the thought
had often crossed his own mind.

Ralph and the negro were anxious to hear the particulars of what had
occurred, and the boy listened to his brother's tale in open-mouthed
amazement.

"A real battle! Oh, Dan, how I wish I had been there!"

"Well, to tell the truth, it was rather one-sided. The Mexicans did not
stand up in front of us long."

"And what are they going to do next?"

"Nobody knows. But there will be war, beyond a doubt."

"Oh, yes, I suppose General Santa Anna will be as mad as a hornet when
he hears of the affair. And all over an old brass cannon, too!" And
Ralph gave a laugh.

Matters were going along smoothly at the ranch, for Pompey was a
faithful worker and had dropped into the routine without an effort. Mr.
Radbury was glad that he had come, for he felt that he wanted a man
around, in case the coming war carried him a distance from home.

As intimated, the fight at Gonzales became the talk of all Texas, and,
the day after the contest, the committee organised at San Felipe issued
a statement and called upon each man in Texas to decide for himself
whether or not he would submit to the destruction of his rights and
liberties by the central government of Mexico, and stating that the war
had begun.

While meetings were going on in a dozen places or more, and
frontiersmen and settlers were hurrying to the scene of action, a force
of about forty men, under the leadership of Captain Collingsworth,
gathered for the purpose of capturing Goliad, a small town on the lower
San Antonio River. The river was gained on the night of October 9th,
and while scouts were out reconnoitring, the brave little band was
joined by Colonel Ben Milam, an old Texan _empresario_, who had been
confined for political reasons in the jail at Monterey. Of this gallant
man we will hear more later.

Finding the coast clear, the band entered the town, and silently made
their way to the quarters of Lieutenant-Colonel Sandoval, the
commandant. They were less than a hundred feet from the garrison when a
sentry discovered them and gave the alarm. The sentry was shot down on
the spot, and then the door was splintered to kindling-wood with axes,
and the Texans poured into the building, and the commandant was made a
prisoner. There was great surprise for several minutes, but the Mexican
soldiers had been taken off their guard, and could offer little
resistance. Twenty-five were captured, and the rest escaped in the
darknes