Ned lay down just within the shadow of a tent wall, drew his serape
higher about his face, and rested his head upon his arm. He would have
seemed sound asleep to an ordinary observer, but he was never more wide
awake in his life. He was near enough to hear what Urrea and his friends
were saying, and he intended to hear it. It was for such that he had
come.

"You lose, Francisco," said one of the men as he made a throw of the
dice and looked eagerly at the result. "What was it that you were saying
about the general?"

"That I expect an early advance, Ramon," replied Urrea, "a brief
campaign, and a complete victory. I hate these Texans. I shall be glad
to see them annihilated."

The young officer whom he called Ramon laughed.

"If what I hear be true, Francisco," he said, "you have cause to hate
them. There was a boy, Fulton, that wild buffalo of a man, whom they
call the Panther, and another who defeated some of your finest plans."

Urrea flushed, but controlled his temper.

"It is true, Ramon," he replied. "The third man I can tell you is called
Obed White, and they are a clever three. I hate them, but it hurts my
pride less to be defeated by them than by any others whom I know."

"Well spoken, Urrea," said a third man, "but since these three are
fighters and will stay to meet us, it is a certainty that our general
will scoop them into his net. Then you can have all the revenge you
wish."

"I count upon it, Ambrosio," said Urrea, smiling. "I also hope that we
shall recapture the man Roylston. He has great sums of money in the
foreign banks in our country, and we need them, but our illustrious
president cannot get them without an order from Roylston. The general
would rather have Roylston than a thousand Texan prisoners."

All of them laughed, and the laugh made Ned, lying in the shadow, shiver
once more. Urrea glanced his way presently, but the recumbent figure did
not claim his notice. The attention of his comrades and himself became
absorbed in the dice again. They were throwing the little ivory cubes
upon a blanket, and Ned could hear them click as they struck together.
The sharp little sound began to flick his nerves. Not one to cherish
resentment, he nevertheless began to hate Urrea, and he included in that
hatred the young men with him. The Texans were so few and poor. The
Mexicans were so many, and they had the resources of a nation more than
two centuries old.

Ned rose by and by and walked on. He c