"Robeson, Kenneth - Doc Savage 1937 12 - The Golden Peril" - читать интересную книгу автора (Robeson Kenneth)

The guards were brave. The leaders brought up their guns, tried to reply to the
merciless hail of death. Then they went down, almost cut in two by lead.
The others hurled their spears and dived for the temporary safety of the rocks.
The heavily laden donkeys snorted, burst into a panicky run. Khaki-clad figures
leaped toward the trail and barred their path.
Shrill, pain-stricken cries came from the doomed guards. One grunted with
satisfaction as his spear drove through the body of an attacker, only to die a
moment later with a bullet through his brain.
Crimson stained the cold waters of the creek. It became literally a river of
blood. The crashing roar of high-powered guns filled the canyon with thunderous
echoes.
"Let none escape! Kill them all!" roared the general. The glacier-cold of his
eyes had melted. The orbs were now red with a killing lust.
His men needed no urging. Relentlessly, their bullets were hunting down fleeing
figures. The guards were dropping on all sides.
"We are lost!" moaned one of these. It was he who had first spoken on the trail.
"Doc Savage should know," his companion said throatily. There was a terrible
wound in his chest. Red-flecked foam was on his lips. Already, his eyes were
glazing. "Y-you should try to get word to him, Zum. IЧIЧ" He became limp.

HIS companion eased behind the rocks on his stomach. His skin was almost the
color of those boulders. Bullets whined over him suddenly. Zum rolled over and
lay still. The death blast moved behind him, caught a guard who had risen to his
knees to hurl a knife.
Cautiously, Zum wiggled on a short distance. Again he lay still. Then he moved
ahead once more.
Exultant cries of victory were coming from the sides of the canyon. Khaki-clad
men were rising to their feet. The steady roar of guns had ceased. Now there was
only an occasional shot from a revolver held close to some wounded guardТs head.
Zum neared a turn in the canyon. He leaped to his feet. With the speed of a
racing hare, he rounded that turn. An automatic rifle burst into life. Hot lead
played a tattoo on rocks. Slugs ricocheted and howled. One nicked the running
manТs right shoulder just before he vanished from view.
"Get him! DonТt let him escape!" the general shouted viciously.
Khaki-clad figures raced in pursuit. When they reached the bend in the canyon,
Zum had disappeared. He was running with all his speed. His mighty lungs were
drawing in great gulps of breath, his feet were pounding tirelessly.
"He escaped," reported the man who had fired the automatic rifle.
"Fool!" The generalТs face was livid. He swung a fist, knocked the man to the
ground. "You know what happens to men who fail! You know what The Leader does!"
The man on the ground groveled. His face became a pasty color. His eyes rolled
wildly. "TheЧthe hand of death!" he half screamed. "DonТt let it get me!"
The generalТs eyes were scornful. "You deserve to die. Too much is at stake to
permit errors. But this time I shall let you live. I can stop that pig of a
runner before he gets word to Doc Savage."
Bodies of the slain guards were lying on all sides. Some were horribly mutilated
by lead. Of all who had been alive only five minutes before, only Zum still
lived. The vultures were swooping low.
The general paid no attention to the bodies. Callously, he stepped on them, as
he walked toward the still-trembling, frightened donkeys. His men, also, had