"034 (B014) - The Fantastic Island (1935-12) - Ryerson Johnson" - читать интересную книгу автора (Robeson Kenneth)

"They can throw more rocks than we can," Monk growled. "Let's get outta here."



Monk tucked one of the short, thick clubs under his arm, grabbed up Habeas Corpus by the ears, and lunged into the shadowed thicket. Pat and Ham followed closely.



Pressing through the mangrove sink, they came out upon a height of land that was nothing. if not weird. Volcanic rock, black lava sharp as broken glass, swallowed them up in a welter of fantastically shaped hills and gullies. Much of the razor-edged glass was in tilted sheets which were prone to slip and shatter under the weight of a footfall. Giant cactuses rooted in the crevices and dangled their spiny pads overhead, like hooded cobras ready to strike.



They lost all sounds of pursuit.



The low-raking clouds lifted and the three pressed on under the pale white light of equatorial stars.



"I hope we get somewhere quick," Pat said, appalled.



"They speak of the Galapagos archipelago as the 'world's end,' " Ham remarked.



"They don't miss it much," Monk grumbled. "How we're goin' to find Johnny in this volcanic scrap heap, I dunno."



"Did either of you get the impression," Pat asked suddenly, "that our League-of-Nations attackers were being careful not to kill us?"



"Yeah," Monk admitted. "Even those rocks were not thrown too hard."



"They wanted us alive, I guess," Ham supplied.



"My guess, too. But why?"