"Doc Savage Adventure 1935-07 Quest of Qui" - читать интересную книгу автора (Doc Savage Collection)

The yachtsmen now heard sounds which were later the source of much newspaper conjecture - they heard some kind of a cargo being moved from one craft to the other. They never were able to decide what the cargo was, but some of them voiced the impression that it was something alive.

When the yachtsmen were finally released, it was because the bearded freebooters could not get the yacht Sea Scream going. The whiskered ones made faces and bawled, and finally collared the engineer of the yacht - he wore greasy coveralls which indicated his profession - and hauled him onto the yacht. The frightened engineer put the engines in full speed ahead, and the yacht pulled away, leaving the former occupants on the dragon ship.

The bearded pirates now threw the engineer overboard, and he swam to the dragon ship.

The Sea Scream made several wild circles, while the hairy thieves danced and howled on deck, and apparently experimented with the modern steering apparatus.

It was during this that the golden-haired girl was glimpsed.


DESCRIPTIONS OF the fair companion of the bearded freebooters, as later given, varied greatly. The lady off the yacht declared she was a she-tigress with the devil written all over her, and as homely as sin. But most of the men turned in a favorable report on her charms. in fact, they agreed generally that she was very personable, entirely too sweet a thing for such company as she was keeping.

The engineer, who had been taken aboard to start the yacht, made a startling revelation. He had seen the girl at close range. She was a knock-out.

Furthermore, the young woman was an unwilling guest of the whiskered men. They were leading her about by a long thong tied to one of her ankles.

At any rate, the Sea Scream was soon lost to sight of her frightened owner, who with his guests had been left aboard the dragon ship. The yacht, all noted, was headed toward New York City.

About noon, a breeze came up. The yachtsmen sailed the dragon ship into a harbor near the tip of Long Island, finding in doing so that the ship was extremely seaworthy.

The yachting victims of this twentieth century Viking raid promptly found themselves, once they convinced their listeners they were not crazy or lying, objects of feverish interest, both to the Coast Guard, and the newspapers. A swarm of photographers and reporters arrived. A news reel cameraman came in a plane. He got shots of the dragon ship, and his plane flew them back to New York, where that very night they were shown in the movie theaters.

The news reel shots of the Viking dragon ship got William Harper Littlejohn interested. William Harper Littlejohn was a very erudite gentleman, but he occasionally attended the cinema for relaxation.

Johnny was archaeologist enough to recognize, even in the news reel shots, the undoubted genuiness of the Viking dragon ship. He left the theater in haste.

He called Doc Savage. Doc was out of town. Johnny took a plane, the next morning, for the harbor where the dragon ship lay.


THE ARRIVAL of Johnny on the scene created a furor among the newspapermen, who needed new angles for their stories, anyway, since absolutely no trace had been found of the yacht Sea Scream. The Sea Scream had vanished as completely as if sunken.

Appearance of Johnny, to the newspapermen, meant Doc Savage was on the job, for every one knew Johnny was associated with Doc. And Doc Savage, man of bronze, mental wizard, physical giant extraordinary, was big news, all the more so because Doc shunned publicity most effectively.

Johnny did not even bother to deny that Doc was interested in the Viking dragon ship. He went ahead and examined the craft. He used his monocle magnifier on the ponderous oars, almost too heavy for one man to lift, and on various hammered copper cooking utensils. He scrutinized the plank fastenings. He studied the stitching which held the skins composing the sail. Those watching him realized he was very interested indeed. A news reel cameraman took pictures of his every move.

Finally, Johnny secured from his plane several ponderous and rare volumes on history which he had brought along. He poured over these intently. He seemed to be learning things.

The news reel men asked him for a statement. They had asked numerous times, but on this occasion, Johnny consented.

"Oracular cognoscence of certain recondite aspects. I will hypothesize," said Johnny, who never used a small word where he could insert a big one.

The news reel man looked stunned by the verbal flow, but hastily got his camera and voice recorder going.

Johnny fingered his monocle and began.

"Disquisitional recapitulation of imperspicuous symptomatology tends to an unequivocal belief," he announced.

Twenty million movie-goers were destined to choke over those words. The news reel concern finally had to run a summary by a commentator at the end, translating the erudite Johnny's remarks for the American hoi polloi.