omfort and strength to Ned. He always
believed that he would have collapsed without him. As nearly as he could
guess the time it was about halfway between midnight and morning, and in
order to preserve his strength he forced himself to eat a little more.

A half hour's rest, and remounting he resumed his slow progress by the
river. The rest had been good for both his horse and himself, and the
blood felt warmer in his veins. He moved for some time among trees and
thickets that lined the banks, and after a while he recognized familiar
ground. He had been in some of these places in the course of the siege
of San Antonio, and the town could not be far away.

It was probably two hours before daylight when he heard a sound which
was not that of the Norther, a sound which he knew instantly. It was the
dull clank of bronze against bronze. It could be made only by one cannon
striking against another. Then Santa Anna, or one of his generals,
despite the storm and the night, was advancing with his army, or a part
of it. Ned shivered, and now not from the cold.

The Texans did not understand the fiery energy of this man. They would
learn of it too late, unless he told them, and it might be too late even
then. He pressed on with as much increase of speed as the nature of the
ground would allow. In another hour the snow and hail ceased, but the
wind still blew fiercely, and it remained very cold.

The dawn began to show dimly through drifting clouds. Ned did not recall
until long afterward that it was the birthday of the great Washington.
By a singular coincidence Santa Anna appeared before Taylor with a
vastly superior force on the same birthday eleven years later.

It was a hidden sun, and the day was bleak with clouds and driving
winds. Nevertheless the snow that had fallen began to disappear. Ned and
Old Jack still made their way forward, somewhat slowly now, as they were
stiff and sore from the long night's fight with darkness and cold. On
his right, only a few feet away, was the swollen current of the San
Antonio. The stream looked deep to Ned, and it bore fragments of timber
upon its muddy bosom. It seemed to him that the waters rippled angrily
against the bank. His excited imagination--and full cause there
was--gave a sinister meaning to everything.

A heavy fog began to rise from the river and wet earth. He could not see
far in front of him, but he believed that the town was now only a mile
or two away. Soon a low, hea