"013 (B003) - Meteor Menace (1934-03) - Lester Dent" - читать интересную книгу автора (Robeson Kenneth)

Saturday Loo's poncho was not a disguise, exclusively. It concealed an object which resembled a single-shot pistol, with a barrel large enough to accommodate shotgun cartridges. The poncho also hid a long rope, six pairs of handcuffs, a gas mask, and an assortment of tear-gas bombs.



Safety first was a fetish with Saturday Loo. The shotgun-sized implement, which was a Very pistol firing a slug that would burst into a smoke puff high in the air, should set machinery in motion to settle the business at hand. But there was always the chance of a slipup. Hence the rope, handcuffs, and tear gas to fall back upon.



Taking care not to bump into any one, which might call attention to what he carried under his poncho, Saturday Loo worked forward.



At least two hundred thousand Chilean citizens were gathered on this hill outside Antofagasta. The center of attention was a high speakers' rostrum of temporary construction. Everybody was pushing and elbowing to get closer to the rostrum, although great loudspeakers of a public-address system were scattered everywhere, and should guarantee all hearing what was to be said.



"Puerco!" gritted a man who had been elbowed. "Pig! Why do you shove?"



"I want to see the bronze man at close range," said the one who had done the elbowing, unabashed.



That seemed to be the thought every one had. They wanted to see the bronze man.



Back of the speakers' rostrum towered a structure which, once it was completed, would undoubtedly be the largest building in Antofagasta. It was possibly half finished. Its architecture was plain and substantial. A great sign hanging over the freshly mortared bricks read:






EL HONOR DE DOC SAVAGE





In case there should be any one unable to read Spanish, the legend was elaborated below in English: