“Obed,” he said, “everybody can do as he pleases, and I propose that you and I and the Ring Tailed Panther scout toward San Antonio.  Cos and his army are marching toward that town, and while the Texan campaign of defense is being arranged and the leaders are being chosen we might give a lot of help.”

“Just what I was thinking,” said Obed.

“Jest what I ought to have thought,” said the Ring Tailed Panther.

San Antonio was a long journey to the westward, and they started at twilight fully equipped.  They carried their usual arms, two blankets apiece, light but warm, food for several days, and double supplies of ammunition, the thing that they would now need most.  Gonzales gave them a farewell full of good wishes.  Some of the women exclaimed upon Ned’s youth, but Obed explained that the boy had lived through hardships and dangers that would have overcome many a veteran pioneer of Texas.

They forded the Guadalupe for the second time on the same day.  Then they rode by the mound on which the Mexicans had made their brief stand.  The three said little.  Even the Ring Tailed Panther had thoughts that were not voiced.  The hill, the site of the first battle in their great struggle, stood out, clear and sharp, in the moonlight.  But it was very still now.

“We’ll date a good many things from that hill,” said Ned as they rode on.

They followed in the path of the flying Mexicans who, they were quite sure, would make for Cos and San Antonio.  The Ring Tailed Panther knew the most direct course and as the moon was good they could also see the trail left by the Mexicans.  It was marked further by grim objects, two wounded horses that had died in the flight, and then by a man succumbing, who had been buried in a grave so shallow that no one could help noticing it.

A little after midnight they saw a light ahead, and they judged by the motions that a man was waving a torch.

“It can’t be a trap,” said Obed, “because the Mexicans would not stop running until they were long past here.”

“An’ there ain’t no cover where that torch is,” added the Ring Tailed Panther.

“Then suppose we ride forward and see what it means,” said Ned.

They cocked their rifles, ready for combat if need be, and rode forward slowly.  Soon they made out the figure of a man standing on a swell of the prairie, and vigorously waving a torch made of a dead stick lighted at one end.  He had a rifle, but it leaned against a bush beside him.  His belt held a pistol and knife, but his free hand made no movement toward them, as the three rode up.  The man himself was young, slender, and of olive complexion with black hair and eyes.  He was a Mexican, but he was dressed in the simple Texan style.  Moreover, there were Mexicans born in Texas some of whom, belonging to the Liberal party, inclined to the Texan side.  This man was distinctly handsome and the look with which he returned the gaze of the three was frank, free and open.