“It’s likely that they have more information than we have,” said the Panther, “an’ they are ridin’ hard to make a surprise.  Boys, we’ve got to beat ’em, an’, to do it, we’ve got to keep ahead of our dust all the time!”

“The greater the haste, the greater the speed just now,” said Obed White.

They urged their horses into a gallop.  They kept close to the sea, while Urrea was more than half a mile inland.  Luckily, a thin skirt of timber soon intervened between Mexicans and Texans, and the six believed that Urrea and his men were unaware of their presence.  Their own cloud of dust was much smaller than that of the Mexicans, and also it might readily be mistaken for sea sand whipped up by the wind.

Ned and the Panther rode in front, side by side, Smith and Karnes followed, side by side, too, and behind came Obed White and Will Allen, riding knee to knee.  They ascended a rise and Ned, whose eyes were the keenest of them all, uttered a little cry.

“The schooner is there!” he exclaimed.  “See, isn’t that the top of a mast sticking up above those scrub trees?”

“It’s nothing else,” said Obed White, who was familiar with the sea and ships.  “And it’s bound, too, to be the schooner for which we are looking.  Forward, boys!  The swift will win the race, and the battle will go to the strong!”

They pressed their horses now to their greatest speed.  The cove and the ship were not more than a half mile away.  A quarter of a mile, and the skirt of timber failed.  The Mexicans on their left saw them, and increased their speed.

“The schooner’s anchored!” exclaimed Obed, “and they are unloading!  Look, part of the cargo is on the bank already!”

With foot and rein they took the last ounce of speed from their horses, and galloped up to a group of astonished men, who were transferring arms and ammunition by small boats from a schooner to the land Already more than a hundred rifles, and a dozen barrels of powder lay upon the shore.

“Back to the ship!  Back to the ship!” cried Ned, who involuntarily took the lead.  “We are Texans, and a powerful force of Mexicans will be here inside of fifteen minutes!”

The men looked at him astonished and unbelieving.  Ned saw among them a figure, clad in sober brown, a man with a large head and a broad, intellectual face, with deep lines of thought.  He knew him at once, and cried: 

“Mr. Roylston, it is I!  Edward Fulton!  You know me!  And here are Captain Palmer, ‘Deaf’ Smith, Henry Karnes, Obed White and Will Allen!  I tell you that you have no time to lose!  Put the supplies back on the schooner, and be as quick as you can!  Captain Urrea and two hundred men are galloping fast to capture them!”

Roylston started in astonishment at the appearance of Ned, whom he, too, had believed to be dead, but he wasted no time in questions.  He gave quick orders to have the arms and ammunition reloaded, and directed the task himself.  The Panther sprang from his horse and walked back to the edge of the wood.