"_You!_" screamed Aragon, his eyes bulging with astonishment; and then, finding himself tricked, he turned suddenly upon one of his retainers and struck him with his whip. "Son of a goat!" he stormed. "Pig! Is this the way you obey my orders?" But though he raved and scolded, he had gone too far, and there was no putting the blame on his servant. In his desire to humiliate the hated gringos he had thrown down all his guards, and even De Lancey saw all too clearly what his intentions in the matter had been. "Spare your cursing, Señor Aragon," he said, "and after this," he added, "you can save your pretty words, too--for somebody else. We shall remain here and hold our property." "Ha! You _Americanos_!" exclaimed Aragon, as he chewed bitterly on his defeat. "You will rob us of everything--even our government. So you are a Mexican citizen, eh? You must value this barren mine very highly to give up the protection of your government. But perhaps you are acquainted with a man named Kruger?" he sneered. "_He_ would sell his honor any time to defraud a Mexican of his rights, and I doubt not it was he who sent you here. Yes, I have known it from the first--but I will fool him yet! "So you are a Mexican citizen, Señor De Lancey? _Bien_, then you shall pay the full price of your citizenship. Before our law you are now no more than that poor _pelado_, Mendez. You cannot appeal now to your consul at Gadsden--you are only a Mexican! Very well!" He shrugged his shoulders and smiled significantly. "No," retorted De Lancey angrily; "you are right--I cannot appeal to my government! But let me tell you something, Señor Mexicano! An American needs no government to protect him--he has his gun, and that is enough!" "Yes," added Bud, who had caught the drift of the last, "and he has his friends, too; don't forget that!" He strode over toward Aragon and menaced him with a threatening finger. "If anything happens to my friend," he hissed, "you will have _me_ to whip! And now, _señor_," he added, speaking in the idiom of the country, "go with God--and do not come back!" "Pah!" spat back Aragon, his hate for the pushing foreigner showing in every glance; "I will beat you yet! And I pray God the _revoltosos_ come this way, if they take the full half of my cattle--so long as they get you two!" "Very well," nodded Bud as Aragon and his men turned away, "but be careful you do not send any! "Good!" he continued, smiling grimly at the pallid Phil; "now we got him where we want him--out in the open. And I'll just remember them four _paisanos_ he had with him--they're his handy men, the boys with nerve--and don't never let one of 'em catch you out after dark." De Lancey sat down on a rock and wiped his face.