"008 (B018) - The Sargasso Ogre (1933-10) - Lester Dent" - читать интересную книгу автора (Robeson Kenneth)

The clerk had apparently been dead at least a day.





On the face of it, this bit of news was not unusual. Murders were no more infrequent in Alexandria than in other large cities.



But the dead clerk had been employed by the American Bank. And that bank was handling the transfer of Doc's hoard of diamonds -- gems to a fabulous value. The bank had put the stones, under heavy guard, aboard the Cameronic for shipment to New York.



"I see the whole thing!" Long Tom barked excitedly. "That bank clerk was kidnaped and tortured until he told where the diamonds were! Then he was slain! And the gang who killed him set about keeping us off the Cameronic, so they would have a free hand to get the stones!"



Doc, saying nothing, took the strange belt of cap insignias from his pocket and studied it thoughtfully.



Down at the water front, they encountered the hubbub which always accompanies the sailing of a passenger liner. Hucksters howled themselves hoarse peddling nut meats, dates, and carved knicknacks for tourist souvenirs. Porters dashed about. Policemen yelled.



Their taxi rooted noisily through the uproar. They alighted near the pier entrance. Doc gave his bags to a Cameronic flunky to be taken immediately to the suite he had engaged.



Some delay followed while he and Long Tom settled matters about their passports. They had entered Egypt without these necessities, having flown the lost dirigible there at the conclusion of their last great adventure in the lost oasis.



The papers which the American consul had supplied to Doc and his men were finally passed upon, however. They went aboard, being plentifully elbowed en route by excited tourists. The screaming din of peddlers trying to make a last sale, was deafening.



A neat modernistic elevator lifted them to the top deck, which held their cabins. The Cameronic was a new craft. They turned down the corridor which led to their quarters.



They had not taken a dozen steps when a volley of yells crackled through the passage! Blows whacked! A man screeched in terrible pain!



Three thin brown men dived out of a door down the corridor. They were half naked, their burnooses torn off. One streamed crimson from a gash in his arm.