ame unbearable. He turned over on his other side
and looked at Smith, their leader. Smith was pale and weak from his
wound, but he smiled wanly.

"You don't speak, but your face asks your question, Ned," he said. "I
hate to say it, but we can't hold this roof. I never knew the Mexicans
to shoot so well before, and their numbers and cannon give them a great
advantage. Below, lads, as soon as you can!"

They crept down the stairway, and found that the house itself was
suffering from the Mexican cannon. Holes had been smashed in the walls,
but here the Texans were always replying with their rifles. They also
heard the steady fire in the house of De La Garcia and they knew that
their comrades were standing fast. Ned, exhausted by the great tension,
sat down on a willow sofa. His hands were trembling and his face was wet
with perspiration. The Ring Tailed Panther sat down beside him.

"Good plan to rest a little, Ned," he said. "We've come right into a
hornets' nest an' the hornets are stingin' us hard. Listen to that, will
you!"

A cannon ball smashed through the wall, passed through the room in which
they were sitting, and dropped spent in another room beyond. Obed joined
them on the sofa.

"A cannon ball never strikes in the same place twice," misquoted Obed.
"So it's safer here than it is anywhere else in this Veramendi house.
I'd help with the rifles but there's no room for me at the windows and
loopholes just now."

"Our men are giving it back to them," said Ned. "Listen how the rifles
crackle!"

The battle was increasing in heat. The Mexicans, despite their
artillery, and their heavy barricades, were losing heavily at the hands
of the sharpshooters. The Texans, sheltered in the buildings, were
suffering little, but their position was growing more dangerous every
minute. They were inside the town, but the force of Burleson outside was
unable to come to their aid. Meanwhile, they must fight five to one, but
they addressed themselves with unflinching hearts to the task. Even in
the moment of imminent peril they did not think of retreat, but clung
to their original purpose of taking San Antonio.

Ned, tense and restless, was unable to remain more than a few minutes on
the sofa. He wandered into another room and saw a large table spread
with food. Bread and meat were in the dishes, and there were pots of
coffee. All was now cold. Evidently they had been making ready for early
breakfast in the Veramendi house when