"Kenneth Robeson - Doc Savage 042 - The Midas Man" - читать интересную книгу автора (Robeson Kenneth)

He was in a dark cave of a room. The walls were painted black, which was unusual. There was a solid black
rug on the floor, which was even more unique.

But the one article of furniture was most startling of all. It was approximately eight feet long and three
wideтАФan irregularly shaped box with a lid. William Harper Littlejohn was startled into using small words,
something he rarely did.

"A mummy case!" he gasped.

A man went out, evidently to the car, and came back carrying a pair of pliers. He showed these to the
prisoner.

"See these?" he demanded. "TheyтАЩre gonna reduce your vocabulary."

William Harper Littlejohn could hardly help seeing them; they were almost jammed in his eyes.

"An anagrammatical conjugation of exigency!" he muttered.

"There!" growled the man with the pliers. "ThatтАЩs what I mean! No more of them words! Them jawbreakers! For
every big word you use, weтАЩre gonna pull one of your teeth. A tooth for each word we canтАЩt understand!
Savvy?"

William Harper Littlejohn blinked and looked as indignant as a securely bound man could.

"I donтАЩt understand what this is all about," he snapped. "Why did you seize me?"

"You have no idea?" demanded the other.

"No!" retorted William Harper Littlejohn. "IтАЩm completely puzzled!"
"Swell!" grinned the other. "YouтАЩre gonna be more puzzled, before we get done!"

They laid hands upon the skeletonlike form of Littlejohn, lifted him, and calmly plunked him down in the
mummy case.

WLLLIAM HARPER LITTLEJOHN had been able to give the mummy case merely the slightest of inspection,
but he had recognized it as being a genuine article. And the idea of lying in a mummy case failed to appeal to
him.

"I object to this treatment!" he yelled.

"We know how you feel!" said one of the men, with grim sympathy.

William Harper Littlejohn growled, "Inacquiescence isтАФ"

The man with the pliers sprang forward. He endeavored forcibly to pry the prisonerтАЩs mouth open. There was
brisk action for several moments, during which the pliers failed to get a firm hold on any of the captiveтАЩs teeth.

"IтАЩll let that one go!" the man with pinchers decided, grudgingly. "But for every big word from now on, you lose
a tooth! Listen! They call you тАШJohnny,тАЩ donтАЩt they?"