He resolved
that he would not be taken with them, and shortly before day he pulled
through the mud to the edge of the Guadalupe. He undressed and made his
clothes and rifle into a bundle. He had been very careful of his own
ammunition, and he had a half dozen rounds left, which he also tied into
the bundle.

Then shoving a fallen log into the water he bestrode it, holding his
precious pack high and dry. Paddling with one hand he was able to direct
the log in a diagonal course across the stream. He toiled through
another swamp on that shore, and, coming out upon a little prairie,
dressed again.

He looked back toward the swamp in which the Texans lay, but he saw no
lights and he heard no sounds there. He knew that within a short time
they would be prisoners of the Mexicans. Everything seemed to be working
for the benefit of Santa Anna. The indecision of the Texans and the
scattering of their forces enabled the Mexicans to present overwhelming
forces at all points. It seemed to Ned that fortune, which had worked in
their favor until the capture of San Antonio, was now working against
them steadily and with overwhelming power.

He gathered himself together as best he could, and began his journey
southward. He believed that Fannin would be at Goliad or near it. Once
more that feeling of vengeance hardened within him. The tremendous
impression of the Alamo had not faded a particle, and now the incident
of Ward, Refugio and the swamps of the Guadalupe was cumulative.
Remembering what he had seen he did not believe that a single one of
Ward's men would be spared when they were taken as they surely would be.
There were humane men among the Mexicans, like Almonte, but the ruthless
policy of Santa Anna was to spare no one, and Santa Anna held all the
power.

He held on toward Goliad, passing through alternate regions of forest
and prairie, and he maintained a fair pace until night. He had not eaten
since morning, and all his venison was gone, but strangely enough he was
not hungry. When the darkness was coming he sat down in one of the
little groves so frequent in that region, and he was conscious of a
great weariness. His bones ached. But it was not the ache that comes
from exertion. It seemed to go to the very marrow. It became a pain
rather than exhaustion.

He noticed that everything about him appeared unreal. The trees and the
earth itself wavered. His head began to ache and his stomach was weak.
Had the finest of fo