CHAPTER IX
THE FLAG OF NO QUARTER
Ned gazed long at the great red flag as its folds waved in the wind. Achill ran down his spine, a strange, throbbing sensation, but not offear. They were a tiny islet there amid a Mexican sea which threatenedto roll over them. But the signal of the flag, he realized, merely toldhim that which he had expected all the time. He knew Santa Anna. Hewould show no quarter to those who had humbled Cos and his forces at SanAntonio.
The boy was not assigned to the watch that night, but he could not sleepfor a long time. Among these borderers there was discipline, but it wasdiscipline of their own kind, not that of the military martinet. Ned wasfree to go about as he chose, and he went to the great plaza into whichthey had driven the cattle. Some supplies of hay had been gathered forthem, and having eaten they were now all at rest in a herd, packed closeagainst the western side of the wall.
Ned passed near them, but they paid no attention to him, and going on heclimbed upon the portion of the wall which ran close to the river. Somedistance to his right and an equal distance to his left were sentinels.But there was nothing to keep him from leaping down from the wall or theoutside and disappearing. The Mexican investment was not yet complete.Yet no such thought ever entered Ned's head. His best friends, WillAllen, the Panther and Obed White, were out there somewhere, if theywere still alive, but his heart was now here in the Alamo with theTexans.
He listened intently, but he heard no sound of any Mexican advance. Itoccurred to him that a formidable attack might be made here,particularly under the cover of darkness. A dashing leader like theyounger Urrea might attempt a surprise.
He dropped back inside and went to one of the sentinels who was standingon an abutment with his head just showing above the wall. He was a youngman, not more than two or three years older than Ned, and he was glad tohave company.
"Have you heard or seen anything?" asked Ned.
"No," replied the sentinel, "but I've been looking for 'em down thisway."
They waited a little longer and then Ned was quite sure that he saw adim form in the darkness. He pointed toward it, but the sentinel couldnot see it at all, as Ned's eyes were much the keener: But the shapegrew clearer and Ned's heart throbbed.
The figure was that of a great horse, and Ned recognized Old Jack.Nothing could have persuaded him that the faithful beast was not seekinghis master, and he emitted a low soft whistle. The horse raised hishead, listened and then trotted forward.
"He is mine," said Ned, "and he knows me."
"He won't be yours much longer," said the sentinel. "Look, there's aMexican creeping along the ground after him."
Ned followed the pointing finger, and he now noticed the Mexican, avaquero, who had been crouching so low that his figure blurred with theearth. Ned saw the coiled lariat hanging over his arm, and he knew thatthe man intended to capture Old Jack, a prize worth any effort.
"Do you think I ought to shoot him?" asked the sentinel.
"Not yet, at least," replied Ned. "I brought my horse into this danger,but I think that he'll take himself out of it."
Old Jack had paused, as if uncertain which way to go. But Ned felt surethat he was watching the Mexican out of the tail of his eye. Thevaquero, emboldened by the prospect of such a splendid prize, creptcloser and closer, and then suddenly threw the lasso. The horse's headducked down swiftly, the coil of rope slipped back over his head, and hedashed at the Mexican.
The vaquero was barely in time to escape those terrible hoofs. Buthowling with terror he sprang clear and raced away in the darkness. Thehorse whinnied once or twice gently, waited, and, when no answer came tohis calls, trotted off in the dusk.
"No Mexican will take your horse," said the sentinel.
"You're right when you say that," said Ned. "I don't think another willever get so near him, but if he should you see that my horse knows howto take care of himself."
Ned wandered back toward the convent yard. It was now late, but a clearmoon was shining. He saw the figures of the sentinels clearly on thewalls, but he was confident that no attack would be made by the Mexicansthat night. His great tension and excitement began to relax and he feltthat he could sleep.
He decided that the old hospital would be a good place, and, taking hisblankets, he entered the long room of that building. Only the moonlightshone there, but a friendly voice hailed him at once.
"It's time you were hunting rest, Ned," said Davy Crockett. "I saw youwanderin' 'roun' as if you was carryin' the world on your shoulders, butI didn't say anything. I knew that you would come to if left toyourself. There's a place over there by the wall where the floor seemsto be a little softer than it is most everywhere else. Take it an' enjoyit."
Ned laughed and took the place to which Crockett was pointing. Thehardness of a floor was nothing to him, and with one blanket under himand another over him he went to sleep quickly, sleeping the nightthrough without a dream. He awoke early, took a breakfast of fresh beefwith the men in the convent yard, and then, rifle in hand, he mountedthe church wall.
All his intensity of feeling returned with the morning. He was eager tosee what was passing beyond the Alamo, and the first object that caughthis eye was the blood-red flag of no quarter hanging from the tower ofthe Church of San Fernando. No wind was blowing and it drooped in heavyscarlet folds like a pall.
Looking from the flag to the earth, he saw great activity in the Mexicanlines. Three or four batteries were being placed in position, andMexican officers, evidently messengers, were galloping about. The flatroofs of the houses in San Antonio were covered with people. Ned knewthat they were there to see Santa Anna win a quick victory and takeimmediate vengeance upon the Texans. He recognized Santa Anna himselfriding in his crouched attitude upon a great white horse, passing frombattery to battery and hurrying the work. There was proof that hispresence was effective, as the men always worked faster when he came.
Ned saw all the Texan leaders, Travis, Bowie, Crockett and Bonham,watching the batteries. The whole Texan force was now manning the wallsand the heavy cedar palisade at many points, but Ned saw that for thepresent all their dealings would be with the cannon.
Earthworks had been thrown up to protect the Mexican batteries, and theTexan cannon were posted for reply, but Ned noticed that his comradesseemed to think little of the artillery. In this desperate crisis theyfondled their rifles lovingly.
He was still watching the batteries, when a gush of smoke and flame camefrom one of the cannon. There was a great shout in the Mexican lines,but the round shot spent itself against the massive stone walls of themission.
"They'll have to send out a stronger call than that," said Davy Crockettcontemptuously, "before this 'coon comes down."
Travis went along the walls, saw that the Texans were shelteringthemselves, and waited. There was another heavy report and a secondround shot struck harmlessly upon the stone. Then the full bombardmentbegan. A half dozen batteries rained shot and shell upon the Alamo. Theroar was continuous like the steady roll of thunder, and it beat uponthe drums of Ned's ears until he thought he would become deaf.
He was crouched behind the stone parapet, but he looked up often enoughto see what was going on. He saw a vast cloud of smoke gathering overriver and town, rent continually by flashes of fire from the muzzles ofthe cannon. The air was full of hissing metal, shot and shell poured ina storm upon the Alamo. Now and then the Texan cannon replied, but notoften.
The cannon fire was so great that for a time it shook Ned's nerves. Itseemed as if nothing could live under such a rain of missiles, but whenhe looked along the parapet and saw all the Texans unharmed his couragecame back.
Many of the balls were falling inside the church, in the convent yardand in the plazas, but the Texans there were protected also, and as faras Ned could see not a single man had been wounded.
The cannonade continued for a full hour and then ceased abruptly. Thegreat cloud of smoke began to lift, and the Alamo, river and town cameagain into the brilliant sunli
ght. The word passed swiftly among thedefenders that their fortress was uninjured and not a man hurt.
As the smoke rose higher Ned saw Mexican officers with glasses examiningthe Alamo to see what damage their cannon had done. He hoped they wouldfeel mortification when they found it was so little. Davy Crockett kneltnear him on the parapet, and ran his hand lovingly along the barrel ofBetsy, as one strokes the head of a child.
"Do you want some more rifles, Davy?" asked Bowie.
"Jest about a half dozen," replied Crockett. "I think I can use thatmany before they clear out."
Six of the long-barreled Texan rifles were laid at Crockett's feet. Nedwatched with absorbed interest. Crockett's eye was on the nearestbattery and he was slowly raising Betsy.
"Which is to be first, Davy?" asked Bowie.
"The one with the rammer in his hand."
Crockett took a single brief look down the sights and pulled thetrigger. The man with the rammer dropped to the earth and the rammerfell beside him. He lay quite still. Crockett seized a second rifle andfired. A loader fell and he also lay still. A third rifle shot, almostas quick as a flash, and a gunner went down, a fourth and a man at awheel fell, a fifth and the unerring bullet claimed a sponger, a sixthand a Mexican just springing to cover was wounded in the shoulder. ThenCrockett remained with the seventh rifle still loaded in his hands, asthere was nothing to shoot at, all the Mexicans now being hidden.
But Crockett, kneeling on the parapet, the rifle cocked and his fingeron the trigger, watched in case any of the Mexicans should exposehimself again. He presented to Ned the simile of some powerful animalabout to spring. The lean, muscular figure was poised for instantaction, and all the whimsicality and humor were gone from the eyes ofthe sharpshooter.
A mighty shout of triumph burst from the Texans. Many a good marksmanwas there, but never before had they seen such shooting. The greatreputation of Davy Crockett, universal in the southwest, was justifiedfully. The crew of the gun had been annihilated in less than a minute.
For a while there was silence. Then the Mexicans, protected by theearthwork that they had thrown up, drew the battery back a hundredyards. Even in the farther batteries the men were very careful aboutexposing themselves. The Texans, seeing no sure target, held their fire.The Mexicans opened a new cannonade and for another half hour the roarof the great guns drowned all other sounds. But when it ceased and thesmoke drifted away the Texans were still unharmed.
Ned was now by the side of Bowie, who showed great satisfaction.
"What will they do next?" asked Ned.
"I don't know, but you see now that it's not the biggest noise thathurts the most. They'll never get us with cannon fire. The only way theycan do it is to attack the lowest part of our wall and make a bridge oftheir own bodies."
"They are doing something now," said Ned, whose far-sighted visionalways served him well. "They are pulling down houses in the town nextto the river."
"That's so," said Bowie, "but we won't have to wait long to see whatthey're about."
Hundreds of Mexicans with wrecking hooks had assailed three or four ofthe houses, which they quickly pulled to pieces. Others ran forward withthe materials and began to build a bridge across the narrow San Antonio.
"They want to cross over on that bridge and get into a position at oncecloser and more sheltered," said Bowie, "but unless I make a big mistakethose men at work there are already within range of our rifles. Shall weopen fire, Colonel?"
He asked the question of Travis, who nodded. A picked band of Mexicansunder General Castrillon were gathered in a mass and were rapidlyfitting together the timbers of the houses to make the narrow bridge.But the reach of the Texan rifles was great, and Davy Crockett wasmerely the king among so many sharpshooters.
The rifles began to flash and crack. No man fired until he was sure ofhis aim, and no two picked the same target. The Mexicans fell fast. Infive minutes thirty or forty were killed, some of them falling into theriver, and the rest, dropping the timbers, fled with shouts of horrorfrom the fatal spot. General Castrillon, a brave man, sought to drivethem back, but neither blows nor oaths availed. Santa Anna himself cameand made many threats, but the men would not stir. They preferredpunishment to the sure death that awaited them from the muzzles of theTexan rifles.
The light puffs of rifle smoke were quickly gone, and once more the townwith the people watching on the flat roofs came into full view. A windburst out the folds of the red flag of no quarter on the tower of thechurch of San Fernando, but Ned paid no attention to it now. He waswatching for Santa Anna's next move.
"That's a bridge that will never be built," said Davy Crockett. "'Livean' learn' is a good sayin', I suppose, but a lot of them Mexicansneither lived nor learned. It's been a great day for 'Betsy' here."
Travis, the commander, showed elation.
"I think Santa Anna will realize now," he said, "that he has neither apromenade nor a picnic before him. Oh, if we only had six or sevenhundred men, instead of less than a hundred and fifty!"
"We must send for help," said Bowie. "The numbers of Santa Annacontinually increase, but we are not yet entirely surrounded. If theTexans know that we are beleaguered here they will come to our help."
"I will send messengers to-morrow night," said Travis. "The Texans aremuch scattered, but it is likely that some will come."
It was strange, but it was characteristic of them, nevertheless, that noone made any mention of escape. Many could have stolen away in the nightover the lower walls. Perhaps all could have done so, but not a singleTexan ever spoke of such a thing, and not one ever attempted it.
Santa Anna moved some of his batteries and also erected two new ones.When the work on the latter was finished all opened in anothertremendous cannonade, lasting for fully an hour. The bank of smoke washeavier than ever, and the roaring in Ned's ears was incessant, but hefelt no awe now. He was growing used to the cannon fire, and as it didso little harm he felt no apprehension.
While the fire was at its height he went down in the church and cleanedhis rifle, although he took the precaution to remain in one of thecovered rooms by the doorway. Davy Crockett was also there busy with thesame task. Before they finished a cannon ball dropped on the floor,bounded against the wall and rebounded several times until it finallylay at rest.
"Somethin' laid a big egg then," said Crockett. "It's jest as well tokeep a stone roof over your head when you're under fire of a few dozencannon. Never take foolish risks, Ned, for the sake of showin' off.That's the advice of an old man."
Crockett spoke very earnestly, and Ned remembered his words. Bonhamcalled to them a few minutes later that the Mexicans seemed to bemeditating some movement on the lower wall around the grand plaza.
"Like as not you're right," said Crockett. "It would be the time to tryit while our attention was attracted by the big cannonade."
Crockett himself was detailed to meet the new movement, and he led fiftysharpshooters. Ned was with him, his brain throbbing with the certaintythat he was going into action once more. Great quantities of smoke hungover the Alamo and had penetrated every part of it. It crept into Ned'sthroat, and it also stung his eyes. It inflamed his brain and increasedhis desire for combat. They reached the low wall on a run, and foundthat Bonham was right. A large force of Mexicans was approaching fromthat side, evidently expecting to make an opening under cover of thesmoke.
The assailants were already within range, and the deadly Texan riflesbegan to crack at once from the wall. The whole front line of theMexican column was quickly burned away. The return fire of the Mexicanswas hasty and irregular and they soon broke and ran.
"An' that's over," said Crockett, as he sent a parting shot. "It waseasy, an' bein' sheltered not a man of ours was hurt. But, Ned, don'tlet the idea that we have a picnic here run away with you. We've got towatch an' watch an' fight an' fight all the time, an' every day moreMexicans will come."
"I understand, Mr. Crockett," said Ned. "You know that we may never getout of here alive, and I k
now it, too."
"You speak truth, lad," said Crockett, very soberly. "But remember thatit's a chance we take every day here in the southwest. An' it's pleasantto know that they're all brave men here together. You haven't seen anyflinchin' on the part of anybody an' I don't think you ever will."
"What are you going to do now?" asked Ned.
"I'm goin' to eat dinner, an' after that I'll take a nap. My advice toyou is to do the same, 'cause you'll be on watch to-night."
"I know I can eat," said Ned, "and I'll try to sleep."
He found that his appetite was all right, and after dinner he lay downin the long room of the hospital. Here he heard the cannon of Santa Annastill thundering, but the walls softened the sound somewhat and made itseem much more distant. In a way it was soothing and Ned, although surethat he could not sleep, slept. All that afternoon he was rocked intodeeper slumber by the continuous roar of the Mexican guns. Smoke floatedover the convent yard and through all the buildings, but it did notdisturb him. Now and then a flash of rifle fire came from the Texans onthe walls, but that did not disturb him, either.
Nature was paying its debt. The boy lying on his blankets breatheddeeply and regularly as he slept. The hours of the afternoon passed oneby one, and it was dark when he awoke. The fire of the cannon had nowceased and two or three lights were burning in the hospital. Crockettwas already up, and with some of the other men was eating beefsteak at atable.
"You said you'd try to sleep, Ned," he exclaimed, "an' you must havemade a big try, 'cause you snored so loud we couldn't hear Santa Anna'scannon."
"Why, I'm sure I don't snore, Mr. Crockett," said Ned, red in the face.
"No, you don't snore, I'll take that back," said Davy Crockett, when thelaugh subsided, "but I never saw a young man sleep more beautifully an'skillfully. Why, the risin' an' fallin' of your chest was as reg'lar asthe tickin' of a clock."
Ned joined them at the table. He did not mind the jests of those men, asthey did not mind the jests of one another. They were now like closeblood-kin. They were a band of brethren, bound together by theunbreakable tie of mortal danger.
Ned spent two-thirds of the night on the church wall. The Mexicans letthe cannon rest in the darkness, and only a few rifle shots were fired.But there were many lights in San Antonio, and on the outskirts twogreat bonfires burned. Santa Anna and his generals, feeling that theirprey could not escape from the trap, and caring little for the peons whohad been slain, were making a festival. It is even said that Santa Annaon this campaign, although he left a wife in the city of Mexico,exercised the privileges of an Oriental ruler and married another amidgreat rejoicings.
Ned slept soundly when his watch was finished, and he awoke again thenext day to the thunder of the cannonade, which continued almost withoutcessation throughout the day, but in the afternoon Travis wrote aletter, a noble appeal to the people of Texas for help. He stated thatthey had been under a continual bombardment for more than twenty-fourhours, but not a man had yet been hurt. "I shall never surrender orretreat," he said. "Then I call on you in the name of liberty, ofpatriotism, and of everything dear to the American character, to come toour aid with all dispatch." He closed with the three words, "Victory ordeath," not written in any vainglory or with any melodramatic appeal,but with the full consciousness of the desperate crisis, and a quietresolution to do as he said.
The heroic letter is now in the possession of the State of Texas. Mostof the men in the Alamo knew its contents, and they approved of it. Whenit was fully dark Travis gave it to Albert Martin. Then he looked aroundfor another messenger.
"Two should go together in case of mishap," he said.
His eye fell upon Ned.
"If you wish to go I will send you," he said, "but I leave it to yourchoice. If you prefer to stay, you stay."
Ned's first impulse was to go. He might find Obed White, Will Allen andthe Panther out there and bring them back with him, but his secondimpulse told him that it was only a chance, and he would abide withCrockett and Bowie.
"I thank you for the offer, but I think, sir, that I'll stay," he said.
He saw Crockett give him a swift approving glance. Another was quicklychosen in his stead, and Ned was in the grand plaza when they droppedover the low wall and disappeared in the darkness. His comrades and helistened attentively a long time, but as they heard no sound of shotsthey were sure that they were now safe beyond the Mexican lines.
"I don't want to discourage anybody," said Bowie, "but I'm not hopingmuch from the messengers. The Texans are scattered too widely."
"No, they can't bring many," said Crockett, "but every man counts.Sometimes it takes mighty little to turn the tale, and they may turnit."
"I hope so," said Bowie.
The Mexican cannon were silent that night and Ned slept deeply, awakingonly when the dawn of a clear day came. He was astonished at thequickness with which he grew used to a state of siege and imminentdanger. All the habits of life now went on as usual. He ate breakfastwith as good an appetite as if he had been out on the prairie with hisfriends, and he talked with his new comrades as if Santa Anna and hisarmy were a thousand miles away.
But when he did go upon the church wall he saw that Santa Anna had begunwork again and at a new place. The Mexican general, having seen that hisartillery was doing no damage, was making a great effort to get withinmuch closer range where the balls would count. Men protected by heavyplanking or advancing along trenches were seeking to erect a batterywithin less than three hundred yards of the entrance to the main plaza.They had already thrown up a part of a breastwork. Meanwhile the Texansharpshooters were waiting for a chance.
Ned took no part in it except that of a spectator. But Crockett, Bowieand a dozen others were crouched on the wall with their rifles.Presently an incautious Mexican showed above the earthwork. It wasCrockett who slew him, but Bowie took the next. Then the other riflesflashed fast, eight or ten Mexicans were slain, and the rest fled. Oncemore the deadly Texan rifles had triumphed.
Ned wondered why Santa Anna had endeavored to place the battery there inthe daytime. It could be done at night, when it was impossible for theTexans to aim their rifles so well. He did not know that the pride ofSanta Anna, unable to brook delay in the face of so small a force, hadpushed him forward.
Knowing now what might be done at night, Ned passed the day in anxiety,and with the coming of the twilight his anxiety increased.