th his son and Luis and Lopez, were opened; and the
face of Ortiz showed brown and glowing between them.

"Senors," he said, as he advanced to them, "I am satisfied. I have been
appointed on the guard over Santa Anna. He has recognized me. He has to
obey my orders. Will you think of that?" Then taking the doctor's hand
he raised it to his lips. "Senor, I owe this satisfaction to you. You
have made me my triumph. How shall I repay you?"

"By being merciful in the day of your power, Ortiz."

"I assure you that I am not so presumptuous, Senor. Mercy is the right
of the Divinity. It is beyond my capacity. Besides which, it is not
likely the Divinity will trouble himself about Santa Anna. I have,
therefore, to obey the orders of the great, the illustrious Houston;
which are, to prevent his escape at all risks. May St. James give me the
opportunity, Senors! In this happy hour, a Dios!"

Then Lopez bent forward, and with a smile touched the doctor's hand.
"Will you now remember the words I said of Houston? Did I not tell you,
that success was with him? that on his brow was the line of fortune?
that he was the loadstone in the breast of freedom?"

CHAPTER XVII. HOME AGAIN.

"Where'er we roam,
Our first, best country ever is at home."

"What constitutes a state?
Men who their duties know;
But know their rights, and knowing, dare maintain.

"And sovereign law, that states collected will
O'er thrones and globes elate,
Sits empress; crowning good, repressing ill.

"This hand to tyrants ever sworn a foe,
For freedom only deals the deadly blow;
Then sheathes in calm repose the vengeful blade,
For gentle peace, in freedom's hallowed shade."

The vicinity of a great battle-field is a dreadful place after the lapse
of a day or two. The bayou and the morass had provided sepulture
for hundreds of slain Mexicans, but hundreds still lay upon the open
prairie. Over it, birds of prey hung in dark clouds, heavy-winged, sad,
sombre, and silent. Nothing disturbed them. They took no heed of the
living. Armed with invincible talons and beaks tipped with iron,
they carried on ceaselessly that automatic gluttony, which made them
beneficent crucibles of living fire, for all which would otherwise have
corrupted the higher life. And yet, though innocent as the elements,
they were odious i