"What in the name of Heaven is the meaning of all this?"
"You"ve been in that room!" cried Ashby, pointing up the pa.s.sage-way.
"Well, what if I have?"
"What if you have? You know what you went there for."
Thus far Harry had been too much amazed to understand anything. But now he began to see what it all meant.
"Oh, ho!" said he; "so that"s it?"
"That"s it! of course that"s it!" cried Ashby. "Isn"t that enough?
sneaking after that girl, when you know that she is mine. What the devil have you got to say for yourself?"
At this Harry began to rouse himself. He didn"t feel like defending his conduct; and now, as was natural, took refuge in a fight.
"Confound you!" he cried; "what do you mean by such insults as these?
Who are you? What business is it of yours?"
"She"s engaged to me. I took you into my confidence, and you"ve turned out a traitor and a sneak."
Harry drew a long breath, and instantly recovered his usual coolness.
"My dear sir," said he, "you have a pretty talent for scolding.
Nature evidently intended you to be an old woman; but doesn"t it strike you that this sort of thing isn"t customary among gentlemen, and that you are making an infernal fool of yourself? Do you suppose I"m to ask your permission where to go in this castle? I found this pa.s.sage-way myself, and hope to find others also. And, by Jove!" he continued, as at this moment the thought of the lost parcel came to him, "there"s one matter I should like to settle with you before we go any farther."
"We shall have to settle several matters."
"I left a parcel in this place a short time ago. It was a very valuable one. I should like to ask you if you have it?"
"I? I, sir? I have your parcel?"
"I don"t mean to say that you took it knowing it to be mine."
"Oh! you don"t, don"t you?"
"Mr. Ashby, will you give me a frank answer to a fair question? Do you know anything about that parcel?"
"Parcel? Pooh!" said Ashby, who thought that this was some transparent trick of Harry"s to account for his presence here.
"Confound you and your parcels! I know nothing about them. I--"
"I ask you, did you pick up that parcel?"
"And I say, confound your parcels!"
Harry was growing quite as furious as Ashby. He now felt certain that Ashby had found it and had it in his possession. He considered Ashby"s answers as palpable evasions of a direct question.
"Well, then," he said, "I say that if you still keep that parcel after I claim it, that you are keeping property that is not yours, and you know what that means!"
Ashby gave a bitter laugh.
"This as a hint that I am a thief," said he.
"And a pretty strong one, too, I rather think," said Harry. "Do not imagine that you have any claims to that package arising out of any previous relations to a certain young lady."
"A certain young lady!--a package! What do you mean? I neither know nor care. I only know that you and I must settle accounts with one another."
"By Jove, that"s one sentiment in which I agree!"
"If I hadn"t found you here, I might have only suspected; but now that I"ve found you, I do not merely believe, but know that you are a--"
"Confound you! if you begin your infernal abuse again, I"ll blow your brains out! I haven"t got your talent for scolding. If you want to settle accounts with me, come along like a man, and don"t stand here jawing like a fishwife."
"By heavens! that will I--and here--"
"Here! pooh! Come along to my room."
"Lead on--I"ll follow."
At this Harry led the way, and in a short time, followed by Ashby, he once more reached his own room.
And so it had come to this! The friends who a few days before had been so intimate, so confiding, and so affectionate, now stood face to face as foes, glaring at one another with defiance in their eyes and bitter hate in their hearts. Each thought he had received sufficient provocation to seek the life of the other, and each thought that he had received from the other insults which could only be wiped out in blood.
Harry felt sure that Ashby had found the package which he had concealed so carefully, and was holding it on the ground of his engagement to Katie. Such a right Harry might possibly have conceded to Russell, as Katie"s guardian, especially as he had been the one who last had held it; but to Ashby he never would surrender it. As for Ashby, his bitterness and jealousy have already been fully set forth, and they were now more intense than ever.
Harry stuck the torch in a hollow stone in the floor which appeared to have been made for that purpose. Then he turned to Ashby.
"Now, sir," said Ashby, "you have already heard."
"No more, I beg," said Harry; "not a word. Let"s fight like gentlemen, not jaw like bullies. Have you a pistol?"
"No."
"That"s unfortunate. There"s no knowing at what time a pistol may be needed."
"No," said Ashby, bitterly. "If I had known that you would prove a scoun--"
"By heavens!" roared Harry, "if yon don"t shut up I"ll put a bullet through you! Do you hear? Come now," he continued, growing cooler; "we"ve both said enough, more than enough. Remember that when two gentlemen meet in mortal combat the time for insult is over. We have no seconds. Let us try to imitate the punctiliousness of seconds in our treatment of each other. Do you consent?"
Ashby bowed.
"And now, Mr. Ashby," continued Harry, "as you say you have no pistol, is there anything else that you can suggest? Have you a knife?"
"Nothing but a penknife."
"Ah, that"s very unfortunate. If we could only get hold of a couple of rifles from our friends here outside, we should be all right, but there"s no use in hoping for that. Our ransom is too high for them to risk losing it. And so, as far as I can see, the only thing left is for us to use this one pistol of mine."
"One pistol? How can both of us use one pistol?"