For the Liberty of Texas

  CHAPTER XII.

  THE MARCH ON SAN ANTONIO.

  The Mexicans had been routed, and for over a week matters went alongquietly in the vicinity of Gonzales; that is, there was no furtherfighting. Meetings there were without number, and young and old beganto drill and to talk of nothing but military matters.

  "Will you join the army, father?" asked Dan, when, two days after thefight, he and his parent returned to the ranch home.

  "I do not see how I can avoid it," answered Mr. Radbury. "Many of theneighbours are going, and it might appear cowardly to hang back.Besides, I must say that, after long thought, I have come to theconclusion that there is nothing for us to do but to fight for ourrights."

  "Hurrah! I knew you would say that," cried Dan. "We must be free by allmeans, and then perhaps some day we'll become joined to the UnitedStates."

  "That is for after consideration," smiled Mr. Radbury, but the thoughthad often crossed his own mind.

  Ralph and the negro were anxious to hear the particulars of what hadoccurred, and the boy listened to his brother's tale in open-mouthedamazement.

  "A real battle! Oh, Dan, how I wish I had been there!"

  "Well, to tell the truth, it was rather one-sided. The Mexicans did notstand up in front of us long."

  "And what are they going to do next?"

  "Nobody knows. But there will be war, beyond a doubt."

  "Oh, yes, I suppose General Santa Anna will be as mad as a hornet whenhe hears of the affair. And all over an old brass cannon, too!" AndRalph gave a laugh.

  Matters were going along smoothly at the ranch, for Pompey was afaithful worker and had dropped into the routine without an effort. Mr.Radbury was glad that he had come, for he felt that he wanted a manaround, in case the coming war carried him a distance from home.

  As intimated, the fight at Gonzales became the talk of all Texas, and,the day after the contest, the committee organised at San Felipe issueda statement and called upon each man in Texas to decide for himselfwhether or not he would submit to the destruction of his rights andliberties by the central government of Mexico, and stating that the warhad begun.

  While meetings were going on in a dozen places or more, andfrontiersmen and settlers were hurrying to the scene of action, a forceof about forty men, under the leadership of Captain Collingsworth,gathered for the purpose of capturing Goliad, a small town on the lowerSan Antonio River. The river was gained on the night of October 9th,and while scouts were out reconnoitring, the brave little band wasjoined by Colonel Ben Milam, an old Texan _empresario_, who had beenconfined for political reasons in the jail at Monterey. Of this gallantman we will hear more later.

  Finding the coast clear, the band entered the town, and silently madetheir way to the quarters of Lieutenant-Colonel Sandoval, thecommandant. They were less than a hundred feet from the garrison when asentry discovered them and gave the alarm. The sentry was shot down onthe spot, and then the door was splintered to kindling-wood with axes,and the Texans poured into the building, and the commandant was made aprisoner. There was great surprise for several minutes, but the Mexicansoldiers had been taken off their guard, and could offer littleresistance. Twenty-five were captured, and the rest escaped in thedarkness. By this quick movement the Texans gained a quantity ofvaluable army stores, horses, three pieces of artillery, and fivehundred guns and pistols.

  As Gonzales had been the starting-point of the war, it now became thegeneral centre for the gathering Texan army, and by the middle ofOctober there were gathered there between three and four hundred menwho were willing and anxious to serve their country. By common consentAustin was appointed chief in command, with the title of general. Thevolunteers, as they were called, were formed into a regiment, with JohnH. Moore as colonel. Old Colonel Milam, who had just arrived fromGoliad, was made chief of a band of scouts,--men who did valiantservice from the beginning to the end of the war.

  It was to this regiment that Mr. Radbury became attached, and Dan andRalph rode down to Gonzales to see their parent join. As Mr. Radburywas a veteran of the war of 1812, he was given the position of alieutenant. Drilling went on constantly, and the little regiment wasgotten into the best condition that the means at hand afforded. In themeantime other volunteers poured in daily.

  At first the Texans had thought to act only on the defensive, but, asthe days slipped by, the war spirit grew on the settlers, and they saidthey wanted the thing "over and done with," that they might return totheir homes and prepare for the winter. It was then decided to marchtoward San Antonio, to see if the Mexicans would come out of thestronghold to do them battle.

  "Good-bye, boys," said Mr. Radbury, when the order was passed around toprepare for the march. "It may be some time before I see you again."

  "I wish I could go," answered Dan, pleadingly.

  "Your time may come, Dan. But for the present I think we have enoughmen for this expedition. I think you and Ralph will have enough to doaround the ranch, with me absent."

  "But if I hear you are in trouble, father, I shall come on at once,"went on Dan, and from this decision his parent could not dissuade him.

  The troops were soon on the way, Dan and Ralph riding several mileswith their parent. Then, at the top of the hill, they separated. Butthe boys remained on the hill until the soldiers were lost to sight inthe distance on the dusty plain below.

  "Good-bye, and may success go with them!" cried Ralph, half sadly. "Ido hope father comes back safe and sound."

  "If he doesn't, I shall take his place in the ranks," replied Dan,quickly. "But come, we must be getting home now, or Pompey will beanxious about us."

  "Here comes a horseman, riding like the wind," came from the youngerRadbury, a moment later. "I declare, it's Poke Stover!"

  "Hullo, boys!" cried the old frontiersman, as he came up. "What are yea-doin' here?"

  "We just saw the troops off for San Antonio," answered Dan.

  "Gone this way?"

  "Yes."

  "When?"

  "An hour ago. See that black line over yonder? That's our army."

  "Whoopee! I was afraid I'd be too late. Good-bye. We are bound to bringthem greasers to terms this trip!" And, with a wave of his sombrero,Poke Stover rode off as rapidly as he had come.

  "He'll be a whole company in himself," was Ralph's comment. "He doesn'tthink any more of a Mexican soldier than he does of a fly, to botherhim."

  They were soon on the way to Gonzales, where they loaded their ponieswith stores for the ranch. This accomplished, they set on up the river,hoping to reach the ranch home by night.

  In those days the banks of the Guadalupe River were altogetherdifferent from to-day. Where numerous settlements now exist were thenimmense belts of timber, with here and there a burn, or a stretch ofthorns and entangling vines. In some spots the banks were steep androcky as to-day, and these rocks were the homes of numerous wildanimals, including the fierce Texan wolf, the puma, the jaguar, thewildcat, and the black bear. The stream was full of fish, the best ofwhich was the black bass, which, I believe, still holds its own in manyTexan waters.

  As the boys passed along the narrow wagon trail, which their father andother pioneers had blazed for themselves, they kept their eyes on thealert for any wild beasts that might appear, having no desire to let afierce and hungry wolf pounce down suddenly upon themselves or theirsteeds, or a black bear stalk out to embrace them. Their packs laybehind them, and they held their guns on the saddle in front.

  They were thus passing through the largest of the timber belts when thehowl of a wolf reached their ears. It was immediately answered by asimilar howl from another wolf. Both came from directly in front.

  "Hullo! a wolf--two wolves!" cried Ralph, as he brought his pony to ahalt. "I don't like that much."

  "Is your gun all right?" came quickly from his brother.

  "Yes."

  The two lads remained motionless in the saddle for several minutes,listening. No other howl reached their ears, and the only sounds werethat of the rushing str
eam as it tumbled over some rocks, and the criesof the night birds and the humming of the insects.

  "Let us set up a yell," suggested Dan. "That may scare them off."

  They called out at the top of their lungs several times. One distanthowl answered them, then all became as silent as before.

  "We may as well go on," said the older brother. "We'll be as safemoving as standing still. But keep your eyes peeled, Ralph."

  They moved on slowly, with eyes turned to the right and the left, andkeeping as far as possible from the brushwood and the low-hangingboughs of the trees. The mustangs seemed to realise that all was notright, and pricked up their ears and smelled the air.