By this time the Mexican's eyes were gleaming with an ugly light and his olive cheeks were flushed with anger. Whatever the purpose that had moved him at first, Curtis saw that he was fighting now with the aboriginal rage of conflict, with the fierce hate born of the blows he had received. He kicked wildly at the superintendent's shins and accidentally planted the heel of his boot squarely upon the other's bare foot. Conrad's face twitched with the hurt, and with a snarling grin Gonzalez lifted the other for similar purpose, forgetting shrewd tactics of battle in the lust of giving pain to his opponent. But Curtis caught the momentary advantage of unstable balance and with a twist and a lunge they came down together, Conrad's left shoulder striking against a stone beside which the Mexican fell. Thrilling with the surety of triumph, his enemy pinned to the ground, Curtis was barely conscious of a snapping in his shoulder and a sharp pain in his collar bone. With one knee on Gonzalez's chest, he pulled the knife from his left arm, broke it across the boulder, and threw the bloodstained pieces far out into the pond. His assailant was at his mercy now and the heat and anger of combat ebbed from his veins as he looked down at the Mexican's unresisting figure. "You have bested me this time, Don Curtis," said Gonzalez quietly. "Get up, José," replied Conrad rising, and the two men, panting from their conflict, faced each other. José stood with his arms folded and head erect and looked at his employer with unafraid eyes, in which smouldered only the traces of his recent rage. Conrad surveyed him thoughtfully for a moment before he spoke. "José, what did you do it for?" The Mexican smiled but made no reply. "Have you got anything against me?" Conrad persisted. "Do you think I've mistreated you or injured you in any way?" "No, señor, I have nothing against you." "Then what--by God, are you one of Dell Baxter's thugs? Has he sent you down here to stick me in the back?" Impelled by the flash of sudden conviction, Conrad thrust his face close to the other's and glared into his eyes. Gonzalez stepped back a pace and looked gravely across the hill at the reddening sky. His composed face and closely shut lips showed that he did not intend to answer. "Oh, all right!" Curtis exclaimed. "I don't expect you to peach on your pal. But I reckon I've sure struck the right trail this time. And look here, José! Was it me you were after when you stuck your knife in that skunk?" The Mexican's eyes fell and his black brows met in a frown. He was thinking how much trouble this man had given him by springing up so unexpectedly that night. But for that it would all have been so easy and simple!