"056 (B028) - Repel (The Deadly Dwarf) (1937-10) - Lester Dent" - читать интересную книгу автора (Robeson Kenneth)

The bronze man and Monk ran through the jungle, then worked among a legion of boulders evidently deposited there by Ethel's Mama in some past eruption. There was a stretch of brush beyond, then the camp of the six little cinnamon-colored tents under the overhanging ledge.
Doc Savage put down the instrument box and Monk dropped his captive.
FOUR men appeared on one side of the campsite, running toward the tent and the ledge. One of them was the gaunt archaeologist and user of big words, Johnny. Dangling from one of his eyes was a monocle, in reality a powerful magnifying glass that had served many uses.
The second man was the dapper lawyer, Ham, the best-dressed man in America and one of the world's cleverest lawyers. In one hand he gripped a sword cane whose point was coated with a drug producing unconsciousness.
The third member of the group was a formidable tower of a fellow who would weigh in excess of two hundred and fifty pounds—but if he had been built in proportion to his hands, he would have weighed in the neighborhood of a ton. It was doubtful if he could have put either fist in a gallon pail. He had a long, naturally gloomy face which would have been excellent stock in trade for an undertaker.
The big-fisted man was Colonel John Renwick—"Renny"—noted for three things: his ability as an engineer, his boasted ability to knock the panel out of almost any wooden door with either fist, and his membership in Doc Savage's little group of five aids.
Major Thomas J. Roberts, the electrical wizard, was the fourth man. He had the complexion of a mushroom and the physique, as far as outward appearance went, of a fellow who had spent his life in a wheelchair. He had collected the name of Long Tom after a ludicrous adventure with a type of ancient cannon designated by that name.
The four were carrying more complicated-appearing instruments.
"We will set the apparatus up inside the shelter of the ledge and continue to watch it," Doc Savage said.
The bronze man bent over the instruments, adjusting dials, knobs, watching indicator needles, and twice plugging in a telephone headset to get frequency hums. Long Tom, Johnny, Ham and Renny looked on curiously.
Monk looked around, saw his pet pig, Habeas, nowhere about, and hastily ambled outside. Monk's apish physique gave him a strange, short-legged gait which made him seem in no hurry even when running at full speed.
Doc Savage continued to watch the dials. The gold flakes of his eyes seemed to be moving a little faster, but there was nothing else about his expression to show he was excited.
"It is undoubtedly following the lava stream down and getting close," he said.
It was very quiet under the ledge. Ethel's Mama made a rumbling now and then. One of the instruments hummed faintly.
"It is very close," the bronze man said.
Outside, Monk's voice blared.
"Blazes!" the homely chemist squawled. "What the heck's got hold of me?"
Chapter 3. THE UNSEEN
THE tree was small, gnarled and tough, as tropical trees often are.
Monk clung to the tree trunk with both arms and his chin. The expression on his homely face showed that he was using all his strength. His legs were stretched out parallel with the ground. Something might have had hold of his ankles, pulling with great force. Some medium, certainly, was doing just that. But there was nothing visible!
"Help!" Monk squealed. "Shoot the dang thing or somethin'!"
"Holy cow!" exploded big-fisted Renny.
Johnny said, "I'll be superamalgamated!"
Long Tom and Ham looked on in astonishment.
Monk howled, "Help, blast it!"
Monk suddenly lost his grip. He was carried through the air at least twenty feet before he hit the ground. End over end he tumbled. A thorny shrub scratched him, and he squawled angrily.
"Shoot the dang thing!" he bellowed. "Make it leggo me!"
Big-fisted Renny dug into a concealed holster under an arm and brought out a weapon which had somewhat the appearance of an oversize automatic. Renny aimed. The gun made a noise like several big riveting machines going simultaneously. Renny arched his stream of bullets so they passed all around Monk.
Monk suddenly managed to stop rolling.
"Keep shootin'!" the homely chemist bellowed. "You scared the blame thing away!"
Renny started his machine pistol again, but stopped quickly. His sad eyes almost fell from his gloomy face.
"Holy cow!" he boomed hollowly. "Look!"
A tall, spindling tree between Monk and the ledge was bending over slowly, as if depressed by an invisible weight. It was leaning west. And blistered grass blades were bending as well. Great masses of gravel and earth began to slide!
"It's coming this way!" Ham yelled.
Doc Savage said, "Get the instruments into the back of the recess under the ledge. Jam them against the solid rock, then do the same with yourselves. Cling to the cracks in the rock."
The bronze man sounded totally unexcited.
The others sprang to follow the suggestion—and never made it. Something unseen, terrific, hit them. They were entirely helpless. Carried off their feet, they were driven deep into the ledge recess.
Renny's head struck rock and he fell back stunned. Tall, lean Johnny and pale Long Tom got entangled, and hit with enough force to take air out of them both. Ham hit the wall of rock feet first, and did an eerie thing—he staggered around on the vertical wall, trying to keep his balance, just as he might have done on level ground.
The next instant, all were blinded by a roaring inrush of sand, dust and sticks. There was a great grinding and rumbling. The earth trembled. Came a tremendous crash, and it grew abruptly gloomy under the ledge.
Then silence fell.
"STAY where you are for a moment," Doc Savage advised quietly. "It may come back."
The bronze man was against one wall, half buried in the sand, dust and dйbris which had been swept into the ledge niche. Cradled and protected in the muscular cordon of his arms was one of the cases of sensitive apparatus. It seemed to be intact.
The other cases had been smashed.
The opening under the ledge was not nearly as wide as it had been. A huge boulder had come from somewhere and rolled against the aperture. Smaller boulders were stacked against it. The tents were down.
Suspended dust started the men coughing, sneezing.
"Holy—kerchoo—
cow!" Renny exploded. "Where's that native?"
Doc Savage was already on his feet and looking around, flake-gold eyes probing everywhere.
There became audible within the little cavern under the ledge, penetrating to all its recesses, a small, strange sound. The note was predominately a trilling, but it had an eerie nature, a quality which was ethereal. It might have been the progress of a tiny wind around some cranny in the big boulder blocking the entrance.
Doc Savage's four aids stared at the bronze giant. They knew that sound, had heard it many times. It was a characteristic of Doc Savage, a small and unconscious thing which the bronze man did when surprised, or when confronted with a new discovery or realization.