ok the saddles and bridles off our horses, and turned
them loose on the prairie. Then we undertook to get in here, but it was
touch and go. I tell you it was touch and go. We wheeled and twisted and
curved and doubled, until our heads got dizzy. Wherever we went we found
Mexicans, thousands of 'em."

"We've noticed a few ourselves," said Crockett.

"It was pretty late when we struck an opening, and then not being sure
we whistled. When we heard you whistle back we made straight for the
wall, and here we are."

"We're mighty glad to see you," said Crockett, "but we ain't welcomin'
you to no picnic, I reckon you understand that, don't you, Jim Smith?"

"We understand it, every one of us," replied Smith gravely. "We heard
before we started, and now we've seen. We know that Santa Anna himself
is out there, and that the Mexicans have got a big army. That's the
reason we came, Davy Crockett, because the odds are so heavy against
you."

"You're a true man," said Crockett, "and so is every one of these with
you."

The new force was small--merely a few more for the trap--but they
brought with them encouragement. Ned shared in the general mental
uplift. These new faces were very welcome, indeed. They gave fresh vigor
to the little garrison, and they brought news of that outside world from
which he seemed to have been shut off so long. They told of numerous
parties sure to come to their relief, but he soon noticed that they did
not particularize. He felt with certainty that the Alamo now had all the
defenders that it would ever have.

Repeated examinations from the walls of the church confirmed Ned in his
belief. The Mexican circle was complete, and their sheltered batteries
were so near that they dropped balls and shells whenever they pleased
inside the Alamo. Duels between the cannon and the Texan sharpshooters
were frequent. The gunners as they worked their guns were forced to show
themselves at times, and every exposure was instantly the signal for a
Texan bullet which rarely missed. But the Mexicans kept on. It seemed
that they intended to wear out the defenders by the sheer persistency
of their cannon fire.

Ned became so hardened to the bombardment that he paid little attention
to it. Even when a ball fell inside the Alamo the chances were several
hundred to one that it would not hit him. He had amused himself with a
mathematical calculation of the amount of space he occupied compared
with the amount of space in t