"John Morressy - When Bertie Met Mary" - читать интересную книгу автора (Morressy John)

"You feed Rover," Doctor Frankenstein said, backing toward the spaceship. "Throw him three hogs
every other day, and see that there's always water in his dish. He takes ninety gallons. Make sure it's at
room temperature, or he'll get peevish."
By now, the slurpy burbling sound from behind the heavy doors at the far end of the dungeon was quite
loud. Added to it was a noise from above: the rhythmic pounding of wood against wood, like the thunder
of a battering ram. I grew fearful for my safety, and looked about for a way of escape.
While I was thus distracted, Doctor Frankenstein slipped into his rocketship and sealed the port behind
him. The roar of rockets drowned out all other sound. I saw the far doors bulge inward, and a thin
stream of protoplasm began to flow across the dungeon floor toward me. At that very moment, the upper
door shattered and men burst onto the landing at the head of the long staircase, waving torches and
making unsympathetic gestures in my direction as they shouted, "There's his assistant! Seize him!" As
their feet were on the first step, the spaceship, with a mighty blast of power, achieved liftdown.
Of my escape from the rubble of Castle Frankenstein, my headlong flight through the dark, dank
Transylvanian woods, and my desperate search for the time machine, I remember little. When at last I
found the machine, I flung myself onto the seat, threw the lever with my last strength, and returned to this
time and place.
And now, gentlemen, as I am exhausted, I must beg you to excuse me. If you wish to examine the time
machine, it is in my laboratory. The door is open. Good-night to you," said the Time Traveler, and
without another word, he left us.
"I'm hanged if it isn't late," said Wilby. "How shall we get a cab?"
"Get a cab if you like. I want to see the Time Machine," I said.
"Don't tell me you believe all that infernal nonsense about rocket ships and carnivorous blobs of
protoplasm," said the Brusque Bank Manager.
Wilby added, "He told us we'd have proof tonight. Well, I haven't seen any proof. Heard a deuced fine
yarn, but didn't see a shred of proof."
Ignoring their jibes, I entered the Time Traveler's laboratory. In the center of the floor stood a
contraption singularly resembling the tiny object he had shown us the week previous. This one, however,
was full-sized and easily capable of carrying a passenger.
My interest aroused, I studied the machine more closely. Two facts were immediately evident: it was not
a commonplace velocipede, as it first appeared to be, and it had seen recent hard outdoor use. The
bottom portions were thickly encrusted with dark smelly mud of a kind found only in certain backward
regions of Transylvania, and snagged on one of the handlebars was a tiny tuft of fur which I recognized at
once as coming from the pelt of a werewolf.
On the floor beside the machine lay a ragged scrap roughly torn from a newspaper. I picked it up and
studied it. When I had satisfied myself concerning its provenance, I placed it carefully in my note-case
and returned to the study to present my findings to the others.
By the time I returned, they had all left. I sat in the chair by the fire, lit a cigar, and drew out the
newspaper item. With the help of a dictionary from my host's extensive library, I worked out a full and
exact translation:
simpltn: loyal; strong; clean; sm knowledge sci; good w carniv blbs protoplasm and angry psnts; to act as
asst to ecc sci gent. Nite wk, no trav req. Challenging pos. Gd med plan, many addl bfts. Fee pd. Reply
Bx 88, The Transylvania Shopper News.
Reading and rereading this curious notice, I must have dozed, for I awoke with a start at the sound of
footsteps. I rubbed my eyes and glanced up in time to see a figure vanish into the laboratory. It was the
Time Traveler, and he carried three books under his arm.
I yawned and stretched, and rose slowly to bid him good night. But at the sound of my movement, he
raced to the door of his laboratory and slammed it shut. I followed, and as I struggled to force it open, a
strange humming noise rose inside the laboratory, grew louder, and then stopped abruptly.
I redoubled my efforts at the door. When at last I forced it open, the room was empty. The machine that
had stood in the center was gone, and the Time Traveler was nowhere to be seen.