"Avram Davidson - What Strange Stars And Skies" - читать интересную книгу автора (Davidson Avram)

Albert Edward Greenbriar entered, rang the bell for the governor, and, upon the instant, saw a panel
open in the wall, through which a face looked at him. It was the face of a gigantic cherub, white and
dimpled and bland, surmounted by a pall of curly hair; in short, it was the face of Evan-bach Llewellyn.
Greenbriar in a few words stated his situation and offered to give over his seaman's papers as a surety
until such time as he might obtain a ship, in return for bed and board. The governor thrust forth a huge,
pale hand, took the documents, slid shut the panel, and presently appeared to beckon Greenbriar down a
corridor, at the end of which was a dimly lit dormitory. He gave him a thin blanket which was all in all not
quite so filthy as it might have been, informed him that gaming and novel-reading were not permitted on
the premises, invited him to take any bed he chose, and forthwith withdrew.
Greenbriar found an empty palette, under the head of which he placed his shoes, not so much as a
pillow as a precaution, drew the cover about him and fell instantly asleep. He was awakened several
times by the entry of other men, some of whom appeared to have been flung rather than escorted into the
room, and once he was awakened by the sound of the proprietor playing upon a small patent organ a
hymn of his own composition on the subject of the Priesthood of Melchisedec. Greenbriar gazed at the
tiny blue tip of the night-light as it burned tremulously in the twisted jet and on the odd and grotesque
shadows cast upon the stained and damp-streaked walls by the tossings and turnings of the lodgers, and
listened to the no less odd nor grotesque noises made by them. It was only by the start he gave upon
being awakened that he realised that he had gone to sleep again.
Who awakened him he did not know, but, although the light was no brighter, there was a stir in the
dormitory and men were getting to their feet and he heard the word "scoff" repeated several times. He
dashed water on his face and moved with the others into what was evidently the main kitchen of the
establishment. To his surprise he observed that the clock there read eleven o'clock. It was too dark to be
morning. Evidently he had slept only a few hours or he had slept round the clock and a bit more. It
seemed an odd hour for victuals but he was beginning to conceive the idea that this was an odd place.
Broiled bloaters, fried sausage, potatoes, cabbage and sprouts were being turned out of pots and pans
and dumped higgledy-piggledy onto cracked and not over-clean plates; and tea was steaming in coarse
crockery cups. No one ventured to eat or drink, however, until Evan-bach Llewellyn had pronounced a
grace in the Cymric tongue and immediately after the Amen imparted a piece of information, videlicet
that he had a ship for them. It was a good ship, too, he said; they would all be very pleased with it; it was
not one of their dirty old English tubs but a fine modern vessel: he urged them all to eat hearty of the
scoff, or victuals, so that no time need be lost in getting aboard, and he then produced a large bottle of
gin and proceeded to pour a generous portion into each cup, with many assurances that it was free and
would come out of his own commission.
No sooner had he given the signal, with a wave of his pale and dimpled paw, than the men fell to like
so many ravening wolves, cramming the hot food into their mouths and gulping down the gin and lemon
tea. Greenbriar concedes that the ailment was savoury, and, finding himself hungrier than he had thought,
took but a hasty swallow of the drink before addressing himself at length to the solids. A furtive
movement at his elbow caused him to cease, abruptly. The man to his right, a hulking fellow with red hair
and an exceedingly dirty face, was emptying a mug and looking at him out of the corner of his eye. It
took but a second to ascertain that the wretched fellow had all but drained his own supply and then
switched cups and was now doing away with Greenbriar's, who contented himself with stealing a link of
the man's sausage whilst the latter was elaborately gazing elsewhere. Steeling himself to meet this man's
resentment, he was dumbfounded to observe the fellow fall upon his face into the mashed potatoes and
sprouts on his plate.
Within a matter of seconds, almost as if it were one of the contagious seizures which takes hold at
times of the unfortunate patients of an institution for the epileptic-- within a matter of seconds, then, all the
others at the table sank down into unconsciousness, and Greenbriar, following suit, knew no more.
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