CHAPTER XXIII--CHESTER FINDS A MASTER
Miguel Bunol was waiting for Chester Arlington in the corridor. Chesterstarted and hesitated when he saw the dark shadow skulking in the gloomby the door of his room.
"What do you want?" he asked.
"To see you!" returned the Spanish lad, in a low tone that chilledChester's blood.
"You had better get out!" exclaimed Arlington. "I do not trust you."
He was afraid of Bunol, even though he knew Dick Merriwell had capturedand retained the knife the young Spaniard generally carried. Miguel knewChester was afraid, and he laughed in a low, cold manner.
"You come," he commanded. "I want to talk to you. I have some few thingsto say, and I say them. If I not say them to you, then I go to ProfessorGunn, and I talk to him. You take your choice: you talk to me in yourroom where nobody hear us, or you let me go to Professor Gunn."
"You had better pack up and get out of here in a hurry. If you go toProfessor Gunn, it is likely the professor will have evidence enough tocause you to be placed under arrest. You know what has happened. CaptainThor, of the Springvale team, has betrayed you, and----"
"We will not talk of it out here," said Bunol sharply. "In your room wetalk. Either that, or I go to Professor Gunn and tell him a big lot ofmany things."
"Confound it, Bunol! I'm not to blame for the scrape you are in! Youbrought it on yourself, and now----"
"All right!" exclaimed Bunol, turning away. "I go to the professor."
He seemed in earnest, but Arlington's heart was suddenly filled withapprehension, and he called to the dark-faced lad.
"Wait!" he said. "If it is only to talk to me, you can come into myroom."
"As you like," said Miguel, pausing. "If you like it better for me totalk to professor, then I go to him."
"I'll have to make some sort of a bargain with him!" thought Chester."He can make it very uncomfortable for me if he goes to old Gunn andtells all he knows."
So he put aside his fear of Bunol, unlocked his door and asked the youngSpaniard in.
Arlington hastened to light a lamp, and removed the shade so that thelight fell on Bunol's face. He wished to watch that face, thinking itmight be the safest thing to do.
Bunol closed the door carefully. He came and stood by the openfireplace.
"Now, what do you wish to say to me?" asked Chester.
"I am in bad scrape," said Bunol.
"That's right," nodded the other lad.
"You shall help me out of it."
"I?"
"_Si_, Chester Arlington; I say you."
"Well, you must think me a very forgiving chap!" said Chester, with asneer. "You know how you got into this scrape. You did it trying to hurtme. You misjudged Thor. You had no doubt about his using the plans, andso you placed yourself in his hands. But he did not use them. Instead heturned the papers over to Lawyer Bradbury, who sealed them up anddelivered them to Dick Merriwell. In the meantime, you had madearrangements to have the blame of stealing the papers thrown on myshoulders. But it did not work, and you found yourself in the soup whenThor confronted you a few minutes ago in Merriwell's room and swore thatyou gave him the papers.
"The jig is up, Bunol. By this piece of business you have ruinedyourself here at Fardale, and you will have to leave the academy. DickMerriwell gives you until morning to depart. He will let you go withoutpunishment if you get out quietly. You'll have to go."
Bunol leaned gracefully against the side of the fireplace.
"If I go," he said, "you go with me."
Chester's heart leaped.
"Why, hang it!" he exclaimed; "what do you mean?"
"I mean the thing that I say. You bring me here to Fardale, I take youwith me when I go from here."
"I guess not! You'll go, and I shall stay."
"Then soon you will be expelled in disgrace, which will please yourmother, which will give your sister great happiness, which will makeyour father proud!"
"Expelled?"
"I say it, for I shall go to Professor Gunn, and I shall tell him allthe many things you do, of which I know. I shall tell him how you do somany things to injure Deck Merriwell. How you cut down the bridge, sothat Merriwell and the girl come so near to drown. I shall tell who wasthere, so they be called to prove my word. I shall tell how----"
"See here, Bunol, what's your price? I will pay you----"
"Now you talk sense!" said Bunol, in satisfaction. "You know well I canruin you quick. You should not think my price it is small. If so youthink it is to fool yourself."
Chester was desperate. Already he had drawn so heavily upon his motherthat he feared to ask for more money. His mother had confidence in him;she believed him the finest lad alive; it would not do to let her knowthat he must have money in order to hush the tongue of this fellow whomight disgrace him.
"If you ask for much," said Arlington desperately, "you will not get it,for I cannot get it myself."
"You get all money you want."
Chester explained how impossible it was for him to pull another largesum, but his words did not seem to impress Bunol, who grimly said:
"It is one thousand dollars I will have if I go."
"And you know I can't get it! Confound you! you're crazy!"
The Spanish lad shrugged his shoulders.
"It is the price," he said coldly.
Arlington paced the room, his face pale and his eyes gleaming. His handswere thrust deep into his pockets.
"I was a lunatic to place myself in your power!" he finally snarled.
"I have seen you use your power on others," said Bunol. "I know how youhave no pity. I know how you make the members of the athletic committeedo just as you say, because you find some of their secrets and youthreaten to expose them. I know what you do to Joe Savage when you havethe I O U papers he give you and he is afraid you send them to hisfather. Now I treat you just as I see you treat them. You have to cometo time."
Arlington threw up his hands.
"I'll quit!" he groaned. "I'll get out of Fardale! It's all I can do!"
"No," said Miguel "There is one thing other you can do."
"What?"
"Deek Merriwell make to your mother a promise not to do some thing toinjure you."
"Well?"
"You go to him; you tell him it ruin you if Miguel Bunol must leave theschool. Then you say to him that if he does not mean to be to you theruin he must keep it still about Miguel Bunol. He must not make it sothat Bunol must leave the school. You do that, so that I can stay, and Iwill be still about you."
"Great heavens!" groaned Chester, dropping on a chair and passing atrembling hand across his forehead. "You ask me to go to Dick Merriwelland beg--beg, beg! I can't do that!"
"Oh, all right!" said Miguel, coolly rolling a cigarette.
The fellow was not disturbed, for he felt that he had conquered. He sawthat Arlington was wavering and ready to surrender. It was gall andwormwood to Chester to be forced into appearing as a supplicant toMerriwell, whom in his heart of hearts he still hated as much as ever,but there was no other escape for him. He must humble himself beforeMerriwell or get out of Fardale. If he defied Bunol the fellow woulddisgrace him; he had not the least doubt of that.
"I'll pay you the thousand dollars," he suddenly said.
Bunol lifted his heavy black eyebrows in surprise.
"Why, you say you cannot get it," he observed, and it was plain that hefelt disappointment in this decision of Chester.
"I can't--all at once."
"Then----"
"I'll get part of it--say a hundred dollars at first. I will pay youthat. You leave the academy. Later I will get the rest as fast as I canand send it to you."
Bunol struck a match and lighted his cigarette.
"I am not so much a big fool," he said. "I take it all at once. That isthe only way."
"But you'll get it! I can't pay you all at once. It will be hard toraise the hundred. I shall have to sacrifice many things. I shall haveto let some of th
is stuff here go. But I will do that. It is all I cando."
Bunol had not taken three whiffs from the cigarette, but he flung itinto the grate and turned toward the door.
"Where--where are you going?" asked Chester unsteadily.
"To Professor Gunn," was the answer.
"Come back here--come back!" cried Arlington, jumping up in the greatestagitation.
Bunol paused.
"Why come back?" he asked. "It is no arrangement we can make."
"Yes, we can!" declared Chester. "I'll go to Merriwell and see what Ican do!"
He had surrendered.
It was the hardest thing in the world for Chester Arlington to humblehimself to Dick Merriwell, but he realized that it was the only thing hecould do to save himself. Chester was proud, and the thought of disgraceat Fardale galled him terribly. He had felt confident of final triumphover the lad he hated.
To leave Fardale Academy in disgrace--he could not think of it! ButBunol had made it necessary for him to go to Dick Merriwell and beg afavor in order to save himself. He could not force himself to it atonce. That evening Dick went over to the village, and Chester waited forhim on the road.
The moon was shining clear and cold as Dick came out of the village andstrode briskly away toward the academy. His shadow kept close besidehim, gliding along over the ground.
Beneath a leafless maple-tree just on the outskirts of the villageArlington waited until he saw Dick appear. He had been kicking his heelstogether and moving about to keep warm. At once he stepped out to meetMerriwell.
"Hello!" exclaimed Dick in surprise, for he recognized Chester.
"Thought you would be along soon," said Arlington. "That's why I stoppedhere and waited."
"You were waiting for me?"
"Yes."
Arlington walked at Dick's side. He hesitated and choked as he attemptedto speak.
"What's his game now?" thought Merriwell.
"See here," Chester suddenly exclaimed, "I'm compelled to ask a favor ofyou, Merriwell. I don't like to do it, you may be sure of that, but Ihave to do it, regardless of my feelings."
"Go ahead," said Dick, suppressing a smile.
"You know Bunol?"
"I should say so!"
"You know the fellow came here with me. My father and his father werefriends, that's how it happened," lied Chester. "I'm sorry I suggestedto him that he come here. He's a treacherous rascal."
"Which he proved in stealing those papers and trying to put the theft onyou. Evidently he wishes to injure you now."
"Yes. He's sore on me. That's just it. He wishes to injure me, and he'lldo it, I'm afraid. You know every fellow gets into some pranks. Well,I'm no saint--never pretended to be. This snake has found out everythingI have done. You know about that bridge trick, Merriwell. I cut thebridge, but I did it to duck you, because you ducked me before that. Iwanted to get even. I didn't mean to throw Doris Templeton into thewater."
"If I had fancied that you did," said Dick grimly, "you'd not be inFardale now, I tell you that! If you had not done your best to save herafter she was swept into the pool, I should have carried the matterbefore the faculty. The fact that you nearly lost your life trying tosave her caused me to hold my hand and let you off without furtherpunishment."
"That was kind of you," said Chester humbly, although his heart wasseething with rage at the thought of being humbled before his enemy. "Iappreciate it now, even if I haven't before. Then you know about thatlittle joke of shutting you in the old vault. You got square for that,too."
Chester shivered as he thought of the ducking-stool rigged up by Dickand his friends. Arlington and his four companions were all ducked inthe cold waters of Lily Lake.
"Yes," laughed Dick, "I believe that little piece of business wasbeautifully squared up."
"In fact, you have evened up for about everything."
"Perhaps you are right."
"And you have not been the fellow to blow on me; I give you thatcredit."
"Thanks!" said Dick, with a touch of sarcasm.
"But now here is this snake Bunol who swears he will go to the facultyand tell all he knows before he leaves Fardale!"
"Well, that's rough!"
"Rough! Why, he'll ruin me!"
"He may, that's a fact."
"If he does it I'll be hauled over the coals and expelled from theschool."
"It looks that way."
"Now, see here, Merriwell, you're not such a bad fellow."
"Thanks!" said Dick again, with still greater sarcasm.
"I know I have no claim on you, and it takes a lot of nerve for me tocome to you and ask a favor; but you can keep this Spaniard fromthrowing me down, and----"
"I can do that?"
"Sure thing."
"How?"
"By letting up on him. By not forcing him to leave the school."
"And you have come to ask me to let up on him?" asked Dick, in greatsurprise, for it seemed impossible to him that a haughty, overbearingfellow like Arlington could bring himself to that.
"I have. I confess that I do it to save myself. But you know it would bemighty rough on me."
"I am not to blame," said Dick grimly. "If Bunol betrays you, blameyourself for choosing such a companion and confidant."
Chester's heart dropped.
"You--you mean that you'll carry out your threat--that Bunol will haveto go?" he faltered.
"Why shouldn't he?" said Dick. "He is not a fit fellow to have in theschool. The matter is out of my hands. Lawyer Bradbury----"
"But you might keep him still. I am sure he would keep still if youasked him."
"Why should I do such a thing? Bunol is my enemy. He is a treacherous,dangerous fellow. You are not my friend."
Arlington began to feel desperate.
"I have not been," he said; "but it might be different in the future."
"No!" exclaimed Dick. "I do not believe it possible that you and I canever become friends. There is nothing in common between us."
Chester was surprised at this, for he had fancied that by his actionswithin the last few days he had led Dick into thinking him a friend atlast. Now he realized that he had not deceived Merriwell in the least.
"He seems to see right through me!" thought Chester despairingly. "Whatcan I do?"
A thought came to him of a last resort.
"Very well," he said, with a sigh. "The jig is up with me! I'll have toskip out before I'm kicked out. My sister objected in the first placeabout coming here to this out-of-the-way place to see me. She won't haveto come here any more."
Dick's heart gave a great thump. June Arlington would not come toFardale any more! True, if Chester left the school there would benothing to bring her there.
Arlington walked along with his head down, but he glanced sidewaystoward Dick to note the effect of his words. Again Dick felt that hecould read Chester's motive in speaking as he did. He knew Dick wasinterested in June, that Dick would wish to see her again; and for thisvery reason he had hinted that she would come no more to Fardale. But itwas true that there would be nothing to bring June to Fardale if Chesterleft the place.
Dick walked onward in silence, a tumult of thoughts in his mind. If heforced Bunol from the school then Arlington would have to go. IfArlington went, June would come no more to the village.
This was the thought that made Dick waver and hesitate. He rememberedher as he had seen her last. Her eyes had smiled upon him. She was hisfriend. Even at this moment he carried her locket, in which was herpicture.
Arlington was wise enough to give Dick time.
"Hold your hand until I can pack up and get away," he finally said."I'll leave some time before Monday night."
After a few minutes, Dick observed:
"I'll think this matter over, Arlington. Perhaps you won't have to go."
"I've won!" thought Chester exultantly.