HOW ASHBY MEETS WITH ANOTHER FRIEND, AND HOW HE TAKES HIM INTO HIS
CONFIDENCE.
That evening they arrived at Burgos, where, on account of troubles
along the line, the train was to remain until ten o'clock on the
following day. Dolores informed Ashby that she was going to stay with
friends, and refused to allow him to accompany her to the house, in
spite of his earnest entreaties. She had been in Burgos before, she
said. The house was not far from the station, and she was firm in her
resolve to go alone. Ashby followed her, however, and saw her pass in
safety through the streets and into a large and venerable house not
far from the Cathedral. He then retraced his steps, and made the best
of his way to the Fonda del Norte, where he put up for the night.
Here, after dinner, he loitered about for a time, meditating over the
events of the day, and conjecturing about the morrow. His situation
was growing somewhat complicated; for there was Katie, whom he had
promised to see at Burgos; but on leaving the train he had followed
Dolores, and now he had not the faintest idea where the Russells had
gone. They were not at the Fonda del Norte. It was also too late now
to hunt them up, and too late to hope to see Katie. That must be
postponed till the morrow.
Ashby was beginning to feel more melancholy than ever in his life
before, when suddenly he was roused by a loud exclamation.
"Well, by Jove! Halloo, old boy! Ashby himself, by all that's
wonderful!"
At this Ashby looked up, and the next instant he was heartily
wringing the hand of the new-comer.
"Rivers! Harry Rivers! How are you, my boy? and where in the world
did you come from?"
"By Jove! do you know, old fellow," said Harry Rivers, "I call this
no end of a piece of good luck? I've been bored to death at Burgos.
But come along to my rooms and give an account of yourself."
The two friends then went off, and soon were comfortably seated in
the rooms of Harry Rivers, with some flasks of wine and Havanas to
help along the evening hours.
Harry Rivers was of about the same age as Ashby, but totally
different in appearance. He was of medium height, very well knit in
his frame, and very well dressed. His hair was crisp and curling; his
brow broad and open; his eyes full of light, and life, and
volatility. He had a small mustache, but no beard or whiskers, and
his laughing eyes, with his smooth face and winning smile, gave him a
most engaging appearance. In short, Harry Rivers was one of those
rare good fellows who make friends wherever they go; who take the
world into their confidence; who insist on making every one familiar
with their varying fortunes; and carry about with them a perpetual
atmosphere of joyousness and breezy cheerfulness.
"Well, old chap," said Harry, as they sat enjoying their cigars and
wine, "I haven't seen you or heard of you since you left Barcelona.
How did you get on with your business in Italy? What made you turn up
in this queer way at Burgos? This isn't the sort of place that I'd
expect to find a friend in."
"I'm on my way to Bayonne just now," said Ashby, "and I stopped
here--because the train stopped."
"Bayonne isn't a bad place," said Harry; "I spent a week there
once--good wine, but bad tobacco and infernal cigars. Here we have
good cigars and bad wine. Do you know, old chap, I don't dote on any
of the Spanish wines--do you? At the same time, I drink your very
good health, together with future prosperity and good luck in your
present undertaking, whatever that may be."
"Thanks," said Ashby, "and the same to you."
"Look here, old chap," said Harry, "you look a little down in the
mouth--a trifle seedy. No bad luck, I hope?"
"Oh no," said Ashby, "nothing in particular."
"The fact is, you seem to have lost your high moral tone, and your
former happy flow of genial conversation. I don't want to be a Paul
Pry, my dear boy; but if you wish to gain sympathy and find a friend
who can hear and help, why, all I can say is--here you have him."
"Well," said Ashby, "I'm a little preoccupied, that's a fact."
"Preoccupied? That's your name for it, is it? Well, suppose we adopt
that word--what then?"
Ashby knocked the ashes off his cigar with a reflective look, and
said, "I rather think, Harry, that I had better make you my
father-confessor."
"All right," said Harry; "that's what I was made for. Go ahead, my
son. Confess--out with it. Cleanse your bosom of its perilous stuff:
make a clean breast of it."
"Well," said Ashby, "in the first place, I'm just now meditating
matrimony."
"Matrimony!"
"Yes; but that's not all. It's a sort of runaway match."
"A runaway match! By Jove! Only think of a fellow like you planning a
runaway match! Now if it was me, it would be the proper thing. But is
it really to be a runaway match?"
"Well, it amounts to that, for I've asked the girl to clear out from
her friends and come with me."
"Well, old fellow, all I can say is, good luck to you both. And
please, mayn't I be the best man?" he added, with a droll accent that
brought an involuntary smile to Ashby's face. "But go on. Who is the
charmer? and where is she now?"
"Well, to answer your last question first, she's here--in Burgos."
"Ah," said Harry, "I twig! Came on in the same train. Both planned it
together. You cut across the border, and are made one. Why, it's like
Gretna Green!"
"Well, you've hit it partly, only she's with her friends just
now--that is to say, she's with her guardian and his wife; and the
problem to be solved by me is, how I am to get her from those two
dragons."
"Oh, that can be done. But now, my boy, to come to the point, who is
she?--her name?"
"Her name," said Ashby, "is Westlotorn--Katie Westlotorn."
"Westlotorn," repeated Harry: "never saw her, and don't think I ever
heard the name in all my life."
"I got acquainted with her at Cadiz a few months ago," said Ashby.
"Her father had been a merchant there, and had died about a year
before. She was there with her step-mother, who took no particular
care of her--a miserable beast of a woman. She was in correspondence
with her sister in England, a Mrs. Russell, whom she kept urging to
come on and take Katie away from Spain. This Mrs. Westlotorn had
induced her husband before his death to appoint Russell, her sister's
husband, Katie's guardian, and it was this Russell and his wife whom,
she expected on, but they could not get away very easily. After a
time Mrs. Westlotorn decided to move to Madrid, which she thought
would be a pleasanter residence. So about three months ago she made
the move, and after that Katie and I saw as much of one another as we
wished, and she became regularly engaged to me."
"So the step-mother approved, did she?"
"Oh, altogether!"
"Well, what's the trouble?"
"Oh, this infernal Russell, the guardian, you know! As soon as he
came on, he and his wife began to make trouble, and tried to break up
the engagement; they also tried to keep me away from the house. Then
there was another difficulty: they allowed some Spanish blackguards
to get acquainted with them. Mrs. Westlotorn, the widow, you know, is
hot-and-heavy in the chase of a husband, and thought that all the
young fellows who came after Katie were after her. The worst of them
was a chap named Lopez, who calls himself a captain in the Spanish
army--a poor, pitiful beggar whom I shall have to horsewhip. And,
by-the-bye, that reminds me--I expect to be called out to-morrow or
next day."
"Called out? how?"
"Oh, by this pitiful fellow Lopez;" and Ashby related the incident at
the Madrid station.
"By Jove!" said Harry, "this is lucky. I'm glad I came upon you at
such a time. You won't have to trust to a bungling Spaniard to be
your second."
"The worst of it is," said Ashby, "I believe that this Russell is one
of the most infernal villains that ever lived, and that he is
concocting some scheme against Katie."
"A scheme! how?"
"Well, I'll tell you. I saw from the first that he was hostile to me.
Possibly this may have been my own fault, for I saw the fellow was a
beastly cad, not at all fit to be Katie's guardian. Why, he's a
tailor! think of that--a tailor! that's all he is. By Jove! only
think--a tailor! and Katie's guardian! Do you suppose I was going to
stand any nonsense from a tailor?"
"By Jove! no--not unless you're deep in his books," said Harry; "and
even then, when you're away from home you ought to be a free man. So
you rather slighted the guardian, did you?"
"Well, I told him to go to the devil; and the fellow took offence,
you know."
"H'm--odd, too," said Harry. "Why should he take offence at such a
simple remark?"
"Don't know, I'm sure," said Ashby; "but there it is, you see.
However, that makes no difference. I've defied him and threatened
him."
"Threatened! Why?"
"Why, because the infernal scoundrel is deep in some plan to get hold
of Katie's money."
"Katie's money? Oh, she has money, then?"
"Of course--about thirty or forty thousand pounds. Most of this, I
believe, is in Spanish bonds, in which Westlotorn was foolish enough
to invest."
"Not very good just now, hey?"
"Oh, they'll be good ultimately. At any rate, old Russell's bound to
get hold of all this and keep it for himself, and I'm resolved that
he shall disgorge. He's got half a dozen plans. One plan is to try to
get her to marry his son, an infernal redheaded, cock-eyed cad of a
fellow--a tailor too. Another plan is to put her off in some
out-of-the-way place here in Spain, where no one will ever hear of
her. Another plan is to ship her off to America; another is to keep
her in seclusion in his own home, where no one will ever see her;
while another is to dispose of the Spanish bonds in such a way as to
make it appear that they are a dead loss."
"You seem to be very deep in Russell's plans," said Harry. "He could
not have told you all this himself. If he did, he must be of an
uncommonly confiding disposition."
"He tell me!" said Ashby. "Of course he didn't. I found it all
out--no matter how. Oh, the fellow's a desperate swindler--he'll
stick at nothing. But, at any rate, he knows that I have my eye on
him, and he'll hardly dare to do anything against Katie's interest so
long as I am near enough to watch over her."
"You and Russell must have had rather interesting conversations. Did
you ever tell him your suspicions?"
"They're not suspicions, they're facts. Tell him--of course I did,
and that's one reason why he hates me. He knows perfectly well that I
see through and through him. We had a row at the station, just before
leaving Madrid, because I came down to see Katie off; and he's now on
the watch to prevent me from seeing her again."
"And what do you propose to do about it?"
"Oh, I've arranged it all. I'll tell you. I wrote a letter, and
handed it to her just as we were leaving Madrid, asking her to meet
me at Biarritz, naming a place. I have friends there, and I will take
her to their house. The English chaplain can marry us. We will then
cut off to England. On the arrival of Russell I will go to him and
demand my wife's property. If he refuses to disgorge I will at once
commence legal proceedings against him, and by way of preliminary I
will give the scoundrel a horsewhipping."
"This arrangement is all very well; but what about the lady? Will she
consent?"
"Consent? Why, she'll jump at the chance," said Ashby, confidently.
"She must be very fond of you."
"Fond of me? Why, she's perfectly infatuated about me."
"Good!" said Harry. "Well, my boy, I'm your man. You want me for war
and for peace, so here am I--your second at the duel and your
groomsman at the wedding."