Dick Merriwell's Trap; Or, The Chap Who Bungled

by Burt L. Standish

  CHAPTER XX--DONE IN THE DARK

  One who has never been in the woods at night and heard such a strange,awesome, blood-chilling sound cannot understand the shuddery feelingthat creeps over the flesh of the listener.

  In his veins Crauthers seemed to feel his blood turning to ice-water.His heart stood still when the second cry came, then leaped and poundedso violently that there was a pain in his breast.

  "There's one of your wild animals, Mark!" said Stark, who was not alittle nervous himself, although he wished to hide the fact.

  "For the Lord's sake keep still!" breathed Crauthers, his dark teethknocking together tremulously as he uttered the words. "What can it be?"

  "Here's your chance to hunt a wild animal," said Hogan. "Go out andtackle it."

  "Why, you know I haven't a weapon!"

  "Bunol will lend you his knife."

  "No," said the Spaniard. "The knife I have not."

  "Haven't even a knife?" gasped Crauthers. "I've got a revolver, but Ididn't bring it. Great Scott! not one of us is armed! What if we areattacked?"

  "Clubs, fellows!" said Hogan, as he began to pull over the little pileof wood.

  "Out with the fire!" sibilated Crauthers, "That's what has attracted thething."

  Stark grasped him.

  "Let the fire burn," he said. "Haven't you read how it will hold realwolves at bay?"

  "That's no wolf!" said Hogan. "It may be a wildcat, but there are nowolves in these parts."

  By this time the boys had each secured a club. The wind had lulled, andsilence lay on the woods. Once more the cry came to their ears, and thistime it was even nearer. But now there seemed something strangely humanabout it.

  "Listen!" urged Bunol.

  He placed his fingers to his lips and blew the signal of the Wolf Gang,a peculiar whistle that cut shrilly through the night.

  "You fool!" snarled Crauthers. "Do you----"

  Then he stopped, for the signal was answered in a similar manner. Againthe wondering boys looked at one another.

  "Our signal!" they said.

  "I thought I knew who yelled to us," said Bunol, in satisfaction.

  "There is only one fellow at Fardale who knows our signal," said Stark.

  "That's Arlington!" declared Hogan.

  "He comes," declared Bunol.

  "What? Chet Arlington coming here? Why----"

  "Somehow he think we may be here, and he comes," said the Spaniard.

  Immediately Stark's suspicions were reawakened.

  "It's a put up job!" he declared. "He sent you here, Bunol, to listen toour plans, and now he is coming. Confound your treacherous skin, ifyou----"

  "Hold on!" spoke the Spanish lad, in a low tone. "Better go slow. I havenothing to do with him. I hate him. I prove it to you."

  "Prove it now!" urged Crauthers. "This is your chance!"

  "How?"

  "Go out there and lay for him in the darkness. When he comes along, soakhim! That's the way to do it! I dare you to do it--I dare you!"

  "I'll do it!" declared Miguel, at once, "Put out fire so he will notsee. Quick!"

  Crauthers dashed aside the brands with his foot and began to stamp themout.

  "Hold on!" urged Stark. "I don't know about this business. Better becareful, or we'll all get into----"

  "He can't prove a thing. If he's alone, we are four to his one. If he isbringing any one here, it's right to meet him and give it to him. Go on,Bunol."

  Crauthers ground the dying embers beneath his feet, and the interior ofthe Den was plunged into darkness, save for the faint glow of a fewcoals.

  "You wait!" whispered Bunol, as he crouched to creep forth. "You see nowhow much friend I am to him! I prove it to you! I get even with him!"

  He still retained the club he had caught up from the pile of wood.

  Stark was apprehensive, but Crauthers was shaking with eagerness, beingseized by an intense longing to join in the attack on Arlington.

  As they waited, the approaching person whistled again.

  "He's crossing the tree-bridge!" palpitated Crauthers. "Bunol will besure to be waiting for him when he reaches the ground on this side. Keepquiet!"

  They did not have to wait long. Soon they heard the sound of a suddenstruggle, a muffled, broken cry, and a heavy fall. Their hearts beatpainfully after a period of shocked stillness, and it was not withoutdifficulty that they breathed.

  The night wind passed over the woods like a sigh.

  Hogan started to say something in a whisper, but he was checked, andthey waited yet a little longer. Then the voice of Miguel Bunol, softand steady, called to them.

  "Come out and see how I keep my word," it said. "I prove to you I do notlie."

  Still they hesitated.

  "What do you suppose the fool has done?" muttered Stark apprehensively."I hope it's nothing serious."

  He was the first of the remaining trio to creep forth from the Den. Theothers followed him, and they found Bunol waiting in the path.

  "Come," he said, and they silently followed him to a little distance,pausing near the foot of the nearer tree that completed the bridge overthe jungle.

  "Here he is," said the Spaniard.

  "Where?" asked Stark.

  "At your feet." But they could see nothing.

  Stark struck a match, sheltering it with his hollowed hands, as he castthe light downward. Hogan breathed forth an exclamation that betrayedthe agitated state of his nerves.

  For the flickering light fell on the pale face of Chester Arlington, wholay stretched on his back where he had fallen when struck down by theclub in the hands of Miguel Bunol. Arlington's eyes were closed, andnear his left temple something red trickled down from his hair.

  "Good heavens!" gasped Hogan, as he dropped on his knees. "Why, this iscarrying the thing too far! I'm afraid he's badly hurt!"

  Crauthers said nothing, for in his heart there was a mingled sensationof satisfaction and fear.

  "What in blazes have you done, Bunol?" demanded Stark, who was likewisealarmed.

  "I soak him!" said the Spaniard. "That was what you say for me to do. Ido it!"

  The match fell from Stark's fingers. In darkness they stood huddledabout that silent form stretched on the ground. Fear had gripped theirhearts. They longed to turn and hurry from the spot, but curiosity heldthem yet a little longer.

  Stark struck another match and bent over Arlington. He thrust a handinside Chester's coat and felt for his heart. In his excitement he wasquite unaware that he was feeling on the wrong side.

  "My God!" he said huskily. "You have killed him, Bunol! His heart doesnot even flutter!"

  "He should know better than to fool with Miguel Bunol," said theSpaniard.

  By the gleam of the expiring match they glanced at Miguel's face and sawthere no look of regret. The Spaniard was utterly pitiless, and remorsehad not touched him. A little while before he had seemed the devotedfriend of Chester Arlington, but his friendship had turned to thebitterest hatred, and his hatred had led to this terrible deed thatmight be--murder!

  "Let's get out of here!" whispered Crauthers, "We didn't do it! We hadnothing to do with it! We know nothing about it!"

  Stark wanted them to stay a little longer, but panic seemed to clutchthem. Crauthers went staggering up the tree trunk, with Hogan followingclose behind. They did not pause when Stark called to them.

  "We better go, too," said Bunol.

  "You go to the devil!" burst from Stark, suddenly overcome by repulsioncaused by the treachery of the fellow. But he did not care to be leftthere with the Spaniard and the fellow he had slain, so he hastened tocross over the trees and rush after his companions.

  Like a cat, Bunol followed, and in the desolate woods was left theunfortunate lad who had been struck down by his erstwhile comrade.

  The wind moaned through the trees with a dreary sound, dying away like asigh. The woods were still. The trees and the thickets seemed to listenand wait for some sign of life in that motionless figure.

&n
bsp; Stark called to Hogan and Crauthers as he stumbled along the path. Heuttered exclamations of annoyance, pain, and anger when branches whippedhim stingingly across the face. Three or four times he stumbled andfell, but he was up again and hurrying on in a twinkling.

  "Where are those fools?" he grated. "What do they mean by running awayand leaving me like this!"

  He paused a moment to listen, and then he gave a great start, for rightbeside him a voice spoke:

  "They run like cowards."

  "Bunol!" exclaimed Stark, far from pleased. "What in blazes do you meanby following me so closely? I didn't hear you behind me."

  "You all run off," said the Spanish lad. "Why you think I should stay?"

  "You did the trick! You should have remained to make sure he was dead oralive, one or the other."

  "Bah!" said the other. "If he is dead, it do no good to stay. If he is'live, he come out of it after while, and I care not to be round. He nosee who hit him. If he is 'live, I no want him to have some proof."

  "You were a fool to strike so hard with that club!"

  "When I hate, I hate hard. When I strike, I strike hard."

  "But you were a fool! Think of it! You killed him!"

  "Perhaps so, perhaps not."

  "I know; I felt for his heart."

  Stark was in a terrible state of mind, for murder was a thing to shakehis nerves, even though it had not been meditated upon in advance. Hisbrain seemed confused, and he could not decide on the proper course topursue. The horror of the tragedy in the woods was on him, and he couldnot shake it off.

  Bunol managed to hold himself well in hand, and his nerve seemedwonderful, making him more repellent to Stark.

  "You killed him!" repeated Fred. "You may be hanged for it!"

  "Why? Nobody need know."

  "Such things are bound to come out. Besides, why should we put ourselvesin a bad box by shielding you? You--you alone are to blame!"

  "Ha!" cried Bunol derisively. "You say that? You? Why, you sent me tosoak him! You dare to blow on me? Ha! You be in bad scrape, too!"

  Stark drew off from the fellow. The shadow of the gloomy woods was closeat hand, and he turned from it. Several times he looked back, fearing tosee a ghostly figure in pursuit.

  Bunol clung close to him. They had not proceeded far before two otherforms rose from behind an old stone wall. Stark halted, his heart givinga leap, but one of the two called, and he recognized the voice of Hogan.

  Hogan and Crauthers were shivering. The cold night wind seemed to cutthem to the bone. Their teeth chattered, and Crauthers seemed almost onthe verge of collapse.

  "Fellows," said Stark, "we were fools to run away like that. We shouldhave stayed. Perhaps Arlington was not dead. He may lay there and die inthe woods."

  "I wouldn't go back there for a thousand dollars!" said Crauthers.

  Hogan longed to go back, but he lacked the nerve.

  They all turned on Bunol, whom they reviled for his act.

  "Yah!" snarled the Spaniard. "You squeal! You just as bad! You send meto do it."

  "Get away from us!" said Hogan. "We want nothing more to do with you!"

  "Perhaps you blow on me?"

  They made no answer, seeking to hurry from him, but he followed them up.

  "You blow, I swear I kill you!" he cried. "I swear to do it, and I keepmy word! You see! you see!"

  They had been ascending a hill. Now they turned on him, and, as they didso, a cry of surprise came from the lips of Hogan.

  "Good Lord, boys!" he exclaimed; "just look there!"

  They saw him fling his arm out in a gesture toward the distant strip ofwoods. They looked, and what they saw was startling in the extreme. Inthe midst of the woods there was a reddish glare which rose and glowedand grew stronger every minute.

  "The woods are afire!" gasped Crauthers.

  "Sure thing!" came from the lips of Stark.

  "Why, how----"

  "It started from our fire in the Den! When the brands werescattered--that's what did it!"

  "Boys," said Stark chokingly, "Arlington is there in the burning woods!If we had brought him out! Perhaps we can do it now! Come,fellows--come, let's go back!"

  They caught hold of him.

  "Too late!" said Crauthers. "See how the fire is spreading! The wind isdriving it. The whole strip of woods will be a mass of roaring flame ina few minutes!"

  Miguel Bunol stood by, no words falling from his lips. In his heartthere was a feeling of relief caused by sight of the rising fire.

  "If the Spaniard had stayed away----" began Crauthers.

  Bunol whirled on him.

  "You first to propose I soak him!" he sneered. "Now you lose nerve! Nowyou are coward! But fire will wipe all out. It burn so nobody ever provehe was struck. He was caught in fire and couldn't get out. That is it."

  Bunol was too much for them. Bad though they had been, the nerve of theSpanish lad after such a dark deed made him repulsive to them all.

  "We had better get back to the academy in a hurry," said Stark. "Wedon't want to be out when the excitement over this fire starts. Let'shustle, fellows."

  So they ran over the hill and on toward the academy. Behind them thefire rose and waved gleaming pennants to the clouds, which reflected thered glow. The wind moaned through the night and sent the flames leapingfrom tree to tree.

  "We are all murderers!" whispered Crauthers, thinking of the boy leftlifeless in the burning woods.