"Edmond Hamilton - Captain Future 23 - The Harpers of Titan" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hamilton Edmond)

He asked the old councillor, "Do
you know this to be true, about the
Harpers?"
"Taras and two others were seen at
dawn, coming back from the forest,
each bearing a hidden thing. And -
they wore the Helmets of Silence."
The old man gestured toward the
group of men by the king's throne who
looked with such triumphant hatred at
he whom they thought to be John
Keogh.
"See, they wear them still!"
Swiftly, Simon studied the helmets.
At first glance they had seemed no
more than the ordinary bronze battle-
gear of a barbaric warrior. Now he
saw that they were of curious design,
covering the ears and the entire cranial
area, and overlarge as though padded
with many layers of some insulating
material.
The Helmets of Silence. He knew,
now, that Keogh had spoken truly
when he told of an ancient means of
protection used long ago by the men
of Moneb against the Harpers. Those
helmets would protect, yes.
The king of Moneb rose from his
throne. And the nervous uproar in the
hall stilled to a frozen tension.
A young man, the king. Very
young, very frightened, weakness and
stubbornness mingled in his face. His
head was bare.
"We of Moneb have too long
tolerated strangers in our valley -
have even suffered one of them to sit
S
in this council and influence our
decisions," he began.
Here there was a sharp uneasy
turning of heads toward "Keogh."
"The strangers' ways more and
more color the lives of our people.
They must go - all of them! And since
they will not go willingly, they must
be forced!"
He had learned the speech by rote.
Simon knew that from the way in