e Mexican captain, and the
dragoons started. But on reaching the ford, half a mile below the town,
they found themselves confronted by Captain Albert Martin, a merchant
of the place, backed up by several dozens of determined-looking Texans.

The alarm had now gone forth, and express riders rode their steeds
almost to death to summon the people of Bastrop, Victoria, and other
places. Soon the settlers began to flock in, all on horseback and
armed, ready to do or die for Texas, as the case might be. With the
number were Mr. Radbury and Dan. Dan had been to Gonzales to buy some
household stores, and his father, hearing of the uprising, had hastened
down the river to find his son and see that no harm befell him. This
had left Ralph home alone, saving for the company of Pompey Shuck, a
negro, who had, during the summer, followed Mr. Radbury from the old
home in Georgia and insisted that he be taken in and set to work, "jess
as on de ole plantation, Mars' Radbury." Big Foot, the Indian, had
departed some time before Pompey's arrival.

"This looks like a fight, father," observed Dan, as his parent joined
him on the bank of the stream, where Dan had gone, following Captain
Martin.

"It certainly looks like trouble," answered Mr. Radbury, as he gazed at
the Mexican dragoons with anxiety. "That cannon may be responsible for
a whole lot of bloodshed."

"Well, they haven't any right to disarm us," returned the youth,
determinedly. "You'll fight first, won't you?"

"Perhaps I will; it will depend upon circumstances," was the
non-committal reply. Amos Radbury was no "fire-eater," and, like
Austin, preferred a settlement without a passage at arms.

At the ford the Mexican commander had ridden into the water to consult
with the leader of the Texans.

"I am sent here to obtain the cannon you are holding," he said. "There
is my order," and he held it out.

"We don't dispute the order, captain," was the reply. "But we consider
it unjust to ask us to give up a piece that we may need against the
Indians."

"If you will give up the cannon you will be protected."

"We haven't been protected for a long while. We have had to protect
ourselves."

"You are thinking of using that cannon against the government," was the
angry remark of the Mexican commander.

"We are not thinking of doing so,--but it may be we will be forced to
do so," was the significant reply.

"I am coming over, and I demand the cannon," went on the Mexican
lea