Dick Merriwell's Pranks Part 60

"Were not the relics very ancient?"

"Well, two of them were, beyond question."

"And did the inspection of them add greatly to your fund of knowledge?"

persisted d.i.c.k.

"Greatly," declared Zenas. "I know much more than I did when I left this hotel."

"Then I fail to understand why you seem so terribly disappointed. You said you expected to return here a much wiser man."

"And if I'm not wiser," said the professor, "I ought to be shot, that's all! I have this day learned something I'll never forget. Don't ask another question! I decline to discuss the matter further. But I will say that no man is too old to learn, and sometimes a man who thinks himself very wise discovers that he's a big fool. I'm going to lie down and rest now, for I need it. I am quite exhausted."

He closed the door between the two rooms.

"I must tell Dunbar and Nadia about it," chuckled Buckhart. "Come on, d.i.c.k; let's go see them."

"You go ahead," nodded Merriwell. "I have a letter to write, and I think I'll do it now."

Buckhart was not gone long, and there was something of a worried look on his face when he returned.

"Well, did they appreciate the joke?" questioned d.i.c.k, without looking up.

"I didn' tell them."

"Didn't?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"They're not in."

"Oh, that's it! Where have they gone?"

"I don't know. I inquired and found they left the hotel about two hours ago. They did not take a carriage, or even engage donkeys. They walked out, without stating whither they intended to go."

"Well, it's likely they'll return soon."

"I hope so."

Buckhart's tone caused d.i.c.k to look up quickly.

"What's the matter, Brad?" he asked.

"I'm worried, pard," confessed the Texan.

"About them? Oh, nonsense; they're all right."

"They may be; but you know Budthorne is a mighty poor protector for a girl, and Nadia has been watched by that strange man we observed."

"That is, she thought that man was watching her; but she was not sure of it."

"She was pretty sure. He was a Turk, and you know what happened to her in Damascus."

"Which, therefore, will not happen again. Don't be foolish, old man."

"You remember that other man-the one we saw join the Turk on Citadel Hill?"

"Yes."

"I dreamed about him last night, d.i.c.k."

"Did you?"

"Sure; and it was a bad dream. I thought you and I were walking along a dark street, in a strange city, when that other man came up behind us suddenly. I turned just in time to see him drive a knife into your back, but not in time to check him. You fell! Then I sprang on your murderer and flung him to the ground. I had him by the throat and I dragged him to a corner, where there was a light. When I had pulled him into the light I discovered that he was Chester Arlington."

"Well, you see how foolish dreams are, Brad. Chet Arlington is at Fardale, thousands of miles away."

"That's all right. I don't opine the chap we saw was Arlington; but somehow I have the idea that he's an enemy to you, and just as dangerous an enemy as Chet Arlington."

"If you take stock in dreams, you'll be calling on fortune tellers, next."

"Oh, you laugh! You wait and see! That dream meant something."

Brad relapsed into silence, and d.i.c.k went on with his writing.

Ten minutes later they heard the sound of running feet on the stairs and outside their door. The door was burst open, and Dunbar Budthorne, ghastly white and shaking in every limb, reeled in.

Buckhart made a great leap and seized the fellow.

"For Heaven's sake, Budthorne, what has happened?" he hoa.r.s.ely demanded.

"Nadia!" gasped the agitated young man, seeming barely able to utter the word.

"Nadia!" grated Brad. "Something has happened to her? Speak, man!"

"We were walking--"

"Go on!"

"Suddenly several men sprang out on us. They tried to seize Nadia. I-I did my best. I sought to protect her. One fellow s.n.a.t.c.hed her from me.

Another hit me on the head and knocked me down. But I saw the one who seized her-saw him face to face! I knew him. It was Miguel Bunol!"

Brad fell back as if struck in the face. d.i.c.k uttered an exclamation of incredulity.

"You're crazy, Budthorne!" he palpitated. "Your eyes deceived you! Bunol cannot be here, for the Bedouins carried him away to sell him into slavery in Arabia."

"I don't care about that," declared Budthorne, positively; "Bunol was with those men who attacked us-he seized Nadia. I know him! I cannot be deceived!"