"028 (B088) - The Roar Devil (1935-06) - Lester Dent" - читать интересную книгу автора (Robeson Kenneth)

Inside the garage, Renny found a coupй. In the rumble seat compartment of this was a portable radio transmitter-and-receiver. The tubes were still quite hot.
BY a combination of good luck and fast running, Renny managed to overhaul the young woman. He slackened his pace the instant he caught sight of her ahead, and trailed her.
The mysterious young woman headed directly into the mountains. The rugged country around Powertown had never been suited to cultivation, so it was almost entirely woodland. The girl was evidently using a compass, the dial of which she occasionally illuminated with a flashlight.
An hour later, Renny could see the great, moon brightened mirror of Powertown's enormous main reservoir off to the left, and the young woman ahead was going as strongly as ever. She was following a ridge.
They passed the site of the dam which had burst the previous afternoon. On the floor of the valley, occasional lights moved. These were undoubtedly searching-parties in quest of flood victims.
The moon disappeared and a haze obscured the stars, resulting in rather intense darkness. Renny experienced no little difficulty in trailing the girl silently.
The young woman came finally to a little-used mountain road. At the side of this stood a gray sedan. She walked boldly into bushes near by, and seemed surprised at not finding something there.
She drew a small automatic from her frock and became more alert. Renny got close enough to hear her when she spoke disgustedly to herself.
"So!" she snapped. "Some one found Stupe Davin and moved him."
She used her flashlight cautiously, apparently looking for footprints.
"He was moved, all right," she announced to herself. "He would be still asleep from that drug I gave him."
She sounded rather cheerful about it, as if some one had just scored against her in a pleasantly exciting game.
She left the car and continued on through the thick, rugged woodland.
RENNY first saw the cabin when it sprang out, a darksome sepulchre of logs, in the glow of the girls flashlight. She must have stood still for some time and listened, for she had halted, and Renny had halted also, and had waited so long that he had feared he had lost his quarry.
The girl entered the cabin boldly. Renny darted forward. He could manage great silence for one of his bulk. He watched the girl through grimy windows. She roved her flashlight beam, as if looking for something or some one, and entered the room which had been a laboratory.
Renny promptly scuttled into the outer room. He lifted several books and stood them on end across the floor. Then he took up a position to one side.
In the other room, the girl said disgustedly, "It looks as if I did an afternoon's work for nothing."
Then she came back through the door. She did not cast the flash beam on the floor. Her foot hit the first book. It upset, hit the next book, and the whole string of them toppled over with a pattering sound.
Startled, the girl leaped backward. Renny was moving forward on his toes. His, long arms gathered her in. His big right hand clamped over her gun.
She surprised him. He had fought men, more times than he could remember. Few of them had equaled this girl. She must have been an avid exponent of physical culture. She knew something of jujitsu, too. She kicked him and hit him with terrific force. They were both on the floor before Renny got the gun, and that was something he would never brag about, because he considered his own strength by no means ordinary.
"Holy cowl" Renny puffed, and got to his feet. "Talk about your wildcats!"
The girl was up like a shot and nearly demonstrated she could outrun him. He caught her fifty yards from the cabin. She knocked him down once, beautifully, something he would have sworn no woman could do. He got her down on her face and held her there, a big hand pinned against the back of her neck.
"What'd you come up here looking for?" he demanded. "Why were you eavesdropping on that meeting in Powertown?"
"Nuts to you!" said the feminine fire-eater.
"We'll go back to the cabin," Renny said. "We got lots to talk about."
The trip back to the cabin was one he did not soon forget. He tied her wrists with his handkerchief. She broke the bonds and gave him a marvelous black eye. It ended by his grabbing her hair with one big hand and holding her out as far as he could and marching her along. Even then, she managed to kick much of the hide off his shins.
"What a woman!" he said, not without admiration, as they entered the cabin. "I didn't think they came like you."
Three men came out of the darkness within the cabin and pointed guns at Renny and the girl.
RENNY was no fool. He rumbled savagely, released the girl and lifted his arms.
"You big tramp!" said the girl, and aimed a swing at his good eye. He ducked, took the blow on the forehead and looked stunned.
"Cut, Miss Kenn," said one of the gunmen. "We'll handle him now."
The girl glared at them.
"I don't know you!" she snapped.
"You're Retta Kenn, are you not?" asked the spokesman of the gun-holding trio.
"Yes." She scowled. "But I never saw you before."
The other shrugged. "Such is fame."
The girl planted small fists on her hips. She was very mad, but she seemed to be enjoying herself, regardless.
"What comes next?" she demanded.
"You can go back to Powertown and continue your good work," she was informed.
She seemed surprised. "Just who are you, anyway?"
"Friends of yours," grunted the other. "Ain't you wise to that, yet?"
Retta Kenn gasped, "You mean you work for - "
"Eh-heh!" The man held up a warning finger. "No names, sweetness. You just skip-back to Powertown. We'll handle the rest of this. You've done a good night's work."
The girl, looked very puzzled. Then she left the cabin.
"Follow her," the spokesman ordered one of his men. "See that nobody bothers her, and that she gets back to Powertown."
The men sidled out furtively after the pugilistic young woman.
Renny was searched - and relieved of his machine pistol, the drums of cartridges, a heavy-bladed pocket knife, and somewhat over a thousand dollars in currency which he had brought along for expense money.
"You guys in Doc Savage's crowd really carry pocket change, don't you?" queried the spokesman.
Renny studied the fellow. He was confident he had never seen the individual before. The fellow was lean, neatly dressed and smoothly shaven. His nails were manicured. He wore neat, metal-rimmed spectacles. He looked like a conservative businessman.
"Are we supposed to be acquainted?" Renny demanded.