"Barry B. Longyear - The Hangingstone Rat" - читать интересную книгу автора (Longyear Barry)

Everyone expects British sheriffs to look like Basil Rathbone.тАЭ

тАЬSorry?тАЭ I said. тАЬCranberries?тАЭ

тАЬA Thanksgiving reference. U.S. holiday? Turkey and giblets? Forget
it.тАЭ

I glanced at Shad. тАЬLegend has it that a seventeenth-century mayor of
Okehampton was hanged on Hangingstone Hill.тАЭ

тАЬThey mustтАЩve brought their own gibbet with them,тАЭ said Shad as he
changed heading a few degrees south. тАЬLook at the hills around here. Not a
tree in sight. Okay,тАЭ he relented, тАЬwhyтАЩd they hang him?тАЭ

тАЬStealing sheep.тАЭ

тАЬThey gave him the rope on a mutton rap? Tough town.тАЭ

тАЬIтАЩm certain the mayor represented the charges against him as being
politically motivated.тАЭ

тАЬSo thatтАЩs where that came from.тАЭ

тАЬIndeed, but it wasnтАЩt only the mayorтАЩs body that was sentenced. His
spirit was sentenced to empty with a sieve Cranmere PoolтАФthatтАЩs at the
west foot of Hangingstone.тАЭ

тАЬNow thatтАЩs hard time.тАЭ

тАЬNot at all,тАЭ I said. тАЬThe clever fellow lined his sieve with sheepskin
and proceeded to empty the thing. Cranmere Pool has no water in it.тАЭ

тАЬSo he beat the rap?тАЭ

тАЬNot quite. The punishment was altered to having to weave the sand
at the bottom of the pool into a rope. Poor fellowтАЩs still at it, I imagine.тАЭ I
again looked for the constabulary electric. тАЬShad, I still do not see a car.тАЭ

тАЬNothing on the instruments,тАЭ he responded. тАЬThe scene analyzer
beacon is located on the northwest side of the hill. WhatтАЩs that hut down
there?тАЭ

Directly in front of us was a high hill with gentle slopes. On its north
end were the remains of a stone shack, its shed roof partially collapsed.
тАЬThatтАЩs an old artillery observation post. For centuries this end of the moor
was an artillery range. Incidentally, ducks, the army still advises hikers not to
pick up any curiosities they might find out here.тАЭ

тАЬSouvenir go boom; important safety tip.тАЭ