till on the opposite side of
the stream to compel them to move away before their force could be
increased. Volunteers were called for to cross the river with the brass
cannon and begin an attack, and a hundred and sixty Texans rode to the
front for that purpose. Mr. Radbury was too loyal-hearted a man to hang
back, and as Dan begged very hard to go too, he was permitted to join
half a dozen young men who brought up the rear.

CHAPTER XI.

THE OPENING OF THE WAR.

To get so many men across the river by boat would have taxed the
resources of Gonzales to the utmost, so the majority of the Texans went
around by way of the ford, only a few going over in the ferry with the
four-pounder.

The trip was made during the night of October first, and every man was
cautioned to be as silent as possible.

"We'll give them a surprise," said Dan to one of the young men, a
_ranchero_ named Henry Parker. He had known Henry Parker for over
a year, and the two were warm friends.

"Or get a surprise," was the answer. "They may be watching us just as
hard as we are watching them."

"Pooh! I am not afraid of a greaser!"

"Neither am I. But it will pay to be careful."

They had passed the ford, and now in the utter darkness the little band
made its way through the brush toward the spot where the Mexican
command had been in camp before the fog settled down.

Coming closer, the Texans were spread out in a sort of skirmish line,
with the four-pounder in the centre. Dan and his friend were on the
extreme right, down by the water's edge.

Here there was more than one little inlet to cross, and while Dan's
horse was picking his steps the youth fancied he detected a sudden
movement among the bushes overhanging the water's edge.

[Illustration: "'HOLD ON!' HE CRIED TO HENRY PARKER. 'SOMETHING IS IN
THAT BUSH!'"]

"Hold on," he cried to Henry Parker. "Something is in that bush."

"Man or beast?" whispered Henry, and placed his hand to the trigger of
his gun.

"I can't say. Wait till I investigate."

Leaving his mustang in his friend's care, Dan leaped to the ground and
ran close to the bushes. As he did this, he stumbled into a hole and
fell. He picked himself up, and while doing so heard a splash and saw
some dark object disappear beneath the river's surface.

"Come here! Something is up!" he called to Henry, and at once his
friend complied, and both ran down to the water's edge and strained
their eyes to pierce the gloom