g journey to the westward, and they started at
twilight fully equipped. They carried their usual arms, two blankets
apiece, light but warm, food for several days, and double supplies of
ammunition, the thing that they would now need most. Gonzales gave them
a farewell full of good wishes. Some of the women exclaimed upon Ned's
youth, but Obed explained that the boy had lived through hardships and
dangers that would have overcome many a veteran pioneer of Texas.

They forded the Guadalupe for the second time on the same day. Then they
rode by the mound on which the Mexicans had made their brief stand. The
three said little. Even the Ring Tailed Panther had thoughts that were
not voiced. The hill, the site of the first battle in their great
struggle, stood out, clear and sharp, in the moonlight. But it was very
still now.

"We'll date a good many things from that hill," said Ned as they rode
on.

They followed in the path of the flying Mexicans who, they were quite
sure, would make for Cos and San Antonio. The Ring Tailed Panther knew
the most direct course and as the moon was good they could also see the
trail left by the Mexicans. It was marked further by grim objects, two
wounded horses that had died in the flight, and then by a man
succumbing, who had been buried in a grave so shallow that no one could
help noticing it.

A little after midnight they saw a light ahead, and they judged by the
motions that a man was waving a torch.

"It can't be a trap," said Obed, "because the Mexicans would not stop
running until they were long past here."

"An' there ain't no cover where that torch is," added the Ring Tailed
Panther.

"Then suppose we ride forward and see what it means," said Ned.

They cocked their rifles, ready for combat if need be, and rode forward
slowly. Soon they made out the figure of a man standing on a swell of
the prairie, and vigorously waving a torch made of a dead stick lighted
at one end. He had a rifle, but it leaned against a bush beside him.
His belt held a pistol and knife, but his free hand made no movement
toward them, as the three rode up. The man himself was young, slender,
and of olive complexion with black hair and eyes. He was a Mexican, but
he was dressed in the simple Texan style. Moreover, there were Mexicans
born in Texas some of whom, belonging to the Liberal party, inclined to
the Texan side. This man was distinctly handsome and the look with which
he returned the gaze of the