"John Norman - Gor 01- Tarnsman of Gor" - читать интересную книгу автора (Norman John)

It was a joke. Somehow my friend had followed me,--, must be hiding somewhere in the darkness: I
called his name, laughing. There was no answer. I raced about in the woods a moment, shaking
bushes, batting the snow from the low-hanging branches of pines. I then walked more slowly, more
carefully, being quiet. I would find him!
Some fifteen minutes passed, and I was growing cold,
angry. I shouted to him. I widened my search, keeping
that strange metal envelope with its blue ambience the
center of my movements. At last I realized he must have
planted the odd object, left it for me to discover, and,",
was probably on his way home by now or was perhaps
camping somewhere nearby. I was confident he was not
within earshot or he would have eventually responded.
It was no longer funny, not if he was near. -

I returned to the object and picked it up. It seemed to be cooler now, though I still had the
distinct impression.. of warmth. It was a strange object. I brought it back to my camp and built
my fire, against the darkness and cold. I was shivering in spite of my heavy clothing. I was
sweating. My heart was beating. My breath was short. I was frightened.

Accordingly, slowly and calmly, I set about tending the fire, opened a can of chili, and set up
sticks to hold the:
tiny cooking pot over the fire. These domestic activities slowed my pulse and succeeded in
convincing me that I could be patient and was even not too much interested in the contents of the
metal envelope. When the chili was heating, and not before, I turned my attention to the puzzling
object.

I turned it over and over in my hands and studied it by the light of the campfire. It was about
twelve inches long and four inches high. It weighed, I guessed, about four ounces. The color of
the metal was blue, and something of its ambience continued to characterize it, but the glow was
fading. Also, the envelope no longer seemed warm to the touch. How long had it lain waiting for me


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in the woods? How long ago had it been placed there?

While I considered this, the glow faded abruptly. If it had faded earlier, I never would have
discovered it in the woods. It was almost as if the glow had been connected with the intent of the
sender, as if the glow, no longer needed, had been allowed to fade. "The message has been
delivered," I said to myself, feeling a bit silly as I said it. I did not find my private joke
very funny.

I looked closely .at the lettering. It resembled some now outdated English script, but I knew too
little about such things to hazard much of a guess at the date. Something about the lettering
reminded me of that on a colonial charter, a page of which had been photocopied for an
illustration in one of my books. Seventeenth century perhaps? The lettering itself seemed to be
inset in the envelope, bonded in its metallic structure. I could find no seam or flap in the
envelope. I tried to crease the envelope with my thumbnail, but failed.