"Leslie F. Stone - Men With Wings" - читать интересную книгу автора (Stone Leslie F)

"In the following week there were several tales that paralleled that of Miss
Hally. And it was found that there was always a man with a black cape near
the
scene of the abduction. Someone was sure to liken him to a bird and usually a
few feathers of different colors were found! The hue and cry went out for a
black caped man.
"It was in Quito, Ecuador, on March 17th that the real clue came to light. It
was in the new Salvadora Hotel where Miss Hilda Berkenhart was visiting with
her
father. The Berkenharts are of old Swedish-German stock and Miss Berkenhart
blonde and handsome, was often spoken of as the Viking Maid. Junoesque tall,
wide-shouldered, overflowing with the vitality of her healthy body, she was a
true daughter of that once great race, a prize-winner if ever there was one.
"It appears that she, with several other guests of the hotel, had entered the
lift. One by one the others got off at their floors. She had a room several
floors higher. She, and a tall slender man with fine aquiline features, and
wearing a dark blue cape that hung to his feet, were now the only occupants
beside the elevator-boy. The latter was a small slender Irishman who had
found
his way into the tiny country on the Equator, and he was suddenly aroused
from
his memories of the Emerald Isle as he realized his male passenger had
addressed
him. 'Drive to the roof!' had been the command.
"Miss Berkenhart started to protest, but turning the boy saw that the
be-caped
man held a revolver trained on them both. Up they went to the roof. 'Get
out!'
The girl and boy under the persuasion of the gun hurried to obey. From under
his
cape the man next brought forth a length of cord. 'Tie her hands together,'
he
had directed the elevator operator and under the menace of the revolver the
girl
allowed him to do it. 'Now tie her feet'. That was done. 'Go back to the lift
now and descend to the lobby!'
"Quaking, the youth retreated to the elevator shaft and started the motor,
but
he did not descend far. He lowered the machine just enough to allow his eyes
to
be on a level with the roof-floor. So noiseless was the well-oiled machinery
that the man in the cape did not hear. Later the operator reported what he
had
seen. The man had already crossed to the girl's side and said something to
her
that the closed door of the lift muffled, but the boy saw her smile bravely.
Then the strange man tossed off his cape!
"The boy had to rub his eyes to make sure of what he had seen. The man was
standing in a close-fitting costume of white that seemed skintight, decorated
with a snow of colored feathers-- bright and glistening. However, that was