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

Monk blew thoughtfully upon his bristle-covered fists.



"I think I'll prowl around the decks and see if there's anything suspicious going on," he said mildly.



"I wouldn't," Ham suggested with biting dryness.



"Why not?"



"There's no need of frightening the passengers off the boat before we sail!" Ham retorted, and squinted wryly at Monk's homely features.



This unkind cut was typical of Ham. He was always riding Monk. He missed no chances for a crack at Monk's expense. It had been thus for years, since an incident in the Great War had given Ham his nickname.



As a joke, Ham had taught Monk some French words which were highly insulting, telling him they were exactly what one should say to flatter a French general. Monk had used them -- and landed in the guardhouse. But soon after his release, the dapper Brigadier General Brooks had been hailed up on a charge of stealing hams. Somebody had planted the evidence. Ham had never been able to prove it was Monk's work, and the thing still irked him.



Monk, however, was far from helpless under Ham's sharp tongue. He had many methods of goading Ham, from imitating Ham's snappy attire, to impersonating a pig grunting and squealing. This last always threw Ham into a rage.



Monk now twisted his simian features into a frightsome grimace, preparatory to emitting a piggy squeal.



"We'd better lock up our other two friends," Doc suggested, to head off a verbal battle which might last for hours. "Where are they?"



"Down keeping an eye on the strong room, where our diamonds are stored," Monk said, with a regretful scowl at Ham.





THEY descended to a middle deck. This held the purser's office, a grilled inclosure not unlike a bank teller's cage. The back of this cage was a wall of thick steel, pierced by a heavy metal door fitted with combination locks -- the ship's safe.