"Emil Petaja - Dinosaur Goes Hollywood" - читать интересную книгу автора (Petaja Emil)

"But not before I vaguely glimpsed Doc draw back, like a Notre Dame left end, and toss his
Time-Bomb . . .
"When I woke I was lying on grass. That scared me. Grass! I didn't dare open my eyes for a couple
seconds. Then somebody grabbed my arms, and turned me over.
 "f blinked my peepers open. 'Doc!' I yells. 'Are we in the Mesozoic?'
" 'No, Jock.' Doc felt me over for broken bones. 'I thought you'd be half-dead. You seem to be
indestructible!'
" 'Where's our playmate?' I asks, pushing up on my pins, and squinting dizzily around.
"He'd tossed me on the parkway grass, which helped break my fall a trifle. But no brontosaurus
could I see.
" 'Back where he came from,' Doc says. 'A sadder and wiser lizard, no doubt. You know, Jock, I've
just figured out something that has been puzzling me for some time. Just why the dinosaur was so
persistent in his drive to get to the Theatre—'
" 'Maybe he ain't never seen a premiere,' I puts in.
" 'Jock, I think the Cathay Square Theatre is now standing in the exact spot that was his home-site,
back in the Mesozoic. Instinct immediately brought him here, and when he didn't find his mate waiting for
him, he became furious.
" 'The brontosaurus was a herbivorous lizard. He wouldn't have eaten anyone, but—'
" 'But he sure could have trampled this joint into a shambles!' I finished for him.

"THE police herded the crowd gently away, but a lot of them stayed. The feeling persisted that this
had been all part of the show. And would you believe it, they went right ahead with the premiere.
"A medium sized crowd hemmed us in, curious-eyed. All at once Brindell van Hastings bristled
through, and marched importantly up to the Doc.
"So you're the scientist who invented the Time-Net, that brought back the dinosaur!' he cries, sizing
the Doc up. He shoved a paper and pen into
Doc's hands. 'Sign right there, on the dotted line!'
" 'What is—?' Doc begins puzzledly.
"Van Hastings looked around him fearfully, as if he was afraid of rival studio spies, and then bent
over pompously and whispered something in Doc's ear.
"'What did you say?' Doc exclaims.
"Van Hastings gives a repeat performance. This time I shove my shell-like ear in and get the
low-down.
"It was like this: Van Hastings wanted Doc Greylock to use his Time-Net to reach back in time and
snare glamor gals like Cleopatra, Salome, and Helen of Troy, right out of their boudoirs—for him to star
in exclusive autobiographical movies of their lives!
"Wow! I waited eagerly to hear what sad-faced old Doc Greylock would say to that. Knowing how
he never had much use for women before, I doubted that he would approve.
"Doc's eyes glittered. He pulled at his straw moustache, like he always did when in deep thought.
" Wan Hastings!' he says suddenly. `I will not sign on any dotted line! I will not get Cleopatra and
Salome out of the past—for you to star in your misinformative epics! But you have given me a very
marvelous idea! Do you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to—' "

"LEM MASON, I'm surprised at you!" a shocked feminine voice behind me cried.
I was following Jock Wempel's narrative breathlessly, so only glanced back in annoyance. But one
glance was enough.
It was Susie May. She was standing in the bar-room doorway, tapping her foot. And when Susie
May taps her foot, look out.
"Susie May!" I choked. "Er—have a drink?"
She sauntered over. "I will not have a drink, you wolf in cheap clothing! Sitting here talking about