oy who rode by his side, "if Bowie would only
give the word we would gallop right into town, smashing through the
Mexicans."

"We might gallop into it," said Ned, laughing, "but we couldn't gallop
out again. No, no, Panther, we mustn't forget that the Mexicans can
fight. Besides, Bowie isn't going to give the word."

"No, he ain't," said the Ring Tailed Panther with a sigh, "an' we won't
get the chance to make one of the finest dashes ever heard of in war."

"He who doesn't dash but rides away will live to dash another day," said
Obed White oracularly.

They rode on in a half circle about the town, keeping a fairly close
array, every man sitting his saddle erect and defiant. It seemed to Ned
that they were issuing a challenge to the whole army of Cos, and he
enjoyed it. It appealed to his youthful spirit of daring. They
practically said to the Mexican army in the town: "Come out and fight us
if you dare!"

But the Mexicans did not accept the challenge. Save for the little
scouting parties that always kept a watch at a safe distance they
remained within their intrenchments. But Bowie and Fannin were able to
take a look at the fortifications, confirming in every respect all that
Ned and his comrades had told them.

They ate in the saddle at noon, having provided themselves with rations
when they started, and then rode back on their slow half circle about
the town, Mexican scouts riding parallel with them on the inner side of
the circle, five hundred yards away. The Texans said little, but they
watched all the time.

It made a powerful appeal to Ned, who had been a great reader, and whose
mind was surcharged with the old romances. It seemed to him that his
comrades and he were like knights, riding around a hostile city and
issuing a formal challenge to all who dared to meet them. He was proud
to be there in such company. The afternoon waned. Banks of vapor, rose
and gold, began to pile up in the southwest, their glow tinting the
earth with the same colors. But beauty did not appeal just then to the
Ring Tailed Panther, who began to roar.

"A-ridin', an' a-ridin'," he said, "an' nothin' done. Up to San Antonio
an' back to camp, an' things are just as they were before."

"A Texas colonel rode out on the prairie with ninety men, and then rode
back again," said Obed.

"But we are not going back again!" cried Ned joyfully.

Bowie, who was in the lead, suddenly turned his horse away from the camp
and rode toward th