CHAPTER XXIII.
MR. BUNDY IS DISAPPOINTED, AND OLIVER MEETS SOME FRIENDS.
T HE village lay farther up on the hill. Oliver and his companion followed the road, looking about them enquiringly.
"Suppose you find this man, what will you do?" asked Oliver curiously.
He had an idea that Nicholas Bundy might pull out a revolver and lay his old enemy dead at his feet. This, in a law-abiding community, might entail uncomfortable consequences, and he might be deprived of his new friend almost as soon as the friendship had begun.
"I will punish him," said Nicholas, his brow contracting into a frown.
"You won't shoot him?"
"No. I shall bide my time, and consider how best to ruin him. If he is rich, I will strip him of his wealth; if he is respected andhonored, I will bring a stain upon his name. I will do for him what he has done for me."
The provincialisms which at times disfigured his speech were dropped as he spoke of his enemy, and his face grew hard and his expression unrelenting.
"How he must hate this man!" thought Oliver.
They stepped into a grocery store on the way, and here Mr. Bundy enquired for Rupert Jones.