9 Ahead of Santa Anna

It was about nine o’clock, and outside the same deep stillness held the town. Ned, looking back, saw again the faint light from the windows of the newspaper office. He could imagine the men inside, bent over the cases and silently setting type. Stump shook his head.

“I don’t understand it,” he said. “Seems to me that job could wait. Even if I knew how to set type a timid man like me would shake so hard that he’d throw the alphabet all over the floor.”

“It would surely be a hard test,” said Ned, “but maybe they don’t know Santa Anna as well as we do. I vote we go out a little distance, and see if he is coming.”

The two rode nearly a quarter of a mile along the road which they knew Santa Anna would follow, but as yet they saw nothing. The wind moaned across the prairie and through the timber, but it did not bring the clank of the cannon or the rattle of bayonets. Nor could they see anything moving in the dimness. Behind them the town itself was lost in the shadows, and they seemed to be wholly alone once more in the black wilderness.

“Not a sound to hear and not a thing to see,” said Stump, “but he’ll come just the same.”

“As surely as the dark follows the day,” said Ned, “and he will be in Harrisburg, too, before those printers finish that job. You know the way down to Galveston Island, don’t you, Stump? We’ve got to secure our line of retreat.”

“Don’t you bother about that. I can lead you all right. I s’pose we’d better walk our horses back to this deserted town an’ wait.”

They rode slowly into Harrisburg, and still heard no sound on the road by which the invader would come. But the candles yet burned in the office of the Telegraph. Everything else was in darkness. Ned and Stump rode quietly about, but they did not disturb the printers again. They had fresh supplies of ammunition and food, and felt ready to dare any new peril if it were thrust in their way.

It was nearly ten o’clock when they saw a faint light far out on the road from the Brazos. The two beheld it at the same time, and they knew in an instant what it meant.

“It’s Santa Anna,” said Ned.

“True,” said Stump, “an’ he an’ his force are comin’ fast. Now you can hear the beat of their horses’ hoofs. In five minutes they’ll be here. I think you an’ me’d better retire, Ned. I hope he won’t hang or shoot them printers the moment he takes ’em.”

“Maybe he won’t,” said Ned. “He may think they will be valuable for exchange. There the Mexicans are now. Don’t you see them by the torch that one of them carries?”

“Yes,” said Stump, as they rode softly toward the far edge of the town.

In fact it was Santa Anna himself at the head of a chosen detachment. Knowing that the members of the Texan government were in Harrisburg, practically undefended, he strained every nerve to capture them. Deep was his rage when he found that all were gone, save the three printers whom he took at their cases. He would have had them killed, but, in accordance with Ned’s hopeful surmise, he considered them useful for exchange, and spared their lives for the present. They were lucky enough to be retaken later.

Feeling that it was useless to continue the pursuit that night Santa Anna waited until his cavalry under Almonte and Urrea came up. Then he found quarters in the house which President Burnet and his cabinet had left not many hours before, and by midnight his whole force, cavalry, infantry and cannon, was gathered in Harrisburg.

Ned and Stump meanwhile were watching from a bit of forest just beyond the edge of the town. They saw the lights coming and going, and now and then the figures of passing Mexicans. The two were on their horses, ready for flight at a moment’s notice, but they soon saw that Santa Anna would go no further until the next day.

“I guess he an’ his men are wore out by their long day’s march,” said Stump, “an’ as it is now about midnight, they’ll rest.”

“But we can look for him in the morning,” said Ned. “He won’t be satisfied with the capture of Harrisburg. The taking of the nest after the bird has flown will mean little to him.”

“Then carryin’ out the task that we’ve chose to do, it means that we must keep on watchin’?”

“That’s just it. I propose, Stump, that you and I spend the rest of the night somewhere near Harrisburg, but not near enough to be taken by any scouting cavalry of Urrea or Almonte.”

“It’s likely that we can find an abandoned cabin somewhere near in the woods, as everybody has run away.” They found such a cabin about a half mile from the town on a hill rather higher than usual and girdled with trees. They could see from it the Mexican lights in Harrisburg, but they were in total darkness themselves. They tethered the horses as usual, and, as Ned insisted upon keeping the first watch, Stump went inside, lay down on the floor in his blankets, and was soon asleep.

There was a wooden bench beside the front door of the cabin, and Ned sat there, with his back against the wall and his rifle across his knees. He was neither sleepy nor tired, tension and excitement sustaining him both physically and mentally. Hence it was a long time before his mind and body relaxed. But the silence and the darkness were compelling influences at last.

The tension relaxed, but with its relaxation came sobering thought. He and his comrade, in reality, were fugitives keeping just ahead of a leader and an army that swept everything before them. Ned looked back to those brilliant days when the Texans, himself among them, had taken San Antonio, the seat of the Mexican power in the north. It was all victory and glory then, but how brief had been that time! Santa Anna had come and nothing had been able to resist his overwhelming march.

Ned’s heart swelled with bitterness. He had been taught that it was Christian not to hate, but Santa Anna appeared to him a very king of Hades. He had seen him in his evil hour of triumph. He had seen how barren he was of mercy or of consideration for a gallant but defeated foe. How could he keep from hating such an enemy?

He saw three or four lights in the town, doubtless the flame of fires built by Santa Anna’s troops, but, around the cabin, the silence and desolation remained complete. The sky seemed heavy and low. But a few stars twinkled in it. Fog and mist rose from the damp earth.

Ned’s position on the bench, with his back against the wall was comfortable. After the first half hour, as the heavy damp of the night was chilly, he had wrapped his blanket about his body, bringing warmth and making the wall softer to his back. While he let the past year, which seemed many years, so crowded was it with great events, run vaguely through his mind, he did not forget to watch well with eye and ear.

Ned did not move. In the darkness of the night the keenest eye would scarcely have noticed his dark figure against the dark wall. He had learned in Mexico how to rest completely, how to sit absolutely still like the Hindoo, and let the world pass.

Something stirred in the bushes. He merely slid his hand down to the hammer of his rifle, but only arm and hand moved. His body remained blurred against the dark wall. A figure, made gigantic by the dim moonlight, came from the bushes and was followed by another and then others. Ned did not yet stir. It was only a herd of cattle wandering now without masters. They passed on and were lost in the bush. He wondered if their rightful owners would ever come back to claim them.

His despondent mood passed after a while. Surely the tide must turn some day. The Texans were a valiant people. None more so. Great things had been said of Houston, and he had done great things in the past. He must be somewhere, out there in the darkness, gathering an army to meet this terrible Santa Anna.

But Ned, all unconscious, took his own experiences as a good omen. He had escaped everything. He had passed through all kinds of dangers. The sword was always turned aside, just when it was about to fall and he was here, free, armed and strong. If it should happen so to him why should it not happen so to Texas. Still unknowing, he was ascribing to himself the qualities that the great hunters and scouts had already given to him, those of the magic leader.

It was beyond the appointed hour when he called his comrade to take his turn at the watch. Stump looked up at the heavens, and sniffed the air as if he could tell the time by its quality.

“It’s not more’n a couple of hours or so till daylight, an’ you’ve let me sleep too long, Ned,” he said.

“I wasn’t sleepy,” replied the boy, “and it has been so quiet here that I’ve been getting almost as much rest awake as you were asleep.”

“Then nothin’ has been goin’ on?”

“A herd of cattle passed. That was all. The Mexican fires in the town have sunk pretty low, but you can see them yet. I suppose that the soldiers are asleep all about them.”

“Like as not, but now you go into the cabin, spread out your blankets an’ sleep. You may think you’re made out of steel, Ned, but you ain’t. Nobody is—unless maybe it’s the Ring Tailed Panther.”

Ned slept quickly, and when he awoke he saw that it had been day several hours. Stump explained.

“The Mexicans in Harrisburg,” he said, “haven’t moved, an’ so we didn’t have to move either. I let you sleep on, as you wasn’t needed yet.”

“It is now eleven o’clock at least,” said Ned. “What do you suppose has kept Santa Anna in the town?”

“Perhaps some of his army didn’t come up last night an’ he’s waitin’ for the rest of it.”

“Have you seen anything of Almonte’s cavalry?”

“The cavalry haven’t stirred either. I’ve been keepin’ my eye out for Almonte and Urrea. Our horses, saddled and bridled, are hitched just behind the house, an’ the provisions are strapped to the saddles, too. We could leave in thirty seconds.”

They decided to stay at the cabin, until they saw some movement in the town. The two sat side by side on the bench, watching and listening. They did not speak for an hour or more, and then Ned, pointing toward the town, said:

“See, Stump, what kind of a war Santa Anna is making upon us. He means nothing but destruction and death for Texans.”

A long flame shot up, and then stood out, like a red spear against the golden sky. Another and then many others rose, and by and by they seemed to blend. Stump sighed.

“It’s a pity,” he said, “to see what cost so much work vanish in the smoke of an hour. But as you say, it’s Santa Anna’s way.”

Burning Harrisburg was now one mass of flame. It was the order of Santa Anna to spare nothing and his men obeyed gladly. The wind picked up sparks and brands, and carried them as far as the cabin before which Ned and Stump sat. Ned fancied that he could hear the roaring of the flames. He knew that the entire town was gone. It was another charge in the Texan bill of vengeance, if the day of accounts should ever come.

“There’s Santa Anna an’ his army south of the town,” said Stump. “See ’em all drawed up, most of ’em mounted an’ with the cannon in front of ’em. Ned, I wish I had a cannon bigger than any cannon that was ever made, loaded with ten thousand pounds of broken steel an’ iron in all shapes an’ sizes, an’ trained straight on that Mexican army, so it couldn’t miss. Then, Ned, I’d touch it off. I’d touch it off, lingerin’ly an’ lovin’ly, in order to make the pleasure last, ’cause it would be a bigger an’ keener pleasure than any that I’ve ever yet had in my life.”

“I don’t blame you, Stump,” said Ned, whose feeling against Santa Anna quickly rose again. “You’d take many lives with that monster cannon of yours, but you’d probably save many more. They’re marching now, headed south, and I fancy that Santa Anna still expects to take the President and his cabinet.”

“Maybe he will unless they are warned to push on still faster.”

“And it is for us to give the warning.”

They sprang upon their horses, and, keeping well in the timber, undertook a circuit about the Mexican army. Stump thought it likely that the fleeing Texans would stop first at the village of New Washington, and, if they did so, Santa Anna would almost surely overtake them.

“The President has got a house near that village,” said Stump, “an’ of course he’ll stop to take his family away. Ned, it makes me shiver from the top of my head down to my toes to think of what may happen.”

“But your shivering won’t keep you from doing the utmost that any man can do.”

They rode now at great speed and the spirits of both rose with action. They expected to complete their half circle and be in front of Santa Anna in a short time.

“He must have nigh a thousand men,” said Stump, “an’ the speed of two, tryin’ just the same, is at least twice that of a thousand. Besides, there’s the cannon which will sink deep in the soft earth.”

But they were compelled to make a wider curve than they had expected. Santa Anna had a numerous and efficient cavalry under Almonte, with Urrea and others as capable lieutenants. The horsemen spread out on either wing of the main army, guarding the flanks and examining the country, not so much for fear of any foe numerous enough to be dangerous, as from a desire to snap up Texan fugitives who may have lingered too long.

Ned and Stump were forced to draw away much further, and they were thankful that their horses were so swift and enduring. The risk was great, but nevertheless they still hung on the flank of the Mexican cavalry. Once they were sighted by Urrea’s command, and a trumpet sounded pursuit.

“We’ll gallop through the woods straight away from them,” said Stump. “Urrea can’t tell who you are at this distance, an’ he’ll think we’re just stragglers, waitin’ a little late to get out of the way.”

Stump’s surmise was correct. The cavalry did not follow them far through the timber, presently turning at a sharp angle, and riding toward the main road to rejoin Santa Anna. When they were out of sight, Ned and Stump turned at the same angle and followed. They advanced somewhat slowly, as there was danger that the cunning Urrea would lay an ambush. Fortunately the timber while heavy proved to have little undergrowth, and as the eyes of both were keen they soon increased their pace.

“Here goes Urrea’s trail,” said Stump. “Look how his horses’ hoofs have torn up the soft earth. We ought to strike his junction with Santa Anna in another mile.”

Stump was right again. In a few minutes they came to the place where the two trails joined, and led on as one. It lay before them straight and wide, hundreds of footprints and hoofprints, cut by the deep ruts made by cannon and wagon wheels.

“Now, Stump,” said Ned, “I think we’d better try to get ahead again, don’t you?”

“Ke-rect. Come on!”

They curved deep into the timber and rode at a rapid pace once more. In a half hour, they caught sight of moving heads and heard the hum of a marching army. They drew a little nearer, and plainly saw the forces of Santa Anna toiling through the mud, but making good time, nevertheless. Santa Anna rode near the head of the line. They could not recognize his figure at the distance, but they knew him by his great white horse.

“Where is this place, New Washington?” asked Ned. “Is it on a river?”

“No, it’s on the edge of Galveston Bay. Like as not the President and the cabinet will take ship there for the island.”

“It would seem the natural course.”

Then Ned suddenly uttered a gasp of alarm.

“Do you see? Do you notice?” he exclaimed.

“Do I see? Do I notice what?”

“The cavalry of Almonte is gone. Only a few lancers are marching there with the army. What does it mean, Stump? What does it mean?”

“The cavalry gone?” said Stump in bewilderment. “Why, we saw their trail come back and join that of Santa Anna. But, by thunder, they’re gone, as shore as we’re livin’. What does it mean?”

Now the meaning came swiftly to Ned.

“Knowing that there is no force to resist him,” he said, “Santa Anna has detached Almonte and the cavalry and has sent them on at speed to capture our government. Now, Stump, we’ve got to ride.”

“You’re right, Ned! You’re right both ways! It’s bound to mean that Almonte’s galloped on ahead, an’ it means that we’ve got to ride for Texas.”

They spoke sharply to their horses, shook out their reins, and sped ahead, keeping about a quarter of a mile distant on the flank of Santa Anna’s army. They took no precautions to hide themselves from any possible skirmishers thrown out by Santa Anna. They knew that they could leave behind anything in that army, and it was time to hasten, paying no attention to trifles. Haste! Haste! And ever more haste! The fate of the republic might turn upon an extra ounce of speed! Truly Santa Anna had been crafty and far-seeing to send forward Almonte and the swift horsemen!

They did not spare their horses now. “Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!” rang incessantly in Ned’s ears. He strained his eyes for a sight of Almonte’s waving plumes and saw nothing. He looked back, and caught a bare glimpse of a great white horse, bearing the little dark figure of the Napoleon of the West.

That fleeting glimpse incited him to greater endeavor. He not only wished to save his own, but the desire to thwart Santa Anna became a passion, a fever. He and Stump would accomplish it, even if it were thrice impossible. He spoke sharply to his horse again, and the good mustang leaped forward.

“Not so fast! Not so fast!” said Stump, warningly. “We can’t afford for our horses to spend themselves so soon. What’s got in you, Ned?”

The boy recalled himself. He saw that he was letting his passion run away with him, and he pulled his willing mustang in to a lower rate of speed.

“I was thinking of something,” he replied.

Stump glanced curiously at him, but said nothing. It may be that the shortened Hercules guessed what was passing in Ned’s mind.

“When there’s so much dependin’ on a race always nurse your horse for the last spurt,” he said. “Look! See, the lance heads shinin’ on top of that hill ahead of us! It’s the men of Almonte! They’re goin’ fast, but we’ll pass ’em yet! I tell you, Ned. we’ll pass ’em!”

Ned saw the shining lances for only a few moments, and then they were gone over the brow of the hill. But it was Almonte’s cavalry, beyond a doubt, and now he and Stump knew how they stood.

“It’s goin’ to be touch an’ go,” said Stump. “We’ve got to pass around ’em, but we needn’t take a big curve. They’re in such a hurry that they won’t have time to pay any attention to us. I know just how much speed there is in these two ponies of our’n, Ned, an’ if nothin’ out of the way happens we ought to beat Almonte into New Washington by about fifteen minutes.”

“That’s cutting terribly close,” said Ned.

“But it may be edge enough.”

They swung in a little nearer to the Mexicans, but a line of trees between sheltered them from view. Their horses were running strong and true, and despite Almonte’s speed were surely drawing level.

“Another fifteen minutes an’ we’re up with ’em!” said Stump.

“A second fifteen, and we’re ahead!” said Ned.

“Now we can let ’em out a little more,” said Stump.

They urged their horses anew, and their speed increased. Galloping on a parallel line with Almonte’s troop they saw them on even terms, within the fifteen minutes allowed by Stump. Then they drew ahead, and when a long narrow hill, covered with thick timber, intervened between them and the Mexicans they curved back toward the direct road to New Washington.

“If we come out well ahead of Almonte,” said Stump, “we don’t care whether they see us or not, because it’s goin’ to be a race from now on to the town, an’ Almonte can’t go any faster. The speed of his slowest horses is the speed of them all.”

The wood lasted a mile, and when they came out into the main road, they saw the lances of Almonte a quarter of a mile behind them. It seemed that fortune was showing to the Texans at least one little favor. Before them lay a stretch of level country, and now the wisdom of Stump in nursing the strength of their horses became apparent. They heard presently the echo of a cry behind them, and they knew that the Mexicans had seen them. It was obvious also that the Mexicans would take them to be messengers of warning.

“They are trying to increase their speed,” said Ned, “I see them beating their horses! Ah, a score or so of horsemen shoot out from the group, and they are led by a man whom I know from his figure to be Urrea!”

“They are sendin’ forward their swiftest,” said Stump, “an’ as you say they’re about twenty, but they can’t catch us. But if our people at Harrisburg haven’t gone they may catch them.”

“Shouldn’t we go a little faster? The horses can do better than this.”

“Not yet. We’ll nurse ’em ag’in, an’ then we’ll let ’em out to the last link. Urrea an’ his twenty are not gainin’ on us. Our mounts are better than theirs.”

They settled down now into a long, easy stride, and rode knee to knee. The day was now more brilliant than any other in weeks. The sunshine filtered like molten gold through the trees, and deepened the tints of the grass. A fresh breeze with the strong tingling flavor of salt, the very breath of life, blew in their faces, and Ned knew that it came from the sea. They must be near the town now.

“Isn’t it time to let out that last link?” he asked. “I feel the sea on my face, and when we reach the town we want to be as far ahead of Urrea as possible.”

“Right you are. You’ve chose the moment, Ned. Now for runnin’ that is runnin’!”

Stump rode a large and very powerful horse—he needed one for his great weight—and at the crisis had talked to him, soothing, encouraging and flattering. The good horse responded nobly, and Ned’s mustang, with the lighter weight upon his back, kept by his side. The two fairly ran away from Urrea. Ned and Stump could no longer hear the shouting of the Mexicans, and when they looked back they saw no lancers. The pursuit had been lost behind the swells.

But the two horsemen did not abate a particle of their speed. They had divined that every second was precious, and the gallant horses always responded to their urging. They were wet with foam, but their spirit was as strong as that of those they bore. The air rushed past, and Ned felt that stinging flavor of the sea grow stronger and stronger. The scattered roofs of houses appeared and between them the glitter of a bay. Then all the little village sprang into view and Stump uttered a cry of disappointment.

“Look! Look!” he cried. “See the sailin’ ship in the bay, an’ the men loadin’ things on her! The Texans haven’t gone, an’ in ten minutes Almonte’s men will be here!”

“It is so,” said Ned, “and that is President Burnet himself standing on the wharf! But the town seems abandoned. All have gone but these!”

“Yes, but think what such a capture will mean! How under the sun could they have delayed so long?”

President Burnet had not foreseen the swift march of Almonte. He lived near by, and he had lingered to take off his family and some of their effects in a little sailing vessel, which would carry them down the bay to Galveston. The last of their baggage was going aboard as Ned and Stump on their foaming horses galloped up, shouting:

“Almonte’s horsemen are at hand! You have not a minute to spare! Be off! Be off!”

It was no time to be respectful, even to a President, and they repeated their urgings over and over again. The sails of the vessel were up, the wind had filled them, and she was straining at her cable, but President Burnet delayed yet another moment.

“And you!” he cried. “Jump from your horses and come with us!”

“No, we can escape down the side of the bay!” cried Stump. “There’s still a good run in our horses! Don’t stop another minute! It’s for Texas! Look, the Mexicans are here already!”

They heard the rapid beat of hoofs and Urrea’s horsemen appeared in the town, setting up a great shout of triumph, when they saw the men on the wharf, and the vessel still tied to it. Behind them quickly appeared other Mexican cavalry, showing that the full force of Almonte was at hand.

“For God’s sake go!” cried Ned.

Seeing that the two would not come with him Burnet leaped aboard the vessel, and, snatching up a hatchet, cut the cable with his own hand. The vessel slowly began to move, and the water appeared between her and the wharf. But the foremost of Almonte’s horsemen under Urrea were almost at the sea’s edge. As the vessel slid away and her speed began to increase they opened fire from their saddles with rifles and muskets.

The President, standing upon the little deck, was within easy range and fully exposed. It was well for him and Texas that day that Ned and Stump had galloped in with their warning, and well for them, too, that the Mexicans were poor marksmen. Bullets struck upon the deck. One hit the mast, others clipped spars or went through sails, but the President stood untouched. Ned and Stump gasped more than once, thinking he would surely fall, but the eagerness and haste of the Mexicans made them wilder than ever in their shooting. Urrea had galloped to the very edge of the water, and was firing his pistols. Almonte was also at hand now, urging on his men.

The sails stretched taut with the wind, and the speed of the little vessel increased fast. The bullets were still striking upon her, but that stretch of water between her and the shore was growing wide. The Mexicans were now firing fast. One more bullet struck upon the deck, and then there were many little jets of foam, when they fell in the water. The little vessel passed out of range. The Mexicans upon the bank, raged and watched the figure which still stood erect upon the deck, but beyond their reach.

“I don’t suppose there was ever a closer call than that,” said Ned to Stump.

“I reckon somethin’ must have been helpin’ us to get here just in time,” said Stump, gravely, “an’ now that we’ve done what we came to do it’s movin’ time for you an’ me.”

They had ridden behind a small warehouse from which they could observe both the flight of the boat and the Mexicans. But they knew that the place would not hide them long, as Almonte’s men would now begin to rage through the little port. Hence they rode boldly away from the bay. Their horses were tired, but not more so than those of the Mexicans, and they felt sure that they could make good their flight.

They were not seen until they reached the crest of a little hill. Then the Mexicans set up a shout, and, pursued for a little distance, but soon gave it up. Their worn horses would go no further.

“Our horses are just a little better than theirs,” said Stump, “but that little bit saves us. I guess the little bit is all the difference there is between a common man and a great one.”

“But we’d better be improving that little bit into a large one,” said Ned. “As soon as his horses have recovered, Almonte is sure to send out troopers looking for us.”

“We’ll dive into the woods,” said Stump. “The forest is the best refuge when you’re not strong enough to fight. S’pose we ride into that grove of cottonwoods. We can rest there a while an’ at the same time keep a watch for anybody who may be comin’.”

It was a splendid grove, and they were well hidden among the trunks, where they dismounted, and rubbed down their horses, as well as they could. They owed much to these gallant animals and they meant to take the best possible care of them. While they were engaged in the task they caught glimpses of the bay through the trees and they saw afar upon it a black speck which seemed to be without motion. But it was moving, nevertheless. It was the little sailing vessel, which, in a sense, carried the fortunes of Texas. Certainly the capture of the republic’s President would have been a crushing blow, following so close upon other great disasters.

They were left so thoroughly alone in the cottonwood grove that they remained there a long time. They could hear no sound from the distant town, nor did they see any spire of flame to indicate that the Mexicans were burning it. Ned thought it likely that Santa Anna would not reach it until the next morning and Almonte, who was a humane and enlightened man, would not destroy the port, unless the dictator ordered it.

“I propose,” said Ned, “that we hang about here and watch what Santa Anna does. They have no need for us on Galveston Island. The government can take care of itself now. We’ve got to work for Houston. We’re only two, but even two count. And then we can look soon for the Panther and that crowd from down below.”

“You talk sense, Ned,” said Stump approvingly. “We’ll hang on to Santa Anna. There’s lots of forest ’roun’ here. We’ll go further on an’ sleep in a thicket.”

They left the grove, and passed through country, part of which was cultivated, coming finally to the deeper forest. They selected a hilly point in it, from which they could get a distant view of New Washington, and there made their camp. They reasoned that if they saw a fire at the port it was proof that Almonte was burning it and moving on; if not, it was proof that he was resting there, and awaiting the arrival of Santa Anna.

They saw no flames, and relaxed, lying on their blankets under the trees. As usual there was grass, and the horses grazed in content at the end of their lariats. Food of their own they still had in plenty and they ate it cold. When night, soothing and without rain, came Ned kept the first watch, and Stump the second. Nothing to disturb them occurred during either watch.

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