"Manly Wade Wellman - Sherlock Holmes's War of the Worlds" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wellman Manly Wade)

was a garbled account of the things he had seen and knew at firsthand. He sat at his desk and wrote
rapidly:


My dear Challenger,
I went to Woking on Friday before receiving your letter, but did not find you. I saw
no Martians myself; however, descriptions tally with what we observed in the crystal egg
I left with you.
Like you, I was prepared for hostility, and this weapon people are beginning to call
the heat-ray is disaster to face. Nor do we know as yet what more terrible armament
they may have.
Without indulging too greatly in surmise, I sug-gest that these are pioneers of a mass
migration across space, with more to arrive when Mars and Earth are next in opposition,
in 1904. Very likely they consider us lower animals, to be exterminated as pests or
possibly to be exploited in some way.
Keep the crystal in your possession. Its proper-ties seem to include interplanetary
communica-tion. The Martians may try to recapture it. What if we could trap one of them
in the attempt and learn more about how to oppose him and his fellows?
It occurs to me that health on a strange world may be one of their problems. You
may enlarge on the supposition.
With warm regards,
Sherlock Holmes


He sealed the sheet in an envelope and rang for Billy.
"See that this letter goes to Enmore Park, in Ken-sington West, by special messenger," he said.
"What's all this about these Martian people, Mr. Holmes?" asked Billy. "You were there, weren't you?
The paper says they can hardly creep about in that pit of theirs."
"Never trust such newspaper reports, Billy. They have complex machines to fight with, and
undoubtedly to travel with. By the way, where does your mother live?"
"Why, in Yorkshire. She went there last year, to raise a market garden."
"Here, my boy," Holmes held out a pound note. "After you have seen that letter on its way to
Pro-fessor Challenger, you may take a holiday to visit your mother."
Billy pocketed the note, somewhat slowly. "But I'd rather stay here in London, sir. Things sound like
ex-citement hereabouts, they do."
"Excitement is exactly the word, Billy. But there is apt to be disruption, too, and very likely dangerous
disruption. I would feel better if you were at a safe distance."
Billy departed. Holmes returned to his desk and looked through a great sheaf of his hasty notes,
making fuller and clearer organization in writing. Several ex-cited callers came to his door with news,
rumors mostly, of heavy fighting in Surrey. That evening, Martha ap-peared with a veal and ham pie and
a fruit compote for their dinner.
"You're troubled," she ventured as Holmes opened a bottle of Beaune.
"And quite accurately deduced, my dear Martha," he said. "A terrible fate seems to have befallen
those unfortunate communities in Surrey. I have a special kindness for that country; it was there that I
solved a puzzle at Reigate and explained a mystery at Wisteria Lodge, besides helping Sir Percy Phelps
when he thought he had lost the naval treaty. Yet, bad as things are in Surrey, they may become bad
here in London." He considered that statement. "Worse," he amended.
She ate slowly. "But the people out there on the street do not seem particularly frightened, my dear."
"Because they have not taken thought. Their minds are incapable of grasping the implications of this
strange invasion. But I find myself talking like my respected friend, the professor, who holds the intellect