Межзвёздный скиталец
Chapter 8
“They’retougher’nraw-hide.Justthesamewe’llwearhimdown.Standing,youhearme.Whatyou’vegotain’tacautiontowhatyou’regoingtoget.Youmightaswellcomeacrossnowandsavetrouble.I’mamanofmyword.You’veheardmesaydynamiteorcurtains.Well,thatstands.Takeyourchoice.”
“Surelyyoudon’tthinkI’mholdingoutbecauseIenjoyit?”Imanagedtogasp,foratthemomentPie-FaceJoneswasforcinghisfootintomybackinordertocinchmetighter,whileIwastryingwithmymuscletostealslack.“Thereisnothingtoconfess.Why,I’dcutoffmyrighthandrightnowtobeabletoleadyoutoanydynamite.”
“Oh,I’veseenyoureducatedkindbefore,”hesneered.“Yougetwheelsinyourhead,someofyou,thatmakeyousticktoanyoldidea.Yougetbaulky,likehorses.Tighter,Jones;thatain’thalfacinch.Standing,ifyoudon’tcomeacrossit’scurtains.Istickbythat.”
OnecompensationIlearned.Asonegrowsweakeroneislesssusceptibletosuffering.Thereislesshurtbecausethereislesstohurt.Andthemanalreadywellweakenedgrowsweakermoreslowly.Itisofcommonknowledgethatunusuallystrongmensuffermoreseverelyfromordinarysicknessesthandowomenorinvalids.Asthereservesofstrengthareconsumedthereislessstrengthtolose.Afterallsuperfluousfleshisgonewhatisleftisstringyandresistant.
