nd, coming by sea, had landed at Copano about
two weeks before. Ned, having full cause, hated this brutal man, and he
hoped that the Texans would come to grips with him.

The night was at hand when they reached four men sitting on horseback
and waiting for them. They greeted the Ring Tailed Panther with few
words but with warmth. They gave to Ned and Obed, too, the strong
handclasp which men in danger give to friends who come. Ned thrilled
once more with pride that he should be associated with heroes in great
deeds. Such they undoubtedly were to him.

"The Mexicans will be at Gonzales to-morrow," said one of the men. "The
place, as you know, has refused to give up its cannon and has defied
them, but it's almost bare of men. I don't think they have a dozen
there."

"The battle is generally to the strong if they get there in time," said
Obed, "and here are seven of us on good horses."

"Not countin' the fact that one of us is a Ring Tailed Panther with
claws a foot long an' two sets of teeth in his mouth," said Palmer.
"Ride on, boys, an' ride hard."

They urged their horses into a gallop and sped over the prairie. At
midnight they clattered into the tiny village of Gonzales on the
Guadalupe River, where everybody except the little children was awake
and watching. Lights flared from the cabins, and the alarm at first,
lest they were Mexicans, changed to joy when they were disclosed as
Texans.

But the armed force of the place, though stout of heart, was pitifully
small. They found only eleven men in Gonzales capable of bearing arms,
and no more help could be expected before the Mexicans came the next
day. But eleven and seven make eighteen, and now that they were joined,
and communicating spirit and hope to one another, the eighteen were more
than twice as strong as the eleven had been. The Ring Tailed Panther
poured forth a stream of cheer and encouragement. He grew more voluble
at the approach of danger. Never had his teeth and claws been longer or
sharper.

"I'm afraid of nothin' except that they won't come," he said. "If they
don't, my health will give way. I'll be a-droopin' an' a-pinin' an' I'll
have to go off an' fight the Comanches an' Lipans to get back my
strength."

But he was assured that his health would not suffer. 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