"Doc Savage Adventure 1945-03 The Ten Ton Snakes" - читать интересную книгу автора (Doc Savage Collection)

"Associated with Doc Savage."

"Who's he?" Bob French asked.

Renny thought over the answer for a moment, then he laughed. "That's fresh," he said. "That's wonderful."


"WHAT are you laughing at?" Bob French demanded.

Renny chuckled over it for a while. "The idea of you not having heard of Doc Savage, coupled with the coincidence of your popping up with a piece of mysterious trouble like this, strikes me as funny," he explained.

"Who's this Savage?"

"A friend with whom I frequently work," Renny said. Then he frowned, and shook his head quickly. "No, that isn't the way to put it. Let's change that, and say that several years ago I met the most remarkable man I have ever seen. A man with so much ability that it sounds silly when you start telling the truth about him. I'll explain what I mean by silly by saying that his profession is other people's troubles, righting wrongs and punishing evildoers in the far corners of the earth. See how wild that sounds? Like something out of a book about knighthood. It gives you an idea."

"You work for this fellow, that it?" Bob French demanded.

"I work with him, not for him," Renny corrected. "There are five of us who do that. I'm an engineer. I'm the engineering specialist. The others are also specialists. One is an electrician, one a chemist, one a geologist and archaeologist, and the other a lawyer." Renny was silent a moment, grinning. "Here's something else unusual about it. None of us get paid for it."

Bob French stared fixedly at Renny. "When I knew you in China, I figured you were a pretty levelheaded guy."

"And now you don't think so?"

"I don't know what to think. This sure sounds pixyish."

Renny chuckled. "You'll understand it when you meet Doc Savage, the 'man of bronze,' as they call him sometimes."

Bob French gave a visible jump, and said, "The '


man of - '" and didn't finish.

"The newspapers call Doc the 'man of bronze' now and then," Renny said. "Have you heard of him under that description?"

"I guess I have," the soldier said.

Renny watched the soldier curiously. Bob French wasn't a fellow who hid his feelings very well. Renny could tell what was going through French's mind. First, French mentally reviewed what he had heard about Doc Savage. This review, for some reason or other, made French apprehensive. French suddenly decided that he didn't want Doc Savage involved in the affair.

"If you don't mind," French said, "let's you and I work out this thing ourselves."

"You mean you don't want Doc to know about this?"

"I'd rather not."

"Why?"

Bob French didn't reply immediately. He was becoming cautious, stopping to plan his words. "This isn't a very important affair, and Savage is a man who is accustomed to large matters, if what I recall about him is right. I don't think we should bother him with this."

"Didn't someone try to murder you?" Renny demanded.