Frank was one who helped drag the fellow over the high barrier, and he felt the man quivering with a great terror. He looked in the banderillero’s face and then uttered an exclamation of surprise, for it was the man with the scar, whom he had knocked down only some hours before. He had heard the fellow called Gonzalez by a companion who ran to his assistance.
Gonzalez recognized the boy, uttered a snarl, and tore away.
“Cowardly American!” he grated, in Spanish. “Do you think I fear the bull? Bah! I spit on the bull, as Spain spits on the United States.”
“And then, if you remained within reach of the bull, he would do you up just about as quickly as the United Stales would do up Spain,” retorted the boy, who felt his patriotic blood stirred.
“I have not forgotten that you struck me,” hissed the scar-faced fellow. “We shall meet again.”
“Very good. All I ask is that you do not come upon me when my back is turned.”
There was such an uproar that these words between the man and boy were not heard by the spectators. The bull was now running back and forward in the walk, beaten by sticks and fists. Gonzalez sprang into the walk, just as the bull, finding an open door, darted into the ring again.
The door was closed, and then all the men in the arena dashed at the bull once more. One passed behind him, giving his tail a pull, one dropped a scarlet cloth over the animal’s horns, another snatched a rosette from the shaft of a dart, and still another allowed the bull to charge, planted a pole in the ground, vaulted into the air, and let the creature pass beneath him.
It was amazing, bewildering, marvelous. Frank felt his blood stirred by the wonderful feats. He had been sickened by the spectacle a few moments before, so that there was a dreadful nausea at his stomach, but now he was quivering with satisfaction and fascinated by what he saw.
All these tricks were accomplished as if the men were frolicking with a harmless lamb. They laughed and shouted like children at play, and the audience, fairly carried away with enthusiasm, gave them round after round of applause.