"143 (B094) - Violent Night (The Hate Genius) (1945-01) - Lester Dent" - читать интересную книгу автора (Robeson Kenneth)

"Oh," Pat said, and subsided.



Later he asked Pat,"Mind loaning me your gun?"



"What gun?"



He told her patiently, "That portable howitzer you carry in your handbag. I want to borrow it to influence our friend here."



Pat got the piece of artillery out of her handbag. '"I can do without your wise sayings about this gun, this once," she said.



Doc said nothing, but Monk and Ham laughed. Pat's gun was an old-fashioned single-action six-shooter of Jesse James and Wild Bill Hickok vintage. It weighed more than four pounds, which was as much as some hunting rifles. The blunderbuss was a family heirloom, and they had always wondered whether Pat could hit anything with it



Their driver got a glimpse of the gun. He became alarmed, judging from the way his color changed from mahogany to slate.



Doc selected a side road at random, told the driver to take it, then in a stretch of woods which looked lonesome, had the cab stop.



"Ham, you stay with the driver so he won't desert us," Doc suggested.



He seized the red-headed man and carried him into the woods. The fellow was showing no signs of consciousness.



"I didn't think I hit him that hard," Pat said uneasily. "His skull isn't cracked, or anything, is it?"



"He will wake up eventually," he told her.



This was not exactly true. The red-headed man was already awake. He had been conscious for about fifteen minutes, but doing a good job of pretending he wasn't.