CHAPTER VIII.
BUNOL MAKES HIS DEMAND.
Miguel Bunol stood in front of his weak, helpless captive in a room ofthe crumbling castle of Lochleven. The bare room was lighted by a torchthrust into a great crack in the wall. There was no furniture in theplace. Dunbar Budthorne sat on the floor, with his back against thewall.
Bunol's arms were folded. His head was bowed a little, and he wassteadily 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 ofresentment 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 inyou, else I should not have taken all this trouble to-night."
Something like a mirthless, mocking laugh came from the lips of theprisoner.
"A fine, friendly act!" said Budthorne. "It is the act of a solicitousfriend to fall on one, sandbag him and carry him off by force to a placelike this, I suppose! Where are the rest of your ruffians?"
"They are near enough to come at my call should I need them," saidBunol. "Never mind them. I wished to have a little private chat withyou, 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 wholenight before us. Indeed, should you remain obstinate, we may have manynights before us. You are quite safe, my dear Budthorne, here in thisold castle. At this season of the year there is no danger thattroublesome 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. Beyondit 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 yousplit without ever making them hear one faint cry. Have you ever heardof Rob MacLane? Well, some years there have been that he has lived witha price on his head, and always he had found this a safe hiding placewhen in this vicinity. There is not one chance in ten thousand that yourfriends at Ben Cleuch will come here to look for you; but should theycome 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 youngman, wholly unfitted to handle large sums of money. This I have learnedsince my acquaintance with you. I have discovered that soon you willspend your own share of the fortune which you inherited, and then I amsure you will make inroads into that of your sister, who cares so verymuch for you that she is unable to refuse you anything. What you greatlyneed is some one to look after you and your sister and to prevent youfrom beggaring yourself and her. Who in all the world is better fittedfor 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 offriendship," the Spaniard calmly continued. "When first I knew you, acertain man, who is now not far away, had chosen you as a victim to bedespoiled of your money. He thought I might be of assistance to him inthe 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 otherthought than to obtain a portion of the spoils. But in time I came toadmire you and care for you very much. It became a repulsive task for meto assist him in his bungling plans, but the money I needed, and you hadso much that I felt you well might spare a little. Thus it went on. Thenyou 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 decidedthat for her sake you must be saved. In order to save you I decided tomarry her."
In spite of his weakness, Budthorne struggled to his feet as if toattack Bunol, but he was forced to lean against the wall for support.
"Don't excite yourself too much," urged the Spaniard, with mocksolicitude. "You are not strong."
"No, no!" groaned Budthorne. "My legs will scarcely bear my weight. Ibelieve 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 resolvedto marry your sister, for I felt she stood in great need of a faithfulguardian who would care for her tenderly and prevent you fromsquandering her share of the fortune. Little by little I gainedinfluence and control over you, and I should have succeeded in full butfor the interference of that fellow Merriwell. He upset all my plans.Had those plans worked as they should, the moment I became sure of NadiaI should have cast aside both Durbin and Marsh. Rid of them, I couldcause you to cease your recklessness and prevent you from squanderingwhat remained of your fortune. You see, Budthorne, my intentions towardyou were of the most friendly sort."
"Bah!" cried the captive.
"After the exposure in London," Bunol went on, "I succeeded in followingyou here, leaving Marsh and Durbin behind. With the aid of a faithfulfellow, good fortune led me to meet, I planned to get hold of you, justas I have, in order to talk reason to you. I could have done very wellwithout Marsh and Durbin, but it chanced that they followed Merriwelland his companions to Ben Cleuch, and they were passing on the highwaywhen 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 tosqueeze from you more money that is to be divided equally between us.Thus they deceive themselves. If you have in your head the reason youshould, 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 yourmother and the fear of God, that you will not prevent me from makingyour sister my wife, either by word, deed or suggestion. That is all Iask."
"And if I do that--what then?"
"I will outwit the others. I will lead you from this place when theyknow nothing of it. We will take the boat and row away. When we arriveat 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 tothe last. After that my own cards I will play, and your sister will Iwin, for I have the power to make her mine."
Always self-confident to an amazing degree, knowing his influence overBudthorne, and believing he could force the man to do his will, Bunolbelieved that in this manner he might make himself a hero in the eyes ofNadia, might ensnare her in his hypnotic net, and might obtain her forhis own at last.
But all the while he was playing double with Budthorne, for he hadoutlined his plan to Durbin and Marsh, promising to wring money fromboth brother and sister if he succeeded, and to divide liberally withhis 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 atime."
"You fool!" panted the captive. "You were crazy to fancy you could forceme 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 athrust that sent him again to the wall, against which he struck and thendropped to the floor.
"Very well," said Miguel. "Having thought it over, you will change yourmind, I believe. I will leave you to consider it all."
; Snatching the torch from the crack, he strode from the room, closing andbarring the heavy door behind him.