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The heart of the Maine man, alone in the world, had turned strongly to Ned Fulton, and mourning him as one dead he also mourned him as a son. But as he rarely talked of the things that affected him most, he seldom mentioned Ned. The Panther was less restrained. "We've got a big score to settle for the Alamo," he said.
Oh, if only all the Texans had come what a roarin' an' rippin' an' t'arin' and chawin' there would have been when we struck Santa Anna's army, no matter how big it might be." "But they didn't come," said Smith grimly, "an' as far as I know we five are all the Texans that are ridin' toward San Antonio de Bexar an' the Alamo." "But bein' only five won't keep us from ridin' on," said the Panther.
Neither spoke, but watched him for a while, as the unknown came on, lashing a tired horse. "'Pears to be in a hurry," said Smith. "An' to be in a hurry generally means somethin' in these parts," said Karnes. "I'm makin' 'a guess." "So am I, an' yours is the same as mine. He comes from the Alamo." Others now saw the man, and there was a rush toward him.
For answer, he turned to the men around him, and said, with a malignant emphasis: 'Fire! It was the last volley. Of the defenders of the Alamo, not one is left." A solemn silence followed. For a few minutes it was painful in its intensity. Isabel broke it. She spoke in a whisper, but her voice was full of intense feeling. "I wish indeed the whole city had been burnt up.
They were the men of experience, and in matters such as these they had minds of uncommon penetration. He noticed that neither of them said anything, and that they showed no elation. Everybody in the Alamo knew the next day that Bonham had come from Fannin, and the whole place was filled with new hope.
It seemed that she, too, at that moment felt some of the glow that the fall of the Alamo was to suffuse through Texas. "Because I saw," she replied. "I was in one of the arched rooms of the church, where they made the last stand. I saw Crockett fall and I saw the death of Bowie, too. I saw Santa Anna exult, but many, many Mexicans fell also. It was a terrible struggle.
Now we hear again the echoes of our past: a general falls to his knees in the hard snow of Valley Forge; a lonely President paces the darkened halls, and ponders his struggle to preserve the Union; the men of the Alamo call out encouragement to each other; a settler pushes west and sings a song, and the song echoes out forever and fills the unknowing air. It is the American sound.
The forefront of the mighty storm-crest lapped over the presumptuous barrier in one hissing, high-flung waterfall; then with a final roar the dam went out and, as the bowlders groaned and rumbled beneath the flood, the Alamo overleapt them and thundered on.
"Your wire got me two days since and I came right up." "Any trace?" "Left here two days ago." "Three of them?" "Yes. Flat-bottomed, narrow-beamed boat, sloop-rigged pretty light." "Know anything of the men?" "Only the big one. Calls himself Colonel Richford. Had a fake copper outfit in the mountains east of Alamo." "Where do you think they're headed for?"
"Will," exclaimed the Panther, "have you gone plum' crazy? Ned was killed at the Alamo!" "I tell you he is here!" cried the boy, who was shaking with excitement. "I have just seen him! He was lying on his back in the bushes, and he did not move!" "Lead on! Let's see what you have seen!" said Obed, who began to share in the boy's excitement. The Panther whistled, and Smith and Karnes joined them.
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