-
Главная
-
- Книги
-
- Авторы
-
- Фрэнк Норрис
-
- Спрут: Калифорнийская история
-
- Стр. 413/416
Для того чтобы воспользоваться озвучкой предложений, необходимо
Войти или зарегистрироваться
Озвучка предложений доступна при наличии PRO-доступа
Купить PRO-доступ
Once
more
the
level
of
the
wheat
rose
and
the
grains
began
piling
deeper
about
him
.
Once
more
he
retreated
.
Once
more
he
crawled
staggering
to
the
foot
of
the
cataract
,
screaming
till
his
ears
sang
and
his
eyeballs
strained
in
their
sockets
,
and
once
more
the
relentless
tide
drove
him
back
.
Then
began
that
terrible
dance
of
death
;
the
man
dodging
,
doubling
,
squirming
,
hunted
from
one
corner
to
another
,
the
wheat
slowly
,
inexorably
flowing
,
rising
,
spreading
to
every
angle
,
to
every
nook
and
cranny
.
It
reached
his
middle
.
Furious
and
with
bleeding
hands
and
broken
nails
,
he
dug
his
way
out
to
fall
backward
,
all
but
exhausted
,
gasping
for
breath
in
the
dust
-
thickened
air
.
Roused
again
by
the
slow
advance
of
the
tide
,
he
leaped
up
and
stumbled
away
,
blinded
with
the
agony
in
his
eyes
,
only
to
crash
against
the
metal
hull
of
the
vessel
.
He
turned
about
,
the
blood
streaming
from
his
face
,
and
paused
to
collect
his
senses
,
and
with
a
rush
,
another
wave
swirled
about
his
ankles
and
knees
.
Exhaustion
grew
upon
him
.
To
stand
still
meant
to
sink
;
to
lie
or
sit
meant
to
be
buried
the
quicker
;
and
all
this
in
the
dark
,
all
this
in
an
air
that
could
scarcely
be
breathed
,
all
this
while
he
fought
an
enemy
that
could
not
be
gripped
,
toiling
in
a
sea
that
could
not
be
stayed
.
Guided
by
the
sound
of
the
falling
wheat
,
S
.
Behrman
crawled
on
hands
and
knees
toward
the
hatchway
.
Once
more
he
raised
his
voice
in
a
shout
for
help
.
His
bleeding
throat
and
raw
,
parched
lips
refused
to
utter
but
a
wheezing
moan
Once
more
he
tried
to
look
toward
the
one
patch
of
faint
light
above
him
.
His
eye
-
lids
,
clogged
with
chaff
,
could
no
longer
open
.
The
Wheat
poured
about
his
waist
as
he
raised
himself
upon
his
knees
.
Reason
fled
.
Deafened
with
the
roar
of
the
grain
,
blinded
and
made
dumb
with
its
chaff
,
he
threw
himself
forward
with
clutching
fingers
,
rolling
upon
his
back
,
and
lay
there
,
moving
feebly
,
the
head
rolling
from
side
to
side
.
The
Wheat
,
leaping
continuously
from
the
chute
,
poured
around
him
.
It
filled
the
pockets
of
the
coat
,
it
crept
up
the
sleeves
and
trouser
legs
,
it
covered
the
great
,
protuberant
stomach
,
it
ran
at
last
in
rivulets
into
the
distended
,
gasping
mouth
.
It
covered
the
face
.
Upon
the
surface
of
the
Wheat
,
under
the
chute
,
nothing
moved
but
the
Wheat
itself
.
There
was
no
sign
of
life
.
Then
,
for
an
instant
,
the
surface
stirred
.
A
hand
,
fat
,
with
short
fingers
and
swollen
veins
,
reached
up
,
clutching
,
then
fell
limp
and
prone
.
In
another
instant
it
was
covered
.
In
the
hold
of
the
“
Swanhilda
”
there
was
no
movement
but
the
widening
ripples
that
spread
flowing
from
the
ever
-
breaking
,
ever
-
reforming
cone
;
no
sound
,
but
the
rushing
of
the
Wheat
that
continued
to
plunge
incessantly
from
the
iron
chute
in
a
prolonged
roar
,
persistent
,
steady
,
inevitable
.
The
“
Swanhilda
”
cast
off
from
the
docks
at
Port
Costa
two
days
after
Presley
had
left
Bonneville
and
the
ranches
and
made
her
way
up
to
San
Francisco
,
anchoring
in
the
stream
off
the
City
front
.
A
few
hours
after
her
arrival
,
Presley
,
waiting
at
his
club
,
received
a
despatch
from
Cedarquist
to
the
effect
that
she
would
clear
early
the
next
morning
and
that
he
must
be
aboard
of
her
before
midnight
.
He
sent
his
trunks
aboard
and
at
once
hurried
to
Cedarquist
’
s
office
to
say
good
-
bye
.
He
found
the
manufacturer
in
excellent
spirits
.
“
What
do
you
think
of
Lyman
Derrick
now
,
Presley
?
”
he
said
,
when
Presley
had
sat
down
.
“
He
’
s
in
the
new
politics
with
a
vengeance
,
isn
’
t
he
?
And
our
own
dear
Railroad
openly
acknowledges
him
as
their
candidate
.
You
’
ve
heard
of
his
canvass
.
”
“
Yes
,
yes
,
”
answered
Presley
.
“
Well
,
he
knows
his
business
best
.
”
But
Cedarquist
was
full
of
another
idea
:
his
new
venture
—
the
organizing
of
a
line
of
clipper
wheat
ships
for
Pacific
and
Oriental
trade
—
was
prospering
.
