tule which fringed the margin. An occasional pecan
or live-oak flung a majestic shadow athwart its azure bosom.
Now and then a clump of willows sigh low in the evening breeze.
Far away to the north stretched a mountain range, blue in the
distance; to the south lay the luxuriant valley of the stream.
The streets were narrow and laid out with a total disregard of
the points of the compass.

By this river of romantic beauty and old-time myth Augusta Evans spent
two of youth's impressionable years. On Main Plaza, near the Alamo,
where the Frost National Bank now stands, was the Evans store, where
she, the daughter of the store-keeper, lived. Almost under the shadow
of the tragically historic old mission, by the park near which Santa
Ana had his headquarters, she received the incentive and gathered the
material for her first novel, "Inez," written in her own room at night
as a gift with which to surprise her father and mother. The work of a
girl of fifteen, it did not appeal to many readers, but it contained a
vivid description of the inspired heroism and self-sacrifice of the
men whose deeds crowned the history of Texas with the sanctity of the
supreme glory of self-immolation upon the altar of patriotism. We have
fallen upon commercial days now, and the traditions of the old Alamo
circle around a warehouse. Alamo Plaza is now the scene of the annual
"Battle of the Flowers," a joyous and beautiful occasion which throws
a fragrant floral veil about the terrible memories that gloom over the
place.

At the close of the two years spent in San Antonio, the family
returned to Columbus and later found a home in Mobile, Alabama, the
town of the "Maubila," Choctaw, Indians. It is a pleasant town of
shaded streets, romantic drives and beautiful homes. Its history
reaches back through the centuries to a time long before the United
States had being, and it is the only American city that has seen five
flags wave over it: French, English, Spanish, United States and
Confederate.

While in this home Augusta Evans became widely known through the
publication in 1859 of her second novel, "Beulah." Then came the war,
bringing forth her one war-novel, "Macaria." "Vashti," "St. Elmo,"
"Infelice," "At the Mercy of Tiberius," the latter being her best,
followed in quick succession, until her marriage put a close to her
work, for Mr. Wilson was unwilling that she should tax her strength by
close application. Life in the