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"The reinforcements are coming!" he shouted. "Ugartchea is here!" "Ugartchea! Ugartchea!" was the cry taken up on all sides, and it was not long before Colonel Bowie set off with a hundred of the best Texan horsemen to intercept the supposed newcomers.
This he would not do, and all of the settlers now agreed that he was awaiting reinforcements from Bexar. "He will wait for Colonel Ugartchea to come up with the balance of the command, and then wipe us out altogether," said one. "Or perhaps he is waiting for Cos to come up," said another.
Suddenly there was a noise as of something falling in the shrubbery, and then a sharp whistle. The men on the piazza instantly looked in the direction of the hidden Texans. Cos and Ugartchea drew pistols. The Ring Tailed Panther acted with the greatest promptness and decision. "We must run for it, boys," he exclaimed in a loud whisper.
Our lances are not a match for their rifles. Your pardon, General, but it will be wise for us to fortify still further." Cos frowned and made another wicked sweep with the cane. But he said: "What you say is truth, Colonel Ugartchea, but with qualifications. Our men are not a match for them on the open prairie, but should they attack us here in the city they will be destroyed."
He still believed in Santa Anna and his golden promises, hoping against hope for a peaceful change for the better. At San Antonio were stationed five hundred Mexican soldiers, under Colonel Ugartchea, and, according to orders, this command commenced to disarm such of the Texans as had failed to comply with the decree regarding firearms.
Then he asked further questions about the fortifications, and Ugartchea, who seemed to be in immediate charge, began to repeat the details. It was for this that the Texans had come into the patio, and Ned leaned forward eagerly. He saw Obed on one side of him and the Ring Tailed Panther on the other do the same.
Already they heard the sounds of the hunt, the shouts of soldiers and the mob, of men calling to one another. Through the chinks in the wall they saw the light of torches in the alley. They lay still for a few minutes and then the noise of the search drifted down toward the plazas. The torches passed out of the alley. "Did you hear that whistle just before Cos and Ugartchea fired?" asked Ned.
"But they can fight," said Ugartchea. "They ride and shoot like demons. They will give us trouble." "I know it," said Cos, "but the more trouble they make us the more they shall suffer. It was an evil day when the first American was allowed to come into Texas." "Yet they will attack us here," persisted Ugartchea, "They have driven our men off the prairies.
At Gonzales, fifty miles to the eastward, the settlers had a four-pounder, a brass cannon given to them by the government for protection against the Indians. "The people of Gonzales must give up the cannon," said Colonel Ugartchea. "Tell them to send it to Bexar without delay." "We need the cannon," said the people of Gonzales. "It's the only cannon we have along the whole river front."
Mexican cavalry, a hundred strong, were coming under a captain, Castenada, sent by Ugartchea, the Mexican commander at San Antonio de Bexar. Scouts had brought that definite news. They were riding from the west and they would have to cross the Guadalupe before they could enter Gonzales. There were fords, but it would be a dangerous task to attempt their passage in face of the Texan rifles.
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