Alamo. There, only a short distance away, stood the dark fortress, from
which he had slipped but a few hours before with such high hopes. He
even saw the figures of the sentinels, moving slowly on the church
walls, and his heart grew heavy within him. He wished now that he was
back with the defenders. Even if he should escape it would be too late.
At Urrea's orders he was unbound.

"There is no danger of your escaping now," said the young Mexican.
"Several of my men are excellent marksmen, and they will fire at the
first step you take in flight. And even should they miss, what chance do
you think you have here?"

He swept his right hand in a circle, and, in the clear morning air, Ned
saw batteries and troops everywhere. He knew that the circle of steel
about the Alamo was complete. Perhaps he would have failed in his errand
even had he got by. It would require an unusually strong force to cut
through an army as large as that of Santa Anna, and he did not know
where Roylston could have found it. He started, as a sudden suspicion
smote him. He remembered Crockett's hurried manner, and his lack of
explanation. But he put it aside. It could not be true.

"I see that you look at the Alamo," said Urrea ironically. "Well, the
rebel flag is still there, but it will not remain much longer. The trap
is about ready to shut down."

Ned's color rose.

"It may be so," he said, "but for every Texan who falls the price will
be five Mexicans."

"But they will fall, nevertheless," said Urrea. "Here is food for you.
Eat, and I will take you to the general."

They offered him Mexican food, but he had no appetite, and he ate
little. He stretched and tensed his limbs in order to restore the full
flood of circulation, and announced that he was ready. Urrea led the
way, and Ned followed with a guard of four men about him.

The boy had eyes and ears for everything around him, but he looked most
toward the Alamo. He could not, at the distance, recognize the figures
on the wall, but all those men were his friends, and his eyes filled
with tears at their desperate case. Out here with the Mexicans, where he
could see all their overwhelming force and their extensive preparations,
the chances of the Texans looked worse than they did inside the Alamo.

They entered the town and passed through the same streets, along which
Ned had advanced with the conquering army of the Texans a few months
before. Many evidences of the siege remained. There