's attention to their own,
immediate fate.
The ape beside the pit had pulled back a tall, metal lever. There was a gurgle
of bubbles as air blasted up from the water in the pit below the three captives;
and the water at the same time commenced to rise slowly.
The guard now unfastened the rope on each cage and lowered them so that the cage
tops were a little below the surface of the ground inside the pit; then he
refastened the ropes and stood for some time on the brink looking down at the
helpless captives.
"The water rises slowly," he sneered thickly; "and so I shall have time now for
a little sleep."
It was uncanny to hear words issuing from the mouth of the beast. They were
barely articulate, for although the human brain in the ape's skull directed the
words, the muscles of the larynx in the creature's throat were normally
unequipped for the specialized task of human speech.
The guard lay down on the brink and stretched his massive, squat body.
"Your death cries will awaken me," he mumbled pleasantly, "when the water begins
to envelop your feet and the reptiles start clawing at you through the bars of
your cages." Whereupon, the ape rolled over and began snoring.
It was then that the three captives saw the slanting, evil eyes, the rows of
flashing teeth, in a dozen hideous, reptilian faces staring greedily up at them
from the rising waters below.
"Quite ingenious," remarked Tars Tarkas, his stoic face giving no more evidence
of fear than did that of the earthman. "When the water partly submerges us, the
reptiles will reach in with their claws and begin tearing us to pieces Ц if
there is any life left in us, the rising water will drown it out when finally it
submerges the tops of our cages."
"How horrible!" gasped Dejah Thoris.
John Carter's eyes were fastened on the brink of the pit. From his cage he could
just see one of the guard's feet as the fellow lay asleep at the edge of the
pit.
Cautioning the others to silence, Carter began swinging his body back and forth
while he held fast to the bars of his cage. If he could just get his cage to
swinging!
The water had risen to about ten feet below their cages.
It seemed an eternity before he could get the heavy cage to even moving
slightly. Nine feet to the water surface and those hideous, staring eyes and
those gleaming teeth!
The cage was swinging now a little more, in rhythm to the earthman's constantly
swaying body.
Eight feet, seven feet, six feet came the water. There were about ten reptiles
in the water below the captives Ц ten pairs of narrow, evil eyes fixed steadily
on their prey.
The cage was swinging faster.
Five feet, four feet. Tars Tarkas and Dejah Thoris could feel the hot breath of
the reptiles!