"Nat Pinkerton, King Of Detectives - The Bloody Talisman" - читать интересную книгу автора (Pinkerton Nat)

The policemen left and every one of them was glad in his heart that he had made it safely through that dangerous section of town.

After the attack, the stranger found himself in another section of town, the Bowery. He was breathing heavily, cursing the carelessness that had taken him along Mott Street at such a late hour.

He had been warned, but had only laughed, confident that he had nothing to fear from Chinamen.

Truly, he had proved a dangerous opponent in battle, and probably many Chinese had returned home with bumps on their head. However, the incident had made a strong impression on him. He could still see before him those slanted eyes, those figures breathing hatred, and still it seemed to him that dagger blades were flashing before his face. He looked at the broken staff, made of dark, polished wood, which could easily smash any skull.

The blond quickly walked through the Bowery to Third Avenue, where on the corner of Fourteenth Street his accommodations, the Central Hotel, was located.

There was nobody on the streets, except of the occasional figure of a policeman that soon disappeared into the fog. The stranger walked along the left side of Third Avenue, past basement shops with short stairways leading from the street.

Walking by one of them he heard a strange whistle and suddenly felt a string noose around his neck. But, being on guard, he did not lose his wits and instantly grasped the noose with his left hand before it could be drawn tight.

Two Chinamen with long daggers in their hands ran straight at him from the basement.

The stranger again let the staff do its business and knocked the first Chinaman askance so that he tumbled head over heels down the staircase; the second also received a good blow about his shoulders and turned to run.

The blond man sighed with relief and hastened his step. He did not even think of turning to the police for assistance, knowing that all the same it would lead to nought.

Having saved himself from danger twice, he was deathly pale, his chest was heaving, and a cold sweat broke out on his brow.

Gradually calming down, he foresaw a sleepless night ahead of him, the result of overly powerful physical and spiritual shocks. By now he felt beaten and tired, but when he lay down to sleep, he could not close his eyes.

Having lain on the bed for more than a quarter hour, he got up, checked to see if the door was locked tight, then took out two revolvers and, checking the cartridges, put them on the night stand.

He lay down again and began to wait. What exactly he was waiting for he could not say, but it seemed to him that the nightТs adventures were still not over.

However, exhaustion overcame him: the stranger fell asleep. Terrible nightmares would not let him be, and he awoke around three in the morning covered in sweat.

At that moment he heard a strange rustling behind the wardrobe.

The room was not completely dark, as the weak light of the gas lanterns outside made its way through the blind and allowed him to distinguish objects in his room.

The stranger grabbed his revolver and set his gaze on the wardrobe, which suddenly made a slight jolt and slowly, without a noise, began to move forward.

Not knowing that in the wall behind the wardrobe there was a door to the next room, the blond man could not understand what this was. He clutched his head to make sure it was not a dream.

A passageway between the wall and wardrobe appeared, and through it crawled a lithe figure.

It stopped, evidently listening to something, then stole closer; sitting on the bed in the half-dark, the blond man saw a Chinese staring at him.

He crouched as if preparing to spring, and behind him a second figure appeared.

The stranger was now in complete control of himself. The moment the first scoundrel leapt at him he fired, and the Chinese collapsed right next to the bed.

A second bullet flew through the passage between the bed wardrobe and door, when the second Chinaman had vanished.

Everything fell quiet. The stranger quickly lit a candle.