rses, when Ned was not fifty feet distant. He instantly lay flat
among some bushes, and did not move. He could hear the horses blowing
the water back with their noses, as they drank.

When the horses were satisfied, the cavalrymen turned and rode away,
passing so near that it seemed to him they had only to look down and see
him lying among the bushes. But they went on, and, when they were out
of sight, he rose and continued his flight through the timber.

But this alternate fleeing and dodging was most exhausting work, and
before the day was very old he decided that he would lie down in a
thicket, and postpone further flight until night. Just when he had found
such a place he heard the faint sound of distant firing. He put his ear
to the earth, and then the crackle of rifles came more distinctly. His
ear, experienced now, told him that many men must be engaged, and he was
sure that Fannin and the Mexican army had come into contact.

Young Fulton's heart began to throb. The dark vision of the Alamo came
before him again. All the hate that he felt for the Mexicans flamed up.
He must be there with Fannin, fighting against the hordes of Santa Anna.
He rose and ran toward the firing. He saw from the crest of a hillock a
wide plain with timber on one side and a creek on the other. The center
of the plain was a shallow valley, and there the firing was heavy.

Ned saw many flashes and puffs of smoke, and presently he heard the thud
of cannon. Then he saw near him Mexican cavalry galloping through the
timber. He could not doubt any longer that a battle was in progress. His
excitement increased, and he ran at full speed through the bushes and
grass into the plain, which he now saw took the shape of a shallow
saucer. The firing indicated that the defensive force stood in the
center of the saucer, that is, in the lowest and worst place.

A terrible fear assailed young Fulton, as he ran. Could it be possible
that Fannin also was caught in a trap, here on the open prairie, with
the Mexicans in vastly superior numbers on the high ground around him?
He remembered, too, that Fannin's men were raw recruits like those with
Ward, and his fear, which was not for himself, increased as he ran.

He noticed that there was no firing from one segment of the ring in the
saucer, and he directed his course toward it. As soon as he saw horses
and men moving he threw up his hands and cried loudly over and over
again: "I'm a friend! Do not shoot!"