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diff --git a/38603.txt b/38603.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b3dfb91 --- /dev/null +++ b/38603.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7387 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Lost Gold of the Montezumas, by William O. Stoddard + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Lost Gold of the Montezumas + A Story of the Alamo + +Author: William O. Stoddard + +Illustrator: Charles H. Stephens + +Release Date: January 17, 2012 [EBook #38603] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LOST GOLD OF THE MONTEZUMAS *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: Cover art] + + + + + +[Frontispiece: "This is a terrible piece of work." Page 185.] + + + + + + +THE LOST GOLD OF + +THE MONTEZUMAS + + +A STORY OF THE ALAMO + + +BY + +WILLIAM O. STODDARD + +AUTHOR OF "CHUMLEY'S POST," "CROWDED OUT O' CROFIELD," "THE TALKING +LEAVES," ETC. + + + + +WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY + +_CHARLES H. STEPHENS_ + + + + + +PHILADELPHIA + +J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY + +1898 + + + + +COPYRIGHT, 1897, + +BY + +J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +CHAPTER I. + +The Gods of the Montezumas + + +CHAPTER II. + +The Alamo Fort + + +CHAPTER III. + +The Dream of the New Empire + + +CHAPTER IV. + +The Race for the Chaparral + + +CHAPTER V. + +Among the Bushes + + +CHAPTER VI. + +The Old Cash-Box + + +CHAPTER VII. + +The Escape of the Rangers + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +The Camp at the Spring + + +CHAPTER IX. + +The Skirmish in the Night + + +CHAPTER X. + +A Baffled Pursuit + + +CHAPTER XI. + +The Charge of the Lancers + + +CHAPTER XII. + +The Horse-Thieves and the Stampede + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +The Last of Tetzcatl + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +The Perilous Path + + +CHAPTER XV. + +The Return of the Gold Hunters + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +The Army of Santa Anna + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +The First Shot + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +Crockett's Alarm Gun + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +The Reinforcement + + +CHAPTER XX. + +Nearing the End + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + +"This is a terrible piece of work" . . . . . . . . . _Frontispiece._ + +"Good! Tetzcatl go to the Alamo" + +"Heap dollar," remarked Red Wolf + +"Ugh!" screeched the Comanche at the end of a terrific minute, and + he sank into the grass + +In rode the very airy captain of lancers + +A dark, stern, terrible shape half rose from a couch + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE GODS OF THE MONTEZUMAS. + +It was a gloomy place. It would have been dark but for a heap of +blazing wood upon a rock at one side. That is, it looked like a rock +at first sight, but upon a closer inspection it proved to be a cube of +well-fitted, although roughly finished, masonry. It was about six feet +square, and there were three stone steps leading up in front. + +Behind this altar-like structure a vast wall of the natural rock, a +dark limestone, had been sculptured into the shape of a colossal and +exceedingly ugly human face,--as if the head of a stone giant were half +sunken in that side of what was evidently an immense cave. + +There were men in the cave, but no women were to be seen. Several of +the men were standing near the altar, and one of them was putting fuel +upon the fire. The only garment worn by any of them was a ragged +blanket, the Mexican _serape_. In the middle of the blanket was a +hole, and when the wearer's head was thrust through this he was in full +dress. + +There was no present need for carrying weapons, but arms of all +sorts--lances, swords, bows and sheaves of arrows--were strewn in +careless heaps along the base of the wall. Besides these, and +remarkable for their shapes and sizes, there were a number of curiously +carved and ornamented clubs. All the men visible were old and +emaciated. They were wrinkled, grimy, dark, with long, black-gray +hair, and coal-black, beady eyes. Withal, there was about them a +listless, unoccupied, purposeless air, as if they were only half alive. + +They seemed to see well enough in that lurid half light, and they +wandered hither and thither, now and then exchanging a few words in +some harsh and guttural dialect that seemed to have no dividing pauses +between its interminable words. + +Nevertheless, this was not the only tongue with which they were +familiar, for one of the men at the altar turned to those who were near +him and spoke to them in Spanish. + +"The gods have spoken loudly," he said. "They have been long without +service. They are hungry. Tetzcatl will go. He will find if the +Americans are strong enough to strike the Spaniards in Texas. He will +bring them to serve the gods in the valley of the old kings. He will +stir up the Comanches and the Lipans. The Apaches in the west are +already busy. The gods will be quiet if he can arouse for them the +enemies of Spain." + +For a moment the dark figures stood as still as so many statues, and +then a sepulchral voice arose among them. + +"The men of the North will not come," it said. "The Texans cannot +defend their own towns from the locusts of Santa Anna. The Comanches +and the Lipans are scalping each other. The Apaches have been beaten +by Bravo's lancers. All white men need to be hired or they will not +fight. We have nothing wherewith to hire them." + +A hoarse and mocking laugh burst from the lips of Tetzcatl. "Hire +them? Pay them?" he said. "No! But hunters can bait wolves. If the +trap is rightly set, the wolves will never reach the bait. They will +but fall into the pit they are lured to. Come! Let us look at the +fire that was kindled for Guatamoczin. The Spaniards perished in the +mountains when they came to hunt for the hidden treasures of the +Montezumas." + +Slowly, as if their withered limbs almost refused to carry them, the +weird, dingy, ghastly figures followed him deeper into the cave, and +each took with him a blazing pine-knot for a torch. Not one of them +appeared to be aroused, as yet, to any especial interest, nor did they +talk as they went. Tetzcatl, however, led the way with a vigor of +movement that was in startling contrast to the listlessness of his dark +companions. + +There was no door to unlock, there were no bars to remove, at the end +of their silent march. The distance travelled may have been a hundred +paces. On either side, as they went, were stalagmites of glittering +white, answering to the pointed stalactites which depended from the +vaulted cave-roof above. It was a scene the like of which can be found +in many another limestone formation the world over. There was nothing +exceptional about it, only that the specimens presented were numerous +and finely formed. + +The torches flared in the strong currents of air which ventilated the +cavern, and their smoky light was reflected brilliantly from all the +irregular, alabaster surfaces. + +The sculptured head of the great idol over the altar; the carefully +maintained fire; the presence of the aged keepers, whether they were to +be called priests of the shrine or only worshippers, were the +distinguishing features of the place. + +On went Tetzcatl until he reached a spot where the side walls +approached each other, with a space of about thirty feet between them. +Here he paused and waited until the others, with several who had not +before made their appearance, arrived and stood beside him. + +"There!" he said, loudly, pointing with outstretched hand. +"Guatamoczin turned to ashes upon the coals of the Spanish furnace, +because he refused to reveal this to their greed. Know you not that +even now, if the Spaniards did but suspect, there would shortly be an +army among the mountain passes? Aye! If the Americans believed that +this were here, their thousands would be pouring southward. All Europe +would come. Here is the god that they worship, but the secret of its +presence has been guarded from them by the old gods of Mexico." + +"What good?" asked a cracked voice near him. "It cannot be used to buy +Texans. It must remain where it is until the gods come up." + +"Aye! So!" shrieked Tetzcatl. "We will keep their secret chamber +until they come. But the wolf does but need to smell the bait,--not to +eat it. He will come, if he has only the scent. If the Texans were +stirred to hunt for the gold they will never find, they would but +gather offerings for the long hunger of those who dwell below." + +"Hark!" responded the other speaker. "If they ask for it, it must go +to them. Much has been paid them already. Hark!" + +Before them, in regularly arranged rows, were a number of stacks of +what seemed to be bars of metal, showing here and there dull gleams of +yellow. The ingots were not large, but their aggregate weight and +value would be enormous, if they were gold. + +Opposite, across the passage, were other and larger stacks of ingots, +but these presented no yellow surfaces. Black rather than white was +the prevailing tint of what Tetzcatl had declared to be silver bullion. + +Not all of the gold had been smelted and cast, for there were small +heaps of nuggets, such as come from rich placer washings. + +Tetzcatl had stepped forward, lifting his torch and peering into the +gloom. Only a step or two beyond him, the floor of the cave was cut +off, sharply, by one of the breaks or "faults" common to all rock +formations, the token of some old-time upheaval or depression. The +rugged level began again a few yards farther on, but there was no +bridge across the yawning chasm which separated the corresponding +edges. Three or four heavy planks which lay near indicated a possible +means of crossing, if need should be, but no hand was laid upon them +now. + +The dismal-looking companions were all leaning forward in listening +attitudes, intent upon a roaring, booming sound that came up from the +chasm. + +"They are calling," said Tetzcatl. "But we have none to give them. +Well did I say that I must go." + +"It is too loud!" exclaimed the watcher, who had followed him most +closely. "They have called my name!" + +Tetzcatl turned quickly, but he addressed yet another of the old men by +a long, many-syllabled, vibrating invocation, and added to it, in +Spanish,-- + +"Wilt thou go down to the gods, or shall he take thy place?" + +"He is gone!" was the quick but entirely unexcited rejoinder. + +Tetzcatl whirled again toward the gulf, but the rock-floor at his left +was vacant. The withered old devotee had not hesitated for a moment, +but had plunged down headlong. + +During a number of slow seconds no word was uttered, and all the while +the booming roar from below diminished in volume until it nearly died +away. + +"The gods are satisfied," said Tetzcatl. + +So seemed to think and say his associates, and they turned away to walk +slowly toward the altar, as if nothing noteworthy or unusual had +occurred. + +It is not always easy to give satisfactory explanations of the sounds +which are to be heard, more or less intermittently, among the chasms +and recesses of great caves. The flow of subterranean waters, the rush +of air-currents, the effects of echoes, and many other agencies have +been taken into account. As for Tetzcatl and his friends, they had but +formed and expressed an idea which was anciently universal. This voice +from the deep was but one of the oracles which have been so reverenced +by the primitive heathenisms of many nations. + +As for the treasure, from whatever placers it had been gathered, its +presence in such a place required no explanation. The Aztec kings had +but exhibited commonplace prudence in choosing for it so secure a +hiding. + +The cave was not at all more mysterious than might be the underground +vault of a great city bank or a United States Sub-Treasury. It was as +safe even from burglary, if the vault-entrance was well guarded. + +More than a score of the grisly, blanketed shapes were now gathered at +the altar. Its fire was blazing high, and shed its red, wavering +radiance upon their faces, while Tetzcatl stood upon the lower of the +steps and addressed them. He spoke altogether in their own tongue, and +they listened without reply or comment. + +When at last he ceased speaking, they all sat down upon the rock-floor, +and not one of them turned his head while their exceptionally vigorous +and active leader strode swiftly away in the direction opposite to the +chasm and the treasure. + +It was an ascent, gradual at first and then more rapid, until his walk +became a climb and there were broken ridges to surmount at intervals. +Before long he reached a ragged wall of rock, where the great hall of +the cave abruptly ended. Farther progress would have been shut off but +for a narrow cleft at the left, into which he turned. This still led +upward until it became little better than a burrow. He was compelled +to stoop first, and then to go, for several yards, on all-fours. Then +there was an increasing sunlight, and he stood erect amid a tangled +copse of vines and bushes. + +Above him arose a craggy mountain-side. Below him, a thousand feet, +was a wooded valley through which a narrow river ran. Along the +mountain-side, not far below where he stood, there wound a plainly +marked pathway. With a quickness that was cat-like, he descended to +this path, and, as he reached it, he looked back toward the now +perfectly concealed burrow he had emerged from. + +"He has gone down to the gods!" he exclaimed, aloud. "He must have +Spaniards to follow him. Tetzcatl will bring upon them the scalpers of +the plains and the riflemen of the North. He will lure the Texans with +the gold they will never find. Ha! They will gather none of the +treasures of the Montezumas, unless the gods come up to tell them of +the sands in the secret watercourses beyond the mountains and toward +the sunset. Huitzilopochtli covered the gold gullies when the +Spaniards came." + +He had a foundation of fact for his declaration. Up to that hour no +search had succeeded in accounting for the quantities of yellow metal +captured by Cortez, or for the larger deposits declared to have been +hidden from him by the obstinate chiefs whom he had slain for refusing +to tell. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE ALAMO FORT. + +"Ugh!" + +Two paths came out within a few yards of each other from the tangled +mazes of a vast, green sea of chaparral. For miles and miles extended +the bushy growth, with here and there a group of stunted trees sticking +up from its dreary wilderness. It was said that even Indians might +lose themselves in such a web as that. Not because it was pathless, +but because it was threaded by too many paths, without way-marks or +guide-boards. + +At the mouth of one of these narrow and winding avenues sat a boy upon +a mustang pony. At the mouth of the other path, upon a mule not larger +than the pony, sat one of the strangest figures ever seen by that or +any other boy. He was short of stature, broad-shouldered, but thin. +His head was covered by a broad-brimmed, straw _sombrero_. Below that +was a somewhat worn _serape_, now thrown back a little to show that he +also wore a shirt, slashed trousers, and that in his belt were pistols +and a knife, while from it depended, in its sheath, a _machete_, or +Mexican sabre. He carried no gun, but the saddle and other trappings +of his mule were very good. He wore top-boots, the toes thrust under +the leather caps of his wooden stirrups, and from his heels projected +enormous, silver-mounted spurs. His hair was as white as snow, and so +were the straggling bristles which answered him for beard and +moustaches. + +He may have been grotesque, but he was not comical, for his face was to +the last degree dark, threatening, cruel, in its expression, and his +eyes glowed like fire under their projecting white eyebrows. He had +wheeled his mule, and he now sat staring at the boy, with a hand upon +the hilt of the _machete_. He did not draw the weapon, for the boy was +only staring back curiously, not even lowering his long, bright-bladed +lance. + +As for him, his clothing consisted of a breech-clout and fringed +deerskin leggings. His belt sustained a quiver of arrows, a bow, and a +knife, but he seemed to have no fire-arms. Neither did he wear any +hat, and he rode his mustang with a piece of old blanket in place of a +saddle. + +The most remarkable thing about him, upon a closer study, excepting, +perhaps, his brave and decidedly handsome face, was his color. Instead +of the tawny darkness common to older Indians, he had retained the +clear, deep red which is now and then to be seen among squaws and their +very young children. He was a splendid specimen, therefore, of a young +red man, and he had now met an old fellow of a race which had never +been red. He seemed to know him, also, for he spoke to him at once. + +"Ugh!" he said. "Tetzcatl. Mountain Panther. Young chief, Lipan. +Son of Castro. Heap friend." + +The response was in Spanish, and the boy understood it, for he replied +fairly well in the same tongue. + +"Good! Tetzcatl go to the Alamo," he said. "All chiefs there. White +chiefs. Lipan. Comanche. Castro. Mexican. Heap fighting birds." + +[Illustration: "GOOD! TETZCATL GO TO THE ALAMO"] + +At the last words the face of Tetzcatl lighted up, and he touched his +mule with a spur. It was time to push forward if there was to be a +cock-fight at the fort, but he asked suspiciously how the young Lipan +knew him. Had he ever seen him before? + +"Ugh! No!" said the boy. "Heard tell. No two Panther. Heap white +head. No tribe. Ride alone. Bad medicine for Mexican. Stay in +mountains. Heap kill." + +He had recognized, therefore, the original of some verbal picture in +the Lipan gallery of famous men. + +"Si!" exclaimed the Panther, looking more like one. "Tlascalan! +People gone! Tetzcatl one left. Boy, Lipan, fight all Mexicans. Kill +all the Spaniards." + +From other remarks which followed, it appeared that the warriors of the +plains could be expected to sympathize cordially with the remnants of +the ancient clans of the south in the murderous feud which they had +never remitted for a day since the landing of Cortez and his +_conquistadores_. + +Moreover, no Indian of any tribe could fail to respect an old chief +like Tetzcatl, who had won renown as a fighter, even if he had taken no +scalps to show for his victories. + +The mustang had moved when the mule did, with a momentary offer to bite +his long-eared companion, while the mule lashed out with his near hind +hoof, narrowly missing the pony. Not either of the riders, however, +was at all disturbed by any antics of his beast. + +Tetzcatl, as they rode on, appeared to be deeply interested in the +reported gathering at the Alamo. He made many inquiries concerning the +men who were supposed to be there, and about the cock-fight. The boy, +on the other hand, asked no questions except with his eyes, and these, +from time to time, confessed how deep an impression the old +Spaniard-hater had made upon him. + +"Mountain Panther kill a heap," he muttered to himself. "Cut up +lancer. Cut off head. Eat heart. No take scalp." + +Beyond a doubt he had heard strange stories, and it was worth his while +to meet and study the principal actor in some of the worst of them. + +One of the old man's questions was almost too personal for Indian +manners. + +"Why go?" sharply responded the young Lipan. "Son of Castro. Great +chief. Go see warrior. See great rifle chief. See Big Knife! Fort. +Big gun. Old Mountain Panther too much talk." + +That was an end of answers, and Tetzcatl failed to obtain any further +information concerning an assembly which was evidently puzzling him. +They were now nearing their destination, however. They could see the +fort, and both pairs of their very black eyes were glittering with +expectation as they pushed forward more rapidly. + +The strongest military post in all Texas was an old, fortified mission, +and it had been well planned by Spanish engineers to resist probable +attacks from the fierce coast-tribes which had now disappeared. An +irregular quadrangle, one hundred and fifty-four yards long by +fifty-four yards wide, was surrounded by walls eight feet high that +were nowhere less than two and a half feet thick. On the southeasterly +corner, opening within and without, was a massive church, unfinished, +roofless, but with walls of masonry twenty-two and a half feet high and +four feet thick. Along the south front of the main enclosure was a +structure two stories high, intended for a convent, with a large walled +enclosure attached. This was the citadel. Next to the church was a +strong exterior stockade, with a massive gate. There were many +loop-holes and embrasures in the enclosing wall. No less than fourteen +cannon were actually in position, mostly four-pounders and six-pounders. + +It had been many a long year since a shot had been fired at any red +enemy, for the remaining tribes, forced westward, were not fort-takers. +Their incursions, rarely penetrating so deep into the nominally settled +country, had reference to scalps, horses, cattle, and other plunder. + +As for other Texas Indians, the Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws, and other +"United States redskins," about eight thousand of whom were estimated +to have crossed the northern border and taken up permanent abodes, none +of their war-parties ever came as far south as the Guadalupe River and +the Alamo. + +Of Comanches, Lipans, Apaches, and the like, the old Mexican State of +Texas had been estimated to contain about twenty thousand, with +numerous bands to hear from in the unknown regions of southern New +Mexico, Chihuahua, Durango, Sonora, and Arizona. As yet, the strength +of these tribes had not been broken. They were independent nations, +not recognizing Spain, Mexico, or any other power as entitled to govern +them. Added to the continual perplexities of whatever authority might +at any time assume to control the lost empire of the Montezumas, were +sundry remnants of the very fiercest of the old Mexicans clans. + +They were not understood to be numerous, but they held unpenetrated +valleys and mountain ranges and forests. The boldest priests had +failed to establish missions among them. It was said that no white man +venturing too far had ever returned, and there were wild legends of the +wonders of those undiscovered fastnesses. + +During several years prior to this winter of 1835, there had been an +increasing immigration of Americans from the United States. These +settlers now numbered thirty thousand, or more than six times the +Spanish-Mexican population, and they had brought with them five +thousand negro slaves. Almost as a matter of course, they had refused +to become Mexicans. They had set up for themselves, had declared their +independence, and the new provisional republic of Texas, with Sam +Houston for its leading spirit, was now at war with the not very old +republic of Mexico, under the autocratic military presidency of General +Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. + +It was toward the middle of a warm and lazy day, more like a northern +October than anything that should be called winter. The sun was +shining brightly upon the walls, the fort, the church, and upon the +gray level of the enclosure. It was getting almost too warm for active +exercise, but there was nothing going on that called for hard work from +human beings. + +About twenty yards from the church a long oval had been staked out, and +a rope had been stretched around upon the stakes. Outside of this rope +a throng had gathered which was to the last degree motley. It +consisted, first, of nearly all the garrison. There were a number of +other Americans, of all sorts, and half as many Mexicans, besides a few +Spanish-Mexicans of pure imported blood. Not less noticeable, however, +than any of the others were more than a dozen Indian warriors, in their +best array, who stalked proudly hither and thither, pausing to speak +only to white men of high degree. That is, they would condescend to +recognize none but those whom they were willing to accept as their own +equals, for the red man is a born aristocrat. At the same time they +had watched as closely as had any others the exciting combats going on +inside the roped amphitheatre. + +These, indeed, were now completed, for their proper time had been the +cool hours of the morning. It had been a grand cock-fight, almost the +national pastime of the Mexicans, and decidedly popular among their red +and white neighbors. Partly, at least, it had been gotten up in honor +of the Comanche and Lipan dignitaries who were present, but it had +drawn to the fortress the leading citizens of the nearest town, San +Antonio de Bexar. + +There were sentries at the open gate, of course, but there was no such +severity of military discipline as would prevent any man from attending +such an affair as that. + +The utmost courtesy prevailed. In fact, the absolute good order was +something remarkable. The lower classes might be supposed to be in awe +of their superiors and of the military, but there was something more +belonging to the men and the time. + +Only the black men and some of the Mexican _peones_ seemed to be +without arms. Almost every white man wore a belt to which was secured +a knife and at least one pair of pistols. Half of them carried rifles, +unless, for the moment, they had leaned the long barrels against a +handy wall. The bronzed and bearded faces expressed hospitality, +civility, but every pair of eyes among them wore an expression of +habitual watchfulness, for all these men were living in a state of +daily, hourly readiness to stand for their lives. Their laws, their +rights, their liberties, and their very breath depended upon their +personal pluck and prowess, for here were the pioneers of the +Southwest, the heroes of the American border. + +Between the cockpit and the church stood a group toward which the rest +now and then glanced with manifest respect. Central among them were +two who were conversing, face to face. + +The taller of this pair was a dark, scarred, powerful-looking savage, +close behind whom stood another red man, every whit as dangerous +looking but a head shorter. + +The other of the talkers was a white man nearly as tall as the dark +chief. He was blue-eyed, auburn-haired, handsome, and he had an almost +unpleasant appearance of laughing whenever he spoke. Even while he +laughed, however, his sinewy hand was playing with the hilts of the +pistols in his belt as if it loved them. + +"Travis," said the warrior, sternly, "Lipan fight Santa Anna,--now! +What Texan do? How many rifle come?" + +"Why, Castro, my old friend," replied Colonel Travis, "he is coming +here. We needn't go to Mexico after him. We can clean him out of +Texas when he comes in, but we won't go with you across the Rio Grande." + +Castro turned and said a few words in Spanish to the shorter chief +behind him, and most of the white men present understood the fierce +reply that was made in the same tongue. + +"Great Bear speaks for all the Comanches!" he exclaimed. "Ugh! We +fight Santa Anna! Fight Travis! Fight Big Knife! No friend! Texans +all cowards. Coyotes. Rabbits. They are afraid to ride into +Chihuahua." + +Just then, at his left, there glided near him a new-comer to whom all +the rest turned, at once, as if his presence were a great surprise. + +"Tetzcatl speaks for the tribes of the mountains," he loudly declared, +and his deep, guttural voice had in it a harsh and grating tone. "We +send for the Comanches. We will be with them when they come. We want +the Lipans to come. We ask the Texans to come. They will strike the +lancers of Santa Anna and save Texas. The chiefs will take scalps, +horses, cattle. Travis, Tetzcatl will show him gold. Plenty! Texans +want gold." + +"There isn't any gold to be found in Chihuahua," laughed Travis, "or +the Mexicans would ha' scooped it in long ago. I don't bite." + +"Colonel," broke in a bearded, powerful-looking man, stepping forward, +"I know what he means, if you don't. He said something to me about it, +once. The old tiger is full of that nonsense of the hidden treasure of +the Montezumas. It's the old Cortez humbug." + +"Humbug? I guess it is!" laughed the colonel. "I can't be caught by +such a bait as that. The Spaniards hunted for it, and the Mexicans, +too. No, I won't go, Bowie. You won't, and Crockett won't. We should +only lose our scalps for nothing. We'll stay and fight the Greasers on +our own ground." + +"Tell you what, colonel," responded his friend, "let's have him talk it +out. You just hear what he's got to say." + +"Well, Bowie," he said, "I don't object to that, but we've all heard +it, many a time. I don't believe Cortez and his men left anything +behind them. If they found it, they just didn't report it to the king, +that's all. That's about what men of their kind would ha' done. +Nothing but pirates, anyhow. Talk with old Tetzcatl? Oh, yes. No +harm in that." + +"I'd kind o' like a ride into Mexico," remarked Bowie, thoughtfully, +"if it was only to know the country. Somehow I feel half inclined to +try it on, if we can take the right kind with us." + +A ringing, sarcastic laugh answered from behind him, and with it came +the derisive voice of another speaker. + +"Not for Davy Crockett," he said. "I'd ruther be in Congress any day +than south o' the Rio Grande. Why, colonel, that part o' Mexico isn't +ours, and we don't keer to annex it. What we want to do is to stretch +out west-'ard. But we're spread, now, like a hen a-settin' onto a +hundred eggs, and some on 'em 'll spile." + +There was sharper derision in his face than in his words, aided greatly +by his somewhat peaked nose and a satirical flash in his blue-gray +eyes. It was curious, indeed, that so much rough fun could find a +place in a countenance so deeply marked by lines of iron determination. + +Very different was the still, set look upon the face of Colonel James +Bowie. The celebrated hand-to-hand fighter seemed to be a man who +could not laugh, or even smile, very easily. + +Colonel Travis was in a position of official responsibility, and he was +accustomed to dealing with the sensitive pride of Indians. He now +turned and held out a hand to the evidently angry Comanche. + +"Great Bear is a great chief," he said. "He is wise. He can count +men. Let him look around him and count. How many rifles can his +friend take away to go with the Comanches into Mexico?" + +"Ugh!" said Great Bear. "Fort no good. Heap stone corral. Texan lie +around. No fight. No hurt Mexican. Sit and look at big gun. Hide +behind wall. Rabbit in hole." + +He spoke scornfully enough, but the argument against him was a strong +one. + +"Great Bear," said Crockett, "you're a good Indian. When you come for +my skelp, I'll be thar. But you can't have any Texans, just now." + +The Comanche turned contemptuously away to speak to one of his own +braves. + +"Castro," said Travis, "it's of no use to say any more now, but you and +I have got to talk things over. All of us are ready to strike at Santa +Anna, but we must choose our own way. When the time comes, we can wipe +him out." + +"Wipe him out?" growled Bowie. "Of course we can. He and his +ragamuffins 'll never get in as far as the Alamo." + +"Colonel," replied Travis, "take it easy. It's a good thing for us if +the tribes are out as our allies." + +"Hitting us, too, every chance they git," remarked Crockett. "All +except, it may be, Castro. We can handle the Greasers ourselves." + +Other remarks were made by those around him, expressing liberal +contempt for the Mexican general and his army. They seemed to have +forgotten the old military maxim that the sure road to disaster is to +despise your adversary. + +Tetzcatl had heard all, but he had said no more. His singular face had +all the while grown darker and more tigerish. The wild beast idea was +yet more strongly suggested when he walked away with Great Bear. All +his movements were lithe, cat-like, very different from the dignified +pacing of his companion and of other Comanche chiefs who followed them. + +In the outer edge of the group of notables there had been one listener +who had hardly taken his eyes from the faces of the white leaders. He +had glanced from one to another of them with manifestly strong +admiration. It was the Lipan boy who had ridden to the post with +Tetzcatl. + +At this moment, however, his face had put on an expression of the +fiercest hatred. He was looking at a man who wore the gaudy uniform of +the Mexican cavalry. He was evidently an officer of high rank, and he +had now strolled slowly away from the completed cock-fight, as if to +exchange ceremonious greetings with Colonel Travis and his friends. +They stepped forward to meet him with every appearance of formal +courtesy, and no introduction was needed. + +"Si, senor," he replied, to an inquiry from the fort commander. "I +have seen Senor Houston. I return to Matamoras to-morrow. Our Mexican +birds have won this match. We will bring more game-cocks to amuse you +before long." + +His meaning was plain enough, however civilly it was spoken. + +"You might win another match," responded Travis, "if all the Mexican +birds were as game as General Bravo." + +The Mexican bowed low and his face flushed with pride at receiving such +a compliment from the daring leader of the Texan rangers. + +"Thanks, senor," he said, as he raised his head. "I will show you some +of them. I shall hope to meet you at the head of my own lancers." + +"I know what they are," laughed Travis, "and you can handle them. But +they can't ride over those walls. Likely as not Great Bear's Comanches +'ll find you work enough at home. I'm afraid Santa Anna will have to +conquer Texas without you." + +General Bravo uttered a half-angry exclamation, but he added,-- + +"That's what I'm afraid of. They are our worst enemy. There is more +danger in them than in the Lipans. Among them all, though, you must +look out for your own scalp. You might lose it." + +Travis laughed again in his not at all pleasant way, but he made no +direct reply. It was said of him that he always went into a fight with +that peculiar smile, and that it boded no good to the opposite party. + +There seemed to be old acquaintance, if not personal friendship, +between him and General Bravo, and neither of them said anything that +was positively disagreeable. + +Nevertheless, they talked on with a cool reserve of manner that was +natural to men who expected to meet in combat shortly. The war for the +independence of Texas had already been marked by ruthless +blood-shedding. General Bravo, it appeared, was even now on his return +from bearing important despatches, final demands from the President of +Mexico to the as yet unacknowledged commander-in-chief of the +rebellious province of Texas. He was therefore to be considered +personally safe, of course, until he could recross the border into his +own land. + +For all that, he might not have been sure of getting home if some of +the men who were watching him could have had their own way, and when he +mounted his horse a dozen Texan rangers, sent along by Houston himself, +rode with him as an escort. + +"Bravo may come back," said Bowie, looking after him, "but all the +lancers in Mexico can never take the Alamo." + +The iron-faced, iron-framed borderer turned away to take sudden note of +a pair of very keen, black eyes which were staring, not so much at him +as at something in his belt. + +"You young red wolf!" he exclaimed. "What are you looking at?" + +"Ugh! Heap boy Red Wolf! Good!" loudly repeated the Lipan war-chief +Castro, standing a few paces behind his son. + +Ugh! Ugh! Ugh! followed in quick succession, for every Indian who +heard knew that the boy had then and there received from the great +pale-face warrior the name by which he was thenceforth to be known, +according to established Indian custom. + +"Big Knife," said the boy himself, still staring at the belt, but +uttering the words by which the white hero was designated by the red +men of many tribes, north and south. "Red Wolf look at heap knife." + +"Oh," said the colonel. "You want to see Bowie's old toothpick? Well, +I guess all sorts of redskins have made me pull it out." + +"Heap medicine knife," remarked Castro. "Kill a heap. Boy see." + +Bowie's own eyes wore a peculiar expression as he drew out the long, +glittering blade and handed it to his young admirer. + +It was a terrible weapon, even to look at, and more so for its history. +Originally, its metal had been only a large, broad, horse-shoer's file, +sharpened at the point and on one edge. After its owner had won renown +with it, a skilful smith had taken it and had refinished it with a +slight curve, putting on, also, a strong buck-horn haft. It was now a +long, keen-edged, brightly polished piece of steel-work, superior in +all respects to the knives which had heretofore been common on the +American frontier. + +"Ugh!" said Red Wolf again, handling it respectfully. "Heap knife." + +He passed it to his father, and it went from hand to hand among the +warriors, treated by each in turn as if it were a special privilege to +become acquainted with it, or as if it were a kind of enchanted weapon, +capable of doing its own killing. + +"Bowie, knife!" said Castro, when he at last returned it to its owner, +unintentionally using the very term that was thenceforward to be given +to all blades of that pattern. + +"All right," said the colonel, but he turned to call out to his two +friends,-- + +"Travis? Crockett? Come along. I want a full talk with Tetzcatl. +There's more than you think in a scout across the Rio Grande. Let's go +on into the fort." + +"I'm willing," said Travis; and on they went toward the Alamo convent, +the citadel, and they were followed by Castro and the white-headed +Tlascalan. + +Red Wolf was not expected to join a council of great chiefs, but he +looked after them earnestly, saying to himself,-- + +"Ugh! Heap war-path! Red Wolf go!" + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE DREAM OF THE NEW EMPIRE. + +Neither of the two stories of the solid, ancient-looking convent was +very high. Both were cut up into rooms, large below and smaller above. +The convent roof was nearly flat, with a parapet of stone, and it was +one hundred and ninety-one feet long by eighteen wide. + +In one of the upper rooms, at the southerly corner of the building, sat +a sort of frontier Committee of Ways and Means, having very important +affairs of state and war under discussion. + +The session of the committee began with a general statement by +ex-Congressman David Crockett of the condition of things both in Texas +and in Mexico. + +"You see how it is," he said, in conclusion. "The United States can't +let us in without openin' a wide gate for a war with Mexico. Some o' +the folks want it. More of 'em hold back. The trouble with 'em is +that sech a scrimmage would cost a pile of money. I don't reckon that +most o' the politicians keer much for the rights of it, nor for how +many fellers might git knocked on the head." + +That was the longest speech yet made by anybody, but the next was short. + +"Ugh!" said Great Bear. + +"Ugh!" said Castro, also; but he added, "Heap far away. No care much. +Stay home. Boil kettle. No fight." + +The next speaker was the old Tlascalan. He did not try to express any +interest in either Texas or the United States, for he was a +single-minded man. He declared plainly that he had come to stir up +recruits for his life-long war with Mexico, regarded by him only as a +continuation of Spain, and with Santa Anna as a successor of Hernando +Cortez. The white rangers and the red warriors were all alike to him. +Their value consisted in their known faculty for killing their enemies. + +"It's all very well," remarked Travis, at the end of the old man's +talk, "but we've enough to care for at home. We haven't a man to +spare." + +The Big Knife had been stretching his tremendously muscular frame upon +a low couch, and he now sat up with a half-dreamy look upon his face. + +"I'm kind o' lookin' beyond this fight," he said. "We don't want any +United States fingers in our affairs. What we want is the old idea of +Aaron Burr. He knew what he was about. He planned the republic of the +South-west. He wanted all the land that borders the Gulf of Mexico. +We want it, too. Then we want to strike right across the continent to +the Pacific Ocean. I've been to California and into the upper Mexican +states on that side. We'll take 'em all. That 'll be a country worth +while to fight for. Texas is only a beginning." + +"Just you wait," said Crockett. "It's no use to kill a herd of buffler +when you can't tote the beef. You're in too much of a hurry. The time +hasn't come." + +"I don't agree with you," said Travis, with energy. "What we want is +Uncle Sam and a hundred thousand settlers." + +"No! no!" interrupted Tetzcatl. "Gold! Show gold. Talk gold. Bring +all the men from all lands beyond the salt sea." + +"About that thar spelter," replied Crockett, "I'll hear ye. Tell the +whole story. I've only heard part of it. Biggest yarn! Spin it!" + +A great many other people had heard the old legend, or parts of it. It +was an historical record that Cortez had been accused before the King +of Spain of having himself secreted part of the plunder, won during his +campaigns against the Aztecs and other tribes. It had brought him into +a great deal of trouble, but, after all, the fact that he had seemed to +prove his innocence did but tend to build up and afterwards to sustain +quite another explanation of the absence of the reported gold and +silver. It had never been found, and therefore every ounce of it was +now lying hidden somewhere, only waiting the arrival of a discoverer. + +Tetzcatl was not an eloquent man, and he spoke English imperfectly, but +he was nevertheless a persuasive talker. Somehow or other a pebble as +large as a dollar had wandered into that room, and he put it down upon +the floor, declaring it to be the City of Mexico. He evidently +expected them, after that, to imagine about a square yard around it to +be a kind of map, with the Rio Grande at its northern edge and Texas +beyond. He proceeded then as if he had all the mountains and passes +marked out, but he had not gone far before Crockett broke in. + +"Hullo," he said. "I see. Cortez didn't find the stuff in the city, +because it wasn't thar. It was up nearer whar it was placered out, +hundreds of miles away." + +"I never thought of that," remarked Travis. "There's sense in it." + +"Bully!" said Bowie. "And all they had to do was to cart it farther." + +"No carts," said Crockett. "No mules, either. Not a pony among them." + +"That makes no difference," replied Bowie. "Those Indian carriers can +tote the biggest loads you ever saw. One of 'em can back a man right +up a mountain." + +"That's it," said Crockett. "A thousand dollars' worth of gold weighs +three pounds. Sixty pounds is twenty thousand. A hundred men could +tote two millions. That's what I want." + +"All right," laughed Travis, "but only part of it was gold. Part of it +was silver. But, then, Guatamoczin could send a thousand carriers and +keep 'em going till 'twas all loaded into his cave." + +Tetzcatl understood them, and he not only nodded assent, but went on to +describe the process of transportation very much as if he had been +there. According to him, moreover, the largest deposit was within a +few days' ride of what was now the Texan border. A great deal of it, +he said, had not come from the south at all, but from the north, from +California, New Mexico, and Arizona. + +They could not dispute him, but at that day all the world was still in +ignorance of the gold placers of the Pacific coast. California was as +yet nothing more than a fine country for fruit, game, and +cattle-ranches. + +"I've heard enough," said Travis, at last. "It's as good as a novel. +But I guess I won't go." + +"I think I'll take a ride with Castro, anyhow," replied Bowie. "If +it's only for the fun of it. Great Bear and his Comanches can have a +hunt after Bravo's lancers. But it's awfully hot in here. I'm going +to have a siesta." + +That meant a sleepy swing in a hammock slung in one of the lower rooms, +and the other white men were willing to follow his example. + +It was pretty well understood that the proposed raid into Mexico was to +be joined by several paleface warriors. Castro wore a half-contented +face, but the great war-chief of the Comanches stalked out of the +building uttering words of bitter disappointment and anger. He had +hoped for hundreds of riflemen, with whose aid he could have swept on +across a whole Mexican state, plundering, burning, scalping. + +The Lipans and Comanches were not at peace with each other. They never +had been, and nothing but a prospect of fighting their common enemy, +the Mexicans, could have brought them together. + +During all this time, however, one Lipan, and a proud one, had been +very busy. Red Wolf, with a name of his own that any Indian boy might +envy him, did not need a siesta. He had a whole fort to roam around +in, and there were all sorts of new things to arouse his curiosity. + +The walls themselves, particularly those of the fort and the church, +were wonders. So were the cannon, and he peered long and curiously +into the gaping mouth of the solitary eighteen-pounder that stood in +the middle of the enclosure, ready to be whirled away to its embrasure. +It was a tremendous affair, and he remarked "heap gun" over it again +and again. + +He was having a red-letter day. At last, however, he was compelled to +give up sightseeing, and he marched out through the sentried gate with +his father toward the place where their ponies had been picketed. + +Great Bear and his chiefs also left the fort, but they went in an +opposite direction. If there had been any thought of a temporary +alliance between them and their old enemies, the Lipans, for Mexican +raiding purposes, it had disappeared in the up-stairs council. Of +course they parted peaceably, for even according to Indian ideas the +fort and its neighborhood was "treaty ground," on which there could be +no scalp-taking. Besides that, there were the rangers ready to act as +police. + +As for Tetzcatl, he and his mule were nowhere to be seen. + +Siestas were the order of the day inside the walls of the Alamo, but +one man was not inclined to sleep. + +Out by the eighteen-pounder stood the tall form of Colonel Travis, and +he was glancing slowly around him with a smile that had anxiety in it. + +Near a door of one of the lower rooms of the convent swung the hammock +that contained Davy Crockett. He was lazily smoking a Mexican +cigarette, but he was not asleep. He could see a great many things +through the open door, and he was a man who did a great deal of +thinking. + +"What's the matter with Travis?" he asked. "What's got him out thar? +Reckon I'll go and find out if there's anything up." + +In half a minute more the two celebrated borderers were leaning against +the gun, side by side, and there was a strong contrast between them. + +Travis was not without a certain polish and elegance of manner, for he +was a man of education and had travelled. If, however, Crockett was +said to have killed more bears than any other man living, Travis was +believed to have been in more hard fights than any other, unless, it +might be, Bowie. Utterly fearless as he was, he nevertheless commanded +the Alamo, and he could feel his military burdens. + +"What's the matter with me?" he replied to Crockett's question. "Look +at this fort. If I had five hundred men I could hold it against the +whole Mexican army. That is, unless they had heavy guns. But I've +less than a hundred just now. We couldn't work the guns nor keep men +at all the loop-holes." + +"That's so," said Crockett. "The Greasers could swarm over in onto ye. +But Sam Houston could throw in men if Santa Anna should cross into +Texas. I don't reckon he'd try to haul heavy cannon across country. +He'd only leave 'em in the sloughs if he did." + +"That's so," said Travis. "But he's coming some day. I want to be +here when he comes. I want you and Bowie and all our old crowd." + +"I'll be fifin' 'round," said Crockett; "but just now I've got to go +and blow my whistle in Washington. Durned long trip to make, too." + +"Come back as soon as you can," replied Travis, with unusual +earnestness. "I've a job on hand. Houston has ordered me to scout +along the Nueces. I'll only take a squad, but it weakens the garrison. +Bowie has made up his mind to take a ride with Castro. Some of the men +that are not enlisted yet will go with him, most likely." + +"Let him go," said Crockett. "He'll learn a heap of things. He kind +o' gets me as crazy as he is about our new Southwest enterprise. Tell +you what! Just a smell o' gold 'd fetch the immigrants in like blazes. +Prairie fire's nothin' to it." + +"He won't smell any," laughed Travis; but they had turned away from the +gun, and were pausing half-way between the Alamo and the church. They +were glancing around them as if to take a view of the military +situation. + +It was quiet enough now, and there was no prophet standing by to tell +them of the future. What their cool judgment now told them as entirely +possible was surely to come. From beside that very gun they were to +see the "Greasers," as they called the soldiers of Santa Anna, come +swarming over the too thinly guarded wall. There, at the left, by the +four-pounder, was Travis to fall across the gun, shot through the head. +Here, on the spot where he now stood, was Crockett to go down, fighting +to the last and killing as he fell. In the upper corner room of the +Alamo, where the conference with Tetzcatl and the chiefs had been held, +was Bowie himself to perish, like a wounded lion at bay, the last man +in the Alamo. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE RACE FOR THE CHAPARRAL. + +It was a bugle and not a drum that summoned the garrison to answer at +their morning roll-call. + +"Bowie," said Colonel Travis, just after he had dismissed the men, "I +don't want to ask too much. You're not under my orders, but I wish +you'd take a pretty strong patrol and scout off southerly. The Lipans +camped off toward San Antonio, but I'd like to feel sure that Great +Bear kept his promise and rode straight away. He isn't heavy on +promise-keeping." + +"Not where scalps are in it," said Bowie. "He's in bad humor. I'll +go." + +"You bet," remarked Crockett. "Castro hasn't many braves with him. +He'll be bare-headed before night if the Comanches can light onto him." + +"All right," said Bowie; "but they won't strike us just now. I don't +want Castro wiped out. We're old friends." + +"Mount your men well," said Travis to Bowie. "You may have hard +riding. Don't fight either tribe if you can help it. I must be off on +Houston's orders as soon as I can get away." + +"I'll take a dozen," replied Bowie. "The fort 'll be safe enough just +now." + +No further orders were given, but he picked both his men and his +horses, and he seemed to know them all. + +They were good ones, the riders especially. They were all veterans, +trained and tried and hardened in Indian warfare, and ready for +anything that might turn up. They went into their saddles at the word +of command as if they were setting out for a merry-making, and the +little column passed through the gate-way two abreast, followed a +minute later by their temporary commander. + +The Texan rangers were armed as well as was possible at that date. The +Colt's revolver had but just been invented, and the first specimens of +that deadly weapon found their way to Texas a few months later. Barely +two small six-shooters came in 1836, but these opened the market, and +there was a full supply, large pattern, sent on in 1837. + +Just now, however, each man had horse-pistols in holsters at the +saddle. In each man's belt were smaller weapons, of various shapes and +sizes, and not one of them failed to carry a first-rate rifle. All had +sabres as well as knives, but they were not lancers. On the contrary, +they were inclined to despise the favorite weapon of the plains red men +and of the Mexican cavalry. + +Bowie was now at the front, and he appeared to have some reason of his +own for making haste. + +No such indication was given, however, by an entirely different body of +horsemen, five times as numerous, which was at that hour riding across +the prairie, several miles to the southeastward. These, too, seemed to +have a well-understood errand. + +Their leader was about two hundred yards in advance of the main body, +and he paused upon the crest of every "rising ground" as he went, to +take swift, searching glances in all directions. + +"Great Bear is a great chief!" he loudly declared. "He will teach +Castro and the Lipan dogs a lesson. They have set Travis against the +Comanches. Castro shall not ride into Chihuahua. I will hang his +scalp to dry in my own lodge. I will strike the Mexicans. Ugh!" + +He spoke in his own tongue, and then he seemed to be inclined to repeat +himself in Spanish, for he was an angry man that day. It was not at +all likely that he would prove over-particular whether his next victims +were red or white, and he evidently did not consider himself any longer +within neutral territory. + +Suddenly the Comanche war-chief straightened in his saddle, turned his +head, and sent back to his warriors a prolonged, ear-piercing whoop. + +A chorus of fierce yells answered him, and the slow movement of the +wild-looking array changed into a swift, pell-mell gallop. + +It had been a whoop of discovery. At no great distance from the knoll +upon which Great Bear had sounded his war-cry a voice as shrill and as +fierce, although not as powerful, replied to him with the battle-yell +of the Lipans. In another instant, the wiry mustang which carried an +Indian boy was springing away at his best pace eastward. Probably it +was well for his rider that the race before him was to be run with a +light weight. + +Red Wolf was all alone, but if Great Bear was hunting Lipans, they, on +their part, were on the lookout for Comanches. Their cunning chief had +read, as clearly as had Travis, the wrathful face of Great Bear. He +had camped for one night in the comparatively secure vicinity of San +Antonio. Shortly after he and his braves began their homeward ride +that morning, he had given to his son and to several others orders +which were accompanied by swift gesticulations that rendered many words +needless. What he said to Red Wolf might have been translated,-- + +"We are to strike the chaparral on a due south line from the fort. +Ride a mile to the west of our line of march. Keep your eye out for +enemies. If you see any, get back to us full speed. Great Bear has +sixty braves. Maybe more. We are only twenty. He would wipe us out." + +Away went Red Wolf. He was only a scout, but he was a youngster doing +warrior duty, and he felt as if the fate of the whole band depended +upon him. It was another big thing to add to his remarkable +experiences of the day before,--a fort, guns, a grand cock-fight, and +the heroes of the border,--white chiefs who were famous among all the +tribes. More than all, and he said so as he rode onward, he had been +spoken to by the Big Knife of the palefaces, and he had not only seen +but had handled the "heap medicine knife" itself. He was now almost a +brave, with a name given him by the hero, his father's friend, and he +was burning all over with a fever to do something worthy of the change +in his circumstances. + +He was well mounted, for he was the son of a chief, and there had been +a drove of all sorts to select from. The mustang under him was a +bright sorrel,--a real beauty, full of fire, and now and then showing +that he possessed his full share of the high temper belonging to his +half-wild pedigree. + +Mile after mile went by at an easy gait, and the watchful scout had +seen nothing more dangerous than a rabbit or a deer. He was beginning +to feel disappointed, as if his luck were leaving him. It was hard +upon a fellow who was so tremendously ready for an adventure if none +was to be had. He even grew less persistently busy with his eyes, and +let his thoughts go back to the fort. + +"Heap big gun," he was remarking to himself. "Kill a heap. Shoot away +off." + +At that instant his pony sprang forward with a nervous bound, for his +quick ears had caught the first notes of Great Bear's thrilling +war-whoop. Red Wolf went with him as if he were part of him, while he +drew the rein hard and sent back his shrill reply. + +"Great Bear!" he exclaimed. "Catch Red Wolf? Ugh! No! Take heap +Comanche hair." + +The other warriors were not yet in sight, but there was a great deal of +"boy" in his boastful threat, considering the known prowess of their +leader. + +The sorrel pony was having his own way, and the horse carrying Great +Bear must have been not only fast but strong, or he would have been +left behind in short order. It was not so, however; and now, as higher +rolls of the prairie were reached and climbed, the entire yelling band +were now and then seen by the young Lipan. + +"Poor pony!" he remarked of some of them, for their line was drawing +out longer as the better animals raced to the front and the slower fell +to the rear. All were doing their best, and some were even catching up +with Great Bear. It would, therefore, be really of no use for Red Wolf +to stop and kill him, unless he were ready, also, to take in hand and +scalp a number of other warriors. + +"What Red Wolf do now? Ugh!" + +It was a question which was running through his mind hot-footed, and it +was not at first easy to shape a satisfactory answer. + +A white boy would have been likely to have let it answer itself. He +would have ridden as straight as he could to rejoin the band of Lipans +and to tell his father that the Comanches were coming. He would have +thought only of getting them to help him in his proposed fight with +Great Bear. + +Red Wolf was an Indian boy. All his life, thus far, he had been +getting lessons in Indian war-methods. He had heard the talks and +tales of chiefs and noted braves in their camps and councils. He had, +therefore, been taught in a redskin academy of the best kind, and he +was a credit to his professors. + +"Ugh! No!" he exclaimed, at last. "Comanche find chaparral. No find +Lipan." + +He had no need to urge his pony, but he rode southward, not eastward. +Already, in the distance, he could see the endless, ragged border of +the chaparral. It began with scattered trees and bushes out on the +prairie. These increased in number and in closeness to each other, +until they thickened into the dense, many-pathed labyrinth. The +pursuers also could see, and they could understand that if the fugitive +they were following was leading them toward Castro's party, they must +close up to him now or never. + +The whoops which burst from them as they dashed along were loud, but +short, sharp, excited. + +"Whoop big!" shouted Red Wolf. "Heap yell! Castro hear whoop." + +He had noted that the wind was blowing in the right direction. It +could carry a sound upon its wings far away to the eastward, but two +very different kinds of human ears received and understood the fierce +music the chasers were making. + +"Forward! Gallop!" rang from the heavily-bearded lips of the commander +of horsemen coming from the northward. + +"Comanches! Colonel Bowie!" shouted a grizzled veteran behind him. +"That's Great Bear's band, you bet!" + +Another whoop swept by them on the wind as Bowie replied to him,-- + +"And they've struck the Lipans, I'm afraid. We must try and get into +it before too much mischief's done. On, boys! We'll give him a +lesson." + +Silence followed, but the men looked at the locks of their rifles and +felt of their belt pistols as they went forward. It was no light +matter to act as police, or even as peacemakers, in that part of the +world. + +The other listeners were nearer and could hear more distinctly, but no +sound was uttered by the warriors with Castro when their chief drew his +rein and held up a hand. Every man of them knew, or thought he knew, +just what it all meant, but more news was coming. + +One brave who had been some distance in their rear, as a lookout in +that direction, came on at full speed, followed by another whose duties +had detailed him more to the westward. Both brought the same errand, +for the first exclaimed, as he came within speaking range,-- + +"Ugh! Heap Texan," and the other, whose eyes may have been sharper, +added, "Big Knife! Many rifle?" + +"Comanche! Great Bear!" roared Castro, in a deep-toned, wrathful +voice. "Red Wolf lose hair! Ugh! Chaparral!" + +He knew that his son must in some way have been the immediate cause of +that whooping, but his first duty as a leader was to save his party, +letting his vengeance wait for a better opportunity. He led on, +therefore, toward the only possible refuge, muttering as he went. + +"Ugh!" he said. "Heap boy. Run against Comanche! Young chief! Ugh! +Go to bushes. No good wait for Big Knife. Not enough Texan. Too many +Comanche." + +He might well be anxious concerning his promising son, but Red Wolf's +hair was yet upon his head, for the wind tossed it well as his fleet +mustang carried him past the outermost clump of mesquit-bushes. + +"Whoop!" he yelled. "Red Wolf beat Great Bear! All Lipans get away. +Ugh!" + +He had not beaten his pursuer by more than two hundred yards, however, +and several other Comanches were now as near as was their chief. + +Could there be such a thing as an escape from all of them? Would not +the entire swarm go in after him and surely find him, no matter what +path he might take? The situation looked awfully doubtful in spite of +the moderate advantage which he had thus far maintained. + +Closer grew the trees. Nearer to each other were the thick "tow-heads" +of bushes. On went Red Wolf, veering to the left around each +successive cover, but seeming to push directly into the chaparral. It +was a complete cover now, and he was well hidden at the next sharp, +sudden turn that he made to the eastward. + +Paths, paths, paths, fan-like, but that none of them were straight, and +fan-like was the spreading out of the wily Comanches. Or perhaps they +were more like a lot of mounted, lance-bearing spiders, that were going +in to catch a young Lipan fly in that web. + +As for him, he had whooped his very loudest just before he reached the +chaparral, and a gust of wind had helped him like a brother. Again +Castro had raised a hand, but now he shouted fiercely,-- + +"Hear heap boy! Red Wolf! No lose hair yet. Ugh! Whoop!" + +For all he knew, nevertheless, he may have been listening to the last +battle-cry of his brave son. He and his braves were at that moment +riding in among the bushes, while more than half a mile away, upon the +prairie, galloped Bowie and his riflemen. + +"Reckon we'll git thar jest about in time to see 'em count the skelps," +remarked one ranger. + +"Reckon not," replied another. "Those Lipans are as safe as +jack-rabbits if once they kin fetch the chaparral." + +Red Wolf had reached it, but he was by no means safe. Great Bear +himself had dashed in so recklessly that he and his first handful of +fast racers were galloping upon the wrong paths. They discovered their +error, or thought they did, in a minute or so, but a minute was of +importance just then. They lost it before a kind of instinct told them +to wheel eastward if they expected to find the Lipans. + +That had been the direction taken by one of their best-mounted comrades +on entering the chaparral, and the soft thud of his horse's hoofs had +now reached the quick ears of Red Wolf. + +"Ugh!" he exclaimed. "One!" + +He had pulled in his panting pony, and he now unslung his bow and put +an arrow on the string. + +"Red Wolf young chief!" he said. "Wait for Comanche! Tell Big Knife!" + +It was not altogether imprudence or bad management to let his +hard-pushed mustang breathe for a few moments. It might be called +cunning to let his enemies go by him if they would. But stronger than +any cunning, or than any prudence concerning his horse, was his burning +ambition to do something that he could boast of afterwards. What is +called Indian boasting is only the white man's love of fame in another +form. Each red hero is his own newspaper, and has to do his own +reporting of his feats of arms. + +The hoof-beats came nearer, swiftly, upon a path which crossed his own +at the bushes behind which he had halted. + +Twang went the bow, the arrow sped, and a screeching death-whoop +followed. The Lipan boy did but prove himself altogether a son of +Castro when he sprang to the ground and secured his bloody war-trophy +at the risk of his life. The pony and the weapons of the fallen brave +were also taken. Then once more Red Wolf was on the sorrel dashing +onward, while behind him rose the angry yells of the Comanches, who had +heard the death-cry and knew that one of their number had "gone under." + +"Ugh! Heap boy! Save hair!" was the hoarse-toned greeting given to +his son by Castro three minutes later. + +"Comanche!" said Red Wolf, holding up his gory prize. "Great Bear +come. Not many braves right away. Too many pretty soon. Heap run. +Ugh!" + +Castro understood the situation well enough without much explanation, +and his prospects did not seem to be very good. He and his braves were +too few to win a pitched battle and too many for concealment. + +"Ugh!" he replied to Red Wolf. "Great chief no run. Die hard. Heap +fight." + +The one thing in his favor was the first mistake made by Great Bear. +It had kept him from being in person among the next half-dozen of the +braves who had gone to the left, so very close upon the heels of Red +Wolf. Even their wrath for the fate of their foremost man did but send +them on the more recklessly to avenge him. They whooped savagely as +they galloped past his body at the crossing of the paths. They still +believed they had only one Lipan to deal with, but they were terribly +undeceived, for their blind rush into the presence of Castro and his +warriors was as if they had fallen into a skilfully set ambuscade. +They were taken by surprise, outnumbered, almost helpless, and down +they went, not one of them escaping. + +Away behind them, the fast-arriving main body of the Comanches listened +to the death-shouts and to the Lipan whoops of triumph, and they obeyed +the astonished yell with which their leader summoned them to gather to +him at the spot where he had halted. + +"Too many Lipan," he said, to a brave who rode in with a kind of +report. "Castro great chief. Heap snake. No let him catch Great Bear +in chaparral trap. Wait. Comanche fool. Lose hair for nothing. Red +Wolf heap young brave. Kill him dead." + +That was indeed fame for the young Lipan warrior. Not only had he been +recognized by his pursuer, but the great war-chief of the Comanches +believed that the son of his old enemy was proving himself another +Castro, as courageous and as cunning as his father. A mere boy, not +yet sixteen, had become of such importance that he must be killed off, +if possible, to prevent the future harm that he would be likely to do. + +Red Wolf's ambuscade had not been of his own planning, but he had +performed his accidental part of it remarkably well. + +"Red Wolf, young chief! Son of Castro!" said his father, proudly. +"Big Knife good medicine. Saw boy. Old friend tell name. Ugh! Good!" + +To his mind, therefore, Colonel Bowie had been a kind of war-prophet, +declaring the capacity of the boy he had named, giving him "good +medicine," or tremendous good luck, and now his correctness as a +prophet had been unexpectedly established. So said more than one of +the Lipans who had been at the fort and had witnessed the performance +with the wonderful medicine knife. + +Now, during a number of minutes, all the chaparral was still, for even +the wild creatures were hiding and the human beings talked by motions +and not by spoken words. Not one of the latter, on either side, could +as yet shape for himself a trustworthy idea concerning the numbers or +the precise locality of his enemies. All had dismounted, however, and +the hard-ridden horses had a chance to recover their wind. No less +than seven of them, that had been very good Comanche ponies that +morning, had now changed their tribe and had become Lipans, whether +they would or not. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +AMONG THE BUSHES. + +The Texan rangers had arrived just in time to see the finish of a very +fine race. They had not actually seen Red Wolf win it, but they were +in no doubt as to why his pursuers made such a frantic dash into the +chaparral. + +"Not after the Comanches!" shouted Bowie. "Into the cover and find the +Lipans! Charge!" + +They went in at a point that was nearer than were Great Bear and his +braves, to the spot where the Lipans worked their unintentional ambush. +They heard all that whooping, and the stillness which followed it did +not puzzle old Indian fighters. + +"There's been a sharp brush." + +"Those were scalp-whoops." + +"We're in for it, boys. Shoot quick if you've got to, but hold your +fire to the last minute. There are none too many of us." + +Those were their orders, but there was no shooting to be done right +away. + +Hardly had Bowie pulled in, calling a halt, in some doubt as to which +path, if any, it was best for him to follow, before a sorrel mustang +came out in an opening before him, somewhat as if he had been dropped +like an acorn from one of the scrub oaks. + +"Red Wolf!" exclaimed Bowie. "Where is Castro?" + +"Big Knife, come!" replied Red Wolf, pointing rapidly. "Castro there. +Great Bear there. Heap Comanches. Young chief take hair! Ugh!" + +He was holding up, with intense pride, his proof that he had been a +victor in a single-handed fight. To the mind of any man of Bowie's +experience it was entirely correct, and he said so. + +"All right," he told his young friend. "Go ahead. Be a chief some +day. Now I must see your father short order. Go ahead." + +It was but a few minutes after that that the Lipan chief and Big Knife +were shaking hands, but their questions and answers were few. + +"Glad I got here before things were any worse," said Bowie. "I can +make Great Bear pretend to give it up as soon as he knows I'm here." + +"Ugh!" replied Castro. "Great Bear heap lie. Say go home. Then kill +horse to catch Lipan." + +"Just so," said Bowie. "Of course he will. Chief, hear old friend. +Do as I say." + +"Ugh!" came back assentingly. "Big Knife talk. Chief hear." + +"I'll keep him back while you get a good start," said Bowie. "But do +you and your braves ride for the Rio Grande. Ride fast. Get back to +your lodges by that way. I'll follow to-morrow with a squad." + +"Ugh!" said Castro, doubtfully. "No go to lodge now. Rio long water. +Where wait for Big Knife? Bravo there, along river." + +"I don't exactly know just where to say," began Bowie. + +"Hacienda Dolores!" sounded gruffly out of one of the bushes near them. +"Across the river. Tetzcatl." + +Castro almost set free a whoop in his surprise, but he checked it in +time, and only exclaimed,-- + +"Black Panther hide deep. Good. No let Comanche see him. How Big +Knife find hacienda?" + +"All right," said Bowie. "I know. It's the abandoned ranch on the +other side. Pretty good buildings, too. Just as good a place as any, +if I can get there with a whole skin. Reckon I can." + +"Red Wolf lead horse to hacienda for Big Knife," said his father; but +the voice from the bushes added, "Tetzcatl." + +"That's it," said Bowie. "I'll get there. You and the youngster meet +me and my men at about this place to-morrow any time I can get here. +Say it 'll probably be toward noon. Now I must have a talk with Great +Bear." + +A chorus of friendly grunts responded to him from the Lipans who had +gathered around, and they seemed to follow his instructions at once. +Even Red Wolf and his pony had already disappeared. + +There was a bugle among the varied outfit of the rangers, and now it +was unslung by its bearer. He really knew what to do with it. As the +band of white men rode cautiously forward in the direction given them, +the martial music sounded again and again at short intervals. It was +an announcement to the Comanches that they had more than Lipans to deal +with, and it was also a plain invitation to a parley. + +Just how many red foemen he might have in front of him Great Bear did +not know. Neither had he any count of the white riflemen, but their +presence settled his mind. + +"Great Bear no fight Texan now!" was his immediate declaration to his +warriors. "Heap fool Big Knife. Put him in Alamo. No see through +wall. Then find Castro in bushes. No let Lipan get away." + +His next business, therefore, was to ride forward, with a cunning +semblance of friendly frankness, to talk with Bowie and send him back +to the fort, leaving the bushes clear of rifles. Not even then did the +rangers expose themselves unduly, and Great Bear knew that he was +covered by more than one unerring marksman while he was shaking hands +so heartily. + +"Heap friend," he said. "Great Bear glad Texan come. Glad to see Big +Knife. Lipan kill Comanche. Gone now." + +"Great Bear lie a heap," returned Bowie, coldly. "Said he would go +home to his lodge. Break word. Stay and fight Lipan." + +"Ugh!" returned Great Bear, insolently. "Great Bear chief! What for +Big Knife ride in bushes? Hunt Lipan dog? Take Castro hair? Shut +mouth. No talk hard. Go to fort. Go sleep!" + +"Heap bad talk," said Bowie, with steady firmness. "Great Bear is in a +trap. Better get out. Lose all his braves. This isn't your land. Go +to lodge." + +The chief again spoke boastfully, and Bowie became argumentative. One +of his present objects was to use up time in talk, and he was quite +willing to stir Great Bear's vanity to all sorts of assertions of the +right and power of himself and his tribe to fight their enemies +wherever they could be found. + +He was succeeding very well, and every minute was of importance to the +Lipans, who were now threading their southward way through the +chaparral with all the speed they could reasonably make. With the sun +overhead to guide by, they could dispense with a compass. Here and +there, moreover, some of them, who seemed to have been there before, +found marks upon tree-trunks and branches which may have meant more to +their eyes than to those of other people. + +"Great Bear is a great chief," said Bowie, at last, looking at the +subtle Comanche steadily. "He has talked enough. What does he say? +Will he fight now, or will he go to his lodge?--Bugle, ready!" + +The bugler raised to his lips his hollow twist of brass, but a storm of +"Ughs" broke out among the Comanche warriors. + +Most of them had been near enough to hear the conversation. They were +on dangerous ground and were becoming altogether willing to get out of +it. At this moment they saw rifles cocked and half lifted. They knew +that every white man before them was a dead shot, and none of them felt +any desire to hear a bugle blow or a rifle crack. + +The chief himself considered that he had talked long enough, and that +he had been sufficiently insolent to preserve his dignity. He could +therefore pretend to yield the required point. + +"Good!" he replied. "Great chief go. Big Knife ride to fort. Lipan +dogs run away. Save hair. Comanches take all some day. Not now. +Texan heap friend. Shut mouth. Ugh!" + +He offered his hand, and Bowie took it, but after that he and his +rangers sat upon their horses in grim, menacing silence, while the +Comanche warriors rode out of the chaparral. They did so glumly +enough, for they had been outwitted and they had lost some of their +best braves. + +"Now, men," said Bowie, "it was touch and go. They were too many for +us if it was a fight. We're out of it this time, but they won't forget +or forgive it." + +"You bet they won't," replied a ranger; "but I had a sure bead on Great +Bear's throat medal, and he knew it. He'd ha' jumped jest once." + +"Back to the Alamo," said Bowie. "We must make good time." + +Away they went, and in an instant the appearance of military discipline +had vanished. The leader and his hard-fighting comrades were once more +fellow-frontiersmen rather than "soldiers." Differences of rank, +indeed, were but faintly marked upon the dress or trappings of any of +them. + +There were no epaulets or sashes, but at no moment of time could an +observer have been in doubt as to who was in command. The roughest and +freest spoken of them all showed marked deference whenever he addressed +or even came near to the man whom Great Bear himself, with all his +pride, had acknowledged to be his superior. + +"Jim," said Bowie to a tall horseman who was at his side when they came +out into the open prairie, "have you made up your mind to go with me +into Chihuahua?" + +"Go!" exclaimed Jim. "Why, colonel, I ain't enlisted. Travis can't +stop me. Of course I'll go. Wouldn't miss it for a pile. It 'll be +as good as a spree." + +So said more than one of the other rangers when opportunity came to ask +them the same question. To each the romantic legend of the hidden +treasures of the Aztec kings had been mentioned confidentially. No +doubt it acted as a bait, but every way as attractive, apparently, was +the prospect of a raid into Mexico, a prolonged hunting and scouting +expedition, and a fair chance for brushes with Bravo's lancers. + +"A Comanche or Lipan is worth two of 'em," they said, "and one +American's worth four. We shall outnumber any lot of Greasers we're at +all likely to run against." + +There was a great deal too much of arrogance and overbearing +self-confidence among the men of the Texas border, and at no distant +day they were to pay for it bitterly. + +They had gone and the chaparral seemed to be deserted, but it was not +entirely without inhabitants. + +"Tetzcatl!" + +"Ugh! Red Wolf!" + +There they sat, once more confronting each other, the young Lipan on +his pony and the old tiger on his mule. + +"Boy heap fool," said Tetzcatl. "Comanches in chaparral. Castro gone." + +"Ugh!" said Red Wolf. "See one Comanche ride away. Keep arrow." + +Tetzcatl's eyes were angry. Part of his disappointment had been the +renewal of the feud between the tribes. He had hoped for their joint +help in working out his own revenges. Nevertheless he now listened to +a further explanation, and learned that a noted Comanche warrior had no +use for bow or lance just then, because of an arrow that was yet +sticking through his right arm above the elbow. Red Wolf could not +follow him, but he had captured a dropped lance, which he was now +somewhat boastfully exhibiting. + +"Boy go now," said Tetzcatl. "Tell Castro, Texans gone to the fort." + +"No! no!" replied Red Wolf. "Big Knife say wait. Tetzcatl wait. +Hide in bushes." + +No further persuasion was attempted by the old Tlascalan, although he +did not conceal his preference for being without young company. + +"Come," said Red Wolf. "No stay. Heap eat. Where water?" + +That seemed a useless question to be asked in such a place, but there +were secrets of the chaparral which were unknown to the red men of the +plains. This was not their hunting-ground and never had been so. +Moreover, there had been local changes and wide bush-growths during the +years which had elapsed since the tribes of the Guadalupe and Nueces +River country had been exterminated. + +Less than half an hour of brisk riding brought Tetzcatl and his +companion to the hiding-place of one of those secrets of the chaparral. + +"Whoop!" burst from Red Wolf. "Old lodge. Heap water. Great +medicine. Tetzcatl white head. Know heap!" + +Except for its being there, unknown to almost everybody, there was +nothing to be seen that could be called remarkable. There were some +tumbling walls of _adobe_, or sunburned brick, of no great extent or +number, near the margin of a bright-looking pond. There might be two +acres of water, but no rill could be seen running into it. One that +ran out, feebly, on the farther side, shortly disappeared in the sandy +soil. Red Wolf knew, for he at once rode to investigate. + +"Ugh!" he exclaimed, when he reached the bit of marsh where the tiny +rivulet ended. "Dead water." + +A deer sprang out of a covert at the border of the marsh, but Red +Wolf's bow had been all the while in his hand, ready for instant use. +The bowstring twanged, the arrow sped, and in a moment more a thrust of +a lance followed. + +"Heap meat," said the young hunter, as he sprang to the ground and +tethered his mustang. + +He did not have to cut up his game unaided. Tetzcatl came to join him +with his heavy _machete_ already out, and he proved himself an expert +butcher. + +"Good!" said Red Wolf. "Where go now? Heap fire tell Comanche." + +"Come," said Tetzcatl, slinging the venison across his mule, but he +said no more about what he intended doing. + +They rode back to the pond and around it to the southerly side. Here, +scattered over several acres of open, grassy ground, were the ruins, +none of them more than one-story buildings. At one place, near the +middle of them, there remained almost a complete house, roofed over. +Into this, leaving his mule at the door, Tetzcatl led the way. On the +floor in a corner smouldered the embers of a fire, suggesting that he +had been there before, on that very day. Fragments of dry wood lay +near, and were at once thrown on to make a blaze, in spite of the +remonstrances of Red Wolf. + +"Smoke tell Comanche," he said, as the blue vapor began to curl out at +an opening in the shattered roof. + +"No!" replied Tetzcatl. "Small smoke. Much wind. Comanches are a +great way off." + +Red Wolf had to give it up, and he was very ready to enjoy broiled +venison. + +The best part of his unexpected good luck, however, was the water. The +deer had been a sudden arrival truly, but deer were plentiful in Texas +in those days. They were to be met with at any time, but a pond in a +desert was quite another affair. + +The riding and the fighting and the after-lurking among the bushes had +consumed the day. The sun was going down when the two cooks in the +_adobe_ turned away from their dinner and carefully covered their +fire-embers. The mule and the mustang had also been doing very well +upon the grass of the clearing. Everything was peaceful, even +comfortable, therefore, when Red Wolf remarked to Tetzcatl, "Dark come. +Heap sleep. Ugh!" + +"_Bueno!_" he replied. "Boy sleep. Old man too old." + +With thorough-going Indian caution, however, the son of Castro did not +think of sleeping in any house, to be found there, perhaps, by his +enemies. He took his pony with him and went in among the bushes. Then +he tied the sorrel securely, but left him to whatever might be coming. +As for himself, no other young wolf hunted for a more perfect cover +before consenting to shut his eyes. Then, indeed, it was quickly +proved that the toughest kind of red Indian boy could be completely +tired out. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE OLD CASH-BOX. + +The morning sun of the next day was well up in the sky before it could +manage to look in over the bushes and find out what was going on around +the pond and the ruins. Long before that, however, a bright young face +of a dusky-red tint came to the side of a sumach-bush and peered out a +little anxiously. Nothing living was to be seen excepting a mule at +the end of a lariat and pin. As if satisfied by what he saw, the young +redskin disappeared, but he shortly came out again, leading a pony. +Another pin was driven to hold the pony's lariat, but the two animals +were not picketed near each other. They belonged to different tribes +and they might be at war. + +Then once more Red Wolf glanced swiftly in all directions. He saw a +large rabbit sitting still and looking at the mule, but he did not see +any Tetzcatl. + +"Heap water," he remarked, and he at once went to the margin of the +pond. He took a long draught. It was pure, but he could not say that +it was very cold. "Ugh!" he exclaimed, as he threw aside his weapons +and took off his buckskins. + +In he waded, but the pond grew deeper a few yards out, and he dashed +ahead in a manner that proved him a tip-top swimmer. Such a morning +bath was a rare luxury, but, as soon as he had paddled around long +enough, he swam ashore and sat down to dry. Perhaps it was also for a +thinking spell, and he had quite a number of things to think of. One +among them came to the front pretty soon, and he put on his small +allowance of clothing. Then he picked up his lance, his bow, and his +arrows and walked toward the _adobe_. He found it as empty as he +expected, and he at once stirred up the fire. There was plenty of +venison, and he knew nothing at all about bread, coffee, and the other +superfluous accompaniments of a white man's breakfast. + +What, indeed, could be better for an already celebrated Lipan warrior, +intending to be a chief some day, than a whole pond of water, very +nearly a whole deer, and a good fire to cook by? + +He was satisfied thus far, but there was one trait of his character +which had been showing itself ceaselessly. Red Wolf was a born +investigator. It was something more than mere curiosity. It worked +well, too, with all his training as a hunter and as a warrior, for it +led him to try and find out the meaning, if it had any, of every thing +and circumstance he might happen to meet. His eyes were hardly ever +quiet, and they were a very keen, penetrating pair of eyes. + +He broiled and ate his last cutlet, went to the pond for a draught, and +then he set himself to a close study of the ruins. He went from one to +another of them rapidly at first, until he was able to say of them, +counting upon his fingers,-- + +"Heap old fort. Many lodges. No big gun. Heap fight one day." + +What he meant by that was that in several places he had discovered +skulls and bones, which told of men who had fallen there with none to +care for their burial. Some of these were inside of the walls of the +houses. Others were scattered in the open. All were dry, white, +decayed, ready to crumble entirely. + +The first inspection had been of a hasty kind, as if for fear of +interruption. When it was over, Red Wolf stood still for a moment, and +stared at the openings in the chaparral. Somebody, an old man with +white hair, for instance, ought to be coming out at one of them at +about this time. Why did he not come? + +"Great Bear in bushes," he remarked. "Heap Comanche. Big Knife come. +Texan. Red Wolf want Tetzcatl." + +He could not have him right away, that was plain, however much he might +want him. So he turned to the ruins for another search, and this time +he went more slowly, and scrutinized with greater care every square +foot of each in turn. + +Nothing could have been left in any of them, of course, but he was on +the lookout for "sign." There seemed to be none for him to read, until +at last, in one of the most completely broken quadrangles of old walls, +he stood still and uttered a loud "Ugh!" of astonishment. + +"Hole in wall," he said. "Heap dollar." + +A considerable mass of _adobe_ had been shattered in falling. Just +under its former base there had been a kind of brickwork box. It had +been built over so as to conceal it completely, but it had never been +provided with either door or lid. In it had been placed a number of +deerskin bags. One of these had split in falling, and there on the +ground lay a number of silver coins. They were Spanish-Mexican +dollars, halves, quarters, all more or less blackened by corrosion, +exposed as they were to rain and sun, but all as good as ever. + +Red Wolf had seen silver money, and any coin was to him a "dollar," but +it was a matter concerning which he knew very little. It was +altogether "white man's medicine," and of a very powerful kind. He +knew that, at least, and his next thought was uttered aloud. + +"Tetzcatl not see dollars. No find. Red Wolf talk to Big Knife. +Great chief know. Heap take." + +Very strong was his convictions that if Tetzcatl had at any time +discovered that stuff, he would have hidden it again or carried it +away. He did not regard the Tlascalan as his friend by any means, nor +did he consider him as any kind of white man. Colonel Bowie was his +chief just at this time, and he would know what to do with dollars. +Therefore there could be no hesitation as to the right course to be +pursued. Somehow or other this affair was to be reported to the Texan +hero and to him only. + +All that Red Wolf said or did, nevertheless, brought clearly out a +well-known trait of savage character. That is, he had no clear idea of +"value," and so he was not ready for "money." All of his thorough +education as a brave of the Lipans had not taught him to count. He +would have been as poor a hand at a bargain as if he had been a whole +council of great chiefs selling half a new State to the agents of the +United States. + +His most exciting idea concerning his discovery was that he had found +something which he believed would be of especial interest to Big Knife. + +He gathered the scattered coins and put them into the hole. He lifted +the uppermost bags to find out how heavy they were, but he did not open +any of them. He put down the last bag that he lifted with a low-toned +exclamation of "heap medicine," as if it awed him. + +Only a few minutes of work were then required to cover the opening with +fragments of _adobe_. After that the young treasure-finder, who did +not know what he had found, turned and walked away toward the pond. + +He must have been thinking of other matters while he walked, for he +turned quickly and went to his mustang. Up came the lariat-pin, and +once more the sorrel, after being watered was led into the greater +security of the chaparral. + +"No Tetzcatl come," he remarked, as he went. "Too many Comanche." + +He had been a reckless, foolhardy young fellow, and he said so, in +remaining so long out of cover, when he knew what enemies were hunting +for him. He tethered the pony and found for himself a thicket from +which he had a good view of the pond and its surroundings. No smoke +was now arising from the _adobe_. + +Patiently, silently, he lay and waited and an hour passed slowly by. +Then he suddenly crouched lower and fitted an arrow to his bow-string. + +"Ugh!" he said. "Horse foot come!" + +More than one set of hoofs was falling upon the soft sand of a pathway +near him, but only a faint sound was made after their gait changed from +a "lope" or canter to a slow walk. At the moment when this was done +four pairs of eyes were swiftly scanning the open. Low-voiced +exclamations indicated that they had discovered something altogether +new to them, and then they rode out from the chaparral to examine it +more thoroughly. + +"No Lipan," he heard them say. "No pony. Castro gone." + +They had been led there by the trail of Red Wolf's mustang and the +mule. They now proceeded to search for any other tell-tale footprints, +and Red Wolf followed them with his eyes. They were not likely to +discover even the fireplace, unless they should dismount. He thought +of the dollars, but he believed them to be altogether safe. His most +troublesome thought was his pony, for if that unwise animal should see +fit to send out a neigh of inquiry to either of the Comanche ponies +concealment would be no longer possible. + +"Red Wolf lose hair," he said. "Strike Comanche brave! Kill a heap! +Too many." + +He was determined to die fighting, but his enemies were now riding out +beyond the ruins, not in his direction. He was only too sure that they +would come back again. It was a question of life or death that would +be settled speedily, one way or the other. + +Crack! It was the loud report of a rifle ringing out of the southerly +border of the chaparral, and the taller of the four Comanches pitched +heavily to the ground. + +Loud yells of rage and astonishment were uttered by the three remaining +braves, but they did not wait for a second shot. They wheeled their +mustangs and galloped wildly away through the nearest opening in the +shrubbery. + +"Heap dead," said Red Wolf. "Ugh! Texan!" + +He lay as still as before, however, during several minutes, and no +white rifleman made his appearance. The slain Comanche lay on the +grass where he had fallen, and his riderless pony fed quietly near him. +It was only one, after all, of the numberless, unexplained tragedies of +the border, and Red Wolf was too wise a young Indian to go out and hunt +around for its meaning. He untethered his pony, however, and made +ready for a run, if that should prove to be the next demand made upon +him. + +"Ugh!" he suddenly exclaimed. "Tetzcatl. No Comanche." + +Out from the chaparral beyond the pond walked the somewhat mysterious +Tlascalan, but Red Wolf sent toward him a kind of warning cry, as like +the croak of a crow as if a very skilful crow had made it. + +Tetzcatl himself might be such another crow from the response that came +back. In a few minutes more he and Red Wolf were behind the same +thicket, exchanging reports of their situation. + +The old man seemed to care very little about the hidden rifleman or the +dead warrior. Red Wolf told all other things, but he did not mention +the dollars. He did, however, take note of every square inch of the +white-haired tiger he was talking to, and he came very near uttering an +exclamation when his keen eyes detected a stain of powder in the middle +of Tetzcatl's left hand. The thought which at once arose in his mind +was, "Load rifle. Powder stick on hand. Hide in the bushes. Shoot +Comanche. Leave gun there. Ride around pond. Heap fool, Red Wolf. +Boy! Ugh!" + +It was what lawyers call circumstantial evidence, but there was no +direct proof that the Comanche had not fallen by the hand of a Texan +ranger. + +"Follow Tetzcatl," said the old man. "See Big Knife." + +Not another word did he utter, but he and Red Wolf rode on together +during about twenty minutes side by side. + +If the young Lipan expected to meet any of the rangers or their leader +at the place named the previous day, he was mistaken. Bowie had indeed +kept his appointment, much earlier than he had suggested, and there had +been important consequences. + +Part of what had happened began to be understood by Red Wolf when he +and Tetzcatl came to so sharp a halt as they did. + +Only a few yards ahead of them six riflemen sat motionlessly in their +saddles with their rifles raised as if about to fire. The foremost of +them was apparently taking aim. + +The fire flashed from pan and muzzle, and the report was followed by a +shrill screech from behind some bushes not sixty yards away. A horse +dashed out and off, followed by another, whose rider also fell to the +ground as a second and third rifle cracked together. + +"Load, boys! Quick!" shouted Bowie. "They haven't surrounded us, but +that's what they're up to. There's another!" + +The third Comanche was galloping too fast to be made a good mark of, +but three bullets followed him and his pony dropped. Then it was not +one of the Texans but Tetzcatl on his mule who now spurred forward. He +had not gone to help anybody, for his _machete_ was in his hand. + +"Red Wolf, halt!" commanded Bowie. "Tell! Talk fast!" + +It was not easy to obey an order that kept him from striking an enemy, +but Bowie was his chief just then, and the story of the pond, the +_adobe_, the four Comanches, and all other points worth telling, were +rapidly told. + +"Good!" said Bowie. "Tetzcatl's coming. That fellow can't give Great +Bear any information. Now for the pond. What we want next is water." + +The entire party wheeled away behind Tetzcatl as guide, and Red Wolf +fell back among the men. He did not yet feel free to question so great +a man as Big Knife, but he learned from the rangers as they rode on +that their whole party had narrowly escaped a collision with "too many +Comanches" at the spot where they had met the Tlascalan. "We'd ha' +been wiped out sure," they said. + +After that they had dodged and lurked in the chaparral, while he went +for a scouting trip to the pond. It now seemed fairly safe to go +there, but there was no certainty as to what had become of the main +body of the Comanches. Of course, after having broken his agreement to +go home, Great Bear felt it to be his military duty to destroy a squad +of Texans who might otherwise report him and bring a stronger force to +punish his misdoings. + +If the pond had hitherto been one of the secrets of the chaparral, it +was one no longer now. Loud, however, were the exclamations of +surprise uttered by the Texans when they rode out into the open. + +"There's no telling what 'll be found if ever the chaparral is +cleared," said Bowie. "We don't know much anyhow. Texas must be free +first, and settlers must come in." + +"Colonel," said a ranger, "jest so; but no settler's goin' to clar +chaparral as long as thar's loads o' clean prairie to feed stock on. +This 'ere brush 'll stay whar it is." + +"Never mind now," replied Bowie. "Water the critters and picket them +where they can bite grass, beyond the walls, or as near as you can. We +could hold that middle _adobe_ for a while, but we're in a pretty tight +kind of box." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE ESCAPE OF THE RANGERS. + +"It won't do for us to hang around this place," was the substance of a +number of remarks that were made by the riflemen as they cared for +their horses and then followed their leader into the central building. + +"Now, men," said Bowie, as they gathered around him, "the critters must +have a good rest and a feed. We've run them hard. We'll get our +rations right off." + +All that was left of the deer began to go out of sight rapidly. +Hunters like these were not apt to carry any considerable amount of +provisions with them. It was not necessary in a region abounding with +game. They were as independent as so many Indians, and every day's +ride was expected to provide for its own evening camp-fire, with +variations. + +The fire blazed up; Tetzcatl and one of the men volunteered as cooks; +the others were stationed here and there as outlooks, with a tendency +to keep well under cover of the old walls. It may have been a +willingness to be out of sight from the bushes that led the old +Tlascalan to his duties at the fireside. + +Red Wolf had all the while kept in the background, so to speak, but +now, at last, he found an opportunity he had been waiting for. + +"Big Knife great chief," he said to the colonel. "Red Wolf heap boy. +Want talk." + +"Come right along," replied Bowie, leading him a little aside. "Speak +out. What is it? Have you found sign?" + +"Heap sign," said Red Wolf. "Heap good medicine. Big Knife come, see." + +"I'll do that!" exclaimed Bowie, with a sudden increase of interest. +"No Indian boy was ever waked up like that without a reason for it." + +Red Wolf's face was indeed "waked up," but it contained also an easily +read warning when he added,-- + +"Tetzcatl. No good. No want him." + +"I don't want him," said Bowie. "Walk slow now. Go right along." + +It looked as if they were only strolling from one heap of rubbish to +another. Red Wolf's leading was very direct nevertheless, and they +were entirely hidden from observation when they stood in front of the +covered crypt in the broken wall. + +Even then not a word was uttered by either of them while the Indian boy +removed some of his fragments of _adobe_. When, however, he put in his +hand and drew it out full of silver coins, the sombre face of the Texan +blazed fiery red. + +"Heap dollar," remarked Red Wolf. "Big Knife find dollar. No +Tetzcatl." + +[Illustration: "HEAP DOLLAR," REMARKED RED WOLF] + +"All right, my boy,", said Bowie, but he vigorously aided in the +further work of uncovering the bags. + +"Ugh!" said Red Wolf. "Heap lift." + +So it was, for some of the bags were quite heavy. All were taken out, +and one after another they were opened and their contents were +inspected. + +"Twenty of them are gold doubloons," exclaimed Bowie. "The rest are +silver. Now Houston can buy his rifles! There may be enough for +cannon. What he needs is the hard cash. Why, there isn't powder +enough in all Texas for one sharp campaign. But there will be. This +is glorious!" + +He was not thinking of himself, therefore, but of the young republic +which he and his brave comrades had created and were defending. This +money, lying here, so strangely found, so entirely at his disposal, was +not to be regarded as his own. Its only value to him was the service +it could render in gaining the independence of Texas. + +Rough, indeed, were the border men, but there are no better examples of +unselfish devotion to a common cause than they were at that hour +giving. Shoulder to shoulder they stood, the most unflinching band of +self-enlisted volunteers that is recorded. + +"There must be a good deal more than a hundred thousand dollars," said +Bowie, beginning to put back the bags into the hole. "There may be +twice as much, but if there is, it won't go far enough. My mind's made +up. I'll go with Tetzcatl. If there's anything in that story of his, +we may find the cash to fit out batteries of artillery and buy five +thousand rifles." + +"Ugh!" said Red Wolf. "Heap dollars buy heap guns." + +"My boy," said Bowie, "you come along with me. I'll take care of you. +You shall have a rifle, pistols, knives, blankets, horses, anything you +want. Now, Red Wolf, look!" He pointed at the covering they were +putting on. "Heap hide! No tell! Dollars lie still!" + +"Red Wolf shut mouth," was all the spoken reply, but his eyes blazed +with the pride he felt over the reception of his "find" by the white +hero. It was almost like being already a chief to be on intimate, +confidential terms with so celebrated a warrior, with a leader whose +ordinary manner was as haughty almost as that of Castro. + +A few handfuls of dust, a careful wiping out of foot- and hand-marks, +and then the secret of the wall was as safe as it had ever been. + +Bowie, however, lingered for a moment, looking at the shattered _adobe_. + +"One thing more is true," he muttered. "All that stuff was found and +coined in this country. There is more where it came from, wherever the +mines and placers may be. It stands to reason that the old Mexicans +didn't get it all out. That makes me believe Tetzcatl! Cortez didn't, +couldn't, have gotten hold of all the gold the Aztecs had above-ground +when he came here. The Spaniards knew there was more. I'll go after +it." + +Back went the two discoverers to the cook-room and to their rations, +and none who saw them come could have found upon their faces a trace of +the excitement they had shown over their bags of doubloons and dollars. + +Two hours later all the animals belonging to the party were feeding +peacefully in the grassy open, and behind a knoll, not far from some of +them, lay Colonel Bowie. His long, heavy "Mississippi rifle" was +thrown forward across the knoll. Just behind him, among some withered +weeds, lay the Lipan boy, as if he did not now feel willing to be far +away from his white chief. He was watching him closely, and the +thought in his mind almost escaped at his lips, so clear was the +meaning that he read in the motions of the marksman. + +"Big Knife sight deer," he thought. "Long shoot. Whoop! Comanche!" + +His whoop was uttered aloud as the fire flashed from the rifle-muzzle, +and the report was answered by a chorus of yells from among the dense +masses of the chaparral. + +"Tally one," said Bowie, coolly. "This business is going to cost Great +Bear something. I'll get a bead on him next. Six yesterday and five +to-day. I'll lie still and load up, though. It's close quarters." + +Not one of the other Texans had uttered a word, but each was already +near enough to good cover to drop behind it, ready for long-range rifle +practice. + +One feature of the situation was only too evident, nevertheless, and +there was immediate peril of a crushing disaster. + +The hot blood ran like fire through the veins of Red Wolf. Here was a +grand chance to earn distinction. It would be worthy of the oldest +brave in his tribe. The horses! The only hope for escape! + +So like a deer he bounded from his cover and went forward. He did not +go to the nearest horses, but beyond them, to those which were +apparently in the greatest danger of speedy capture by the Comanches. + +One of these had belonged to the brave who was killed in the open that +morning, and another had been won in the chaparral from his companions. +They were especially valued as prizes of war. Up came the two +lariat-pins. Sharp jerks of the lariats called the ponies from their +feeding and they followed the pulling. Louder every moment sounded the +whoops from among the bushes, and arrow after arrow whizzed through the +air. + +"Whoop!" yelled the young adventurer. "Red Wolf heap boy! Comanches +little dogs! Rabbits! Coyotes! Crows!" + +It was genuine Indian glory to be able to send back such screeches of +insult and derision in reply to all those arrows. Some of them +narrowly missed him, although he managed to make a good shield out of +the two ponies. That was the way he lost one of them, for the poor +animal was shortly plunging hither and thither with an arrow through +his neck. + +Down he went, but Red Wolf immediately pulled up another peg, saving +the noble racer of Colonel Bowie, and he therefore got in with a pair. +He was met by Tetzcatl, the only man upon his feet, but he took the +lariats into his own hands, remarking in a very business-like way,-- + +"_Bueno_! Go! Bring all! Quick!" + +The remaining animals were hardly near enough to the bushes for arrows +to reach them, and the red men under cover seemed to hesitate about +exposing themselves. + +"Humph!" growled Bowie. "They're only waiting for something or they'd +dash out at him. But isn't he a buster! He'll equal his father some +day. This is too bad, anyhow. All those dollars must stay where they +are for a while." + +Every horse was brought in without any further incident, but, for all +that, the situation of the mere handful of Texans was becoming +extremely unpleasant. It would, however, have been a great deal more +so if they had been compelled to rely upon their own scanty knowledge +of the neighborhood they were in. It was too new a country. + +Colonel Bowie had not moved until the animals were safe, but he now put +his fingers to his lips and blew a long, vibrating whistle. Instantly +his men arose behind their covers of _adobe_ or of rough ground and +began to make their way to the central ruin. It was rapidly done, and +Red Wolf was the last to come in, leading his own sorrel. + +"We're corralled!" said one of the men. + +"Not quite so bad as that," replied another; "and it'll be bad for them +if they rush in." + +"I reckon they're waiting for more to come," said the colonel, coolly. +"It takes a good many to work a surround." + +"_Bueno!_" said Tetzcatl just then. "Time to go. Beat the redskins +now." + +"Go ahead," responded Bowie; "we're ready." + +The men mounted at the word. They had been hurriedly putting on +saddles, and bridles, and now they sat like statues on horseback while +he exchanged a few swift sentences with their white-headed guide. + +"Forward! Take it easy!" was the next command. + +Then it looked at first as if he were about to lead a charge directly +into the bushes from which had come the arrows and the whooping. So +complete was the appearance that several Comanches on the opposite side +of the pond came out into the open. They would have been in just the +right position to attack the Texans in the rear, after riding around +the pond. Moreover, it seemed plain that the "surround" had been very +nearly accomplished. + +"That's it," said Bowie. "We've drawn 'em out. We know where they +are. Now! Gallop! Boys, it's a run, but I reckon we've euchered 'em." + +He and Tetzcatl had suddenly wheeled toward the left, and not a +Comanche made his appearance on the easterly side of the open as he and +his men dashed into one of the widest avenues. + +Fierce were the whoops and yells of the outgeneralled red men as, with +one accord, they came out of their several covers to follow. Over a +score were already in sight, and the yelling indicated that twice as +many more were near at hand. The Texans were to run a race for their +lives, but every animal that was entered for the race was in good +condition, and not one of them was a second-rate runner. + +"Pull in!" shouted Bowie, at the end of a quarter of an hour. +"Tetzcatl says we're about safe." + +"We've rid through tangles enough," replied a ranger. "How fur are we +now from the south side of the chaparral?" + +"Not so far as we were," replied his commander, "but we don't get out +into prairie right away. You'll see what it is when you get there." + +"I want to git thar, then, awful," came from another of the men. "We +haven't had a scratch yet, but it's been right smart of a close shave." + +So it had, and the Comanches were following upon the plain trail that +was made by so many horses. Their real difficulty as pursuers was not +the trail itself, by any means. Great Bear was with them now, and he +had a high respect for the men he was dealing with. A number of +minutes had been lost to him at the outset by the make-believe charge. +After that, as his gathering band rode on, the prudent chief compelled +his eager braves to draw rein several times at places where the thick +"tangles" suggested the possibility of an ambush and a deadly volley of +rifle-bullets. It was really a pokerish business to follow dead shots, +men of desperate courage, too, among those dense coverts. He was a +wise chief, no doubt, but every time his foremost warriors paused to +reconnoitre the white men gained additional time. + +Red Wolf all the while kept somewhat diffidently in the rear. He was, +after all, only a boy among great warriors. Before long, however, he +found himself riding at an easy gait side by side with Colonel Bowie, +and the Big Knife was holding out something. + +"Young brave!" said he. "Want good knife? Present." + +It was one which had been found in the belt of the first Comanche +warrior killed in the open, and there had been no claimant for it. It +was a very good knife, longer than most others, although not shaped +altogether like a bowie. Its sheath was silver-mounted and its edge +was keen. It was worth a dozen of common butcher-knives such as the +one Red Wolf now carried, and his eyes glistened with pleasure. It +would be a war-trophy to show to his father, and all his tribe would +envy him so fine a weapon. Its greatest value, however, even to them, +would be the fact that it was a battle-token given by the great +single-hand knife-fighter of the white men. + +"Ugh!" exclaimed Red Wolf. "Heap knife. Great chief give! Whoop!" + +He secured it in his belt, and then his old butcher-knife was +contemptuously transferred to a place among the fringes of his leggings. + +The Texans were not using up their horses, but no halt was made. They +went steadily forward for several miles of winding way, and then the +chaparral began to change its character. Instead of mere bushes there +was heavy timber with much undergrowth, and the land grew rugged and +rocky instead of sandy. + +Tetzcatl was continually several yards in the advance. He now turned +and beckoned, spurred his mule, and seemed almost to vanish. + +"Forward, men!" shouted Bowie. "I know what he means! I've been +bothered by that very ravine more than once. It runs almost to the +Nueces River. Hurrah! Great Bear won't run his braves into such a +death-trap as that is. Come on!" + +A number of fine old oak-trees stood like sentries grouped around the +mouth of a kind of chasm, with rocks on either side. There was a +descent at once, and the ravine grew deeper as the rangers rode farther +into it. Tetzcatl was ahead of them, but the mule plodded on without +waiting for anybody, while his rider turned and put a finger on his +lips. + +Not a shout was uttered, therefore, to tell how glad they all were to +get into that ravine, and Bowie almost instantly exclaimed, in a low +voice, to the long-legged Texan who was riding near him,-- + +"Jim Cheyne! Look! That's what he means. That head, up there at the +cliff-edge, among the rosin weeds. Can you fetch him? Long range, but +I'll try. One of us may hit." + +"Ready! Together!" answered Jim, and in a few seconds more the two +rifles cracked almost like one. + +Tetzcatl had watched the marksmen, and now he nodded approvingly and +rode on, but no one climbed to the upper level to inquire whether one +bullet or two had cut short the scouting of the imprudent brave, whose +eagle feather had betrayed his weedy lurking-place. + +It was, nevertheless, another proof that Great Bear was a great chief +and that he knew that country, for he had sent his scouts in the right +direction before trying to close in upon the Texans at the pond. He +had even guessed correctly at one of their possible lines of escape. +He could not have calculated beforehand that a feather and a head with +a bullet in it should give so complete a confirmation. + +"He won't go back to tell," said Bowie, "but we shall be followed all +the way." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE CAMP AT THE SPRING. + +"Crockett, there isn't any use talking. We've an awful tough job cut +out." + +The old bear-hunter had stuck his coonskin cap upon the muzzle of his +rifle, and he stared up at it for a moment. + +"Reckon we have," he said; "but we kin skirmish around the corners of +it somehow. I've been in tight places before now, but I allers crawled +out or fought out." + +"We'll have to fight out this time," said the large, determined-looking +man he was talking with. "But what on earth are we to do for money?" + +"We're played out," replied Crockett, thoughtfully. "We've borrowed +all we could. We've taxed till we can't put on any more. Uncle Sam +won't let us have any. Houston, we're in a hole." + +"The worst of it is right here," continued Houston. "If the +legislature lays a tax, all the cash is appropriated before it's +collected. What I want is some money to spend without giving any +account of it. We want a powder-and-lead fund. I've spent all I had." + +"You kin skin my pile," said Crockett. "Wish thar was more of it. +We're torn down poor. We might almost be whipped by Santa Anna for +want of money to keep the men in the field. Think of losing the Alamo!" + +"I couldn't help it just now if we did," groaned Houston. "It's safe +yet." + +"'Tis till somebody comes to take it," was the ominous response of +Crockett, as he lowered his rifle and put on his coonskin. "Just as I +told ye. Travis is off on his scout with half the garrison. Bowie +went on that expedition of his, and I hope he may get back. Thar isn't +enough powder in the fort to fire all the guns more'n twice 'round. No +provisions to speak of. No nothin'. If Greasers enough came, they +could a' most walk right in." + +"They're not ready to come yet," said Houston; "but they're coming, +Davy! There 'll be blood when they get in as far as the Alamo!" + +"You bet thar will!" shouted Crockett, springing to his feet. "I mean +to be thar when they come. We kin hold it ag'in' all Mexico if we've +men and powder." + +The two Texan patriots were not in any house. They had been sitting +side by side upon a log not far from a rail-fence corner where their +horses were hitched. From what they said it appeared that they had met +there by appointment. It was as good a parlor as such men needed to +discuss affairs of state in. Houston had now risen, and they were +walking toward their horses. + +"Crockett," he said, "it's time for me to git up and git. You go on to +Washington. See what you can do. Inquire about rifles and cannon and +ammunition." + +"Well," replied Crockett, "money's the best kind of am'nition, but we +needn't forget one thing. Santa Anna feels a kind of bowel grip right +thar. He can't fetch as many rancheros as he'd like to cross the Rio +Grande with. He'd ruther 'tend a cock-fight any day than meet us in a +shootin' match, onless he was ten to one." + +"I wouldn't mind four to one," said Houston, "but I would mind being +cut up for lack of powder to shoot with." + +"You bet!" said Crockett, bitterly. "Think of bein' jest murdered by +Greasers!" + +They had reached their horses, and in a moment more they were steadily +galloping northward. + +A very undefined domain was the vast region to which the Spanish +conquerors had given the name of Texas. They had never thoroughly +explored it, nor had they determined its boundaries. Its northerly +line was that of the then French province of Louisiana, and that was as +uncertain as the weather. It might be said to begin at the Sabine Pass +on the sea-shore. From that it was supposed to wander inland. The +United States surveyors had made their own maps after Jefferson +purchased Louisiana from Napoleon, but they had no direct French or +Spanish help. + +Westward, Texas was believed to have a limit somewhere among the as yet +unvisited mountains and plains. No line had been fixed on that side. +Southward, the old Spanish maps, and afterwards the Mexican copies of +them, were at variance as to whether the Nueces River or the Rio Grande +marked the Texas border. This was of less consequence so long as Texas +should belong to Mexico, but, a few years later, those conflicting maps +played an important part in bringing about the war with the United +States. All of that record belongs to history, and so does the older +claim that Texas never, at any time, belonged to Spain, but was, in +part at least, French territory, and was sold to the United States, +accordingly, along with Louisiana. + +It is history now, but that history had not been made up when, late +that day, Colonel Bowie and his men rode out of the long ravine and +found themselves upon an open prairie. It was dotted here and there +with groves of oak. Much more interesting at first to the mounted +marksmen was the fact that it was also dotted by several small droves +of wild cattle. + +"Buffalo!" exclaimed Bowie. "I didn't think of meeting any here. We +must have one. Then we'll go into camp as soon as we can find water." + +"Ugh!" came instantly from the Lipan boy. "Red Wolf find heap water." + +"Bully!" said the colonel. "This used to be a Lipan hunting-ground. +Go ahead. Find us a good spring." + +Red Wolf had his orders and off he went, while Jim Cheyne looked after +him and remarked emphatically,-- + +"That young chap's going to be a buster. But now, boys, don't let's +load up too much with meat. One good critter's all we want." + +"All right," replied one of his comrades; "but, Jim, if we keep our +hair on overnight thar won't be any time wasted on huntin' to-morrow." + +"We shall strike straight for the Nueces, and then for the Rio Grande," +said Bowie. "Great Bear hasn't let up on us, and we must look out for +him all the time. He's just death on a trail." + +"You kin swar to that," added Cheyne. "He's as ready to ride into +Mexico, too, as we are. How's that, Tetzcatl?" + +"_Bueno!_" snapped the dark-faced panther. "Comanches find Bravo's +lancers beyond the river. Kill them all." + +He gave no reason for the resentful feeling he had shown against Great +Bear, but loud chuckles among the men expressed their approval of his +idea that if the Comanches should meet the lancers the story of the +Kilkenny cats would be repeated. + +A general hunt was forbidden on account of the horses, and only two men +went out as buffalo butchers. + +On leaving his party, Red Wolf rode in a kind of long circuit instead +of aiming at the nearest grove. He galloped a full mile before he gave +any reason why he had not gone in a straight line. He may have been a +little uncertain about his landmarks, but he made no considerable error +in his calculations. + +"Ugh!" he exclaimed, as he pulled in upon the crest of a prairie roll +and looked forward earnestly. "Heap hole. Big stone. Big Knife get +water." + +He was near the brink of a deep and remarkable hollow. It was almost +regularly funnel-shaped, and on the opposite side of it sat a large +boulder of granite. Such "sink-holes" can be found only in limestone +formations. They are supposed to lead to caverns and subterranean +watercourses. The presence of a mass of granite was, therefore, one of +the many puzzles for geologists. Perhaps it had floated there upon a +cake of ice. Then the ice had melted; the water had run off down the +sink-hole; and the boulder was left to supply the red hunters of the +plains with a perpetual guide-board. + +"Big stone here," he said. "Water there." + +The direction in which he rode away gave his words an explanation. He +went as straight as an arrow for more than another mile, hardly +glancing aside, either at groves of trees or herds of fat bisons. + +Meantime, the white men he was providing refreshment for rode slowly +onward. They heard a brace of rifle reports, and took the success of +their hunters for granted. They remarked to each other, however, that +good luck was with them, for "bufler" were getting scarcer year after +year so far as that to the eastward. + +"One of these days," said Bowie, "they'll all be gone. This 'll be +corn land then, and every farmer 'll raise his own beef." + +"He'll kill it for himself, too," laughed Cheyne. "I don't want to be +here then. I'd ruther have my beef runnin' round the prairie for free +shootin'." + +Bowie's eyes were all the while busy in a search for "sign." He had +found none near his present line of march, but if he could have looked +back upon his entire trail he would have seen several things to +interest him. + +The first point was in the timber at the upper end of the long ravine. +A dozen braves of the Comanches were grouped, on foot, around the +opening through which Tetzcatl had so suddenly disappeared. They were +watching, bow in hand, as if it had been the den of some wild animal, +or rather as if, possibly, some returning Texan might at any moment +show himself as a target. + +Not far down the ravine, but on the upper level on one side of it, +three more braves sat in silence by the body of their tribesman who had +been slain by the bullet of Cheyne or Bowie. Every now and then they +peered over into the gorge below and listened as if for the sounds of +horse-hoofs upon the gravelly bottom. Watchers had been set, +therefore, to intercept any returning ranger. That was only by way of +precaution, in case of an escape from the other part of the relentless +pursuit. + +Miles and miles away, along the route of the winding cleft and on its +westerly side, rode twice as many Comanches as had been with Great Bear +when first he had been seen by Red Wolf, on the plain beyond the +chaparral, two days before. His reinforcements had arrived and he was +ready for extensive mischief. + +At point after point, wherever the ravine was approachable and descent +into it fairly easy, a warrior on foot, sometimes even on horseback, +would go down and search any soft earth at the side of the little rill +at the bottom. Then he would swiftly return, report that he had found +the trail; that Bowie's men were farther down, all of them; and the +band would ride steadily on. + +Of course, this did not mean rapid riding, but it did mean a deadly and +persistent pursuit. It meant a bloody revenge for slain warriors. + +One brave was now sent back after the squad of watchers, but Great +Bear's force was a very strong one without them. Yet other braves were +riding fast and far in the advance. + +Sooner or later it was sure that such a following, by trailers so +skilful and so determined, would bring them near enough for a sweeping +blow. What could half a dozen rangers and one Lipan boy do against the +overwhelming rush of a hundred and fifty warriors? + +Red Wolf did not actually come back to his white friends. He only rode +near enough to whoop to them and to wave his lance, as if inviting them +to follow. + +"That's high!" exclaimed Jim Cheyne. "We might ha' hunted for water +all night if it hadn't been for him." + +"It takes an Indian sometimes," replied the colonel. "But this crowd +won't make a long camp on this prairie." + +"You bet!" came from several voices at once, and away they rode after +the young Lipan. + +It was a very pretty place for a camp, when they came to look at it. +Nearly an acre of ground was occupied by tall, old sycamores and +spreading oaks, and outside of these were bushes. In the middle of all +was a fine spring, from which a tiny brooklet rippled out into the +plain. Close around the spring the ground had been trodden hard by the +hoofs of many generations of buffalo and deer, but there was plenty of +grass without picketing their horses outside of the grove. + +"Boys," said Bowie, "if Great Bear should find us, he'll have braves +enough to corral us in such a place as this. They could just ride +around and around, out of shot, and pen us in till we starved." + +"That's so," put in a short, bandy-legged ranger whom the others had +called "Joe," without troubling themselves to add any other name; "but +I reckon we won't wait to be penned in. What I'm a-thinkin' of jest +now is bufler hump." + +He had the entire sympathy of his hungry comrades, and they did not +have to wait long. The fire was hardly up in good shape before the two +hunters rode in, bringing the best pieces of a fine "bufler." + +"Now we're all right for rations," said Jim Cheyne; "but I'd like to +know what's went with that young Lipan wolf." + +Every man glanced quickly around him, but the son of Castro was nowhere +to be seen. He had been as ready for his supper as any white man, but +stronger than anything else was his feeling that he was on his first +war-path. He was a brave of the Lipans, with a new name and a new +knife. He had already won some glory and he was burning for more. As +for even buffalo "hump," a Lipan warrior who could not go without his +dinner had never yet been heard of. + +He had mounted silently, therefore, and had galloped away, straight +back, along the line by which he had first come to the grove and +spring. He and his pony had been watered, and the latter had nibbled a +little grass, but that was all. + +"Comanche come to hole," he said to himself, as he rode along. "Red +Wolf see." + +The plan in his head seemed to include nothing more than scouting duty, +but this was of a peculiar and dangerous kind. + +The shadows were deepening in the groves and on the prairie when Red +Wolf reached the sink-hole, but he was able to examine it carefully. +The sides of the funnel-shaped hollow were not too steep in some +places, and he led his mustang half-way down. He picketed him there, +upon a slope where he could stand, a little uncomfortably, and pick +grass, which was greener than any on the outside prairie. As soon as +this was cared for, Red Wolf went up again and stationed himself by the +boulder. There was quite enough granite for one watcher to hide behind. + +"Ugh!" he said. "Texan too much fire. Comanche find camp. Where Big +Knife?" + +It required eyes like his to detect, at that distance, a few faint +sparks which had floated up above the trees and an exceedingly dull +glow of light that was just then showing. + +"Texan heap fool!" he exclaimed. "Great Bear come. Ugh!" + +He hardly did his white chief justice, however, for Colonel Bowie was +even then ordering the fire to be smothered as soon as the needful +cooking could be done. There would be no more sparks nor any glow to +betray the camp. + +"Colonel," said Joe in reply, "it's all right, but we'd better jest lop +down and snooze. Mebbe it's all the chance we'll git for a nap." + +"Snooze away," said the colonel; but Jim Cheyne was looking around him, +and he suddenly exclaimed,-- + +"I say! What's become of that thar old tiger? He didn't go off with +the Lipan cub." + +"No," said Joe. "That he didn't. He was 'round yer chawin' bufler +meat not five minutes ago. I heerd him say something 'bout his +mule----" + +"Mule's gone," came from a ranger who had stepped away to look for him. +"Tell ye what, boys, that thar old rascal's gone back on us." + +"I reckon not," replied Bowie, after a moment of consideration. "He +hasn't gone to Great Bear, but we shan't see him again till we get to +the Hacienda Dolores. Red Wolf's gone scouting." + +"That's his best hold," said Joe. "Glad he went; but they'll get him +if he doesn't watch out sharp." + +That was precisely what he was doing, as he crouched behind the +boulder, almost as motionless and silent as the stone itself. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE SKIRMISH IN THE NIGHT. + +The great gate stockade at the southeastern corner of the Alamo, near +the church, was closed. There seemed to be no patrol outside of the +wall and all was quiet within, but a solitary sentry paced to and fro +at the gate, with his rifle over his shoulder. He was considering the +situation as he walked, for he remarked, as if to the shadows around +him,-- + +"This yer fort is pretty much taking ker of itself, but the Greasers +don't know it. Thar ain't any of 'em nigh enough to come for it, +anyhow. Ef they did, what thar is of us could give up this 'ere +outside cattle-pen and retreat into the fort. We'd hev to give up the +church, but we could garrison the Convent till help got yer. That's +all we could do." + +At that moment his rifle came down, for he heard a sound of hoofs that +ceased in front of the gate. Out went the muzzle of his piece at a +shot-hole, and he looked along its barrel as he demanded of the rider,-- + +"Who goes thar?" + +"Sam Houston!" came loudly back. "Open quick! I'm followed!" + +"Boys!" yelled the sentry. "It's old Sam himself! Come on! I'll git +the gate open!" + +"I met Crockett!" shouted Houston. "He's all right. But I've about +ridden this horse to death. Down he goes! They're coming! Lancers!" + +Several pairs of hands were busy with the massive bars of the portal, +and two of the men had stationed themselves by the six-pounder gun that +stood there, facing it, like an iron watchman. + +Outside, the general stood by his fallen horse, calm and steady as a +tree, with a heavy pistol in each hand. + +"I've barely distanced them," he said. "Ready, boys! Give 'em +something!" + +Excepting for the sound of their horses' hoofs Houston's pursuers were +making no noise, but they were now dangerously near him. + +Open swung the gate, and the men who opened it could see the glitter of +lance-heads in the moonlight. + +"Step in, gineral!" + +"Jump now! Git out o' the way!" + +"Quick, Sam! I want to let 'em have it. Git inside!" + +Altogether unceremonious were the rough men of the border in their +hurried greetings to the man whom they really loved and trusted above +other men. He did not seem to hurry, however. It was with a great +deal of natural dignity that he strode through the gate-way. He was +willing to escape the thrusts of those lances, but he felt no throb of +fear. + +He was safely away from the range of the six-pounder, and that was all, +when the report of the sentry's rifle at the shot-hole was followed +instantly by the roar of the cannon. + +"It was pretty much all the grape we had," said one of the cannoneers, +"but I reckon we kin load her once ag'in. Hope we gethered some on +'em." + +It had been short range, just the thing for grape-shot. The lancers +had not dreamed of such a greeting as that in the night, at the very +moment of their supposed success. They had felt all but sure of +striking a blow which would have been to Texas like the defeat of an +army. They had followed their intended victim fast and far. In +tracing his movements from place to place, and in this final dash for +his life, they had exhibited more than a little daring and enterprise. + +They were barely a minute too late at the end of their long race, but +they were just in time to be struck by that deadly storm of grape-shot. +Down went horses and men. Down went flashing lance-points and +fluttering pennons, while loud cries of pain, and execrations, and +shouts of astonishment told how terrible had been the effect of "about +the last grist of it that we had in the fort." + +"Load up, boys!" said Houston. "Close the gate. That's all there is +of that crowd." + +"Thar they go, what's left of 'em," replied the sentry. + +The fort had not been left without an officer, however, and another +voice shouted,-- + +"Steady! Men! Lanterns! A detail of six. I'll go out and see what +we did with that grape." + +The lanterns were already coming, and Houston himself marched out with +the detail. He stooped to look into the face of a Mexican who had +fallen several paces in advance of the others. + +"Colonel Jose Canales!" he exclaimed. "Well, boys, Santa Anna has lost +one of the bravest men in his whole army. I'm glad he hasn't many more +like him." + +"Eight killed and three wounded, counting him in," responded a ranger. +"It's the uniform of the Tampico regiment. Canales took his best men +for this hunt. Mr. Houston, you've had a narrow escape this time. You +mustn't ever do it ag'in. You ort to be locked up. You'd no business +to run such a risk!" + +"Why, boys," said the general, "I was uneasy about the fort. Crockett +told me more than I knew before, and I came right on to inspect." + +"Inspect thunder!" exclaimed the officer in command, a slight-looking +fellow in a buckskin shirt and tow trousers for uniform. "Thar isn't +much to inspect. What we want is more men and more rifles, and more +powder and lead." + +"Tell you what, Houston," added the gunner who had fired off the grape, +"don't you know? If the Greasers came into Texas, this is the first +p'int they'd make for. They'll want it bad." + +"What's more just now, gineral," shouted a half-angry ranger, "'twasn't +your place to lose yer skelp a-comin'. The rest o' the boys feel jest +as I do. You mustn't try on sech a fool caper ag'in. Texas can't +afford to throw ye away 'bout now. Ef you was wiped out things 'ud go +to pieces." + +The protests of the brave riflemen were exceedingly free, but they were +utterly sincere. They were freemen, talking to a man who perfectly +understood them. He therefore apologized, explained, promised +faithfully to do better next time, and they let him up. + +Far away, beyond the belt of chaparral and the long ravine, another +Texan patriot, as devoted as Houston, sat by his covered camp-fire in +the grove, and it seemed as if he were echoing the words of the +garrison of the Alamo. + +"Arms and ammunition," he said. "There won't be any lack of men if we +can feed 'em. But a Mexican with a _machete_ or a lance might put +under a rifleman out o' powder." + +He was silent for a moment, and then he added,-- + +"I mustn't get myself killed on this trip. If I do, Houston 'll never +know about that pile in the _adobe_ hole. I'll be more careful than I +ever was before." + +He was not noted for special care concerning his personal safety, but +he now arose and went around the camp, from man to man and from horse +to horse. He seemed to be all alert, watchful. There was to be no +surprise of that camp for any fault of his. + +It was now getting well on into the night. Only a little earlier there +had been a slight movement of the shadowy form that was crouching at +the side of the boulder at the sink-hole. + +"Ugh!" muttered Red Wolf, but he said no more, as he peered eagerly +over the rock. + +Only such ears as his could have caught a few low sounds that floated +toward him on the night-wind. They were cautiously-spoken words in the +Comanche tongue, and the speakers were within a hundred feet of him. + +"Sink-hole," he heard them say. "No Texans there. Big Knife took them +to the water. Go bring Great Bear. We find Big Knife." + +There he lost several words, but it was plain enough. These were only +an advance party. They had sent a brave back to guide their main body, +and were themselves to ride on to make sure of the Texans being at the +camp-ground so well known to Indian hunters. One of their number was +to remain at the sink-hole. + +"Trap Big Knife?" thought Red Wolf. "No. Heap eye. Texan sleep. +Great chief wait for Comanches." + +He evidently had great confidence in his hero, and he hardly breathed +while several horsemen went by, leaving a solitary brave to mount guard +at the outer side of the boulder. + +He was very near. It was almost certain that before long he would +discover whatever might be living near him if it moved. It would be +useless, therefore, for Red Wolf to try to escape on foot that he might +warn the camp. It would be even greater folly to go down into the +sink-hole after his mustang. It was hardly safe, at first, to risk the +slight motion required in fitting an arrow to the string. He must +wait, he thought. But if he did, what about the Texans if Big Knife +should lie down and go to sleep? Even that small party of Comanche +warriors might dash in and take a scalp or stampede the horses. They +were very dangerous fellows on a warpath or prowling around an enemy's +camp. + +"Ugh!" exclaimed the Comanche, wheeling his horse and lowering his +lance. + +Red Wolf's mustang had not been at all comfortable down there in the +dark. He had picked grass and he had stepped up and down at the end of +his tether. He had heard hoofs go by. Now he was aware of the +presence of another horse near him, and he sent up short neighs of +inquiry. He uttered the mustang words for,-- + +"Hullo, pony, who are you?" + +The Comanche at once responded,-- + +"Where are you? Hey?" + +"Horse in hole!" exclaimed the warrior. "Where Texan? Where Lipan?" + +He listened a moment, and again the animals spoke to each other. + +"Ugh!" said the Comanche. "Texan go away and leave pony. Go take him. +Heap brave!" + +It was a piece of reckless daring, indeed, to go down alone into that +blind hollow. There might be something much more dangerous than a pony +lurking there. Again assuring himself, however, that he was a great +brave and afraid of nothing, he sprang to the ground. He tethered his +own pony, laid aside his bow and lance and club and drew his knife. He +adjusted his shield upon his left arm, and then he was ready. + +His worst peril was not in the hole. While he was making his rapid +preparations Red Wolf made his own. His arrow was in its place now, +and he was almost lying flat at the corner of the boulder. + +There was not light enough for long-range archery, but now the Comanche +brave stepped stealthily forward, knife in hand, his shield up, and his +short, hard breathing testifying his intense excitement. He slipped +along past the rock. + +"Twang" went the Lipan boy's bowstring, and he sprang to his feet, +drawing his own knife as he did so,--the splendid present of Bowie, the +white hero. + +Loud, fierce, agonized, was the yell of the stricken warrior, but even +in his agony he whirled around to face his unexpected assailant. He +had strength yet, for he sprang at Red Wolf like a wounded wildcat. + +Away darted the son of Castro, but his enemy, a man of size and muscle, +was close behind him. But that he was already mortally hurt he would +have made short work of the young bowman. + +Back and forth among the shadows bounded and dodged the ill-matched +combatants. Red Wolf had no shield, and his knife glanced more than +once from the smooth, hard bison-hide of his opponent's round buckler. + +"Ugh!" screeched the Comanche at the end of a terrific minute, and he +sank into the grass. + +[Illustration: "UGH!" SCREECHED THE COMANCHE ... AND HE SANK INTO THE +GRASS] + +He had done his best, all the while failing, but now the end had come, +and Red Wolf shortly walked back after the horses. His own mustang was +led out of the hollow, the Comanche pony, a fine one, was taken +possession of, with his late owner's weapons and ornaments and the +much-prized trophy of victory. + +"More Comanche come pretty soon," he exclaimed. "Red Wolf take hair. +Tell Big Knife. Tell Castro. Who-op!" + +Never before had he sounded so loudly, so triumphantly, the war-cry of +his tribe, but the whoops which answered him did not come from the +direction of the camp. They arose from the northward and told of many +whoopers. + +As for the scouting-party, if any of them had turned back to assist +their comrade at the sink-hole, they as yet were silent. So was Red +Wolf now, as he galloped away into the darkness. + +The camp was too far away for even a death-whoop to reach it, but +Colonel Bowie's tour of guard duty had led him out at last to a tuft of +sumach-bushes, beyond the easterly border of the grove. + +Here he stood, looking out somewhat listlessly, but before long he +uttered a low, sharp exclamation, and brought his rifle to his shoulder. + +"They've come!" he said. "I must rouse the boys. It's life or death +this time. How they tracked us here I don't know." + +As he glanced along the rifle-barrel he could see dim forms on +horseback glide between him and the starlit horizon. They were at no +great distance, and he turned to send into the camp a piercing whistle. +It reached the ear of every ranger, asleep or awake. Even the horses +seemed to understand that it was a note of alarm, and they began to +step around as if they were in a hurry to get their saddles on. They +need not have been in any anxiety, for when the men sprang to their +feet, rifles in hand, their first care was for their four-footed +comrades. + +An immediate reply to Bowie's whistle came also from away out on the +prairie. + +"That's the warning whoop of the Lipans," he said to his men. "Red +Wolf is out there somewhere. Hope they won't get him. He shouldn't +ha' whooped." + +But Red Wolf had not been unwise, after all. The Comanche scouts were +few in number and they had no desire to be caught between two fires, +Lipans, if there were any, on one side, and the riflemen on the other. +They therefore dashed ahead, and then nearer, louder than before, the +Lipan yell sounded again. + +"That's a startler!" exclaimed Bowie. "It isn't the boy! It's a +grown-up screech." + +Another of the full-sized startlers came, and a third, a fourth. + +In, however, without any more whooping, galloped Red Wolf himself, with +his prizes and his pride and his exceedingly important news. + +Closely behind him followed yet another horseman, coming at speed, and, +in a moment more, Bowie stood face to face with Castro, as the Lipan +chief, springing to the ground, strode forward and held out a hand. + +"Big Knife here?" he said. "Good. Lipans at Hacienda Dolores pretty +soon. Castro ride back on trail. Find friend. Heap talk by and by." + +"All right, chief," said Bowie. "But the Comanches are here. Let Red +Wolf tell what he found. Quick!" + +Very rapid indeed was the young warrior's account of his performances, +and Castro seemed to be growing taller in his glorification over such a +feat done by his younger self. + +All who heard could fully appreciate, and Red Wolf had quite as much +praise as was good for him. + +"Chief!" said Bowie. "Men! It's mount and ride now. Heap the fire. +Pack the bufler meat. Fill the canteens. Get a good ready." + +He and Castro had more questions to ask and answer while the swift +preparations went on, and Red Wolf was thoroughly cross-examined. +There were no additional tokens of enemies near the camp, but if the +scouting-party had discovered that the Texans were on guard, another +party of Comanches, halted at the sinkhole, knew that they had lost a +comrade and that he had fallen by the hand of an Indian. The Texans +did not use arrows nor take scalps. It was a matter for thoughtful +consideration, to be reported to Great Bear. + +"Ready now," came at last in a low voice from Bowie. "Mount! Lead +ahead, chief. We can get a good start of 'em before daylight." + +It was well to have Castro for a guide, but it was mainly due to Red +Wolf that they dared to stir out of camp and cover at all. But for the +information he brought of the exact situation, prudence might have +bidden them to remain and fight behind the trees, in the belief that +overwhelming numbers were around them. + +As it was, no Comanche knew of the departure from the camp. Even when +the first reinforcements arrived, all that the red cavalry deemed it +well to do, without the personal presence and orders of Great Bear, was +to ride slowly around the grove and make sure that nobody in it should +have a chance to get away. The fire was blazing high, and they thought +of what marksmen among the trees and bushes were ready to shoot by the +light of it. There was nothing to gain by over-haste, and they waited. + +All the while, across the southward prairie, Bowie and his men rode on, +and now they knew, from Castro, that General Bravo and his lancers had +been seen along the line of the Rio Grande. + +"We can keep out of his way," said the colonel, "but, next thing to +outracing Great Bear, I want to get a sight of Tetzcatl. I reckon +he'll kind o' come up out o' the ground just when we don't expect him." + +"Ugh!" said Castro. "Heap snake. Heap lie. No want him." + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +A BAFFLED PURSUIT. + +Those were dark days for Texas. Too many of the white settlers were +new arrivals, who as yet were in a strange country and had not made up +their minds as to what leadership they would trust. There was, indeed, +a strong central body of veterans who rallied around Sam Houston and +General Austin. They were the right men for a battle-field, but they +had very little ready money. + +Thus far, in fact, very nearly the best protection for the young +republic had been given by the disordered condition of public affairs +in Mexico. At last, however, the ablest man south of the Rio Grande, +General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, had so completely subdued the +several factions opposed to his supremacy that he deemed it safe for +him to lead an army for the recovery of the rebellious province at the +north. + +There were those who said that in so doing he ran a serious risk of +losing whatever he might leave behind him, especially in case of a +defeat, but the pride of the Mexican people had been aroused and there +was a clamorous demand for action. + +There had all the while been war, in a scattering aimless way, and +there had been threatening embassies, like that recently accomplished +by Bravo. + +How to invade Texas, nevertheless, was a question to puzzle an invader. +There were not many points or places in the vast area the Americans +were seizing that were of military value. An invading army would but +waste its time in marching around or in camping on the prairies. It +must find a Texan army and defeat it or go home useless. + +One of the few points of importance, in most men's opinion, was the +Alamo fort, but it was really little more than a convenient +rallying-place. Apart from that, a scientific general would have said +that it was nothing but a piece of ground which had been walled in. It +was worth blockading, perhaps, but it was not worth a hard fight. + +The Texans themselves did not think so, nor did the Mexicans. To the +Texans it had a certain value as a stronghold, and they took much pride +in it on that account. The Mexican generals were possessed with an +idea that it was Texas itself and that it would be absolutely necessary +to take it. + +General Houston, making a careful inspection of the fort and its +surroundings the morning after his arrival, was deeply impressed both +with its importance and its weakness. + +"Boys," he said, "if this place had rations enough and powder enough in +it you and Travis could hold it all the year 'round." + +"Jesso, gineral," responded a ranger; "but if they fetched big guns, +they could knock them walls to flinders." + +The walls looked very strong, and his comrades disagreed with him, but +Houston shook his head and walked to the eighteen-pounder in the middle +of what some of them called the "plaza." + +"This would do," he said to himself, "but Santa Anna won't drag in any +guns like this as far as the Alamo. He can't take this fort with +nothing but ranchero lancers and field-guns. I must get some money +somehow and put things in order, but where I'm to get it I don't know." + +He went in then to eat his breakfast, and not long afterwards was +riding away, with a sufficient escort to protect him from being +murdered before he could get out of the town of San Antonio de Bexar. + +In the dawn of that very morning a cloud of wild horsemen had gathered +upon the open prairie between the sink-hole and the grove where the +little party of Colonel Bowie was believed to be still encamped. That +from it came no sign of life was of no importance whatever to warriors +who knew how perfectly the rangers were skilled in all the cunning of +bush and forest fighting. + +A mist had covered the rolls and the hollows, but the smoke of the +camp-fire could be seen. Once a log fell, sending up a shower of +sparks, and Great Bear himself remarked that Big Knife's men were +putting on more wood. He now had with him the greater part of his +force, but every pony was tired, and some of them had given out +entirely. + +There was no special reason for haste, excepting the water of the +spring for men and beasts. Perhaps the better way would be to obtain a +parley and induce the Texans to come out of their ambush before +slaughtering them. A little cunning might accomplish that, and so the +Comanches waited. + +Of course, the grove was surrounded to prevent any sudden dash for +escape, but shortly after the rising sun began his work upon the mist +the encircling force moved slowly nearer. The main body moved together +until they were about a hundred yards from the outer shrubbery. Then +they halted, and a single brave, a chief of rank, dismounted and went +forward on foot, holding out his right hand with the palm up, in token +of a wish for truce and conference. + +The eyes of his band were upon the messenger and he walked steadily, +although all the while believing himself to be covered by the unerring +aim of Texan sharp-shooters. His nerves were very good. No sooner, +however, did he reach the trees than Great Bear and his column moved +forward again. + +On strode the solitary herald of peace, or of treachery, but no rifle +cracked, no mustang neighed, no Texan came out of a bush. It was the +strangest affair, to the mind of a man who was absolutely sure that his +enemies were there. + +On he marched until he stood by the fire at the spring, and glanced +fiercely around him. It was too much! His hand went to his mouth, and +he uttered a whoop which brought every Comanche within hearing +pell-mell toward the grove. + +Such a rush would have been their best chance for crushing Bowie's men +in any case, but the charging warriors found no Texans to crush. Wild +were the whoops of wrath and disappointment, but Great Bear himself was +equal to the occasion. His face expressed strong admiration of such a +feat of generalship, and he said, loudly,-- + +"Ugh! Big Knife great chief! Getaway heap! Comanche tired now. Find +Texan by and by." + +There was no help for it. The only thing to do was to rest and to eat, +for immediate pursuit was out of the question. + +Miles and miles away, an hour or so later, in another camping place as +good as the one they had left, the white riflemen also were taking it +easy. They had plenty of buffalo cutlets to broil; they had distanced +their pursuers, and they were contented. + +"Boys," remarked Colonel Bowie, "we've gained a whole day's ride on 'em +if we work it right." + +"All right, colonel," responded Joe; "but when that young Lipan rid in +last night I begun to wish I was back in the Alamo. My skelp felt +loose." + +"He's a buster," remarked Jim Cheyne; "but I'm right down glad his dad +is here. Best guide we could git." + +As for Red Wolf himself, he was sitting apart from the rest. After +all, he was only a boy and all these others were distinguished warriors. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +THE CHARGE OF THE LANCERS. + +Days that go by with nothing in them but steady riding, +buffalo-killing, and undisturbed camps at the end of each day may be +very pleasant but they are not exciting. As Colonel Bowie remarked to +his men, however,-- + +"A squad like ours, mounted as we are, can get ahead faster than a big +band like Great Bear's. They'll send scouting-parties ahead, but we +can keep out of their way. We're making first-rate time." + +So they were, and they were also carefully keeping their horses in good +condition for any required run. They carried no baggage, and they had +now, they thought, a long "start" ahead of their Comanche pursuers. + +The most silent rider among them, not excepting Castro himself, was Red +Wolf, and it was not altogether because he was a boy. The fact was +that he had been seeing and hearing a great deal, and that he was full +to bursting with the spirit of adventure which all the while spoke out +in the talk of the Texans. + +They told wild stories of old war-paths; of fights of every kind, and +of visits to cities and towns of the white men. They talked, too, +about gold and silver and what could be done with money, so that the +young Lipan grew more and more interested in an idea he never had +before,--the idea of riches. It did not yet take complete shape in his +mind, excepting in one form, given by Big Knife, the hero. It was what +he said about the great gun in the plaza of the Alamo, and the money it +would cost to kill Mexicans with that and the other cannon. The "heap +guns" themselves had cost a great deal of money. In that shape, or +even in the shape of rifles or horses, Red Wolf could now understand it +fairly well. He thought of the bags in the hole in the _adobe_ wall, +but these, he believed, belonged to Big Knife and the Texans. They +could not be the property of a Lipan boy, and he never thought of such +a thing for a moment. Very vaguely, moreover, he had gathered that +this present war-party expected to find gold and silver and to bring it +back with them, after killing enemies and winning glory in fights. + +It was all new and it was all wonderful, but there was no use in +talking about it, so he kept still and was inclined to ride ahead, or +else to linger some distance behind his party. + +As yet there had been no sign of any pursuers near them, but toward the +close of one long, bright day Red Wolf had fallen so far behind that he +was almost out of sight of his pale-face friends. + +The swift mustang under him was in fine condition. So very well did he +feel that he was restive, and a deer that sprang out of a covert of +hazel-bushes as he was going by made him jump and throw up his heels. +Not that he was at all afraid of a deer, but that it was curious, +perhaps, to find himself carrying a hunter who would not so much as +send an arrow after such capital game. + +"Ugh!" exclaimed Red Wolf, and it came out sharply, from utter surprise. + +In his sudden prancing his pony had wheeled around, and there, coming +over a rise of ground not two hundred yards away, rode three Comanches. +The instant they were discovered they uttered fierce whoops and dashed +forward. + +"Wh-oo-p!" yelled the young Lipan, lashing his too spirited pony to a +run. "Comanche dog! Red Wolf!" + +There was no more to be said just then, however. The warm wind from +the south seemed to whistle past him. Far to the right and far to the +left yet other war-whoops were sounding. Not the whole band of Great +Bear, he thought, but a sufficient number of their best mounted braves +to make trouble for Bowie and his men. + +There is no such thing as mistaking a war-whoop for any other sound, +and now Red Wolf exclaimed "Ugh!" again in still greater astonishment. +He knew that there was no bugle among the Texans with Big Knife, but he +had heard the sound of one at the fort and afterwards. "Heap whistle" +would have been a good translation of his Lipan word for bugle music, +and he uttered it loudly. It came from the left, and it was faint at +first, but in a few moments it was repeated more sonorously, and he +wheeled his mustang in that direction. + +At that very moment Castro himself, riding at the head of the squad, +lifted his left hand as if pointing and exclaimed,-- + +"Ugh! Big Knife hear! Mexicans!" + +"It's a cavalry bugle, colonel!" shouted Jim Cheyne. "I can ketch it. +Thar it comes ag'in----" + +"Wheel to the right! Gallop!" replied Bowie. "It's Bravo's lancers. +They are this side of the Rio! Now, boys, the chief was just saying we +were only a half-hour's ride from the hacienda. His Lipans are there." + +Were they? It is not always that a man can give the whereabouts of +other men from whom he has been several days absent. A ride of half an +hour is also to be measured by the speed of a horse, rather than by +feet and inches. Very near them, therefore, if the distance were that +of a swift horse on a run, a mule and his rider had halted on the +northerly bank of a broad and very muddy river. + +Directly across the river, on a low bluff of seemingly bare, sandy +ground, there was a long range of low-built houses, part of them +surrounded by a wall. They were altogether like a vast number of other +Mexican-Spanish _haciendas_, or head-quarters of important country +estates. If this, however, were the Hacienda Dolores, and if Castro's +Lipans were there, they had raised over the largest of the _adobe_ +structures the eagle flag of Mexico. They had stationed uniformed +sentinels here and there, and they had picketed horses, with saddles +and military trappings, in long rows near at hand. + +"Tetzcatl counts more than four hundred," said the man on the mule. +"The Lipans are safe, but the Mexicans must not catch Bowie." + +He spoke in Spanish and his voice was quiet enough, but his face was +all one quiver of rage and hate as he stared across the river. What if +his entire plan was to be broken up and his red and white allies +destroyed by this unexpected activity of his Mexican enemies? It was, +moreover, a dangerous place of waiting for a solitary old man, to whom +no quarter would be given if he were found there by Mexican soldiers. + +"Too long! Too long!" he exclaimed. "They ought to be here. It is +time!" + +At that moment the mule under him stretched his neck and head to send +forth a loud and seemingly uncalled-for bray. He had an abundance of +ears, but what could he have heard? His white-headed master at first +heard nothing at all, but then he drove his spurs into the sides of his +trumpeting beast in a way that cut off braying. + +"Bowie!" he shouted. "Running. He is trapped by Bravo's men!" + +There, indeed, racing as if for life, were the six Texans and Castro, +but where was their young Lipan scout, and what was he doing? + +Castro was asking that question, and so was the colonel, only the +moment before, but now they pulled in their horses to look across the +river, in blank dismay, at the flag over the hacienda. + +"They've got us this time, colonel!" roared a broad-chested ranger. +"Our call has come. Let's die game!" + +"You bet we will," said Joe, "but we ain't dead yit. Something's +a-goin' on away back yonder. I heard an Injin yell sure's you live." + +If he and his friends had not been running away so fast they might have +heard a number of Indians yell. + +Red Wolf had ridden toward the bugle, not away from it. Hardly three +minutes of so swift a run had been required to bring him out in full +view of a strong party of mounted men in the brilliant uniform of the +Mexican regular lancers. It was just as they obeyed the musical order +to go forward at a charging gait. They were splendid horsemen and they +moved together in perfect array, but it was not to make a dash upon one +Indian boy. They had some reasons for expecting an encounter with the +band of Lipans which had quartered, during several days, in and around +the deserted hacienda. Here these were now, they thought, apparently +ready to be pounced upon and overwhelmed, but this nearest brave upon +the mustang showed no sign of hostility. On the contrary, he pulled +in, almost halted, and waved his hand to them before pointing back, as +if he would say,-- + +"Your enemies and mine are there. Be ready for them." + +Swift orders rang along the charging column, but the solitary Indian +wheeled out of their way, still making friendly signs, while over the +swells of the prairie came the wild riders of whom he was evidently +telling. + +To him no more attention could be given just then, for there were more +Comanches arriving than Bowie had believed at all likely. They had +travelled faster and in better condition than he had calculated, and +fully a third of Great Bear's warriors were within reaching distance. + +It was a tremendous surprise all around. The fast-gathering braves had +expected to close in upon a mere handful of tired-out Texans. The +lancers had counted upon a brush with a small war-party of Lipans. +Here the two forces were, however, face to face, altogether too near to +escape a collision, unless one side or both should lose courage and run +away. + +Red Wolf had lashed his mustang to its best speed in wheeling from +between the combatants, and he barely succeeded, for the Comanches were +careering in various directions. It was not their custom to charge in +close column. + +"Ugh!" said the boy warrior. "Heap fool Comanche. See Great Bear." + +The great war-chief was indeed among his men, as cool as ever in spite +of the surprise. He had his best braves with him, and they greatly +outnumbered the Mexicans. The latter, indeed, rather than the red men, +had stumbled into a bad place. They were brave enough, but the +Comanches have been called by army officers "the best light cavalry in +the world." Not one of them turned to follow Red Wolf any farther, and +he did not wait to be followed. He looked behind him only to catch a +fleeting view of a terribly confused skirmish. Both sides carried +lances. At close quarters, the bows and arrows of the red men were +even better weapons than were such firearms as were carried by the +cavalry. It certainly took less time to load a bow-string than it did +to put a charge into a horse-pistol or a carbine. + +The Mexicans were fighting well, Red Wolf could take note of that. +What he did not see was the fact that they were going down very fast +and that more Comanches were arriving. The one idea in his mind was to +overtake his friends. + +The river! The great, muddy Rio Grande! Here it was, with not a sign +of Colonel Bowie's party upon its desolate bank. + +Red Wolf halted in something like dismay, but it was no time for +hesitation. His friends could not have gone down southward. Their +errand would lead them up the river. He must hunt for them in that +direction. Whether he should ever reach them or not was a difficult +question, as his first glance across the river told him. It was not so +much the flag on the hacienda. He was not afraid of a flag. But the +river was shallow and fordable at this point, and a party of lancers +had already made its way well out from the farther shore. They, as +well as he, could hear the rattling reports and the fierce whooping +from the battle that was going on, and they were making as much haste +as the muddy bottom permitted. They uttered loud shouts when they +caught sight of the one "brave" on the bank, and they fired shot after +shot at him, but he was out of range of the short, smooth-bore carbines +they were firing. He answered them with a yell of derision and rode on. + +"Ugh!" he said. "Heap Mexican! All lose hair. Great Bear come." + +Even a Lipan boy could feel more exultation than anything else over the +idea that one enemy of his tribe was doing much harm to another. As an +Indian, moreover, he could be proud of the prowess of a chief like +Great Bear, almost as great a man, in his estimation, as Big Knife or +as Castro. + +It was a hot skirmish, but it was a short one. Half the lancers were +down, but their charge had carried them through the unsteady swarm of +their enemies. All that were left were keeping well together and were +galloping toward the river, followed by flights of arrows. They would +have been more closely followed by wild horsemen but for the fact that +the Comanche ponies were at the end of a long, tiresome "push," while +the animals of the cavalry were fresh. There was no such thing as +catching up with them, and they reached the bank just as their comrades +from the opposite shore were wading out. + +There were loud shouts of explanation. There were signals to and from +the hacienda, but all that could be done was to recross the river. +After all, Red Wolf had not won any glory, but his enemies had once +more suffered severely in trying to get hold of him. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +THE HORSE-THIEVES AND THE STAMPEDE. + +"Boys," said Colonel Bowie, sitting upon his panting horse and looking +back down the river, "they saw us. I don't think we could make another +run. Dismount!" + +They were barely a mile and a half above the point where they had +struck the Rio Grande, but it was time to give their horses a rest and +to consider the situation. They had halted on the brow of a bluff, and +they were looking in all directions. Not a man of them could guess +from what quarter their next disaster might come. + +"Big Knife wait," replied the Lipan chief. "Castro go back for Red +Wolf." + +"Guess not!" exclaimed Jim Cheyne. "Colonel, if thar isn't that thar +old cuss Tetzcatl on his mule." + +Here he came, plodding along as calmly as ever, but there was very +little news that he could tell them. He could not even explain the +presence of General Bravo's regiment of lancers. + +"The general said, at the Alamo, that he was going after the Apaches," +remarked the colonel, "but here he is." + +"Whoop!" rang out from the lower ground easterly. "Who-o-o-oop!" + +"Red Wolf!" exclaimed Castro. "Boy no lose hair! Ugh! Heap young +brave!" + +On he came, and there was no one following him. How could he have +escaped? He tried to tell how when he reached them, but before he had +finished his story of the Comanches and the lancers Tetzcatl turned his +mule toward the river. + +"_Bueno!_" he said. "We can cross here. The lancers are busy. So are +the Comanches. The Lipans are on the other side and we can find them. +Come!" + +"All right!" shouted Bowie. "Forward! Boys, Great Bear is our best +hold just now. He got in just in the nick of time." + +The chief himself had not said so, nor had the beaten lancers. Both +sides of that fight had been severely surprised. + +It seemed to the Comanches that their long chase had reached a +stopping-place, and what to do next they could not say, except to rest +their horses. As for the lancers, what was left of the fighting party +was now safe at the hacienda. + +The Texans had no choice but to follow their white-headed guide. Not +one of them heard him say, as his mule waded into the river,-- + +"_Bueno_! The Comanches got them. It is a great satisfaction. I will +take the Texans into the mountains and give them to Huitzilopochtli. +They shall go down to him when he calls for them. The gods are hungry." + +There had, indeed, been vast changes in the manner and amount of +worship paid them since the landing of Cortez. There had been a time +of fanatical devotion before that, when from twenty thousand to fifty +thousand human victims had been sacrificed annually to the terrible +divinities of the Mexicans. The scattered remnants of the old, dark +tribes, who still clung to their heathenish faith, might be as ready as +their fathers had been to offer sacrifices, but the offerings were not +so easily to be provided. + +"The days have been too many," grumbled Tetzcatl, "in which not one +Spaniard stood before the altar. We have had to give them mission men, +women, children. They shall have six white men from the North." + +Those Mexican Indians who, from time to time, had nominally accepted +the religion brought to them by the missionaries of the Church of Rome +were not to be classed as Spaniards exactly, but they would answer as +less valuable substitutes. Perhaps they were really as available for +sacrificial purposes as had been the yearly prisoners of war, entirely +unconverted heathen, who had been slaughtered at the _teocallis_, or +idol temples, before any Spaniards were to be had. + +Altogether ignorant of the religious fate intended for them, the Texans +gained the southerly bank of the river, but their guide did not pause +there. He spurred his mule, waved his hand to them, and pushed onward. +He was upon ground that he knew, and their weary day's journey ended in +a dense forest, where they could believe themselves safe, for the time, +from their enemies. + +"Night come," said Castro to his son. "Red Wolf go see Mexicans. No +take horse." + +"Ugh!" replied the young warrior. "Find lancers. See hacienda. Where +great chief go?" + +"Castro find Comanches," replied his father. "Big Knife keep camp. +Tetzcatl hunt Lipans. Texan sleep." + +It was a time for vigorous scouting, but the condition of the horses +required that the scouts should use their own legs. No one went out at +once, however. After a hearty supper they all lay down for a while. +All but Tetzcatl. Nobody could say just at what moment the old +Tlascalan disappeared, leaving his mule behind him. + +"Boys," remarked Joe, "we're all here and we ain't corked up, but thar +isn't a blamed thing we can do. It's been a pretty tough kind of spree +far as we've gone." + +"Wall, ye-es," drawled Jim Cheyne, "and thar's no tellin' what 'll turn +up next." + +"Jesso," came from another ranger, "and we needn't crow loud. Thar +wouldn't ha' been a head o' ha'r left among us if it hadn't been for +that cub o' Castro's; he's a buster." + +"So's his dad," remarked Jim; "but whar are they now?" + +He was looking, as he spoke, at the spot where he had seen them spread +their blankets. Those were there, but neither a young Lipan nor an old +one. + +"They ain't in this camp," said Joe, after a wider search. "Gone +visitin'?" + +They had not gone together. A very little later the chief was wading +into the river at a place somewhat below where Tetzcatl had led them +across, and he was alone. + +His son was at the same time slipping along among the bushes and trees +toward the Hacienda Dolores. He was making rapid headway, and his +bright, black eyes were dancing with excitement. Fatigue was a thing +he seemed to know little about. Probably it had rested him to sit down +long enough to eat his supper. + +The old hacienda had a number of lights burning in it that night, and +there were campfires kindled here and there outside of the wall for the +lancers. There were a few tents, but the greater part of the force was +compelled to bivouac upon its blankets. The Comanches were known not +to have crossed the Rio Grande, and there was no fear of a night +attack, so that only the ordinary sentries and patrols had been posted. +The most important of these were in charge of the "corral," where the +cavalry horses were picketed, and with them a large drove of +half-trained mustangs which had been gathered to fill the places of +such animals as were from time to time used up by reckless riders. The +rancheros are horsemen, but they are almost horse-killers in their +merciless spurring. + +"Heap pony!" said Red Wolf to himself, when at last he was able to +crawl along the ground, within watching distance of the corral. +"Mexican bad eye. Lose pony. Great Bear send brave. Ugh!" + +An indistinct shadow was moving along not many yards from him. Another +lay very still a little farther off, but this latter shadow was the +body of the sentry who had gone to sleep on his post. There was no one +there now but Red Wolf to note the passage of several more shadows, not +in uniform. He crept a little farther and lay still in a hollow. He +hardly breathed, for it was equally dangerous to retreat or to go +forward. + +"Lie down heap," he thought. "See what come. Ugh! Comanche bring +horse. Pin pony. Go back for more." + +That was precisely what had been done by the daring and expert red +horse-thieves. They were unsurpassed in that line of business, and +they had made their selections with care. Only the best of the animals +tethered near that point by the lancers had been selected for removal. + +Nevertheless, the red men were few. They could not spare a sentry. +They did but secure their first string of prizes by lariats and pins +before they went in for another lot. + +"Big Knife want horse," remarked the young Lipan to himself. "Red Wolf +take. Comanche lose pony." + +It was short creeping, and then the pins were out and the string of +stolen quadrupeds was once more in motion. Their feet hardly made a +sound upon the sand as they went. They were led on to the shelter of +some bushes, and there Red Wolf left them that he might once more snake +his way back to his perilous post of observation. It seemed like going +to almost certain death, but he worked his stealthy way along until he +could see a tall warrior, leading several ponies, come to a sudden halt +at the place where the first captures had been left. + +"Ugh!" exclaimed the warrior. "Heap pony gone. More braves come take +'em. Good. Take more pony." + +He believed, therefore, that his own tribesmen had been there, but at +that moment a shrill "Who-o-o-op" sounded from the darkness near him. +Almost unconsciously, or from the force of habit, he replied to it with +his own war-cry. Following that came a dozen more from within the +corral. One after another, in quick succession, every Mexican sentinel +fired off his musket in sudden alarm. A bugler caught up his bugle and +began to blow it loudly. It was a hubbub of mingled sounds, but the +warriors in the corral sprang each upon the back of the nearest pony +and plied his whip savagely upon the frightened animals around him. +Horses neighed, mules brayed, red men whooped, cavalrymen shouted, and +the net result was a wild stampede of every brute that was loose or +that could break his tether. Of course, they all ran after the first +to get away, and these had struck out into the open country. + +It was no time for Red Wolf to care what became of the drove, the +hacienda, or the Comanches. He had retreated after sounding his +mischievous whoop, and he was now on the back of one of the stolen +horses, with the others following patiently in a string behind him. +They at least had escaped being stampeded, and at the same time a large +number of their four-footed comrades were on their way to the river +under the care of the successful warriors of Great Bear. + +There was no danger that General Bravo's crack regiment would be in +pursuit of anybody very early the next morning. + +The night was indeed nearly gone when Jim Cheyne, standing sentry for +the Texans, was hailed from among the bushes,-- + +"Red Wolf! Want Big Knife. Bring pony." + +"Colonel," shouted Jim, "here's that buster boy again. He's been +stealing ponies from the Greasers. He'll do." + +"He will!" exclaimed Bowie, springing to his feet and coming forward. + +In a few minutes more he said it again, and so did they all with +emphasis, but the colonel added, gloomily,-- + +"It's almost sun-up, boys. What I want is to hear from Tetzcatl and +Castro and the Lipans." + +"Glad we've a lot of fresh mounts, anyhow," said Joe. "What we need +most is to be able to git away." + +"We will go to the river-bank first," said Bowie. "Castro is to meet +us there. Even Tetzcatl believed the Lipans had gone across the river." + +"If they did it's all day with them," replied Cheyne, but Red Wolf did +not at all understand him. He was just then, under Colonel Bowie's +instructions, selecting for his own use the very best of the fine +animals he had so daringly captured and brought to camp. + +The camp-fires were soon blazing, but little time could be given to +breakfast. Their present position was too perilous. Parties of +lancers would surely be out, and there were too many of them. Besides, +there were the Comanches, and no man knew when or where they might make +their appearance. + +It was bright morning when the little cavalcade, with its fine supply +of extra horses, filed out from among the woods and went slowly +northward. + +"I kind o' wish we were all back at the Alamo," remarked Joe. + +"We won't go in that direction jest yit," said Jim Cheyne. "We'd +better ride clean across the continent." + +"Halt!" sprang from the lips of Colonel Bowie. "Here he comes! My +God, boys! What's happened?" + +Not with his usual swiftly gliding step, but staggering and panting as +if in pain, the old Tlascalan appeared at a little distance ahead of +them. He was alone, and he motioned to them to stay where they were. + +"Find Comanche," suggested Red Wolf. + +Bowie was silent, but when the old man drew near enough he asked,-- + +"Did you sight the Lipans?" + +"All gone!" gasped Tetzcatl. + +"Castro?" + +"Gone!" came faintly back. "Great Bear's whole band. My mule! We +must push on! They are crossing the Rio!" + +Bowie sprang to the ground and strode forward. + +"Man alive!" he said. "Where are you hurt? Tell us the rest of it +while I fix you up. Jim, get that plaster and scissors out of my +saddle-bags. We mustn't lose him just now." + +Off came the _serape_ from the old man's shoulders and an awful gash +was discovered. His left arm told of an arrow, and there was a deep +cut on his head. He was tough indeed to have carried all those hurts +with him across the Rio Grande. + +"I'm surgeon enough," remarked the colonel. "I don't believe he can +live, boys, but we must do the best we can. Put him on his mule." + +The wounds had been dressed with much care and skill, but the wounded +man had hardly seemed to think of them. Briefly and clearly he told of +his scouting beyond the river; of a meeting with Castro and then with +the party of Lipans. There had been an attempt to rejoin the Texans, +but in making it the entire force of Great Bear, called out by the +return of the horse-thieves from the hacienda, had suddenly swarmed +around them. Tetzcatl had escaped mainly because he was on foot, but a +lance-thrust in the dark and the arrows that fell like snow had done +their work upon him. Here he was now, to say as persistently as ever,-- + +"Gold! The treasure of Montezuma." + +"What do we care for gold just now?" grumbled Jim Cheyne. "I'm +thinkin' of the ha'r on my head." + +Tetzcatl raised his uninjured arm, as he sat upon his mule, and pointed +toward the hacienda. + +"Bravo's lancers," he said, "sweeping the whole country." + +"Fact!" said Jim, but Tetzcatl now pointed northward. + +"Great Bear and his Comanches all the way to the Alamo." + +"That's about so," came from one of the rangers. "We can't git through +'em." + +Once more Tetzcatl turned, and now he pointed westward. + +"Apaches!" he said. "Bowie must come with me. A few days' ride. Then +he will come back with his ponies loaded." + +He spoke with some difficulty, and at the end of his very pointed +remarks he spurred his mule, as if he were going his own way whether or +not the Texans were to follow. + +"Boys," said Bowie, "what do you say?" + +"Thar isn't a word to say," growled Joe. "We've jest got to git. Come +on, fellers. This crowd's travelling gold or no gold." + +"The coast 'll be clear by the time we want to come back," said the +colonel. "We shall hardly meet an enemy going or coming." + +So they turned and rode on after the old Tlascalan. Behind them +quietly followed the Lipan boy. His young face was clouded with +sorrow, but the only words that escaped him were,-- + +"Castro! Great chief of the Lipans! Gone! Red Wolf will strike the +Comanches!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +THE LAST OF TETZCATL. + +A week had gone by and a little cavalcade rode slowly on along a fairly +well marked forest road. In front was a man on a fine-looking horse, +but at his side a mule was carrying a rider who almost lay down, with +his arms around the animal's neck. + +"Can you stand it to get there?" asked the man on the horse. + +"Bowie, you are in the valley now," was the faint-voiced response. +"Ride on, Tetzcatl cannot die but in the house of Huitzilopochtli." + +"Pretty nigh gone, old chap?" was the not unkindly inquiry from the +next horseman behind them. "We'll git you thar. You may pull through. +You're as tough as a hickory knot." + +They could have seen how beautiful was the valley they were riding +through if they had not been in it. As soon, however, as the path they +were in began to climb a steep ascent and they could look back through +the trees, they broke out into strong expressions of admiration. + +"It was a'most worth while comin'," said Jim Cheyne, "if 'twas only to +see this 'ere. If Americans got hold of sech a country as this is +they'd make something out of it." + +"They never will," remarked Bowie. "Best timber. Best farm land in +the world. Fine climate----" + +"Gold! gold! Silver!" gasped the sufferer on the mule. +"Americans--all men will come some day. I die, but the lands of the +Montezumas will not be held by the Spaniards." + +It was as if he could bear the idea of leaving his mountains and +valleys and their riches to any other race than the one which had +broken the empire of its ancient kings and destroyed the temples of the +Aztec gods. + +The Texans could also see more clearly now the grand height of the +mountain chain into which they were climbing. They were evidently in a +pass, partly natural and partly artificial. In places which would +otherwise have been difficult the narrow roadway had been solidly +constructed of massive stonework, for the greater part unhewn. There +had been excavations also, but before long Joe was justified in +remarking,-- + +"I say, colonel, this might do for mules, but it won't for mustangs. +I'd rather go afoot." + +He sprang to the ground as he spoke, and his comrades followed his +example. Well they might, for at their right arose an almost +perpendicular cliff, while at their left the side of the mountain went +down, for hundreds of feet, without a tree or a bush to prevent man or +horse from rolling the entire descent. + +"How far have we now to go?" asked Bowie of his guide. "Red Wolf, hold +on." + +"Red Wolf find road," came back in Lipan-Spanish. "Big Knife bring old +man. Tetzcatl heap dead." + +"Pitch ahead, then!" exclaimed the colonel. "Boys, wait here with the +critters. I'll go on and find the place. The boy can come back after +you." + +"All right, colonel," replied Jim. "He won't last long now." + +"On! on!" exclaimed Tetzcatl, his fierce, black eyes burning with the +fire of the fever which had set in upon him, caused by his hurts. "We +are at the door! I will die in the house!" + +He was very weak and in pain, but at the end of a hundred yards more of +that steep and dangerous pass he halted his mule, slipped off to the +ground, and actually stood erect. + +"Stay here," he said. "No Spaniard ever entered the last house of +Huitzilopochtli. I go on!" + +He turned, bracing himself with all his remaining strength, and went +forward as if he believed that his injunctions had been obeyed. + +"Fever crazy," said the colonel, in a low voice. "Keep just behind +him. If we can follow without his knowing." + +That was by no means difficult, for he did not turn his head, and there +were many bushes, but it was best to let him keep a number of paces in +the advance. + +It was a winding pathway as well as steep. There were sudden turns +around rocky projections, and now the gorge at the left was deeper and +more terrible to look down into. + +"What?" exclaimed Bowie, as he and his boy companion turned one of +these corners. "Where is he? Did he tumble off the path? There isn't +a trace of him!" + +Vacant indeed was the narrow way before them, but Red Wolf sprang +forward. The mountain-side above was not perpendicular at this point +and there were bushes. + +"Too much heap bush," said Red Wolf. "Track rabbit into hole. Ugh!" + +He parted the luxuriant growth as he spoke and uncovered something +plainer than a rabbit-track. + +"Go ahead!" said the colonel. "Don't make a sound. He was trying to +get away. He never meant to show it to us at all. Thunder! A man +might hunt for this a hundred years and never find it." + +"Ugh!" came warningly from Red Wolf, for right before him was the cleft +in the rock. + +No guard was there to hinder them, but they pushed forward with all +caution. Tetzcatl could not be many paces farther on. He must, as +yet, be entirely unaware that he had been so closely followed. + +"It's a hole into a den," muttered Bowie. "We've got to all but go on +all-fours." + +It was an exciting moment with so much mystery and uncertainty just +ahead of him, but he did not betray any excitement. Hardly as much +could be said for the Red Wolf, for he was on an entirely new kind of +hunt and it did excite him. + +There is a singular muscular power that often comes with the delirium +of fever. It sometimes even exceeds, for a moment, the utmost strength +of health. + +Not at all feeble, but firm and elastic, was the step with which +Tetzcatl walked out from the entrance burrow into the great hall of the +cavern. He went forward without a pause at first, and without +speaking, although something more than ordinary was going on. + +The sculptured head of the war-god stood out in full relief from the +dark face of the rock, for a great glare fell upon it from the altar. +The fire was blazing high, revealing here and there the ghastly, +ghostly figures of the priestly worshippers. They seemed to be more in +number than on the day of his departure, but there were also other +human beings present. Several of these latter stood immediately in +front of the altar with rope fetters on their wrists. + +A species of monotonous chant was sounding, by discordant voices, in +the tongue of the ancient race. Every now and then, as the weird, +hoarse cadences rose and fell, a club was lifted, a heavy blow was +struck, followed by a flash of steel and the fall of one of the +fettered persons. Each shriek of fear or agony seemed to act as a +signal for louder chanting, that had in it a sound of angry mockery. + +"God in heaven!" exclaimed Bowie, in a hushed whisper, at the upper end +of the cave. "I've heard of it! I've read of it! That's an idol. +They are offering human sacrifices. It's awful, and I can't do one +thing for 'em. There went the last of 'em, as far as I can see. Red +Wolf, keep close by me. I'm going to see this thing clean through. +There goes Tetzcatl." + +"Ugh!" was all the reply of Red Wolf, but he was apparently quite ready +to charge forward, lance in hand, if such were his orders from his +white chief. + +Bowie had drawn his knife and had taken a heavy belt-pistol in his left +hand, cocking it. He had not halted for an instant, and he was now +half-way down the cavern. Here, however, he almost lay down, with Red +Wolf at his side, in so deep a shadow that there was little danger of +their presence being speedily discovered. At that moment, moreover, +the cave-dwellers were giving all their attention to Tetzcatl, as he +stood haranguing them at the highest pitch of his sepulchral voice. If +he were giving them an account of his journey into Texas, only those +who understood his dialect could tell, and before long he turned and +walked away toward the lower end of the cave, still talking and +gesticulating fiercely. All the others moved when he did, and they +were dragging with them the lifeless forms of the victims that had been +slain in front of the altar. + +"This is a terrible piece of work," muttered Bowie to himself. "I'd +like to kill every one of those fellows. I knew they were still doing +this kind of thing in Africa, wholesale and retail, thousands on +thousands, all the while, but I'd reckoned it was long ago played out +on this continent. There are loads of things that we don't know. +Anyhow, this must be about the last of it." + +Not even Africa itself exceeded some parts of America in the bloody +nature of their old-time idol-worship. There could be, moreover, no +sound reason for supposing that altogether unreclaimed heathen, here or +there, would change their ways or cease from observing their rites +merely because other men had become civilized. + +Tetzcatl and his companions reached the level at the brink of the +chasm, and the booming sound came loudly up. + +"What can it be?" thought Bowie. "I'll see what they're going to do, +cost what it may. There isn't a shooting-iron among 'em. Some of 'em +are stark naked. If it's got to be a fight, I believe I could wipe out +the whole crowd, but I don't mean to run any risks. What I want is to +learn all I can this trip and get out alive." + +Red Wolf went forward at his side, lance in hand, with the crouching, +springing step of a young panther rather than the gliding of a wolf. + +"Big Knife strike!" he said. "Heap kill. Ugh! Red Wolf! Son of +Castro!" + +The chanting began again, and Tetzcatl seemed to be leading it, +gesticulating furiously, while body after body was lifted from the +floor and hurled into the chasm to go down to the gods. As the last +offering disappeared, he turned and pointed at the planks. In an +instant these were raised and slipped across the chasm. + +"Bridge," muttered Bowie. "I've been in caves before, but this is a +pretty big one. There's more of it, I suppose, away in yonder. Best +kind of hiding-place. Now, what are they going to do?" + +Up to this moment Tetzcatl had exhibited the strength of the hot fever +which was consuming him. Now, however, he tottered and reeled as he +walked out to the middle of the bridge. Standing here, staggering back +and forth, he shouted a few words in his own tongue and then plunged +down, head foremost. + +"That's the last of him!" exclaimed Bowie. + +"Ugh!" whispered Red Wolf. "Heap look!" + +The chanting began again, as if a sacrifice had been offered. One +after another the withered guardians of the cave of Huitzilopochtli +walked slowly across the bridge, and their torches speedily disappeared +in a vast and vaulted gloom upon the other side. + +"Now!" exclaimed Bowie. + +He sprang to the altar and snatched from it a branch of blazing pine. +Red Wolf did the same, and they were without other company when they +stood together at the brink of the chasm. + +"We won't go across," said Bowie; "but what's this? God in heaven! +It's the treasure!" + +There they lay, the stacks of ingots and the heaps of nuggets. He +could not even roughly estimate their value, but he exclaimed,-- + +"Enough to pay the entire debt of Texas; equip an army; build a navy; +buy out Mexico from all the land, west, to the Pacific." + +It was the golden dream of a new empire, and he stood as still as a +statue for a half-minute, dreaming it, while Red Wolf lifted his torch +and peered into the yawning gulf and across the bridge. + +"Just as old Tetzcatl said," remarked Bowie, when his thoughtful fit +ended. "But we can't take it now. There may be a hundred men in +yonder. What's more, if we tried it on we might be caught in the pass +by a swarm of 'em. It won't do. There are not enough of us this time. +We'll have to come again. I'll take along some samples, but gold is +heavy." + +He began at once to cut off long strips from the serape which Tetzcatl +had thrown upon the floor. They answered for straps with which to tie +up for himself and Red Wolf as many gold bars as they could +conveniently carry. They worked rapidly, for time might be precious. +Not merely for the present matter of their own life or death, but that +no returning idol-worshipper might know that the secret of the cavern +had been discovered. + +"Out now," said Bowie. "This is all we can do this time, but I don't +want to see any more high old Mexican religion." + +"Ugh!" said Red Wolf. "Tetzcatl gone. Heap fool jump!" + +"Well," replied Bowie, coolly, "the old rascal was about dead anyhow." + +After that he was silent and so was his companion, while they hurried +out of the cave. They hardly uttered a word until they stood among +their comrades in the pass. + +"Hurrah!" shouted Jim Cheyne. "We've been up and we've been down +huntin' ye. What kept ye so long, colonel?" + +The fagots of golden bars were held up before the astonished eyes of +the rangers, and they crowded around to see and to feel the wonderful +yellow metal. + +"Colonel," gasped Joe, "I don't believe a word of it, but just tell us +what it is." + +"The Montezuma treasure!" shouted Bowie. "Heaps on heaps of it in the +cave." + +"We'll go right in," responded voice after voice, in feverish eagerness. + +"Not to-day, we won't," he said, and then, while they listened in +awe-struck silence, he told them all there was to tell and what he +intended doing. + +"Your head's level," said Jim, at the conclusion of it. "We mustn't go +in. We'd be followed by an army of 'em all the way to the Rio. Not +one of us 'd git thar." + +"Just so," said the colonel. "Now I'll swear you all in to keep the +secret, and then we must be moving. We can come back with three +hundred men, and even then nobody must know we're coming till the job's +done clean." + +Every man was ready to be sworn to secrecy, but the Texan patriot made +them swear to one thing more. One full half of all that might be +recovered from the cave, over and above the expenses of an expedition +to obtain it, was to go into the treasury of Texas, to be spent in +fighting for its freedom. They were of one accord as to that, without +a dissenting voice, but Bowie was a liberal man as well as patriotic +and prudent, and as soon as the future was duly cared for, he saw that +it was right and wise to provide them with a sufficient reward for +their services in the present expedition. + +"You've done well this first time," had come from Jim Cheyne. + +"Well," said the colonel, "these things are near of a size. We'll +divide 'em, share and share alike, every fellow to tote his own +winnings. It 'll be the best four weeks' work any of you were ever +paid for----" + +"Half to Texas anyhow!" shouted Jim, as he handled the bars that fell +to his lot. "The republic can have my whole pile if I'm knocked on the +head. Hurrah! Now for home! We've done enough!" + +As for Red Wolf, he hardly knew what to do with three long, heavy, +dingy sticks of metal that were assigned to him. He fastened them +behind the saddle which now adorned his mustang, but he did so out of +respect for Big Knife. The saddle itself was a kind of paleface +emcumbrance, but he had won it at the hacienda, and he rode in it for +the sake of glory, as a prize of war. + +As for regarding a gold bar as a silver dollar, he had not yet climbed +as high as that. The nearest he came to an understanding was when Joe +held up one of his own bars and shouted,-- + +"I say, colonel, just what we've got here would buy another +eighteen-pounder as big as the one in the Alamo." + +"Two of 'em," replied Bowie, "and a dozen rounds apiece of powder and +ball. That's what we want,--powder and ball. Boys! One more secret! +I'm going to take you right thar! We'll go home with cash enough to +put the Alamo in first-rate order, rations, rifles, and all. Forward, +march!" + +On they went, down the mountain, carrying with them the secret of the +treasures of the Montezumas. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +THE PERILOUS PATH. + +Can the mere possession of a secret turn a brave man into a coward? +One would think not, and yet the entire demeanor and conduct of Colonel +Bowie underwent a change. It seemed to be growing upon him, as he led +the way down the pass and out into the valley. His men, too, hardened +frontiersmen and Indian fighters as they were, responded almost +nervously to his every suggestion of extreme watchfulness. + +There were good reasons for it all. They had reached the valley in +peace, but no one could guess by what eyes their arrival had been +noted, or what forces might be gathering to strike a blow at them. + +The dark clans of the Mexican mountains were known to be courageous. +No other men had a greater disregard for either the lives of other men +or their own. They had succeeded in protecting their fastnesses so +perfectly that the Spanish and then the several Mexican governments had +consented to let them alone. As to the latter, indeed, the short +history of Mexico as an independent state had been, thus far, little +better than the record of struggles for power between warring chiefs +and factions. Whoever at any date had been temporarily in authority +had had quite enough to do to maintain his own supremacy. There had +been few troops to spare for operations against the red men of the +North, and none at all for the penetration of the really undiscovered +country which contained such remnants as Tetzcatl and his comrades of +the cave. + +"They could wipe us out, boys," was the freely expressed opinion all +around, and they were ready, as Joe expressed it, "to just sneak all +the way back, if we've any idee of comin' this way ag'in after that +pewter." + +Bowie's own calculations continually went on beyond the dangers of the +road. + +"I've got to reach Houston," he said, "and set him at work with those +dollars. We can make up a force to come again with. I can trust +Crockett and Travis. We can have our pick of men. But we needn't let +the rank and file know the whole thing. One of 'em might let it out +too soon. If we work still enough, we can ride across all this country +and hardly stir up the Mexicans. One big mule train 'll carry all +there is in the cave. We can get it across the Rio Grande, perhaps, +without having to fire a shot. Not that I mind fighting, if it comes +to that, but as soon as it's all landed as far as the Alamo, the +republic of Texas is a made nation. We can arm all the men we can +raise, and we can whip Santa Anna out of his boots." + +It was the fate of the future that was in his mind and on his +shoulders. If he should now get himself killed, with his little band +of rangers, who would ever know where to come for the treasures of the +Montezumas? + +As for Red Wolf, the secret did not trouble him. It did not seem to +belong to him at all. Nevertheless, it was entirely in accord with his +ideas that a war-party, returning through an enemy's country, should +travel as stealthily as so many wild animals. + +That first night no fire was kindled, and the march began again before +the sun was up. Before the end of the next day one worn-out horse had +to be left behind. + +"We'll use 'em all up if need be," remarked Bowie. "All I want is to +get to the chaparral with critters enough to go home from there on a +walk." + +It was on one of those days of watchful, tiresome pushing for the men +who had the secret to carry and the ingots of gold from the cave, but +it was hundreds of miles away from them that a group of very +serious-looking men sat around a table in a log farm-house. If it were +any kind of council, the conversational part of it had momentarily +ceased and they all were thinking silently. + +A heavy step sounded outside the door; it swung suddenly open, and a +voice not at all loud but very much in earnest startled them to their +feet. + +"Here I am, Houston! They're coming!" + +"Crockett!" shouted the astonished general. "I thought you were in +Washington." + +"Well, I ain't, then," responded the grim bear-killer, throwing his +coonskin cap violently upon the table. "I didn't git beyond New +Orleans. I found a heap of letters thar, and thar was all sorts of +deviltry in 'em. It's no use to look for anything from Congress this +session, and that ain't the wust of it." + +"Out with it, colonel," came from across the table. "Let's have it +all. We were having a blue time anyhow." + +"Stingy! stingy! stingy!" roared Crockett. "Everybody's afraid to put +in a cent. Not a dollar to be had, nor any pound of stuff without the +dollars. You see, boys, the trouble is the news from Mexico. Santa +Anna was at Monterey gathering his best troops and getting ready to +come after us. Thar are several regiments already down near Matamoras +on the coast getting supplies by the sea. Every friend of ours seems +to be skeered. They reckon we'll be chawed up." + +"Not so easy," came again from across the table. "I reckon the +Greasers have got their work cut out." + +"Travis," said Crockett, "I'm glad you're here. Have you heard from +Bowie?" + +"Not a word," replied Travis, "except that he and Castro had some kind +of a brush with the Comanches, and another with Bravo's lancers. +Reckon it was all right. He's just the kind of fellow to pull through." + +Even while he spoke, however, the bright-faced ranger colonel caught +Crockett's eye and sent him a look that prevented further questioning. + +"Time for us to be moving," said Houston, steadily. "We'll gather what +forces we can. The first thing is the Alamo. We can send a pretty +good lot of rations." + +"Powder!" said Travis, with energy, "What the Alamo needs is powder. +And we want men enough to handle guns." + +"You shall have them," said Houston. "Texas won't leave you in the +lurch. Go and put things in as good condition as you can." + +"All right," said Travis; but Crockett was eager to learn whatever news +might be had around the table, and he lingered to get it all. At last +he and Travis walked out into the open air, and they were no sooner +alone than the latter turned and looked his friend in the face. + +"Crockett," he said, "either Bowie is wiped out, or he and his men have +ridden down into Mexico after that gold of Tetzcatl's." + +"That's what he's done, then," said Crockett, confidently. "He's a +critter that 'll take no end of killing. He had the right sort of men +with him. What I want is to see him back ag'in, gold or no gold, and +to have him with us when the Greasers come for the Alamo. I mean to be +thar myself." + +"Crockett," replied Bowie, "Sam Houston is mistaken. He can't raise a +dollar. All we've got to depend on is the men. We'll take our pick, +though, and we can hold that fort against all the ragamuffins south of +the Rio Grande." + +On they walked, talking as they went, but if they could have had a look +at some of Santa Anna's "ragamuffins" they might not have felt so +confident. + +In the great plaza of the city of Monterey, in front of the church, a +regiment of infantry was at that hour paraded for inspection. Their +arms were good, for they had just been imported from across the +Atlantic. Their uniforms were new. Their drill was fair. They seemed +to be well handled. They were not by any means, in appearance at +least, the kind of soldiers to be despised by a half-armed garrison of +an old _adobe_ fort. Even the stone part of the Alamo defences might +be in danger, for a battery of heavy cannon was drawn up near them. In +front of the line were halted a dozen or so of officers on horseback, +brilliant in equipment, whose bronzed and bearded faces wore a very +warlike look. + +Encamped near the city walls, outside, were other regiments and other +batteries. What could the Texans mean by their contempt for the forces +which were to come against them? What hope had their poverty-stricken +little state in a struggle against such numbers and such resources as +now were gathering to conquer it? + +The review was over. A salute was fired by the battery. The troops +cheered. The name of Santa Anna mingled loudly with the cheering, and +the general, sending his splendid horse forward, raised his hat +gracefully in response. But then he turned to his attendant officers +and remarked,-- + +"It is well, gentlemen. The troops are in fine condition. We shall +sweep the Gringos out of Texas. Now for the cock-fight, and then we +will have a quiet game of monte at the palace." + +He had pretty fairly condensed into his remarks one feature of the +situation. The sturdy riflemen of the American border were strongly +impressed with the worthlessness of the Mexican military organization; +with the dissipated, lazy character of its men and their commanders; +and they confidently expected that a Mexican invasion of Texas would be +little more than a campaign of wasteful blunders. + +"If we can stand their first rush," had been said by General Houston, +"they'll break all to pieces before they make another." + +If Travis and his friends were beginning to be anxious concerning the +fate of Bowie, he was all the while growing more and more anxious about +it himself. He would have been more so if the region of country he was +pushing his way through had not been so very nearly unoccupied. Here +and there a fortified town or village needed to be given a wide berth. +Strongly built haciendas were to be avoided, if they were not already +deserted. Most of them were so by reason of the recent civil wars, and +yet more on account of the destructive raids of the red men. It was a +nearly ruined country, and it was not altogether impossible for even a +considerable band of prudent men to travel across it without attracting +too much attention. + +The men discussed the probabilities again and again, and their leader +was studying them carefully, but from time to time he shook his head. + +"Boys," he remarked, as they sat around their camp-fire in the woods +that evening, "you're only half right. We could march an expedition +along by this route and not find a soul to hinder us, but there'd be a +whole brigade of lancers riding this way before we could get the +bullion and set out for home. I reckon they'd meet us somewhere about +here. They could pen us in." + +"Colonel," replied Jim Cheyne, "I've thought of that. This is the +shortest road to come or go on, isn't it?" + +"By all odds the shortest," said Bowie. + +"Then it's our road to come back, and we can choose a roundabout road +to go there by. They'll foller our trail, and we kin make one we'd +jest as lieve they would foller. We kin beat 'em." + +It was a kind of relief to their present anxiety to sit there and make +plans for the future. They were never tired, moreover, of hearing +again and again a description of the cavern, the idol, the sacrifices, +the plunges into the chasm, and the heaps of gold and silver. Some day +they were to see it all for themselves, and they were to take the +treasure out of the cave and pack it upon their mules and ponies. Then +they were to go home with it. They could buy plantations, build +houses, "live like gentlemen," as Joe was fond of saying, and all the +while they could strengthen Texas and help its riflemen to drive out +Santa Anna. + +One of their number, however, did not care a button for anything that +they were saying. Not any of it belonged to him. All that he knew +about was the present, and all that he could feel were his keen +instincts as a young Lipan warrior with a party of white men upon his +hands. They were friends of his, and it was his duty to take care of +them. He had gone to sleep at once that evening, after eating his +supper at sunset, but not long after the weary rangers spread their +blankets and lay down their very red associate was up again. + +Joe was acting as sentry at the foot of a tree, with his rifle across +his lap, but he paid no attention to Red Wolf when he saw him walking +toward the nearest underbrush. + +"Indian!" he muttered. "Let him rip." + +"Red Wolf heap look," said he, a few minutes afterwards, as he came out +into a place where the trees were widely scattered. + +A white man might not have seen anything, for all around him was as +dark as a pocket, but upon a cloudy gloom above the forest beyond him +there rested a faint, yellowish glow. + +"Ugh!" he exclaimed. "Fire burn." + +He had brought no weapons with him excepting the knife and pistols in +his belt, but he was now armed better than were most Indian boys, and +Bowie had promised him a rifle. + +From tree to tree, keeping among the shadows, on he went, and all the +while the glow grew brighter, until at last he could see the flashing +of fires and the forms of those around them. + +"Ugh!" said Red Wolf. "Mexican. No Comanche. Heap sleep." + +In every direction lay the prostrate forms of men. Standing erect or +walking hither and thither were a few who might be acting as a night +watch. A group of these were gathered at the end of the camp nearest +the young scout or spy, and he crept toward them, for they were +jabbering loudly in Spanish. They carried weapons, bows and arrows, +_escopetas_, or short muskets, _machetes_ of all sorts and sizes, +knives, lances, hatchets, clubs. They were not regular soldiers, but +their numbers made them sufficiently dangerous. + +"Eat up Texan," thought Red Wolf. "No catch him. Go back." + +He went rapidly enough, until Joe, at the foot of his tree, was +startled by a hand upon his shoulder. A few swift words told him what +was the matter, and the other rangers were at once roughly stirred up. + +"Do you s'pose, colonel," asked Cheyne, "that we've been followed?" + +"Not a bit of it!" exclaimed Bowie. "These chaps got their cue from +Tetzcatl somehow while we were on the way. He never meant we should +find out this thing and get home again. They don't know the secret +either. All they know is that we're a squad of Gringos, and that we +must be chopped up. Most likely they heard of us to-day, and mean to +strike us in the morning. We must git! That's all." + +"Bully for Red Wolf!" seemed to express the general opinion of the +rangers, but the half-rested, half-fed animals were untethered at once. + +"If it hadn't been for you they'd ha' corralled us," remarked Cheyne to +Red Wolf, but all the response he obtained was "Ugh!" + +"We have everything in our favor," said the colonel, "now we've passed +'em. Such a crowd as that won't stir out early. They'll all lie +around and jabber and smoke cigarettes and drink pulque and gamble and +boast, and then they'll swarm in to find that we've stolen a march on +'em." + +For once he was mistaken in his estimate of his enemies. It was in the +very dawn of the day, when he and his comrades might have been supposed +to be asleep, that the miscellaneous militia from the Mexican camp +"swarmed in" to slaughter the too adventurous Gringos. It was a sudden +rush, made at a signal, a musket-shot, and it was made with wild shouts +of anticipated triumph. It would have been entirely successful but for +the fact that Bowie and his men had been pushing northward during four +long hours, at a rate which had compelled them to abandon one more of +their over-driven horses. + +"We've learned one lesson," said the colonel, when at last they halted +on the northerly bank of a stream which had proved barely fordable. +"When we come again we can make sure that all the Greasers will gather +behind us to cut off our retreat." + +"That's what I was saying," replied Cheyne. "We mustn't try to go and +come by the same road." + +"Ugh!" said Red Wolf. "Bring heap Texan. Mexican run." + +"There's a good deal in that," laughed Bowie, "but we don't want to +have to light at all. We must work it as sly as so many horse-thieves. +We shall be carrying too much plunder to want a battle with Bravo's +lancers." + +They were safe for the present, however, and after only a brief rest +they went on again--for life. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +THE RETURN OF THE GOLD HUNTERS. + +"Well, boys, we got in like woodchucks by the same hole we came out +of," said Colonel Bowie to his men. + +"Reckon the lancers are scouting the south prairie after us yet," +replied Jim Cheyne. + +"They didn't knew about the ravine, Jim," said another ranger. "But +ain't I glad we're safe in among the bushes." + +Here they were, at all events, plodding along one of the sandy avenues +of the chaparral. Both the men and their horses had a worn and jaded +look. + +"Our tramp's nearly ended," continued the colonel. "The lancers made +it a close shave from the Rio Grande to the Nueces, but we've beaten +'em. We know now that Santa Anna is in Texas, and we're back in time +to take our part in the fight. We've had good weather to travel in, +but so will he. It's getting on into the spring." + +"Ugh!" exclaimed Red Wolf, pausing before a tree. "Heap Comanche in +bushes. Great Bear sign." + +There was a gash upon the tree, such as might be made with a knife. It +was a curved line with a notch in the middle, for a bow with an arrow, +it might be. + +"Made to-day," said Bowie, as he studied the mark. "The sap is +running. We'll have to keep a sharp lookout if we mean to get through, +but they can't know we're here." + +It was a warning of an unexpected danger, but it did not seem to +depress them. On the contrary, their faces were bright and hopeful, in +spite of the fact that they had left so many tired-out horses by the +way that they now had only one mount left for each man. + +"We haven't lost a man," remarked Jim, cheerfully, "and we've kept +every pound of the rhino. We're going back after the rest of it, too." + +"We are!" said Bowie, with almost an appearance of enthusiasm. "We'll +set out as soon as Texas is clear of Santa Anna." + +"That's it," said Joe; "but you see, as soon as he's well whipped the +coast 'll be clearer than it ever was before." + +On they pushed, and Red Wolf rode in the advance as a kind of guide. +Part of the time he was hidden from his white friends by the crooks and +turns of the path by which he was leading them, and now and then he had +to ride back to indicate the right way. + +"It takes a redskin," they said more than once, "and he's jest the +reddest Indian there ever was." + +That was so, for the sun had not appeared to have any power over the +peculiar tint of his skin, but all the while he had seemed to be +growing older. If he had been a boy when he joined them at the Alamo, +Red Wolf was now a warrior, tested by the emergencies of a very +uncommon "war-path." + +The hours went swiftly by and there was no haste to be made. + +"Go slow," had been the repeated injunction of Bowie. "The main thing +is to get there." + +It must have been about noon when Red Wolf came riding back with a hand +lifted in warning. + +"What is it?" asked Bowie. + +"Ugh!" he said. "Great Bear in bushes. Heap Comanche. Big Knife heap +snake." + +He wheeled his mustang to the right and they followed him. + +"It's awful!" exclaimed Cheyne. "Colonel, the Comanches have joined +the Mexicans. What about the Lipans?" + +"Fighting the Comanches," responded Bowie. "The trouble is that they +seem to be expecting us. If we can ride around 'em, though, we'll get +in." + +"All right," said Jim, "but things are looking a little squally. I'd +like to give 'em a shot or two." + +"Not a shot if we can help it," said Bowie. "Wait till I show you +something. It's only a short ride now." + +It was much longer because of the detour, and Red Wolf was now once +more out of sight. + +"What's that?" exclaimed Bowie. "What on earth made him whoop? +They've got him! Gallop, men! Save him if we can!" + +They went forward at a swifter gait, but there was no saving to be +done. They were already nearer than they had supposed to the pond and +the ruins. The young Lipan had pressed on also, with a pretty clear +idea in his head. He had even ridden to the border of the open, and +had been looking out and around it searchingly. + +"Ugh!" he said, "Great Bear no come!" + +"Ugh!" exclaimed a deep voice from a thicket near him. "Castro!" + +"Whoo-oo-oop!" burst from the lips of Red Wolf, and he wheeled his pony +right into the thicket. "Castro!" + +He could not have held in that burst of surprise and joy, nor could the +chief himself have done otherwise than to come out from his +hiding-place with a great bound. Swift, indeed, were the explanations +which were exchanged. Only a brief outline could be given by Red Wolf +of his wonderful campaign in Mexico. The particulars would have to +wait. Castro himself could do but little better at that moment. + +"Tetzcatl heap liar!" contained the root of the matter. + +He had said very little more than that when they heard hushed voices in +the pathway near them. + +"Jest about yer it was," said one. + +"Look out sharp now!" said another. + +"I'll find his carkiss if I can," came from Joe. "He was a buster. +But what did he whoop for?" + +"He ort not to," remarked Jim, "but I s'pose he couldn't help it. Now +they'll all know we've come. But I just liked that young feller." + +"Ugh!" said Castro. "Heap friend of Red Wolf. Boy talk." + +Out darted Red Wolf, and in a moment more there were hearty +hand-shakings all around. + +Castro had ghastly tokens to show of the blows he had stricken upon his +Comanche enemies, but now he gave also a better account of the manner +of his separation from his friends on the night after they went over +the Rio Grande. + +There had been, as Tetzcatl had reported, a sharp brush between the +Lipans and a party of Comanches. The old Tlascalan had only overstated +the affair in order that he might carry off the Texans with him. + +"All gone" had been partly true, nevertheless, for the Lipans, losing a +few braves, had been forced to retreat toward the north. They had +thereby been compelled to give up any idea of trying to join Bowie's +party. + +Ever since then, believing that his son and his friends had been "wiped +out," the revengeful chief had been hanging upon the movements of Great +Bear's band wherever they went or came. He was now informed somewhat +more fully of what the adventurers had been doing, but it was no time +for too much talk. + +"Forward now," exclaimed Bowie, at last. "Our next business is to get +the cash and push on to the Alamo. We're pretty nigh out of powder +ourselves. We couldn't stand a long fight." + +On they went, therefore, cautiously enough, but when they reached the +open it seemed entirely deserted. They halted in the bushes while +Castro and Red Wolf made circuits to the right and left. + +"Men," said Bowie, with emphasis, while they waited, "we'll go in and +get it. We must take almost any risk to carry it off. But don't you +forget, if I go down, that this cash belongs to Texas. 'Tisn't yours +nor mine, except each man's fair allowance for taking it in. None of +you fellows found it, in the first place." + +"All right, colonel," responded Joe. "Hurrah for Texas. I don't want +any dollar that isn't mine." + +"Don't hurrah quite yet," said Bowie. "We don't know how near we may +be to a hundred scalping-knives. Hullo! Here they come." + +It was the two Lipans and not the Comanches that he referred to. + +"Big Knife walk along," said Castro, as he came nearer. "No Comanche." + +"I'd like to give 'em a hit," growled Bowie, "but this isn't the time +for it. Come on, boys. We mustn't waste a minute." + +Even now he seemed perfectly cool, but none of the other Texans failed +to show how strongly the "hidden treasure" fever had taken hold of +them. It grew manifestly hotter after they had ridden to the ruined +_adobe_ house, dismounted, and followed their leader in. It was almost +impossible to believe that he was about to show them anything like +actual gold and silver. + +"You don't mean to say," said Joe, "that such a feller as old Tetzcatl +left anything behind him up here?" + +"No, he didn't," replied Bowie. "This isn't any Montezuma money. My +notion is that it's old Spanish funds. If so, all the more does it of +right belong now to the State of Texas." + +"Of course it does!" said Cheyne, and the others heartily echoed him. + +"Out it comes, then!" shouted the colonel, with the first external +flash of the excitement which had all the while been smouldering within +him. "You'll see what it is now. You didn't more'n half believe me, +did you? Look at that!" + +Over rolled the _adobe_ fragments which concealed the cash, and out +came bag after bag, cast down with a chink to be at once caught up by +eager hands and opened. It was a breathless kind of work to make those +bags tell what was in them. + +"It's a pity so much of it's only silver," remarked Jim, regretfully; +"but silver's better'n nothin'." + +"Every feller wants more than he's got," said Joe, "but you'd kinder +ought to be satisfied this time." + +Red Wolf and his father had looked on in silence, but now the chief +beckoned to his son and walked out. + +"Ugh!" he said. "Red Wolf tell story. Talk Mexico. Long trail? Heap +fight?" + +All that remained to be told of the trip with Tetzcatl came out +rapidly, until the mountain pass was reached and the doings in the +cavern. + +"Ugh!" sharply exclaimed Castro. "Shut mouth! Montezuma bad medicine! +Texan all die. Big Knife go under. Red Wolf? No! Red Wolf Indian. +No hurt him. Lose hair if he talk." + +He said more, but his entire meaning seemed to be that it was a +well-understood doctrine that any white adventurer learning the secrets +of the Aztec gods was a doomed man. They would surely follow him up +and kill him. It was not so bad for a full-blooded Indian, but even a +Lipan would do well to forget anything he had heard or seen that +belonged to the bloody mysteries of the evil "manitous" of the old +race. It was evidently a deeply rooted superstition, and Red Wolf was +quite ready to accept it fully. They returned to the ruin in time to +hear Bowie remark,-- + +"Two hundred thousand, pretty nigh, dollars and doubloons. Now, boys, +a thousand apiece for taking it in. All the rest goes to fight Santa +Anna." + +"That's the talk!" said the rangers, and the horses were led up to +receive their loads. + +It was not very easy to pack the ponderous stuff, even at the sacrifice +of all the blankets on hand. After it was done, moreover, another fact +was evident. + +"Boys," said Joe, "it's a walk for us all the way to the Alamo." + +"That 'll just suit the critters," replied the colonel. "It's all +the're fit for. But we mustn't fail to get there. I kind o' feel as +if Texas was getting safer." + +They were themselves by no means safe and it was time to go forward. +The horses had picked a little grass. They had been watered, and so +had the feverish, anxious rangers, but rest for either was not to be +thought of. + +Slowly, cautiously, the devious avenues of the seemingly endless +thickets were traversed, and at last the little cavalcade, with its +precious freight, emerged among the scattered trees on the border of +the prairie. + +"'Tisn't time for us to whistle yet," said Bowie, "even if we're out o' +the woods. Hullo! Men! There they come! Forward! Double lines. +Horses outside." + +"Whoop! Whoop!" came fiercely from Castro and his son. + +"I reckon we've been watched for somehow," growled Jim. "We'll show +'em a good fight for the pewter, but don't I wish thar was more of us!" + +It seemed as if the loads of dollars added to the desperate courage of +the men, and they made ready for the coming fight as if more than their +own lives were depending upon it. + +The horses were ranged in parallel lines, and the riflemen walked on in +the space between. It was a kind of travelling breastwork, and it must +have had a dangerous look to an outsider. A number of wild horsemen, +therefore, contented themselves, for the present, with whooping loudly +and riding around at safe distances. There were a great many of them, +but Castro declared that the entire force under Great Bear had not made +its appearance. + +"It looks bad for our side," said Bowie. "It's a long time since any +Comanche war-parties have ventured in as far as they have this season. +Santa Anna was quite enough for us to handle without the redskins." + +He hardly knew, at that moment, how dark a cloud seemed to be hanging +over Texas in those closing days of the winter of 1835-1836. All +things had been going wrong. There were quarrels among leaders, and +even Houston had lost, apparently, a great deal of his popularity. As +Crockett expressed it,-- + +"The cusses expect the old man to do some things that can't be did." + +There were a great many things that he could not do. Nevertheless, he +worked unceasingly. He made visits of inspection here and there. He +made speeches, printed patriotic appeals in the newspapers, and argued +with timid or disaffected settlers. + +It all seemed to be of little use. The Indians were busy on the +borders. Reports of the feeling in the Congress of the United States +were discouraging. All the while, moreover, every arrival from south +of the Rio Grande told of the extensive preparations which the Mexican +president was making for an invasion. He was said to have gathered a +force that would prove overwhelming, and he had declared death to all +rebels. + +"If we don't look out," said Crockett to Travis that afternoon, as they +stood together in the open gate-way of the Alamo, "the Greasers 'll +catch us all in bed. But don't I wish I knew what had become of Bowie +and his men?" + +"They won't fetch back any gold," replied Travis; "but I'd like to see +them if they rode in as bare as redskins." + +"Colonel," exclaimed Crockett, "give me a dozen men and let me take a +scout over the south prairie. I might have some kind o' luck. Might +knock over a Comanche." + +"Let you have 'em?" said Travis, with sudden energy. "Take 'em! I'll +come right along with you. I'm dog tired of loafing in this coop. Get +your men." + +The rangers of the garrison were as weary of inaction as was their +commander, and double the number called for almost insisted upon +mounting for the proposed scout. + +"The fort 'll keep till we git back," remarked Crockett; "but if I +don't git out of it and shoot something I shall spile." + +There were very good military reasons for precisely such an errand of +inquiry. The vicinity of prowling savages was pretty well known, and +it was desirable to learn as much more as possible. + +The party from the fort rode out, therefore, and they were well upon +their way, but they were not near enough to hear the whoops of Great +Bear's warriors nor the cracking of the first rifles which replied. + +There had been a steady onward march of Bowie's men, without any other +change in the situation than an increase in the number of their enemies. + +"Boys," the colonel said, "we've gained about a mile and a half, but +they're closing in on us a little. Let 'em have a pill first chance +you get. Halt!" + +There they stood, their rifles levelled across the saddles. It was +hardly worth while to waste their small stock of powder upon swiftly +careering horsemen, although now these were frequently within range. + +"I'll take that drove," exclaimed Jim, as several of the whoopers +wheeled into a closely gathered group. + +"Got him!" he shouted, as his rifle cracked. + +"One more," added Bowie. "Hold your fire, men. It won't do to have +too many guns empty at one time." + +The backs of two mustangs were empty, however, and the yells which +followed were those of angry braves who had been stung to rashness +rather than intimidated. Of course, they all wheeled away at first, +taking their dead comrades with them. + +The Texans again moved steadily forward, but hardly more than a quarter +of a mile had been gained before Bowie shouted,-- + +"Here they are, men! The whole band has got in on us this time. +They're gathering for a rush. Ready! Die game!" + +A swarm,--a cloud,--an overwhelming torrent of the fierce cavalry of +the plains, was forming in loose but effective array to sweep in upon +their victims. What could six rifles and two bows do against such a +storm as was now about to burst? + +"Die like men!" shouted Bowie. "Kill every redskin you can draw a bead +on!" + +Crack, crack, went rifle after rifle, and not a shot was thrown away; +but the Comanches were whooping forward upon their charge and all would +soon be over. + +"Hullo! What's that?" shouted the colonel. + +"Whoop!" yelled Castro. "Rifle!" + +"Ugh!" said Red Wolf. "Heap Texan! Comanche lose hair!" + +Sharp, rapid, utterly unexpected, was the rattle of rifle-shots from +away beyond the cloud of pony riders. Down went horse and man in quick +succession. + +"Travis and the rangers!" yelled Jim Cheyne. + +"The boys have come! Thank God!" gasped Bowie. "Five minutes more and +Houston wouldn't have had a dollar of this stuff." + +Not even then was he wasting a thought upon his own life or upon the +lives of those who were with him. + +It was a terrific surprise to the red riders. They were smitten as by +lightning. They could have no idea of the numbers of their new +assailants, and they were in wholesome dread of the marksmanship of the +Texans. Well they might be! + +Wheeling into a line at the order of their commander, the rangers were +deliberately picking off warrior after warrior until their rifles were +empty. + +"Forward! Charge!" shouted Travis. + +"Come on, fellers!" yelled Crockett. "It's Bowie and the boys! Don't +you miss a shot." + +They were not missing so long as any human target was within pistol +range, but the targets were getting away. This was not at all what +they had counted on. They fought for a moment, of course, for they +were warriors, and their flights of arrows were not sent in vain. + +Right through them rode the rangers, leaving three of their number on +the grass, while several more carried with them well-aimed arrows. + +"Hot work," laughed Travis, "but here we are! Bowie, old fellow! +Hurrah!" + +Away wheeled the stricken Comanches, for the rangers were reloading. +The savage rush was over and the next business was to get out of rifle +range. + +It was a curious spectacle. There stood Crockett, the rough old bear +hunter, the sarcastic humorist, the lank, lantern-jawed frontiersman, +hugging Colonel Bowie. It almost seemed as if he were crying. + +"Hurrah!" he shouted. "I kind o' knowed they hadn't wiped him out." + +"Crockett, old boy!" said Travis. "Give him a chance to speak. You +are choking him." + +"Jest what I want to do," said Davy. "Now, Bowie, whar have you been?" + +"Let go, Crockett," said Bowie, "and I'll tell you. But some of the +men are hurt----" + +"The boys are 'tending to 'em," replied Travis. "How about Tetzcatl?" + +"Not a word of him now!" burst from Bowie, vehemently. "Travis! I've +found cash enough to pay for all the ammunition we need to whip Mexico. +I'll tell you as we go along. Where's Sam Houston?" + +"He's to be at the fort to-day," said Crockett. "But whar on earth did +you pick up any dollars?" + +The first answer was Bowie's finger on his lips. Then they three +mounted and rode on together. + +As for the rest of the rangers, they were indeed caring for the +wounded, and even for the dead, but the story of the cash found in the +ruined _adobe_ house was travelling fast from man to man. + +That was followed, of course, by an account of the raid into Mexico +with Tetzcatl, but that part of the story was defective. As it was +related it did not contain any intimation of the mountain pass, the +cavern, or the treasure of the Montezumas. It did not, and yet one +ranger after another said to the man next him, in varied forms of +speech,-- + +"Tell you what, those fellows that went with Bowie are keeping back +something. They've learned more than they're willin' to tell. We must +get it out of 'em." + +As for Red Wolf, he and his father had been lost sight of for a few +minutes, but in the last part of that close, terrible fight they had +been plying their bows incessantly, and now they were out on the +prairie. They were Indians, Lipans, an old warrior and a young brave, +and they were following the custom of their race, for they were taking +trophies. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +THE ARMY OF SANTA ANNA. + +"Houston? You here? I've something to show you. Hurrah for Texas!" + +The commander-in-chief had been sent for days earlier, and he had come +in haste, for a fast-riding courier had brought him word that Santa +Anna and his army were already across the Rio Grande. + +"Bowie! Thank God!" almost roared the old hero, springing forward. +"Oh, Bowie! I'd begun to believe you were dead." + +"Not a bit of it!" shouted back Bowie. "I've won a pot of money for +our side. Here it comes." + +A train of horses was filing through the gate-way of the Alamo. They +were not the worn-out animals which had travelled so fast and so far, +for Crockett had made the rangers give up as many quadrupeds as were +necessary for the wounded men and the money-packs. Three horses, +indeed, bore sadder burdens, for the dead also had been brought in. +These had halted outside the walls and a burial party was at work. + +"It costs us something to win freedom," was the sombre comment of +General Houston. "Many another brave fellow must go down before we +clean out the Greasers and the redskins. Now, Bowie, come in and tell +me what this means." + +They walked on into an inner room of the fort, but not even to Houston +did Bowie as yet unfold the secret of the cavern. + +"Too many know it already, or half know it," was the thought he did not +put into words. He told all about the Spanish dollars and doubloons, +however. In turning them over to the state, less the small sums agreed +upon as the allowance of his men, he stipulated that the first use made +of any money should be for provisions, powder and ball, for the defence +of the Alamo. + +"Houston," he said, with emphasis, "my notion is that it can't get here +any too quick. Travis is wrong. Santa Anna will march straight for +the Alamo." + +"He may. He may," replied the general. "At all events, I must set out +with the cash. I must send you all the help I can right away. Then I +must raise troops and march to meet the Mexicans. It's a blue time for +Texas, but this is a ray of light." + +It was only one ray, for in all other directions the prospect seemed +dark. His own preparations for departure were made at once, and in the +gloom of that very evening he rode away. + +"We must go all night," he said, "and not a soul outside the fort must +know what we're taking with us." + +About an hour later, eleven men sat together in the upper corner room +of the convent building, and every man of them bound by an oath and by +his word of honor to keep secret all he might hear. + +"Boys," said Bowie to his own men, "if Travis and Crockett are let in +and no more, the secret is just as safe. I don't feel as if they were +outsiders." + +"Just the same as ourselves," replied Jim Cheyne. "They're to help us +git up the expedition. But what about the gold bars we fetched this +time? They'd tell it all if we showed 'em now." + +"Keep 'em for expenses when we are ready for business," said Bowie. "I +didn't say a word of them to Houston. We can hole them right here in +the corner of this room. Safe as a bank." + +"And if Santa Anna captures the fort, what then?" asked Joe. + +"Nobody 'll ever hear of any gold he got here," replied Bowie, grimly. +"If one of his men found it, he'd take it away from him and have him +shot for desertion." + +The bars belonging to the men were brought, and they made only a small +pile, after all, when packed in a corner, under the couch, with old +saddles stuffed in front of them. Red Wolf's prizes, of course, were +not included. + +"Ugh!" said Castro, after watching the operation. "Big Knife kill +Travis. Kill Crockett. No kill all Texan. Heap shut mouth. +Montezuma talk, all bad medicine." + +"All right, Castro," said Bowie. "When my time comes I shall die." + +"What does he mean?" asked Travis. + +"You couldn't root it out of him," said Bowie. "He believes that every +white man who meddles with this stuff is bound to go under. It's +poison." + +"Out with your yarn, then," said Crockett. "I'll take my chances. You +kin name the day for my funeral." + +Steadily, from step to step, the colonel told the story of his raid +into Mexico. Not a word was uttered by anybody else until he came to +the description of the cavern. + +"Ugh!" exclaimed Castro. "Heap bad medicine. Now Travis go under. +Crockett lose hair." + +He evidently did not wish to hear any more himself, but curiosity is a +strong tether, and, after all, he was an Indian, and upon him the +mysterious peril might not have so much power. Red Wolf knew the +secret already, and nothing evil had as yet happened to him. The chief +remained, therefore, in silence, while Bowie told of the human +sacrifices, the fate of Tetzcatl, and the heaps of ingots, tons and +tons of them. + +"Go for it?" shouted Travis. "Of course we will. As soon as we've +beaten the Greasers I'll raise the men that can ride across Mexico to +get the stuff out of that cave. It's a wonderful thing to know, but +when you come to think of it, it's the most natural thing in the world. +Montezuma and Guatamoczin did exactly what you and I would have done, +both before Cortez came and afterwards. We wouldn't have given it up +neither, and they didn't." + +"Thar's heaps of human natur' in this world," remarked Crockett. "I'd +ha' bet they'd ha' done just exactly what they did do. There's nothing +curious about it." + +"No more there is about their idols," added Travis. "They kept them +just as all the other heathen do in Asia and Africa. Hundreds of +millions of idol-worshippers go it right along, with the missionaries +among 'em. They kill the missionaries, too, now and then. Some eat +'em, and these fellows cut their throats and pitch 'em into a hole." + +It seemed as if every trace of anything mysterious or improbable +departed from the old legend of the Aztec gold and silver the moment +the truth concerning it came out to be studied by such matter-of-fact +men as these. Their hard common sense took it like any other business +affair, and they were almost ready to name beforehand the men they +meant to take with them on the expedition they planned to secure the +treasure. + +After telling the story, however, Bowie grew silent and moody. He +looked around him upon the bare walls of the room. He passed a hand +over the low couch upon which he was sitting. He hardly seemed to +listen to what the others were saying. When at last there was a pause +and a silence, he arose to his feet, and a shadow, darker than usual, +was on his face. + +"Travis," he said, "I want to get out of this room. It's close and +hot. I somehow don't like it. It keeps me thinking of Tetzcatl, too, +and of all he said when we talked with him here. He was a kind of +devil, he was. I'm glad he went down into that chasm. If it's good +and deep he 'll stay there." + +He strode rapidly out of the room, and they heard Castro mutter,-- + +"Big Knife too much talk. Montezuma talk bad medicine. All lose hair. +Ugh!" + +Red Wolf had listened but he had said nothing, for nothing was left him +to tell. He was a proud young brave, however, for the Big Knife, the +great white chief, had praised him tremendously, and his own father had +more than once said, "Heap young brave." + +"Ugh!" said Castro, laying a hand upon the arm of his son; and they +arose and followed Bowie until they stood with him in the plaza. + +"Well, Castro?" asked Bowie. "What is it?" + +"Want horse," said the Lipan chief. "Good pony. Ride heap. See +Mexican. Come tell Bowie. Sleep now. Go before sun." + +"Bully!" exclaimed Bowie. "I'll give you the best critters in the +fort. I want to know just where Santa Anna is. What you two want +first, though, is to sleep about ten hours and eat all you can hold." + +Castro meant just that, for even the tough sinews of a Lipan warrior +could feel the strain they had borne. Away he went with Red Wolf, and +now the colonel's face grew brighter, for half the garrison was +gathering around him. + +"I can't talk much now, boys," he said. "You know about all there is +to tell, but I'll add one thing." + +He pointed westward in silence for a moment, and his eyes wore almost a +dreamy look as he went on: + +"All that land, clean through to the Pacific, must belong to Texas. +Somewhere in yonder among the mountains, in the rocks and in the +gullies, there is more gold and more silver than the world has ever yet +heard of. The new Gulf republic must take in New Mexico, and Arizona, +and California, and it will become the treasure-house of all the time +to come. We are poor now, but we shall be the richest people on earth. +Only we must understand one thing at the outset. Gold is like freedom. +Every pound of it that was ever won was somehow paid for in blood. I'm +ready to give mine, right here, if I'm called for. Now I'm going in +for a hammock. I'm clean used up." + +It was past the middle of February, in the year 1836. The weather had +been stormy, but was now better, bearing few traces of winter as it is +in more northerly latitudes. It was a season of the year that could be +expected to favor military movements, but the Mexican commander had +been disappointed and seriously delayed during all the earlier part of +his invasion. The rains and mud had been in the way of heavy +provision-trains and artillery. + +A little after sunrise on the morning after the arrival of the +returning raiders, the sentry relieved at the Alamo gate-way reported +the departure, an hour earlier, of Castro and his son. + +"Gone on a scout," said Travis. "Hope they'll have good luck. We +don't know half enough just now." + +All that day was spent by the small garrison of the fort in what they +called getting ready for a better state of things. They expected +reinforcements and supplies, but Crockett and Bowie, rather than even +Travis, insisted upon putting all they had in the best possible order. +A strict account of rations was taken. Cannon were carefully cleaned, +and most of them needed it. Every weapon, large or small, was brought +out for inspection or repairs. Every ounce of powder was measured as +if it were gold. At least a dozen men were kept at work moulding +bullets, and for this purpose a number of leaden filigree ornaments +were taken from the window casings of the old church. + +"Best that can be did with 'em," remarked Crockett. "Church lead is as +good as any other to kill Greasers with." + +The supply of water was sure, for the Spanish builders had constructed +aqueducts which brought an abundance, like springs within the walls. + +The men were in high spirits over their work, and even Colonel Bowie +lost some of the gloom which had been upon his face. + +"Crockett," he remarked, however, "I hope Houston 'll make good time. +We shan't be ready for Santa Anna an hour too soon." + +"Travis hardly believes he's comin'," replied Crockett. "He reckons +the old monte-player will strike for the middle of the State and the +coast towns." + +"Not and leave the Alamo behind him," said Bowie. "We'll have the +first fight right here, and it 'll be a hard one." + +So they talked and worked, and the day passed and another night came +and went. It was a little after the middle of the next day that a +brace of mustangs were reined in upon the brow of a low hill looking +southward. + +"Ugh!" exclaimed one of them. "Red Wolf heap look. Santa Anna come!" + +The younger rider was silent, but he was looking. For the first time +in their lives they had seen an army. The southerly prairie was nearly +level, traversed along its farther border by a winding stream of water. +On this side of the stream, in long lines, in columns and in +detachments, marched several regiments of infantry attended by +batteries of light artillery. On their flanks and in the advance rode +strong bodies of lancers. There were flags and pennons, and the +serried bayonets wore a warlike look. There were even bands of music. + +"Heap Mexican!" exclaimed Red Wolf. "Tell Big Knife." + +"Alamo men all die," replied Castro. + +He did not move, however, during several minutes, for the bugles of the +lancers and the shouted orders of the infantry commanders had called a +halt. Very shortly there were sufficient indications that the invading +force had marched far enough for that day and that it was now going +into camp. + +It was by no means a perfectly organized army, and there was a sad lack +of precision in its movements, but its dispositions for camping were +tolerably well made. Tents were put up for officers, but the rank and +file were expected, evidently, to bivouac. There would be little +hardship in that, but if the Lipan scouts had been able to make a +closer inspection, they might have noted that the entire array of over +five thousand men wore a hard-travelled, worn-out appearance, as if +they had been pushed and as if it were really about time that they +should have a rest. + +There were clumps of trees on the prairie. Wood could be cut and fires +could be made, but before the first smoke began to rise Castro wheeled +his horse. + +"Ugh!" he said. "Ride now. Kill pony. Comanche no come." + +He had been staring at point after point to discover if any of his old +enemies were acting with the Mexicans. If they were, none of them +could as yet be seen among the troops of Santa Anna. + +He and his son disappeared over the rolls of the prairie, and, unless +they should be intercepted, there would be news for the garrison of the +Alamo. + +Not in the centre of the Mexican camp, but on the bank of the river, a +large and nearly new marquee tent had been put up as the first order +for a halt was given. At a little distance a fire had been quickly +kindled and cooking was already going on. In front of the tent stood a +group of officers and they were chatting merrily. + +"We will crush the Alamo like an eggshell," asserted one of them. + +"It will surrender at discretion on our arrival," added another! + +"Travis will never be so foolhardy as to resist an overwhelming force," +remarked a third; but he added to the dark-faced man in the middle of +the group, "General, what are we to do after dinner? I'm tired of +inspecting." + +"So are the men," responded the general. "I think we shall have +something better. We can empty a coop." + +He pointed as he spoke at a spot of ground fifty yards from the tent, +at the right, where several ragged _peons_ were at work with stakes and +cord. They were already constructing a cockpit, for the Mexican +commander did not propose to let so small a matter as the conquest of +Texas deprive him of his favorite amusement. Moreover, on the bank of +the river, beyond the cockpit, were drawn up two large wagons, and each +of these was almost over-piled with wicker coops, the occupants of +which were from time to time crowing defiantly at each other. If the +army was to rest there while the Texans were getting ready to receive +it, more than one of the coops might possibly be emptied by the +proposed combats of the gallant poultry. + +Meantime, the disposition of battalions, regiments, and batteries was +left haphazard to subordinates who had no fowls to think of, and the +general and his brilliant staff went in to dinner. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +THE FIRST SHOT. + +Four days went by. All the space inside the walls of the fort had a +clean and tidy look. The soldiers of the garrison went hither and +thither with an air of being under more than usual drill, but their +varied uniforms were about the same as ever. A light rain was falling +and the skies overhead were heavy with clouds, as if a storm were +coming. + +A shout was heard outside the gate, and then its massive oaken portal +swung wide open, while Colonel Travis stood by the six-pounder, his +handsome face bright with expectation. + +"Boys!" he shouted, "the supplies have come!" + +Nearing the gate-way was a train of large wagons, and on either side +and in the rear of them rode mounted riflemen. + +"Reinforcements, too!" exclaimed Crockett, as he strode forward to the +side of Travis. + +Colonel Bowie was already out beyond the wall, scrutinizing the +approaching train and its guard. + +"Not a quarter as many men as we needed," he remarked, in a low, +foreboding tone. "I hope there are more coming." + +On rolled the wagons, while cheer after cheer went up from the +garrison, to be answered as heartily by the new arrivals. + +"Keep right on," shouted Travis to the drivers. "Halt in front of the +church." + +The last pair of wheels was in the gate-way when galloping past them +came a half-naked rider. + +"Whoop!" he yelled. "Red Wolf want Big Knife. Castro horse dead. +Santa Anna come!" + +"All right!" called out Travis. "Come this way. Bowie, bring him in. +Men, go on unloading. Tally all there is." + +Down from his panting pony dropped the young Lipan, and his eager +report required few questions to make it clear. Either his father had +not been so well mounted or else he had been too heavy a weight for a +long race. His horse had given out entirely a few miles from the fort, +and Red Wolf had ridden on alone. All the officers of the rangers had +gathered to hear, and when the report was completed they looked at each +other with serious faces. + +"It's just about as we expected, after all," said Travis. "I'm glad +there are no Comanches with them. If Castro is right, there are over +five thousand of them. A thousand more or less won't make much +difference. They're about four days' march from us, I should say, but +the lancers could get here sooner. Most likely they will." + +A rugged-looking ranger stood before him, touching a ragged hat-brim. + +"Well, Sergeant Daly," said Travis, "how do you find the cargo?" + +"Bully, far as it goes!" responded the sergeant. "I reckon it gives us +rations for about two weeks. Pretty good lot of rifle powder. Not so +much cannon powder and grape-shot as we'd ought to have. No solid shot +to speak of, but there's some. Forty spare rifles, and I wish we had +men for 'em. But these yer new men are all prime fellers, and we can +foot up one hundred and forty good shots, all told." + +"We ought to have at least three times as many," said Travis. "Every +man is worth his weight in gold just now." + +"The trouble is," remarked Bowie, "Houston hasn't had time yet to use +those Spanish dollars. He will, though. What we must do is to try and +hold the fort till Austin's riflemen get here. Every day 'll count. +Santa Anna is a slow marcher." + +"You're mistaken thar," exclaimed Crockett. "If his Greasers could +fight as well as they kin walk, we'd be gone up sure!" + +The next duties related to the unloading of the wagons and to all the +information that could be obtained from the new men. Even while Travis +was talking with them, however, an hour or so later, a hand touched his +arm, and he turned to look into the face of Castro. + +"What is it, chief?" he asked. + +"Close gate," said Castro. "Load big gun. Lancer! Bring pony in." + +"They mean to make a dash for our corral, do they?" replied Travis, and +orders for the care of the horses of the garrison went out at once. + +It would not do to lose them all just now, and they, at least, would +have abundant rations within the enclosure. One of the best of them +was turned over to Castro in place of his used-up pony, and another as +good was given to Red Wolf. + +While this was going on, Bowie had been busy with the spare rifles that +had just arrived, and now he made his appearance, carrying two weapons +that were more ornamental than the rest, for both were silver mounted. + +"Travis," he said, "this is for the chief, and this is the one I +promised Red Wolf." + +"They've earned 'em," exclaimed Crockett. "Give 'em a first-rate +outfit. Hope they'll kill a grist of Greasers." + +Colonel Travis himself presented the rifles, but his words were few. +Castro took his own and examined it all over. + +"Ugh!" he said. "Heap shoot. Travis kill Mexican with big gun. Red +Wolf take rifle. Come!" + +Red Wolf's eyes had been glittering with delight. Never before had he +heard of an Indian boy of his age owning a really first-class rifle +with all its accoutrements of wiping-stick, ramrod, powder-horn, and +bullet-pouch. Those were the days of flintlocks, and the +long-barrelled shooting-irons did not need any "cap-box" to go with +them. + +He was hardly expected to say much, but he made out to tell the +colonel,-- + +"Red Wolf shoot a heap. Mexican lose hair. Wipe out Comanche." + +As he finished speaking, however, Bowie himself laid a hand on his +shoulder. + +"Red Wolf go with his father now," he said. "Come back to Big Knife. +Chief, let him come as soon as you can." + +He had understood a sentence that Castro had uttered in his own tongue +with its accompanying "sign." + +"Chief send boy," replied Castro. "Go now. Travis fight a heap." + +The two Lipans were upon the backs of their fresh mustangs the next +minute, and they rode out of the gate as if some errand of importance +hurried them. + +"Reckon they think we've got our work cut out for us," said Crockett. + +"They've seen the Mexican army," replied Bowie, "and they know just +what's coming. So do we, but we mustn't say anything to discourage the +men." + +A watcher at a loop-hole saw Castro and Red Wolf wheel around the +corner of the wall and gallop westward, but before he could report the +direction they had taken the garrison was startled by the roar of a +cannon from one of the southern embrasures. There had been a reason +for the course taken by the Lipans. + +"Who fired that gun?" shouted Travis, angrily. "Who fired without +orders?" + +"I did," came promptly back from Sergeant Daly. "I had the best kind +of a bead on that crowd of lancers. It was only a four-pound shot, but +it ploughed right into 'em." + +"Not another charge is to be wasted," replied Travis. "We need every +kernel. We were none too quick about the corral, though." + +"Travis," said Bowie, quietly, "our time's about come. Houston must +send us more men or we can't so much as man the walls." + +It was a matter of course that a strong body of cavalry had been sent +on in advance of the invading army. No doubt there had been an idea of +striking the rebellious Texans at every possible point. The lancers, +however, had not met with anything to strike at, and all they now could +do, apparently, was to reconnoitre the fort. It was in a spirit of +entirely empty bravado that they had approached so near or else they +had forgotten that the Alamo had any artillery. They had at last +halted, while their commander deliberately scanned the post and its +surroundings through his field-glass. + +Bang! went the four-pounder, and Daley's aim had been first-rate. + +"_Caramba_!" roared the colonel. "My baggage mule! My equipments! +Santa Maria! My cigarettes!" + +Over went a fine mule, certainly, as the four pounds of iron arrived, +but not because of anything that prevented him from getting up at once +and braying. Upon his patient back, rising above the panniers that +adorned his flanks, had been a load more large than heavy. It was this +hump of varied luxury and usefulness into which the sergeant's wasteful +shot had ploughed. + +Mexico had not lost even so much as a mule, but the ground was strewn +with cigarettes and other merchandise, and the lancer force had been +warned that they were in front of a battery. + +"Fellow-citizens!" shouted the angry officer. "Heroes of Mexico! +Yonder is the Alamo! In a few days we will ride into it and teach the +Gringo rebels a lesson they will remember. Forward, right wheel! +Gallop!" + +Gallop they did, but Travis's order to save ammunition had already put +them entirely out of danger. + +Miles away to the westward rode Castro and his son, but the chief had +now gone far enough for the purpose which had taken him away from the +fort. He drew his rein and Red Wolf imitated him. + +"Ugh!" said Castro, holding out a hand. "Rifle!" + +The splendid present was handed over, but other commands followed, and +the young warrior was stripped of his bow and arrows, his lance and his +pistols. His only remaining weapon was the knife in his belt. There +was not a shadow of disobedience, not even of dissatisfaction, upon his +face, but he was evidently waiting for an explanation. + +"Red Wolf no lose rifle," said Castro, at last. "Great chief take it +to lodge. Hide it with tribe." + +"Ugh?" said Red Wolf, but he knew there was something more to come. + +"No bad medicine," said Castro, holding out his hand again. + +The three gold bars allotted to Red Wolf were tightly secured to his +saddle. They were now untied and handed over. The chief dropped from +his pony and walked to the nearest oak, one of three by which they had +halted. He took out his knife, dug a pretty deep hole, and dropped the +precious but dangerous prizes into it. + +Red Wolf had followed him in silence, and now, when the earth and sods +were replaced, Castro stood erect and pointed at the spot under which +lay the gold. + +"All Texan lose hair," he said. "Red Wolf hide bad medicine. Find +some day! Die then. Montezuma wicked manitou." + +"Ugh!" exclaimed Red Wolf. + +Nevertheless, a deep "sign" was cut upon the oak-tree before they +remounted. Then the chief went on to explain to his son the further +duties required of him. + +It did not take a great many words, but the meaning of it all was +simple. + +The Mexicans and the Lipans were now nominally at peace. Any Lipan was +fairly safe among them, unless he should seem to be on a war-path +against them. At the same time, Mexican cavalry would surely disarm a +mere boy,--that is, they would steal his rifle, even if they then +should let him go unharmed. + +So far, so good, but Castro raised his arm and pointed eastward. + +"Boy hear!" he said. "Travis send Texan to friend? Mexican catch +ranger. Shoot him. No catch Red Wolf. Go! Ride hard! Tell great +Texan chief Santa Anna here! Say he camp around Alamo. Say Travis +want more Texan. Ugh! Go!" + +It was an errand of importance, therefore. It was worthy of a warrior. +It was a message of life and death, but it called for cunning, caution, +hard riding, rather than for sharpshooting. A few further instructions +as to where to go and whom to find were all that was needed, and away +went the ready messenger. + +Castro himself rode away, laden with the precious shooting-irons. He +too had need for caution and for cunning if he was ever to rejoin his +tribe, but Red Wolf, riding northward now, was saying to himself,-- + +"Ugh! Heap young brave. Bring Texan to Big Knife. Heap fight +Mexican." + +He may have been perfectly aware that Colonel Travis was the white +chief who was in actual command of the rangers and the fort. To his +mind, however, the Texan armies, if not the republic itself, were best +represented by the stalwart hand-to-hand fighter who had given him the +knife which he now so carefully concealed under his buckskins. Having +done so, he transferred his old, half-despised butcher-knife from his +leggings to his belt, and remarked concerning it, "Mexican take? Ugh! +No lose heap knife. Take Mexican hair." + +There was a menacing look in his face, and he rode on with the air of +an adventurer who was quite ready for mischief, if a chance for any +should be given him. + +The region of country he was to go through was supposed to be +peaceable, as yet. It contained only scattered ranches and small +settlements, but it might speedily contain almost anything else, for +perils of all sorts were pouring in upon the Texas border. + +Matters at the fort were quiet, but the rangers in their quarters, even +while running bullets, and the officers in their hammocks, not one of +them asleep, seemed to have constituted themselves a kind of general +council of war. At least they were discussing every feature of the +situation, and were talking themselves more and more into a state of +mind that bordered closely upon contempt for Santa Anna and his five +thousand men. + +The most undemonstrative man among them all was Colonel Bowie. He had +slung his hammock near one of the embrasures, with a cannon at his +side, and, like the cannon, he was continually peering out. Even after +it grew darker and only moonlight remained to show him anything, he +every now and then seemed to take an inquiring look at the surrounding +country. + +"I can see that cave," he muttered to himself, "as clear as if I were +in it. What if the fate of a young nation should depend upon our +getting into that hole again? If those old rascals knew we were +coming, they'd pitch it all down the chasm. I'd like to know, just for +curiosity, what fellows and how many of them have been butchered before +that altar. In the old times they used up whole tribes and regiments +of captives that way. Then I'd like to know where all that bullion +came from. I don't believe they mined for it. They didn't know how. +They got it out of river-beds, I reckon, just as they do in Asia and +Africa." + +He had hit the mark, for there was no other way imaginable. But where +were the riverbeds, and how much more gold-dust and nuggets might there +be remaining in them? + +He could dream and speculate there in his hammock, but that was all he +could do. His young republic was indeed to come and go. Mexico was to +lose Texas and her other northern provinces. The pioneers among whom +he was so daring a leader were to accomplish even more than they were +planning. Beyond all his dreams, however, would be the solution of his +gold problem. Only a few years later the slopes and gulches of the +California mountains were to swarm with hardy miners, and the treasures +of the Montezumas were to sink into insignificance in comparison with +the wealth to be taken out, not by the Aztecs or the Spaniards, but by +the "Gringos." + +Would anybody then be found to take note of the fact that Bowie and his +comrades were the advance-guard, the skirmish-line, almost the "forlorn +hope" of the armies of Taylor and Scott? The United States, the world +at large, and even Mexico, owe their memories something of recognition, +and they were not even much "ahead of their time." + +"Crockett," said Travis, just before they went to sleep, "Bowie can't +get that cave out of his head." + +"It's t'other way," replied Crockett. "He can't get his head out of +the cave, and I'll be glad, you bet, when we all get our heads out of +the cave this push of Santa Anna is putting us into." + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +CROCKETT'S ALARM GUN. + +February 24, 1836, and a splendid winter morning for a parade. + +Altogether unmolested as they came, the Mexican army marched into +position around the Alamo fort. Not a shot was fired at them. Not a +man of the garrison was in sight. There was a sullen air about the +whole concern. Upon the church wall, indeed, Colonel Travis with a +field-glass studied and estimated the assailants he was to contend with. + +"No heavy guns, Davy," he said to Crockett, standing near him. "Castro +was right about everything else. We shall get a message from Santa +Anna pretty soon. Hullo! There he comes now. Let's go down." + +"You've only jest one thing to do," replied Crockett, dryly, at the +head of the stairs they were to go down by. + +"What's that?" said Travis, getting ready for a joke. "Out with it." + +"Well," chuckled the bear hunter, one stair down, "you know what he's +goin' to ask for. Just you demand the immediate, onconditional +surrender of Santa Anna and all his chickens." + +"Crockett!" exclaimed Travis, "I can tell you one thing. I know him. +If we should surrender, no matter what conditions he might give, the +old murderer would have every man of us shot before sunset." + +"Not a doubt of it," said Crockett; "and between you and me and the +gate-post, I'd ruther do a small chance of hard fighting first. That's +about the way the men feel, too." + +That was the kind of reputation the Mexican general had won for +himself, and he was shortly to add to it by his conduct of his campaign +in Texas. + +By the time the two friends came out through the church door-way, the +officer of the guard at the gate was loudly responding to a sonorous +bugle summons. A mounted officer, attended by the bugler only, had +halted outside. + +"A cartel from His Excellency General de Santa Anna!" he shouted, in +response to the hail of the sergeant. "I am accredited to Senor +Travis." + +"Colonel Travis, you mean!" shouted back the sergeant, angrily; but the +clear, ringing tones of Bowie called out,-- + +"Let him in, Daly. Never mind his nonsense." + +Open swung the gate, and in rode the very airy captain of lancers who +had been sent to demand the surrender of the fort, but who had +insolently neglected to acknowledge the military rank of its commander. + +[Illustration: IN RODE THE VERY AIRY CAPTAIN OF LANCERS] + +That was the sum and substance of the letter he shortly delivered to +Travis, after dismounting and exchanging formal compliments. Added to +it, however, was the grim assurance that, in case of resistance, the +fort would be stormed at once and no quarter whatever would be shown to +the garrison. + +"Good!" said Travis, smilingly. "No use in my writing. Go back to the +general and tell him to come on. We are ready." + +"Is that all?" exclaimed the astonished captain. "Are you mad? Do you +really intend to resist us?" + +"Travis," whispered Crockett, "tell him to say that if they'll march +right hum and agree to stay thar, we won't hurt a soul of 'em." + +The captain heard him, and his astonishment showed itself more plainly, +but the reply of Travis was strictly formal. + +"That is all," he said. "He knows me. Tell him I am in command here. +We shall hold the Alamo!" + +Low bowed the captain, turning to his horse, and in a moment more he +was spurring beyond the gate, and it closed clangingly behind him. +There was really nothing more for the bugler to do, but he blew his +horn furiously before he galloped away. + +"It'll take something better'n bugle music to get the Greasers over +those walls," remarked Crockett; but the long eighteen-pounder was now +at one of the southerly embrasures, and, at a signal from Travis, a +thunder of defiance rang out. + +"That's the last blank cartridge we'll fire," said Travis. "Now let's +see what they'll do next. The fools can't really mean to try to storm +the works? I almost wish they would." + +"If he'd said he'd do it to-day, he'll put it off till to-morrow," +replied Crockett, sarcastically. "He never kept his word since he was +born,--except about throat-cutting." + +No other voice responded. Quiet, resolute, cheerful, the picked men +who constituted that heroic garrison were at their stations, and not a +quiver of fear showed itself among them. As for the enemy, Crockett +had not been far out of the way. Postponement was second nature to +Santa Anna. Besides, he was really possessed of considerable military +education and ability. He could see that, as the rangers said among +themselves, "he had a pretty hard nut to crack." He would therefore +think about it during the rest of that day. All he was ready to do at +once was to send his heaviest battery into position and order it to +blaze away. It was composed of very handsomely polished brass +nine-pounder guns. It swept into its place with a flourish of brass +music from the bands and a sounding of many drums. + +"There will be a breach in the wall before sunset," declared the +general, confidently. "We can charge in to-morrow." + +Loudly roared the guns, and they were good ones, but praise did not +await the artillerymen. One shot struck the wall of the church. +Another went over the fort. The remainder fell short and ploughed deep +furrows in the sandy soil. + +"Santa Maria!" exclaimed the colonel of artillery. "We must do better +next time." + +The six guns of the battery were reloaded. Every piece was aimed with +care, and off they went again. + +"How is it, Crockett?" shouted Travis to his friend, for the eccentric +satirist was sitting on the wall, his legs dangling outside, and he was +leaning forward. + +"Two on 'em hit the wall," replied Crockett. "Dented it some. Tell +Daly to come around and see the holes." + +"Bowie," said Travis, "you and Daly. Don't let another man out. His +next battery is nearly ready to open fire." + +It was quite ready, but it was composed of lighter pieces. A minute or +so later, Bowie and the sergeant were out in front talking to Crockett +on the wall. + +"They've damaged it a little," said Daly. "I don't like the looks of +it." + +"Could they punch a hole through," asked Davy, "if they hammered long +enough?" + +"Reckon they could," remarked Bowie. "I think that's our worst danger. +But I want to hear from those other guns." + +Two batteries sounded this time, and the three Texans stood still and +watched with deep interest the effect of the shots. It did not seem to +occur to either of them that a cannonball might possibly hurt a man. + +"Right over my head," said Crockett, quietly. "Hit the roof of the +convent." + +"Hurrah!" shouted Daly. "Them nine-pound balls punch, but the sixes +don't make a mark worth a cent. They can jest thunder away." + +"Come on," said Bowie. "Let's go in. If they had heavier guns there'd +be a breach in that wall pretty soon. Anything smaller'n sixes would +be like pelting us with apples." + +Santa Anna did not seem to be of that opinion. Or else he may have +calculated that sharp cannonading would dishearten the garrison. His +own troops evidently enjoyed it, but there was a severe shock awaiting +the distinguished Mexican. Again and again his heaviest battery had +spoken thunderously, and he felt sure that it must have accomplished +something, but now before him stood General Castrillon, in command of +all the artillery of the invading army. His face was red, his +moustaches seemed to curl with wrath, and his first utterances were +half choked with furious execrations upon the army commissary at +Monterey. + +"What is the matter, general?" sternly demanded the commander-in-chief. + +"No more nine-pound shot!" roared General Castrillon. "The miscreant +has loaded the other wagon with twelve-pound balls! They are useless!" + +"_Caramba!_" almost screamed his chief. "I will have him shot! Let +the cannonading cease. The fort must be taken by escalade. Have the +ladders ready by nine o'clock to-morrow morning." + +The fort was safer, but an admirable example had been given of the +inefficiency, indolence, and general worthlessness of the Mexican +officials. Not even the probability of being shot for their blunders +could induce them to discharge their duties thoroughly. + +"That battery's tired out," remarked Crockett, as the pause in the +firing grew longer. "Reckon they're holdin' on while they can take a +game of seven-up. They haven't hurt us any." + +"Yes, they have," said Travis, quietly. "Don't you see? Or haven't +you been up the church again? They're swinging their camps around to +make a blockade." + +"They can't choke us off that way," responded Crockett. "Thar ain't +enough of 'em. If they'll string out in as long a line as would go' +round, it 'll be thin all the way. I'd go a-gunning anywhar along that +line." + +"That isn't the point," said Travis. "He's arranging to cut off +reinforcements. He knows how many men we have, you can bet on that. +He doesn't mean to let any more in." + +"The kind of men that are coming," growled Crockett, "are likely to +find a way in or make one. But it's about time they were here." + +"I'm going to send a despatch to Houston," said Travis. "Carson has +volunteered to take it." + +"Well," returned Crockett, "most likely he'll know without our tellin', +but what if Carson doesn't get through?" + +"We must take our chances," said Travis. "One man's all we can spare. +I'm almost afraid Houston can't send any more to us just now." + +"Every man in Texas owns a rifle!" exclaimed Crockett, with energy. +"Not a livin' soul ought to stay at home." + +"Pay and rations," said Travis, calmly. "I'm afraid Bowie's dollars +didn't come in time. It isn't any fault of his, but all the gold in +Mexico wouldn't save the Alamo." + +Bowie was listening, but he turned away without speaking, for he was +questioning himself. Was it any fault of his? Had it been his duty to +return at once with the cash found in the _adobe_ ruin instead of +pushing on with Tetzcatl? It was a serious question, but at last he +put it away. + +"Come what may," he told himself, "I could not have done otherwise. I +had no choice. I was driven. I was in one of those places where a man +cannot decide for himself. The Comanches did it." + +The movements of the several assignments of the Mexican army went on +deliberately all through the day. The circle that was made was pretty +long, however, and there were gaps between the camps which would +require careful patrolling to make complete what Crockett described as +"the corral of the Gringos." + +"Anything like a provision-train, for instance," remarked Bowie, +"couldn't get in without a battle. There isn't any American force yet +gathered in Texas that could undertake to whip an army of five thousand +men." + +Night came at last, and with it came a moon instead of the darkness +which Travis had been wishing for. It was not a good night for a +secret messenger, and the mounted patrols of the enemy were going to +and fro almost up to the walls of the fort. + +"Their infantry outlooks are well out in advance of their lines," +remarked Travis, standing in the gate-way. "I doubt if it's possible +for Carson to get through." + +"If I thought he couldn't I'd go myself," exclaimed Bowie. "I wish he +were an Indian!" + +"That's jest what I am," came from the brave ranger who had +volunteered. "I've crept through a band of Chickasaws. My skelp isn't +wuth as much as Bowie's is, anyhow. It's no use in talkin'. I'm off." + +"You bet he is," quietly remarked a voice behind them, "and I'm goin' +with him the first stretch." + +There stood Davy Crockett, rifle in hand. + +"I'd feel better if you would," said Bowie. "You're an older hand than +he is. See him as far as their lines and take note of everything,--and +come back." + +"Come back?" chuckled Davy. "Of course I will. I'll have some fun, +too. Get along, Carson. I'm goin' to take keer of ye. You're young." + +Off they went, and Travis laughed aloud as they disappeared. + +"You wait now," he said. "Davy's goin' to stir up the Greasers somehow +before he gets done with 'em, but I can't guess what the sell is." + +It would have been only a very sombre life-and-death affair to men of +another kind, but these were hardly excited to any unusual feeling. +They were in the daily habit of looking death in the face, and they +could laugh at him. Nevertheless, during many minutes that followed, +they and a changing group of rangers waited in the gate-way, listening +silently to every sound that came to them from the hostile camps. A +troop of horse went trampling by within a hundred yards of them and +they heard the words of command. More minutes passed and the stillness +seemed to increase. + +"We'd have heard something if the Greasers had sighted 'em," whispered +one of the men. "They're not took yet----" + +"Hear that gun!" shouted Travis, the next instant. "That means +something!" + +Another cannon sounded, and another, and then they heard the rapid +reports of musketry from a score of points all along the lines. + +"Bad luck!" groaned a ranger. + +"They've got 'em!" said another. + +"It's good-by, Davy Crockett, I'm afraid," said Bowie, in a voice that +was deep with emotion. "We ought not to have let him go." + +The expressions of regret for him and Carson were many and sincere, all +around, but the cunning old bear hunter had been doing a remarkable +piece of what passed with him for fun. + +Only about ten minutes before the first alarm gun sounded a pair of +shadows had been gliding along on the ground, midway between the two +camps that were nearest to the fort gate. + +"So far, so good," whispered one of them. "What's best to do next?" + +"Straight into the corral," was the reply. "I allers feel at hum among +hosses. They're kind o' friendly. Besides, you've got to hev one to +travel on." + +A very large number of them, of all sorts, had been picketed there, a +short distance in the rear of the camps. They were guarded, of course, +but they were entirely out of the supposable reach of Gringo thieves +from the fort, and the guards were taking things easily. So were the +quadrupeds, and not one of them was at all disturbed in his mind when +two men who might belong to the same army slipped silently in among +them. + +"No Greaser kin see through a hoss," remarked one of the adventurers, +"but I'll tell you what, my boy, your tightest squeeze is goin' to be +in gettin' out on the further side. They're guardin' thar rear more'n +they are toward the fort. They're on the watch for anything Sam +Houston may let loose on 'em." + +That was in strict accordance with the military prudences of the +situation, but for that very reason all the guards on duty were looking +out instead of looking in. No patrol, for instance, beyond the camps, +whether mounted or on foot, could at once imagine anything suspicious +concerning a dim shape slowly tramping out from the horse corral. Only +one did come, and he walked along leading with him a saddled and +bridled mustang. + +"Here comes the guard!" he suddenly exclaimed, aloud. "Now's my time. +I'll signal to Davy." + +He sprang upon the back of the mustang, turned and blew a short, sharp +whistle, and galloped away. Hundreds of men may have heard the +whistle, but only one understood it. Not a solitary Mexican at once +followed the vanishing horseman, and he quickly was beyond successful +following. + +Hoarse shouts had gone after him, truly. Orders to halt, with Spanish +inquiries and execrations, had sounded from all directions. It was +understood that something or other had happened, and there were +officers who at once began to investigate the matter. + +The proper direction of their first efforts was plainly indicated by an +extraordinary disturbance in the corral. Quite a large number of the +horses were now loose and they were running around excitedly. It did +not arise to the dignity of a stampede, but the guards who first rushed +in came near being trampled down. These were joined at once by the too +zealous sentries of a battery which had been stationed at the right of +the corral, so that its guns were for the moment left to take care of +themselves. + +"Don't I wish I had some spikes?" inquired a very low, hoarse chuckle +that was crawling along at the side of one of the guns. "If I had I'd +spile every touch-hole of this 'ere battery. Hullo! Thar they are. I +reckon I kin shew 'em a new p'int in the right way of handlin' +artillery. That is, if ary one of these long fours is primed." + +After that there came a clicking of flint and steel, and then a soft +glow of fire close to the ground. + +Louder grew the tumult in the corral, angrier and more numerously arose +the shouts and commands of the officers. + +"Jim Carson's got clean away from 'em, I reckon," was spoken more +loudly, "but that lot of Greasers have marched to about the right spot. +Wonder what this thing is shotted with. Here she goes!" + +A hand went up to the breech of the gun and then the first booming +alarm went out. + +"Reckon 'twas a round shot," he said. "It fetched 'em. One more." + +A second gun spoke out, and then a third, in quick succession, but to +Mexican ears it seemed the correct thing for any of their own guns to +do in case of a sudden alarm at night. It would show the garrison that +its besiegers were awake. + +Nevertheless, the iron missiles had been sent with deadly effect among +the luckless detachment of infantry, and every man of it who was left +unhurt fired off his musket at the space in front of him and the +possible Gringos it might contain. Sentry after sentry, all along, in +camp after camp, followed that example, front and rear. The very +game-cocks in their coops crowed vigorously, and the general himself +came out of his tent to see what was the matter with them and with his +army. + +The artillerymen who now came hurrying back to their guns found no one +with them,--nothing but an entirely unexplainable mystery. There were +now no soldiers in front of the battery, however. The coast was clear, +and across the moonlit area from which he had driven his enemies Davy +Crockett strode on to the Alamo. + +"Who goes there?" greeted him from the sentry at the gate. + +"I ain't a-goin' jest now; I'm comin'," shouted back the very grim old +joker, with a fierce laugh. "Travis, I reckon Jim Carson's all right. +We took him a good mount from thar own corral. But I fired them alarm +guns myself. Wait till I git in and I'll tell jest how I did it, but I +reckon the Greasers 'll think we've made a _sortee_." + +Three cheers were given him, and these too were heard by the Mexicans +to increase their perplexity. Something very like a _sortie_ had +really been made, and the entire Mexican army was getting under arms. +One regiment marched a mile before it could be ordered back, but Santa +Anna himself had preserved his military composure. + +"_Caramba!_" he exclaimed, in reply to one of his officers. "Houston? +No! He has no force that he can send. We have nothing to deal with +but the desperadoes inside of yonder walls, and we shall slaughter them +to-morrow." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +THE REINFORCEMENT. + +Away outside of the fort wall at sunrise stood Davy Crockett, all +alone. He had been noting with evident interest the marks made upon +the masonry by the cannon-balls fired the day before. + +"All right," he said. "It amuses them and it doesn't hurt us. I'm +only fifty, and my ha'r will be turnin' gray before they git in this +way." + +It was a satisfactory conclusion, and he turned to scan the Mexican +lines. + +"Jim Carson got away from them," he said. "Of course he did, but we +can't wait for Sam Houston. We've got to depend on ourselves. Well, +now! If this isn't curious! Whoever heard of Greasers gittin' up +early? I didn't, but they're a-movin'. Reckon we're goin' to have +some fun right away." + +That was the opinion of Travis and two ranger officers up in the church +tower. + +The camps of the Mexican infantry were pouring forth their bayonets, +and everywhere the cavalrymen stood beside their horses, ready to mount +at the word of command. What was to be done with horsemen in an attack +upon stone walls did not appear, but the telescope revealed much more +ominous preparations. Already out in front of the southerly camps were +parties of men who were provided with ladders. If the artillery as yet +had made no breaches, the walls could be climbed over. The cannon were +to have their share in the day's work nevertheless, and at a given +signal every battery began to speak. A storm of iron pellets hurtled +against the defences or flew over them. + +That part of the fortress which was mainly composed of the church and +of the convent did not promise well for a climbing adventure. The +assaulting force was therefore massed for a rush against the lower +walls around the plaza. These were pierced for musketry as well as for +cannon. Every shot-hole had now its marksman, with two more standing +behind him ready, each to take his place in turn while the others +reloaded. + +"Let 'em come close up," was the order of Colonel Travis. "Hit every +man just below his belt." + +"And ef you do," added Crockett, "that thar Greaser 'll sit right down." + +Low voices passed from man to man, and the substance of the utterances +was,-- + +"Hit, boys! Every shot is for life." + +An iron calmness grew harder in all their faces as the fire of the +batteries ceased and the Mexican masses began to move steadily forward +to the sound of their drums. They came on as confidently as if the +fort were already their own, for their officers were freely declaring +the expectation that at the last moment the Gringos would give up so +hopeless a defence and surrender. + +That is, the nerves of the rangers or of their commander, proof against +the thunders of the artillery, were to fail at the prospect of being +crushed by overwhelming numbers. Perhaps the very silence that reigned +around the fort did something to increase the delusion, and the +foremost ranks advanced to within short rifle range. + +"Ain't I glad the grape-shot and canister got here in time!" growled +Sergeant Daly, squinting along his gun. + +"Ready!" shouted Travis at that moment from the middle of the plaza. +"All ready! Let 'em have it! Fire!" + +Every cannon of the fort which bore upon the enemy went off as if one +hand had fired them all. A storm of lead and iron swept through the +advancing columns. Then as the smoke-clouds cleared away a little the +cracking of the rifles began, and the astonished Mexicans dropped +rapidly, only too many of them smitten "just below the belt" or a few +inches above it. + +The attempt to overawe the garrison by a sudden attack in force had +signally failed. It had become little better than a disastrous +reconnoitring party. Nothing had been really ready for so serious an +undertaking as the storming of the Alamo. The Mexican troops were +marched back to their camps, while their officers made up very +disagreeable lists of killed and wounded. + +The cannon of the fort had been very well handled and the accuracy of +the rifle practice had been remarkable. At the same time, not a man of +the garrison had received so much as a scratch. They could hardly +believe that the battle was over. + +"Jim Bowie," shouted Crockett, as he saw his friend coolly at work with +a rifle-wiper, "none o' that jest now. Don't stop to clean your gun. +Blaze away with it dirty and wipe it out by and by, after this butcher +business is over. It hasn't been exactly a fight, not yit, but it's +p'isonous fun for Santy Anny." + +The Mexican general indeed was wild with rage and disappointment over +the failure of his first ill-advised demonstration. For the first time +in his varied military experience he had witnessed the effects of +sharp-shooting. + +He was not singular by any means. At that date the best infantry of +Europe were still armed with smooth-bore muskets and depended mainly +upon volley-firing when in action. The crack regiments of England, +truly, had received a terrible lesson at New Orleans from the American +riflemen under General Jackson, but neither the British nor any other +military power had seemed willing to profit largely by it. + +All military operations were over for the day. The batteries rested, +and the commander-in-chief of the beaten army had not even the heart +for his evening game of monte. + +"Men!" said Colonel Travis to his gallant garrison, drawn up for a kind +of triumphant review in the plaza, "I don't mean to say much, but this +is the kind of work that is going to save Texas." + +"You bet it is, and thar's got to be heaps of it done," came in a +low-voiced snarl from Crockett. "What they need is killing." + +"The enemy have received a sharp lesson," continued Travis, "but they +won't give it up right away. They can't afford to retreat after only +one battle. Santa Anna would be kicked out of power if he should fail +to take the Alamo. So if we can beat him completely we shall be +setting both Texas and Mexico free from the old gambler's tyranny." + +A loud cheer responded, and on the heels of the last "hurrah" Crockett +remarked,-- + +"And we'll save our own throats, too, if that's any object. Mine was +feelin' a little kind o' sore this mornin', but it's all right jest +now." + +The men went to their quarters and stations in very full accord with +the feelings of the old bear hunter. + +"Bowie," said Travis, as soon as they were alone together, "it's almost +better than I hoped for. What do you think?" + +"There will be two or three days of cannonading," said Bowie. "Then +there will be another attack. I reckon we can beat them off again. We +haven't provisions for a long siege. They could starve us out." + +"If they give Houston time enough," replied Travis, "he'll be operating +on the outside of 'em somehow. They can't wait for too long a siege." + +"We are not to die of starvation," said Bowie. "If it comes to that, +we can walk out and die killing Mexicans. I will for one." + +They were not at all deceived as to the desperate nature of their +position. As for their patriotic commander-in-chief, he was struggling +with a sea of troubles. Most of the money found in the old _adobe_ had +gone to New Orleans for arms and ammunition, but it might be weeks +before there would be any important returns. He was using the +remainder of the cash at home trying to get his hastily gathered +volunteers into the shape of an army. He and Austin had several bodies +of men at points distant from each other, but not one of them could be +marched for the relief of the Alamo, nor would all of them together +have been a third in number of the force under Santa Anna. Some of +their commanders, to make the matter worse, seemed hardly to consider +themselves under anybody's orders, so new and so unsettled was the +authority of the Texan government. + +It was toward the close of the day of that first attempt to storm the +fort that a party of thirty-two mounted riflemen were somewhat +leisurely pursuing their way along a road the western end of which was +known to reach the town of San Antonio de Bexar. At their head rode a +short, squarely built man, whose hat was pulled forward over his eyes. +He was leaning a little, as if he were bent down by some weight or +other. + +"They are all there," he muttered. "The best men in Texas. They'll +never give up. They'll die right whar they stand. Ye-es, sir! I'm +goin'! I am! If it's only to go in and die alongside of Jim Bowie, +and Travis, and old Davy!" + +A shout rang out behind him, and it was instantly answered by an Indian +war-whoop in front. + +"Halt!" he promptly commanded as he raised his head, but he at once +added, "Only one redskin. Who cares? What's up?" + +The one redskin was trying in vain to urge an exhausted pony to a +gallop. + +"I'll ride forward and meet him," exclaimed the officer. "He's got +something. I know Indians. Hold on, boys." + +In a moment more he was listening to an eager voice that told him great +news. + +"Red Wolf," he said. "Heap Lipan. Son of Castro. Friend of Big +Knife." + +"But what are you here for?" interrupted the white leader. "I'm +Colonel Smith." + +"Travis heap want more Texan!" said Red Wolf. "Santa Anna come! All +Mexican at fort. Heap big gun. More Texan come or all ranger lose +hair. Castro great chief! Tell young brave ride heap! Bring many +rifle! Ugh!" + +"God bless you!" exclaimed Smith. "Bully for Castro! I know him." + +Then he turned to his men and shouted,-- + +"Boys! It's all right! He's from the fort. Santa Anna's whole army +is marching upon the Alamo. It's thar now!" + +"We ought to ha' come quicker," was the first response that came from +any of the men. Smith could speak Spanish, however, and Red Wolf was +more at home in that tongue than in English. He now gave the colonel a +full account of the scout he and his father had made; of the arrival of +the supply-train; of the condition of things at the fort; and of the +estimated strength of the Mexican army. All that he said was at once +communicated to the men, but it did not seem to dismay them. On the +contrary, not one of them faltered when at last their commander +addressed them with,-- + +"Men! Now you know just how it is, how many of you are ready to push +right on with me to the Alamo?" + +"Git right along," came cheerily back from one of the riflemen. "Thar +ain't any white feathers a-flyin' in this crowd. We're all with ye. +Hurrah for Texas!" + +"Forward, march!" shouted the colonel. "Every mile is worth blood. +Boy, let 'em give you another mount. That thar mustang o' your'n is +played out." + +There was no more travel in him, at all events, and he was quickly +turned loose to shift for himself, while all that had been on him was +going westward upon a comparatively fresh and lively pony. + +"It 'll be about two days' riding," remarked Smith, "at the rate we'll +have to go. When we get thar, we'll have to take our chances for +findin' our way into the fort." + +"We'll get in," they all agreed, but just how they expected to do it +did not appear. On they rode, and their camp that night had the +appearance of a picnic rather than of the bivouac of a handful of +adventurers who were on their way to cut a path for themselves through +a hostile army to almost certain death. + +The Mexican general held a council of war that evening, and its session +lasted late into the night, for there were ample refreshments upon the +table in his marquee. + +It was not a cheerful council, for the reports of the army surgeons +were rendered, and they were unpleasant reading. So appeared to be +several despatches which had but just arrived. + +"General," exclaimed General Cos, when his commander had announced +their contents, "the sinking of that barge in the Nueces is a greater +disaster to us than is to-day's repulse. With those two heavy guns we +could have made a breach in the wall in an hour." + +"We must make one somehow," replied Santa Anna, "since you all +disapprove of a night assault. Castrillon, mass your batteries +to-morrow and play all your shot upon one point. Make every shot tell. +It's only a matter of time." + +"So!" replied the artillery officer. "The breach can be made. And all +the while the garrison will be eating up its supplies." + +"So will we," laughed General Cos, "but we've a big drove of cattle +coming. We can live on beef and water till we have crushed this den of +Gringo tigers." + +The tigers themselves in their fort-den were resting quietly, all but +one, for the commander of the Alamo was pacing up and down slowly, +thoughtfully, in the plaza. No doubt it behooved him to be wakeful, +but once, when he paused in his promenade, he said, half aloud,-- + +"I hope Jim Carson got through. Crockett feels pretty sure that he +did. Then my wife will get my last letter. I want her to know that I +did my duty and died like a man. I had hoped to live in Texas and see +it grow up to be something, but it's no use talking of that now. Our +time has come. Not a man of us will ever get out of this place alive. +And all because Sam Houston can't raise cash enough to feed his men on +a march." + +He laughed satirically, and the sentry at the gate and the watchers at +the loop-holes heard him. It did them good to know that he was so +merry. + +The night waned toward the dawn. Just in the gray mist of the dark +hour the riflemen under Colonel Smith had risen and they were busy +around their camp-fires. They had no idea of any enemy being near +them, but suddenly they were startled by a loud "whoop!" + +"That redskin!" shouted Smith, snatching his rifle and dashing out of +the camp. "Come on, boys! Something's up!" + +They were following fast, but he was well ahead, and he came out into +the road in time to hear a shrill voice beyond him in the mist +demanding,-- + +"Jim heap halt! Ugh! Red Wolf! Heap Texan!" + +"You young sarpent, are you here?" came back from a man on horseback. +"Do you mean to say that some of our men are nigh around?" + +"Who goes thar?" shouted Smith. + +"Carson, from the Alamo," responded the messenger. "Who are you?" + +"Friend of Big Knife," suggested Red Wolf to the colonel. "Ranger." + +"All right!" shouted back Smith. "Dismount and come in. We're on our +way to jine the garrison. How are things?" + +"Well," replied Carson, as he came to the ground, "when I came away +Santa Anna had just fairly got into position. I had to snake it +through his lines to carry despatches to Houston. Jest you look here, +though. Don't you believe I left without orders. Somebody had to +come. I'm coming right back to the fort soon as I've done my arr'nd." + +"Bully for you!" shouted a rifleman. "That's what we're here for. +Come along now and git yer rations." + +"I might ha' gone by ye if it hadn't been for Red Wolf," said Carson, +as they went along. "Bowie says he's the brightest chap of his age +that he ever knew. He can't say that he ever saw him asleep. He can +guide ye into the fort when you git thar." + +"We'll git in," replied Smith. "I reckon Travis 'll be glad we met +you. Every rifle's going to count in such a fight as this promises to +be." + +"You bet!" said Jim. "I felt bad about coming away, but I gave up my +chance there to please Travis. You'll see me inside the walls before +many days. You will!" + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +NEARING THE END. + +The siege of the Alamo had lasted during eight long, terrible days. +There had been a great deal of severe skirmishing, in which the +Mexicans had suffered losses every time they drew too near the walls. +The blockade, however, had become so close and vigilant that it was no +longer possible for any bearer of despatches to get out or in. Out of +several that had been sent, it was understood that two only had escaped +capture and immediate execution. From those who had reached him +General Houston was informed as to the condition of affairs at the +fort. The deepest sympathy was felt for the beleaguered patriots and +preparations for their relief were going on. Precious cargoes of army +supplies had arrived from New Orleans in spite of Mexican war-vessels +cruising in the Gulf. Troops were getting ready. One train of wagons +accompanied by a force of riflemen was already a number of miles upon +its way, with a vague idea that it might somehow evade the army of +Santa Anna. Men assured one another that if the garrison could only +hold out a few days longer all would be well. + +Colonel Travis and his men had held their own remarkably. They even +seemed but little fatigued by their long watching, their readiness to +be called to the shot-holes at any hour of day or night. They were +exceedingly tough and hardy men. They would have been in good spirits +if it had not been for two things. One of these sombre considerations +was the condition of about ten yards of the southerly wall of the +plaza. This was crumbling under the continual pelting of Castrillon's +guns. Most of it was nearly level with the ground, and the gap had +been feebly filled with such pieces of timber and other materials as +could be had. Loose earth had been heaped upon them, but the slight +barrier so constructed was at the mercy of cannon-balls. The other +point was even more important. + +"Colonel Travis," reported Sergeant Daly that morning, "thar's only +half a dozen rounds for the cannon. The last ounce of power and the +last bullet have been sarved out to the men. Thar isn't enough for an +hour's shootin' if the next fight turns out a hot one." + +"Oh, God! If Houston knew!" groaned the commander. "Why doesn't help +come? Daly, don't say a word to the men. It's possible that the +Greasers may not make another attack----" + +"We've killed a heap of 'em," replied the brave artilleryman. "But +what on 'arth are guns good for without ammunition?" + +"We won't surrender, if we've nothing left to fight with but our +knives!" + +"Colonel!" exclaimed Daly. "The men wanted me to ask you that +question. They know just the fix we're in. You won't surrender?" + +"I won't!" said Travis, firmly. + +"Thank God!" almost shouted Daly. "We want to die like men, with arms +in our hands. We don't want to be led out and butchered." + +"The boys needn't be afraid that I'll go back on 'em," replied the +colonel. "I won't rob them of their last rights. If we've got to die, +we'll go down fighting." + +"That's all I wanted to know," said Daly, and away he strode to tell +his comrades that they were in no danger of being betrayed unarmed into +the hands of Santa Anna. + +Hardly had he gone before there came a hail and a response at the great +gate, and two men stood before it. One of them wore the uniform of the +Mexican army and the other almost no uniform at all. + +"Jim Carson! Castro!" had been loudly announced by the sentry. + +"Let 'em in, quick!" shouted Travis. "You don't know who's behind 'em." + +"Ugh!" exclaimed the chief as he stepped inside. "Jim heap Mexican. +Where Red Wolf? Chief want him." + +"Colonel Smith!" instantly called out his companion, "I played Greaser +to git through their lines. How'd you do it?" + +"That young Lipan wolf did it," he said. "He led us 'round to the +west'ard, and we hadn't anything to do but to follow him. They thought +our party was one of their own patrols. We didn't lose a man. Colonel +Bonham got in all alone." + +No more explanations could be given then and there, for Carson had made +his daring experiment that he might bring encouraging despatches from +the President and that he might not break his word about returning. + +Travis opened the letter handed him and he read it where he stood. + +"It's all right, men," he said. "The whole state is rising. If we can +hold the fort a little longer the boys 'll come!" + +Hearty cheers responded, and Carson was at once taken possession of by +his fellow-rangers that they might pump him of all the news he had +gathered while away. + +"Ugh! Heap boy!" said Castro. + +Before him stood Red Wolf, and during two or three minutes they talked +rapidly in their own tongue. As soon as the chief ceased speaking, +Travis approached him and held out a hand. + +"Glad Travis no dead," said Castro, heartily. "Where Big Knife? Where +Crockett?" + +"Here we are!" responded the latter from a little behind him. "But +what on all the 'arth fetched you into the fort jest now? Did the +Greasers say you might come a-visitin'?" + +The Lipan warrior turned on his heel and stalked away to the battered +patch of the wall, followed by his white friends. He stepped up upon +the heap of ruins and studied it for a moment. + +"Castro see Mexican," he said. "See Bravo. Heap friend. Lipans no +fight 'em. Tell 'em all Lipans lie down in lodge. Tell Bravo walk +through wall. Come back. Tell Mexican. Bravo say, Castro go see +fort. Now! Ugh! Tell Travis, tell Big Knife, one sleep. Mexican +come take Texan hair." + +"Jest so," replied Crockett. "They're goin' to try that hole to-morrow +morning? We'll pile it high with Greasers." + +"All right, chief," added Travis, "tell them all they want to know. +It's a fair trade for letting us know they're coming. You can't tell +anything to hurt us." + +"Ugh!" said Castro. "Chief take Red Wolf. Go hide in Santa Anna camp. +See fight. Boy go tell Houston how Travis." + +"Good!" replied Travis. "Just the thing. Let him set out as soon as +the fight is over. I'd like to have old Sam know just how it turns +out. So far, we've beaten 'em every time." + +"Castro heap friend," said the chief, and took from under his blanket a +deerskin-covered parcel closely tied. "Big Knife want powder. Take +present. Shoot heap." + +About two pounds of the best rifle powder, therefore, was his last +contribution to the defence of the fort. + +"Now if that isn't just what we wanted!" shouted Crockett. "I say, +Bowie, divide fair. I've only five charges myself. Pistols empty." + +Some of the others were as badly off, and shortly afterwards it might +have been noted that Bowie's belt fairly bristled with the +short-barrelled but deadly weapons known as "Derringers," from the name +of their manufacturer. + +"There is going to be a use for them," he quietly remarked to Travis. +"If I'm not mistaken, every bullet 'll find a mark to-morrow." + +"Look out," returned Travis. "Don't you go and get yourself only +wounded." + +"No!" almost shouted Bowie. "But what if I am? Could I quit if there +was a breath of life left in me? Travis, they don't intend to take any +prisoners." + +"There won't be any to take," he replied, but his friend drew him +aside, farther out of any risk of being heard by others. + +"One thing more," said Bowie. "I want to get together all the men that +went down into Mexico with me. Crockett, too. The chief and his son +are going. They don't count just now. They'll never tell anyhow, but +somebody ought to live and keep that treasure-secret. It must be found +for Texas some day." + +"We might draw cuts for a man to get away with it," suggested Travis, +"but he'd have no chance. I don't see what we can do. You and I are +sure to go down." + +Castro and Red Wolf were standing by their ponies in the plaza. They +were not members of the garrison. They were not white citizens of +Texas. There was no reason why they should remain to meet the last +onset of Santa Anna's army. Each of them had done all that he could +for his personal friendships. + +"Ugh!" said Castro. "No want more shake hand. Come. Go talk Bravo. +Tell Mexican heap. Great chief lose friend. Ugh!" + +The gate had been opened for them and they mounted at once, but as they +were passing through the portal Red Wolf turned and took a swift, +earnest survey of the interior of the fort. It was all quiet, all +peaceful. The cannon watched silently at their embrasures. The +rangers walked hither and thither unconcernedly. The church front wore +a calm and placid look. The sun was shining brightly. The one dark +spot full of evil omen was the heap of rubbish in the breach of the +wall. + +"Ugh!" said Red Wolf, mournfully. "Big Knife fight a heap. Great +chief!" + +More than one demand for surrender had been sent in and had been +rejected. During several days, however, any other communication with +the fort had been strictly forbidden. The Mexican general, +nevertheless, had not been unwilling to permit the visit of Castro, and +when the chief returned now, he speedily found himself in front of +Santa Anna's marquee. + +"Heap boy in fort," he replied to a question from General Sesma. +"Great chief go get him. Red Wolf no Texan. Good!" + +There was no apparent importance in the presence or absence of one +unarmed young Indian, and Santa Anna hardly looked at him while he +questioned his father closely concerning the aspect of affairs in the +fort. There was no use to the garrison to be gained by Castro's +concealment of anything that a telescope in the camp could discover, +but the Mexican commander exhibited a deep interest in the exact +character and dimensions of the hole his artillery had made in the wall. + +"_Caramba!_" exclaimed Castrillon. "I'll pitch a few more shot into it +in the morning. How many of the rebels have we killed?" + +"Texan feel good!" replied Castro. "Big gun no hurt him." + +Many and loud were the execrations uttered when he explained himself +further and positively affirmed that all their cannonading and musketry +had not disabled a solitary Texan. + +"We shall do better to-morrow," said Santa Anna, with a cynical grin. +"How are their provisions?" + +"Little eat," said Castro. "Texan lie in fort. No make fire. No +kettle." + +"Short of rations, eh?" said General Cos. "That's a point, general. +We might starve 'em out. We have lost a great many men----" + +"We had better lose twice as many," sharply interrupted his commander, +"than to waste any more time here. Houston is getting his volunteers +in hand. We must have the Alamo to-morrow if it costs us a thousand +men!" + +"What Santa Anna say now to great chief?" asked Castro. "What tell +Lipan?" + +His inquiry was made somewhat haughtily, but the response came at once +with extreme graciousness and courtesy. The Lipans were to consider +themselves the fast friends of the Mexican republic, their chief was to +call himself the brother of its President, and Castro and Red Wolf were +led away to a camp-fire where plentiful rations awaited them. It was +not a time when the invaders of Texas were willing to make additional +enemies. + +It was not altogether a cheerful time for them. Really, the greatest +element of uncertainty of success in the proposed assault of the fort +was the dispirited, defeated feeling that prevailed among the Mexican +troops. It was to obviate that defect in their fighting qualities that +Colonel Campos, of the infantry, received orders that night to issue +liberal rations of _aguardiente_, or Mexican whiskey, as soon as the +several battalions should march into their respective positions. + +"Colonel," said Santa Anna, "their feathers are down a little. Make +them so drunk they won't know whether they are killed or not. Who +cares? We have plenty to take their places if we win a victory." + +More _peones_ and _rancheros_ could be expended to any extent provided +he could retain his autocratic grip upon the reins of power. + +There were one hundred and eighty-seven persons within the walls of the +fort that night. Six of these were non-combatants, including two +American women, a Mexican woman, a negro slave, and two young children. + +The keepers of the secret of the cavern of Huitzilopochtli held their +conference. After it was concluded they selected, with careful +deliberation, a number of trustworthy men, to whom, under oath, they +communicated the precious information. If any or all of them should +survive, a full report was to be in like manner made to President +Houston and other Texan patriots who were named. + +"That's all we can do," remarked Bowie, after his precautions had been +taken. "I don't want that expedition to die with me. If any of these +fellows are killed early in the fight, we must put in others in their +places." + +"All right," replied Crockett. "The Montezumas have stuck to that +stuff long enough. But, 'cordin' to Castro, we've been and gone and +put a death-warrant on every one of those men. I was thinking 'bout +that." + +"You'd think!" exclaimed Bowie, "if you'd seen what I did. Do you +know, there was the queerest kind of roar coming up out of that chasm. +I don't wonder the blood-thirsty heathen were superstitious about it." + +"I'd like to hear it some day," said Crockett. "But thar's a kind of +ringing in my ears, anyhow. Perhaps it's from hearing so much cannon +music." + +In the cavern of Huitzilopochtli that night, the treasure-chamber of +the Montezumas, the voice from the lower deep was calling more loudly +than usual. + +"The gods are disturbed," grumbled the old men before the altar. "We +have nothing to give them. They grow angry. What shall we do for the +hunger of the gods?" + +Louder, at intervals, then seeming to die away and begin again, arose +the mysterious reverberation, while the old devotees paused from their +chanting to turn and glare into each other's ferocious faces. + +It was only a mute inquiry. If no other supply should be provided, to +which of them would belong the next voluntary plunge into the gulf? + +They were fewer than they once had been. There might be none to take +their places. It would not do for the altar of Huitzilopochtli to be +left without servitors and the treasure without guardians. Some of +them must remain until the return of the gods, for these were surely to +come again to claim their own. + +Why, however, should they at this time feel so strong a hunger and send +up so vehement an outcry? Had they heard that sacrifices were about to +come? If so, where were the expected victims, and whose hand should +bring them? + +It was a question to which no answer could be given, but the +sacrificial fire was heaped with fuel until its radiance flickered like +a smile of satisfaction upon the vast, dark face on the wall, and the +priests chanted on with a croaking sound like that of many ravens. + +No morning ever came into that cavern, but it dawned brightly upon the +outside world,--the morning of the 6th of March, 1836. + +The camp of the Mexican army was astir at an early hour and the +artillery began its practice-work upon the shattered wall. Every gun +was aimed with care, for even Santa Anna was using up the last of his +cannon-shot. + +There was apparently nothing doing in the fort. It had a lazy look, +and the rangers hardly spoke to one another as they went about their +routine duties. They all cleaned their rifles carefully, counted their +bullets, measured their charges of powder, and now and then they would +stroll to loop-holes for looks at the Mexican camp. + +"They are forming for the attack," was the word that passed from man to +man, while the iron missiles, fairly well directed, fell fast upon the +frail barrier which had been made at the breach. + +"There 'll a good many men drap in that thar gap," remarked Crockett. +"But they won't all try to come in by that way." + +The Mexican commander had indeed learned something by experience. His +storming columns were four in number, and only one of them advanced +toward the broken wall. Another was evidently to approach by the +front, where the ruins of the gate had been strongly propped up during +the night. The third and fourth formed in front of the convent yard +wall and the church, and their ladders would be quite long enough to +carry them over the former. + +"We've got to divide," said Travis. "You hold the convent and church +side, Bowie. They could pick their way in, or blast a hole, if you'd +let 'em. We'll take care of the rest." + +Only a few men could be spared to any of the several posts of danger. + +The Mexican batteries ceased. The half-drunken infantry came on at a +run. The last cartridges were rapidly and effectively fired from the +Texan cannon. Down went their enemies by scores, and it looked as if +the previous results were to be repeated, but Sergeant Daly now stepped +back from the gun he had been working and held up a hand. + +"All gone!" exclaimed Travis. "Come on, men, this four-pounder is +loaded yet. Let's bring it to bear upon the breach and give it to them +as they come through." + +The guns on the church, three in number, had also been busy, but they +now ceased their thunder. Down went the gate before the blows of the +Mexican pioneers. Fast fell the foremost assailants in the fatal +breach, but just as Travis had swung around his cannon a musketeer from +the gate was within twenty feet of him. He did not miss. The calm, +courageous smile upon the face of the heroic commander died away, for +the flying lead passed through his brain. + +Numbers counted now, for the enemy were within the walls, and the +remaining struggle was hand-to-hand. + +Brave enough were the Mexicans, but they were learning terrible lessons +of the superior personal prowess of their victims. Not a man asked for +quarter. To be only wounded and to fall was to be bayoneted upon the +ground. Five who were disabled did indeed take refuge in the +cook-room, barring its door and fighting still. + +Half-way between the convent and the church a thick group of swordsmen +and lancers closed around the old bear hunter, but he did not die +alone. Near him lay half a dozen of his foemen, and just beyond them +fell his old friends Smith and Bonham, hastening to die at his side. + +The last squad of riflemen stood in front of the main inside entrance +of the fort building, plying their rifles steadily, but the surge of +steel points poured towards them. + +"Boys!" exclaimed Bowie at their head, "I'm hurt in the leg. I can't +stand. I must do the rest of it lying down." + +His empty rifle fell from his hand as he climbed a stairway near him. +Bleeding and faint, he staggered on to the end of a passage, and he +threw himself upon the couch in the end room, exclaiming,-- + +"I saw them fall! Not a man is left to tell the secret of the cavern!" + +It was but a moment, and then the passageway swarmed with furious +Mexicans. From room to room they went, plying their bayonets alike +upon the living and the dead. As they entered the corner room, +however, a dark, stern, terrible shape half rose from a couch with a +Derringer in its right hand. Swift reports followed each other as +rapidly as the tickings of a clock till Bowie's belt was empty. The +floor was strewn with corpses, and then, as yet more of his enemies +poured in, he gained his feet with a last effort, knife in hand. It +was but for a moment. It was the fierce agony of a dying hero. The +bayonets did their work, and as the stalwart form of the dead borderer +sank heavily upon the floor, a low voice in the door-way exclaimed,-- + +"Big Knife! Heap brave! Great chief! Red Wolf go." + +[Illustration: A DARK, STERN, TERRIBLE SHAPE HALF ROSE FROM A COUCH] + +The Alamo had fallen! + +The five men in the cook-room surrendered to Castrillon when their last +cartridge was gone on promise of protection, but they were sabred at +once on being taken before Santa Anna, who now stood among his staff in +the middle of the plaza. + +"_Caramba_! Kill them!" was all the reply he made to the protests of +Castrillon. + +The six non-combatants were spared to tell the story of the defence and +the massacre, but the victory had been a costly one. The army of Santa +Anna had been so shattered that, when he met Sam Houston and his +volunteers, not many days later, at San Jacinto, his eighteen hundred +men were utterly defeated by about a third of their number of Texans, +and he lost not only his army of invasion but his control of Mexican +affairs, and Texas itself. + +Dark indeed, that day, was the cavern of Huitzilopochtli, and all +through the early hours the moaning sound came up from the chasm. Then +it grew louder, stronger, and the worshippers fled from its brink to +the altar. They had no victims to offer. Their chant was almost +drowned by the ominous roar, and the hungry anger of the gods seemed to +increase momentarily. Then it began to die away,--away,--until at last +a kind of shout came up, and there was a silence. Excepting Red Wolf +and his father, there were now no living persons, outside of the +votaries of the old faith, who had any clue to the hidden treasure and +the underground temple of the lost gods of Mexico. The daring Texan +who had learned the secret had fallen fighting to the end, the last man +of the garrison of the Alamo. + + + + + +THE END. + + + + + +TURNBULL AND SPEARS, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH + + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Lost Gold of the Montezumas, by +William O. 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