"052 (B075) - The Land of Fear (1937-06) - Harold Davis" - читать интересную книгу автора (Robeson Kenneth)

"And now the girl has escaped," the tall man said softly.
Greens Gordon jerked up, his eyes taking on a look of fear. "Now don't hold that against me," he said quickly. "Why do you want her so bad, anyway? Why didn't you let us kill her?"
His companion smiled thinly. "For your first question, it's simply that I do not want her to talk to Doc Savage and tell him what little she knows. And I wouldn't let you kill her, because we may have need of her later to get the secret we must have."
"We'll catch them; they can't get out of the building!" Gordon rumbled.
"You'd better be sure!" the other snapped, vicious suddenly. "There must be no mistake when millions are involved! If there areЧ"
Gordon's face ordinarily was ruddy-complexioned. Now that color faded until his skin resembled old magazine paper.
A radio broke in abruptlyЧa low-wave-length radio tuned to police calls.
"Calling all cars," came the announcer's emotionless voice. "Be on the look-out for a black moving van with the sign 'Long Distance Hauling' on the sides. Such a truck was used this afternoon in the escape of the gang who kidnaped a young woman guest from the Duras Hotel."
The big man looked at Greens Gordon quickly. The racketeer's face expressed blank astonishment.
"There is believed to be a connection between this crime and the skeleton killing earlier in the day," the radio voice went on. "An autopsy report indicates the man whose skeleton was found gave the appearance of having been dead for centuries.
"The press is making a big play on this case. The girl who was kidnaped and the man who was slain, both arrived here to-day from Genlee, Africa. A third companion has disappeared. It is essential to clear up the mystery at once. The commissioner has authorized me to say thatЧ"
The voice from the radio went on and on.
Greens Gordon's barrel-shaped figure seemed to shrink. His companion looked at him coldly.
"I thought there was no leak?" the big man said.
"IЧIЧ" gasped Gordon. "I can't understand it! All tracks were covered perfectly! There was nothing to show how my men got away, or that there was any connection between the cases!"
A burst of machine-gun fire came from some place in the building, not far away.
"You have erred so far," the big man said quietly. "Doc Savage is here. In some way, his men have learned at least part of the truth, have reported it to the police. It is time we acted. Come!"
The big man rose to his feet and pulled a queer-shaped object from his vest. In appearance, it seemed only like a small horn, or a diminutive funnel.
Greens Gordon frankly shook with terror as he glanced at it. Like a man hypnotized, he opened the door and led the way to the hall. He knew skeletons might soon appearЧnew skeletons.
THE skeleton that confronted Doc and the girl was not a new one, but it might as well have been. The effect on the girl was the same. She slumped forward limply.
Doc caught her as she fell and slapped her smartly across the face. The bronze giant was never cruel, but he knew the only way to handle a case such as this. Kind words would have brought only additional hysteria. A shock was necessary, and he provided that shock.
Virginia's eyes opened and stared once again at the hideous object that barred their path. A moan came from her lips.
"It is nothing," Doc Savage said, as roughly as he could. "A trick, a part of this house that has been called crazy."
The bronze man pushed her to her feet, made her stand alone while he advanced toward the skeleton and touched it.
"This was put here by the former owner of this house," Doc explained, not unkindly. "It is standard equipment in the so-called 'crazy houses' of the amusement parks. It means nothing."
With a visible effort, the girl regained control of herself, but she could not turn her eyes toward the skeleton.
"It reminds meЧ" she began.
"Let that wait," Doc interrupted. "We have more important business now. We must get out of here."
Alone, Doc could have made his escape from the house without difficulty. He could have opened a window and have descended the sides of the walls. The girl made the problem more difficult.
The sides of the house were smooth. While Doc could sustain his own weight easily, it was doubtful if he could get grip enough to carry the girl on his shoulders.
The bronze man paused. The entire house was now alive with noise. Men were searching each floor. Occasionally, a pistol shot showed the high tension of strained nerves.
But the house had many rooms. It was going to take some time to make a thorough search. Gats had spoken of traps. The skeleton might have been one, but it had been harmless. It was difficult to know, however, just which way to head.
And there was always the unknown danger: The danger of the skeleton death.
It was impossible to reach the elevator; the lobby undoubtedly was well guarded. But there might be a chance through use of the stairway Gats had mentioned. They moved on.
For the girl the next fifteen minutes always remained a nightmare. Already shaken, in deadly fear, she followed Doc almost as an automaton. Some doors refused to open. Others opened to reveal only blank walls. They led nowhere.
Doc rarely used his flashlight; there was too much danger of it being seen. They entered a big room. It was peculiar in that it had only two outlets, the one by which they'd come and the one in front of them.
There was nothing to do but go ahead. Where they had been moving swiftly and without hesitation, however, the bronze man now moved cautiously. The girl sensed the change and crept closer to him, her hand on his arm as if for the courage it gave her.
Doc opened the door and stepped through. Doc placed a foot down gently, tested with his weight, then moved aheadЧand the floor went out from under him.
There was a shrill cry of terror from the girl.
The next instant lights flashed on. They could see the trap into which they'd fallen.
Their bodies were speeding downward at a terrific pace, speeding on a greased incline. And below them, plainly visible, steel shafts were awaiting them, sharp headed spears pointed directly toward them, ready to pierce the strongest body.
THE incline was long, but its length was diminishing by yards with each passing instant.
After that one startled scream, Virginia Jettmore had lapsed into a dead faint, her body flashing rapidly in a limp heap behind the huge form of Doc Savage as they bore down on the steel shafts that would impale them.
Few men in the world could even have thought during that swift downward plunge. Only one could have thought and then have acted.
Doc Savage's muscles moved even before his conscious brain realized the peril. The long hours of practice he'd taken, the many dangerous spots he'd been inЧall coЎperated in the instinctive movement he made now.
His long frame swung sidewise; his feet pressed one side of the slide, his gigantic, muscle-corded shoulders the other.
Clothing ripped from his back. His shoe soles stung with the sudden heat of friction.
A mountain climber goes up a crevice by bracing his back against one side, his feet against the other. But a mountain climber doesn't have a dead weight pressing against him; he's not on a greased incline.
The steel shafts shot nearer, grew larger, deadly and unyielding.
The bronze giant strained. His corded tendons called upon strength they never had been called upon to use before. Crimson stains were left as fragile cloth gave way and skin alone took up the battle.