"Smith, Wilbur - Shout At The Devil" - читать интересную книгу автора (Smith Wilbur)

keyed him to a point where every muscle in his body quivered on the
edge of exploding. Crouching in the night he groped for the cane that
he had laid on the deck beside him. His hands fell on the bulky
sackful of green coconuts that made up part of the dhow's deck cargo.
They were carried to supplement, with their milk, the meagre supply of
fresh water on board. Quickly Sebastian tore open the fastenings of
the sack and hefted one of the hard round fruits.

"Not quite as handy as a cricket ball, but-" murmured Sebastian and
came to his feet. Using the short run up he delivered the fast ball
with which he had shattered the Yorkshire first innings the previous
year. It had the same effect on the Arab first innings. The coconut
whirred and cracked against the skull of one of the approaching
assassins and the rest retired in confusion.

"Now send the men," roared Sebastian and bowled a short lifter that
hastened the retreat.

He selected another coconut and was about to deliver that also when
there was a flash and a report from aft, and something howled over
Sebastian's head. Hastily he ducked behind the sack of coconuts.

"My God, they've got a gun up there!" Sebastian remembered then the
ancient muzzle-loading Jezail he had seen the captain polishing
lovingly on their first day out from Zanzibar, and he felt his anger
rising in earnest.

He jumped to his feet and hurled his next coconut with fury.

"Fight fair, you dirty swine! "he yelled.

There was a delay while the dhow captain went through the complicated
process of loading his piece. Then a cannon report, a burst of flame,
and another pot leg howled over Sebastian's head.

Through the dark hours before dawn the lively exchange of jeers and
curses, of coconuts and pot legs continued.

Sebastian more than held his own for he scored four howls of pain and a
yelp, while the dhow captain succeeded only in shooting away a great
deal of his own standing rigging.

But as the light of the new day increased, so Sebastian's advantage
waned. The Arab captain's shooting improved to such an extent that
Sebastian spent most of his time crouching behind the sack of coconuts.
Sebastian was nearly exhausted. His right arm and shoulder ached
unmercifully, and he could hear the first stealthy advance of the Arab
crew as they crept down towards his hide. In daylight they could
surround him and use their numbers to drag him down.