he leader. Fannin's eyes lighted up at the words of his men,
and a little color came into his cheeks.

"You speak like brave men rather than wise men," he said, "but I cannot
blame you. It is a hard thing to leave wounded comrades to a foe such as
the one who faces us. If you wish to stay here, then I say stay. Do you
wish it?"

"We do!" thundered scores of voices, and Fannin, moving a little to make
himself easier, said simply:

"Then fortify as best you can."

They brought spades and shovels from the wagons, and began to throw up
an earthwork, toiling in the almost pitchy darkness. They reinforced it
with the bodies of the slain oxen, and, while they toiled, they saw the
fires where the Mexican officers rested, sure that their prey could not
break from the trap. The Texans worked on. At midnight they were still
working, and when they rested a while there was neither food nor drink
for them. Every drop of water was gone long since, and they had eaten
their last food at supper. They could have neither food nor drink nor
sleep.

Ned had escaped from many dangers, but it is truth that this time he
felt despair. His feeling about the hand of fate striking them down
became an obsession. What chance had men without an ounce of food or a
drop of water to withstand a siege?

But he communicated his fears to no one. Two or three hours before day,
he became so sore and weary from work with the spade that he crawled
into one of the half-wrecked wagons, and tried to go to sleep. But his
nerves were drawn to too high a pitch. After a quarter of an hour's vain
effort he got out of the wagon and stood by the wheel. The sky was
still black, and the heavy clouds of fog and vapor rolled steadily past
him. It seemed to him that everything was closing on them, even the
skies, and the air was so heavy that he found it hard to breathe.

He would have returned to work, but he knew that he would overtask his
worn frame, and he wanted to be in condition for the battle that he
believed was coming with the morrow. They had not tried to cut out at
night, then they must do it by day, or die where they stood of thirst.

He sat down at last on the ground, and leaned against a wagon wheel,
drawing a blanket over his shoulders for warmth. He found that he could
rest better here than inside the wagon, and, in an hour or two, he dozed
a little, but when he awoke the night was still very dark.

The men finished their toil at the breastwork just