truth."

"He wi' kill me if I do!" whispered Aaron.

"No one shall harm you," promised d.i.c.k.

"You canna tell that, for you do na ken him."

"Whom do you mean, Aaron?" asked the widow.

"Rob MacLane," he breathed, shuddering with fear.

"Rob MacLane?" cried the landlady, in consternation: "Do na tell me he had hand i' this black work!"

The shivering little man nodded.

"Then," said the widow, "th' poor young man is lost forever an' there is na hope for him."

"You may as well confess everything now," said d.i.c.k, once more fixing Aaron with his piercing eyes. "It can do no further harm to you. Make a clean breast of it-for the widow's sake, for the one who has warmed, and fed, and trusted you."

"I will!" said the little man; and in shaking tones he hurried through the confession.

When d.i.c.k heard that Budthorne was to be taken to the old castle on the island and held a captive there he sprang up, turning to Nadia.

"We will find a way to save him, Miss Budthorne," he promised. "Trust us."

"How can you-how can you against Miguel Bunol and this terrible ruffian, MacLane?" she cried. "Then Aaron says there were more than two of them who attacked Dunbar at the door and struck him down."

"The other two were Marsh and Durbin. Marsh is a pitiful coward, at best, so that practically reduces their fighting force to three. There are two of us, Brad and myself."

"And I sure allow we'll make it a whole lot hot for those three fine gents," said the Texan, whose fighting blood was beginning to course hotly in his veins. "We know Bunol and Durbin. MacLane may not be half as dangerous as he is pictured. Nadia, we propose to bring your brother safe back to you before morning. You hear me chirp!"

CHAPTER VIII.

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 a.s.sure 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 a.s.sistance 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 a.s.sist 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 pa.s.sing 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."