dark night had come. The air of it was hot
and sultry over all the regions around the Gulf of Mexico. Something
appeared to be weighing it down, as if it might be loaded with the great
events which were about to come.

It was gloomy enough at and around the besieged American fort on the
Texas side of the Rio Grande, but every now and then the darkness and
the silence were broken by the flashes and thunders of the Mexican
artillery, and the responses of the cannon of the bravely defended
fortress. This was already partly in ruins, and the besiegers had good
reasons for their expectation that in due season they were to see the
Stars and Stripes come down from the shattered rampart. It did not seem
to them at all possible that the small force under General Taylor,
twenty miles away at the seaside, could cut through overwhelming
numbers to the relief of the garrison.

It was just as dark in the American camp on the coast, but there were
many campfires burning, and by the light of these and numberless
lanterns there were busy preparations making for the forward march,
which was to begin in the morning. There was an immense amount of
anxiety in the minds of all the Americans who were getting ready, but it
was only on account of the fort and garrison, for that little army had a
remarkable degree of confidence in its own fighting capacity.

It is never as dark on the land, apparently, as it is at sea, where even
the lights hung out by a ship seem to make all things darker, except the
white crests of the billows. One ship's lantern, however, was so hung
that it threw down a dim light upon a pair who were sitting on the deck
near the stern.

"Senor Zuroaga," said one of them, "I wish it was daylight."

"So do I," responded his companion, with hardly a trace of foreign
accent. "The storm's nearly over, but I had so much on my mind that I
could not sleep. The fact is, I came up to try and make up my mind where
we are. I must reach Vera Cruz before Santa Anna does, if I can. If I
do not, I may be shot after landing. I shall be safer, too, after
President Paredes has marched with his army for the Rio Grande. So I
hope for war. Anyhow, the commander at Vera Cruz is a friend of mine."

"I guess I understand," said Ned. "I heard what you said about the way
things are going. But what did you mean about our being in the Nicholas
Channel? What has that got to do with it?"

"Talk Spanish!" replied the senor, with whom the boy appear