"Did you have a mother?" he asked.
"Of course I did!"
"Did you promise her you would be good?"
Del Norte swore in Spanish.
"I'll not stay here a minute longer!" he declared. "If you stay, you'll remain in the dark."
"Hold on!" commanded Ridgeway, lifting himself on one hand and stretching the other out to the Mexican. "Don't you dare leave me! You're the man who brought this on me! Some one fired a bullet through your head, but it did not kill you. I wish it had! You thought you bore a charmed life; you thought nothing could kill you. Lead failed to do it, but God sent the landslide, and you are as good as dead. Ha! ha! ha!"
Del Norte started away.
"Stand where you are!" yelled Ridgeway, leaping up with amazing quickness. "You were not killed by the bullet, and now, for all of the landslide, you still live. You're a fiend, and you ought to die! I am commanded to kill you! I must do it!"
The Mexican did not dare turn his back on the raving man. Again he started away, but this time he moved backward, keeping his eyes on Ridgeway, who came creeping after him, crouching a little and seeming ready to spring.
Suddenly Ridgeway leaped. His arms shot out and his fingers closed on Del Norte's neck.