before nightfall, they met a
buffalo hunter who told them there were reports of a Mexican cavalry
force far north of San Antonio, although he could not confirm the truth
of the rumors. Urrea shook his head vigorously.

"Impossible! impossible!" he said. "The Mexicans would not dare to come
away so far from their base at San Antonio."

The hunter, an old man, looked at him with curiosity and disapproval.

"That's more than you an' me can say," he said, "although you be a
Mexican yourself and know more about your people than I do. I jest tell
what I've heard."

"Mr. Urrea is one of the most ardent of the Texan patriots," said Ned.

"I jest tell what I've heard," said the old man, whistling to his pony
and riding away.

"Obstinate!" said Urrea, laughing in his usual light, easy manner.
"These old hunters are very narrow. You cannot make them believe that a
Mexican, although born on Texas soil, which can be said of very few
Texans, is a lover of liberty and willing to fight against aggression
from the capital."

At night they rode into a splendid belt of forest, and made their camp
by a cool spring that gushed from a rock and flowed away among the
trees. Ned and Obed scouted a little, and found the country so wild that
the deer sprang up from the bushes. It was difficult to resist the
temptation of a shot, but they were compelled to let them go, and
returning to camp they reported to Urrea and the Ring Tailed Panther
that they seemed to have the forest to themselves, so far as human
beings were concerned.

"Do you think it is safe to light a fire?" asked Urrea.

"I see no danger in it," replied Obed, "that is, none in a little one.
There are so many bushes about us that it couldn't be seen fifty yards
away."

It was now November and as the night had become quite cold Urrea's
suggestion of a fire seemed good to Ned. He showed much zeal in
gathering the dry wood, and then they deftly built a fire, one that
would throw out little flame, but which would yet furnish much heat. The
Ring Tailed Panther, who had the most skill in wilderness life, kindled
it with flint and steel, and while the flames, held down by brush, made
hot coals beneath, the smoke was lost among the trees and the darkness.

The horses were tethered near, and they warmed their food by the coals
before eating it. The place was snug, a little cup set all around by
bushes and high trees, and the heat of the fire was very grateful. While
Ned sat befo