"Doc Savage Adventure 1935-07 Quest of Qui" - читать интересную книгу автора (Doc Savage Collection)

"Then what kind of a gadget done it?"

"No gadget, that we have seen," Doc told him. "The alarm clock did not, obviously."

"Alarm clock - " Monk made a mumbling noise. "Say, what is this?"

"A mystery," Doc replied. "It seems to have to do with ancient Vikings and - "

"Ow-w-w!" Monk bawled.

Monk's roar out of the receiver was ear-splitting. It made Renny, standing across the laboratory, jump.

Silence followed. Utter silence. Either Monk's receiver had been hung up, or the telephone had been torn from its cord socket.

"Something's happened!" big Renny barked, charging across the laboratory. "Monk don't squall like that without reasons!"



Chapter 5

MYSTERIOUS CAMPAIGN


MONK, like most extremely homely men, was ordinarily a peaceful, quiet, small-voiced soul. The only time he was noisy was in a fight. Then he was a bedlam, all by himself.

Monk was putting on one of his best bedlams now. He howled and roared and floundered about. Although there was daylight outside, the room wherein Monk was having his troubles was in the blackest darkness. This was because special shutters on the windows were closed. Monk had been engaged in an experiment with chemicals sensitive to light.

There had been a red light burning. That had gone out very mysteriously. Something had fastened itself around Monk's feet unexpectedly. in his excitement, he had tried to Jump, howling at the same time, and had gone down. Absent-mindedly keeping a clutch on the telephone, he had torn it loose from its wires.

"Ye-o-o-w!" Monk roared. "Leggo me!"

He struck savagely with the telephone, hit nothing, and suddenly discovered the thing around his ankles was a cord. It was hard, stiff, slick. A thong of some kind of hide.

Monk suddenly stopped making a noise and tried to change his Position. The thing around his ankles hampered him. He got around that by the - for him - simple expedient of rearing up and walking on his hands. He settled down behind a steel desk and listened intently

An alarm clock started ringing.

The thing sounded louder than any alarm clock Monk had ever heard. Probably surprise had something to do with that. He tried to listen harder. His ears could not penetrate the din.

He did not move. He was thinking of what he had just been told over the telephone - the alarm clock which had accompanied the attempt on Doc Savage's life.

Trying to make no noise, Monk worked at the thong Securing his ankles. The knot was the kind that supped only one way. It would not loosen. Monk got out his pocketknife.

Fists were beating rapidly on the dark room door.

"Monk!" cried the one who was doing the belaboring. "Mr. Mayfair! What has happened?"

It was Monk's secretary. Obviously, she had found the door locked. That surprised Monk no end. He had not locked it. The thong defied his pocketknife blade.