"William Morrison - Hiding Place" - читать интересную книгу автора (Morrison William)

you don't mind. Why did you become a school teacher?"
"Simple enough," said Burroughs. "To rest my mind."
"That's why you chose a dead language as your subject?"
"That's the idea, Bales. Can you think of anything more soothing than droning through Caesar's
Commentaries with a classful of uninterested schoolboys, translating word by dull word the same boring
descriptions that have made young victims squirm for one unhappy generation after another? Why, I can
teach the stuff in my sleep. I very often do."
"You've never taught science?" asked Bales.
"Oh, no. That would stir up thoughts that had better remain dormant. I shouldn't have minded
teaching Greek, though. But they don't go for Greek in high school."
"A scientist who knows Latin and Greek. You're an unusual scholar."
"You're the first one who's come after me who's been unusual enough to think so."
Bales paused. The man seemed perfectly self-possessed, perfectly confident of his own ability to
keep his secret. He had a right to feel that way. How long had it been now? Twelve yearsтАФbut at first,
of course, no one had suspected.
Burroughs said, "I'm surprised it took so long to find me. A mere change of name shouldn't have
baffled you. And what is it they say about criminalsтАФthat once a man has chosen a pattern of crime, he
doesn't change it? You should have known I'd continue to teach."
"You forget that you left us a few false clues," said Bales. "And we didn't think you'd succeed in
getting another job in a school system. How did you supply the necessary records?"
"There was no trouble. A colleague of mine was offered the job and turned it down. I forged his
name and used his record. And the salary was so low that no one else applied."
Bales nodded. If you had nerve and acted as if there was nothing to be afraid of, you could get away
with almost anything. And it had become clear that behind his prim schoolteacherish front, Burroughs had
nerve. NerveтАФand brains.
Bales put his hand into his pocket for his cigarettes. As he pulled the pack out, he became aware of a
faint tapping sound that came from behind him. He swung around.
A Great Dane had come through the doorway from the next room. It was the dog's claws that had
tapped on the floor.
Burroughs said pleasantly, "He's been watching you all the time, you know. When you put your hand
in your pocket, he had no idea what you'd bring out."
"You have him well trained," said Bales.
"Naturally. I'm ready for a limited amount of violence."
"Limited?"
"A dog is no match for a group of reasonably intelligent and very determined men. I know that the
men behind you, Bales, are extremely determined, even if their intelligence is limited. But Arthur, here,
would give me a little time. Time to kill myself and keep from falling into your hands."
"We have no intention of using violence."
"You used it before."
"We did?" said Bales politely. "That must have been before I was called in."
"They searched my rooms and found nothing. So they waylaid me one evening and knocked me
out."
"And again they found nothing?" said Bales. "I suppose they forgot to tell me."
"It was after that incident that I decided to change my residence." Bales said, "I'm sorry to hear of it.
Obviously they had no idea of the kind of man you were. They should have appealed to your better
feelingsтАФ"
"They did that too. They appealed to my love of money, my desire for fame, my patriotism. It didn't
do them any good. You see, I knew what thy discovery could do."
"All it has done so far is blow up a laboratory."
"But it did that so easily. And it could just as easily blow up a world. That's what I can't allow, Bales.