g and
loud. But his roaring was cut short by an order for him, Obed, Ned and
Urrea to ride eastward to some of the little Texan towns in search of
help. The leaders were anxious that their utmost strength be gathered
when they should at last make the attack upon San Antonio. Since he
could not have just what he wished, the Panther was glad to get the new
task, and the others were content.

They rode away the next morning, armed and provisioned well. Their
horses, having rested long and fed abundantly, were strong and fresh,
and they went at a good pace, until they came to the last swell from
which they could see San Antonio. The town was distant, but it was
magnified in the clear Texas sunlight. It looked to Ned, sitting there
on his horse, like a large city. It had come to occupy a great place in
his mind and just now it was to him the most important town in the
world. He wondered if they would ever take it. Urrea, who was watching
him, smiled.

"I know what you are thinking," he said, "and I will wager that it was
just the same that I was thinking."

"I was trying to read the future and tell whether we would take San
Antonio," said Ned.

"Exactly. Those were my thoughts, too."

"I reckon you two wasn't far away from my trail either," said the Ring
Tailed Panther, "'cause I was figgerin' that we'd take it inside of a
month."

"Count me in, too," said Obed. "Great minds go in bunches. I was
calculating that we would capture it some day, but I left out the limit
of time."

They turned their horses, and when they reached the crest of the next
swell San Antonio was out of sight. Before them stretched the prairies,
now almost as desolate as they had been when the Indians alone roamed
over them. They passed two or three small cabins, each built in a
cluster of trees near a spring, but the occupants had gone, fled to a
town for shelter. One seemed to have been abandoned only an hour or two
ago, as the ashes were scarcely cold on the hearth, and a bucket of
water, with its gourd in it, still stood on the shelf. The sight moved
the Ring Tailed Panther to sentiment.

"Think of the women an' children havin' to sleep out on the prairie," he
said. "It ain't right an' fittin'."

"We'll bring them all back before we are through," said Obed.

They left the little cabin, exactly as they had found it, and then rode
at an increased pace toward the north and the east, making for the
settlements on the Brazos. A little while