"064 (B063) - The Submarine Mystery (1938-06) - Lester Dent" - читать интересную книгу автора (Robeson Kenneth)

"The same thing happened to us," Monk explained.
Modern tear gas is a marvelous quieting influence, having been concocted on the order of police and industrial guards as a last resort in pacifying mobs.
It was a full fifteen minutes before Doc Savage and his two men felt like going on with any kind of discussion.
"If we could just make head or tail of this," Ham complained, "it would be different."
"Listen, shyster," Monk said, "I don't see where the difference would be. We'd still be in here, wouldn't we?"
"We'd have peace of mind," Ham retorted. "You're not equipped to understand that."
"I get it," Monk said. "You mean I ain't got a mind. Listen, you ambulance-chaser—"
"One angle is clear," Doc interrupted.
Doc had perceived that Monk and Ham were starting one of their quarrels which, like taxes, would go on and on. He wished to discourage this. When one had been associated more or less continuously with the Monk-and-Ham quarrel for a period of years, it could get monotonous.
"What angle is that?" Ham demanded.
"That shipyard," Doc Savage said, "is one of several that builds submarines for the United States navy. There were four navy subs under construction outside that boathouse."
"We saw them," Ham admitted.
"Did you notice," Doc asked, "how this submarine—providing this is the one that was in the boathouse—"
"It is," Ham said. "We heard them say so."
Doc continued, "Did you notice how it was being put together? All the parts seemed ready-made. It looked as if they had all the parts ready, and were throwing the U-boat together in a hurry."
"Say!" Ham exclaimed. "What do you reckon that means?"
"My guess," Doc stated, "would be that, as they built a navy submarine, they made a duplicate set of parts. Instead of stamping one hull plate, they would stamp two."
"In other words," Ham gasped, "they made one submarine for the U. S. navy, and another one exactly like it for somebody else?"
"That seems to be it," Doc said, "in view of the fact that the submarine which blew up off Boston harbor was an exact duplicate of another submarine, the U. S. S. Swordfish!"
Doc Savage had been sitting on the bunk, and now he got up and took off his long nightie. He borrowed the nighties which Monk and Ham wore. He balled them together, added the blanket, and made a tight wad.
Next, he beat on the door, yelled, rattled the door fastenings. He kept it up for about five minutes. As before, the door flew open, and the guard pegged a gas bomb inside.
But this time, Doc Savage jammed his bundle into the door so that it could not be yanked shut again. He picked up the hot, steaming gas grenade, and threw it back into the corridor. Then he pulled the wad of nighties and blanket out of the crack and got the door shut.
There was a great deal of profanity as the tear gas spread through the submarine.
"A dose of their own medicine," Doc Savage said dryly.
PEACE descended on the submarine. Or as much peace as could descend on a sub at sea. The underseas craft apparently ran into a gale, because its antics became distressing.
The sub would begin to rise slowly and tremulously, writhing and groaning a little as if impaled on a spear, and on the crest of the wave it would hang suspended, then go plunging for the bottom. On these down trips, it had the habit of practically rolling over, one way or another.
The galley was evidently close by. Cooking odors from this made the air thick enough, Monk vowed to cut a slice and broil it.
Monk made a number of other remarks concerning the ancestry of submarines. He was seasick.
Having been relieved of every personal possession, including watches, the only way the prisoners could judge time was by the frequency with which they were fed. By this clock, five days had passed when the submarine refueled from a mother ship.
The sea was calm on the occasion, and the submarine apparently lay alongside a steamer, because there was an occasional shock and a groaning of fenders as the underseas boat rolled against the ship.
The crew clattered around on deck, attaching hose feed lines, after which fuel gurgled into the sub tanks for a long period.
Later, the submarine got under way again.
"What," Ham said, astonished, "do you make of that?"
"It don't encourage me any," groaned the seasick Monk.
"It looks like we're in for a long voyage."
"What I meant," Ham remarked, "is this: They must have a considerable organization. A fuel ship meeting them at sea! Think of it!"
"You think!" Monk gulped. "I've got my stomach to think about."
Later, when the door opened a crack in the usual fashion, and their food was shoved inside, there was a scuffle in the corridor. A man swore.
Doc Savage, whipping forward, grasped the edge of the door, braced himself, and held the door open. He managed to keep it open against the efforts of those outside until two animals popped through the aperture. The new arrivals were Monk's pig, Habeas Corpus, and Ham's mascot runt ape, Chemistry.
Through the door crack, Prince Albert ordered angrily that the two animals be put out outside again. Monk and Ham replied with detailed instructions about where he could go, and some predictions about the temperature after he got there.
Prince Albert voiced a few of his own opinions. Monk pegged a dish of oatmeal through the door crack at him. After which Prince Albert closed the portal, and the incident as well.
An instant after the door closed, Doc Savage was on his knees beside Habeas. He inspected the pig. Then he examined the runt ape, Chemistry.
After that, the bronze man unconsciously brought into existence the strange, low, exotic trilling sound which he habitually made in moments of intense mental activity. The trilling was imbued with a definitely pleased quality.
"This," the bronze man said, "is a piece of luck."
Chapter XI. DANDRUFF
THE cannon went off at ten minutes until noon. Doc and his aids were sure about the time; what happened left no doubt. Their idea of the passing of time had gotten off enough that they thought it was still night, so they were asleep.
The big gun made a thump and a bang, and they rolled out of the bunks in a hurry. The heavy gun rolled the sub again with its recoil. This time, they knew it was a cannon.
Prince Albert yelled in the corridor.
He said, "Give 'em until noon to make up their minds. That'll be ten minutes!"
So they knew the time was ten minutes until noon.