"Фредерик Браун. Night of the Jabberwock (англ) " - читать интересную книгу автора

story breaking. We got to remake!"
I could feel the sudden silence in Smiley's Bar. The conversation
between the two other customers stopped in the middle of a word and they
turned to look at me. Pete, from the door, looked at me. Smiley, a bottle in
his hand, turned to look at me and he didn't even smile. In fact, just as I
turned back to the phone, the bottle dropped out of his hand and hit the
floor with a noise that made me jump and close my mouth quickly to keep my
heart from jumping from it. That bottle crashing on the floor had sounded
for a second just like a revolver shot.
I waited until I felt that I could talk again without stammering and
then I took my hand off the mouthpiece of the phone and said calmly, or
almost calmly, "Okay, Clyde, go ahead."


CHAPTER TWO


"Who are you, aged man?" I said.
"And how is it you live?"
His answer trickled through my head,
Like water through a sieve.

"You've gone to press, haven't you, Doc?" Clyde's voice said. "You must
have because I tried phoning you at the office first and then somebody told
me if you weren't there, you'd be at Smiley's, but that'd mean you were
through for the"
"That's all right," I said. "Get on with it."
"I know it's murder, Doc, to ask you to change a story when you've
already got the paper ready to run and have left the office, but well, that
rummage sale we were going to have Tuesday; it's been called off. Can you
still kill the article? Otherwise a lot of people will read about it and
come around to the church Tuesday night and be disappointed."
"Sure, Clyde," I said. "I'll take care of it."
I hung up. I went over to the table and sat down. I poured myself a
drink of whisky and when Pete came over I poured him one.
He asked me what the call had been and I told him.
Smiley and his two other customers were still staring at me, but I
didn't say anything until Smiley called out, "What happened, Doc? Didn't you
say something about a murder?"
I said, "I was just kidding, Smiley." He laughed.
I drank my drink and Pete drank his: He said, "I knew there was a catch
about getting through early tonight. Now we got a nine-inch hole in the
front page all over again. What are we going to put in it?"
"Damned if I know," I told him. "But the hell with it for tonight. I'll
get down when you do in the morning and figure something out then."
Pete said, "That's what you say now, Doc. But if you don't get down at
eight o'clock, what'll I do with that hole in the page?"
"Your lack of faith horrifies me, Pete. If I say I'll be down in the
morning, I will be. Probably."
"But if you're not?"