Dick Merriwell Abroad; Or, The Ban of the Terrible Ten
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CHAPTER IV.
BUDTHORNE'S STRUGGLE.
The working of alcohol on some constitutions is remarkable. It is asingular thing that some men seem to keep themselves steeped in thepoison for years without breaking down, while others rapidly go topieces and become physical wrecks before its vitality-destroyinginfluence. The latter class is by far the larger.
Occasionally a man whose nerves are deep set, whose constitution isironlike and whose coarser nature predominates, persists in drinkingregularly and heavily for years and seems to remain in good health. Tothose who know him well, and meet him day after day, he presents noabnormal aspect; but almost certain it is that drink has taken such ahold on him that he cannot appear to be in his natural condition unlesshe constantly keeps in his stomach enough of the stuff to intoxicate anoccasional drinker to the point of reeling. Take it away from him and hecollapses like a pricked bladder.
Dunbar Budthorne was a man without the stamina to withstand theblighting effect of constant drinking. The rapidity with which the stufffastened its clutch upon him was appalling. His relapse when, at theentreaty of his loving and faithful sister, he stopped drinking and letit wholly alone, was pitiful.
Ever since arriving at the Ben Cleuch, Budthorne had been in a state ofmental distress and physical collapse. The desire for drink was with himconstantly, and in his soul a fierce battle raged unceasingly. In thenight he rose and paced the floor of his room, his hands clinched, hisnerves taut, mumbling, mumbling, mumbling. Every night, at his request,Nadia locked him in that room, keeping the key with her.
"You must master the desire, Dunbar, my brother," she said. "You can doit."
"Yes, by Heaven!" he cried, setting his teeth. "For you, Nadia, I willdo it!"
"Not for me alone, Dunbar; for yourself, as well. You can see what youhave come to in less than a year. A year ago you were not the slave ofdrink."
"I should say not! And had any one told me I'd get this way in twelvemonths I should have thought him a fool. I don't understand it now.Nadia, why can other men drink when they choose, and let it alone whenthey choose?"
"Not all of them can, Dunbar, I am sure. I believe there are thousandsjust like you."
"Perhaps you're right; they keep it hidden from others, or they do notrealize it themselves."
"That's the way it is."
"What a wise little chicken you are, sister! What a brave little girl!And what a worthless brother you have!"
Then she would caress him and pat him on the cheek, and tell him he was"all right."
"All wrong, you mean. Sis, I'm going to make my share of the fortuneleft us over to you. I'll do it at the first opportunity. I've made ahole in it already. Were I to keep hitting the booze, I'd go through thewhole of it in another year."
"But you have stopped, and you'll never touch it again. You have escapedfrom those evil friends whose influence was ruining you. Their hold onyou is broken."
She did not chide him with his folly and weakness in ever becomingfriendly with such unworthy companions. She did not remind him that LukeDurbin was a barroom acquaintance, a race-track gambler, and a creaturehe had been forced to introduce to her with a flush of shame on hischeeks. She knew he had thought of this with regret and remorse.
But it was not Durbin she most feared; it was the Spaniard, Bunol, whohad been forced upon them by Durbin. She believed Bunol possessed someevil power of unknown force which he had exercised upon Budthorne, andthe spell of which he had tried to cast upon her. Durbin knew about thismysterious power, and he had brought Bunol forward that the fellow mightexercise it to accomplish the downfall of Budthorne and the snaring ofhis sister.
"Yes, their hold is broken," he agreed. "We have our chanceacquaintances which we met on London Bridge to thank for that. It wasyour scheme----"
"Not mine; Dick Merriwell did it. It was he who formed the plan todisguise himself as Mr. Allsquint and get into your room in London thatnight of the card party, where he exposed the cheating of Bunol, who wasrobbing you at cards."
"A wonderful chap that boy is! I like him, Nadia, and I like his chum,the fellow from Texas. Don't you?"
"I do, indeed. Brad Buckhart is splendid, and the old professor is agenial soul. I am sorry we were unable to remain in Edinburgh until theycame; but Bunol was there, and I knew we might encounter him any time. Ithought it best to come here, but I have written our friends, making anexplanation, and I hope they will take the trouble to hunt us up."
"If they do, it will be on your account, sis. Oh, yes it will! Look outfor Buckhart, Nadia! The fellow is smitten."
"Nonsense, Dunbar!"
"He is. I noticed how he held your hand as they were seeing us off atthe station in London. His eyes followed you all the time. You'll have awild and woolly Texan on your staff if you're not careful."
"I don't see that there is anything so very wild and woolly about him."
"Ha! ha! You resent that, eh? It looks suspicious, girl--very suspicious.Better be careful."
"Stop your teasing, Dunbar! I'm sure I don't care a snap about him, andI don't believe he cares anything about me. Why should he? We barelyknow each other; we may never meet again. He is only a boy----"
"And you're only a girl. Many a boy-and-girl affair has ripened intosomething binding. Better wait until you find out more about him. Weknow practically nothing."
"Oh, but I know he is a gentleman!" protested the girl. "If he were nothe would not be with Dick Merriwell and Professor Gunn. I have seen him,too, when he dropped his Western manners and was as refined in every wayas any one can be. You don't think all Westerners are wild and woolly,do you?"
"Far from it. I am sure a chap from that part of our country may be asmuch a gentleman as any one; but your earnest defense of him increasesmy suspicions. You'll have to be on your guard."
"Why don't you try to tease me about Dick Merriwell? I addressed theletter to him, telling him whither we had gone."
"All the more significant. The wise bird takes flight at first sight ofthe sportsman."
"You're perfectly tormenting, Dunbar! If you continue talking in such afoolish manner I shall think your brain is affected."
He laughed again.
"All right; I'll let up--for the time being. But I'll wager Buckhartshows up here as soon as possible after your letter is received, andhe'll bring the others with him. We'll have them with us by to-morrow."
"I hope so," she confessed.
The thing predicted was to happen even sooner.