"033 (B015) - Murder Melody (1935-11) - Laurence Donovan" - читать интересную книгу автора (Robeson Kenneth)

But as the small boat moved, Renny let out a yell.
"Holy cow, Ham! Look! The plane's runnin' away!"
Ham and Long Tom stared at the phenomenon. The streamlined amphibian no longer floated placidly. It was jerking from side to side. A wounded pelican of enormous size might have made the same motions. The water boiled around the wings.
"The thing's got it!" exploded one of the sailors in the small boat. "Hey! Stop rowin'!"
The oars of the crew hung in mid-air. Then they dipped violently. The small boat swung around and made back for the ship.
"By the great hornspoon!" raged the red-faced captain to Doc's men. "I'm puttin' you lubbers in irons 'til we can see what this is all about!"
The half-sunken plane had picked up speed. It swung away in a half arc, moving swiftly. Some monster of the deep apparently had it firmly in its grip. The speed became so great one of the wings tore off.
The plane disappeared in a foaming smother beyond the rim of the light cast by the dying volcano.
"I wish Doc could see this," muttered Long Tom. "Maybe he'd be able to figure out something."
"I take it you mean the illustrious Doc Savage?" stated a cool, brittle voice. "Then you are three of his men."
A MAN almost as tall and as bony as Johnny, the geologist, came toward them. He emerged from a small group of shivering, white-faced men. The members of this group looked as if they were in an alien place. About a dozen altogether, their countenances retained an indoor pallor, except for the roughening by climate and weather.
"I'm CaulkinsЧHomer Pearson Caulkins," stated the man who had stepped from the group. "Perhaps you have heard of me?"
"You're the economist," said Ham promptly. "Lately of South America. Let me congratulate you on your work down there."
The lean, ascetic face of Homer Pearson Caulkins lighted with apparent pleasure. His gray eyes gleamed frostily alongside his beaklike nose.
The red-faced captain grunted, "By theЧwell, of all the cool lubbers! You know 'em, Mr. Caulkins?"
"I would vouch for the companions of Doc Savage anywhere," came the dry, brittle voice of the economist. "Perhaps they have been trying some of their many scientific devices. That would explain the strange behavior of our ship."
"Holy cow!" exploded Renny. "That's the same thing we were sayin' when things began to bust! We thought you fellows on the ship were doin' some experimentin'!"
The red-faced captain snorted. Another man came across the deck from the group. He was of average height, but so fat and pudgy he had the appearance of being short. His small eyes twinkled in a rotund face that had a double chin. His mouth was small, but smiling.
"So you thought we might be experimenting?" he questioned pleasantly. "You're sure Doc Savage hadn't equipped your plane with some new apparatus that took it away suddenly? I have heard Savage is capable of many strange demonstrations."
"We know as little about all this as you seem to know," stated Ham. "If I'm not mistaken, you're Cassalano, the mineralogist."
The fat man bowed. "It is a compliment to be so readily recognized. But perhaps you knew of our ship?"
"Yes, we know of your ship," replied Ham. "We were responding to your S O S calls. Two boats are coming out."
Salvatore Umbrogia Cassalano spread his pudgy hands.
"That's very good," he said. "When the volcano broke loose on the island, our steering apparatus refused to work. Until only a few moments ago, we were being pulled toward the rocks. It looked as if we would be smashed. Captain Jarnagin had lost control."
The red-faced captain h'rumphed indignantly.
"By the great hornspoon!" he bellowed. "And why did we lose steerage way, I ask you, Mr. Cassalano? Maybe I wasn't handlin' my ship as right as any man could. Maybe you think I could haveЧ"
"It's all right, captain," interrupted Caulkins's brittle voice. "We fully realize you were doing your best. No man can be expected to cope with the supernatural."
Ham and his companions were dripping. Long Tom's anaemic-looking figure shivered. Cassalano's unctuous tone broke in.
"But we shouldn't be keeping these men here on deck freezing," he said. "If you'll come on down to our cabin, we'll have out some dry clothing for you. We'llЧ"
SALVATORE UMBROGIA CASSALANO never completed his kindly meant suggestion. Members of the Narwhal crew had remained huddled in a muttering group near the forward hatch. Though the chill of the Arctic night was biting, they were loath to descend to their cramped quarters.
One man shouted. Others joined in a chorus. There were two score of the sailors. Suddenly they were rushing toward the captain and the group near the waist of the ship.
"By the great hornЧ" Captain Jarnagin started to roar, his hand dragging a snub-nosed revolver from under his coat.
The captain apparently believed his men's nerves had broken. He thought he was facing a mutiny. He waved the revolver.
"The thing's got us!" squawked a sailor. "It's grabbed us by the bow! Take to the boats, maties!"
The members of the crew divided. In their panic they ignored the menace of the captain's weapon. Ropes loosened and davit chocks squealed. A life-boat went tumbling down, with men piling into it. Some men were spilled into the sea. Others jumped in terror.
Captain Jarnagin bellowed with rage. His snub-nosed revolver spat vicious fire. A sailor fell to the deck, screaming. One of his legs was broken. The bony figure of Caulkins interposed. He seized the wrist of the red-faced captain.
"We don't want bloodshed, captain!" he said peremptorily. "Myself and my colleagues are paying for the ship! I'll try and calm the men!"
Caulkins strode forward.
"He's a cool one," commented Long Tom. "But what do you supposeЧ"
The Narwhal quivered. All the air around it was crackling with some form of frosty static. Another piece of the volcano rim sheered off and fell into the sea.
"Holy cow!" rumbled Renny. "Look down there!"
With a slight grating sound a long glasslike body had attached itself to the steel side of the ship. No grappling hooks appeared. The submerged shape seemed to be holding onto the steamer by some sort of suction.
"Electromagnets!" exclaimed Long Tom. "It's one of them subs! That's what took the plane!"
"Look out! This way, quick!"
This was Ham's voice. Every one had been staring forward where the sailors were still milling in confusion. The lowered small boat with half a load of panicky men of the crew was pulling away.
Coming up behind the captain and the others, moving on soundless feet, were a dozen figures. Others were emerging from a small open hatch in the top of the glasslike submarine.
"It ain't human!" growled Renny. "But come on!"
The giant engineer's enormous fists were doubled. His face was long and solemn. Renny always had that expression when he was pleased. He was now pleasantly anticipating the smashing of a few heads. The fact that the stream of men coming from the submarine was apparently clad in some sort of silvery armor, did not deter him.
"Look, Ham, at them coming up," breathed Long Tom, in an amazed voice.
HAM needed no urging to see what Long Tom meant. The men issuing from the glassy submarine reached the ship's deck without much effort. In fact, they seemed to give only a little push with their toes and floated upward. Yet when they were on the steel plates they walked forward in a normal manner.