Атлант расправил плечи
The Sign of the Dollar
"
"Whatpurpose?"
"Toremindus—inmomentsofdiscouragement,inthelonelinessofexile—ofourtruehomeland,whichhasalwaysbeenyours,too,MissTaggart."
"Thankyou,"shesaid.Sheputthecigarettesinherpocket;hesawthatherhandwastrembling.
Whentheyreachedthefourthofthefivemileposts,theyhadbeensilentforalongtime,withnostrengthleftforanythingbuttheeffortofmovingtheirfeet.Farahead,theysawadotoflight,toolowonthehorizonandtooharshlycleartobeastar.Theykeptwatchingit,astheywalked,andsaidnothinguntiltheybecamecertainthatitwasapowerfulelectricbeaconblazinginthemidstoftheemptyprairie.
"Whatisthat?"sheasked.
"Idon’tknow,"hesaid."Itlookslike—"
"No,"shebrokeinhastily,"itcouldn’tbe.Notaroundhere."
Shedidnotwanttohearhimnamethehopewhichshehadfeltformanyminutespast.Shecouldnotpermitherselftothinkofitortoknowthatthethoughtwashope.
Theyfoundthetelephoneboxatthefifthmilepost.Thebeaconhunglikeaviolentspotofcoldfire,lessthanhalfamilefarthersouth.
Thetelephonewasworking.Sheheardthebuzzofthewire,likethebreathofalivingcreature,whensheliftedthereceiver.Thenadrawlingvoiceanswered,"Jessup,atBradshaw."Thevoicesoundedsleepy.
