BUNOL MAKES HIS DEMAND.
Miguel Bunol stood in front of his weak, helpless captive in a room of
the crumbling castle of Lochleven. The bare room was lighted by a torch
thrust into a great crack in the wall. There was no furniture in the
place. Dunbar Budthorne sat on the floor, with his back against the
wall.
Bunol’s arms were folded. His head was bowed a little, and he was
steadily regarding Budthorne from beneath his black eyebrows.
“Well,” said the captive, weakly, “have you come to finish me?”
The Spaniard made a gesture of remonstrance with his gloved hand.
“How can you ask such a foolish question, my dear friend?” he said.
“Don’t call me your friend!” exclaimed Budthorne, with a slight show of
resentment and spirit. “I am no friend to such a wretch as you!”
“Then let me assure you that I am your friend. I am deeply interested in
you, else I should not have taken all this trouble to-night.”
Something like a mirthless, mocking laugh came from the lips of the
prisoner.
“A fine, friendly act!” said Budthorne. “It is the act of a solicitous
friend to fall on one, sandbag him and carry him off by force to a place
like this, I suppose! Where are the rest of your ruffians?”
“They are near enough to come at my call should I need them,” said
Bunol. “Never mind them. I wished to have a little private chat with
you, and they kindly retired to give me that privilege.”
“What is your game, Bunol? Out with it!”
“Don’t be in such haste. There is plenty of time. We have the whole
night before us. Indeed, should you remain obstinate, we may have many
nights before us. You are quite safe, my dear Budthorne, here in this
old castle. At this season of the year there is no danger that
troublesome visitors will come to inspect the stronghold that was once,
long ago, the prison of Queen Mary and is now yours.”
“If they should come——”
“If they should come—see that door? It can be closed and barred. Beyond
it is another door that can be made secure. If troublesome persons came,
they would never find you. In here you might shout until your throat you
split without ever making them hear one faint cry. Have you ever heard
of Rob MacLane? Well, some years there have been that he has lived with
a price on his head, and always he had found this a safe hiding place
when in this vicinity. There is not one chance in ten thousand that your
friends at Ben Cleuch will come here to look for you; but should they
come they will find no trace of you.”
“You devil!” cried Budthorne.
“Just how it was I wished you to know before we began talking. Now,
listen, my dear Budthorne. You are a very reckless and extravagant young
man, wholly unfitted to handle large sums of money. This I have learned
since my acquaintance with you. I have discovered that soon you will
spend your own share of the fortune which you inherited, and then I am
sure you will make inroads into that of your sister, who cares so very
much for you that she is unable to refuse you anything. What you greatly
need is some one to look after you and your sister and to prevent you
from beggaring yourself and her. Who in all the world is better fitted
for this than your very dear friend, Miguel Bunol?”
“What folly!” exclaimed the captive. “What are you driving at?”
“First I wish to prove that I am sincere in my protestations of
friendship,” the Spaniard calmly continued. “When first I knew you, a
certain man, who is now not far away, had chosen you as a victim to be
despoiled of your money. He thought I might be of assistance to him in
the pleasant occupation, and so he took me into partnership.”
“You mean that miserable wretch, Durbin!”
“I have called no names. At the outset I joined him, with no other
thought than to obtain a portion of the spoils. But in time I came to
admire you and care for you very much. It became a repulsive task for me
to assist him in his bungling plans, but the money I needed, and you had
so much that I felt you well might spare a little. Thus it went on. Then
you did me the honor to present me to your lovely sister.”
“I was a fool.”
“No, for I learned to care a great deal for Nadia, and in time I decided
that for her sake you must be saved. In order to save you I decided to
marry her.”
In spite of his weakness, Budthorne struggled to his feet as if to
attack Bunol, but he was forced to lean against the wall for support.
“Don’t excite yourself too much,” urged the Spaniard, with mock
solicitude. “You are not strong.”
“No, no!” groaned Budthorne. “My legs will scarcely bear my weight. I
believe you somehow contrived to drug me, you wretch!”
Bunol smiled, thinking of the drug he had given Aaron.
“You do me great injustice,” he protested. “Let me continue. I resolved
to marry your sister, for I felt she stood in great need of a faithful
guardian who would care for her tenderly and prevent you from
squandering her share of the fortune. Little by little I gained
influence and control over you, and I should have succeeded in full but
for the interference of that fellow Merriwell. He upset all my plans.
Had those plans worked as they should, the moment I became sure of Nadia
I should have cast aside both Durbin and Marsh. Rid of them, I could
cause you to cease your recklessness and prevent you from squandering
what remained of your fortune. You see, Budthorne, my intentions toward
you were of the most friendly sort.”
“Bah!” cried the captive.
“After the exposure in London,” Bunol went on, “I succeeded in following
you here, leaving Marsh and Durbin behind. With the aid of a faithful
fellow, good fortune led me to meet, I planned to get hold of you, just
as I have, in order to talk reason to you. I could have done very well
without Marsh and Durbin, but it chanced that they followed Merriwell
and his companions to Ben Cleuch, and they were passing on the highway
when I hailed them. I thought it best to use them once more this night,
and then to get rid of them forever. They think I am now trying to
squeeze from you more money that is to be divided equally between us.
Thus they deceive themselves. If you have in your head the reason you
should, it is little they will get.”
“What are you trying to propose?” demanded Budthorne.
“That you swear to me by all you hold sacred, by the memory of your
mother and the fear of God, that you will not prevent me from making
your sister my wife, either by word, deed or suggestion. That is all I
ask.”
“And if I do that—what then?”
“I will outwit the others. I will lead you from this place when they
know nothing of it. We will take the boat and row away. When we arrive
at the inn, I will tell how I found and rescued you from Rob MacLane,
Hector Marsh, and Luke Durbin. You will say it is true, every word to
the last. After that my own cards I will play, and your sister will I
win, for I have the power to make her mine.”
Always self-confident to an amazing degree, knowing his influence over
Budthorne, and believing he could force the man to do his will, Bunol
believed that in this manner he might make himself a hero in the eyes of
Nadia, might ensnare her in his hypnotic net, and might obtain her for
his own at last.
But all the while he was playing double with Budthorne, for he had
outlined his plan to Durbin and Marsh, promising to wring money from
both brother and sister if he succeeded, and to divide liberally with
his accomplices. Rob MacLane was to be paid a set sum for his services.
“What if I refuse?” asked Budthorne.
“Then I shall leave you here alone in the dark to meditate upon it a
time.”
“You fool!” panted the captive. “You were crazy to fancy you could force
me into such a thing! Not in a thousand years!”
Bunol shrugged his shoulders.
“It is you who are foolish,” he asserted. “Look into my eyes a moment,
Budthorne, and——”
“No! no!” hoarsely cried the young man, as he suddenly started forward,
his hands clinched, resolved to attack his enemy. “I’ll fight you here,
man to man.”
The Spaniard struck those clinched hands aside and gave Budthorne a
thrust that sent him again to the wall, against which he struck and then
dropped to the floor.
“Very well,” said Miguel. “Having thought it over, you will change your
mind, I believe. I will leave you to consider it all.”
Snatching the torch from the crack, he strode from the room, closing and
barring the heavy door behind him.