ings. Already the Alamo
had lighted a fire in his soul, and Goliad now turned it into a roaring
flame. He hated Urrea, who had rejoiced in it, and he hated Santa Anna
who, he dimly felt, had been responsible for this massacre. Every
element in his being was turned for the time into passion and hatred. As
he wandered on, he murmured unintelligible but angry words through his
burning lips.

He knew nothing about the passage of time, but after many hours he
realized that it was night, and that he had come to the banks of a
river. It was the San Antonio, and he swam it, wishing to put the stream
between himself and the Mexicans. Then he sat down in the thick timber,
and the collapse from such intense emotions and such great exertions
came quickly. He seemed to go to pieces all in a breath. His head fell
forward and he became unconscious.

CHAPTER XIX

THE RACE FOR THE BOAT

Five men, or rather four men and a boy, rode down the banks of the San
Antonio, always taking care to keep well in the shelter of the timber.
All the men were remarkable in figure, and at least three of them were
of a fame that had spread to every corner of Texas.

The one who rode slightly in advance was of gigantic build, enormously
thick through the shoulders and chest. He was dressed in brightly dyed
deerskin, and there were many fanciful touches about his border costume.
The others also wore deerskin, but theirs was of soberer hue. The man
was Martin Palmer, far better known as the Panther, or, as he loved to
call himself, the Ring Tailed Panther. His comrades were "Deaf" Smith,
Henry Karnes, Obed White and Will Allen.

They were not a very cheerful five. Riding as free lances, because there
was now practically no organized authority among the Texans, they had
been scouting the day before toward Goliad. They had learned that Fannin
and his men had been taken, and they had sought also to discover what
the Mexican generals meant to do with the troops. But the Mexican
patrols had been so numerous and strong that they could not get close
enough to Goliad. Early in the morning while in the timber by the river
they had heard the sound of heavy firing near Goliad, which continued
for some time, but they had not been able to fathom its meaning. They
concluded finally that a portion of Fannin's men must have been still
holding out in some old building of Goliad, and that this was the last
stand.

They made another effort to get closer to the