"Mike O'Driscoll - A Soldier's Things" - читать интересную книгу автора (O'driscoll Mike)

"Sister, what is the best news with you today?" one crow said.
The second crow stretched its wings to darken the night. It said, "Oh, if
men but knew what we know! The General is hiding from the yanquis and they
will never find him."
"Not unless they search in the right place and play the right music to
draw him out," the third crow said.
"If men but knew," said the second, and then revealed where the wicked
General was, and the music that would lure him out of hiding.
Soon afterwards, the crows had done talking and flew away. When dawn came,
Stryker crawled down into a ditch behind the tree and drank from the water
that had collected there. Strengthened by this, he gathered himself up and
staggered along the path till he came to the main road back to Panama
city. He collapsed then, and woke to find that a slender woman had come to
his aid. Her eyes were green pools of enchantment, and as if by magic, she
raised him up and carried him to her silver Nissan. Then she drove him
back to his unit where, in his delirium, he asked her to marry him.
Touched by his tender naivetщ, she gently refused. After all, he was only
a sergeant and she was looking for officer material. But Stryker was a
determined man, and, remembering the words he had overheard, he resolved
to make use of them.
The siege on the General's palace had proved fruitless. The soldiers had
no sure way of knowing if he was inside, or if and when he would give
himself up. Stryker went to see his captain and suggested they direct
their efforts to another building not too far from the palace. The captain
was inclined to dismiss the bruised and scruffy sergeant, thinking it
impossible that he could know what army intelligence had failed to
discover. But Stryker was made of sterner stuff and he persisted. He went
to a record store and purchased a certain CD. He explained to the captain
that if a sound system was rigged up and this particular piece of music
was broadcast continuously throughout the night and day to the building he
had indicated, then the General would soon despair and give himself up.
Despite the implausibility of Stryker's suggestion, the captain decided to
give it a try. In truth, he was at his wits end. Back home the President
had appeared on television telling his people that the General would be in
custody by the end of the week. Then the President had talked on the
telephone with the army chiefs, and the army chiefs had in turn told the
captain that if he failed to deliver the goods, it would be a black mark
on his career.
And so he instructed Stryker to make the necessary arrangements, and thus
it was, that after two days and nights of having his tranquillity
disturbed by music he had not called for, the evil General surrendered
himself to his enemies.
The President made political gain out of this magnificent victory; the
captain's unblemished career was back on the fast track, and Stryker was
rewarded with a commission. And as was only fitting, he won the heart of
the beautiful enchantress who had come to his aid. Some time afterwards,
he walked in the hills above Panama City and came across the same two
comrades who had beaten and robbed him. Afraid now of his new rank, they
begged forgiveness.
"Look fellas," he told them, "don't embarrass me. Forget it, you guys