"Kenneth Robeson - Doc Savage 111 - Pirate Isle" - читать интересную книгу автора (Robeson Kenneth)

“Did you,” asked Captain Hardgrove patiently, “have anything at all to say on the occasion? Any
comment at all?"

The sailor nodded. “I asked what in the blank-blank name of blankety blank was going on up there in
that blank-blank crow's nest.”
Captain Hardgrove smiled. “You actually supplied the blanks?” he inquired.

The sailor told what he had actually supplied. The real words.

“It's a wonder the paint didn't all peel off the mast right after that,” said Captain Hardgrove admiringly.
He began looking around underfoot and shaking his head.

“What are you looking for, sir?” asked Mr. Weed.

“The snowballs, Mr. Weed. The snowballs.”

“It is a very hot day—“

“And they melted?” snapped Captain Hardgrove. “Is that what you are telling me in your modest way?"

Mr. Weed's neck got red.

“Yes, sir,” he said. “I agree with you that it is a bit wacky, sir.”



CAPTAIN HARDGROVE peered upward, shading his eye with a hard brown hand. “Climb up there
and bring down this Eskimo and his snowballs,” he ordered.

The three sailors included in the order hastily pretended they had not heard and picked up deck mops
and buckets.

“Get up there,” said Captain Hardgrove, “before I put my boot to the parts of you that get the most use.”

With manifest reluctance, the three entered the little hatch in the side of the hollow steel mast and began
the long climb up the ladder.

“Their lack of enthusiasm for that job,” remarked Captain Hardgrove, “is somewhat noticeable. To what
do you attribute it, Mr. Weed?"

“Conceivably it might be the excellent pitching arm of the fellow up there,” suggested Mr. Weed.

“What manner of looking gentleman is he?"

“He has a long arm and a more than fair eye. A bit of baseball in his past, I would say.”

“Does he have four eyes or two mouths or any other peculiarities, Mr. Weed?"

“No, he is just a white man. Rather an elongated one, from what I saw. It was hard to tell, since I just