Bolts Read Online Free Page B

Bolts
Book: Bolts Read Online Free
Author: Alexander Key
Pages:
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all around it. He pressed the sending button, which sent sizzling impulses jumping around the earth, and spoke loudly into the mouthpiece: “Bingo calling Bolts! Bingo calling Bolts! Please come in, Bolts!”
    In the kitchen Big Butch gave a sudden yelp and instantly turned off his own built-in set. “Wow!” he exclaimed. “That’s hot! You trying to sizzle us down, Bingo?”
    Poor Bolts, far off in a strange desert, felt a sudden stinging in his tail as if he’d been nipped by a playful streak of lightning. “Ow! Wow! Ow! Oh-h-h-h-h!” he bawled, and jumped so hard he turned a complete somersault.
    â€œWhat’s the matter?” asked the little burro, who was racing along beside him. “Did a scorpion sting you?”
    â€œDunno,” muttered Bolts. “Something bit me, but good!”
    â€œWe have awful scorpions in this country,” the burro told him. “Though it seems odd that one can hurt a tin dog. By the way, were you holding your tail straight up when it happened?”
    â€œYup,” Bolts admitted. “Believe I was. Didn’t mean to, ’cause every time I hold it up, a buzzing starts through me.”
    â€œThat’s odd,” said the burro. “But I’ve noticed a peculiar thing about you. Every time your tail sticks up straight, a light flashes at the end of it. I can’t imagine the purpose of it, but I must say it’s quite decorative.”
    â€œPshaw!” grumbled Bolts, disgusted. “Who wants a light in the end of his tail?”
    It might be decorative, he thought, but he sure didn’t like it. And at night, when he was being pursued, it could be downright dangerous. Those rascally lion dogs, he realized, were getting closer. And what was that behind the dogs? Men on horses?
    As they topped a small rise, the burro glanced back. “That’s Lumpy Lopez—with Comrade Pang and the major. We’d better put more speed on.”
    â€œI’m putting all I got into it,” Bolts told him. “My legs are too short. Looks like we’d better start using our heads instead of our feet. Can’t you think of something?”
    â€œThere’s a cactus forest ahead of us,” the burro said. “That’s our best chance. The dogs can follow us in there—but the men and horses can’t. The cactus stands up too high; the thorns would tear them to pieces.”

    â€œLead on,” growled Bolts. “I’ll handle those dawg varmints.”
    The lion dogs were very close by the time they reached the first tall clumps of cactus. The little burro lowered his head and plunged into the tangle. A few feet above the ground the thick branching cactus made an almost impenetrable cover. It stopped the galloping horsemen, but the lion dogs came on, barking furiously.
    When they reached a small open area deep in the tangle, Bolts whirled and faced the dogs. The first close sight of them here in the dimness rather dampened his confidence. Each one looked three times as big as himself, and forty times as mean. He decided at once that even his worst growl wouldn’t help him too much with such ornery critters. If they were used to tangling with mountain lions, they probably thrived on snarls and growls.
    Mebbe I’d better talk to ’em with my trimmed-off brain, Bolts thought to himself. There’s a lot of power in the right kind of words.
    The huge dogs bared their teeth and leaped toward him, snarling.
    Bolts sidestepped very neatly, and said, “What’s the big rush, fellers? You lose something?”
    It was the wrong approach, as he found out instantly. All they did was back up for a moment in surprise, then come at him again, this time using language that no self-respecting dog would think of using. It was positively shocking. Bolts decided it was time he taught them a lesson.
    â€œWhy, you mangy, low-down, flea-bitten, knuckleheaded tramps,” he roared
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