Remember the Alamo

;-NRLF

IN MEMORIAM
Mary J. L. McDonald

Remember :
: the Alamo

New York
Dodd, Mead and Company

COPYRIGHT, 1888,

BY
DODD, MEAD & COMPANY

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07

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER PAGB

I. THE CITY IN THE WILDERNESS .... i

II. ANTONIA AND ISABEL « 14

III. BUILDERS OF THE COMMONWEALTH ... 31

IV. THE SHINING BANDS OF LOVE 52

V. A FAMOUS BARBECUE 85

VI. ROBERT WORTH is DISARMED 113

VII. A MEETING AT MIDNIGHT 140

VIII. MOTHER AND PRIEST 165

IX. THE STORMING OF THE ALAMO .... 185

X. THE DOCTOR AND THE PRIEST .... 206

XL A HAPPY TRUCE 227

XII. DANGER AND HELP 252

XIII. ARRIVAL OF SANTA ANNA 282

XIV. FALL OF THE ALAMO 303

XV. GOLIAD 330

XVI. THE LOADSTONE IN THE. BREAST .... 353

XVII. HOMEAGAZK. . qof|<S j Q • • »°

XVIII. UNDER ONE FLAG . \7(-?V*/ I O . . 417

REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

CHAPTER I.

THE CITY IN THE WILDERNESS.

•' What, are you stepping westward ? " " Yea,"

# * # * #

Yet who would stop or fear to advance,
Though home or shelter there was none,
With such a sky to lead him on ! "

— WORDSWORTH,

" Ah ! cool night wind, tremulous stars,
Ah ! glimmering water,
Fitful earth murmur,
Dreaming woods ! " — ARNOLD.

IN A. D. sixteen hundred and ninety-two*;
a few Franciscan monks began to build
a city. The site chosen was a lovely wilder
ness hundreds of miles away from civiliza
tion on every side, and surrounded by sav
age and warlike tribes. But the spot was
as beautiful as the garden of God. It was
shielded by picturesque mountains, watered by
two rivers, carpeted with flowers innumerable,

2 REMEMBER "'HE ALAMO.

shaded by noble trees- joyful with the notes of
a multitude of singing birds. To breathe the
balmy atmosphere was to be conscious of some
rarer arid '-finder' 'life, and the beauty of the
sunny skies^maryellous at dawn and eve with
tints of saffron and amethyst and opal — was
like a dream of heaven.

One of the rivers was fed by a hundred
springs situated in the midst of charming bow
ers. The monks called it the San Antonio ;
and on its banks they built three noble Mis
sions. The shining white stone of the neigh
borhood rose in graceful domes and spires
above the green trees. Sculptures, basso-
relievos, and lines of gorgeous coloring adorned
the exteriors. Within, were splendid altars
and the appealing charms of incense, fine ves
tures and fine music ; while from the belfreys,
bells sweet and resonant called to the savages,
who paused spell-bound and half-afraid to
listen.

Certainly these priests had to fight as well as
to pray. The Indians did not suffer them to
take possession of their Eden without passion
ate and practical protest. But what the monks
had taken, they kept ; and the fort and the

THE CITY IN THE WILDERNESS. 3

soldier followed the priest and the Cross. Ere
long, the beautiful Mission became a beautiful
city, about which a sort of fame full of romance
and mystery gathered. Throughout the south
and west, up the great highway of the Missis
sippi, on the busy streets of New York, and
among the silent hills of New England, men
spoke of San Antonio, as in the seventeenth
century they spoke of Peru ; as in the eight
eenth century they spoke of Delhi, and Agra,
and the Great Mogul.

Sanguine French traders carried thither rich
ventures in fancy wares from New Orleans ;
and Spanish dons from the wealthy cities of
Central Mexico, and from the splendid homes
of Chihuahua, came there to buy. And from
the villages of Connecticut, and the woods of
Tennessee, and the lagoons of Mississippi, ad
venturous Americans entered the Texan terri
tory at Nacogdoches. They went through the
land, buying horses and lending their ready
rifles and stout hearts to every effort of that
constantly increasing body of Texans, who,
even in their swaddling bands, had begun to
cry Freedom !

At length this cry became a clamor that

4- REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

shook even the old viceroyal palace in Mexico j
while in San Antonio it gave a certain pitch
to ail conversation, and made men wear theit
cloaks, and set their beavers, and display their
arms, with that demonstrative air of independ
ence they called los Americano. For, though
the Americans were numerically few, they were
like the pinch of salt in a pottage — they gave
the snap and savor to the whole community.

Over this Franciscan-Moorish city the sun
set with an incomparable glory one evening
in May, eighteen thirty-five. The white, flat-
roofed, terraced houses — each one in its
flowery court — and the domes and spires of
the Missions, with their gilded crosses, had a
mirage-like beauty in the rare, soft atmosphere,
as if a dream of Old Spain had been material
ized in a wilderness of the New World.

But human life in all its essentials was in
San Antonio, as it was and has been in all
other cities since the world began. Women
were in their homes, dressing and cooking,
nursing their children and dreaming of their
lovers. Men were in the market-places, buy
ing and selling, talking of politics and antici
pating war. And yet in spite of these fixed

THE CITY IN THE WILDERNESS. 5

attributes, San Antonio was a city penetrated
with romantic elements, and constantly pic
turesque.

On this evening, as the hour of the Angelus
approached, the narrow streets and the great
squares were crowded with a humanity that
assaulted and captured the senses at once ; so
vivid and so various were its component parts.
A tall sinewy American with a rifle across his
shoulder was paying some money to a Mexican
in blue velvet and red silk, whose breast was
covered with little silver images of his favorite
saints. A party of Mexican officers were
strolling to the Alamo ; some in white linen
and scarlet sashes, others glittering with color
and golden ornaments. Side by side with
these were monks of various orders: the
Franciscan in his blue gown and large white
hat ; the Capuchin in his brown serge ; the
Brother of Mercy in his white flowing robes.
Add to these diversities, Indian peons in
ancient sandals, women dressed as in the days
of Cortez and Pizarro, Mexican vendors of
every kind, Jewish traders, negro servants,
rancheros curvetting on their horses, Apache
and Comanche braves on spying expeditions \

6 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

and, in this various crowd, yet by no means of
it, small groups of Americans ; watchful, silent,
armed to the teeth : and the mind may catch
a glimpse of what the streets of San Antonio
were in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred
and thirty-five.

It was just before sunset that the city was
Always at its gayest point. Yet, at the first
toll of the Angelus, a silence like that of en
chantment fell upon it. As a mother cries
hush to a noisy child, so the angel of the city
seemed in this evening bell to bespeak a
minute for holy thought. It was only a
minute, for with the last note there was even
an access of tumult. The doors and windows
of the better houses were thrown open, ladies
began to appear on the balconies, there was a
sound of laughter and merry greetings, and
the tiny cloud of the cigarette in every direc
tion.

But amid this sunset glamour of splendid
color, of velvet, and silk, and gold embroidery,
the man who would have certainly first at
tracted a stranger's eye wore the plain and ugly
costume common at that day to all American
gentlemen. Only black cloth and white linen

THE CITY fJV THE WILDERNESS, ^

and a i'ow palmetto hat with a black ribbon
around it ; but he wore his simple garments
with the air of a man having authority, and he
returned the continual salutations of rich and
poor, like one who had been long familiar with
public appreciation.

It was Dr. Robert Worth, a physician whose
fame had penetrated to the utmost boundaries
of the territories of New Spain. He had been
twenty-seven years in San Antonio. He was
a familiar friend in every home. In sickness
and in death he had come close to the hearts
in them. Protected at first by the powerful
Urrea family, he had found it easy to retain
his nationality, and yet live down envy and
suspicion. The rich had shown him their
gratitude with gold ; the poor he had never
sent unrelieved away, and they had given him
their love.

When in the second year of his residence
he married Dona Maria Flores, he gave, even
to doubtful officials, security for his political
intentions. And his future conduct had
seemed to warrant their fullest confidence.
In those never ceasing American invasions
between eighteen hundred and three and

REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

eighteen hundred and thirty-two, he had been
the friend and succourer of his countrymen^
but never their confederate ; their adviser, but
never their confidant.

He was a tall, muscular man of a distin-
guished appearance. His hair was white. His
face was handsome and good to see. He was
laconic in speech, but his eyes were closely
observant of all within their range, and they
asked searching questions. He had a reverent
soul, wisely tolerant as to creeds, and he loved
his country with a passion which absence from
it constantly intensified. He was believed to
be a thoroughly practical man, fond of accu
mulating land and gold ; but his daughter
Antonia knew that he had in reality a noble
imagination. When he spoke to her of the
woods, she felt the echoes of the forest ring
through the room ; when of the sea, its walls
melted away in an horizon of long rolling
waves.

lie was thinking of Antonia as he walked
slowly to his home in the suburbs of the city.
Of all his children she was the nearest to
him. She had his mother's beauty. She
had also his mother's upright rectitude of

THE CITY IN THE WILDERNESS. 9

nature. The Iberian strain had passed her
absolutely by. She was a northern rose in a
tropical garden. As he drew near to his own
gates, he involuntarily quickened his steps.
He knew that Antonia would be waiting. He
could see among the thick flowering shrubs
her tall, slim figure clothed in white. As she
came swiftly down the dim aisles to meet him,
he felt a sentiment of worship for her. She
concentrated in herself his memory of home,
mother, and country. She embodied, in the
perfectness of their mental companionship,
that rarest and sweetest of ties — a beloved
child, who is also a wise friend and a sympa
thetic comrade. As he entered the garden she
slipped her hand into his. He clasped it
tightly. His smile answered her smile. There
was no need for any words of salutation.

The full moon had risen. The white house
stood clearly out in its radiance. The lattices
were wide open and the parfor lighted. They
walked slowly towards it, between hedges of
white camelias and scarlet japonicas. Vanilla,
patchuli, verbena, wild wandering honeysuckle
— a hundred other scents — perfumed the light,
warm air. As they came near the house there

io REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

was a sound of music, soft and tinkling, with a
rhythmic accent as pulsating as a beating
heart.

"It is Don Luis, father."

" Ah! He plays well— and he looks well."

They had advanced to where Don Luis was
distinctly visible. He was within the room,
but leaning against the open door, playing upon
a mandolin. Robert Worth smiled as he of
fered his hand to him. It was impossible not
to smile at a youth so handsome, and so charm
ing — a youth who had all the romance of the
past in his name, his home, his picturesque
costume ; and all the enchantments of hope
and great enthusiasms in his future.

" Luis, I am glad to see you ; and I felt your
music as soon as I heard it."

He was glancing inquiringly around the room
as he spoke ; and Antonia answered the look:

" Mother and Isabel are supping with Dona
Valdez. There is to be a dance. I am waiting
for you, father. Y^u must put on your velvet
vest."

" And you, Luis ? "

" I do not go. I asked the judge for the
appointment. He refused me. Very well ! I

THE CITY IN THE WILDERNESS II

care not to drink chocolate and dance in his
house. One hand washes the other, and one
cousin should help another."

" Why did he refuse you ? "

"Who can tell?" but Luis shrugged his
shoulders expressively, and added, " He gave
the office to Blas-Sangre."

"Ah!"

" Yes, it is so — naturally ; — Blas-Sangre is
rich, and when the devil of money condescends
to appear, every little devil rises up to do him
homage."

" Let it pass, Luis. Suppose you sing me
that last verse again. It had a taking charm.
The music was like a boat rocking on the
water."

" So it ought to be. I learned the words in
New Orleans. The music came from the heart
of my mandolin. Listen, Senor !

" ' Row young oarsman, row, young oarsman,

Into the crypt of the night we float :
Fair, faint moonbeams wash and wander,

Wash and wander about the boat.
Not a fetter is here to bind us,

Love and memory lose their spell ;
Friends that we have left behind us,

Prisoners of content, — farewell ! ' "

"You are a wizard, Luis, and I have had a

12 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

sail with you. Now, come with us, and show
those dandy soldiers from the Alamo how to
dance.'*

" Pardon ! I have not yet ceased to cross
myself at the affront of this morning. And
the Seftora Valdez is in the same mind as her
husband. I should be received by her like a
dog at mass. I am going to-morrow to the
American colony on the Colorado."

" Be careful, Luis. These Austin colonists
are giving great trouble — there have been
whispers of very strong measures. I speak as
a friend."

" My heart to yours! But let me tell you
this about the Americans — their drum is in the
hands of one who knows how to beat it."

" As a matter of hearsay, are you aware that
three detachments of troops are on their way
from Mexico?"

" For Texas?"

" For Texas."

" What are three detachments ? Can a few
thousand men put Texas under lock and key?
I assure you not, Seftor ; but now I must say
adieu ! "

He took the doctor's hand, and, as he held

THE CITY IN THE WILDERNESS. 13

It, turned his luminous face and splendid
eyes upon Antonia. A sympathetic smile
brightened her own face like a flame. Then
he went silently away, and Antonia watched
him disappear among the shrubbery.

" Come, Antonia ! I am ready. We must
not keep the Seftora waiting too long."

" I am ready also, father." Her voice was
almost sad, and yet it had a tone of annoyance
in it — " Don Luis is so imprudent," she said.
" He is always in trouble. He is full of
enthusiasms ; he is as impossible as his favor
ite, Don Quixote."

" And I thank God, Antonia, that I can yet
feel with him. Woe to the centuries without
Quixotes! Nothing will remain to them but—
Sancho Panzas."

CHAPTER II.

i

ANTONIA AND ISABEL.

** He various changes of the world had Anown.
And some vicissitudes of human fate,
Still altering, never in a steady state :
Good after ill, and after pain delight,
Alternate, like the scenes of day and night. "

" Ladies whose bright eyes
Rain influence."

" But who the limits of that power shall trace,
Which a brave people into life can bring,
Or hide at will, for freedom combating
By just revenge inflamed ? "

FOR many years there had never been any
doubt in the mind of Robert Worth as
to the ultimate destiny of Texas, though he
was by no means an adventurer, and had come
into the beautiful land by a sequence of
natural and business-like events. He was born
in New York. In that city he studied his
profession, and in eighteen hundred and three
began its practice in an office near Contoit's
Hotel, opposite the City Park. One day he

ANTONIA AND ISABEL. 15

was summoned there to attend a sick man.
His patient proved to be Don Jaime Urrea,
and the rich Mexican grandee conceived a
warm friendship for the young physician.

At that very time, France had just ceded to
the United States the territory of Louisiana,
and its western boundary was a subject about
which Americans were then angrily disputing.
They asserted that it was the Rio Grande ; but
Spain, who naturally did not want Americans
so near her own territory, denied the claim,
and made the Sabine River the dividing line.
And as Spain had been the original possessor
of Louisiana, she considered herself authority
on the subject.

The question was on every tongue, and it
was but natural that it should be discussed by
Urrea and his physician. In fact, they talked
continually of the disputed boundary, and of
Mexico. And Mexico was then a name to
conjure by. She was as yet a part of Spain,
and a sharer in all her ancient glories. She
was a land of romance, and her very name
tasted on the lips, of gold, and of silver, and of
precious stones. Urrea easily persuaded the
young man to return to Mexico with him.

16 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

The following year there was a suspicious
number of American visitors and traders in
San Antonio, and one of the Urreas was sent
with a considerable number of troops to garri
son the city. For Spain was well aware that,
however statesmen might settle the question,
the young and adventurous of the American
people considered Texas United States terri
tory, and would be well inclined to take posses
sion of it by force of arms, if an opportunity
offered.

Robert Worth accompanied General Urrea
to San Antonio, and the visit was decisive as
to his future life. The country enchanted
him. He was smitten with love for it, as men
are smitten with a beautiful face. And the
white Moorish city had one special charm for
him — it was seldom quite free from Americans,
Among the mediaeval loungers in the narrow
streets, it rilled his heart with joy to see at in
tervals two or three big men in buckskin or
homespun. And he did not much wonder that
the Morisco-Hispano-Mexican feared these
Anglo-Americans, and suspected them of an
intention to add Texan to their names.

His inclination to remain in San Antonio

AN T ONI A AND ISABEL. 17

was settled by his marriage. Dona Maria
Flores, though connected with the great Mex
ican families of Yturbide and Landesa, owned
much property in San Antonio. She had beeri
born within its limits, and educated in its
convent, and a visit to Mexico and New Or-
leans had only strengthened her attachment to
her own city. She was a very pretty woman,
with an affectionate nature, but she was not
intellectual. Even in the convent the sisters
had not considered her clever.

But men often live very happily with
commonplace wives, and Robert Worth had
never regretted that his Maria did not play on
the piano, and paint on velvet, and work fine
embroideries for the altars. They had passed
nearly twenty-six years together in more than
ordinary content and prosperity. Yet no life
is without cares and contentions, and Robert
Worth had had to face circumstances seve
ral times, which had brought the real man to
the front.

The education of his children had been such
a crisis. He had two sons and two daughters,
and for them he anticipated a wider and
grander career than he had chosen for himself*

1 8 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

When his eldest child, Thomas, had reached
the age of fourteen, he determined to send him
to New York. He spoke to Dona Maria of this
intention. He described Columbia to her with
all the affectionate pride of a student for his
alma mater. The boy's grandmother also still
lived in the home wherein he himself had
grown to manhood. His eyes filled with tears
when he remembered the red brick house in
Canal Street, with its white door and dormer
windows, and its one cherry tree in the strip
of garden behind.

But Dona Maria's national and religious
principles, or rather prejudices, were very
strong. She regarded the college of San Juan
de Lateran in Mexico as the fountain-head of
knowledge. Her confessor had told her so.
All the Yturbides and Landesas had graduated
at San Juan.

But the resolute father would have none of
San Juan. " I know all about it, Maria," he
said. " They will teach Thomas Latin very
thoroughly. They will make him proficient in
theology and metaphysics. They will let him
dabble in algebra and Spanish literature ; and
with great pomp, they will give him his degree.

AN TON I A AND ISA DEL. 19

and * the power of interpreting Aristotle all
over the world.' What kind of an education
is that, for a man who may have to fight the
battles of life in this century ? "

And since the father carried his point it is
immaterial what precise methods he used.
Men are not fools even in a contest with wo
men. They usually get their own way, if they
take the trouble to go wisely and kindly about
it. Two years afterwards, Antonia followed
her brother to New York, and this time, the
mother made less opposition. Perhaps she
divined that opposition would have been still
more useless than in the case of the boy. For
Robert Worth had one invincible determina
tion ; it was, that this beautiful child, who so
much resembled a mother whom he idolized,
should be, during the most susceptible years of
her life, under that mother's influence.

And he was well repaid for the self-denial
her absence entailed, when Antonia came back
to him, alert, self-reliant, industrious, an intel
ligent and responsive companion, a neat and
capable housekeeper, who insensibly gave to
his home that American air it lacked, and who
set upon his table the well-cooked meats and

20 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

delicate dishes which he had often longed
for.

John, the youngest boy, was still in New
York finishing his course of study ; but regard
ing Isabel, there seemed to be a tacit relin-
quishment of the purpose, so inflexibly carried
out with her brothers and sister. Isabel was
entirely different from them. Her father had
watched her carefully, and come to the convic<
tion that it would be impossible to make her
nature take the American mintage. She was
as distinctly Iberian as Antonia was Anglo-
American.

In her brothers the admixture of races had
been only as alloy to metal. Thomas Worth
was but a darker copy of his father. John had
the romance and sensitive honor of old Spain,
mingled with the love of liberty, and the practi
cal temper, of those Worths who had defied both
Charles the First and George the Third. But
Isabel had no soul-kinship with her father's
people. Robert Worth had seen in the Ytur-
bide residencia in Mexico the family portraits
which they had brought with them from Cas
tile. Isabel was the Yturbide of her day.
She had all their physical traits, and from her

ANTONIA AND ISABEL. 21

large golden-black eyes the same passionate
soul looked forth. He felt that it would be
utter cruelty to send her among people who
must always be strangers to her.

So Isabel dreamed away her childhood at
her mother's side, or with the sisters in the
convent, learning from them such simple and
useless matters as they considered necessary
for a damosel of family and fortune. On the
night of the Sefiora Valdez's reception, she
had astonished every one by the adorable
grace of her dancing, and the captivating way
in which she used her fan. Her fingers touched
the guitar as if they had played it for a thou
sand years. She sang a Spanish Romancero
of El mio Cid with all the fire and tenderness
of a Castilian maid.

Her father watched her with troubled eyes.
He almost felt as if he had no part in her.
And the thought gave him an unusual anxiety,
for he knew this night that the days were fast
approaching which would test to extremity the
affection which bound his family together.
He contrived to draw Antonia aside for a few
moments.

" Is she not wonderful ? " he asked. " When

22 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

did she learn these things ? I mean me way
in which she does them ? "

Isabel was dancing La Cachoucha, and An-
tonia looked at her little sister with eyes full
of loving speculation. Her answer dropped
slowly from her lips, as if a conviction was
reluctantly expressed :

" The way must be a gift from the past —
her soul has been at school before she was
born here. Father, are you troubled ? What
is it ? Not Isabel, surely ? "

" Not Isabel, primarily. Antonia, I have
been expecting something for twenty years.
It is coming."

" And you are sorry ? "

" I am anxious, that is all. Go back to the
dancers. In the morning we can talk."

In the morning the doctor was called very
early by some one needing his skill. Antonia
heard the swift footsteps and eager voices,
and watched him mount the horse always kept
ready saddled for such emergencies, and ride
away with the messenger. The incident in
itself was a usual one, but she was conscious
that her soul was moving uneasily and question-
ingly in some new and uncertain atmosphere.

ANTONIA AND ISABEL. 23

She had felt it on her first entrance into
Seftora Valdez's gran sala — a something irre
pressible in the faces of all the men present.
She remembered that even the servants had
been excited, and that they stood in small
groups, talking with suppressed passion and
with much demonstrativeness. And the offi
cers from the Alamo ! How conscious they
had been of their own importance ! What airs
of condescension and of an almost insufferable
protection they had assumed ! Now, that she
recalled the faces of Judge Valdez, and other
men of years and position, she understood that
there had been in them something out of tone
with the occasion. In the atmosphere of the
festa she had only felt it. In the solitude of
her room she could apprehend its nature.

For she had been born during those stormy
days when Magee and Bernardo, with twelve
hundred Americans, first flung the banner of
Texan independence to the wind ; when the
fall of Nacogdoches sent a thrill of sympathy
through the United States, and enabled Cos
and Toledo, and the other revolutionary gen
erals in Mexico, to carry their arms against
Old Spain to the very doors of the vice-royal

24 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

palace. She had heard from her father many
a time the whole brave, brilliant story — the
same story which has been made in all ages
from the beginning of time. Only the week
before, they had talked it over as they sat under
the great fig-tree together.

" History but repeats itself," the doctor had
said then ; " for when the Mexicans drove the
Spaniards, with their court ceremonies, their
monopolies and taxes, back to Spain, they
were just doing what the American colonists
did, when they drove the English royalists
back to England. It was natural, too, that the
Americans should help the Mexicans, for, at
first, they were but a little band of patriots ;
and the American-Saxon has like the Anglo-
Saxon an irresistible impulse to help the weaker
side. And oh, Antonia ! The cry of Free
dom ! Who that has a soul can resist it ? "

She remembered this conversation as she
stood in the pallid dawning, and watched her
father ride swiftly away. The story of the
long struggle in all its salient features flashed
through her mind ; and she understood that it
is not the sword alone that gives liberty — that
there must be patience before courage ; that

AN TON I A AND ISABEL. 25

great ideas must germinate for years in the
hearts of men before the sword can reap the
harvest.

The fascinating memory of Burr passed like
a shadow across her dreaming. The hand
some Lafayettes — the gallant Nolans — the dar
ing Hunters — the thousands of forgotten
American traders and explorers — bold and en
terprising — they had sown the seed. For great
ideas are as catching as evil ones. A Mexican,
with the iron hand of Old Spain upon him and
the shadow of the Inquisition over him, could
not look into the face of an American, and not
feel the thought of Freedom stirring in his
heart.

It stirred in her own heart. She stood still
a moment to feel consciously the glow and the
enlargement. Then with an impulse natural,
but neither analyzed nor understood, she lifted
her prayer-book, and began to recite " the ris
ing prayer." She had not said to herself, " from
the love of Freedom to the love of God, it is
but a step," but she experienced the emotion
and felt all the joy of an adoration, simple and
unquestioned, springing as naturally from the
soul as the wild flower from the prairie.

26 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

As she knelt, up rose the sun, and flooded
her white figure and her fair unbound hair with
the radiance of the early morning. The matin
bells chimed from the convent and the churches,
and the singing birds began to flutter their
bright wings, and praise God also, " in theii
Latin."

She took her breakfast alone. The Seftora
never came downstairs so early. Isabel had
wavering inclinations, and generally followed
them. Sometimes, even her father had his cup
of strong coffee alone in his study; so the first
meal of the day was usually, as perhaps it
ought to be, a selfishly-silent one. " Too much
enthusiasm and chattering at breakfast, are like
too much red at sunrise," the doctor always
said ; " a dull, bad day follows it " — and Anto-
nia's observation had turned the little maxim
into a superstition.

In the Seftora's room, the precept was either
denied, or defied. Antonia heard the laughter
and conversation through the closed door, and
easily divined the subject of it. It was but
natural. The child had a triumph ; one that
appealed strongly to her mother's pride and
predilections. It was a pleasant sight to sec

AN TON I A AND ISABEL. 27

them in the shaded sunshine exulting them*
selves happily in it.

The Seftora, plump and still pretty, reclined
upon a large gilded bed. Its splendid silk
coverlet and pillows cased in embroidery and
lace made an effective background for her.
She leaned with a luxurious indolence among
them, sipping chocolate and smoking a cigar-
rito. Isabel was on a couch of the same de
scription. She wore a satin petticoat, and a
loose linen waist richly trimmed with lace. It
showed her beautiful shoulders and arms to
perfection. Her hands were folded above her
head. Her tiny feet, shod in satin, were
quivering like a bird's wings, as if they were
keeping time with the restlessness of her spirit.

She had large eyes, dark and bright ; strong
eyebrows, a pale complexion with a flood of
brilliant color in the cheeks, dazzling even
teeth, and a small, handsome mouth. Her
black hair was loose and flowing, and caressed
her cheeks and temples in numberless little
curls and tendrils. Her face was one flush of
joy and youth. She had a look half-earnest
and half-childlike, and altogether charming.
Antonia aclorecl her, and she was pleased to

28 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

listen to the child, telling over again the
pretty things that had been said to her.

" Only Don Luis was not there at all, Anto-
nia. There is always something wanting,"
and her voice fell with those sad inflections
that are often only the very excess of delight.

The Seftora looked sharply at her. " Don
Luis was not desirable. He was better away —
much better!"

"But why?"

" Because, Antonia, he is suspected. There
is an American called Houston. Don Luis met
him in Nacogdoches. He has given his soul to
him, I think. He would have fought Morello
about him, if the captain could have drawn his
sword in such a quarrel. I should not have
known about the affair had not Seftora Valdez
told me. Your father says nothing against
the Americans."

" Perhaps, then, he knows nothing against
them."

"You will excuse me, Antonia; not only the
living but the dead must have heard of their
wickedness. They are a nation of ingrates,
Ingrates are cowards. It was these words
Captain Morello said, when Don Luis drew his

ANTONIA AND ISABEL. 29

rword, made a circle with its point and stood it
upright in the centre. It was a challenge to
the whole garrison, and about this fellow Hous
ton, whom he calls his friend ! Holy Virgin
preserve us from such Mexicans! "

" It is easier to talk than to fight. Morel-
lo's tongue is sharper than his sword."

" Captain Morello was placing his sword be.
side that of Don Luis, when the Commandant
interfered. He would not permit his officers
to fight in such a quarrel. ' Santo Dios ! ' he
said, * you shall all have your opportunity very
soon, gentlemen.' Just reflect upon the folly
of a boy like Don Luis, challenging a soldier
like Morello ! "

" He was in no danger, mother, " said An-
tonia scornfully. " Morello is a bully, who
wears the pavement out with his spurs and
sabre. His weapons are for show. Ameri
cans, at least, wear their arms for use, and not
for ornament."

" Listen, Antonia ! I will not have them
spoken of. They are Jews — or at least in
fidels, all of them !— the devil himself is their
father — the bishop, when he was here last
confirmation, told me so."

30 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

" Mother ! "

" At least they are unbaptized Christians,
Antonia. If you are not baptized, the devil
sends you to do his work. As for Don Luis,
he is a very Judas! Ah, Maria Santissima !
how I do pity his good mother! "

" Poor Don Luis! "said Isabel plaintively.
" He is so handsome, and he sings like a very
angel. And he loves my father ; he wanted to
be a doctor, so that he could always be with
him. I dare say this man called Houston is
no better than a Jew, and perhaps very ugly
beside. Let us talk no more about him and
the Americans. I am weary of them ; as Tia
Rachella says, ' they have their spoon in every
one's mess.' '

And Antonia, whose heart was burning, only
stooped down and closed her sister's pretty
mouth with a kiss. Her tongue was impatient
to speak for the father, and grandmother, and
the friends, so dear to her ; but she possessed
great discretion, and also a large share of that
rarest of all womanly graces, the power under
provocation, of " putting on Patience the
noble."

CHAPTER III.
BUILDERS OF THE COMMONWEALTH

" Methinks I see in my mind a noble and puissant na«
tion rousing herself like a strong man after sleep and
shaking her invincible locks. Methinks I see her as an
eagle mewing her mighty youth and kindling her un-
dazzled eye in the full mid-day beam." — MILTON.

" And from these grounds, concluding as we doe,
Warres causes diuerse, so by consequence

Diuerse we must conclude their natures too :
For war proceeding from Omnipotence,

No doubt is holy, wise, and without error ;
The sword, of justice and of sin, the terror."

— LORD BROOKE.

IT is the fashion now to live for the present ;
but the men of fifty years ago, the men
who builded the nation, they reverenced the
past, and therefore they could work for the
future. As Robert Worth rode through the
streets of San Antonio that afternoon, he was
thinking, not of his own life, but of his chil
dren's and of the generations which should
come after them.

The city was flooded with sunshine, and
31

32 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

crowded with a pack-train going to Sonora ;
the animals restlessly protesting against the
heat and flies ; their Mexican drivers in the
pulqueria, spending their last peso with their
compadres, or with the escort of soldiers which
was to accompany them — a little squad of
small, lithe men, with round, yellow, beardless
faces, bearing in a singular degree the stamp of
being native to the soil. Their lieutenant, a
gorgeously clad officer with a very distinguished
air, was coming slowly down the street to join
them. He bowed, and smiled pleasantly to the
doctor as he passed him, and then in a few
moments the word of command and the shout-
ine of men and the clatter of hoofs invaded

o

the enchanted atmosphere like an insult.

But the tumult scarcely jarred with the
thoughts of his mind. They had been alto
gether of war and rumors of war. Every hour
that subtile consciousness of coming events,
which makes whole communities at times
prescient, was becoming stronger. " If the
powers of the air have anything to do with the
destinies of men," he muttered, "there must
be unseen battalions around me. The air I am
breathing is charged with the feeling of battle."

BUILDERS OF THE COMMONWEALTH. 33

After leaving the city there were only a few
Mexican huts on the shady road leading to his
own house. All within them were asleep, even
the fighting cocks tied outside were dozing on
their perches. He was unusually weary, he
had been riding since dawn, and his heart had
not been in sympathy with his body, it had
said no good cheer to it, whispered no word of
courage or promise.

All at once his physical endurance seemed
exhausted, and he saw the white wall and
arched gateway of his garden and the turrets
of his home with an inexpressible relief. But
it was the hour of siesta, and he was always
careful not to let the requirements of his pro
fession disturb his household. So he rode
quietly to the rear, where he found a peon nod
ding within the stable door. He opened his
eyes unnaturally wide, and rose to serve his
master.

" See thou rub the mare well down, and give
her corn and water."

" To be sure, Seftor, that is to be done. A
stranger has been here to-day ; an America^."

" What did he say to thee? "

"That he would call again, Seftor."

34 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

The incident was not an unusual one, and it
did not trouble the doctor's mind. There was
on the side of the house a low extension con
taining two rooms. These rooms belonged ex
clusively to him. One was his study, his office,
his covert, the place to which he went when he
wanted to be alone with his own soul. There
were a bed and bath and refreshments in the
other room. He went directly to it, and after
eating and washing, fell into a profound
sleep.

At the hour before Angelus the house was as
noisy and busy as if it had been an inn. The
servants were running hither and thither, all
of them expressing themselves in voluble
Spanish. The cooks were quarrelling in the
kitchen. Antonia was showing the table men,
as she had to do afresh every day, how to lay
the cloth and serve the dishes in the American
fashion. When the duty was completed, she
went into the garden to listen for the Angelus.
The young ladies of to-clay would doubtless
consider her toilet frightfully unbecoming; but
Antonia looked lovely in it, though but a white
muslin frock, with a straight skirt and low waist
and short, full sleeves. It was confined by a

BUILDERS OF THE COMMONWEALTH. 35

blue belt with a gold buckle, and her feet were
tn sandalled slippers of black satin.

The Angelus tolled, and the thousands of
Hail Maries ! which blended with its swinging
vibrations were uttered, and left to their fate,
as all spoken words must be. Antonia still
observed the form. It lent for a moment a
solemn beauty to her face. She was about to
re-enter the house, when she saw a stranger ap
proaching it. He was dressed in a handsome
buckskin suit, and a wide Mexican hat, but she
knew at once that he was an American, and
die waited to receive him.

As soon as he saw her, he removed his hat
and approached with it in his hand. Perhaps
he was conscious that the act not only did
homage to womanhood, but revealed more per
fectly a face of remarkable beauty and nobility.
For the rest, he was very tall, powerfully built,
elegantly proportioned, and his address had the
grace and polish of a cultured gentleman.

" I wish to see Dr. Worth, Dona."

With a gentle inclination of the head, she
led him to the door of her father's office. She
tyas the only one in the Doctor's family at all
lamiliar with the room. The Sefiora said so

3& REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

many books made her feel as if she were in a
church or monastery ; she was afraid to say
anything but paternosters in it. Isabel cow
ered before the poor skeleton in the corner,
and the centipedes and snakes that rilled the
bottles on the shelves. There was not a ser
vant that would enter the room.

But Antonia did not regard books as a part
of some vague spiritual power. She knew the
history of the skeleton. She had seen the death
of many of those "little devils" corked up in
alcohol. She knew that at this hour, if her
father were at home he was always disengaged,
and she opened the door fearlessly, saying,
" Father, here is a gentleman who wishes to
see you."

The doctor had quite refreshed himself, and,
in a house-suit of clean, white linen, was lying
on a couch reading. He arose with alacrity, and
with his pleasant smile seemed to welcome the
intruder, as he stepped behind him and closed
the door. Antonia had disappeared. They
were quite alone.

"You are Doctor Robert Worth, sir?"

Their eyes met, their souls knew each other

"And you are Sam Houston? "

BUILDERS OF THE COMMONWEALTH. 37

The questions were answered in a hand grip,
a sympathetic smile on both faces — the free-
masonry of kindred spirits.

" I have a letter from your son Thomas,
doctor, and I think, also, that you will have
something to say to me, and I to you."

The most prudent of patriots could not have
resisted this man. He had that true imperial
look which all born rulers of men possess — that
look that half coerces, and wholly persuades.
Robert Worth acknowledged its power by his
instant and decisive answer.

" I have, indeed, much to say to you. We
shall have dinner directly, then you will give
the night to me? "

After a short conversation he led him into
the sala and introduced him to Antonia. He
himself had to prepare the Seflora for her vis
itor, and he had a little quaking of the heart
as he entered her room. She was dressed for
dinner, and turned with a laughing face to
meet him.

" I have been listening to the cooks quarrel
ling over the olla, Roberto. But what can my
poor Manuel say when your Irishwoman at
tacks him. Listen to her! 'Take your dirty

38 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

stew aff the fire then ! Shure it isn't fit for a
Christian to ate at all ! '

" I hope it is, Maria, for we have a visitor
to-night."

" Who, then, my love?"

"Mr. Houston."

" Sam Houston ? Holy Virgin of Guadalupe
preserve us ! I will not see the man."

" I think you will, Maria. He has brought
this letter for you from our son Thomas; and
he has been so kind as to take charge of some
fine horses, and sell them well for him in San
Antonio. When a man does us a kindness, we
should say thank you."

" That is truth, if the man is not the Evil
One. As for this Sam Houston, you should
have heard what was said of him at the Valdez's."

" I did hear. Everything was a lie."

" But he is a very common man."

" Maria, do you call a soldier, a lawyer, a
member of the United States Congress, a gov
ernor of a great State like Tennessee, a common
man? Houston has been all of these things."

" It is, however, true that he has lived with
Indians, and with those Americans, who are
bad, who have no God, who are infidels, and

BUILDERS OF THE COMMONWEALTPI. 3*

perhaps even cannibals. If he is a good
man, why does he live with bad men ? Not
even the saints could do that. A good, man
should be in his home. Why does he not stay
at home."

" Alas ! Maria, that is a woman's fault. He
loved a beautiful girl. He married her. My
dear one, she did not bless his life as you have
blessed mine. No one knows what his sorrow
was, for he told no one. And he never blamed
her, only he left his high office and turned his
back forever on his home."

" Ah ! the cruel woman. Holy Virgin, what
hard hearts thou hast to pray for ! "

''Comedown and smile upon him, Maria. I
should like him to see a high-born Mexican
lady. Are they not the kindest and fairest
among all God's women? I know, at least,
Maria, that you are kind and fair"; and he
took her hands, and drew her within his em
brace.

What good wife can resist her husband's
wooing? Maria did not. She lifted her face,
her eyes shone through happy tears, she whis
pered softly: " My Robert, it is a joy to pleast
you. I will be kind ; I will be grateful about

4* REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

Thomas, You shall see that I will make a
pleasant evening."

So the triumphant husband went down,
proud and happy, with his smiling wife upon
his arm. Isabel was already in the room.
She also wore a white frock, but her hair was
pinned back with gold butterflies, and she had
a beautiful golden necklace around her throat.
And the Sefiora kept her word. She paid her
guest great attention. She talked to him of
his adventures with the Indians. She request
ed her daughters to sing to him. She told
him stories of the old Castilian families with
which she was connected, and described her
visit to New Orleans with a great deal of
pleasant humor. She felt that she was doing
herself justice ; that she was charming ; and, con
sequently, she also was charmed with the guest
and the occasion which had been so favorable
to her.

After the ladies had retired, the doctor led
his visitor into his study. He sat down silently
and placed a chair for Houston. Both men
hesitated for a moment to open the conversa
tion. Worth, because he was treading on un
known ground ; Houston, because he did not

BUILDERS OF THE COMMONWEALTH. 4«

wish to force, even by a question, a resolution
which he felt sure would come voluntarily.

The jar of tobacco stood between them, and
they filled their pipes silently. Then Worth
laid a letter upon the table, and said : " I un-
stand from this, that my son Thomas thinks
the time has come for decisive action."

'* Thomas Worth is right. With such souls
as his the foundation of the state must be laid."

" I am glad Thomas has taken the position
he has ; but you must remember, sir, that he is
unmarried and unembarrassed by many circum
stances which render decisive movement on
my part a much more difficult thing. Yet no
man now living has watched the Americanizing
of Texas with the interest that I have."

" You have been long on the watch, sir."

" I was here when my countrymen came first,
in little companies of five or ten men. I saw
the party of twenty, who joined the priest
Hidalgo in eighteen hundred and ten, when
Mexico made her first attempt to throw off the
Spanish yoke."

" An unsuccessful attempt."

" Yes. The next year I made a pretended
professional journey to Chihuahua, to try and

42 REMEMBER THE

save their lives. I failed. They were shot
with Hidalgo there."

" Yet the strife for liberty went on."
" It did. Two years afterwards, Magee and
Bernardo, with twelve hundred Americans,
raised the standard of independence on the
Trinity River. I saw them them take this very
city, though it was ably defended by Salcedo.
They fought like heroes. I had many of the
wounded in my house. I succored them with
my purse."

" It was a great deed for a handful of men."
" The fame of it brought young Americans
by hundreds here. To a man they joined the
Mexican party struggling to free themselves
from the tyranny of old Spain. I do not think
any one of them received money. The love of
freedom and the love of adventure were alike
their motive and their reward."

" Mexico owed these men a debt she has for-
gotten."

" She forgot it very quickly. In the follow,
ing year, though they had again defended San
Antonio against the Spaniards, the Mexicans
drove all the Americans out of the city their
rifles had savet<

BUILDERS OF THE COMMONWEALTH, 43

"You were here; tell me the true reason."

" It was not altogether ingratitude. It was
the instinct of self-preservation. The very
bravery of the Americans made the men whom
they had defended hate and fear them ; and
there was a continual influx of young men from
the States. The Mexicans said to each other :
* There is no end to these Americans. Very
soon they will make a quarrel and turn their
arms against us. They do not conform to our
customs, and they will not take an order from
any officer but their own.' '

Houston smiled. " It is a way the Saxon
race has," he said. " The old Britons made
the same complaint of them. They went first
to England to help the Britons fight the
Romans, and they liked the country so well,
they determined to stay there. If I remember
rightly the old Britons had to let them do so."

" It is an old political situation. You can
go back to Genesis and find Pharaoh arguing
about the Jews in the same manner."

" What happened after this forcible expulsion
of the American element from Texas ? "

44 Mexican independence was for a time
abandoned, and the Spanish viceroys were

44 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

more tyrannical than ever. But Americans still
came, though they pursued different tactics.
They bought land and settled on the great
rivers. In eighteen twenty-one, Austin, with
the permission of the Spanish viceroy in Mexico,
introduced three hundred families."

" That was a step in the right direction ; but
I am astonished the viceroy sanctioned it."

" Apodoca, who was then viceroy, was a
Spaniard of the proudest type. He had very
much the same contempt for the Mexicans
that an old English viceroy in New York had
for the colonists he was sent to govern. I dare
say any of them would have permitted three
hundred German families to settle in some
part of British America, as far from New York
as Texas is from Mexico. I do not need to
tell you that Austin's colonists are a band of
choice spirits, hardy working men, trained in
the district schools of New England and New
York — nearly every one of them a farmer or
mechanic.**

" They were the very material liberty
needed. They have made homes."

" That is the truth. The fighters who pre
ceded them owned nothing but their horses

BUILDERS OF THE COMMONWEALTH. 45

aivci their rifles. But these men brought with
them their wives and their children, their
civilization, their inborn love of freedom and
national faith. They accepted the guarantee
of the Spanish government, and they expected
the Spanish government to keep its promises."

"If did not."

" It had no opportunity. The colonists were
hardly settled when the standard of revolt
against Spain was again raised. Santa Anna
took the field for a republican form of govern-
ment, and once more a body of Americans,
under the Tennesseean, Long, joined the Mexi
can army."

" I remember that, well."

" In eighteen twenty-four, Santa Anna, Vic-
toria and Bravo drove the Spaniards forever
from Mexico, and then they promulgated the
famous constitution of eighteen twenty-four.
It was a noble constitution, purely demo
cratic and federal, and the Texan colonists
to a man gladly swore to obey it. The
form was altogether elective, and what par
ticularly pleased the American element was
the fact that the local government of every
state was left to itself."

46 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

Houston laughed heartily. " Do you know,
Worth," he said, " State Rights is our political
religion. The average American citizen would
expect the Almighty to conform to a written
constitution, and recognize the rights of man
kind."

" I don't think he expects more than he gets,
Houston. Where is there a grander consti
tution than is guaranteed to us in His Word;
or one that more completely recognizes the
rights of all humanity?"

" Thank you, Worth. I see that I have
spoken better than I knew. I was sitting in
the United States Congress, when this con
stitution passed, and very much occupied with
the politics of Tennessee."

" I will not detain you with Mexican politics.
It may be briefly said that for the last ten
years there has been a constant fight between
Pedraza, Guerrero, Bustamante and Santa
Anna for the Presidency of Mexico. After so
much war and misery the country is now
ready to resign all the blessings the constitu
tion of eighteen twenty-four promised her.
For peace she is willing to have a dictator in
Santa Anna."

BUILDERS OF THE COMMONWEALTH 47

" If Mexicans want a dictator let them bow
down to Santa Anna ! But do you think the
twenty thousand free-born Americans in Texas
are going to have a dictator ? They will have
the constitution of eighteen twenty-four — or
they will have independence, and make their
own constitution ! Yes, sir ! "

"You know the men for whom you speak?"

" I have been up and down among them for
two years. Just after I came to Texas I was
elected to the convention which sent Stephen
Austin to Mexico with a statement of out
wrongs. Did we get any redress? No, sir!
And as for poor Austin, is he not in the dun.
geons of the Inquisition ? We have waited
two years for an answer. Great heavens !
Doctor, surely that is long enough ! "

" Was this convention a body of any in
fluence? "

" Influence ! There were men there whose
names will never be forgotten. They met in
a log house ; they wore buckskin and home
spun ; but I tell you, sir, they were debating
the fate of unborn millions."

" Two years since Austin went to Mexico?"

"A two years' chapter of tyranny. In them

4 6 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

Santa Anna has quite overthrown the repub
lic of which we were a part. He has made
himself dictator, and, because our authorities
have protested against the change, they have
been driven from office by a military force. I
tell you, sir, the petty outrages everywhere
perpetrated by petty officials have rilled the
cup of endurance. It is boiling over. Now,
doctor, what are you going to do ? Are you
with us, or against us ? "

" I have told you that I have been with
my countrymen always — heart and soul with
them."

The doctor spoke with some irritation, and
Houston laid his closed hand hard upon the
table to emphasize his reply :

"Heart and soul! Very good! But we
want your body now. You must tuck your
bowie-knife and your revolvers in your belt,
and take your rifle in your hand, and be ready
to help us drive the Mexican force out of this
very city."

" When it comes to that I shall be no
laggard."

But he was deathly pale, for he was suffer
ing as men suffer who feel the sweet Knnds of

BUILDEltS OF THE COMMONWEALTH. 49

wife and children and home, and dread the
rending of them apart. In a moment, how
ever, the soul behind his white face made
it visibly luminous. " Houston," he said,
" whenever the cause of freedom needs me, I
am ready. I shall want no second call. But
is it not possible, that even yet — "

" It is impossible to avert what is already
here. Within a few days, perhaps to-morrow,
you will hear the publication of an edict from
Santa Anna, ordering every American to give
up his arms."

" What ! Give up our arms ! No, no,
by Heaven ! I will die fighting for mine,
rather."

" Exactly. That is how every white man
in Texas feels about it. And if such a wonder
as a coward existed among them, he under
stands that he may as well die fighting Mex
icans, as die of hunger or be scalped by
Indians. A large proportion of the colonists
depend on their rifles for their daily food.
All of them know that they must defend their
own homes from the Comanche, or see them
perish. Now, do you imagine that Americans
will obey any such order? By all the great

50 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

men of seventeen seventy-five, if they did, I
would go over to the Mexicans and help them
to wipe the degenerate cowards out of ex.
istence ! "

He rose as he spoke ; he looked like a flame,
and his words cut like a sword. Worth
caught fire at his vehemence and passion.
He clasped his hands in sympathy as he
walked with him to the door. They stood
silently together for a moment on the thresh
old, gazing into the night. Over the glorious
land the full moon hung enamoured. Into
the sweet, warm air mockingbirds were pouring
low, broken songs of ineffable melody. The
white city in the mystical light looked like an
enchanted city. It was so still that the very
houses looked asleep.

" It is a beautiful land," said the doctor.

" It is worthy of freedom," answered Hous
ton. Then he went with long, swinging steps
down the garden, and into the shadows
beyond, and Worth turned in and closed the
door.

He had been watching for this very hour
for twenty years; and yet he found himself
wholly unprepared for it. Like one led by

BUILDERS OF THE COMMONWEALTH. 51

confused and uncertain thoughts, he went
about the room mechanically locking up his
papers, and the surgical instruments he valued
so highly. As he did so he perceived the
book he had been reading when Houston
entered. It was lying open where he had laid
it down. A singular smile flitted over his face.
He lifted it and carried it closer to the light.
It was his college Cicero.

" I was nineteen years old when I marked
that passage," he said ; " and I do not think I
have ever read it since, until to-night. I was
reading it when Houston came into the room.
Is it a message, I wonder ? —

" * But when thou considerest everything
carefully and thoughtfully ; of all societies
none is of more importance, none more dear,
than that which unites us with the common
wealth. Our parents, children, relations and
neighbors are dear, but our fatherland em
braces the whole round of these endearments.
In its defence, who would not dare to die, it
only he could assist it? ' '

CHAPTER IV.

THE SHINING BANDS OF LOVE.

"O blest be he ! O blest be he !

Let him all blessings prove,
Who made the chains, the shining chains,
The holy chains of love ! "

— Spanish Ballad*
** If you love a lady bright,

Seek, and you shall find a way
All that love would say, to say ;
If you watch the occasion right."

— Spanish Ballad.

IN the morning Isabel took breakfast with
her sister. This was always a pleasant
event to Antonia. She petted Isabel, she
waited upon her, sweetened her chocolate,
spread her cakes with honey, and listened to
all her complaints of Tia Rachela. Isabel came
gliding in when Antonia was about half way
through the meal. Her scarlet petticoat was
gorgeous, her bodice white as snow, her hair
glossy as a bird's wing, but her lips drooped
and trembled, and there was the shadow of
tears in her eyes. Antonia kissed their white

THE SHINING BANDS OF LOVE. 53

fringed lids, held the little form close in her
arms, and fluttered about in that motherly
way which Isabel had learned to demand and
enjoy.

" What has grieved you this morning, little
dove ? "

" It is Tia Rachela, as usual. The cross old
woman ! She is going to tell mi madre some
thing. Antonia, you must make her keep her
tongue between her teeth. I promised her to
confess to Fray Ignatius, and she said I must
also tell mi madre. I vowed to say twenty Hail
Marias and ten Glorias, and she said * I ought
to go back to the convent.' '

" But what dreadful thing have you been
doing, Iza ? "

Iza blushed and looked into her chocolate
cup, as she answered slowly : " I gave — a — -
flower — away. Only a suchil flower, Antonia,
that — I — wore — at — my — breast — last — night.'*

" Whom did you give it to, Iza ? "

Iza hesitated, moved her chair close to
Antonia, and then hid her face on her sister's
breast.

" But this is serious, darling. Surely you
did not give it to Seftor Houston ? "

54 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

" Could you think I was so silly ? When
madre was talking to him last night, and when
I was singing my pretty serenade, he heard
nothing at all. He was thinking his own
thoughts."

" Not to Seftor Houston ? Who then ? Tell
me, Iza."

" To— Don Luis."

" Don Luis !• But he is not here. He went
to the Colorado."

" How stupid are you, Antonia ! In New
York they did not teach you to put this and
that together. As soon as I saw Seftor Hous
ton, I said to myself : ' Don Luis was going to
him ; very likely they have met each other on
the road ; very likely Don Luis is back in San
Antonio. He would not want to go away with
out bidding me good-by,' and, of course, I
was right."

" But when did you see him last night ?
You never left the room."

" So many things are possible. My heart
said to me when the talk was going on, ' Don
Luis is waiting under the oleanders, ' and I
walked on to the balcony and there he was,
and he looked so sad, and I dropped my suchil

THE SHINING BANDS OF LOVE. 55

flower to him; and Rachela saw me, for I think
she has a million eyes, — and that is the whole
matter."

" But why did not Don Luis come in ?"

" Mi madre forbade me to speak to him.
That is the fault of the Valdez's."

" Then you disobeyed mi madre, and you
know what Fray Ignatius and the Sisters have
taught you about the fourth command."

" Oh, indeed, I did not think of the fourth
command ! A sin without intention has not
penance ; and consider, Antonia, I am now six
teen, and they would shut me up like a chicken
in its shell. Antonia, sweet Antonia, speak
to Rachela, and make your little Iza happy.
Fear is so bad for me. See, I do not even care
for my cakes and honey this morning."

" I will give Rachela the blue silk kerchief I
brought from New York. She will forget a
great deal for that, and then, Iza, darling, you
must tell Fray Ignatius of your sin, because it
is not good to have an unconfessed sin on the
soul."

"Antonia, do not say such cruel things. I
have confessed to you. Fray Ignatius will give
me a hard penance. Perhaps he may say to

56 REMEMBER THE ALAMO-

mi madre : * That child had better go back to
the convent. I say so, because I have knowl
edge/ And now I am tired of that life ; I am
almost a woman, Antonia, am I not ? "

Antonia looked tenderly into her face. She
saw some inscrutable change there. All was the
same, and all was different. She did not under
stand that it was in the eyes, those lookouts of
the soul. They had lost the frank, inquisitive
stare of childhood ; they were tender and misty ;
they reflected a heart passionate and fearful, in
which love was making himself lord of all.

Antonia was not without experience. There
was in New York a gay, handsome youth, to
whom her thoughts lovingly turned. She had
promised to trust him, and to wait for him,
and neither silence nor distance had weakened
her faith or her affection. Don Luis had also
made her understand how hard it was to leave
Isabel, just when he had hoped to woo and
win her. He had asked her to watch over his
beloved, and to say a word in his favor when
all others would be condemning him.

Her sympathy had been almost a promise,
and, indeed, she thought Isabel could hardly
have a more suitable lover. He was handsome,

THE SHINING BANDS OF LOVE- 57

gallant, rich, and of good morals and noble
family. They had been much together in
their lives ; their childish affection had been
permitted ; she felt quite sure that the parents
of both had contemplated a stronger affection
and a more lasting tie between them.

And evidently Don Luis had advanced
further in his suit than the Sefiora was aware
of. He had not been able to resist the charm
of secretly wooing the fresh young girl he
hoped to make his wife. Their love must be
authorized and sanctioned ; true, he wished
that ; but the charm of winning the prize be
fore it was given .was irresistible. Antonia
comprehended all without many words ; but
she took her sister into the garden, where they
could be quite alone, and she sought the girl's
confidence because she was sure she could be
to her a loving guide.

Isabel was ready enough to talk, and the
morning was conducive to confidence. They
strolled slowly between the myrtle hedges in
the sweet gloom of overshadowing trees, hear
ing only like a faint musical confusion the
mingled murmur of the city.

** It was just here," said Isabel. " I was

5 8 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

walking and sitting and doing nothing at all
but looking at the trees and the birds and
feeling happy, and Don Luis came to me. He
might have come down from the skies, I was
so astonished. And he looked so handsome,
and he said such words ! Oh, Antonia ! they
went straight to my heart."

"When was this, dear?"

" It was in the morning. I had been to
mass with Rachela. I had said every prayer
with my whole heart, and Rachela told me I
might stay in the garden until the sun grew
hot. And as soon as Rachela was gone, Don
Luis came — came just as sudden as an angel."

" He must have followed you from mass."

" Perhaps."

" He should not have done that."

" If a thing is delightful, nobody should do
it. Luis said he knew that it was decided that
we should marry, but that he wanted me to be
his wife because I loved him. His face was
shining with joy, his eyes were like two stars,
he called me his life, his adorable mistress, his
queen, and he knelt down and took my hands
and kissed them. I was too happy to speak."

"Oh, IzaP

THE SHINING BANDS OF LOVE. 59

" Very well, Antonia ! It is easy to say ' Oh,
Iza'; but what would you have done? And
reflect on this ; no one, not even Rachela, saw
him. So then, our angels were quite agreeable
and willing. And I — I was in such joy, that
I went straight in and told Holy Maria of my
happiness. But when a person has not been
in love, how can they know ; and I see that
you are going to say as Sister Sacrementa said
to Lores Valdez — ' You are a wicked girl, and
such things are not to be spoken of ! ' '

" Oh, my darling one, I am not so cruel. I
think you did nothing very wrong, Iza. When
love comes into your soul, it is like a new life.
If it is a pure, good love, it is a kind of murder
to kill it in any way."

" It has just struck me, Antonia, that you
may be in love also."

" When I was in New York, our brother
Jack had a friend, and he loved me, and I
loved him."

" But did grandmamma let him talk to
you?"

" He came every night. We went walking
and driving. In the summer we sailed upon
the n^er ; in the winter we skated upon the

$0 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

ice. He helped me with my lessons. He went
with me to church."

" And was grandmamma with you ? "

"Very seldom. Often Jack was with us;
more often we were quite alone."

" Holy Virgin ! Who ever heard tell of
such good fortune ? Consuelo Ladrello had
never been an hour alone with Don Domingo
before they were married."

"A good girl does not need a duenna to
watch her ; that is what I think. And an
American girl, pure and free, would not suffer
herself to be watched by any woman, old or
young. Her lover comes boldly into her
home; she is too proud to meet him in
secret."

"Ah! that would be a perfect joy. That is
what I would like ! But fancy what Rachela
would say ; and mi madre would cover her eyes
and refuse to see me if I said such words.
Believe this. It was in the spring Luis told
me that he loved me, and though I have seen
him often since, he has never found another
moment to speak to me alone, not for one five
minutes. Oh, Antonia ! let me have one five
minutes this afternoon ! He is going away,

THE SHINING BANDS OF LOVE. 6 1

and there is to be war, and I may never, never
see him again ! "

" Do not weep, little dove. How can you
see him this afternoon ? "

" He will be here, in this very place, I know
he will. When he put the suchil flower to his
lips last night he made me understand it.
This afternoon, during the hour of siesta, will
you come with me? Only for five minutes,
Antonia ! You can manage Rachela, I am
sure you can."

" I can manage Rachela, and you shall have
one whole hour, Iza. On* whole hour ! Come,
now, we must make a visit to our mother. She
will be wondering at our delay."

The Seftora had not yet risen. She had
taken her chocolate and smoked her cigarito,
but was still drowsing. " I have had a bad
night, children," she said ; " full of dreadful
dreams. It must have been that American.
Yet, Holy Mother, how handsome he is ! And
I assure you that he has the good manners of
a courtier. Still, it was an imprudence, and
Seflora Valdez will make some great thing of it."

" You were in your own house, mother.
What has Seftora Valdez to do with the guest

62 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

in it ? We might as well make some great
thing about Captain Morello being present at
her party."

*• I have to say to you, Antonia, that Morel-
lo is a Castilian ; his family is without a cross.
He has the parchments of his noble ancestry
to show."

" And Sefior Houston is an American —
Scotch-American, he said, last night. Pardon,
my mother, but do you know what the men of
Scotland are ?"

" Si ! They are monsters ! Fray Ignatius
has told me. They are heretics of the worst
kind. It is their special delight to put to
death good Catholic priests. I saw that in a
book ; it must be true."

" Oh, no, mother ! It is not true ! It is
mere nonsense. Scotchmen do not molest
priests, women, and children. They are the
greatest fighters in the world."

" Quien sabe ? Who has taught you so much
about these savages ?"

" Indeed, mother, they are not savages.
They are a very learned race of men, and very
pious also. Jack has many Scotch-American
friends. I know one of them very well "; and

THE SHINING BANDS OF LOVE. 63

with the last words her face flushed, and her
voice fell insensibly mto slow and soft in
flections.

" Jack knows many of them ! That is like
ly. Your father would send him to New York.
All kinds of men are in New York. Fray Ig-^
natius says they have to keep an army of
police there. No wonder ! And my son is so
full of nobilities, so generous, so honorable, he
will not keep himself exclusive. He is the
true resemblance of my brother Don Juan
Flores. Juan was always pitying the poor and
making friends with those beneath him. At
last he went into the convent of the Bernard-
ines and died like a very saint."

" I think our Jack will be more likely to die
like a very hero. If there is any thing Jack
hates, it is oppression. He would right a beg
gar, if he saw him wronged."

" Poco a poco ! I am tired of rights and
wrongs. Let us talk a little about our dresses,
for there will be a gay winter. Seftora Valdez
assured me of it ; many soldiers are coming
here, and we shall have parties, and cock-fights,
and, perhaps, even a bull-feast."

" Oh ! " cried Isabel clapping her hands en-

64 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

thusiastically ; " a bull-feast ! That is what 1
long to see ! "

At this moment the doctor entered the room,
and Isabel ran to meet him. No father could
have resisted her pretty ways, her kisses, her
endearments, her coaxing diminutives of
speech, her childlike loveliness and simplicity.

" What is making you so happy, Queri-
dita?"*'

" Mi madre says there is perhaps to be a bull*
feast this winter. Holy Virgin, think of it!
That is the one thing I long to see ! "

With her clinging arms around him, and hei
eager face lifted to his for sympathy, the father
could not dash the hope which he knew in his
heart was very unlikely to be realized. Neither
did he think it necessary to express opposition
or disapproval for what had as yet no tangible
existence. So he answered her with smiles
and caresses, and a little quotation which com.
mitted him to nothing:

" As, Panem et Circenses was the cry
Among the Roman populace of old ;
So, Pan y Toros ! is the cry of Spain."

The Seftora smiled appreciatively and put out

* Little dear.

THE SHINING BANDS OF LOVE. 05

her hand. "Pan y Toros ! " she repeated.
"And have you reflected, children, that no
other nation in the world cries it. Only Spain
and her children ! That is because only men
of the Spanish race are brave enough to fight
bulls, and only Spanish bulls are brave enough
to fight men."

She was quite pleased with herself for this
speech, and finding no one inclined to dispute
the statement, she went on to describe a festi
val of bulls she had been present at in the city
of Mexico. The subject delighted her, and she
grew eloquent over it ; and, conscious only of
Isabel's shining eyes and enthusiastic interest,
she did not notice the air of thoughtfulness
which had settled over her husband's face, nor
yet Antonia's ill-disguised weariness and
anxiety.

On the night of the Valdez's party her
father had said he would talk with her. An-
tonia was watching for the confidence, but not
with any great desire. Her heart and her in
telligence told her it would mean trouble, and
she had that natural feeling of youth which
gladly postpones the evil day. And while her
father was silent she believed there were still

66 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

possibilities of escape from it. So she was not
sorry that he again went to his office in the
city without any special word for her. It was
another day stolen from the uncertain future,
for the calm usage of the present, and she was
determined to make happiness in it.

When all was still in the afternoon Isabel
came to her. She would not put the child to
the necessity of again asking her help. She
rose at once, and said :

" Sit here, Iza, until I have opened the door
for us. Then she took a rich silk kerchief,
blue as the sky, in her hand, and went to the
wide, matted hall. There she found Rachela
asleep on a cane lounge. Antonia woke her.

" Rachela, I wish to go into the garden for
an hour."

The Senorita does the thing she wants to.
Rachela would not presume to interfere. The
Senorita became an Americano in New York."

" There are good things in New York, Ra
chela ; for instance, this kerchief."

" That is indeed magnificent ! "

" If you permit my sister to walk in the gar
den with me, I shall give it to you this mo
ment."

THE SHINING BANDS OF LOVE, 67

"Dofia Isabel is different. She is a Mex/
caine. She must be watched continually."

" For what reason ? She is as innocent as ar
angel."

" Let her simply grow up, and you will see
that she is not innocent as the angels. Oh
indeed ! I could say something about last
night ! Dona Isabel has no vocation for a nun ;
but, graciasa Dios! Rachela is not yet blind or
deaf."

" Let the child go with me for an hour,
Rachela. The kerchief will be so becoming to
you. There is not another in San Antonio
like it."

Rachela was past forty, but not yet past the
age of coquetry. " It will look gorgeous with
my gold ear-rings, but — "

" I will give you also the blue satin bow like
it, to wear at your breast."

" Si, si ! I will give the permission,
Seflorita — for your sake alone. The kerchief
and bow are a little thing to you. To me,
they will be a great adornment. You are not
to leave the garden, however, and for one hour's
walk only, Seflorita ; certainly there is time
for no more."

68 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

" I will take care of Isabel ; no harm shall
come to her. You may keep your eyes shut
for one hour, Rachela, and you may shut your
ears also, and put your feet on the couch and
let them rest. I will watch Isabel carefully, be
sure of that."

"The child is very clever, and she has a
lover already, I fear. Keep your eyes on the
myrtle hedge that skirts the road. I have to
say this — it is not for nothing she wants to
walk with you this afternoon. She would be
better fast asleep."

In a few moments the kerchief and the bow
were safely folded in the capacious pocket of
Rachela's apron, and Isabel and Antonia were
softly treading the shady walk between the
myrtle hedges. Rachela's eyes were appar
ently fast closed when the girls pased her, but
she did not fail to notice how charmingly
Isabel had dressed herself. She wore, it is
true, her Spanish costume ; but she had red
roses at her breast, and her white lace mantilla
over her head.

"Ah ! she is a clever little thing ! " Rachela
muttered. " She knows that she is irresistible
in her Castilian dress. Bah ! those French

THE SHINING BANDS OF LOVE. 69

frocks are enough to drive a man a mile away.
I can almost forgive her now. Had she
worn the French frock I would not have
forgiven her. I would never have yield
ed again, no, not even if the Seflorita
Antonia should offer me her scarlet Indian
shawl worked in gold. I was always a fool —
Holy Mother forgive me ! Well, then ; I used
to have my own lovers — plenty of them —
handsome young arrieros and rancheros :
there was Tadeo, a valento of the first class :
and Buffa — and — well, I will sleep ; they do
not remember me, I dare say ; and I have
forgotten their names."

In the mean time the sisters sat dow*i
beneath a great fig-tree. No sunshine, no
shower, could penetrate its thick foliage. The
wide space beneath the spreading branches
was a little parlor, cool and sweet, and full of
soft, green lights, and the earthy smell of turf,
and the wandering scents of the garden.

Isabel's eyes shone with an incomparable
light. She was pale, but exquisitely beautiful,
and even her hands and feet expressed the
idea of expectation. Antonia had a piece of
needlework in her hand. She affected the

7» REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

calmness she did not feel, for her heart was
trembling for the tender little heart beating
with so much love and anxiety beside her.

But Isabel's divination, however arrived at,
was not at fault. In a few moments Don Luis
lightly leaped the hedge, and without a
moment's hesitation sought the shadow of the
fig-tree. As he approached, Antonia looked
at him with a new interest. It was not only
that he loved Isabel, but that Isabel loved him.
She had given him sympathy before, now she
gave him a sister's affection.

"How handsome he is!" she thought.
"How gallant he looks in his velvet and silver
and embroidered jacket ! And how eager are
his steps! And how joyful his face! He is
the kind of Romeo that Shakespeare dreamed
about ! Isabel is really an angel to him. He
would really die for her. What has this
Spanish knight of the sixteenth century to do
in Texas in the nineteenth century?"

He answered her mental question in his own
charming way. He was so happy, so radiantly
happy, so persuasive, so compelling, that
Antonia granted him, without a word, the favor
his eyes asked for. And the lovers hardly

THE SHINING BANDS OF LOVE Jl

heard the excuse she made ; they understood
nothing of it, only that she would be reading
in the myrtle walk for one hour, and, by so
doing, would protect them from intrusion.

One whole hour ! Isabel had thought the
promise a perfect magnificence of opportunity
But how swiftly it went. Luis had not told
her the half of his love and his hopes. He
had been forced to speak of politics and busi
ness, and every such word was just so many
stolen from far sweeter words — words that fell
like music from his lips, and were repeated
with infinite power from his eyes. Low words,
that had the pleading of a thousand voices in
them ; words full of melody, thrilling with
romance ; poetical, and yet real as the sunshine
around them.

In lovers of a colder race, bound by con
ventional ties, and a dress rigorously divested
of every picturesque element, such wooing
might have appeared ridiculous ; but in Don
Luis, the most natural thing about it was its
extravagance. When he knelt at the feet of
his beloved and kissed her hands, the action
was the unavoidable outcome of his tempera-
ment. When he said to her, "Angel mio! you

72 REMEMBER THE ALAMO,

are the light of my darkness, the perfume of
all flowers that bloom for me, the love of my
loves, my life, my youth, my lyre, my star, had
I a thousand souls with which to love, I would
give them all to you ! " he believed every word
he uttered, and he uttered every word with
the passion of a believer.

He stirred into life also in the heart of
Isabel a love as living as his own. In that
hour she stepped outside all of her childhood's
immaturities. She became a woman. She
accepted with joyful tears a woman's lot of
love and sorrow. She said to Antonia :

" Luis was in my heart before ; now, I have
put him in my soul. My soul will never die.
So I shall never forget him — never cease to
love him/'

Rachela faithfully kept her agreement. For
one hour she was asleep to all her charge did,
and Isabel was in her own room when the
precious sixty minutes were over. Happy ?
So happy that her soul seemed to have pushed
her body aside, as a thing not to be taken
into account. She sang like a bird for very
gladsomeness. It was impossible for her to be
still, and as she went about her room with

THE SHINING JANDS OF LOVE. 73

little dancing, balancing movements of her
hands and feet, Antonia knew that they
were keeping their happy rhythmic motion
to the melody love sang in her heart.

And she rejoiced with her little sister,
though she was not free from a certain regret
for her concession, for it is the after-reckoning
with conscience that is so disagreeably strict
and uncomfortable. And yet, why make an
element of anger and suspicion between Isabel
and her mother when there appeared to be no
cause to do so? Don Luis was going away.
He was in disgrace with his family — almost
disinherited ; the country was on the point of
war, and its fortunes might give him some
opportunities no one now foresaw. But if
Isabel's mother had once declared that she
would "never sanction the marriage," Antonia
knew that, however she might afterwards
regret her haste and prejudice, she would stand
passionately by her decision. Was it not
better, then, to prevent words being said
which might cause sorrow and regret in the
future?

But as regarded Isabel's father, no such
reason existed. The happiness of his children

74 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

was to him a more sacred thing than his own
prejudices. He liked Don Luis, and his friend
ship with his mother, the Seftora Alveda, was
a long and tried one. The youth's political
partialities, though bringing him at present
into disgrace, were such as he himself had
largely helped to form. Antonia was sure
that her father would sympathize with Isabel,
and excuse in her the lapse of duty which had
given his little girl so much happiness. Yes,
it would be right to tell him every thing, and
she did not fear but Isabel would agree in her
decision.

At this moment Rachela entered. The
Seflora wished her daughters to call upon the
American manteau-maker for her, and the ride
in the open carnage to the Plaza would enable
them to bow to their acquaintances, and
exhibit their last new dresses from New
Orleans. Rachela was already prepared for
the excursion, and she was not long in attiring
Isabel.

" To be sure, the siesta has made you look
charming this afternoon," she said, looking
steadily into the girl's beaming, blushing face,
" and this rose silk is enchanting. Santa Maria,

THE SHINING BANDS OF LOVE. 75

how I pity the officers who will have the great
fortune to see you this afternoon, and break
their hearts for the sight ! But you must not
look at them, mark ! I shall tell the Seftora if
you do. It is enough if they look at you.
And the American way of the Seftorita An-
tonia, which is to bow and smile to every ad
mirer, it will but make more enchanting the
becoming modesty of the high-born Mexi-
caine."

"Keep your tongue still, Rachela. Ah! if
you strike me, I will go to my father. He will
not permit it. 1 am not a child to be struck
and scolded, and told when to open and shut
my eyes. I shall do as my sister does, and
the Holy Mother herself will be satisfied with
me ! "

"Chito! Chito!! You wicked one! Oh,
Maria Santissima, cast on this child a look of
compassion ! The American last night has
bewitched her ! I said that he looked like a
Jew."

" I am not wicked, Rachela ; and gracias d
Dios, there is no Inquisition now to put the
question ! "

Isabel was in a great passion, or the awful

7 6 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

word that had made lips parch and blanch to
utter it for generations would never have been
launched at the offending woman's head. But
its effect was magical. Rachela put up her
hands palm outwards, as if to shield herself
from a blow, and then without another word
stooped down and tied the satin sandals on
Isabel's restless feet. She was muttering
prayers during the whole action, for Isabel had
been quick to perceive her advantage, and was
following it up by a defiant little monologue
of rebellious speeches.

In the midst of this scene, Antonia entered.
She was dressed for the carnage, and the car
nage stood at the door waiting ; but her face
was full of fear, and she said, hurriedly :

" Rachela, can you not-make some excuse to
my mother which will permit us to remain at
home ? Hark ! There is something wrong in
the city."

In a moment the three women were on the
balcony, intently, anxiously listening. Then
they were aware of a strange confusion in the
subtle, amber atmosphere. It was as if they
heard the noise of battle afar off ; and Rachela,
without a word, glided away to the Seftora,

THE SHINING BANDS OF LOVE. 77

Isabel and Antonia stood hand in hand, listen
ing to the vague trouble and the echo of harsh,
grating voices, mingled with the blare of clar
ions, the roll of drums, and the rattle of scatter
ing rifle-shots. Yet the noises were so blended
together, so indistinct, so strangely expressive,
of both laughter and defiance, that it was im
possible to identify or describe them.

Suddenly a horseman came at a rapid pace
towards the house, and Antonia, leaning over
the balcony, saw him deliver a note to Rachela,
and then hurry away at the same reckless
speed. The note was from the doctor to his
wife, and it did not tend to allay their anxiety.
"Keep within the house," it said; "there are
difficulties in the city. In an hour or two I
will be at home."

But it was near midnight when he arrived,
and Antonia saw that he was a different man.
He looked younger. His blue eyes shone with
the light behind them. On his face there
was the impress of an invincible determina
tion. His very walk had lost its listless, glid
ing tread, and his steps were firm, alert and
rapid.

No one had been able to go to bed until he

78 REMEMBER TH& ALAMO.

arrived, though Isabel slept restlessly in her
father's chair, and the Seftora lay upon the
couch, drowsing a little between her frequent
attacks of weeping and angry anticipation.
For she was sure it was the Americans. " Any
thing was possible with such a man as Sam
Houston near the city."

" Perhaps it is Santa Anna," at length sug
gested Antonia. " He has been making trouble
ever since I can remember. He was born with
a sword in his hand, I think."

" Ca ! And every American with a rifle in his
hand ! Santa Anna is a monster, but at least
he fights for his own country. Texas is not the
country of the Americans."

" But, indeed, they believe that Texas is their
country ".; and to these words Doctor Worth
entered.

" What is the matter? What is the matter,
Roberto ? I have been made sick with these
uncertainties. Why did you not come home
at the Angelus ?"

" I have had a good reason for my delay,
Maria. About three o'clock I received a mes
sage from the Seftora Alveda, and I visited her.
She is in great trouble, and she had not been

THE SHINING BANDS OF LOVE. 79

able to bear it with her usual fortitude. She
had fainted."

" Ah, the poor mother! She has a son who
will break her heart."

" She made no complaint of Luis. She is
distracted about her country, and as I came
home I understood why. For she is a very
shrewd woman, and she perceives that Santa
Anna is preparing trouble enough for it."

" Well, then, what is it ? "

" When I left her house, I noticed many
Americans, as well as many Mexicans, on the.
streets. They were standing together, too «
and there was something in their faces, and in
the way their arms were carried, which war'
very striking and portentous. I fancied they
looked coldly on me, and I was troubled by th&
circumstance. In the Plaza I saw the military
band approaching, accompanied by half a dozeh*
officers and a few soldiers. The noise stopped
suddenly, and Captain Morello proclaimed as
a bando (edict) of the highest authority, an
order for all Americans to surrender their arms
of every description to the officials and at the
places notified.'*

" Very good ! "

8o REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

" Maria, nothing could be worse ! Nothing
could be more shameful and disastrous. The
Americans had evidently been expecting this
useless bombast, and ere the words were well
uttered, they answered them with a yell of
defiance. I do not think more than one proc-
lamation was necessary, but Morello went
from point to point in the city and the
Americans followed him. I can tell you this,
Maria: all the millions in Mexico can not take
their rifles from the ten thousand Americans in
Texas, able to carry them."

" We shall see ! We shall see ! But, Roberto,
you at least will not interfere in their quarrels.
You have never done so hitherto."

" No one has ever proposed to disarm me
before, Maria. I tell you frankly, I will not
give up a single rifle, or revolver, or weapon of
any kind, that I possess. I would rather be
slain with them. I have never carried arms
before, but I shall carry them now. I apolo
gize to my countrymen for not having them
with me this afternoon. My dearest wife!
My good Maria ! do not cry in that despairing
way."

" You will be killed, Roberto ! You will be

THE SHINING BANDS OF LOVE £

a rebel ! You will be shot like a dog, a
what will become of me and my daughcv-io *

" You have two sons, Maria. They will
avenge their father, and protect their mother
and sisters."

" I shall die of shame ! I shall die of shame
and sorrow ! "

" Not of shame, Maria. If I permitted
these men to deprive me of my arms, you
might well die of shame."

" What is it ? Only a gun, or a pistol, that
you never use ? "

44 Great God, Maria ! It is everything! It
is honor ! It is liberty ! It is respect to
myself ! It is loyalty to my country ! It is
fidelity to my countrymen ! It is true that for
many years the garrison has fully protected
us, and I have not needed to use the arms in
my house. But thousands of husbands and
fathers need them hourly, to procure food for
their children and wives, and to protect them
from the savages. One tie binds us. Their
cause is my cause. Their country is my
country, and their God is my God. Children,
am I right or wrong?"

They both stepped swiftly to his side.

89 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

Isabel laid her cheek against his, and answered
him with a kiss. Antonia clasped his hand,
stood close to him, and said: " We are all sure
that you are right, dear father. My mother is
weary and sick with anxiety, but she thinks so
too. Mother always thinks as you do, father.
Dear mother, here is Rachela with a cup of
chocolate, and you will sleep and grow strong
before morning."

But the Seftora, though she suffered her
daughter's caresses, did not answer them,
neither did she speak to her husband, though
he opened the door for her and stood waiting
with a face full of anxious love for a word or a
smile from her. And the miserable wife, still
more miserable than her husband, noticed that
Isabel did not follow her. Never before
had Isabel seemed to prefer any society
to her mother's, and the unhappy Seftora
felt the defection, even amid her graver
trouble.

But Isabel had seen something new in her
father that night ; something that touched her
awakening soul with admiration. She lingered
with him and Antonia, listening with vague
comprehension to their conversation, until

THE Sm ?ZNG BANDS OF LOVE. 83

Rachela called her angrily ; and as she was not
brave enough for a second rebellion that night,
she obediently answered her summons.

An hour afterwards, Antonia stepped cau
tiously within her room. She was sleeping, and
smiling in her sleep. Where was her loving,
innocent soul wandering? Between the myrtle
hedges and under the fig-tree with her lover?
Oh, who can tell where the soul goes when
sleep gives it some release? Perhaps it is at
night our angels need to watch us most care
fully. For the soul, in dreams, can visit evil
and sorrowful places, as well as happy and
holy ones. But Isabel slept and smiled, and
Antonia whispered a prayer at her side ere she
went to her own rest.

And the waning moon cast a pathetic
beauty over the Eden-like land, till dawn
brought that mystical silence in which every
new day is born. Then Robert Worth rose
from the chair in which he had been sitting so
long, remembering the past and forecasting the
future. He walked to the window, opened it,
and looked towards the mountains. They had
an ethereal hue, a light without rays, a clear
ness almost polar in its severity. But in some

84 REMEMBER THE ALAMO,

way. their appearance infused into his soul
calmness and strength.

" Liberty has always been bought with life,
and the glory of the greatest nations hand
seled with the blood of their founders." This
was the thought in his heart, as looking far off
to the horizon, he asked hopefully :

" What then, O God, shall this good land produce,
That Thou art watering it so carefully ? "

CHAPTER V.

A FAMOUS BARBECUE.

' So when fierce zeal a nation rends,

And stern injustice rules the throne,
Beneath the yoke meek virtue bends,

And modest truth is heard to groan.
But when fair Freedom's star appears,
Then hushed are sighs, and calmed are fears.

And who, when nations long opprest,
Decree to curb the oppressor's pride,

And patriot virtues fire the breast,
Who shall the generous ardor chide ?

What shall withstand the great decree,

When a brave nation will be free ? "

IT is flesh and blood that makes husbands
and wives, fathers and children, and for
the next few days these ties were sorely
wounded in Robert Worth's house. The Se-
ftora was what Rachela called "difficult." In
reality, she was angry and sullen. At such
times she always went early to mass, said many
prayers, and still further irritated herself by
unnecessary footing. But there are few homes
which totally escape the visitations of this
85

86 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

pious temper in some form or other. And no
creed modifies it ; the strict Calvinist and strict
Catholic are equally disagreeable while under
its influence.

Besides, the Seftora, like the ill-tempered
prophet, thought she " did well to be angry."
She imagined herself deserted and betrayed in
all her tenderest feelings, her husband a rebel,
her home made desolate, her sons and daugh
ters supporting their father's imprudent views.
She could only see one alternative before her;
she must choose between her country and her
religion, or her husband and children.

True, she had not yet heard from her sons,
but she would listen to none of Rachela's
hopes regarding them. Thomas had always
said yes to all his father's opinions. How
could she expect anything from John when he
was being carefully trained in the very princi
ples which everywhere made the Americans so
irritating to the Mexican government.

Her husband and Antonia she would not
see. Isabel she received in her darkened
room, with passionate weeping and many re
proaches. The unhappy husband had ex-
pected this trouble at the outset. It was one

A FAMOUS BARBECUE 87

of those domestic thorns which festei' and
hamper, but to which the very best of men
have to submit. He could only send pleasant
and affectionate messages by Rachela, know
ing that Rachela would deliver them with her
own modifications of tone and manner.

" The Seftor sends his great love to the Se-
fiora. Grace of Mary ! If he would do a little
as the most wise and tender of spouses wishes
him ! That would be for the good fortune of
every one."

" Ah, Rachela, my heart is broken ! Bring
me my mantilla. I will go to early mass,
when one's husband and children forsake
them, who, then, is possible but the Holy
Mother?"

" My Seftora, you will take cold ; the morn
ing is chill ; besides, I have to say the streets
will be full of those insolent Americans."

" I shall be glad to take cold, perhaps
even to die. And the Americans do not
offend women. Even the devil has his good
points."

" Holy Virgin ! Offend women ! They do
not even think us worth looking at. But then
it is an intolerable offence to see them stand-

REMEMBER fHE ALAMO.

ing in our streets, as if they had made the
whole land."

But this morning, early as it was, the streets
were empty of Americans. There had been
hundreds of them there at the proclamation ;
there was not one to be seen twelve hours af
terwards. But at the principal rendezvous of
the city, and on the very walls of the Alamo,
they had left this characteristic notice :

" To SANTA ANNA :

If you want our arms — take them.

TEN THOUSAND AMERICAN TEXANS.

Robert Worth saw it with an irrepressible
emotion of pride and satisfaction. He had
faithfully fulfilled his promise to his con
science, and, with his rifle across his shoulder,
and his revolvers and knife in his belt, was tak
ing the road to his office with a somewhat
marked deliberation. He was yet a remark.
ably handsome man ; and what man is there
that a rifle does not give a kind of nobility to ?
With an up-head carriage and the light of his
soul in his face, he trod the narrow, uneven
street like a soldier full of enthusiasm at his
own commission.

A ? 'A MO US BARBECUE. 89

No one interfered with his solitary parade.
He perceived, indeed, a marked approval of it.
The Zavalas, Navarros, Garcias, and other
prominent citizens, addressed him with but a
slightly repressed sympathy. They directed
his attention with meaning looks to the counter-
proclamation of the Americans. They made
him understand by the pressure of their hands
that they also were on the side of liberty.

As he did not hurry, he met several officers,
but they wisely affected not to see what they
did not wish to see. For Doctor Worth was a
person to whom very wide latitude might be
given. To both the military and the civilians
his skill was a necessity. The attitude he had
taken was privately discussed, but no one pub
licly acted or even commented upon it. Per
haps he was a little disappointed at this. He
had come to a point when a frank avowal of
his opinions would be a genuine satisfaction ;
when, in fact, his long-repressed national feel
ing was imperious.

On the third morning, as he crossed the
Plaza, some one called him. The voice made
his heart leap ; his whole nature responded to
it like the strings of a harp to the sweep of a

90 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

skilful hand. He turned quickly, and saw two
young men galloping towards him. The fore
most figure was his son — his beloved youngest
son — whom he had just been thinking of as
well out of danger, safe and happy in the peace
ful halls of Columbia. And lo ! here he was
in the very home of the enemy ; and he was
glad of it.

" Why, Jack ! " he cried ; " Why, Jack, my
boy! I never thought of you here." He had
his hand on the lad's shoulder, and was gazing
into his bright face with tears and smiles and
happy wonder.

" Father, I had to come. And there are
plenty more coming. And here is my other
self — the best fellow that ever lived : Darius
Grant. 'Dare' we call him, father, for there is
not anything he won't venture if he thinks it
worth the winning. And how is mi madre and
Antonia, and Iza? And isn't it jolly to see
you with a rifle ? "

" Well, Dare; well, Jack; you are both wel
come ; never so welcome to Texas as at this
hour. Come home at once and refresh your
selves."

There was so much to tell that at first the

A FAMOUS BARBECUE. 91

Conversation was in fragments and exclama
tions, arid the voices of the two young men,
pitched high and clear in their excitement,
went far before them as if impatient of their
welcome. Antonia heard them first. She was
on the balcony, standing thoughtful and attent.
It seemed to her as if in those days she was
always listening. Jack's voice was the loudest,
but she heard Dare's first. It vibrated in mid
air and fell upon her consciousness, clear and
sweet as a far-away bell.

" That is Dare's voice — here"

She leaned forward, her soul hearkened after
the vibrations, and again they called her.
With swift steps she reached the open door.
Rachela sat in her chair within it.

" The Seftorita had better remain within,"
she said, sullenly ; " the sun grows hot."

" Let me pass, Rachela, I am in a hurry."

" To be sure, the Seflorita will have her
way — good or bad."

Antonia heeded her not ; she was hastening
down the main avenue toward the gateway.
This avenue was hedged on each side with
oleanders, and they met in a light, waving arch
above her head. At this season they were one

92 REMEMBER TfTS ALAMO.

mass of pale pink blossoms and dark glossy
leaves. The vivid sunshine through them
made a rosy light which tinged her face and
her white gown with an indescribable glow. If
a mortal woman can ever look like an angel,
the fair, swiftly moving Antonia had at that
moment the angelic expression of joy and
/ove ; the angelic unconsciousness of rapid and
graceful movement ; the angelic atmosphere
that was in itself a dream of paradise ; rose-
tinted, divinely sweet and warm.

Dare saw her coming, and suddenly ceased
speaking He was in the midst of a sentence,
but he forgot what he was saying. He forgot
where he was. He knew nothing, felt nothing,
saw nothing, heard nothing but Antonia. And
yet he did not fall at her feet, and kiss her hands
and whisper delightful extravagances ; all of
which things an Iberian lover would have
done, and felt and looked in the doing per-
fectly graceful and natural.

Dare Grant only clasped both the pretty
hands held out to him ; only said " Antonia ! An
tonia!" only looked at her with eyes full of a
loving question, which found its instant answer
in her own. In that moment they revealed to

A FAMOUS BARBECUE. 93

each other the length and breadth, the height
and the depth of their affection. They had not
thought of disguising it ; they made no attempt
to do so; and Robert Worth needed not the
confession which, a few hours later, Grant
thought it right to make to him.

When they entered the house together, a
happy, noisy group, Rachela had left her chair
and was going hurriedly upstairs to tell the
Senora her surmise ; but Jack passed her with
a bound, and was at his mother's siae before
the heavy old woman had comprehended his
passing salutation.

" Madre ! Mother, I am here! "

The Seftorawason her couch in her darkened
room. She had been at the very earliest mass,
had a headache, and had come home in a
state of rebellion against heaven and earth.
But Jack was her idol, the one child for whose
presence she continually pined, the one human
creature to whose will and happiness she de
lighted to sacrifice her own. When she heard
his voice she rose quickly, crying out :

"A miracle ! A miracle ! Grace of God and
Mary, a miracle ! Only this morning, my pre
cious, my boy ! I asked the Holy Mother to

94 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

pity my sorrows, and send you to me. I vow
to Mary a new shrine. I vow to keep it, and
dress it for one whole year. I will give my
opal ring to the poor. Oh, Juan ! Juan ! Juan !
I am too blessed."

Her words were broken into pieces by his
kisses. He knelt at her knees, and stroked her
face, and patted her hands, and did all with
such natural fervor and grace, that anything
else, or anything less, must have seemed cold
and unfilial.

" Come, my beautiful mother, and see my
friend. I have told him so much about you ;
and poor Dare has no mother. I have promised
him that you will be his mother also. Dare
is so good — the finest fellow in all the world ;
come down and see Dare, and let us have a
real Mexican dinner, madre. I have not tasted
an olla since I left you."

She could not resist him. She made Rachela
lay out her prettiest dress, and when Jack said
"how beautiful your hair is, mother; no one has
hair like you ! " she drew out the great shell
pins, and let it fall like a cloud around her,
and with a glad pride gave Rachela the order
to get out her jewelled comb and gilded fan and

A FAMOUS BARBECUE. 95

finest mantilla. And oh ! how happy is that
mother who has such pure and fervent admira
tion from her son ; and how happy is that son
to whom his mother is ever beautiful !

Jack's presence drove all the evil spirits out
of the house. The windows were thrown open ;
the sunshine came in. He was running after
Isabel, he was playing the mandolin ; his voice,
his laugh, his quick footstep, were everywhere.

In spite of the trouble in the city, there was
a real festival in the house. The Seflora came
down in her sweetest temper and her finest
garments. She arranged Jack's dinner herself,
selected the dishes and gave strict orders about
their serving. She took Jack's friend at once
into her favor, and Dare thought her wonder
fully lovely and gracious. He sat with her on
the balcony, and talked of Jack, telling her how
clever he was, and how all his comrades loved
him for his sunny temper and affectionate
heart.

It was a happy dinner, lengthened out with
merry conversation. Every one thought that
a few hours might be given to family love and
family joy. It would be good to have the
memory of them in the days that were fast

9< REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

coming. So they sat long over the sweetmeats,
and fresh figs, and the pale wines of Xeres and
Alicante. And they rose up with laughter,
looking into each others' faces with eyes that
seemed to bespeak love and remembrance.
And then they went from the table, and saw
not Destiny standing cold and pitiless behind
them, marking two places for evermore vacant.

There was not much siesta that day. The
Seftora, Isabel and Jack sat together ; the
Seftora dozed a little, but not enough to lose
consciousness of Jack's presence and Jack's
voice. The father, happy, and yet acutely
anxious, went to and fro between his children
and his study. Antonia and Dare were in the
myrtle walk or under the fig-tree. This hour
was the blossoming time of their lives. And it
was not the less sweet and tender because of
the dark shadows on the edge of the sunshine.
Nor were they afraid to face the shadows, to
inquire of them, and thus to taste the deeper
rapture of love when love is gemmed with
tears.

It was understood that the young men were
going away in the morning very early ; so
early that their adieus must be said with their

A FAMOUS BARBECUE. 97

good-nights. It was at this hour that the
Senora found courage to ask :

" My Juan, where do you go ? M

" To Gonzales, mi madre."

"But why? Oh, Juan, do not desert your
madre, and your country! "

" Desert you, madre ! I am your boy to my
last breath ! My country I love with my
whole soul. That is why I have come back to
you and to her! She is in trouble and her
sons must stand by her."

" DO not talk with two meanings. Oh, Juan !
why do you go to Gonzales? "

" We have heard that Colonel Ugartchea is
to be there soon, and to take away the arms of
the Americans. That is not to be endured.
If you yourself were a man, you would have
been away ere this to help them, I am
sure."

" Me ! 7 The Blessed Virgin knows I would
cut off my hands and feet first. Juan, listen to
me dear one ! You are a Mexican."

" My heart is Mexican, for it is yours. But
I must stand with my father and with rny
brother, and with my American compatriots,
we slaves, that we must give up our arms ?

9$ REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

No, but if we gave them up we should deserve
to be slaves."

" God and the saints ! " she answered, pas
sionately. " What a trouble about a few guns !
One would think the Mexicans wanted the
wives and children, the homes and lands of the
Americans. They cry out from one end of
Texas to the other."

" They cry out in old England and in New
England, in New York, in New Orleans, and
all down the Mississippi. And men are crying
back to them : ' Stand to your rifles and we
will come and help you ! ' The idea of disarm
ing ten thousand Americans ! " Jack laughed
with scornful amusement at the notion.
11 What a game it will be ! Mother, you can't
tell how a man gets to love his rifle. He that
takes our purse takes trash ; but our rifles !
By George Washington, that's a different
story ! "

" Juan, my darling, you are my last hope.
Your brother was born with an American
heart. He has even become a heretic. Fray
Ignatius says he went into the Colorado and
was what they call immersed ; he that was bap
tized with holy water by the thrice holy bishop

A FAMOUS BARBECUE. 99

of Durango. My beloved one, go and see Fray
Ignatius ; late as it is, he will rise and counsel
you."

" My heart, my conscience, my country, my
father, my brother, Santa Anna's despotism,
have already counselled me."

" Speak no more. I see that you also are a
rebel and a heretic. Mother of sorrows, give
me thy compassion ! " Then, turning to Juan,
she cried out : " May God pardon me for hav*
ing brought into this world such ingrates ! Go
from me ! You have broken my heart ! "

He fell at her feet, and, in spite of her reluc
tance, took her hands —

" Sweetest mother, wait but a little while.
You will see that we are right. Do not be
cross with Juan. I am going away. Kiss me,
mother. Kiss me, and give me your bless
ing."

" No, I will not bless you. I will not kiss
you. You want what is impossible, what is
wicked."

" I want freedom."

"And to get freedom you tread upon your
mothers heart. Let loose my hands. I am
weary to death of this everlasting talk of

loo REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

freedom. I think indeed that the Americans
know but two words : freedom and dollars.
Ring for Rachela. She, at least, is faithful to
me."

" Not till you kiss me, mother. Do not
send me away unblessed and unloved. That
is to doom me to misfortune. Mi madre, I
beg this favor from you." He had risen, but
he still held her hands, and he was weeping
as innocent young men are not ashamed to
weep.

If she had looked at him ! Oh, if she had
but once looked at his face, she could not have
resisted its beauty, its sorrow, its imploration !
But she would not look. She drew her hands
angrily away from him. She turned her back
upon her suppliant son and imperiously sum
moned Rachela.

" Good-by, mi madre."

" Good-by, mi madre !"

She would not turn to him, or answer him <a
word.

"Mi madre, here comes Rachela! Say
'God biess you, Juan.' It is my last word,
sweet mother ! "

She neither moved nor spoke. The next

A FA MO US BARBECUE. I o I

moment Rachela entered, arxrv.:;be .-wretched
woman abandoned herself to 'her t tare *vith
vehement sobs and complainings'.

Jack was inexpressibly sorrowful. He went
into the garden, hoping in its silence and soli
tude to find some relief. He loved his mother
with his strongest affection. Every one of her
sobs wrung his heart. Was it right to wound
and disobey her for the sake of — freedom ?
Mother was a certain good ; freedom only a
glorious promise. Mother was a living fact ;
freedom an intangible idea.

Ah, but men have always fought more pas
sionately for ideas than for facts ! Tyrants
are safe while they touch only silver and gold ;
but when they try to bind a man's ideals — the
freedom of his citizenship — the purity of his
faith — he will die to preserve them in their in
tegrity.

Besides, freedom for every generation has
but her hour. If that hour is not seized, no
other may come for the men who have suf
fered it to pass. But mother would grow
more loving as the days went by. And this
was ever the end of Jack's reasoning ; for no
man knows how deep the roots of his nature

102 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

strike into his flajtive land, until he sees her in
thetgra&p'of; a. tyrant, and hears her crying to
him for deliverance.

The struggle left the impress on his face.
He passed a boundary in it. Certain boyish
feelings and graces would never again be pos
sible to him. He went into the house, weary,
and longing for companionship that would
comfort or strengthen him. Only Isabel was
in the parlor. She appeared to be asleep
among the sofa cushions, but she opened her
eyes wide as he took a chair beside her.

" I have been waiting to kiss you again,
Juan ; do you think this trouble will last very
long ? "

" It will be over directly, Iza. Do not fret
yourself about it, angel mio. The Americans
are great fighters, and their quarrel is just.
Well, then, it will be settled by the good God
quickly."

" Rachela says that Santa Anna has sent off
a million of men to fight the Americans.
Some they will cut in pieces, and some are to
be sent to the mines to work in chains."

" God is not dead of old age, Iza. Santa
Anna is a miraculous tyrant. He has com-

A FAMOUS BARBECUE. 103

mitted every crime under heaven, but I think
he will not cut the Americans in pieces."

" And if the Americans should even make
fcim go back to Mexico ! "

" I think that is very possible."

" What then, Juan?"

" He would pay for some of his crimes here ;
the rest he would settle for in purgatory.
And you, too, Iza, are you with the Ameri
cans?"

" Luis Alveda says they are right."

" Oh-h ! I see ! So Luis is to be my brother
too. Is that so, little dear? "

" Have you room in your heart for him ? Or
has this Dare Grant filled it? "

" If I had twenty sisters, I should have room
for twenty brothers, if they were like Dare and
Luis. But, indeed, Luis had his place there
before I knew Dare."

" And perhaps you may see him soon ; he is
with Senor Sam Houston. Seftor Houston
was here not a week ago. - Will you think of
that ? And the mother and uncle of Luis are
angry at him ; he will be disinherited, and we
shall be very poor, I think. But there is always
my father, who loves Luis."

104 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

" Luis will win his own inheritance. I think
you will be very rich."

" And, Juan, if you see Luis, say to him,
' Iza thinks of you continually/ "

At this moment Rachela angrily called her
charge —

" Are you totally and forever wicked, disobe
dient one? Two hours I have been kept wait
ing. Very well ! The Sisters are the only
duenna for you ; and back to the convent you
shall go to-morrow. The Sefiora is of my
mind, also."

" My father will not permit it. I will go to
my father. And think of this, Rachela: I am
no longer to be treated like a baby." But she
kissed Juan ' farewell/ and went away without
further dispute.

The handsome room looked strangely lonely
and desolate when the door had closed behind
her. Jack rose, and roughly shook himself, as
if by that means he hoped to throw off the
oppression and melancholy that was invading
even his light heart. Hundreds of moths were
dashing themselves to death against the high
glass shade that covered the blowing candles
from them. He stood and looked at their

A FAMOUS BARBECUE. 105

hopeless efforts to reach the flame. He had an
unpleasant thought ; one of those thoughts
which have the force of a presentiment. He put
it away with annoyance, muttering, "It is time
enough to meet misfortune when it comes."

The sound of a footstep made him stand
erect and face the door.

It was only a sleepy peon with a request
that he would go to his father's study. A dif
ferent mental atmosphere met him there. The
doctor was walking up and down the room,
and Dare and Antonia sat together at the open
window.

" Your father wants to hear about our jour-
ney, Jack. Take my chair and tell him what
happened. Antonia and I will walk within
hearing ; a roof makes me restless such a night
as this"; for the waning moon had risen, and
the cool wind from the Gulf was shaking a
thousand scents from the trees and the flower
ing shrubs.

The change was made with the words, and
the doctor sat down beside his son. " I was
asking, Jack, how you knew so much about
Texan affairs, and how you came so suddenly
to take part in them ? "

Io6 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

" Indeed, father, we could not escape know.
ing. The Texan fever was more or less in
every young man's blood. One night Dare
had a supper at his rooms, and there were
thirty of us present. A man called Faulkner —
a fine fellow from Nacogdoches — spoke to us.
How do you think he spoke, when his only
brother, a lad of twenty, is working in a Mexi
can mine loaded with chains?"

" For what ? "

" He said one day that 'the natural bound
aries of the United States are the Atlantic
and Pacific oceans.' He was sent to the mines
for the words. Faulkner's only hope for him
is in the independence of Texas. He had us
on fire in five minutes — all but Sandy McDon
ald, who loves to argue, and therefore took
the Mexican side."

" What could he say for it ? "

" He said it was a very unjust like thing to
make Mexico give her American settlers in
Texas two hundred and twenty-four millions
of acres because she thought a change of gov
ernment best for her own interests."

"The Americans settled in Texas under the
solemn guarantee of the constitution of eighteen

A FAMOUS BARBECUE. 107

cwenty-four. How many of them would have
built homes under a tyrannical despotism like
that Santa Anna is now forcing upon them ?
asked the doctor, warmly.

" McDonald said, ' There is a deal of talk
about freedom among you Americans, and it
just means nothing at all.' You should have
seen Faulkner! He turned on him like a tor
nado. 'How should you know anything about
freedom, McDonald?' he cried. 'You are in
feudal darkness in the Highlands of Scotland.
You have only just emigrated into freedom.
But we Americans are born free ! If you can
not feel the difference between a federal con
stitution and a military and religious despotism,
there is simply no use talking to you. How
would you like to find yourself in a country
where suddenly trial by jury and the exercise
of your religion was denied you? Of course
you could abandon the home you had built,
and the acres you had bought and put under
cultivation, and thus make some Mexican heir
to your ten years' labor. Perhaps a Scot, for
conscience* sake, would do this.' "

" And what answer made he ? "

" He said, ' A Scot kens how to grip tight to

108 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

ten years' labor as well as yoursel', Faulkner;
and neither man nor de'il can come between
him and his religion; but — ' 'But,' shouted
Faulkner ; * there is no but ! It is God and our
right! God and our right, against priestcraft
and despotism ! '

" Then every one of us leaped to our feet, and
we swore to follow Faulkner to Texas at an
hour's notice ; and Sandy said we were ' a par
cel of fools ' ; and then, would you believe it,
father, when our boat was leaving the pier,
amid the cheers and hurrahs of thousands,
Sandy leaped on the boat and joined us?"

" What did he say then ? "

" He said, ' I am a born fool to go with you,
but I think there is a kind o' witchcraft in that
word Texas. It has been stirring me up morn-
ing and night like the voice o' the charmer,
and I be to follow it though I ken well enough
it isna leading me in the paths o' peace and
pleasantness ! ' '

" Did you find the same enthusiasm outside
of New York?"

" All along the Ohio and Mississippi we gath
ered recruits; and at Randolph, sixty miles above
Memphis, we were joined by David Crockett."

A FAMOUS BARBECUE. 109

"Jack!"

" True, father ! And then at every landing
*ve took on men. For at every landing Crock
ett spoke to the people ; and, as we stopped
very often, we were cheered all the way down
the river. The Mediterranean, though the
biggest boat on it, was soon crowded ; but at
Helena, Crockett and a great number of the
leading men of the expedition got off. And as
Dare and Crockett had become friends, I fol
lowed them."

" Where did you go to ? "

" We went ostensibly to a big barbecue at
John Bowie's plantation, which is a few miles
below Helena. Invitations to this barbecue
had been sent hundreds of miles throughout
the surrounding country. We met parties
from the depths of the Arkansas wilderness
and the furthest boundaries of the Choctaw
nation coming to it. There were raftsmen
from the Mississippi, from the White, and the
St. Francis rivers. There were planters from
Lousiana and Tennessee. There were woods
men from Kentucky. There were envoys from
New Orleans, Washington, and all the great
Eastern cities."

HO REMEMBER THE ALAMC,

"I had an invitation myself, Jack."

" I wish you had accepted it. It was worth
the journey. There never was and there never
will be such a barbecue again. Thousands
were present. The woods were full of sheds
and temporary buildings, and platforms for the
speakers."

"Who were the speakers?"

" Crockett, Hawkins, General Montgomery,
Colonel Beauford, the three brothers Cheat-
harrt, Doc. Bennet, and many others. When
the woods were illuminated at night with pine
knots, you may imagine the scene and the wild
enthusiasm that followed their eloquence."

" Doc. Bennet is a good partisan, and he is
enormously rich."

" And he has a personal reason for his hatred
of Mexico. An insatiable revenge possesses
him. His wife and two children were barbar
ously murdered by Mexicans. He appealed to
those who could not go to the fight to give
money to aid it, and on the spot laid down
ten thousand dollars/'

"Good!"

" Nine other men, either present or there by
proxy, instantly gave a like sum, and thirty

A fAMOUS BARBECUE. ill

thousand in smaller sums was added to it.
Every donation was hailed with the wildest
transports, and while the woods were ringing
with electrifying shouts, Hawkins rallied three
hundred men round him and went off at a
swinging galop for the Brazos."

"Oh, Jack! Jack!"

" In another hour, the rest of the leaders had
gathered their detachments, and every man had
turned his face to the Texan prairies. Crockett
was already far advanced on the way. Sam
Houston was known to be kindling the fire on
the spot ; and I suppose you know, father,"
said Jack, sinking his voice to a whisper, " that
we have still more powerful backers."

" General Gain.es?"

" Well, he has a large body of United States
troops at Nacogdoches. He says they are to
protect the people of Navasola from the
Indians."

" But Navasola is twenty-nine miles west ol
Nacogdoches."

" Navasola is in Texas. Very well ! If the
United States feel it to be their duty to pro
tect the people of Navasola, it seems they
already consider Texas within their boundary."

112 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

" You think the Indians a mere pretext?

" Of course. Crockett has with him an autcx
graph letter from President Jackson, introduc
ing him as ' a God-chosen patriot/ President
Jackson already sees Texas in the Union, and
Gaines understands that if the American-
Texans should be repulsed by Santa Anna, and
fall back upon him, that he may then gather
them under his standard and lead them for
ward to victory — and the conquest of Texas.
Father, you will see the Stars and Stripes on
the palaces of Mexico."

" Do not talk too fast, Jack. And now, go
lie down on my bed. In four hours you must
leave, if you want to reach Gonzales to-night ! "

Then Dare was called, and the lovers knew
that their hour of parting was come. They
said nothing of the fears in their hearts ; and
on Antonia's lifted face there was only the
light of love and of hope.

"The fight will soon be over, darling, and
then ! "

" And then ? We shall be so happy."

CHAPTER VI.

ROBERT WORTH IS DISARMED.

*• Strange sons of Mexico, and strange her fate ;

They fight for freedom who were never free ;

A kingless people for a nerveless state."

******
" Not all the threats or favors of a crown,

A Prince's whisper, or a tyrant's frown,

Can awe the spirit or allure the mind

Of him, who to strict Honor is inclined.

Though all the pomp and pleasure that does wait

On public places, and affairs of state ;

Though all the storms and tempests should arise,

That Church magicians in their cells devise,

And from their settled basis nations tear :

He would, unmoved, the mighty ruin bear.

Secure in innocence, contemn them all,

And, decently arrayed, in honor fall."
******

" Say, what is honor ? 'Tis the finest sense
Of justice which the human mind can frame."

THE keenest sufferings entailed by war are
not on the battle-field, nor in the hospital.
They are in the household. There are the
maimed affections, the slain hopes, the brok<*i
ties of love. And before a sbot had

H4 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

in the war of Texan independence, the battle
had begun in Robert Worth's household.

The young men lay down to rest, but he sat
watching the night away. There was a melan
choly sleepiness in it ; the mockingbirds had
ceased singing ; the chirping insects had become
weary. Only the clock, with its regular " tick,
tick/' kept the watch with him.

When it was near dawn, he lifted a candle
and went into the room where Jack and Dare
were sleeping. Dare did not move ; Jack
opened his eyes wide, and smiled brightly at
the intruder.

"Well, father?"

" It is time to get up, Jack. Tell Dare.**

In a few minutes both came to him. A
bottle of wine, some preserved bears' paws, and
biscuits were on the table. They ate standing,
speaking very little and almost in whispers ;
and then the doctor went with them to the
stable. He helped Jack to saddle his horse.
He found a sad pleasure in coming so close
to him. Once their cheeks touched, and the
touch brought the tears to his eyes and sent
the blood to his heart.

With his hand on the saddle, Jack paused

ROBERT IVOR l.V IS DISARMED. 115

and said, softly, " Father, dear, tell mi madrc
my last look at the house, my last thought in
leaving it, was for her. She would not kiss me
or bless me last night. Ask her to kiss you for
ine," and then the lad broke fairly down. The
moment had come in which love could find no
utterance, and must act. He flung his arm
around his father's neck and kissed him. And
the father wept also, and yet spoke brave words
to both as he walked with them to the gate
and watched them ride into the thick mist
lying upon the prairie like a cloud. They were
only darker spots in it. It swallowed them up.
They were lost to sight.

He thought no one had seen the boys leave
but himself. But through the lattices two
sorrowful women also watched their departure.
The Seftora, as wakeful as her husband, had
heard the slight movements, the unusual noises
of that early hour, and had divined the cause
of them. She looked at Rachela. The woman
had fallen into the dead sleep of exhaustion,
and she would not have to parry her objections
and warnings. Unshod, and in her night-dress,
she slipped through the corridor to the back of
the house, and tightly clasping her rosary in

Il6 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

her hands, she stood behind the lattice and
watched her boy away.

He turned in his saddle just before he passed
the gate, and she saw his young face lifted with
an unconscious, anxious love, to the very lattice
at which she stood. In the dim light it had a
strange pallor. The misty air blurred and
made all indistinct. It was like seeing her
Jack in some woful dream. If he had been
dead, such a vision of him might have come to
her from the shadow land.

Usually her grief was noisy and imperative
of sympathy. But this morning she could not
cry nor lament. She went softly back to her
room and sat down, with her crucifix before her
aching eyes. Yet she could not say her usual
prayers. She could not remember anything
but Jack's entreaty — "Kiss me, mi madre!
Bless me, mi madre ! " She could not see any.
thing but that last rapid turn in the saddle, and
that piteous young face, showing so weird and
dreamlike through the gray mist of the early
dawn.

Antonia had watched with her. Dare, also,
had turned, but there had been something about
Dare's attitude far more cheery and hopeful.

ROBERT WORTH IS DISA RATED. 117

On the previous night Antonia had put some
sprays of rosemary in his hat-band " to bring
good, and keep away evil on a journey"; and
as he turned and lifted his hat he put his lips to
them. He had the belief that from some point
his Antonia was watching him. He conveyed
to her, by the strength of his love and his will,
the assurance of all their hopes.

That day Doctor Worth did not go out. The
little bravado of carrying arms was impossible
to him. It was not that his courage had failed,
or that he had lost a tittle of his convictions,
but he was depressed by the uncertainty of his
position and duty, and he was, besides, the thrall
of that intangible anxiety which we call pre
sentiment.

Yet, however dreary life is, it must go on.
The brave-hearted cannot drop daily duty*
On the second day the doctor went to his office
again, and Antonia arranged the meals and re
ceived company, and did her best to bring the
household into peaceful accord with the new
elements encroaching on it from all sides.

But the Sefiora was more " difficult " than
even Rachela had ever seen her before. She
did not go to church, but Fray Ignatius spent

Il8 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

a great deal of time with her ; and his influence
was not any more conciliating than that of
early masses and much fasting.

He said to her, indeed : " My daughter, you
have behaved with the fortitude of a saint. It
would have been more than a venial sin, if
you had kissed and blessed a rebel in the very
act of his rebellion. The Holy Mary will
reward and comfort you."

But the Seftora was not sensible of the
reward and comfort ; and she did feel most
acutely the cruel wound she had given her
mother love. Neither prayers nor penance
availed her. She wanted to see Jack. She
wanted to kiss him a hundred times, and bless
him with every kiss. And it did not help her
to be told that these longings were the sug
gestions of the Evil One, and not to be
listened to.

The black-robed monk, gliding about his
house with downcast eyes and folded hands,
had never seemed to Robert Worth so objec
tionable. He knew that he kept the breach
open between himself and his wife — that he
thought it a point of religious duty to do so.
He knew that he was gradually isolating the

ROBERT WORTH IS DISARMED. 119

wretched woman from her husband and
children, and that the continual repetition of
prayers and penances did not give her any
adequate comfort for the wrong she was doing
her affections.

The city was also in a condition of the
greatest excitement. The soldiers in the
Alamo were under arms. Their officers had
evidently received important advices from
Mexico. General Cos, the brother-in-law of
Santa Anna, was now in command, and it was
said immense reinforcements were hourly
looked for. The drifting American population
had entirely vanished, but its palpable absence
inspired the most thoughtful of the people
with fear instead of security.

Nor were the military by any means sure of
the loyalty of the city. It was well known
that a large proportion of the best citizens
hated the despotism of Santa Anna ; and that
if the Americans attacked San Antonio, they
would receive active sympathy. Party feel
ing was no longer controllable. Men suspected
each other. Duels were of constant occur*
rence, and families were torn to pieces ; for
the monks supported Santa Anna with all their

120 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

influence, and there were few women who dared
to disobey them.

Into the midst of this turbulent, touchy
community, there fell one morning a word or
two which set it on fire. Doctor Worth was
talking on the Plaza with Seftor Lopez Navarro.
A Mexican soldier, with his yellow cloak stream
ing out behind him, galloped madly towards
the Alamo and left the news there. It spread
like wildfire. " There had been a fight at
Gonzales, and the Americans had kept their
arms. They had also put the Mexicans to
flight."

" And more," added a young Mexican com
ing up to the group of which Robert Worth
was one, " Stephen Austin has escaped, and
he arrived at Gonzales at the very moment of
victory. And more yet : Americans are pour
ing into Gonzales from every quarter."

An officer tapped Doctor Worth on the
shoulder. " Sefior Doctor, your arms. Gen
eral Cos hopes, in the present extremity, you
will set an example of obedience."

" I will not give up my arms. In the present
extremity my arms are the greatest need J,
have."

ROBERT WOR7^H IS DISARMED. 1 21

" Then Seftor, — it is a great affliction to
me — I must arrest you."

He was led away, amid the audible murmurs
of the men who filled the streets. There
needed but some one to have said the word,
and they would have taken him forcibly from
the military. A great crowd followed him to
the gates of the Alamo. For there was
scarcely a family in San Antonio of which this
good doctor vvas not an adopted member. The
arrest of their favorite confessor would hardly
have enraged them more.

Fray Ignatius brought the news to the
Sefiora. Even he was affected by it. Never
before had Antonia seen him walk except with
thoughtful and deliberate steps. She wondered
at his appearance; at its suppressed hurry; at
a something in it which struck her as sup
pressed satisfaction.

And the priest was in his heart satisfied ;
though he was consciously telling himself
that " he was sorry for the Sefiora, and that
he would have been glad if the sins of her
husband could have been set against the works
of supererogation which the saints of his own
convent had amassed,"

122 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

" But he is an infidel ; he believes not in the
saints," he muttered ; " then how could they
avail him ! "

Antonia met him at the door. He said an
Ave Maria as he crossed the threshold, and
gave her his hand to kiss. She looked won--
deringly in his face, for unless it was a special
visit, he never called so near the Angelus.
Still, it is difficult to throw off a habit of obedi
ence formed in early youth ; and she did not
feel as if she could break through the chill
atmosphere of the man and ask : " For what
reason have you come, father ? "

A long, shrill shriek from the Seftora was
the first answer to the fearful question in her
heart. In a few moments she was at her
mother's door. Rachela knelt outside it, tell
ing her rosary. She stolidly kept her place,
and a certain instinct for a moment prevented
Antonia interrupting her. But the passionate
words of her mother, blending with the low,
measured tones of the priest, were something
far more positive.

11 Let me pass you, Rachela. What is the
matter with my mother ? "

The woman was absorbed in her supplica-

ROBERT WORTH IS DISARMED. 123

tions, and Antonia opened the door. Isabel
followed her. They found themselves in the
the presence of an angry sorrow that appalled
them. The Seflora had torn her lace mantilla
into shreds, and they were scattered over the
room as she had flung them from her hands in
her frantic walk about it. The large shell comb
that confined her hair was trodden to pieces,
and its long coils had fallen about her face and
shoulders. Her bracelets, her chain of gold,
her brooch and rings were scattered on the
floor, and she was standing in the centre of it.
like an enraged creature ; tearing her handker
chief into strips, as an emphasis to her passion-
ate denunciations.

" It serves him right ! Jesus! Maria ! Joseph!
It serves him right! He must carry arms!
He, too ! when it was forbidden ! I am glad
he is arrested ! Oh, Roberto ! Roberto ! "

" Patience, my daughter ! This is the hand
of God. What can you do but submit ? "

" What is it, mi madre ? " and Isabel put her
arms around her mother with the words mi
madre. " Tell Isabel your sorrow."

u Your father is arrested — taken to the
Alamo — he will be sent to the mines. I told

124 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

him so ! I told him so ! He would not listen
to me ! How wicked he has been ! "

" What has my father done, Fray Ignatius3
Why have they arrested him ? "

The priest turned to Antonia with a cold
face. He did not like her. He felt that she
did not believe in him.

" Seftorita, he has committed a treason. A
good citizen obeys the law ; Sefior Worth has
defied it."

" Pardon, father, I cannot believe it."

" A great forbearance has been shown him,
but the end of mercy comes. As he persisted
in wearing arms, he has been taken to the
Alamo and disarmed."

" It is a great shame ! An infamous shame
and wrong ! " cried Antonia. " What right has
any one to take my father's arms ? No more
than they have to take his purse or his coat."

" General Santa Anna — "

" General Santa Anna is a tyrant and a thief.
I care not who says different."

" Antonia ! Shameless one ! "

" Mother, do not strike me." Then she took
her mother's hands in her own, and led her to
a couch,, caressing- her as she spoke —

ROBERT WORTH IS DISARMED. 125

" Don't believe any one — any one, mother,
who says wrong of my father. You know that
he is the best of men. Rachela ! Come here
instantly. The rosary is not the thing, now.
You ought to be attending to the Sefiora. Get
her some valerian and some coffee, and come
and remove her clothing. Fray Ignatius, we
will beg you to leave us to-night to ourselves."

" Your mother's sin, in marrying a heretic,
has now found her out. It is my duty to make
her see her fault."

'* My mother had a dispensation from one
greater than you."

" Oh, father, pray for me ! I accuse myself !
I accuse myself ! Oh, wretched woman ! Oh,
cruel husband ! "

" Mother, you have been a very happy
woman. You have had the best husband in
the world. Do not reproach my father for the
sins of others. Do not desert him when he is
in the power of a human tiger. My God,
mother ! let us think of something to be done
for his help ! I will see the Navarros, the Gar-
cias, Judge Valdez ; I will go to the Plaza and
call on the thousands he has cured and helped
to set him free,"

126 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

" You will make of yourself something not
to be spoken of. This is the judgment of God,
my daughter."

" It is the judgment of a wicked man, Fray
Ignatius. My mother is not now able to
listen to you. Isabel, come here and comfort
her." Isabel put her cheek to her mother's ;
she murmured caressing words ; she kissed her
face, and coiled up her straggling hair, and
with childlike trust amid all, solicited Holy
Mary to console them.

Fray Ignatius watched her with a cold
scrutiny. He was saying to himself, " It is
the fruit of sin. I warned the Seftora, when
she married this heretic, that trouble would
come of it. Very well, it has come. Then
like a flash a new thought invaded his mind —
If the Sefior Doctor disappeared forever,
why not induce the Seflora and her daughters
to go into a religious house ? There was a
great deal of money. The church could use
it well.

Antonia did not understand the thought,
but she understood its animus, and again she
requested his withdrawal. This time she went
close to him, and bravely looked straight into

ROBERT WORTH IS DISARMED, 127

his eyes. Their scornful gleam sent a chill to
her heart like that of cold steel. At that
moment she understood that she had turned a
passive enemy into an active one.

He went, however, without further parley,
stopping only to warn the Sefiora against the
sin " of standing with the enemies of God
and the Holy Church," and to order Isabel
to recite for her mother's pardon and comfort
a certain number of aves and paternosters.
Antonia went with him to the door, and ere he
left he blessed her, and said : 4< The Seflorita
will examine her soul and see her sin. Then
the ever merciful Church will hear her confes
sion, and give her the satisfying penance."

Antonia bowed in response. When people
are in great domestic sorrow, self-examination
is a superfluous advice. She listened a mo
ment to his departing footsteps, shivering as
she stood in the darkness, for a norther had
sprung up, and the cold was severe. She only
glanced into the pleasant parlor where the
table was laid for dinner, and a great fire of
cedar logs was throwing red, dancing lights
over the white linen and the shining silver and
glass. The chairs were placed around the

128 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

table ; her father's at the head. It had a for*
saken air that was unendurable.

The dinner hour was now long past. It
would be folly to attempt the meal. How
could she and Isabel sit down alone and eat,
and her father in prison, and her mother
frantic with a loss which she was warned it was
sinful to mourn over. Antonia had a soul
made for extremities and not afraid to face
them, but invisible hands controlled her.
What could a woman do, whom society had
forbidden to do anything, but endure the
pangs of patience ?

The Sefiora could offer no suggestions. She
was not indeed in a mood to think of her re
sources. A spiritual dread was upon her.
And with this mingled an intense sense of
personal wrong from her husband. " Had she
not begged him to be passive ? And he had
put an old rifle before her and her daughters!
It was all that Sefior Houston's doing. She
had an assurance of that." She invoked a
thousand maledictions on him. She recalled,
with passionate reproaches, Jack's infidelity to
her and his God and his country. Her anger
passed from one subject to another constantly,

ROBERT WORTH IS DISARMED. 129

finding in all, even in the lukewarmness of
Antonia and Isabel, and in their affection for
lovers, who were also rebels, an accumulating
reason for a stupendous reproach against her
self, her husband, her children, and her un
happy fate. Her whole nature was in revolt —
in that complete mental and moral anarchy
from which springs tragedy and murder.

Isabel wept so violently that she angered
still further the tearless suffering of her mother.
" God and the saints! " she cried. " What are
you weeping for? Will tears do any good?
Do I weep ? God has forbidden me to weep
for the wicked. Yet how I suffer! Mary,
mother of sorrows, pity me ! "

She sent Isabel away. Her sobs were not
to be borne. And very soon she felt Antonia's
white face and silent companionship to be just
as unendurable. She would be alone. Not
even Rachela would she have near her. She
put out all the lights but the taper above a
large crucifix, and at its foot she sat down in
tearless abandon, alone with her reproaches
and her remorse.

Antonia watched with her mother, though
shut out from her presence. She feared for a

130 REMhulBER THE ALAMO.

state of mind so barren of affection, so unsoft'
ened by tears. Besides, it was the climax of a
condition which had continued ever since she
had sent her boy away without a word of love.
In the dim corridor outside she sat still, listen
ing for any noise or movement which might
demand help or sympathy. It was not nine
o'clock; but the time lengthened itself out be
yond endurance. Even yet she had hope of
some word from her father. Surely, they would
let him send some word to them !

She heard the murmur of voices downstairs,
and she thought angrily of Rachela, and Molly,
and Manuel, " making a little confidence
together " over their trouble, and spicing their
evening gossip with the strange thing that had
happened to the Seftor Doctor. She knew that
Rachela and Manuel would call him heretic
and Americano, and, by authority of these two
words, accuse him of every crime.

Thinking with a swelling heart of these
things, she heard the door open, and a step
slowly and heavily ascend the stairs. Ere she
had time to wonder at it, her father came in
sight. There was a shocking change in his air
and appearance, but as he was evidently going

ROBERT WORTH IS DISARMED. 131

to her mother's room, she shrank back and sat
motionless so as not to attract his attention.

Then she went to the parlor, and had the fire
renewed and food put upon the table. She
was sure that he would need it, and she be
lieved he would be glad to talk over with her
the events of the afternoon.

The Sefiora was still sitting at the foot of the
crucifix when her husband opened the door.
She had not been able to pray ; ave and pater
noster alike had failed her. Her rebellious
grief filled every corner of her heart. She un
derstood that some one had entered the room,
and she thought of Rachela ; but she found a
kind of comfort in the dull stupor of grief she
was indulging, and she would not break its
spell by lifting her head.

" Maria."

She rose up quickly and stood gazing at
him.

She did not shriek or exclaim ; her surprise
controlled her. And also her terror ; for his
face was white as death, and had an expression
of angry despair that terrified her.

"Roberto! Roberto! Mi Roberto! How
you have tortured me! I have nearly died!

I32 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

Fray Ignatius said you had been sent to
prison."

She spoke as calmly as a frightened child ;
sad and hesitating. If he had taken her in his
arms she would have sobbed her grief away
there.

But Robert Worth was at that hour pos
sessed by two master passions, tyrannical and
insatiable — they would take notice of nothing
that did not minister to them.

" Maria, they have taken my arms from me.
Cowards ! Cowards ! Miserable cowards ! I
refused to give them up ! They held my hands
and robbed me — robbed me of my manhood
and honor! I begged them to shoot me ere
they did it, and they spoke courteously and re
gretted this, and hoped that, till I felt that it
would be a joy to strangle them."

" Roberto I Mi Roberto ! You have me ! "

" I want my rifle and all it represents. I
want myself back again. Maria, Maria, until
then, I am not worthy to be any good woman's
husband ! "

" Roberto, dearest ! It is not your fault."

" It is my fault. I have waited too long.
My sons showed me my duty — my soul urged

ROBERT WOR'TH IS DISARMED. 133

me to do it. I deserve the shame, but I will
wipe it out with crimson blood.'*

The Seflora stood speechless, wringing her
hands. Her own passion was puny beside the
sternness, the reality, and the intensity of the
quiet rage before her. She was completely
mastered by it. She forgot all but the evident
agony she could neither mistake nor console.

" I have come to say 'farewell,' Maria. We
have been very happy together — Maria — our
children — dearest — "

"Oh, Roberto! My husband! My soul!
My life ! Leave me not."

" I am going for my arms. I will take them
a hundredfold from those who have robbed me.
I swear I will! "

"You do not love me. What are these
Americans to you ? I am your wife. Your
Maria — "

" These Americans are my brothers — my
sons. My mother is an American woman."

"And I?"

" You are my wife — my dear wife ! I love
you — God Almighty knows how well I love
you ; but we must part now, at least for a
short time. Maria, my dear one, I must go."

134 REMEMBER 7 'HE ALAMO.

"Go? Whereto?"

" I am going to join General Houston."

" I thought so. I knew it. The accursed
one ! Oh that I had him here again ! I would
bury my stiletto in his heart ! Over the white
hilt I would bury it ! I would wash my hands
in his blood, and think them blessed ever
afterwards ! Stay till daylight, Roberto. I
have so much to say, dearest."

" I cannot. I have stayed too long. And
now I must ride without a gun or knife to
protect me. Any Indian that I meet can scalp
me. Do you understand now what disarming
means, Maria? If I had gone with my boy,
with my brave Jack, I could at least have
sold my life to its last drop."

" In the morning, Roberto, Lopez Navarro
will get you a gun. Oh, if you must go, do
not go unarmed ! There are ten thousand
Comanche between here and the Brazos."

" How could I look Lopez Navarro in the
face? Or any other man? No, no ! I must win
back my arms, before I can walk the streets of
San Antonio again."

He took her in his arms, he kissed her eyes,
her cheeks, her lips, murmuring tender little

ROBERT WORTH IS DISARMED. 135

Spanish words that meant, oh, so much, to
the wretched woman ! — words she had taught
him with kisses — words he never used but to
her ears only.

She clung to his neck, to his hands, to his
feet ; she made his farewell an unspeakable
agony. At last he laid her upon her couch,
sobbing and shrieking like a child in an ex
tremity of physical anguish. But he did not
blame her. Her impetuosities, her unreason
able extravagances, were a part of her nature,
her race, and her character. He did not ex
pect a weak, excitable woman to become sud
denly a creature of flame and steel.

But it was a wonderful rest to his exhausted
body and soul to turn from her to Antonia.
She led him quietly to his chair by the parlor
fire. She gave him food and wine. She lis
tened patiently, but with a living sympathy,
to his wrong. She endorsed, with a clasp of
his hand and a smile, his purpose. And she
said, almost cheerfully :

" You have not given up all your arms,
father. When I first heard of the edict, I hid
in my own room the rifle, the powder and the
shot, which were in your study. Paola has

*36 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

knives in the stable ; plenty of them. Get one
from him.tv

Good news is a very relative thing. This
information made the doctor feel as if all
were now easy and possible. The words he
said to her, Antonia never forgot. They sang
in her heart like music, and led her on through
many a difficult path. The conversation then
turned upon money matters, and Antonia re
ceived the key of his study, and full direc
tions as to the gold and papers secreted
there.

Then Isabel was awakened, and the rifle
brought down ; and Paola saddled the fleetest
horse in the stable, and after one solemn five
minutes with his daughter, Robert Worth rode
away into the midnight darkness, and into a
chaos of public events of which no man living
could forecast the outcome.

Rode away from wife and children and
home ; leaving behind him the love and labor
of his lifetime —

* The thousand sweet, still joys of such
As hand in hand face earthly life."

For what ? For justice, for freedom of thought
and action, for the rights of his manhood, for

ROBERT WORTH IS DISARMED. 137

the brotherhood of race and religion and
country. Antonia and Isabel stood hand in
hand at the same lattice from which the Sefiora
had watched her son away, and in a dim, un
certain manner these thoughts connected them
selves in each mind with the same mournful
inquiry — Is it worth while ?

As the beat of the horse's hoofs died away,
they turned. The night was cold but clear,
and the sky appeared so high that their eyes
throbbed as they gazed upward at the grand
arch, sprinkled with suns and worlds. Sud
denly into the tranquil spaces there was flung
a sound of joy and revelry ; and the girls
stepped to a lattice at the end of the corridor
and looked out.

The residencia of Don Salvo Valasco was
clearly visible from this site. They saw that
it was illuminated throughout. Lovely women,
shining with jewels, and soldiers in scarlet and
gold, were chatting through the graceful move
ments of the danza, or executing the more
brilliant Jota Aragonesa. The misty beauty
of white lace mantillas, the glitter and color of
fans and festival dresses, made a moving
picture of great beauty.

138 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

And as they watched it there was a cessa
tion of the dance, followed by the rapid sweep
of a powerful hand over the strings of a guitar.
Then a group of officers stepped together, and
a great wave of melodious song, solemn and
triumphant, thrilled the night. It was the
national hymn. Antonia and Isabel knew it.
Every word beat upon their hearts. The power
of association, the charm of a stately, fervent
melody was upon them.

" It is Sefior Higadillos who leads/' whis
pered Isabel, as a resonant voice, powerful and
sweet, cried —

" O list to the summons ! The blood of our sires,
Boils high in our veins, and to vengeance inspires !
Who bows to the yoke ? who bends to the blow ? "

and, without a moment's hesitation, the answer
came in a chorus of enthusiastic cadences —

" No hero will bend, no Mexican bow ;
Our country in tears sends her sons to the fight,
To conquer, or die, for our land and our right."

" You see, the Mexicans think they are in
the right — they are patriots also, Antonia."

The sorrowful girl spoke like a puzzled child,
fretfully and uncertainly, and Antonia led her

ROBERT WORTH AS DISARMED. 139

silently away. What could she answer? And
when she remembered the dear fugitive, riding
alone through the midnight — riding now for
life and liberty — she could not help the uprising
igain of that cold benumbing question — " Is it
vorth while ? "

CHAPTER VII.

A MEETING AT MIDNIGHT.

** All faiths are to their own believers just,
For none believe because they will, but must ;
The priest continues what the nurse began,
And thus the child imposes on the man."

— DRYDEN.

"-—if he be called upon to face
Some awful moment, to which heaven has joined
Great issues good or bad for humankind,
Is happy as a lover ; and attired
With sudden brightness, like a man inspired ;
And through the heat of conflict keeps the law
In calmness made ; and sees what he foresaw,
Or, if an unexpected call succeed,
Come when it will, is equal to the need."

— WORDSWORTH.

" Ah ! love, let us be true

To one another, through the world which seems
To lie before us like a land of dreams I "

HHHE gathering at Don Valasco's was con-

J. stantly repeated in various degrees of

splendor among the loyal Mexicans of the

city. They were as fully convinced of the

justice of their cause as the Americans were.

140

A MEETING AT MIDNIGHT. 14*

' They had graciously permitted Americans to
make homes in their country ; now they wanted
not only to build heretic churches and sell her-
etic bibles, but also to govern Texas after their
own fashion." From a Mexican point of view
the American settlers were a godless, atheisti
cal, quarrelsome set of ingrates. For eaten
bread is soon forgotten, and Mexicans disliked
to remember that their own independence had
been won by the aid of the very men they
were now trying to force into subjection.

The two parties were already in array in
every house in the city. The Sefiora at variance
with her daughters, their Irish cook quarrelling
with their Mexican servants, only represented
a state of things nearly universal. And after
the failure of the Mexicans at Gonzales to dis
arm the Americans, the animosity constantly
increased.

In every church, the priests — more bitter,
fierce and revengeful than either the civil or
military power — urged on the people an exter
minating war. A black flag waved from the Mis
sions, and fired every heart with an unrelenting
vengeance and hatred. To slay a heretic was
a free pass through the dolorous pains of pur-

142 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

gatory. For the priesthood foresaw that the
triumph of the American element meant the
triumph of freedom of conscience, and the
abolition of their own despotism. To them the
struggle was one involving all the privileges of
their order ; and they urged on the fight with
passionate denunciations of the foe, and with
magnificent promises of spiritual favors and
blessings. In the fortress, the plaza, the houses,
the churches, the streets, their fiery words kept
society in a ferment.

But through all this turmoil the small duties
of life went on. Soldiers were parading the
streets, and keeping watch on the flat roofs of
the houses; men were solemly swearing alle
giance to Santa Anna, or flying by night to the
camp of the Americans ; life and death were
held at a pin's fee ; but eating and dressing,
dancing and flirting, were pursued with an
eagerness typical of pleasure caught in the
passing.

And every hour these elements gathered
intensity. The always restless populace of
San Antonio was at a feverish point of impa
tience. They wanted the war at their own
doors. They wanted the quarrel fought out

A MEETING AT MIDNIGHT. 143

on their own streets. Business took a second
ary place. Men fingered weapons and dreamed
of blood, until the temper of the town was as
boisterous and vehement as the temper of the
amphitheatre when impatiently waiting for
the bulls and the matadores.

Nor was it possible for Antonia to lock the
door upon this pervading spirit. After Doctor
Worth's flight, it became necessary for her to
assume control over the household. She had
promised him to do so, and she was resolved,
in spite of all opposition, to follow out his
instructions. But it was by no means an easy
task.

Fray Ignatius had both the Sefiora and
Rachela completely under his subjection.
Molly, the Irish cook, was already dissatisfied.
The doctor had saved her life and given her a
good home and generous wages, and while the
doctor was happy and prosperous Molly was
accordingly grateful. But a few words from
the priest set affairs in a far pleasanter light to
her. She was a true Catholic ; the saints sent
the heretic doctor to help. It was therefore
the saints to whom gratitude was due. Had
not earned her good wage ? And would not

144 REMEmaAR THE ALAMO.

Don Angel Sandoval give her a still larger
sum? Or even the Brothers at the Mission of
San Jose" ? Molly listened to these words with
a complacent pleasure. She reflected that it
would be much more agreeable to her to be
where she could entirely forget that she had
ever been hungry and friendless, and lying at
death's door.

Antonia knew also that Rachela was at heart
unfaithful, and soon the conviction was forced
on her that servants are never faithful beyond
the line of their own interest — that it is, indeed,
against certain primary laws of nature to expect
it. Certainly, it was impossible to doubt that
there was in all their dependents a kind of satis
faction in their misfortunes.

The doctor had done them favors — how un
pleasant was their memory ! The Sefiora had
offended them by the splendor of her dress,
and her complacent air of happiness. Antonia's
American ways and her habit of sitting for
hours with a book in her hand were a great
irritation.

" She wishes to be thought wiser than other
women — as wise as even a holy priest — she! that
never goes to mass, and is nearly a heretic,"

A MEETING AT MIDNIGHT. 145

said the house steward ; and as for the Seftorita
Isabel, a little trouble will be good for her !
Holy Mary ! the way she has been pampered
and petted ! It is an absurdity. ' Little dear/
and ' angel/ are the hardest words she hears.
Si! if God did not mercifully abate a little the
rich they would grow to be * almightys.' '

This was the tone of the conversation of the
servants of the household. It was not an un
natural tone, but it was a very unhappy one.
People cannot escape from the mood of mind
they habitually indulge, and from the animus
of the words they habitually use ; and Antonia
felt and understood the antagonistic atmos
phere. For the things which we know best of
all are precisely the things which no one has
ever told us.

The Sefiora, in a plain black serge gown,
and black rebozo over her head, spent her time
in prayers and penances. The care of her
household had always been delegated to her
steward, and to Rachela ; while the duties
that more especially belonged to her, had been
fulfilled by her husband and by Antonia. In
many respects she was but a grown-up baby.
And so, in this great extremity, the only duty

I46 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

which pressed upon her was the idea of sup«
plicating the saints to take charge of her un
happy affairs.

And Fray Ignatius was daily more hard with
her. Antonia even suspected from his grow
ing intolerance and bitterness, that the Ameri
cans were gaining unexpected advantages.
But she knew nothing of what was happening.
She could hear from afar off the marching and
movements of soldiers ; the blare of military
music ; the faint echoes of hurrahing multi
tudes ; but there was no one to give her any
certain information. Still, she guessed some
thing from the anger of the priest and the
reticence of the Mexican servants. If good
fortune had been with Santa Anna, she was
sure she would have heard of " The glorious !
The invincible ! The magnificent Presidente
de la Republica Mexicana ! The Napoleon of
the West ! "

It was not permitted her to go into the city.
A proposal to do so had been met with a
storm of angry amazement. And steam and
electricity had not then annihilated distance
and abolished suspense. She could but won
der and hope, and try to read the truth from a

A MEETING AT MIDNIGHT. 147

covert inspection of the face and words of
Fray Ignatius.

Between this monk and herself the breach
was hourly widening. With angry pain she
saw her mother tortured between the fact that
she loved her husband, and the horrible doubt
that to love him was a mortal sin. She under
stood the underlying motive which prompted
the priest to urge upon the Seftora the re
moval of herself and her daughters to the con
vent. His offer to take charge of the Worth
residencia and estate was in her conviction a
proposal to rob them of all rights in it. She
felt certain that whatever the Church once
grasped in its iron hand, it would ever retain.
And both to Isabel and herself the thought
of a convent was now horrible. " They will
force me to be a nun," said Isabel ; " and then,
what will Luis do ? And they will never tell
me anything about my father and my brothers.
I should never hear of them. I should never
see them any more ; unless the good God was
so kind as to let me meet them in his heaven."

And Antonia had still darker and more fear,
ful thoughts. She had not forgotten the
stories whispered to her childhood, of dreadful

148 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

fates reserved for contumacious and disobe.
dient women. Whenever Fray Ignatius looked
at her she felt as if she were within the shadow
of the Inquisition.

Never had days passed so wearily and anx«
iously. Never had nights been so terrible.
The sisters did not dare to talk much together;
they doubted Rachela ; they were sure their
words were listened to and repeated. They
were not permitted to be alone with the
Seftora. Fray Ignatius had particularly warned
Rachela to prevent this. He was gradually
bringing the unhappy woman into what he
called " a heavenly mind " — the influence of
her daughters, he was sure, would be that of
worldly affections and sinful liberty. And
Rachela obeyed the confessor so faithfully,
that the Seftora was almost in a state of solitary
confinement. Every day her will was growing
weaker, her pathetic obedience more child
like and absolute.

But at midnight, when every one was asleep,
Antonia stepped softly into her sister's room
and talked to her. They sat in Isabel's bed
clasping each other's hand in the dark, and
speaking in whispers. Then Antonia warned

A MEETING AT MIDNIGHT. 149

and strengthened Isabel. She told her all her
fears. She persuaded her to control her wil-
fulness, to be obedient, and to assume the
childlike thoughtlessness which best satisfied
Fray Ignatius. " He told you to-day to be
happy, that he would think for you. My dar
ling, let him believe that is the thing you
want," said Antonia. " I assure you we shall
be the safer for it."

" He said to me yesterday, when I asked
him about the war, ' Do not inquire, child, into
things you do not understand. That is to be
irreligious,' and then he made the cross on
his breast, as if I had put a bad thought into his
heart. We are afraid all day, and we sit
whispering all night about our fears ; that is
the state we are in. The Lord sends us noth
ing but misfortunes, Antonia."

" My darling, tell the Lord your sorrow, then,
but do not repine to Rachela or Fray Ignatius.
That is to complain to the merciless of the
All-Merciful."

" Do you think I am wicked, Antonia ? What
excuse could I offer to His Divine Majesty, if
I spoke evil to him of Rachela and Fray
Ignatius ? "

15° KEMEMBER THE ALAMO.

" Neither of them are our friends ; do you
think so?"

" Fray Ignatius looks like a goblin ; he gives
me a shiver when he looks at me ; arid as for
Rachela — I already hate her ! "

" Do not trust her. You need not hate her,
Isabel."

"Antonia, I know that I shall eternally
hate her ; for I am sure that our angels are at
variance."

In conversations like these the anxious girls
passed the long, and often very cold, nights.
The days were still worse, for as November
went slowly away the circumstances which sur
rounded their lives appeared to constantly
gather a more decided and a bitterer tone.
December, that had always been such a month
of happiness, bright with Christmas expecta
tions and Christmas joys, came in with a ter
ribly severe, wet norther. The great log fires
only warmed the atmosphere immediately
surrounding them, and Isabel and Antonia sat
gloomily within it all day. It seemed to
Antonia as if her heart had come to the very
end of hope ; and that something must
happen.

A MEETING A T MIDNIGHT. 151

The rain lashed the earth ; the wind roared
around the house, and filled it with unusual
noises. The cold was a torture that few found
themselves able to endure. But it brought a
compensation. Fray Ignatius did not leave
the Mission comforts ; and Rachela could not
bear to go prowling about the corridors and
passages. She established herself in the Se-
fiora's room, and remained there. And very
early in the evening she said " she had an out
rageous headache," and went to her room.

Then Antonia and Isabel sat awhile by their
mother's bed. They talked in whispers of their
father and brothers, and when the Sefiora cried,
they kissed her sobs into silence and wiped
her tears away. In that hour, if Fray Ignatius
had known it, they undid, in a great measure,
the work to which he had given more than a
month of patient and deeply-reflective labor.
For with the girls, there was the wondrous
charm of love and nature ; but with the priest,
only a splendid ideal of a Church universal that
was to swallow up all the claims of love and all
the ties of nature.

It was nearly nine o'clock when Antonia and
Isabel returned to the parlor fire. Their hearts

152 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

were full of sorrow for their mother, and of fears
for their own future. For this confidence had
shown them how firmly the refuge of the con
vent had been planted in the anxious ideas of
the Seftora. Fortunately, the cold had driven
the servants either to the kitchen fire or to
their beds, and they could talk over the sub
ject without fear of interference.

"Are you sleepy, queridita?" — (little dear).

" I think I shall never go to sleep again,
Antonia. If I shut my eyes I shall find myself
in the convent ; and I do not want to go. there
even in a dream. Do you know Mother Te
resa? Well then, I could tell you things.
And she does not like me, I am sure of that ;
quite sure."

" My darling, I am going to make us a cup
of tea. It will do us good."

" If indeed it were chocolate ! "

" I cannot make chocolate now ; but you
shall have a great deal of sugar in your cup,
and something good to eat also. There, my
darling, put your chair close to the fire, and we
will sit here until we are quite sleepy."

With the words she went into the kitchen.
Molly was nodding over her beads, in the com-

A MEETING AT MIDNIGHT. 15 3

fortable radius made by the blazing logs ; no
one else was present but a young peon. He
brought a small kettle to the parlor fire, and
lifted a table to the hearth, and then replenished
the pile of logs for burning during the night.
Isabel, cuddling in a large chair, watched
Antonia, as she went softly about putting
on the table such delicacies as she could find
at that hour. Tamales and cold duck, sweet
cake and the guava jelly that was Isabel's favor
ite dainty. There was a little comfort in the
sight of these things ; and also, in the bright
silver teapot standing so cheerfully on the
hearth, and diffusing through the room a warm
perfume, at once soothing and exhilarating.

" I really think I shall like that American tea
to-night, Antonia, but you must half fill my
cup with those little blocks of sugar — quite
half fill it, Antonia; and have you found cream,
my dear one? Then a great deal of cream."

Antonia stood still a moment and looked at
the drowsy little beauty. Her eyes were
closed, and her head nestled comfortably in a
corner of the padded chair. Then a hand
upon the door-handle arrested her attention,
and Antonia turned her eyes from Isabel and

154 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

watched it* Ortiz, the peon, put his head
within the room, and then disappeared ; but
oh, wonder and joy ! Don Luis entered swiftly
after him ; and before any one could say a
word, he was kneeling by Isabel kissing her
hand and mingling his exclamations of rapture
with hers.

Antonia looked with amazement and delight
at this apparition. How had he come? She
put her hand upon his sleeve ; it was scarcely
wet. His dress was splendid ; if he had been
going to a tertullia of the highest class, he
could not have been more richly adorned.
And the storm was yet raging ! It was a
miracle.

" Dear Luis, sit down ! Here is a chair close
to Iza! Tell her your secrets a few minutes,
and I will go for mi madre. O yes ! She will
come ! You shall see, Iza ! And then, Luis,
we shall have some supper."

"You see that I am in heaven already,
Antonia; though, indeed, I am also hungry
and thirsty, my sister."

Antonia was not a minute in reaching hef
mother's room. The unhappy lady was half-
lying among the large pillows of her gilded

A MEETING AT MIDNIGHT. 155

bed, wide awake. Her black eyes were fixed
upon a crucifix at its foot, and she was slowly
murmuring prayers upon her rosary.

"Madre! Madre! Luis is here, Luis is
here! Come quick, mi madre. Here are your
stockings and slippers, and your gown, and
your mantilla — no, no, no, do not call Rachela.
Luis has news of my father, and of Jack! Oh
madre, he has a letter from Jack to you!
Come dear, come, in a few minutes you will be
ready."

She was urging and kissing the trembling
woman, and dressing her in despite of her faint
effort to delay — to call Rachela — to bring Luis
to her room. In ten minutes she was ready.
She went down softly, like a frightened child,
Antonia cheering and encouraging her in
whispers.

When she entered the cheerful parlor the
shadow of a smile flitted over her wan face.
Luis ran to meet her. He drew the couch
close to the hearth; he helped Antonia arrange
her comfortably upon it. He made her tea,
and kissed her hands when he put it into
them. And then Isabel made Luis a cup, and
cut his tamales, and waited upon him with such

156 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

pretty service, that the happy lover thought
he was eating a meal in Paradise.

For a few minutes it had been only this
ordinary gladness of reunion ; but it was
impossible to ignore longer the anxiety in the
eyes that asked him so many questions. He
took two letters from his pockets and gave
them to the Seftora. They were from her
husband and Jack. Her hands trembled ; she
kissed them fervently; and as she placed them
in her breast her tears dropped down upon
them.

Antonia opened the real conversation with
that never-failing wedge, the weather. " You
came through the storm, Luis ? Yet you are
not wet, scarcely? Now then, explain this
miracle."

" I went first to Lopez Navarro's. Do you
not know this festa dress? It is the one
Lopez bought for the feast of St. James. He
lent it to me, for I assure you that my own
clothing was like that of a beggar man. It
was impossible that I could see my angel on
earth in it."

" But in such weather? You can not have
come far to-day ? "

A MEETING AT MIDNIGHT. 157

•'Settorita, there are things which are impos
sible, quite impossible ! That is one of them.
Early this morning the north wind advanced
upon us, sword in hand. It will last fifty
hours, and we shall know something more
about it before they are over. Very well, but
it was also absolutely necessary that some one
should reach San Antonio to-night ; and I was
so happy as to persuade General Burleson to
send me. The Holy Lady has given me my
reward."

" Have you seen the Seftor Doctor lately,
Luis," asked the Sefiora.

" I left him at nightfall."

" At nightfall ! But that is impossible ! "

" It is true. The army of the Americans
is but a few miles from San Antonio."

" Grace of God ! Luis ! "

"As you say, Sefiora. It is the grace of
God. Did you not know?"

" We know nothing but what Fray Igna
tius tells us — that the Americans have been
everywhere pulling down churches, and grant
ing martyrdom to the priests, and that every
where miraculous retributions have pursued
them."

IS8 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

" Was Gonzales a retribution ? The Seftor
Doctor came to us while we were there. God
be blessed ; but he startled us like the rattle of
rifle-shots in the midnight ! ' Why were you
not at Goliad ? ' he cried. ' There were three
hundred stand of arms there, and cannon^ and
plenty of provisions. Why were they not
yours?' You would have thought, Seftora, he
had been a soldier all his life. The men
canght fire when he came near them, and we
went to Goliad like eagles flying for their
prey. We took the town, and the garrison,
and all the arms and military stores. I will
tell you something that came to pass there.
At midnight, as I and Jack stood with the
Sefior Doctor by the camp-fire, a stranger rode
up to us. It was Colonel Milam. He was fly
ing from a Mexican prison and had not heard
of the revolt of the Americans. He made the
camp ring with his shout of delight. He was
impatient for the morning. He was the first
man that entered the garrison. Bravissimo l
What a soldier is he!"

" I remember ! I remember ! " cried the
Senora. " Mi Roberto brought him here ones,
So splendid a man I never saw before. So tall,

A MEETING AT MIDNIGHT. 159

so handsome, so gallant, so like a hero. He is
an American from — well, then, I have forgotten
the place."

" From Kentucky. He fought with the
Mexicans when they were fighting for their
liberty ; but when they wanted a king and a
dictator he resigned his commission and was
thrown into prison. He has a long bill against
Santa Anna."

" We must not forget, Luis," said the Sefiora
with a little flash of her old temper, "that
Santa Anna represents to good Catholics the
triumph of holy Church."

Luis devoutly crossed himself. " I am
her dutiful son, I assure you, Sefiora — always."

A warning glance from Antonia changed the
conversation. There was plenty to tell which
touched them mainly on the side of the family,
and the Sefiora listened, with pride which she
could not conceal, to the exploits of her hus^
band and sons, though she did not permit her
self to confess the feeling. And her heart
softened to her children. Without acknowl
edging the tie between Isabel and Luis, she
permitted or was oblivious to the favors it
allowed.

«6o REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

Certainly many little formalities could be dis«
pensed with, in a meeting so unexpected and
so eventful. When the pleasant impromptu
meal was over, even the Senora had eaten and
drunk with enjoyment. Then Luis set the
table behind them, and they drew closer to the
fire, Luis holding Isabel's hand, and Antonia
her mother's. The Senora took a cigarette
from Luis, and Isabel sometimes put that of
Luis between her rosy lips. At the dark, cold
midnight they found an hour or two of sweet
est consolation. It was indeed hard to weary
these three heart-starved women ; they asked
question after question, and when any brought
out the comical side of camp life they forget
their pleasure was almost a clandestine one,
and laughed outright.

In the very midst of such a laugh, Rachela
entered the room. She stood in speechless
amazement, gazing with a dark, malicious face
upon the happy group. " Senorita Isabel ! "
she screamed ; " but this is abominable ! At
the midnight also ! Who could have believed
in such wickedness ? Grace of Mary, it is
inconceivable ! "

She laid her hand roughly on Isabel's shoul-

A MEETING AT MIDNIGHT. 161

der, and Luis removed it with as little courtesy.
" You were not called," he said, with the
haughty insolence of a Mexican noble to a
servant — " Depart."

" My Settora ! Listen ! You yourself also —
you will die. You that are really weak — so
broken-hearted — "

Then a miracle occurred. The Seftora
threw off the nightmare of selfish sorrow and
spiritual sentimentality which had held her in
bondage. She took the cigarito from her lips
with a scornful air, and repeated the words of
Luis :

11 You were not called. Depart."

"The Sefiorita Isabel?"

" Is in my care. Her mother's care! do you
understand ?"

" My Seftora, Fray Ignatius — "

" Saints in heaven ! But this is intolera
ble ! Go."

Then Rachela closed the door with a clang
which echoed through the house. And say as
we will, the malice of the wicked is never quite
futile. It was impossible after this interrup
tion to recall the happy spirit dismissed by it ;
and Rachela had the consolation, as she mut-

1 62 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

tered beside the fire in the Sefiora's room.
this conviction. So that when she heard
the party breaking up half an hour after
wards, she complimented herself upon her
influence.

" Will Jack come and see me soon, and the
Seftor Doctor?" questioned the Seftora, anx
iously, as she held the hand of Luis in parting.

" Jack is on a secret message to General
Houston. His return advices will find us, I
trust, in San Antonio. But until we have
taken the city, no American can safely enter
it. For this reason, when it was necessary to
give Lopez Navarro certain instructions, I
volunteered to bring them. By the Virgin of
Guadalupe ! I have had my reward," he said,
lifting the Senora's hand and kissing it.

" But, then, even you are in danger."

" Si ! If I am discovered ; but, blessed be
the hand of God ! Luis Alveda knows where
he is going, and how to get there."

" I have heard," said the Senora in a hushed
voice, " that there are to be no prisoners.
That is Santa Anna's order."

" I heard it twenty days ago, and am still
suffocating over it."

A MEETING AT MIDNIGHT. 163

"Ah, Luis, you do not know the man yet \ I
heard Fray Ignatius say that."

" We know him well ; and also what he is
capable of "; and Luis plucked his mustache
fiercely, as he bowed a silent farewell to the
ladies.

" Holy Maria ! How brave he is ! " said
Isabel, with a flash of pride that conquered her
desire to weep. " How brave he is ! Certainly,
if he meets Santa Anna, he will kill him."

They went very quietly up-stairs. The Sefiora
tvas anticipating the interview she expected
with Rachela, and, perhaps wisely, she isolated
herself in an atmosphere of sullen and haughty
silence. She would accept nothing from her,
not even sympathy or flattery ; and, in a curt
dismission, managed to make her feel the im
measurable distance between a high-born lady
of the house of Flores, and a poor manola
that she had taken from the streets of Madrid.
Rachela knew the Sefiora was thinking of this
circumstance ; the thought was in her voice,
and it cowed and snubbed the woman, her
Mature being essentially as low as her birth.

As for the Sefiora, the experience did her a
Hrorld of good. She waited upon herself as a
princess mieht condescend to minister to her

104 KEMEMBKK THE At AMU.

own wants — loftily, with a smile at her own
complaisance. The very knowledge that her
husband was near at hand inspired her with
courage. She went to sleep assuring herself
" that not even Fray Ignatius should again
speak evil of her beloved, who never thought
of her except with a loyal affection." For in
married life, the wife can sin against love as
well as fidelity ; and she thought with a sob of
the cowardice which had permitted Fray
Ignatius to call her dear one "rebel and
heretic."

11 Santa Dios ! " she said in a passionate
whisper ; " it is not a mortal sin to think differ
ently from Santa Anna " — and then more
tenderly — " those who love each other are of
the same faith."

And if Fray Ignatius had seen at that
moment the savage whiteness of her small
teeth behind the petulant pout of her parted
lips, he might have understood that this
woman of small intelligence had also the un
reasoning partisanship and the implacable
sense of anger which generally accompanies
small intelligence, and which indicates a nature
governed by feeling, and utterly irresponsive
to reasoning which feeling does not endorse.

CHAPTER VIII.

MOTHER AND PRIEST.

"witness.

When the dark-stoled priestly crew,
Came swift trooping where the trumpet
Of foul Santa Anna blew."

******
" Rouse thee, Wrath, and be a giant ;
People's Will, that hath been pliant,

Long, too long ;

Up, and snap the rusty chaining,
Brittle bond for thy restraining,
Know the hour, the weak are reigning

Thou art strong.

******
" Rise and right the wrongs of ages ;
Balance Time's unequal pages

With the sword."

IT was nearly two o'clock when Don Luis
mounted his horse and left the Worth
residencia. The storm still raged, the night
was dark, the cold intense, but the home of
Lopez Navarro was scarce a quarter of a mile
away ; and he found him waiting his return.

"You have still an hour, Luis. Come in
and sit with me."

\66 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

" As you say ; and I wish to show you that
I am capable of a great thing. You do not
believe me? Well, then give me again my own
clothes. I will resign these."

" You are most welcome to them, Luis."

" But no ; I am in earnest. The fight is at
hand — they are too fine."

" Yes, but I will tell you — I can say anything
to you — there is to be a grand day for free
dom ; well, then, for a festa one puts on the
best that is to be got. I will even lend you
my Cross of Saint James, if you wish. A
young hero should be dressed like a hero.
Honor my poor clothes so far as to wear them
in the fight."

"Thank you, Lopez. I will not disgrace
them "; and he bent forward and looked into
his friend's eyes. His glance prolonged his
words — went further than speech — went where
speech could not reach.

" Listen to me, Luis. As a matter of pre.
cision, where now are the Americans ? "

"At the mission of Espada."

"La Espada? — the sword — the name is
ominous."

" Of success, Lopez."

MOTHER AND PRIEST. 167

"Is Houston, then, with you?"

" Until a few days ago. He and General
Austin have gone to San Felipe."

"For what? Is not San Antonio the most
important point?"

" It was decided by the vote of the army to
send them there to frame a provisional gov
ernment. There are plenty of fighters with us,
but not one statesman but Houston. And
now it is necessary that we should have legal
authority to obtain loans, maintain the army in
the field, and many other such things vital to
our cause. Austin is to go to the United
States. He will bring back men and money.
Houston must draw up our declaration and
manifestoes ; direct the civil government ; for.
ward troops ; and, in fact, set a new government
in motion."

" He is the loadstone in the bosom ! * I
wonder that the Americans permitted that he
should leave them."

" He, and he only, was the man to go. Ere
he left, he said some strange words. I shall
not, as a Mexican, forget them. In the midst

* The loadstone in the bosom is a charm against evil;
the bringer of good fortune.

1 68 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

of the men he stood like a god, with his great
stature, and his bright, strong face. One can
not think of him as of a common mortal. In
deed, I will confess that I could only compare
him with the Efreet in the Arabian tale,
' whose nostrils were like trumpets, his eyes
like lamps, and who had dishevelled, dust-
colored hair

" Butj to proceed ; what were the strange
words?"

"Thus he spoke, and his voice rang out like
a clarion :

" ' You will fight as men fight for their homes,
and their wives, and their children, but also —
remember this — the idea of Texas is in the
American heart ! Two generations they have
carried it there ! It is your destiny to make
the idea a fact ! As far back as eighteen nine
teen, Adams wanted Texas. When Adams
became president, he told Poinsett to offer
Mexico a million of dollars for Texas. Clay
would have voted three millions. Van Buren,
in eighteen twenty-nine, told Poinsett to offer
five millions for Texas. I went to Washing
ton that year, and proposed to revolutionize
Texas. I declare to you that the highest

MOTHER AND PRIEST. 169

men in the land were of my mind. Only
last July President Jackson offered an addi
tional half million dollars for the Rio Grande
boundary; and Mr. Secretary Forsyth said,
justly or unjustly, by hook, or by crook, Texas
must become part of our country. We have
been longing for it for fifty years ! Now, then,
brothers-in-arms ! ' he cried, ' You are here
for your homes and your freedom ; but, more
than that, you are here for your country!
Remember the thousands of Americans who
have slipped out of history and out of memory,
who have bought this land with their blood !
We have held a grip on Texas for fifty years.
By the soul of every American who has per
ished here, I charge you, No Surrender!'

" You should have heard the shout that an
swered the charge. Jesu, Maria! It made my
heart leap to my bosom. And ever since, the
two words have filled the air. You could see
men catching them on their lips. They are in
their eyes, and their walk. Their hands say
them. The up-toss of their heads says them.
When they go into battle they will see Houston
in front of them, and hear him call back ' No
surrender ! ' Mexico cannot hold Texas against

17° REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

such a determined purpose, carried out by such
determined men."

Lopez did not answer. He was a melan
choly, well-read man, who had travelled, and
to whom the idea of liberty was a passion. But
the feeling of race was also strong in him, and
he could not help regretting that liberty
must come to Texas through an alien people —
"heretics, too" — he muttered, carrying the
thought out aloud. It brought others equally
living to him, and he asked, " Where, then, is
Doctor Worth?"

" At Espada. The army wished him to go to
San Felipe with Houston, but he declined. And
we want him most of all, both as a fighter and a
physician. His son Thomas went in his place."

" I know not Thomas."

" Indeed, very few know him. He is one
that seldom speaks. But his rifle has its word
always ready."

"And Jack?"

" Jack also went to San Felipe. He is to
bring back the first despatches. Jack is the
darling of the camp. Ah, what a happy soui
he has! One would think that it had just come
from heaven, or was just going there."

MOTHER AND PRIEST. 17 1

" Did you see Seftorita Antonia to-night ? "
" Si ! She is a blessing to the eyesight. So
brave a young girl, so sweet, so wise ; she is 3
miracle ! If I loved not Isabel with my whole
soul, I would kneel at Antonia's feet."
" That is where I also would kneel.'*
" Hark ! how the wind roars, and how the
rain thrashes the house ! But our men have
the shelter of one of the Panchos. You should
have heard the padre threaten them with the
anger of heaven and hell and General Cos.
Good-bye, Lopez. I have stayed my last mo
ment now."

"Your horse has been well fed. Listen, he
is neighing for you ; to Doctor Worth give my
honorable regards. Is Sefior Parades with you ?
and Perez Mexia ? Say to them I keep the
vow I made in their behalf. Farewell, Luis!"
and Luis, who had been mounting as his friend
talked, stooped from his saddle and kissed
him.

It was just dawn when he reached camp, and
he found Doctor Worth waiting his arrival.
Fortunately there was nothing but good news
for the doctor. Luis had seen everything
through the medium of his own happiness, and

I?2 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

he described the midnight meal and the Se.
flora's amiability with the utmost freedom from
anything unpleasant. Rachela's interference
he treated with scornful indifference ; and yet
it affected Worth's mind unpleasantly. For it
went straight to the source of offence. " She
must have had Fray Ignatius behind her. And
my poor Maria, she will be as dough for them
to knead as they desire to ! "

And, in fact, as he was thus thinking, the
Seftora was lying awake in her bed, anticipating
her confessor's next visit. She was almost glad
the norther was still blowing. It would give
her another day's respite ; and ".so many things
happen as the clock goes round," she reflected.
Perhaps even her Roberto might arrive ; it
would not be more wonderful than the visit of
Luis Alveda.

But very early in the day she saw the father
hurrying up the oleander avenue. The wind
tossed his gown, and blew his hat backward
and sideways, and compelled him to make un
dignified haste. And such little things affect
the mental poise and mood ! The Senora
smiled at the funny figure he made ; and with
the smile came a feeling of resistance to his

MOTHER AND PRIESJ\ 173

tyranny, and a stubborn determination to de
fend her own conduct.

He came into her room with a doleful coun
tenance, saying, as he crossed himself, "God be
here ! "

"And with you, father," answered the
Sefiora, cheerfully — a mood she had assumed
at the last moment, by a kind of instinct.

"There is evil news on every hand my
daughter. The heretics are swarming like
wolves around the Missions. Several of our
holy brothers have endured the last extremity.
These wolves will even enter the city, and you
will be in danger. I have come to take^you to
the convent. There, Holy Mary will be your
safety."

" But these wolves might attack the convent,
father!"

" Our Blessed Lady is stronger than they.
She has always kept her own."

" Blessed be the hand of God and Mary ! I
will trust in them. Ah, Antonia! Listen to
Fray Ignatius ! He says we must go to the
convent — the heretics are coming. They have
even slain some priests at the Mission."

" Fray Ignatius has been misinformed, dear

174 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

mother, When a man wears a gown and has
no arms Americans do not molest him. That
is certain. As for the convent it is impossible.
My father forbade it. If the Americans enter
the city, he is with them. He will protect us,
if we should need it, which is not likely."

" Disobedient one ! "

" Pardon. I wish only to obey the com
mands of my father."

" I absolve you from them."

" They are between God and my soul. There
is no absolution from duty."

''Grace of God ! Hear you, Seftora ! Hear
you the rebellious and disobedient one! She
has defied me to my face ! She is near to
being anathema ! She is not your daughter!
She is bewitched. Some evil spirit has posses
sion of her. Let no one touch her or speak to
her ; it shall be a mortal sin."

Antonia fell at her mother's knee. " Mi
madre ! I am your daughter, your Antonia,
that you carried in your breast, and that loves
you better than life. Permit me not to be ac
cused of sin — to be called a devil. Mother,
speak for me."

At this moment Isabel entered. Seeing the

MOTHER AND PRIEST. 175

distress of her mother and sister she hastened
to them ; but Fray Ignatius stepped between,
and extending his arms forbade her nearer
approach.

" I forbid you to speak to your sister. I for-
bid you to touch her, to give her food, or
water, or sympathy, until she has humbled her-
self, and obtained the forgiveness of her sin."

Then mother love stood up triumphant over
superstition. " I and my daughter are the
same," said the Seftora, and she gave her hand
to Antonia. " If she has sinned, we will bear
the penance together ; she and I together."

" I command you to stand apart. For the
good of Antonia's sinful soul, I command you
to withdraw yourself from her."

" She is my daughter, father. I will bear
the sin and the punishment with her. The
Holy Mother will understand me. To her I
will go."

The door of her room was at hand ; she
stepped swiftly to it, and putting her daughters
before her, passed in and turned the key.

The movement took the priest by surprise,
and yet he was secretly satisfied with it. He
had permitted himself to act with an impru-

1 76 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

dence most unusual. He had allowed the
Settora to find out her own moral strength,
and made a situation for her in which she had
acted not only without his support, but against
his authority.

" And yet," he muttered, " so much depends
upon my persuading her into the convent ; how
ever, nothing now is to be done to-day, except to
see Rachela. Saint Joseph ! if these American
heretics were only in my power! What a long
joy I would make of them ! I would cut a
throat — just one throat — every day of my life."

The hatred which could contemplate a ven
geance so long drawn out was on his dark
face ; yet, it is but justice to say, that he sin
cerely believed it to be a holy hatred. The
foes of the church, he regarded as the foes of
God ; and his anger as a just zeal for the honor
of the Lord of Hosts. Beside which, it in
cluded a far more tangible cause.

The accumulated treasures of the Missions ;
their gold and gems, their costly vestments
and holy vessels, had been removed to the
convent for safety. " These infidels of Ameri
cans give to women the honor they should
give to God and Holy Church," he said to his

MOTHER AND PRIEST. 177

brethren. " They will not suffer the Sisters to
be molested ; and our wealth will be safe
wherever they are."

But this wealth was really so immense, that
he believed it might be well to secure it still
further, and knowing the position Dr. Worth
held among his countrymen, he resolved to
induce his wife and daughters to seek refuge
within the convent. They were, in fact, to be
held as hostages, for the protection of the
property of the Church.

That he should fail in his plan was intoler
able to him. He had been so confident of suc
cess. He imagined the smile on the face of
Fray Sarapiam, and the warning against self-
confidence he would receive from his superior;
and he vowed by Saint Joseph that he would
not suffer himself to be so mortified by three
women.

Had he seen the Seftora after the first ex
citement of her rebellion was over, he would
have been satisfied of the validity of his au
thority, at least as regarded her. She flung
herself at the foot of her altar, weeping and
beating her breast in a passion of self-accusa
tion and contrition. Certainly, she had stood

17s REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

by her daughter in the presence of the priest ;
but in her room she withdrew herself from the
poor girl as if she were a spiritual leper.

Antonia at a distance watched the self-abase
ment of her mother. She could not weep, but
she was white as clay, and her heart was swol
len with a sense of wrong and injustice, until
breathing was almost suffocation. She looked
with a piteous entreaty at Isabel. Her little
sister had taken a seat at the extremity of the
room away from her. She watched Antonia
with eyes full of terror. But there was no
sympathy in her face, only an uncertainty
which seemed to speak to her — to touch her —
and her mother was broken-hearted with shame
and grief.

The anxiety was also a dumb one. Until
the Seftora rose from her knees, there was not
a movement made, not a word uttered. The
girls waited shivering with cold, sick with fear,
until she spoke. Even then her words were
cold as the wind outside :

" Go to your room, Antonia. You have not
only sinned ; you have made me sin also.
Alas! Alas! Miserable mother! Holy Maria!
pray for me.n

MOTHER AND PRIEST. 179

" Mi madre, I am innocent of wrong. I have
committed no sin. Is it a sin to obey my
father ? Isabel, darling, speak for me."

" But, then, what have you done, Antonia?"

" Fray Ignatius wants us to go to the con
vent. I refused. My father made me promise
to do so. Is not our first duty to our father?
Mother, is it not ?

" No, no ; to God — and to Fray Ignatius, as
the priest of God. He says we ought to go to
the convent. He knows best. We have been
disobedient and wicked."

" Isabel, speak, my dear one. Tell mi madre
if you think we should go."

There was a moment's wavering, and then
Isabel went to her mother and caressed her as
only Isabel could caress her, and with the
kisses, she said boldly: " Mi madre, we will not
go to the convent. Not any of us. It is a
dreadful place, even for a happy child. Oh,
how cold and still are the Sisters ! They are
like stone figures that move about."

" Hush, child ! I cannot listen to you ! Go
away! I must be alone. I must think. I
must pray. Only the Mother of Sorrows can
help me."

I So REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

It was a miserable sequence to the happy
night, and Antonia was really terrified at the
position in which she found herself. If the
Americans should fall, nothing but flight, or
uncompromising submission to Fray Ignatius,
remained for her. She knew only too well
how miserable her life could be made ; what
moral torture could be inflicted ; what spiritual
servitude exacted. In a moment of time she had
comprehended her danger, and her heart sank
and sickened with a genuine physical terror.

The cold was still severe, and no one an-
swered her call for wood. Isabel crouched,
white and shivering, over the dying embers,
and it was she who first uttered the fear
Antonia had refused to admit to herself —
" Suppose the servants are forbidden to wait
upon us ! "

" I will bring wood myself, dearest." She
was greatly comforted by the word " us." She
could almost have wept for joy of the sym
pathy it included. For thought is rapid in such
crucial moments, and she had decided that
even flight with her would be a kinder fate
for Isabel, than the cruel tender mercies of the
Sisters and the convent.

MOTHER AND PRIEST. 181

They could not talk much. The thought of
their mother's anguish, and of the separation
put between them and their household, shocked
and terrified them. Vainly they called for
fuel. At dinner time no table was laid, and
no preparations made for the meal. Then
Antonia went into the kitchen. She took
with her food, and cooked it, She brought
wood into the parlor, and made up the fire.
Fortunately, her northern education had given
her plenty of resources for such emergencies.
Two or three savory dishes were soon ready, and
the small table set upon a warm, bright hearth.

The Sefiora had evidently not been included
in the ban, for Rachela attended with ostenta
tious care to her comfort ; but Isabel had
rolled herself up in a wadded silk coverlet and
gone to sleep. Antonia awakened her with a
kiss. " Come, queridita, and get your dinner."

" But is it possible ? I thought Fray Ignatius
had forbidden it."

" He cannot forbid me to wait upon you,
my darling one. And he cannot turn the flour
into dust, and the meat into stone. There is
a good dinner ready; and you are hungry, no
doubt."

I 2 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

"For three hours I have been faint. Ah!
you have made me a custard also ! You are a
very comforter."

But the girl was still and sad, and Antonia
was hard pressed to find any real comfort for
her. For she knew that their only hope lay in
the immediate attack of the American force,
and its success ; and she did not think it wise
to hide from her sister the alternatives that
lay before them if the Americans failed.

" I am afraid, " said Isabel ; " and so un
happy. A very sad business is life. I cannot
think how any one can care to live."

" Remember Luis, and our father, and Jack,
and Thomas, and our dear mother, who this
morning stood between us and Fray Ignatius.
Will you let this priest turn the sky black
above you ? "

" And also, men will fight. What for ? Who
can tell? The Americans want so much of
everything. Naturally they do not get all
they want. What do they do ? Fight, and
get killed. Then they go into the next world,
and complain of people. As for Luis, I do not
expect to see him again."

Fortunately, the norther moderated at

MOl^HER AND PRIEST. 183

sunset. Life then seemed so much more
possible. Adverse elements intensify adverse
fortune, and the physical suffering from the
cold had also benumbed Antonia's spirits, and
made her less hopeful and less clear-visioned.
But when she awoke at the gray dawn of the
next day, she awoke with a different spirit.
She had regained herself. She rose quietly,
and looked out towards the city. The black
flag from the Alamo and the Missions hung
above it. She looked at the ominous standards,
and then the tears sprang to her eyes ; she
lifted her face and her hands to heaven, and a
few words, swifter than light, sprang from her
soul into the ear of the Eternal Father of Spirits.

The answer came with the petition — came
with the crack of rifle-shots ; precise, regular,
unceasing.

"Oh God! I thank Thee! Lord of Hosts,
Thou art a great multitude ! Isabel ! Isabel I
The Americans are attacking the city ! Our
father will fight his way back to his home !
Fray Ignatius can not come to-day. Oh, I am
so happy! So happy! Listen! How the
Mexicans are shouting ! They are cheering
on the men ! What a turmoil ! "

1*4 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

" Jesu, Maria, have mercy ! " cried Isabel,
clasping her crucifix and falling upon her
knees.

" Oh, Isabel, pray for our father, that his
angel may overshadow him with strong wings."

-And Luis?"

"And Luis, and Thomas, and Jack, and
Dare. There are prayers for them all, and
love enough to make them. Hark ! there are
the drums, and the trumpets, and the gallop
of the cavalry. Come, dearest, let us go to our
mother. To-day, no one will remember Fray
Ignatius."

CHAPTER IX.

THE STORMING OF THE ALAMO.

" Now, hearts,

Be ribbed with iron for this one attempt :
Set ope' your sluices, send the vigorous blood
Through every active limb for our relief."

** Now they begin the tragic play,
And with their smoky cannon banish day."

" Endure and conquer. God will soon dispose
To future good our past and present woes:
Resume your courage, and dismiss your care ;
An hour will come with pleasure to relate
Your sorrows past, as benefits of Fate."

THE Senora was already dressed. She
turned with a face full of fear and anger
to her daughters as they entered her room —

" These American diablos ! They are at
tacking the city. They will take it — that is to
be expected — who can fight diablos ? And
what is to become of us ? Oh, Antonia ! Why
did you prevent Fray Ignatius? We might
now have been safe in the convent " and
185

1 86 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

Rachela nodded her head in assent, with an
insufferable air of reproof and toleration.

Antonia saw that the time had not yet come
for pleading her own cause. She left Isabel
with her mother. The Senora's breakfast was
waiting, and she offered to share it with her
youngest daughter. Antonia went downstairs
to prepare for herself some coffee. She was
surprised and pleased to find it made. For a
certain thought had come to Molly in the
night and she had acted upon it —

" The praist is a strange praist, and almost
as black as a nagur ; and I'd be a poor body, I
think, to let him be meddling wid my work.
Shure, I never heard of the like of such inter
fering in Ireland, nor in the States at all ! "
Then turning to the Mexican cook, Manuel —
" You may lave the fire alone till I bees done
wid it."

" Fray Ignatius will not give you absolution
if you disobey him."

" He can be kaping the same then. There
is an Irish praist at San Patricio, and I'll be
going there for my absolution ; and I'll be get
ting none any nearer that an Irish soul will be
a pin the better for. I'll say that, standing in

THE STORMING OF THE ALAMO. 187

the church, to the saints themselves ; and so
be aff wid you and let the fire alone till I bees
done wid it."

But it was not Molly's place to serve the
food she cooked, and she did not trouble her
self about the serving. When she had asserted
her right to control her own work, and do it or
neglect it as it seemed good to herself alone,
she was satisfied. Over Antonia — who was at
least half a Mexican — she acknowledged a
Mexican priest to have authority ; and she had
no intention of interfering between Fray Igna
tius and his lawful flock. She was smoking her
pipe by the fire when Antonia entered the
kitchen, and she neither lifted her eyes nor
spoke to her.

Against such unreasonable isolation Anto
nia could not help a feeling of anger ; and she
heard with satisfaction the regular crack of the
rifles. Her thought was — " They will make
these people find their tongues also, very soon."
She was exceedingly anxious for information ;
and, as she ate her roll and drank her coffee,
she was considering how they could gain it.
For even if Fray Ignatius were able to visit
them, his report would be colored by his prej-

1 88 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

udices and his desires, and could not be relied
on.

Her heart fluttered and sank ; she was hot
and cold, sanguine and fearful. She could
not endure the idea of a suspense unrelieved
by any reliable word. For the siege might be
a long one. San Antonio was strongly walled
and defended. The Alamo fortress stood in
its centre. It had forty-eight cannon, and a
garrison of a thousand men. Before it could
be reached, the city had to be taken ; and the
inhabitants would in the main fight desperately
for their homes.

As soon as she was alone with her mother,
she pointed out these facts to her. " Let me
write to Lopez Navarro, mi madre. He is a
friend."

" Of the Americans ! Si."

" Of freedom. He will send us word."

" Are you forgetful of what is moral and
respectable, Antonia ? That a young lady
should write to Lopez Navarro — a man that
is unmarried — is such a thing as never before
happened ! He would think the world had
come to an end, or worse."

" Dear mother! In a time of trouble like

THE STORMING OF THE ALAMO. 189

fiis, who would think wrong of us? Surely
you might write."

" As you say, Antonia. Tell me, then, who
will take the letter."

"The peon Ortiz will take it. This morn
ing he brought in wood and kindled the fire,
and I saw in his face the kindness of his
heart."

After some further persuasion, the Sefiora
agreed to write ; and Ortiz undertook the com
mission, with a nod of understanding. Then
there remained nothing to be done but to
listen and to watch. Fortunately, however,
Rachela found the centre of interest among
the servants in the kitchen ; and the Sefiora and
her daughter could converse without espionage.

Just after sunset a letter arrived from Nav-
arro. Rachela lingered in the room to learn its
contents. But the Sefiora, having read them*
passed the letter to Antonia and Isabel ; and
Rachela saw with anger that Antonia, having
carefully considered it, threw it into the
fire. And yet the news it brought was not
unfavorable:

" SE&ORA MARIA FLORES WORTH :

" I send this on December the fifth, in the

190 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

year of our Blessed Lord and Lady 1835. It
is my honor and pleasure to tell you that the
Americans, having performed miracles of valor,
reached the Plaza this afternoon. Here the
main body of the Mexican troops received
them, and there has been severe fighting. At
sunset, the Mexicans retreated within the
Alamo. The Texans have taken possession of
the Veramendi House, and the portion of the
city surrounding it. There has been a great
slaughter of our poor countrymen. I charge
myself whenever I pass the Plaza, to say a pater
noster forthe souls who fell there. Seflora Ma
ria Flores Worth, I kiss your hands. I kiss also
the hands of the Senorita Antonia, and the
hands of the Seftorita Isabel, and I make haste
to sign myself,

"Your servant,

" LOPEZ NAVARRO."

This little confidence between mother and
daughters restored the tone of feeling between
them. They had something to talk of, per
sonal and exclusive. In the fear and uncer
tainty, they forgot priestly interdiction and
clung to each other with that affection which
is the strength of danger and the comforter of
sorrow.

On the following day the depression deep-

THE STORMING OF THE ALAMO. 191

cned. The sounds of battle were closer at
*aand. The Mexican servants had an air of
insolence and triumph. Antonia feared for
the evening's report — if indeed Navarro should
be able to send one. She feared more when
she saw the messenger early in the afternoon.
" Too early is often worse than too late." The
proverb shivered upon her trembling lips as
she took the letter from him. The three
women read it together, with sinking hearts :

" SENORA MARIA FLORES WORTH :

" This on the sixth of December, in the year
of our Blessed Lord and Lady 1835. The
brave, the illustrious Colonel Milam is dead.
I watched him three hours in to-day's fight. A
man so calm was inconceivable. He was smil
ing when the ball struck him — when he fell.
The Texans, after his loss, retired to their
quarters. This was at the hour of eleven.
At the hour of one, the Mexicans made
another sortie from the Alamo. The Texans
rushed to meet them with an incredible ven
geance. Their leader was General Burleson.
He showed himself to General Cos in a sheet of
flame. Such men are not to be fought. Gen
eral Cos was compelled to retire to the Alamo.
The battle is over for to-day. On this earth
the soul has but a mortal sword. The water in

I92 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

the river is red with blood. The Plaza is cov
ered with the dead and the dying. I have the
honor to tell you that these ' miserabies ' are
being attended to by the noble, the charitable
Seftor Doctor Worth. As I write, he is kneel
ing among them. My soul adores his human
ity. I humbly kiss your hands, Seftora, and
the hands of your exalted daughters.

" LOPEZ NAVARRO."

Until midnight this letter furnished the anx-
lous, loving women with an unceasing topic of
interest. The allusion to her husband made
the Seftora weep. She retired to her oratory
and poured out her love and her fears in holy
salutations, in thanksgivings and entreaties.

The next morning there was an ominous lull
in the atmosphere. As men run backward to
take a longer leap forward, so both armies
were taking breath for a fiercer struggle. In
the Worth residencia the suspense was becom
ing hourly harder to endure. The Seftora and
her daughters were hardly conscious of the
home life around them. In that wonderful
folk-speech which so often touches foundation
truths, they were not all there. Their nobler
part had projected itself beyond its limitations.
It was really in the struggle. It mattered

THE STORMING OF THE ALAMO. 193

little to them now whether food was cooked or
not. They were neither hungry nor sleepy.
Existence was prayer and expectation.

Just before sunset Antonia saw Don Lopez
coming through the garden. The Seftora, ac
companied by her daughters, went to meet
him. His face was perplexed and troubled :

" General Cos has been joined by Ugarte-
chea with three hundred men," he said. "You
will see now that the fight will be still more
determined."

And before daylight broke on the morning
of the 8th, the Americans attacked the Alamo.
The black flag waved above them ; the city
itself had the stillness of death; but for hours
the dull roar and the clamorous tumult went
on without cessation. The Senora lay upon
her bed motionless, with hands tightly locked.
She had exhausted feeling, and was passive.
Antonia and Isabel wandered from window to
window, hoping to see some token which
would indicate the course of events.

Nothing was visible but the ferocious flag
flying out above the desperate men fighting
below it. So black! So cruel and defiant it
looked ! It seemed to darken and fill the

194 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

whole atmosphere around it. And though the
poor women had not dared to whisper to each
other what it said to them, they knew in their
own hearts that it meant, if the Americans
failed, the instant and brutal massacre of every
prisoner.

The husband and father were under its in
human shadow. So most probably were Da
rius Grant and Luis Alveda. It was even like
ly that Jack might have returned ere the
fight, and was with the besiegers. Every time
they went to the window, it filled their hearts
with horror.

In the middle of the afternoon it suddenly
disappeared. Antonia watched it breathlessly.
Several times before, it had been dropped by
some American rifle ; but this time it was not
as speedily replaced. In a few minutes she
uttered a shrill cry. It was in a voice so
strained, so piercing, so unlike her own, that
the Sefiora leaped from her bed. Antonia
turned to meet her mother with white, parted
lips. She was speechless with excess of feel
ing, but she pointed to the Alamo. The black
flag was no longer there ! A white one was
flying in its place^.

THE STORMING OF THE ALAMO. 195

" // is a surrender ! " gasped Antonia. " //
is a surrender ! " and, as if in response to her
words, a mighty shout and a simultaneous sa
lute of rifles hailed the emblem of victory.

An hour afterwards a little Mexican boy
came running with all his speed. He brought
a few lines from Don Lopez. They had evi
dently been written in a great hurry, and on a
piece of paper torn from his pocket-book, but
oh ! how welcome they were. The very lack
of formality gave to them a certain hurry of
good fortune :

" May you and yours be God's care for many
years to come, Senora ! The Mexicans have
surrendered the Alamo, and asked for quarter.
These noble-minded Americans have given it.
The Sefior Doctor will bring you good news.
I rejoice with you.

" LOPEZ NAVARRO."

Death and captivity had been turned away
from their home, and the first impulse of these
pious, simple-hearted women was a prayer of
thanksgiving. Then Antonia remembered
the uncomfortable state of the household,
and the probable necessities of the men com-

196 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

ing back from mortal strife and the shadow
of death.

She found that the news had already
changed the domestic atmosphere. Every
servant was attending to his duty. Every one
professed a great joy in the expected arrival
of the Sefior. And what a happy impetus the
hope gave to her own hands ! How delightful
it was to be once more arranging the evening
meal, and brightening the rooms with fire and
light !

Soon after dark they heard the swing of
the garden gate, the tramp of rapid footsteps,
and the high-pitched voices of excited men.
The door was flung wide. The Seftora forgot
that it was cold. She went with outstretched
arms to meet her husband. Dare and Luis
were with him. They were black with the
smoke of battle. Their clothing was torn and
bloodstained ; the awful light of the fierce
struggle was still upon their faces. But they
walked like heroes, and the glory of the deeds
they had done crowned with its humanity,
made them appear to the women that loved
them but a little lower than the angels.

Doctor Worth held his wife close to his

THE STORMING OF THE ALAMO. 197

heart and kissed her tears of joy away, and
murmured upon her lips the tenderest words
a woman ever hears — the words a man never
perfectly learns till he has loved his wife
through a quarter of a century of change, and
sorrow, and anxiety. And what could Anto-
nia give Dare but the embrace, the kiss, the
sweet whispers of love and pride, which were
the spontaneous outcome of both hearts ?

There was a moment's hesitation on the part
of Luis and Isabel. The traditions of caste
and country, the social bonds of centuries,
held them. But Isabel snapped them asunder.
She looked at Luis. His eyes were alight
with love for her, his handsome face was trans
figured with the nobility of the emotions that
possessed him. In spite of his disordered
dress, he was incomparably handsome. When
he said, " Angel mio ! " and bent to kiss her
hand, she lifted her lovely face to his, she put
her arms around his neck, she cried softly on
his breast, whispering sweet little diminutives
of affection and pride. Such hours as fol
lowed are very rare in this life ; and they are
nearly always bought with a great price — paid
for in advance with sorrow and anxiety, or

I98 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

earned by such faithful watching and patient
waiting as touches the very citadel of life.

The men were hungry ; they had eaten noth
ing all day. How delicious was their meal !
How happy and merry it made the Senora,
and Antonia, and Isabel, to see them empty
dish after dish ; to see their unaffected enjoy
ment of the warm room, and bright fire, of
their after-dinner coffee and tobacco. There
was only one drawback to the joy of the re
union — the absence of Jack.

" His disappointment will be greater than
ours," said Jack's father. " To be present at
the freeing of his native city, and to bring his
first laurels to his mother, was the brightest
dream Jack had. But Jack is a fine rider, and
is not a very fine marksman ; so it was decided
to send him with Houston to the Convention.
We expected him back before the attack on
the city began. Indeed, we were waiting for
orders from the Convention to undertake it."

" Then you fought without orders, father ? "

" Well, yes, Antonia — in a way. Delays in
war are as dangerous as in love. We were
surrounded by dragoons, who scoured the
country in every direction to prevent our for-

THE STORMING OF THE ALAMO. 199

aging. San Antonio had to be taken. Soon
done was well done. On the third of December
Colonel Milam stepped in front of the ranks,
and asked if two hundred of the men would go
with him and storm the city. The whole elev
en hundred stepped forward, and gave him their
hands and their word. From them two hun
dred of the finest marksmen were selected."

" I have to say that was a great scene, mi
Roberto."

" The greater for its calmness, I think.
There was no shouting, no hurrahing, no obvi
ous enthusiasm. It was the simple assertion
of serious men determined to carry out their
object."

" And you stormed San Antonio with two
hundred men, father? "

" But every man was a picked man. A Mex
ican could not show his head above the ram
parts and live. We had no powder and ball
to waste ; and I doubt if a single ball missed
its aim."

" A Mexican is like a Highland Scot in one
respect," said D^re ; " he fights best with
steel. They are good cavalry soldiers."

" There are no finef cavalrv- iii the world

200 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

than the horsemen from Santa Fe, Dare. But
with powder and ball 'Mexicans trust entirely
to luck; and luck is nowhere against Ken
tucky sharpshooters. Their balls very seldom
reached us, though we were close to the ram
parts ; and we gathered them up by thou
sands, and sent them back with our double-
Dupont powder. Then they did damage
enough. In fact, we have taken the Alamo
with Mexican balls."

" Under what flag did you fight, Roberto ? "
" Under the Mexican republican flag of
eighteen twenty-four ; but indeed, Maria, I do
not think we had one in the camp. We were
destitute of all the trappings of war — we had
no uniforms, no music, no flags, no positive
military discipline. But we had one heart and
mind, and one object in view; and this four
days' fight has shown what men can do, who
are moved by a single, grand idea."

The Senora lay upon a sofa ; the doctor sat
by her side. Gradually their conversation be
came more low and confidential. They talked
of their sons, and their probable whereabouts ;
of all that the Senora and her daughters had
suffered from the disaffection of the servants ;

THE STORMING OF THE ALAMO. 201

and the attitude taken by Fray Ignatius. And
the doctor noticed, without much surprise,
that his wife's political sympathies were still
in a state of transition and uncertainty. She
could not avoid prophesying the speedy and
frightful vengeance of Mexico. She treated
the success at San Antonio as one of the acci
dents of war. She looked forward to an early
renewal of hostilities.

" My countrymen are known to me, Rob
erto," she said, with a touch that was almost
a hope of vengeance. " They have an insur
mountable honor; they will revenge this insult
to it in some terrible way. If the gracious
Maria holds not the hands of Santa Anna, he
will utterly destroy the Americans ! He will
be like a tiger that has become mad."

" I am not so much afraid of Santa Anna as
of Fray Ignatius. Promise me, my dear Maria,
that you will not suffer yourself or your chil
dren to be decoyed by him into a convent. I
should never see you again."

The discussion on this subject was long and
eager. Antonia, talking with Dare a little
apart, could not help hearing it and feeling
great interest in her father's entreaties, even

202 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

though she was discussing with Dare the plans
for their future. For Dare had much to tell
his betrothed. During the siege, the doctor
had discovered that his intended son-in-law
was a fine surgeon. Dare had, with great
delicacy, been quite reticent on this subject,
until circumstances made his assistance a
matter of life and death ; and the doctor
understood and appreciated the young man's
silence.

" He thinks I might have a touch of pro
fessional jealousy — he thinks I might suspect
him of wanting a partnership as well as a wife ;
he wishes to take his full share of the dangers
of war, without getting behind the shield of
his profession " ; these feelings the doctor
understood, and he passed from Fray Ignatius
to this pleasanter topic, gladly.

He told the Seftora what a noble son they
were going to have ; he said, " when the war
is over, Maria, my dear, he shall marry An-
tonia."

" And what do you say, Roberto, if I should
give them the fine house on the Plaza that my
brother Perfecto left me ? "

" If you do that you will be the best mother

THE STORMING OF THE ALAMO. 203

in the world, Maria. I then will take Dare
into partnership. He is good and clever ; and
I am a little weary of work. I shall enjoy
coming home earlier to you. We will go
riding and walking, and our courting days will
begin again."

" Maria Santissima! How delightful that
will be, Roberto ! And as for our Isabel, shall
we not make her happy also? Luis should
have done as his own family have done ; a
young man to go against his mother and his
uncles, that is very wicked ! but, if we forgive
that fault, well, then, Luis is as good as good
bread."

" I think so. He began the study of the
law. He must finish it. He must learn the
American laws also. I am not a poor man,
Maria. I will give Isabel the fortune worthy
of a Yturbide or a Flores — a fortune that will
make her very welcome to the Alvedas."

The Seftora clasped her husband's hand with
a smile. They were sweetening their own
happiness with making the happiness of their
children. They looked first at Antonia. She
sat with Dare, earnestly talking to him in a low
voice. Dare clasped in his own the dear little

204 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

hand that had been promised to him. Antonia
bent toward her lover ; her fair head rested
against his shoulder. Isabel sat in a large
'chair, and Luis leaned on the back of it, stoop
ing his bright face to the lovely one which was
sometimes dropped to hide her blushes, and
sometimes lifted with flashing eyes to-answer
his tender words.

" My happiness is so great, Roberto, I am
even tired of being happy. Call Rachela. I
must go to sleep. To-night I cannot even say
an ave."

" God hears the unspoken prayer in your
heart, Maria ; and to-night let me help you up-
stairs. My arm is stronger than Rachela's."

She rose with a little affectation of greater
weakness and lassitude than she really felt.
But she wished to be weak, so that her Ro
berto might be strong — to be quite dependent
on his care and tenderness And she let her
daughters embrace her so prettily, and then
offered her hand to Dare and Luis with so
much grace and true kindness that both
young men were enchanted.

" It is to be seen that they are gentlemen,"
she said, as she went slowly upstairs on her

THE STORMING OF THE ALAMO. 205

husband's arm — " and hark ! that is the sing,
ing of Luis. What is it he says?" They
stood still to listen. Clear and sweet were the
chords of the mandolin, and melodiously to
them Luis was protesting —

" Freedom shall have our shining blades !
Our hearts are yours, fair Texan maids I "'

CHAPTER X.

THE DOCTOR AND THE PRIEST.

*' I tell thee, priest, if the world were wise
They would not wag one finger in your quarrels :
Your heaven you promise, but our earth you covet ;
The Phaetons of mankind, who fire the world
Which you were sent by preaching but to warm."

Your Saviour came not with a gaudy show,
Nor was His kingdom of the world below :
The crown He wore was of the pointed thorn ,
In purple He was crucified, not born.
They who contend for place and high degree
Are not His sons, but those of Zebedee. "

— DRYDEN.

THE exalted state of mind which the
victorious men had brought home with
them did not vanish with sleep. The same
heroic atmosphere was in the house in the
morning. Antonia's face had a brightness
upon it that never yet was the result of mere
flesh and blood. When she came into the
usual sitting-room, Dare was already there ;
indeed, he had risen purposely for this hour.
Their smiles and glances met each other with
206

THE DOCTOR AND THE PRIEST. 207

an instantaneous understanding. It was the
old Greek greeting " Rejoice ! " without the
audible expression.

Never again, perhaps, in all their lives would
moments so full of sweetness and splendor come
to them. They were all the sweeter because
blended with the homely duties that fell to
Antonia's hands. As she went about ordering
the breakfast, and giving to the table a festal
air, Dare thought of the old Homeric heroes,
and the daughters of the kings who ministered
to their wants. The bravest of them had
done no greater deeds of personal valor than
had been done by the little band of American
pioneers and hunters with whom he had
fought the last four days. The princes among
them had been welcomed by no sweeter and
fairer women than had welcomed his com
panions and himself.

And, though his clothing was black with the
smoke of the battle and torn with the fray,
never had Dare himself looked so handsome.
There was an unspeakable radiance in his
fair face. The close, brown curls of his hair ;
his tall figure, supple and strong ; his air
of youth, and valor, and victory ; the love-light

208 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

in his eyes ; the hopes in his heart, made him
for the time really more than a mere mortal
man. He walked like the demi-gods he was
thinking of. The most glorious ideal of life,
the brightest dream of love that he had ever
had, found in this hour their complete real
ization.

The Seflora did not come down ; but Isabel
and Luis and the doctor joined the breakfast
party. Luis had evidently been to see Lopez
Navarro before he did so ; for he wore a new
suit of dark blue velvet and silver, a sash of
crimson silk, the neatest of patent leather
shoes, and the most beautifully embroidered
linen. Dare gave him a little smile and nod of
approbation. He had not thought of fine
clothing for himself ; but then for the hand-
some, elegant, Mexican youth it seemed
precisely the right thing. And Isabel, in her
scarlet satin petticoat, and white embroideries
and satin slippers, looked his proper mate.
Dare and Antonia, and even the doctor,
watched their almost childlike devotion to
each other with sympathetic delight.

Oh, if such moments could only last !
No, no ; as a rule they last long enough. Joy

THE DOCTOR AND THE PRIEST. 209

wearies as well as sorrow. An abiding rapture
would make itself a sorrow out of our very
weakness to bear it. We should become ex
hausted and exacting, and be irritated by the
limitations of our nature, and our inability to
create and to endure an increasing rapture. It
is because joy is fugitive that it leaves us a
delightsome memory. It is far better, then,
not to hold the rose until it withers in our
fevered hand.

The three women watched their heroes go
back to the city. The doctor looked very little
older than his companions. He sat his horse
superbly, and he lifted his hat to the proud
Seftora with a loving grace which neither of
the young men could excel. In that far back
year, when he had wooed her with the sweet
words she taught him, he had not looked more
manly and attractive. There is a perverse dis
position in women to love personal prowess,
and to adore the heroes of the battle-field ; and
never had the Seflora loved her husband as
she did at that hour.

In his capacity of physician he had done
unnoticed deeds of far greater bravery — gone
into a Comanche camp that was being devas-

no REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

tated by smallpox — or galloped fifty miles
alone in the night, through woods haunted by
savage men and beasts, to succor some little
child struggling with croup, or some fron
tiersman pierced with an arrow. The Seftora
had always fretted and scolded a little when he
thus exposed his life. But the storming of
the Alamo ! That was a bravery she could
understand. Her Roberto was indeed a hero !
Though she could not bring herself to approve
the cause for which he fought, she was as
sensitive as men and women always are to vic
torious valor and a successful cause.

Rachela was in a state of rebellion. Noth
ing but the express orders of Fray Ignatius, to
remain where she was, prevented her leaving
the Worths ; for the freedom so suddenly
given to Isabel had filled her with indignation.
She was longing to be in some house where
she could give adequate expression to the
diabolical temper she felt it right to indulge.

In the afternoon it was some relief to see
the confessor coming up the garden. He had
resumed his usual deliberate pace. His hands
were folded upon his breast. He looked as
the mournful Jeremiah may have looked, when

THE DOCTOR AND THE PRIEST. 21 1

he had the burden of a heavy prophecy to
deliver.

The Seflora sat down with a doggedly sullen
air, which Antonia understood very well. It
meant, " I am not to be forced to take anyway
but my own, to-day "; and the wise priest
understood her mood as soon as he entered
the room. He put behind him the reproof
he had been meditating. He stimulated her
curiosity ; he asked her sympathy. No man
knew better than Fray Ignatius, when to
assume sacerdotal authority and when to lay
it aside.

And the Sefiora was never proof against the
compliment of his personal friendship. The
fight, as it affected himself and his brother*
hood and the convent, was full of interest to
her. She smiled at Brother Servando's child
ish alarm ; she was angry at an insult offered
to the venerable abbot ; she condoled with the
Sisters, wept at the danger that the famous
statue of the Virgin de Los Remedias had
been exposed to ; and was altogether as sym
pathetic as he could desire, until her own
affairs were mentioned.

" And you also, my daughter ? The sword

212 REMEMBER THE ALAMO,

has pierced your heart too, I am sure! To
know that your husband and sons were fight-
ing against your God and your country!
Holy Mother ! How great must have been
your grief. But, for your comfort, I tell you
that the saints who have suffered a fiery mar
tyrdom stand at the feet of those who, like
you, endure the continual crucifixion of their
affections."

The Seftora was silent, but not displeased ;
and the priest then ventured a little fur
ther :

" But there is an end to all trials, daughter ;
and I now absolve you from the further strug
gle. Decide this day for your God and your
country. Make an offering to Almighty God
and the Holy Mother of your earthly love.
Give yourself and your daughters and all that
you have to the benign and merciful Church.
Show these rebels and heretics — these ungrate
ful recipients of Mexican bounty — what a true
Catholic is capable of. His Divine Majesty
and the Holy Mary demand this supreme
sacrifice from you."

" Father, I have my husband, and my sons;
to them, also, I owe some duties."

THE DOCTOR AND THE PRIEST. 213

" The Church will absolve you from them."

" It would break my heart."

" Listen then : If it is your right hand, or
your right eye — that is, if it is your husband,
or your child — you are commanded to give
them up ; or — it is God's word — there is only
hell fire."

" Mother of Sorrows, pity me ! What shall
I do?"

She looked with the terror of a child into
the dark, cruel face of the priest. It was as
immovably stern as if carved out of stone.
Then her eyes sought those of Antonia, who
sat at a distant window with her embroidery
in her hand. She let it fall when her mother's
pitiful, uncertain glance asked from her
strength and counsel. She rose and went to
her. Never had the tall, fair girl looked so
noble. A sorrowful majesty, that had some
thing in it of pity and something of anger,
gave to her countenance, her movements, and
even her speech, a kind of authority.

"Dear mother, do as the beloved and kind-
hearted Ruth did. Like you, she married one
not of her race and not of her religion. Even
when God had taken him from her, she chose

214 RE ME AMBER THE ALAMO.

to remain with his people — to leave her own
people and abide with his mother. For this
act God blessed her, and all nations in all ages
have honored her."

" Ruth ! Ruth ! Ruth ! What has Ruth to do
with the question ? Presumptuous one ! Ruth
was a heathen woman — a Moabite — a race ten
times accursed."

" Pardon, father. Ruth was the ancestress
of our blessed Saviour, and of the Virgin
Mary."

" Believe not the wicked one, Seftora ? She
2s blinded with false knowledge. She is a
heretic. I have long suspected it. She has
not been to confession for nine months."

" You wrong me, father. Every day, twice
a day, I confess my sins humbly."

"Chito! You are in outrageous sin. But,
then, what else ? I hear, indeed, that you read
wicked books — even upon your knees you read
them."

" I read my Bible, father."

" Bring it to me. How could a child like
you read the Bible ? It is a book for bishops
and archbishops, and the Immaculate Father
himself. What an arrogance ? What an in-

THE DOCTOR AND THE PRIEST. 215

science of self-conceit must possess so young a
heart ? Saints of God ! It confounds me."

The girl stood with burning cheeks gazing at
the proud, passionate man, but she did not obey
his order.

" Sefiora, my daughter ! See you with your
own eyes the fruit of your sin. Will you dare
to become a partner in such wickedness? "

"Antonia! Antonia! Go at once and bring
here this wicked book. Oh, how can you make
so miserable a mother who loves you so much ?"

In a few moments Antonia returned with the
objectionable book. " My dear grandmother
gave it to me," she said. " Look, mi madre,
here is my name in her writing. Is it conceiv
able that she would give to your Antonia a
book that she ought not to read ? "

The Sefiora took it in her hands and turned
the leaves very much as a child might turn
those of a book in an unknown tongue, in which
there were no illustrations nor anything that
looked the least interesting. It was a pretty
volume of moderate size, bound in purple
morocco, and fastened with gilt clasps.

" I see the word God in it very often, Fray
Ignatius. Perhaps, indeed, it is not bad."

2l6 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

" It is a heretic Bible, I am sure. Could any*
thing be more sinful, more disrespectful to God,
more dangerous for a young girl?" and as he
said the words he took it from the Seftora's list-
less hands, glanced at the obnoxious title-page,
and then, stepping hastily to the hearth, flung
the book upon the burning logs.

With a cry of horror, pain, amazement, all
blended, Antonia sprang towards the fire, but
Fray Ignatius stood with outstretched arms
before it.

11 Stand back ! " he cried. " To save your soul
from eternal fires, I burn the book that has
misled you ! "

"Oh, my Bible! Oh, my Bible! Oh, mother!
mother ! " and sobbing and crying out in her
fear and anger, she fled down stairs and called
the peon Ortiz.

" Do you know where to find the Sefior
Doctor? If you do, Ortiz, take the swiftest
horse and bring him here."

The man looked with anger into the girl's
troubled face. For a moment he was some
thing unlike himself. " I can find him ; I will
bring him in fifteen minutes. Corpus Christi !
it is here he should be."

THE DOCTOR AND THE PRIEST. 217

The saddled horse in the stable was mounted
as he muttered one adjuration and oath after
another, and Antonia sat down at the window
to watch for the result of her message. For
tunately, Rachela had been so interested in the
proceedings, and so determined to know all
about them, that she seized the opportunity of
the outcry to fly to " her poor Sefiora," and
thus was ignorant of the most unusual step
taken by Antonia.

Indeed, no one was aware of it but herself
and Ortiz ; and the servants in the kitchen
looked with a curious interest at the doctor
riding into the stable yard as if his life de
pended upon his speed. Perhaps it did. All
of them stopped their work to speculate upon
the circumstance.

They saw him fling himself from the saddle ;
they saw Antonia run to meet him ; they
heard her voice full of distress — they knew it
was the voice of complaint. They were aware
it was answered by a stamp on the flagged hall
of the doctor's iron-heeled boot — which rang
through the whole house, and which was but
the accompaniment of the fierce exclamation
that went with it.

*l8 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

They heard them mount the stairs together,
and then they were left to their imaginations.
As for Antonia, she was almost terrified at the
storm she had raised. Never had she seen an
ger so terrible. Yet, though he had not said a
word directly to her, she was aware of his full
sympathy. He grasped her hand, and entered
the Sefiora's room with her. His first order
was to Rachela —

"Leave the house in five minutes; no, in
three minutes. I will tell Ortiz to send your
clothes after you. Go ! "

" My Sefiora ! Fray Ig — "

" Go ! " he thundered. " Out of my house !
Fly ! I will not endure you another mo
ment."

The impetus of his words was like a great
wind. They drove the woman before him, and
he shut the door behind her with a terrifying
and amazing rage. Then he turned to the
priest —

" Fray Ignatius, you have abused my hos
pitality, and my patience. You shall do so no
longer. For twenty-six years I have suffered
your interference — "

" The Sefior is a prudent man. The wise

THE DOCTOR AND THE PRIEST. 219

bear what they cannot resist"; and with a gen
tle smile and lifted eyebrows Fray Ignatius
crossed himself.

" I have respected your faith, though it was
the faith of a bigot ; and your opinions, though
they were false and cruel, because you be
lieved honestly in them. But you shall not
again interfere with my wife, or my children,
or my servants, or my house."

" The Sefior Doctor is not prince, or pope.
' Shall,' and * shall not,' no one but my own
ecclesiastical superiors can say to me."

" I say, you shall not again terrify my wife
and insult my daughter, and disorganize my
whole household ! And, as the God of my
mother hears me, you shall not again burn up
His Holy Word under my roof. Never, while
I dwell beneath it, enter my gates, or cross my
threshold, or address yourself to any that bear
my name, or eat my bread." With the words,
he walked to the door and held it open. It
was impossible to mistake the unspoken order,
and there was something in the concentrated
yet controlled passion of Robert Worth which
even the haughty priest did not care to irritate
beyond its bounds.

220 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

He gathered his robe together, and with
(ifted eyes muttered an ejaculatory prayer.
Then he said in slow, cold, precise tones :

" For the present, I go. Very good. I shall
come back again. The saints will take care of
that. Sefiora, I give you my blessing. Senor,
you may yet find the curse of a poor priest an
inconvenience."

He crossed himself at the door, and cast a
last look at the Sefiora, who had thrown her
self upon her knees, and was crying out to
Mary and the saints in a passion of excuses
and reproaches. She was deaf to all her hus
band said. She would not suffer Antonia to
approach her. She felt that now was the hour
of her supreme trial. She had tolerated the
rebellion of her husband, and her sons, and her
daughter, and now she was justly punished.
They had driven away from her the confessor,
and the maid who had been her counsellor and
her reliance from her girlhood.

Her grief and terror were genuine, and there
fore pitiful ; and, in spite of his annoyance, the
doctor recognized the fact. In a moment, as
soon as they were alone, he put aside his anger.
He knelt beside her, he soothed her with ten-

THE DOCTOR AND THE PRIEST. 221

der words, he pleaded the justice of his indig
nation. And ere long she began to listen to
his excuses, and to complain to him :

He had been born a heretic, and therefore
might be excused a little, even by Almighty
God. But Antonia ! Her sin was beyond en
durance. She herself, and the good Sisters,
and Fray Ignatius, had all taught her in her
infancy the true religion. And her Roberto
must see that this was a holy war — a war for
the Holy Catholic Church. No wonder Fray
Ignatius was angry.

" My dear Maria, every church thinks itself
right ; and all other churches wrong. God
looks at the heart. If it is right, it makes all
worship true. But when the Americans have
won Texas, they will give to every one free
dom to worship God as they wish."

" Saints in heaven, Roberto ! That day
comes not. One victory ! Bah ! That is an
accident. The Mexicans are a very brave
people, — the bravest in the world. Did they
not drive the Spaniards out of their country ;
and it is not to be contradicted that the Span
iards have conquered all other nations. That
I saw in a book. The insult the Americans

222 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

have given to Mexico will be revenged. Her
honor has been compromised before the world.
Very well, it will be made bright again ; yes,
Fray Ignatius says with blood and fire it will
be made bright."

"And in the mean time, Maria, we have
taken from them the city they love best of all.
An hour ago I saw General Cos, with eleven
hundred Mexican soldiers, pass before a little
band of less than two hundred Americans and
lay down their arms. These defenders of the
Alamo had all been blessed by the priests.
Their banners had been anointed with holy oil
and holy water. They had all received absolu
tion every day before the fight began ; they had
been promised a free passage through purga
tory and a triumphant entry into heaven."

" Well, I will tell you something; Fray Igna
tius showed it to me — it was a paper printed.
The rebels and their wives and children are to
be sent from this earth — you may know where
they will all go, Roberto — Congress says so.
The States will give their treasures. The arch
bishops will give the episcopal treasures. The
convents will give their gems and gold orna
ments. Ten thousand men had left for San

THE DOCTOR AND THE PRIEST. 22$

Antonio, and ten thousand more are to follow;
the whole under our great President Santa
Anna. Oh, yes ! The rebels in Washington
are to be punished also. It is well known that
they sent soldiers to Nacogdoches. Mexicans
are not blind moles, and they have their intel
ligence, you know. All the States who have
helped these outrageous ingrates are to be
devastated, and you will see that your famous
Washington will be turned into a heap of
stones. I have seen these words in print,
Roberto. I assure you, that it is not just a
little breath — what one or another says — it is
the printed orders of the Mexican government.
That is something these Americans will have
to pay attention to."

The doctor sighed, and answered the sorrow
ful, credulous woman with a kiss. What was
the use of reasoning with simplicity so igno
rant and so confident ? He turned the conver
sation to a subject that always roused her best
and kindest feelings — her son Jack.

" I have just seen young Dewees, Maria. He
and Jack left San Felipe together. Dewees
brought instructions to General Burleson ; and
Jack carried others to Fannin, at Goliad."

*24 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

She took her husband's hands and kissed
them. "That indeed! Oh, Roberto! If I
could only see my Jack once more ! I have
had a constant accusation to bear about him.
Till I kiss my boy again, the world will be all
dark before my face. If Our Lady will grant
me this miraculous favor, I will always after
wards be exceedingly religious. I will give all
my desires to the other world."

" Dearest Maria, God did not put us in this
world to be always desiring another. There is
no need, mi queridita, to give up this life as a
bad affair. We shall be very happy again,
soon."

" As you say. If I could only see Jack ! For
that, I would promise God Almighty and you
Roberto to be happy. I would forgive the
rebels and the heretics — for they are well
acquainted with hell road, and will guide each
other there without my wish."

" I am sure if Jack has one day he will come
to you. And when he hears of the surrender
of General Cos — "

" Well now, it was God's will that General
Cos should surrender. What more can be
said? It is sufficient."

THE DOCTOR AND THE P PIE ST. 225

" Let me call Antonia. She is miserable at
your displeasure ; and it is not Antonia's
fault."

" Pardon me, Roberto. I have seen Antonia.
She is not agreeable and obedient to Fray
Ignatius."

" She has been very wickedly used by him •
and I fear he intends to do her evil."

" It is not convenient to discuss the subject
now. I will see Isabel ; she is a good child—
my only comfort. Paciencia ! there is Luis
Alveda singing; Isabel will now be deaf to all
else "; and she rose with a sigh and walked
towards the casement looking into the garden.

Luis was coming up the oleander walk.
The pretty trees were thinner now, and had
only a pink blossom here and there. But the
bright winter sun shone through them, and fell
upon Luis and Isabel. For she had also seen
him coming, and had gone to meet him, with a
little rainbow-tinted shawl over her head. She
looked so piquant and so happy. She seemed
such a proper mate for the handsome youth at
her side that a word of dissent was not pos
sible. The doctor said only, " She is so like
you, Maria. I remember when you were still

226 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

more lovely, and when from your balcony you
made me with a smile the happiest man in the
world."

Such words were never lost ones ; for the-
Sefiora had a true and great love for her hus
band. She gave him again a smile, she put her
hand in his, and then there were no further con*
ciliations required. They stood in the sun.,
shine of their own hearts, and listened a mo
ment to the gay youth, singing, how at—
The strong old Alamo
Two hundred men, with rifles true,
Shot down a thousand of the foe,
And broke the triple ramparts through ;
And dropped the flag as black as night,
For Freedom's green and red and white.*

* The flag of the Mexican Republic of 1824 was greei\
red and white in color.

CHAPTER XI.

A HAPPY TRUCE.

** Well, honor is the subject of my story ;
I cannot tell what you and other men
Think of this life ; but for my single self,
I had as lief not be, as live to be
In awe of such a thing as I myself."

" Two truths are told
As happy prologues to the swelling act,
Of the imperial theme."

" This is the eve of Christmas,
No sleep from night to morn ;
The Virgin is in travail,
At twelve will the Child be born."

/CITIES have not only a certain physiog-
\j nomy ; they have also a decided mental
and moral character, and a definite political
tendency. There are good and bad cities, ar
tistic and commercial cities, scholarly and man
ufacturing cities, aristocratic and radical cities.
San Antonio, in its political and social charac
ter, was a thoroughly radical city. Its popula
tion, composed in a large measure of adventur-
227

228 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

ous units from various nationalities, had that
fluid rather than fixed character, which is sus
ceptible to new ideas. For they were generally
men who had found the restraints of the centu
ries behind them to be intolerable — men to
whom freedom was the grand ideal of life.

It may be easily undertood that this element
in the population of San Antonio was a power-
ful one, and that a little of such leaven would
stir into activity a people who, beneath the crust
of their formal piety, had still something left of
that pride and adventurous spirit which distin
guished the Spain of Ferdinand and Isabel.

In fact, no city on the American continent
has such a bloody record as San Antonio.
From its settlement by the warlike monks of
1692, to its final capture by the Americans in
1836, it was well named " the city of the
sword." The Comanche and the white man
fought around its walls their forty years' battle
for supremacy. From 1810 to 1821 its streets
were constantly bloody with the fight between
the royalists and republicans, and the city
and the citadel passed from one party to the
other continually. And when it came to the
question of freedom and American domina'

A HAPPY TRUCE. 22C

tion, San Antonio was, as it had ever been, the
great Texan battle-field.

Its citizens then were well used to the for
tunes and changes of war. Men were living
who had seen the horrors of the auto da fe and
the splendors of viceregal authority. Insurgent
nobles, fighting priests, revolutionizing Ameri
cans, all sorts and conditions of men, all
chances and changes of religious and military
power, had ruled it with a temporary absolut
ism during their generation.

In the main there was a favorable feeling
regarding its occupation by the Americans,
The most lawless of them were law-abiding in
comparison with any kind of victorious Mexi
cans. Americans protected private property,
they honored women, they observed the sanc
tity of every man's home ; " and, as for being
heretics, that was an affair for the saints and
the priests ; the comfortable benefits of the
Holy Catholic Church, had not been vouch
safed to all nations."

Political changes are favorable to religious
tolerance, and the priests themselves had been
sensible of a great decrease in their influence
during the pending struggle. Prominent Mexi-

230 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

cans had given aid and comfort to the Ameri
cans in spite of their spiritual orders, and there
were many men who, like Lopez Navarro, did
not dare to go to confession, because they
would have been compelled to acknowledge
themselves rebels.

When the doctor and Dare and Luis reached
the Plaza, the morning after the surrender, they
found the city already astir. Thousands of
women were in the churches saying masses for
the dead ; the men stood at their store doors or
sat smoking on their balconies, chatting with
the passers-by or watching the movements of
the victorious army and the evacuation of the
conquered one.

Nearly all of the brave two hundred occu
pied the Plaza. They were still greatly excited
by the miraculous ecstacy of victory. But
when soldiers in the death-pang rejoice under
its influence, what wonder that the living feel
its intoxicating rapture? They talked and
walked as if they already walked the streets of
Mexico. All things seemed possible to them.
The royalty of their carriage, the authority in
their faces, gave dignity even to their deer
skin clothing. Its primitive character was its

A HAPPY TRUCE. 231

distinction, and the wearers 'looked like the
demi-gods of the heroic stage of history.

Lopez Navarro touched the doctor and
directed his attention to them. " Does the
world, Sefior, contain the stuff to make their
counterparts ? "

" They are Americans, Navarro. And
though there are a variety of Americans, they
have only one opinion about submitting to
tyrants — they wont do it! "

This was the conversation interrupted by
Ortiz and the message he brought, and the
doctor was thoroughly sobered by the events
following. He was not inclined to believe, as
the majority of the troops did, that Mexico
was conquered. He expected that the Seftora's
prediction would be verified. And the per
sonal enmity which the priesthood felt to him
induced a depressing sense of personal disaster.

Nothing in the house or the city seemed in
clined to settle. It took a few days to draw
up the articles of capitulation and clear the
town of General Cos and the Mexican troops.
And he had no faith in their agreement to
" retire from Texas, and never again carry arms
against the Americans." He knew that they

232 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

did not consider it any sin to make " a mental
reservation " against a heretic. He was quite
sure that if Cos met reinforcements, he would
have to be fought over again immediately.

And amid these public cares and considera
tions, he had serious private ones. The Se-
ftora was still under the control of Fray Igna
tius. It required all the influence of his own
personal presence and affection to break the
spiritual captivity in which he held her. He
knew that the priest had long been his enemy.

He saw that Antonia was hated by him. He
was in the shadow of a terror worse than death
— that of a long, hopeless captivity. A dun
geon and a convent might become to them a
living grave, in which cruelty and despair would
slowly gnaw life away.

And yet, for a day or two he resolved not
to speak of his terror. The Sefiora was so
happy in his presence, and she had such kind
confidences to give him about her plans for
her children's future, that he could not bear to
alarm her. And the children also were so full
of youth's enthusiasms and love's sweet dreams.
Till the last moment why should he awaken
them? And as the strongest mental element

A HAPPY TRUCE. 233

in a home gives the tone to it, so Dare and
Antonia, with the doctor behind them, gave to
the Mexican household almost an American
freedom of intercourse and community of
pleasure.

The Seflora came to the parlor far more fre
quently, and in her own apartments her chil
dren visited her with but slight ceremony.
They discussed all together their future plans.
They talked over a wonderful journey which
they were to take in company to New Orleans,
and Washington, and New York, and perhaps
even to London and Paris — " who could tell, if
the Seflora would be so good as to enjoy her
self ? " They ate more together. They got
into the habit of congregating about the same
hearthstone. It was the Seftora's first real ex
perience of domestic life.

In about six days the Mexican forces left the
city. The terms of surrender granted Gen
eral Cos struck the Mexicans with a kind of
wonder. They had fought with the express
declaration that they would take no American
prisoner. Yet the Americans not only per
mitted Cos and his troops to leave under pa
role of honor, but gave them their arms and

234 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

sufficient ammunition to protect themselves
from the Indians on their journey home. They
allowed them also all their private property.
They furnished them with the provisions
necessary to reach the Rio Grande. They
took charge of their sick and wounded. They
set all the Mexican prisoners at liberty — in
short, so great was their generosity and cour
tesy that the Mexicans were unable to compre
hend their motives.

Even Lopez was troubled at it. " I assure
you," he said to Dr. Worth, " they will despise
such civility ; they will not believe in its sin
cerity. At this very blessed hour of God, they
are accusing the Americans of being afraid to
press their advantage. Simply, you will have
the fight to make over again. I say this, be
cause I know Santa Anna."

" Santa Anna is but a man, Lopez."
" Me perdonas ! He is however a man who
knows a trick more than the devil. One must
be careful of a bull in front, of a mule behind,
and of a monk and Santa Anna on all sides.
At the word monk, Lopez glanced significantly
at a passing priest, and Doctor Worth saw
that it was Fray Ignatius.

A HAPPY TRUCE. 235

" He sprinkled the Mexican troops with
holy water, and blessed them as they left the
city this morning. He has the ear of General
Cos. He is not a man to offend, I assure
you, Doctor."

The doctor walked thoughtfully away. San
Antonio was full of his friends, yet never had
he felt himself and his family to be in so much
danger. And the words of Lopez had struck a
responding chord in his own consciousness.
The careless bravery, the splendid generosity
of his countrymen was at least premature. He
went through the city with observing eyes, and
saw much to trouble him.

The gates of Alamo were open. Crockett
lounged upon his rifle in the Plaza. A little
crowd was around him, and the big Tennes-
seean hunter was talking to them. Shouts of
laughter, bravas of enthusiasm, answered the
homely wit and stirring periods that had over
and over " mads room for Colonel Crockett,"
both in the Tennessee Legislature and the
United States Congress. His rifle seemed a
part of him — a kind of third arm. His con*
fident manner, his manliness and bravery,
turned his wit into wisdom. The young

236 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

fellows around found in him their typical
leader.

The elegant James Bowie was sitting on the
verandah of the Veramendi House, calmly
smoking. His fair, handsome face, clear blue
eyes and mild manners, gave no indication of
the gigantic physical strength and tremendous
coolness and courage of the man who never
tolerated an enemy in his presence. Burleson
and Travis were talking under the shade of a
China tree, and there were little groups of
American soldiers on every street; this was
what he saw, and yet a terrible sense of inse
curity oppressed him.

The city, moreover, was not settling to its
usual business, though there were many prep
arations for public and private entertainments.
After passing Colonel Bowie, he met David
Burnett. The shrewd statesman from New Jer
sey had a shadow upon his face. He stopped
Doctor Worth and spoke frankly to him. " We
are in greater danger now than when we were
under fire," he said. " Santa Anna will come
on us like a lion from the swellings of Jordan.
I wish Houston knew our position as it really
is. We must either have more men to defend

A NAPPY TRUCE. 237

this city or we must blow up the Alamo and
be ready to leave it at a moment's notice."

" Why were such favorable terms given to
General Cos and his troops ? I cannot under
stand it."

" I will tell you an amazing fact. When
Cos ran up that white flag on the Alamo, we
had not a single round of ammunition left ;
complaisance was necessary until Cos made
over to us the Mexican arms, ammunition,
property and money."

Worth turned and looked at the fort. A
great red flag on which was the word
T-E-X-A-S floated from its battlements, and
there were two men standing on its roof, with
their faces westward.

"They are the lookouts," said Burnett,
" and we have scouts through the surrounding
country ; but Santa Anna will come, when he
comes, with tens of thousands."

" And there is a line where even the coolest
courage and the most brilliant bravery suc
cumbs to mere numbers — Eh ! "

" That is what I mean, Doctor."

"Where is Houston?"

<4On the Brazos, at the small town of Wash*

238 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

ington. The council have established heacU
quarters there."

Their conversation was interrupted by the
ringing of a little bell, and the doleful suppli
cations of a priest followed by a crowd of idle
men and women. He was begging, " for the
sake of the Holy Virgin," alms to say masses
for the soul of an unfortunate, who had not
left a peso for his burial. He droned on, and
no one noticed him until James Bowie
stretched his tall figure, sauntered up to the
monk, and dropped a gold piece into his cap.
He did not stay to hear the exclamations and
the gracias, but with steps that rang like metal
upon metal took his way to the Alamo.

However, dangers postponed make the most
timorous indifferent to them ; and when Gen
eral Cos did not return, and nothing was heard
of Santa Anna, every one began to take up their
ordinary life again. The temper of the Amer
icans also encouraged this disposition. They
were discovered neither to be bloodthirsty nor
cannibals. It was even seen that they enjoyed
the fandango and the mont6 tables, and that a
proposition for a bull-fight at Christmas was
not opposed by them.

A HAPPY TRUCE. 239

And in spite of all anxieties, there were many
sweet and unusual pleasures in the Worth
home. The discipline of the troops was so
lenient that Dare and Luis — one or both — were
generally there in the evenings. Their turns
as scouts or watchman at the Alamo only
made more delightful the hours when they were
exempted from these duties. As for the doctor,
he had been released from all obligation? but
those pertaining to his profession, and Antonia
noticed that he spent every hour he could
spare with the Sefiora. For some reason, he
appeared determined to strengthen his influ
ence over her.

On Christmas Eve the old city was very
gay. The churches were decorated, and
splendidly dressed men and women passed in
and out with smiles and congratulations. The
fandangoes and the gambling houses were all
open. From the huertas around, great num
bers of families had come to receive absolution
and keep the Nativity. Their rich clothing
and air of idleness gave a holiday feeling to
the streets noisy with the buzzing of the
guitar, the metallic throb of the cithara, the
murmurs of voices, and the cries of the hawkers.

240 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

Priests, Mexicans, Indians and Americans
touched each other on the narrow thorough
fares, but that indescribable feeling of good
will which comes with Christmas pervaded the
atmosphere, and gave, even in the midst of
war and danger, a sense of anticipated
pleasure.

At the Worth residence there was a house
hold feast. The Sefiora and her daughters
were in full dress. They were waiting for
the dear ones who had promised to join them
at the Angelus. One by one the houses
around were illuminated. Parties of simple
musicians began to pass each other continu
ally — they were going to serenade the blessed
Mary all night long. As Antonia closed the
balcony window, half a dozen of these young
boys passed the garden hedge singing to the
clacking of their castanets —

" This is the eve of Christmas,
No sleep from night to morn,
The Virgin is in travail,
At twelve will the Child be born."

Luis appeared at the same moment. He
caught up the wild melody and came up the
garden path singing it. Dare and the doctor

A HAPPY TRUCE. 241

followed him. It struck Antonia that they
were talking of a change, or of something
important. But there was no time for obser
vation. Isabel, radiant in crimson satin, with
her white mantilla over her head, darted for
ward to meet Luis, and turned his song to the
Virgin into a little adulation for herself. Dare
and the doctor took Antonia's hands, and there
was something in the silent clasp of each
which made her heart tremble.

But she was not one of those foolish women
who enquire after misfortune. She could wait
and let the evil news find her, and by so doing
she won many a bright hour from the advanc
ing shadows. The Seftora was in unusual
spirits. She had obtained a new confessor. "A
man of the most seraphic mind, and, moreover,
so fortunate as to be connected with the house
of Flores." He had been gentle to her in the
matter of penances, and not set her religious
obligations above her capacities. Consequently,
the Seftora had laid aside her penitential gar
ments. She was in full Castilian costume,
and looked very handsome. But Antonia,
who had been in New York during those years
when she would otherwise have been learning

*42 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

how to wear a mantilla and use a fan, did not
attempt such difficulties of the toilet. She
knew that she would look unnatural in them,
and she adhered to the American fashions of
her day. But in a plain frock of dark satin
trimmed with minever bands, she looked
exceedingly noble and lovely.

The meal was a very merry one, and after it
Lopez Navarro joined the party and they had
music and dancing, and finally gathered around
the fire to hear the singing of Luis. He knew
a great many of the serenades, and as he sang
of the Virgin and the Babe, a sweeter peace,
a more solemn joy, came to each heart. It
was like bringing something of the bliss of
heaven into the bliss of earth. The Seftora's
eyes were full of tears ; she slipped her hand
into her husband's and looked at him with a
face which asked, " Do you not also feel the
eternity of a true love ? "

" How sweet and wild are these serenades,
Luis ! " said Antonia. " I wonder who wrote
them ? "

*' But, then, they were never written, my
sister. Out of the hearts of lonely shepherds
they came ; or of women spinning in their

A HAPPY TRUCE. 243

quiet houses ; yes, even of soldiers in the
strong places keeping their watch,"

" That is the truth, Luis," answered Isabel.
" And every Christmas, when I was in the
convent, the Sisters made a serenade to the
Virgin, or a seguidilla to our blessed Lord.
Very still are the Sisters, but when it comes to
singing, I can assure you the angels might
listen ! "

" There is a seguidilla I hear everywhere,'*
said the doctor ; " and I never hear it without
feeling the better for listening. It begins —
' So noble a Lord.' '

" That, indeed ! " cried Luis. " Who knows
it not? It is the seguidilla to our blessed
Lord, written by the daughter of Lope de
Vega — the holy Marcela Carpio. You know
it, Seftora?"

" As I know my Credo, Luis."

" And you, Isabel ? "

"Since I was a little one, as high as my
father's knee. Rachela taught it to me."

" And you, Lopez ? "

" That is sure, Luis."

" And I, too ! " said Antonia, smiling. " Here
is your mandolin. Strike the chords, and we

244 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

will all sing with you. My father will remem
ber also." And the doctor smiled an assent,
as the young man resigned Isabel's hand with
a kiss, and swept the strings in that sweetness
and power which flows invisibly, but none the
less surely, from the heart to the instrument.

" It is to my blessed Lord and Redeemer, I
sing," he said, bowing his head. Then he
stood up and looked at his companions, and
struck the key-note, when every one joined
their voices with his in the woifierful little
hymn:

So noble a Lord

None serves in vain ;
For the pay of my love

Is my love's sweet paio,

In the place of caresses

Thou givest me woes ;
I kiss Thy hands,

When I feel their blows.

For in Thy chastening,
Is joy and peace ;

0 Master and Lord !

Let thy blows not cease.

1 die with longing

Thy face to see ;
And sweet is the anguish
Of death to me.

A HAPPY TRUCE. 245

For, because Thou lovest me,

Lover of mine !
Death can but make me

Utterly Thine !

The doctor was the first to speak after the
sweet triumph of the notes had died away.
" Many a soul I have seen pass whispering
those verses," he said ; " men and women, and
little children."

" The good Marcela in heaven has that for
her joy," answered Luis.

Lopez rose while the holy influence still
lingered. He kissed the hands of everf one,
and held the doctor's in his own until they
reached the threshold. A more than usual
farewell took place there, though there were
only a few whispered words.

" Farewell, Lopez ! I can trust you ? "

" Unto death."

" If we never meet again ? "

"Still it will be farewell. Thou art in
God's care."

Very slowly the doctor sauntered hack to
the parlor, like a man who has a heavy duty to
do and hardly knows how to begin it. " But
I will tell Maria first," he whispered ; and then'

246 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

he opened the door, and saw the Sefiora bid-
ding her children good-night.

" What a happy time we have had ! " she
was saying. " I shall never forget it. Indeed,
my dears, you see how satisfactory it is to be
religious. When we talk of the saints and
angels, they come round us to listen to what
we say; accordingly, we are fuH'of peace and
pleasure. I know that because I heard Fray —
I heard a very good man say so." •

She smiled happily at her husband, as she
took his arm, and twice, as they went slowly
upstairs together, she lifted her face for his
kiss. Her gentleness and affection made it
hard for him to speak ; but there were words
to be said that could be no longer delayed ;
and when he had closed the room door, he
took her hands in his, and looked into her face
with eyes that told her all.

"You are going away, Roberto," she
whispered.

" My love ! Yes ! To-night — this very hour
I must go! Luis and Dare also. Do not weep,
I entreat you ! My heart is heavy, and your
tears I cannot bear."

Then she answered, with a noble composure :

A HAPPY TRUCE. 247

" I will give you smiles and kisses. My good
Roberto, so true and kind ! I will try to be
worthy of you. Nay, but you must not weep
—Roberto ! "

It was true. Quite unconsciously the troub^
led husband and father was weeping. " I fear
to leave you, dear Maria. All is so uncertain.
I can only ask you two favors ; if you will
grant them, you will do all that can be done
to send me away with hope. Will you promise
me to have nothing to do whatever with Fray
Ignatius ; and to resist every attempt he may
make to induce you to go into a religious
house of any kind ? "

" I promise you, Roberto. By my mother's
cross, I promise you ! "

" Again, dear Maria, if you should be in any
danger, promise me that you will do as Antonia
and Lopez Navarro think it wisest and best."

" Go with God, my husband. Go with God,
in a good hour. All you wish, I will do."

He held her to his heart and kissed her, and
she whispered amid hei* tender farewells to
himself, messages to her sons — but especially
to Juan. "Will you see Juan ? If you do, tell
him I repent. I send him a thousand bless-

248 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

ings ! Ah, the dear one ! Kiss him for me,
Roberto ! Tell him how much I love him,
Roberto ! How I sorrow because I was cross
to him! My precious one! My good son,
who always loved me so dearly ! "

At length Isabel came in to weep in her
mother's arms. "Luis is going away," she
cried. The father felt a momentary keen
pang of jealousy. " I am going also, queridita,"
he said mournfully. Then she threw her arms
around his neck and bewailed her bad fortune.
" If I were the Almighty God, I would not
give love and then take it away," she mur
mured. " I would give orders that the good
people should always be happy. I would not
let men like Santa Anna live. He is a measure
less monster, and ought to go to the d — to
purgatory, at the very least."

While the Senora soothed her complaining,
the doctor left. One troubled glance of a
great love he cast backward from the door ere
he closed it behind him ; and then his coun
tenance suddenly changed. Stern and strong
it grew, with a glow of anger in the steel-blue
eyes that gave an entirely new character to it.

He called Antonia into his study, and talked

A HAPPY TRUCE. 249

with her of the crisis which was approaching,
and of the conduct of their affairs in it. He
showed her the places in which his gold coin
was hidden. He told her on whom to rely in
any emergency.

"We have sure information that General
Urrea, with the vanguard of a large Mexican
army, will be here next month. Santa Anna
will follow him quickly. You see that the
city must either be defended or our men must
retreat. I am going to Houston with this
dilemma. Luis and Dare will join Fannin at
Goliad. Now, my dear child, you have my
place to fill. If Santa Anna takes possession
of San Antonio, what will you do ? "

" If we are not disturbed in any way, I will
keep very quiet within my own home."

" If Fray Ignatius attempts to interfere with
you — what then ? "

" I will fly from him, and take Isabel and
mi madre with me."

" That is your only safety. I shall hear if
the Americans desert the city; then I will send
your brother Thomas, if by any possibility it
can be done, to guard you to the eastern set
tlements. But I may not be able to do this — •

25° REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

there may be no time — it cannot be depended
upon — Lopez Navarro will help you all he can,
and Ortiz. You may always rely on Ortiz."

" My father, I cannot trust Ortiz. Every
man is a master to a peon. He would mean to
do kindly, but his cowardice might make him
false."

" Ortiz is no peon. He is a Mexican office*
of high rank, whom Santa Anna ordered to be
shot. I saved his life. He wears the clothes
of a peon — that is necessary ; but he has the
honor and gratitude of a gentleman beneath
them. If necessary, trust Ortiz fully. One
thing above all others remember — Flight before
a convent."

" Flight ! Yes, death before it ! I promise
you, father. When we meet again, you shall
say, well done, Antonia.'

It was now about midnight. They went
back to the parlor. Luis and Dare sat by the .
dying fire. They were bent forward, close to
gether over it, talking in a low voice. They
rose when the doctor spoke, and silently kissed
Antonia.

" It will be a hard ride, now," said the doctor,
and Dare answered, mechanically, " but we

A HAPPY TRUCE. 251

shall manage it." He held Antonia's hand,
and she went with them to the rear of the
house. Their horses were standing ready sad-
died. Silently the men mounted. In a
moment they had passed the gate, and the beat
of their horses' hoofs gradually died away.

But all through the clear spaces of the sky
the Christmas bells were ringing, and the
serenaders were musically telling each other,

" At twelve will the Child be born I *

CHAPTER XII.

DANGER AND HELP.

" A curious creed they weave,

And, for the Church commands it*
All men must needs believe,

Though no man understands it.
God loves his few pet lambs,

And saves his one pet rvat'O™*
The rest he largely damns,

With swinging reprobation."

" The Church may loose and bind ;
But Mind, immortal Mind,
As free as wave or wind,
Came forth, O God, from Thee. "

— BLACKIE.

DR. WORTH had set his daughter a task of
no light magnitude. It was true, that
Rachela and Fray Ignatius could no longer dis
turb the household by their actual presence,
but their power to cause unhappiness was not
destroyed. Among the Mexican families loyal
to Santa Anna the dismission of the priest and
the duenna had been a source of much indig
nant gossip ; for Rachela was one of those
252

DANGER AND HELP. 253

women who cry out when they are hurt, and
compel others to share their trouble. The
priest had not therefore found it necessary to
explain why the Sefiora had called upon a new
confessor. He could be silent, and possess his
dignity in uncomplaining patience, for Rachela
paraded his wrongs as a kind of set-off to
her own.

Such piety ! Such virtues ! And the out-
rageous conduct of the Seflor Doctor ! To be
sure there was cause for anger at the Seftorita
Antonia. Oh, yes ! She could crow her mind
abroad ! There were books — Oh, infamous
books ! Books not proper to be read, and
the Sefiorita had them ! Well then, if the
father burned them, that was a good deed
done. And he had almost been reviled for
it — sent out of the house — yes, it was quite
possible that he had been struck ! Anything
was possible from those American heretics.
As for her own treatment, after twenty years
service, it had been cruel, abominable, more
than that — iniquitous ; but about these things
she had spoken, and the day of atonement
would come. Justice was informing itself on
the whole matter.

254 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

Such conversntions continually diversified,
extended, repeated on all hands, quickly
aroused a prejudice against the doctor's fam
ily. Besides which, the Senora Alveda re
sented bitterly the visits of her son Luis to
Isabel. None of the customs of a Mexican be
trothal had taken place, and Rachela did not
spare her imagination in describing the scanda
lous American familiarity that had been per
mitted. That this familiarity had taken place
under the eyes of the doctor and the Seftora
only intensified the insult. She might have
forgiven clandestine meetings ; but that the
formalities due to the Church and herself
should have been neglected was indeed un
pardonable.

It soon became evident to the Seftora that
she had lost the good-will of her old friends,
and the respect that had always been given to
her social position. It was difficult for her to
believe this, and she only accepted the humil
iating fact after a variety of those small insults
which women reserve for their own sex.

She was fond of visiting ; she valued the
good opinion of her caste, and in the very
chill of the gravest calamities she worried her

DANGER AND HELP. 255

strength away over little grievances lying out
side the walls of her home and the real af
fections of her life. And perhaps with per
fect truth she asserted that she had done
nothing to deserve this social ostracism.
Others had made her miserable, but she
could thank the saints none could make her
guilty.

The defeat of Cos had been taken by the
loyal inhabitants as a mere preliminary to the
real fight. They were very little disturbed by
it. It was the overt act which was necessary
to convince Mexico that her clemency to
Americans was a mistake, and that the un
grateful and impious race must be wiped out
of existence. The newspapers not only re
iterated this necessity, but proclaimed its
certainty. They heralded the coming of Santa
Anna, the victorious avenger, with passionate
gasconading. It was a mere question of a few
days or weeks, and in the meantime the people
of San Antonio were "making a little profit
and pleasure to themselves out of the extrava
gant reprobates." There was not a day in
which they did not anticipate their revenge
in local military displays, in dances and illumi«

256 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

nations, in bull-fights, and in splendid religious
processions.

And Antonia found it impossible to combat
this influence. It was in the house as certain
flavors were in certain foods, or as heat was in
fire. She saw it in the faces of her servants,
and felt it in their indifference to their duty.
Every hour she watched more anxiously for
some messenger from her father. And as day
after day went by in a hopeless sameness of
grief, she grew more restless under the con
tinual small trials that encompassed her.

Towards the end of January, General Urrea,
at the head of the vanguard of the Mexican
army, entered Texas. His destination was
La Bahia or Goliad, a strong fortress gar
risoned by Americans under Colonel Fanning.
Santa Anna was to leave in eight days after
him. With an army of twenty thousand
men he was coming to the relief of San
Antonio.

The news filled the city with the wildest re-
joicing. The little bells of the processions,
the big bells of the churches, the firing of
cannon, the hurrahs of the tumultuous people,
made an uproar which reached the three

DANGER AND HELP. 257

lonely women through the closed windows of
their rooms.

" If only Lopez Navarro would come ! If
he would send us some little message ! Holy
Mary, even he has forgotten us!" cried the
Sefiora in a paroxysm of upbraiding sorrow.

At that moment the door opened, and Fray
Ignatius passed the threshold with lifted hands
and a muttered blessing. He approached the
Senora, and she fell on her knees and kissed
the hand with which he crossed her.

" Holy father ! " she cried, " the angels sent
you to a despairing woman."

" My daughter, I have guided you since
your first communion ; how then could I for
get you ? Your husband has deserted you—
you, the helpless, tender lamb, whom he swore
to cherish ; but the blessed fold of your church
stands open. Come, poor weary one, to its
shelter."

" My father—"

" Listen to me ! The Mexican troops are
soon to arrive. Vengeance without mercy is
to be dealt out. You are the wife of an
American rebel ; I cannot promise you your
life, or your honor, if you remain here. When

258 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

soldiers are drunk with blood, and women fall
in their way, God have mercy upon them ! I
would shield even your rebellious daughter
Antonia from such a fate. I open the doors
of the convent to you all. There you will find
safety and peace."

Isabel sat with white, parted lips and clasped
hands, listening. Antonia had not moved or
spoken. But with the last words the priest
half-turned to her, and she came swiftly to her
mother's side, and kissing her, whispered :

" Remember your promise to my father !
Oh, mi madre, do not leave Isabel and me
alone ! "

"You, too, dear ones! We will all go to
gether, till these dreadful days are past."

" No, no, no ! Isabel and I will not go. We
will die rather."

" The Senorita talks like a foolish one.
Listen again ! When Santa Anna comes for
judgment, it will be swift and terrible. This
house and estate will be forfeited. The faith
ful Church may hope righteously to obtain it.
The sisters have long needed a good home.
The convent will then come to you. You will
have no shelter but the Church. Come to her

DANGER AND HELP. 259

arms ere her entreaties are turned to com
mands.'*

" My husband told me — "

" Saints of God ! you have no husband. He
has forfeited every right to advise you. Con
sider that, daughter; and if you trust not my
advice, there is yet living your honorable uncle,
the Marquis de Gonzaga."

Antonia caught eagerly at this suggestion.
It at least offered some delay, in which the
Sefiora might be strengthened to resist the
coercion of Fray Ignatius.

" Mother, it is a good thought. My great-
uncle will tell you what to do ; and my father
will not blame you for following his advice.
Perhaps even he may offer his home. You are
the child of his sister."

Fray Ignatius walked towards the fire-place
and stood rubbing slowly his long, thin hands
before the blaze, while the Sefiora and her
daughters discussed this proposal. The half-
frantic mother was little inclined to make any
further effort to resist the determined will of
her old confessor; but the tears of Isabel won
from her a promise to see her uncle.

" Then, my daughter, lose no time. I cannot

260 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

promise you many days in which choice will
be left you. Go this afternoon, and to-morrow
I will call for your decision."

It was not a visit that the Seilora liked to
make. She had deeply offended her uncle by
her marriage, and their intercourse had since
been of the most ceremonious and infrequent
kind. But surely, at this hour, when she was
left without any one to advise her steps, he
would remember the tie of blood between
them.

He received her with more kindness than
she had anticipated. His eyes glittered in
their deep sockets when she related her ex
tremity and the priest's proposal, and his small
shrunken body quivered with excitement as he
answered :

" Saints and angels ! Fray Ignatius is right
about Santa Anna. We shall see that he will
make caps for his soldiers out of the skins of
these infidel ingrates. But as for going into
the convent, I know not. A miserable mar
riage you made for yourself, Maria. Pardon,
if I say so much ! I let the word slip always.
I was never one to bite my tongue. I am an
old man — very well, come here, you and your

DANGER AND HELP. 261

daughters, till the days of blood are over.
There is room in the house, and a few comforts
in it also. I have some power with Santa
Anna. He is a great man — a great man ! In
all his wars, good fortune flies before him."

He kissed her hands as he opened the door,
and then went back to the fire, and bent, mut
tering, over it : " Giver of good ! a true Ytur-
bide ; a gentle woman ; she is like my sister
Mercedes — very like her. These poor women
who trust me, as I am a sinner before God, I
am unhappy to deceive them."

Fray Ignatius might have divined his
thoughts, for he entered at the moment, and
said as he approached him :

"You have done right. The soul must be
saved, if all is lost. This is not a time for the
friends of the Church and of Mexico to waver.
The Church is insulted every day by these for
eign heretics — "

" But you are mistaken, father ; the Church
holds up her head, whatever happens. Even
the vice-regal crown is not lost — the Church
has cleft it into mitres."

Fray Ignatius smiled, but there was a curi.
ous and crafty look of inquiry on his face.

262 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

" The city is turbulent, Marquis, and there is
undoubtedly a great number of Mexicans op
posed to Santa Anna."

" Do you not know Mexicans yet? They
would be opposed to God Almighty, rather
than confess they were well governed. Bah !
the genius of Mexico is mutiny. They scarcely
want a leader to move their madness. They
rebel on any weak pretence. They bluster
when they are courted ; they crouch when they
are oppressed. They are fools to all the world
but themselves. I beg the Almighty to con
sider in my favor, that some over-hasty angel
misplaced my lot. I should have been born
in — New York."

The priest knew that he was talking for irri
tation, but he was too politic to favor the
mood. He stood on the hearth with his hands
folded behind him, and with a delightful suav
ity turned the conversation upon the country
rather than the people. It was a glorious day
in the dawn of spring. The tenderest greens,
the softest blues, the freshest scents, the clear
est air, the most delightful sunshine were
everywhere. The white old town, with its
picturesque crowds, its murmur of voices and

DANGER AND HELP. 263

laughter, its echoes of fife and drum, its loves
and its hatreds, was at his feet ; and, far off,
the hazy glory of the mountains, the greenness
and freshness of Paradise, the peace and free
dom of the vast, unplanted places. The old
marquis was insensibly led to contemplate the
whole ; and, in so doing, to put uppermost that
pride of country which was the base of every
feeling susceptible to the priest's influence.

" Such a pleasant city, Marquis ! Spanish
monks founded it. Spanish and Mexican sol
diers have defended it. Look at its fine
churches and missions ; its lovely homes, and
blooming gardens."

" It is also all our own, father. It was but
yesterday I said to one of those insolent Amer
icans who was condescending to admire it :
' Very good, Sefior ; and, if you deign to believe
me, it was not brought from New York. Such
as you see it, it was made by ourselves here at
San Antonio.' Saints in heaven ! the fellow
laughed in my face. We were mutually con
vinced of each other's stupidity."

" Ah, how they envy us the country ! And
you, Marquis, who have traveled over the
world, you can imagine the reason?"

264 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

" Father, I will tell you the reason ; it is the
craving in the heart to find again the lost
Eden. The Almighty made Texas with full
hands. When He sets his heart on a man, he
is permitted to live there."

" Grace of God ! You speak the truth.
Shall we then give up the gift of His hand to
heretics and infidels?"

" I cannot imagine it."

" Then every one must do the work he can
do. Some are to slay the unbelievers ; others
are to preserve the children of the Church.
Your niece and her two daughters will be lost
to the faith, unless you interfere for their sal
vation. Of you will their souls be required."

" By Saint Joseph, it is a duty not in agree
ment with my desire ! I, who have carefully
abstained from the charge of a wife and daugh
ters of my own."

" It is but for a day or two, Marquis, until
the matter is arranged. The convent is the
best of all refuges for women so desolate."

The marquis did not answer. He lifted a
book and began to read ; and Fray Ignatius
watched him furtively.

In the mean time the Sefiora had reached her

DANGER AND HELP. 265

home. She was pleased with the result of her
visit. A little kindness easily imposed upon
this childlike woman, and she trusted in any
one who was pleasant to her.

" You may believe me, Antonia," she said ;
" my uncle was in a temper most unusual. He
kissed my hands. He offered me his protec
tion. That is a great thing, I assure you.
And your father cannot object to our removal
there."

Antonia knew not what answer to make.
Her heart misgave her. Why had Fray Ig
natius made the proposal? She was sure it
was part of an arrangement, and not a sponta
neous suggestion of the moment. And she was
equally sure that any preconcerted plan, hav
ing Fray Ignatius for its author, must be inimi
cal to them.

Her mother's entry had not awakened Isabel,
who lay asleep upon a sofa. The Seftora was a
little nettled at the circumstance. " She is a
very child! A visit of such importance ! And
she is off to the land of dreams while I am fatigu
ing myself! I wish indeed that she had more
consideration ! " Then Antonia brought her
chocolate, and, as she drank it and smoked her

266 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

c'igarito, she chatted in an almost eager way
about the persons she had seen.

" Going towards the Plaza, I met Judge Val-
.dez. I stopped the carnage, and sent my affec
tions to the Sefiora. Would you believe it ?
He answered me as if his mouth were full of
snow. His disagreeable behavior was exactly
copied by the Sefiora Silvestre and her daugh
ter Esperanza. Dona Julia and Pilar de Calval
did not even perceive me. Santa Maria ! there
are none so blind as those who won't see ! Oh,
indeed ! I found the journey like the way of
salvation — full of humiliations. I would have
stopped at the store of the Jew Lavenburg,
and ordered many things, but he turned in
when he saw me coming. Once, indeed, he
would have put his hat on the pavement for me
to tread upon. But he has heard that your
father has made a rebel of himself, and what
can be expected? He knows when Santa
Anna has done with the rebels not one of
them will have anything left for God to rain
upon. And there was a great crowd and a
great tumult. I think the whole city had a
brain fever."

At this moment Isabel began to moan in her

DANGER AND HELP. 267

sleep as if her soul was in some intolerable
terror or grief; and ere Antonia could
reach her she sprang into the middle of the
room with a shriek that rang through the
house.

It was some minutes before the child could
be soothed. She lay in her mother's arms,
sobbing in speechless distress ; but at length
she was able to articulate her fright :

" Listen, mi madre, and may the Holy Lady
make you believe me ! I have had a dream.
God be blessed that it is not yet true ! I will
tell you. It was about Fray Ignatius and our
uncle the Marquis de Gonzaga. My good
angel gave it to me ; for myself and you all she
gave it ; and, as my blessed Lord lives ! I will
not go to them! Si! I will cut my white
throat first ! " and she drew her small hand
with a passionate gesture across it. She had
stood up as she began to speak, and the action,
added to her unmistakable terror, her stricken
face and air of determination, was very im
pressive.

"You have had a dream, my darling?"

"Yes, an awful dream, Antonia! Mary!
Mary! Tender Mary, pity us! "

268 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

" And you think we should not go to the
house of the marquis ? "

" Oh, Antonia ! I have seen the way. It is
black and cold, and full of fear and pain. No
one shall make me take it. I have the stiletto
of my grandmother Flores. I will ask Holy
Mary to pardon me, and then — in a moment —
I would be among the people of the other
world. That would be far better than Fray
Ignatius and the house of Gonzaga."

The Sefiora was quite angry at this fresh
complication. It was really incredible what
she had to endure. And would Antonia please
to tell her where else they were to go? They
had not a friend left in San Antonio — they did
not deserve to have one — and was it to be sup
posed that a lady, born noble, could follow the
Americans in an ox-wagon ? Antonia might
think it preferable to the comfortable house of
her relation ; but blessed be the hand of God,
which had opened the door of a respectable
shelter to her.

"I will go in the ox-wagon," said Isabel,
with a sullen determination; "but I will not
go into my uncle's house. By the saint of my
birth I swear it."

DANGER AND HELP. 269

" Mother, listen to Antonia. When one
door shuts, God opens another door. Our
own home is yet undisturbed. Do you believe
what Fray Ignatius says of the coming of Santa
Anna ? I do not. Until he arrives we are safe
in our own home; and when the hour for going
away comes, even a little bird can show us the
way to take. And I am certain that my father
is planning for our safety. If Santa Anna was
in this city, and behaving with the brutality
which is natural to him, I would not go away
until my father sent the order. Do you think
he forgets us ? Be not afraid of such a thing.
It cannot take place."

Towards dusk Seftor Navarro called, and
the Sefiora brought him into her private
parlor and confided to him the strait they
were in. He looked with sympathy into the
troubled, tear-stained faces of these three
helpless women ; and listened with many ex
pressive gestures to the proposal of the priest
and the offer of the old marquis.

" Most excellent ladies," he answered ; " it
is a plot. I assure you that it is a plot. Cer-
tainly it was not without reason I was so
unhappy about you this afternoon. Even

27° REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

while I was at the bull-fight, I think our angels
were in a consultation about your affairs.
Your name was in my ears above all other
sounds."

" You say it is a plot, Seflor. Explain to us
what you mean ? "

" Yes, I will tell you. Do you know that
Fray Ignatius is the confessor of the mar
quis ? "

" We had not thought of such a thing."

" It is the truth. For many years they have
been close as the skin and the flesh. Without
Fray Ignatius the marquis says neither yes or
no. Also the will of the marquis has been
lately made. I have seen a copy of it. Every
thing he has is left to the brotherhoods of the
Church. Without doubt, Fray Ignatius was
the lawyer who wrote it."

" Sefior, I always believed that would hap
pen. At my marriage my uncle made the
determination. Indeed, we have never ex
pected a piastre — no, not even a tlaco. And
to-day he was kind to me, and offered me his
home. Oh, Holy Mother, how wretched I am !
Can I not trust in the good words of those who
are of my own family ? "

DANGER AND HELP. 271

" The tie of race will come before the tie of
the family. The tie of religion is strongest of
all, Seflora. Let me tell you what will take
place. When you and your children are in
the house of the marquis, he will go before
the Alcalde. He will declare that you have
gone voluntarily to his care, and that he is
your nearest and most natural guardian. Very
well. But further, he will declare, on account
of his great age, and the troubled state of the
time, he is unable to protect you, and ask for
the authority to place you in the religious care
of the holy sisterhood of Saint Maria. And he
will obtain all he wants."

" But, simply, what is to be gained by such
treachery ? He said to-day that I was like his
sister Mercedes, and he spoke very gently
to me."

" He would not think such a proceeding really
unkind. He would assure himself that it was
good for your eternal salvation. As to the
reason, that is to be looked for in the purse,
where all reasons come from. This house,
which the good doctor built, is the best in the
city. It has even two full stories. It is very
suitable for a religious house. It is not far

27 2 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

from the Plaza, yet secluded in its beautiful
garden. Fray Ignatius has long desired it.
When he has removed you, possession will be
taken, and Santa Anna will confirm the pos
session."

" God succor our poor souls ! What shall
we do then, Seftor ? The Mexican army has
entered Texas, it will soon be here."

" Quien sabe ? Between the Rio Grande and
the San Antonio are many difficulties. Urrea
has five thousand men with him, horses and
artillery. The horses must graze, the men
must rest and eat. We shall have heavy rains.
I am sure that it will be twenty days ere he
reaches the settlements ; and even then his
destination is not San Antonio, it is Goliad.
Santa Anna will be at least ten days after him.
I suppose, then, that for a whole month you
are quite safe in your own home. That is
what I believe now. If I saw a reason to be
lieve what is different, I would inform you.
The good doctor, to whom I owe my life
many times, has my promise. Lopez Navarro
never broke his word to any man. The infamy
would be a thing impossible, where the safety
of three ladies is concerned."

DANGER AND HELP. 273

" And in a month, mi madre, what great
things may happen ! Thirty days of possibili
ties! Come, now, let us be a little happy, and
listen to what the Sefior has to tell us. I am
sure this house has been as stupid as a con
vent "; and Isabel lifted the cigarette case of
the Seiiora, and with kisses persuaded her to
accept its tranquilizing consolation.

It was an elegant little golden trifle studded
with gems. Her husband had given it to her
on the anniversary of their twenty-fifth wed
ding day ; and it recalled vividly to her the
few sweet moments. She was swayed as easily
as a child by the nearest or strongest influence,
and, after all, it did seem the best to take
Isabel's advice, and be a little happy while she
could.

Lopez was delighted to humor this mood.
He told them all the news of their own social
set ; and in such vivid times something hap
pened every day. There had been betrothals
and marriages, quarrels and entertainments;
and Lopez, as a fashionable young man of
wealth and nobility, had taken his share in
what had transpired.

Antonia felt unspeakably grateful to him.

274 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

After the fretful terror and anxiety of the day —
after the cruel visit of Fray Ignatius — it was
indeed a comfort to hear the pleasant voice of
Navarro in all kinds of cheerful modulations.
By and by there was a slow rippling laugh from
Isabel, and the Sefiora's face lost its air of
dismal distraction.

At length Navarro had brought his narrative
of small events down to the afternoon of that
day. There had been a bull-fight, and Isabel
was making him describe to her the chulos, in
their pale satin breeches and silk waist-scarfs ;
the toreros in their scarlet mantles, and the
picadores on their horses.

" And I assure you," he said, " the company
of ladies was very great and splendid. They
were in full dress, and the golden-pinned
mantillas and the sea of waving fans were a
sight indeed. Oh, the fans alone ! So many
colors ; great crescents, growing and waning
with far more enchantments than the moons.
Their rustle and movement has a wonderful
charm, Seflorita Isabel ; no one can imagine it.

" Oh, I assure you, Seflor, I can see and feel
it. But to be there ! That, indeed, would
make me perfectly happy."

DANGER AND HELP. 275

" Had you been there to-day you would
have admired, above all things, the feat of the
matadore Jarocho. It was upon the great
bull Sandoval — a very monster, I assure you.
He came bellowing at Jarocho, as if he meant
his instant death. His eyeballs wer,e living
fire ; his nostrils steamed with fury ; well, then,
at the precise moment, Jarocho put his
slippered feet between his horns, and vaulted,
light as a bird flies, over his back. Then
Sandoval turned to him again. Well, he
calmly waited for his approach, and his long
sword met him between the horns. As lightly
as a lady touches her cavalier, he seemed to
touch Sandoval ; but the brute fell like a stone
at his feet. What a storm of vivas! What
clapping of hands and shouts of 'valiente!'
And the ladies flung their flowers, and the men
flung their hats into the arena, and Jarocho
stepped proudly enough on them, I can tell
you, though he was watching the door for the
next bull."

11 A^h, Senor, why will men fight each other,
when it is so much more grand and interesting
to fight bulls?"

" Senorita Isabel, if you could only convince

276 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

them of that ! But then, it is not always
interesting to the matadore ; for instance, it is
only by the mercy of God and the skill of an
Americano that Jarocho is at this moment out
of purgatory."

The Sefiora raised herself from among the
satin pillows of her sofa, and asked, excitedly ;
"Was there then some accident, Seftor? Is
Jarocho wounded? Poor Jarocho! "

" Not a hair of his head is hurt, Sefiora. I will
tell you. Saint Jago, who followed Sandoval,
was a little devil. He was light and quick, and
had intelligence. You could see by the gleam
in his eyes that he took in the whole scene,
and considered not only the people in the ring,
but the people in the amphitheatre also, to be
his tormentors. Perhaps in that reflection
he was not mistaken. He meant mischief
from the beginning ; and he pressed Jarocho
so close that he leaped the barrier for safety.
As he leaped, Saint Jago leaped also. Imagine
now the terror of the spectators ! The screams !
The rush ! The lowered horns within an inch
of Jarocho, and Fray Joseph Maria running
with the consecrated wafer to the doomed
man ! At that precise moment there was a

DANGER AND HELP. 277

rifle-shot, and the bellowing brute rolled back-
ward into the arena — dead."

" Oh, Maria Purissima ! How grand ! In
such moments one really lives, Sefior. And
but for this absurd rebellion I and my
daughters could have had the emotion. It is
indeed cruel."

" You said the shot was fired by an Amer
ican ? "

" Sefiorita Antonia, it was, indeed. I saw
him. He was in the last row. He had stood up
when Saint Jago came in, and he was watching
the man and the animal with his soul in his
eyes. He had a face, fine and thin as a
woman's — a very gentle face, also. But at
one instant it became stern and fierce, the lips
hard set, the eyes half shut, then the rifle at
the shoulder like a flash of light, and the bull
was dead between the beginning and the end
of the leap ! The sight was wonderful, and the
ladies turned to him with smiles and cries of
thankfulness, and the better part of the men
bowed to him ; for the Mexican gentleman is
always just to a great deed. But he went
away as if he had done something that dis
pleased himself, and when I overtook him at

278 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

the gates of the Alamo, he did not look as if
he wished to talk about it.

" However, I could not refrain myself, and I
said : ' Permit me, Colonel Crockett, to honor
you. The great feat of to-day's fight was
yours. San Antonio owes you for her favorite
Jarocho.'

" ' I saved a life, young man,' he answered ;
' and I took a life ; and I'll be blamed if I
know whether I did right or wrong.' ' Jarocho
would have been killed but for your shot.'
' That's so ; and I killed the bull ; but you can
take my hat if I don't think I killed the tallest
brute of the two. Adjourn the subject, sir';
and with that he walked off into the fort, and
I did myself the pleasure of coming to see you,
Seftora."

He rose and bowed to the ladies, and, as the
Sefiora was making some polite answer, the
door of the room opened quickly, and a man
entered and advanced towards her. Every eye
was turned on him, but ere a word could be
uttered he was kneeling at the Sefiora's side,
and had taken her face in his hands, and was
kissing it. In the dim light she knew him at
once, and she cried out : " My Thomas ! My

DANGER AND HELP. 279

Thomas ! My dear son ! For three years I
have not seen you."

He brought into the room with him an
atmosphere of comfort and strength. Sud
denly all fear and anxiety was lifted, and in
Antonia's heart the reaction was so great that
she sank into a chair and began to cry like a
child. Her brother held her in his arms and
soothed her with the promise of his presence
and help. Then he said, cheerfully :

" Let me have some supper, Antonia. I am
as hungry as a lobos wolf ; and run away,
Isabel, and help your sister, for I declare
to you girls I shall eat everything in the
house."

The homely duty was precisely what was
needed to bring every one's feelings to their
normal condition ; and Thomas Worth sat
chatting with his mother and Lopez of his
father, and Jack, and Dare, and Luis, and the
superficial events of the time, with that pleas
ant, matter-of-course manner which is by far
the most effectual soother of troubled and un
usual conditions.

In less than half an hour Antonia called her
brother, and he and Lopez entered the dining-

280 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

room together. They came in as brothers
might come, face answering face with sympa
thetic change and swiftness ; but Antonia
could not but notice the difference in the tw©
men. Lopez was dressed in a suit of black vel
vet, trimmed with many small silver buttons.
His sash was of crimson silk. His linen was
richly embroidered ; and his wide hat was
almost covered with black velvet, and adorned
with silver tags. It was a dress that set off
admirably his dark, intelligent face.

Thomas Worth wore the usual frontier cos
tume ; a dark flannel shirt, a wide leather belt,
buck-skin breeches, and leather boots covering
his knees. He was very like his father in fig
ure and face — darker, perhaps, and less hand
some. But the gentleness and strength of his
personal appearance attracted every one first,
and invested all traits with their own distinc
tive charm.

And, oh ! What a change was there in the
the Sefiora's room. The poor lady cried a lit
tle for joy, and then went to sleep like a wea
ried child. Isabel and Antonia were too happy
to sleep. They sat half through the night,
talking softly of the danger they had been in.

DANGER AND HELP. 281

Now that Thomas had come, they could say
had. For he was a very Great-heart to them,
and they could, even contemplate the expected
visit of Frav Ignatius without fear ; yes. indeed,
with sometning very like satistaction.

CHAPTER XIII.

THE ARRIVAL OF SANTA ANNA.

lt What thing thou doest, bravely do ;

When Heaven's clear call hath found thee,
Follow — with fervid wheels pursue,
Though thousands bray around thee."

44 Mounted upon a hot and fiery steed,
Which his aspiring rider seemed to know ;
With slow but stately pace kept on his course ;
You would have thought the very windows spoke,
So many greedy looks of young and old,
Through casements darted their desiring eyes
Upon his visage."

TEFT to themselves, the two men threw off
I j like a mask the aspect of cheerfulness
they had worn in the presence of the Seftora.
Thomas Worth ate heartily, for he had been
without food since morning; but Navarro did
not attempt to join his meal. He sat patiently
waiting, his sombre eyes fixed upon the men
tal visions which circled in the enchanted in
cense of his cigarette.

Presently Thomas Worth turned toward the
hearth, pushed the cedar logs on it to a focus?<
282

THE ARRIVAL OF SAATTA ANNA. 283

and at their leaping blaze lighted the pipe
which he took from his pocket. " Lopez," he
said, " it strikes me that I am just in time to
prevent some infamous plan of Fray Ignatius
and my uncle Gonzaga."

" I should not bave lost sight of the Seftora
and your sisters, I have watched them faith
fully, though for many good reasons it has
been best to appear indifferent. Will you now
remain in San Antonio ? "

" I have come with orders to Travis to blow
up the Alamo, and fall back upon Houston,
who is at Gonzales. But I do not think the
men will permit him to do so."

" You have too many leaders. Also, they
undervalue the Mexican soldiers. I assure you
they do. They fought Spain for ten years ;
they do not want, then, the persistence of true
valor. The Americans may die in the Alamo,
but they cannot hold it against the thousands
Santa Anna will bring with him."

" They will die, then. They have no thought
of retreat, nor of any deed that argues fear.
Every man relies on himself, as if in his hand
the moment of victory lay."

" Every man will perish."

284 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

"They will not perish in vain. Defeat is
only a spur to the American soldier. Every
one makes him a better fighter. If Santa Anna
massacres the men in the Alamo, he seals the
freedom of Texas."

" Houston should have come himself."

" Houston is biding his time. He is doing
at present the hardest duty a great man can
do : setting an example of obedience to a
divided and incompetent government. Lopez,
you said rightly that we had too many leaders.
When those appointed for sacrifice have been
offered up — when we are in the extremity of
danger and ruin, then Houston will hear the
word he is waiting for."

"And he will lead you onto victory. In
deed, I know it. I have seen him. He has the
line — the fortunate line on the forehead. He
is the loadstone in the breast of your cause ;
the magnet who can draw good fortune to it.
If fate be against you, he will force fate to
change her mind. If fate weave you a com
mon thread, he will change it into purple. Vic
tory, which she gives to others reluctantly,
he will take like a master from her hand !
HOUSTON! What essence! What exist

THE ARRIVAL OF SANTA ANNA. 285

ence ! What honor ! What hope there
is in those seven letters. Consider this :
He will find a way or make a way for free
dom."

Subsequent events proved the opinion of
Thomas Worth correct with regard to the gar
rison in the Alamo. David Crockett ! James
Bowie ! Barret Travis ! The names were a
host in themselves ; one and all refused to
couple them Avith retreat.

" Military defeats may be moral victories,
young man," said Crockett to Thomas Worth ;
" and moral victories make national greatness.
The Roman that filled the gulf with his own
body — the men who died at Thermopylae —
they live to-day, and they have been talking
with us."

" But if you join Houston you will save
many lives."

" That isn't always the point, sir. Jim
Bowie was saying there was once a lover who
used to swim two miles every night to see a
young woman called Hero. Now, he might
have waited for a boat and gone dry-shod to
his sweetheart ; but if he had, who would have
cared whether he lived or died ? The Alamo

286 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

is our Hero. If we can't keep her, we can die
for her."

The same spirit moved every soul at Goliad.
Fanning was there with nearly nine hundred
men, and he had named the place Fort De
fiance, and asserted his determination to hold
it. In the mean time, Houston was using his
great personal influence to collect troops, to
make treaties with the Indians, -and to keep
together some semblance of a provisional
government.

But it had become evident to all the lead
ing spirits of the revolution that no half-way
measures would now do. They only produced
half-way enthusiasm. For this end, Houston
spoke out with his accustomed boldness :

" Gentlemen, we must declare the indepen
dence of Texas, and like our fore-elders, sink
or swim by that declaration. Nothing else,
nothing less, can save us. The planters of
Texas must feel that they are fighting for their
own constitution, and not for Mexican prom
ises made to them twelve years ago and never
yet kept."

The simple proposition roused a new en
thusiasm ; Cor while Urrea was hastening to-

THE ARRIVAL OF SANTA ANNA. 287

wards Goliad, and Santa Anna towards San
Antonio, and Filisola to Washington, the di
vided people were becoming more and more
embittered. The American soldiers, who had
hitherto gone in and out among the citizens of
San Antonio during the day, and only slept in
the Alamo, were conscious of an ominous
change in the temper of the city. They gath
ered their recruits together and shut therrv
selves in the fortress.

Again Thomas Worth urged them to fall
back either upon the line of Houston at
Gonzales, or Fanning at Goliad; but in the in
decision and uncertainty of all official orders,
Crockett thought it best to make the first
stand at the Mexican city.

" We can, at least, " he said, " keep Santa
Anna busy long enough to give the women
and children of our own settlements time to
escape, and the men time to draw together
with a certain purpose."

" The cry of Santa Anna has been like the
cry of wolf ! wolf ! " said Bowie. " I hear that
great numbers that were under arms have gone
home to plant their corn and cotton. Do you
want Santa Anna to murder them piecemeal — •

288 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

house by house, family by family? Great
George ! Which of us would accommodate him
with a prolonged pleasure like that ? No ! he
shall have a square fight for every life he gets ";
and the calm, gentlemanly Bowie was sudden
ly transformed into a flashing, vehement, fu
rious avenger. He laid his knife and pistols on
the table, his steel-blue eyes scintillated as if
they were lightning ; his handsome mouth, his
long, white hands, his whole person radiated
wrath and expressed the utmost lengths of in
vincible courage and insatiable hatred.

" Gentlemen," answered Travis, " I go with
Crockett and Bowie. If we hold the Alamo,
it is a deed well done. If we fall with it, it is
still a deed well done. We shall have given to
Houston and Fanning time to interpose them
selves between Santa Anna and the settle
ments."

" We have none of us lived very well," said
Bowie, " but we can die well. I say as an
American, that Texas is ours by right of
natural locality, and by right of treaty ; and,
as I live, I will do my best to make it Ameri
can by right of conquest ! Comrades, I do not
want a prettier quarrel to die in " — and looking

THE ARRIVAL OF SANTA ANNA. 289

with a brave, unflinching gaze around the
grim fortress — " I do not want a better monu
ment than the Alamo ! "

The speech was not answered with any
noisy hurrahing; but the men around the bare,
long table clasped hands across it, and from
that last interview with the doomed men
Thomas Worth came away with the knowl
edge that he had seen the battle begun. He
felt now that there was no time to delay longer
his plans for the safety of his mother and
sisters. These were, indeed, of the simplest
and most uncertain character ; for the con
dition of the country and its few resources
were such as to make flight the only way that
promised safety. And yet flight was environed
with dangers of every kind — hunger, thirst,
exhaustion, savage beasts, Indians, and the
triple armies of Mexico.

The day after his arrival he had begun to
prepare, as far as possible, for this last emer
gency, but the Sefiora's unconquerable aversion
to leave her native city had constantly ham
pered him. Until Santa Anna really appeared
she would not believe in the necessity of such
a movement. The proposal of Fray Ignatius,

29° REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

even if it did end in a convent, did not seem
so terrible as to be a wanderer without a roof
to cover her. She felt aggrieved and injured
by Antonia's and Isabel's positive refusal to
accept sanctuary from the priest, and with the
underhand cunning of a weak woman she had
contrived to let Fray Ignatius know that she
was not to blame for the refusal.

All the same the priest hated her in conjunc
tion with her children. On the morning after
her interview with her uncle, he went to receive
her submission ; for the marquis had informed
him of all that had passed, and he felt the three
women and the valuable Worth property
already under his hard hand. He opened the
gate with the air of a proprietor. He looked
down the lovely alleys of the garden, and up
at the latticed stones of the handsome house,
with that solid satisfaction which is the reward
of what is acquired by personal effort or
wisdom.

When he entered the door and was con
fronted by Thomas Worth, he was for the
moment nonplussed. But he did not permit
his confusion and disappointment to appear.
He had not seen Thomas for a long time. He

THE ARRIVAL OF SANTA ANNA. 291

addressed him with suavity and regrets, and
yet, " was sure he would be glad to hear that,
in the present dangerous crisis, the Marquis de
Gonzaga had remembered the blood-tie and
offered his protection to a family so desolate."

Thomas Worth leaned upon the balusters, as
if guarding the approach to the Sefiora's apart
ments. He answered : " The protection of the
marquis is unnecessary. Three ladies are too
great a charge for one so aged. We will not
impose it." The face of the young man was
calm and stern, but he spoke without visible
temper, until the priest prepared to pass him.
Then he stretched out his arm as a barrier.

" Fray Ignatius, you have already passed
beyond the threshold ; permit me to remind
you of Dr. Worth's words o'n that subject."

" I put my duty before any man's words."

" Sir, for my mother's sake, I would not be
disrespectful ; but I assure you, also, that I will
not permit any man, while I live, to disregard
my father's orders regarding his own house«
hold."

" I must see the Seftara."

" That, I reply, is impossible."

"Presume not — dare not to interfere with a

292 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

priest in the duty of his office. It is a mortal
sin. The curse of the Church will rest upon
you."

" The curse of the Church will not trouble
me. But to treat my father's known wishes
with contempt — that is an act of dishonor and
disobedience which I will not be guilty of."

" Santa Maria ! Suffer not my spirit to be
moved by this wicked one. Out of my path,
Satanas! "

The last word was not one which Thomas
Worth had expected. He flushed crimson at
its application, and with a few muttered sen
tences, intelligible only to the priest, he took
him firmly by the shoulder, led him outside the
door, and closed and barred it.

The expulsion was not accomplished without
noisy opposition on the part of Fray Ignatius,
and it pained Thomas deeply to hear, in the
midst of the priest's anathemas, the shrill cries
of his mother's distress and disapproval.

The next domestic movement of Thomas
Worth was to rid the house of Molly and
Manuel, and the inferior servants. It was not
as easy a task as may be supposed. They had
been ordered by Fray Ignatius to remain, and

THE ARRIVAL OF SANTA ANNA. 293

the order had not been countermanded. Even
if the Sefiora and her daughters were going
east, and their services were not needed, they
had no objections to remain in. the Worth
house. They understood that the Church
would take possession, and the housekeeping
of the Church was notoriously easy and
luxurious.

However, after exorbitant compensation had
been made, and Molly had given in return " a
bit of her mind," she left for the Irish colony
of San Patricio, and Manuel immediately
sought his favorite monte table. When he had
doubled his money, he intended to obey
Molly's emphatic orders, and go and tell the
priest all about it.

" I would rather face a battery of cannon
than Fray Ignatius and the servants again,
Antonia." Antonia looked at her brother ; he
was worried and weary, and his first action, when
he had finally cleared the house, was to walk
around it, and bolt every door and window.
Antonia followed him silently. She perceived
that the crisis had come, and she was doing as
good women in extremity do — trying to find
in the darkness the hand always stretched out

294 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

to guide and strengthen. As yet she had not
been able to grasp it. She followed her
brother like one in a troubled dream, whisper
ing faintly, with white lips, " O God, where
art Thou ? Help and pity us ! "

Thomas led her finally to his father's office.
He went to a closet filled with drugs, removed
them, and then a certain pressure of his hand
caused the back of the closet to disappear in a
groove, and a receptacle full of coin and papers
was disclosed.

" We must take with us all the coin we can
carry. What you are not likely to require, is
to go to the men in the field. Then, hide in
its place the old silver, and the laces, and the
jewels, which came with the Flores from Cas
tile ; and any other papers and valuables, which
you received from our father. I think even
Fray Ignatius will not discover them here."

" Is there any special need to hurry to-day?"

" Santa Anna is within forty-eight hours of
San Antonio. He may force a march, and be
here earlier. Travis cold me last night that
their advance scouts had come in with this
intelligence. To-day they will gather every
man they can, and prepare to defend them-

THE ARRIVAL OF SANTA ANNA. 295

selves in the Alamo. As soon as Santa Anna
arrives, we are in danger. I must leave here
to-night. I must either take you with me or
remove you to a place of more safety."

11 Let us go with you."

" If my mother is willing."

" If she is not, what then ? "

" Lopez has prepared for that emergency.
He has an empty house three miles west of
San Antonio. He has had it completely
victualled. I will take you there after dark in
the large green chariot. Ortiz will drive the
light Jersey wagon on the Gonzales road. When
inquiry is made, the Jersey wagon will have
attracted the attention of every Mexican, and
Fray Ignatius will receive positive assurances
that you were in it and are beyond his power.
And certainly, without definite intelligence, he
would never suspect you of being anywhere on
the highway to Mexico."

" Shall we be quite alone? "

" For two or three days you will be quite
alone. Ortiz will, however, return with the
wagon by a circuitous route ; for, sooner or
later, you are sure to need it. Fear not to trust
him. Only in one respect will you need to

296 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

supplement his advice by your own intelli
gence : he is so eager to fight Santa Anna, he
may persuade himself and you that it is neces
sary to fly eastward when it is not. In all
other points you may be guided by him, and
his disguise as a peon is so perfect that it will
be easy for him to gather in the pulquerias all
the information requisite for your direction. I
have been out to the house, and I can assure
you that Lopez has considered everything for
your comfort."

" However, I would rather go with you,
Thomas."

" It must be as mother desires."

When the circumstances were explained to
the Seftora, she was at first very determined to
accept neither alternative. " She would re
main where she was. She was a Flores and a
Gonzaga. Santa Anna knew better than to
molest her. She would rather trust to him
than to those dreadful Americans." Reminded
of Fray Ignatius, she shed a few tears over the
poor padrecito, and assured her children they
had made a mistake regarding him, which
neither oil nor ointment, nor wit nor wisdom,
could get over.

77//<; JA'AY/V//, (>/<• SAiVTA A MX A. »97

It was almost impossible to induce her to
come to a decision of any kind ; and only when
she saw Antonia and Isabel were dressed
for a journey, and that Thomas had locked
up all the rooms and was extinguishing
the fires, could she bring herself to belirv
that the trial so long anticipated had really
come.

" My dearest mother ! My own life and the
lives of many others may now hang upon a
few moments. I can remain here no longer.
Where shall I take you to ? "

" I will not leave my home."

" Santa Anna is almost here. As soon as
he arrives, I'Yay Ignatius and twelve of the
Bernardino monks are coming here. I was
told that yesterday."

" Then I will go to the convent. I and my
daughters."

" No, mother ; if you go to the convent,
Antonia and Isabel must go with me."

She prayed, and exclaimed, and appealed to
saints and angels, and to the holy Virgin, until
Isabel was hysterically weeping, Antonia nt
a mental tension almost unendurable, ami
Thomas on the verge of one of those terrifying

298 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

passions that mark the extremity of habitually
gentle, patient men.

" My God, mother!" he exclaimed with a
stamp of his spurred boot on the stone floor ;
" if you will go to the devil — to the priests, I
mean — you must go alone. Kiss your mother
farewell, girls. I have not another moment to
wait."

Then, in a passion of angry sobs and re
proaches, she decided to go with her daugh
ters, and no saint ever suffered with a more
firm conviction of their martyrdom to duty
than did this poor foolish, affectionate slave to
her emotions and her superstitions. But when
Thomas had gone, and nothing was to be
gained by a display of her sufferings, she per
mitted herself to be interested in their hiding-
place, and after Antonia had given her a cup
of chocolate, and Isabel had petted and
soothed her, she began gradually to allow them
to explain their situation, and even to feel
some interest in its discussion.

They sat in the charmful, dusky glimmer of
starlight, for candles and fire were forbidden
luxuries. Fortunately, the weather was warm
and sunny, and for making chocolate and such

THE ARRIVAL OF SANTA ANNA. 299

simple cookery, Lopez had provided a spirit
lamp. The Senora was as pleased as a child
with this arrangement. She had never seen
anything like it before. She even imagined
the food cooked upon it had some rare and
unusual flavor. She was quite proud when she
had learned its mysteries, and quite sure that
chocolate she made upon it was chocolate of
a most superior kind.

The house had been empty for two years,
and the great point was to preserve its air
of desolation. No outside arrangement was
touched ; the torn remnants of some balcony
hangings were left fluttering in the wind ; the
closed windows and the closed doors, the ab
sence of smoke from the chimneys and of lights
from the windows, preserved the air of empti
ness and loneliness that the passers-by had
been accustomed to see. And, as it was on
the highway into the city, there were great
numbers of passers: mule-trains going to Mex
ico and Sonora ; cavaliers and pedestrians ;
splendidly-dressed nobles and officials, dusty
peons bringing in wood ; ranchmen, peddlers,
and the whole long list of a great city's pur-
veyors and servants.

300 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

But though some of the blinds were half-
closed, much could be seen ; and Isabel also
often took cushions upon the flat roof, and ly
ing down, watched, from between the pilasters
of the balustrade surrounding it, the moving
panorama.

On the morning of the third day of what the
Seftora called their imprisonment, they went
to the roof to sit in the clear sunshine and the
fresh wind. They were weary and depressed
with the loneliness and uncertainty of their
position, and were almost longing for some
thing to happen that would push forward the
lagging wheels of destiny.

A long fanfare of trumpets, a roll of drums,
a stirring march of warlike melody, startled
them out of the lethargic tedium of exhausted
hopes and fears. "It is Santa Anna!" said
Antonia ; and though they durst not stand up,
they drew closer to the balustrade and watched
for the approaching army. Is there any
woman who can resist that nameless emotion
which both fires and rends the heart in the
presence of great military movements ? An
tonia was still and speechless, and white
as death. Isabel watched with gleaming

THE ARRIVAL OF SAJVTA ANNA. 301

eyes and set lips. The Seftora's excitement
was unmistakably that of exultant national
pride.

Santa Anna and his staff-officers were in
front. They passed too rapidly for individual
notice, but it was a grand moving picture of
handsome men in scarlet and gold — of grace
ful mangas and waving plumes, and bright-
colored velvet capes ; of high-mettled horses,
and richly-adorned Mexican saddles, aqueras
of black fur, and silver stirrups ; of thousands
of common soldiers, in a fine uniform of red
and blue ; with antique brazen helmets gleam
ing in the sun, and long lances, adorned with
tri-colored streamers. They went past like a
vivid, wonderful dream — like the vision of an
army of mediaeval knights.

In a few minutes the tumult of the advanc
ing army was increased tenfold by the clamor
of the city pouring out to meet it. The clash
ing bells from the steeples, the shouting of the
populace, the blare of trumpets and roll of
drums, the lines of churchmen and officials in
their grandest dresses, of citizens of every age,
—the indescribable human murmur — alto
gether it was a scene whose sensuous splendor

302 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

obliterated for a time the capacity of impres
sionable natures to judge rightly.

But Antonia saw beyond all this brave show
the ridges of red war, and a noble perversity of
soul made her turn her senses inward. Then
Jier eyes grew dim, and her heart rose in pity
ing prayer for that small band of heroes stand
ing together for life and liberty in the grim
Alamo. No pomp of war was theirs. They
were isolated from all their fellows. They
were surrounded by their enemies. No word
-of sympathy could reach them. Yet she
knew they would stand like lions at bay; that
they would give life to its last drop for liber
ty ; and rather than be less than freemen, they
would prefer not to be at all.

CHAPTER XIV.

THE FALL OF THE ALAMO.

•"The combat deepens. On, ye brave)
Who rush to glory or the grave."

" To all the sensual world proclaim :
One crowded hour of glorious life
Is worth an age without a name."

" Gashed with honorable scars,
Low in Glory's lap they lie ;
Though they fell, they fell like stars,
Streaming splendor through the sky."

F I^HE passing-by of Santa Anna and the
Mexican army, though it had been
hourly expected for nearly three days, was an
event which threw the Senora and her daugh
ters into various conditions of mental excite
ment. They descended from the roof to the
Senora's room, where they could move about
and converse with more freedom. For the
poor lady was quite unable to control her
speech and actions, and was also much irri
tated by Antonia's more composed manner.
She thought it was want of sympathy,
303

304 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

11 How can you take things with such a
blessed calmness," she asked, angrily. " But it
is the way of the Americans, no doubt, who
must have everything for prudence. Sensible !
Sensible ! Sensible ! that is the tune they are
forever playing, and you dance to it like a
miracle."

" My dear mother, can we do any good by
exclaiming and weeping ? "

" Holy Virgin ! Perhaps not ; but to have a
little human nature is more agreeable to those
who are yet on the earth side of purgatory."

" Mi madre," said Isabel, " Antonia is out
good angel. She thinks for us, and plans for
us, and even now has everything ready for us
to move at a moment's notice. Our good
angels have to be sensible and prudent,
madre."

" To move at a moment's notice ! Virgin
of Guadalupe ! where shall we go to? Could
my blessed father and mother see me in this
prison, this very vault, I assure you they would
be unhappy even among the angels."

" Mother, there are hundreds of women to
day in Texas who would think this house a
palace of comfort and safety."

THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 305

" Saints and angels ! Is that my fault ?
Does it make my condition more endurable ?
Ah, my children, I have seen great armies
come into San Antonio, and always before I
have been able to make a little pleasure to
myself out of the event. For the Mexicans are
not blood-thirsty, though they are very war
like. When Bravo was here, what balls, what
bull-fights, what visiting among the ladies !
Indeed there was so much to tell, the tertulia
was as necessary as the dinner. To be sure,
the Mexicans are not barbarians ; they made
a war that had some refinement. But the
Americans ! They are savages. With them
it is fight, fight, fight, and if we tiy to be
agreeable, as we were to that outrageous Sam
Houston, they say thank you, madam, and go
on thinking their own cruel thoughts. I won
der the gentle God permits that such men
live."

'• Dear mother, refinement in war is not pos
sible. Nothing can make it otherwise than
brutal and bloody."

" Antonia, allow that I, who am your
mother, should know what I have simply seen
with my eyes. Salcedo, Bravo, Martinez,

306 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

Urrea — are they not great soldiers? Very well,
then, I say they brought some pleasure with
their armies; and you will see that Santa Anna
will do the same. If we were only in our own
home ! It must have been the devil who
made us leave it."

" How truly splendid the officers looked,
mi madre. I dare say Senora Valdez will
entertain them."

" That is certain. And as for Dorette Val
dez — the coquette — it will certainly be a great
happiness to her."

Isabel sighed, and the Senora felt a kind
of satisfaction in the sigh. It was unendur
able to be alone in her regrets and her long
ings.

" Yes," she continued, " every night Senora
Trespalacios will give a tertulia, and the officers
will have military balls — the brave young men ;
they will be so gay, so charming, so devoted,
and in a few hours, perhaps, they will go
into the other world by the road of the battle
field. Ah, how pitiful ! How interesting ! Can
not you imagine it ? "

Isabel sighed again, but the sigh was for the
gay, the charming Luis Alveda. And when she

THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 307

thought of him, she forgot in a moment to envy
Dorette Valdez, or the seftoritas of the noble
house of Trespalacios. And some sudden,
swift touch of sympathy, strong as it was oc
cult, made the Seftora at the same moment re
member her husband and her sons. A real
sorrow and a real anxiety drove out all smaller
annoyances. Then both her daughters wept
together, until their community of grief had
brought to each heart the solemn strength of a
divine hope and reliance.

" My children, I will go now and pray," said
the sorrowful wife and mother. " At the foot
of the cross I will wait for the hour of deliver*
ance "; and casting herself on her knees, with
her crucifix in her hand, she appeared in a
moment to have forgotten everything but her
anguish and her sins, and the Lamb of God
upon whom, with childlike faith, she was en
deavoring to cast them. Her tears dropped
upon the ivory image of the Crucified, and
sympathetic tears sprung into Antonia's and
Isabel's eyes, as they listened to her implora-
tion.

That night, when all was dark and still, Ortiz
returned with the wagon. In the morning An-

30 8 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

tonia went to speak to him. He looked worn-
out and sorrowful, and she feared to ask him
for news. " There is food in the house, and I
have made you chocolate," she said, as she
pitifully scanned the man's exhausted con
dition.

" The Sefiorita is kind as the angels. I will
eat and drink at her order. I am, indeed, faint
and hungry."

She brought him to the table, and when he
refused to sit in her presence, she said frankly,
" Captain Ortiz, you are our friend and not
our servant. Rest and refresh yourself."

He bent upon one knee and kissed the hand
she offered, and without further remonstrance
obeyed her desire. Isabel came in shortly, and
with the tact of true kindness she made no
remark, but simply took the chair beside Ortiz,
and said, in her usual voice and manner:
"Good morning, Captain. We are glad to see
you. Did you meet my brother Thomas
again?"

" Sefiorita, God be with you ! I have not
seen him. I was at Goliad."

"Then you would see our brother Juan?"

" Si. The Sefior Juan is in good health and

THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 3°9

great happiness. He sent by my willing hands
a letter."

" Perhaps also you saw his friend, Seftor
Grant?"

" From him, also, I received a letter. Into
your gracious care, Senorita, I deliver them."

" I thank you for your kindness, Captain.
Tell us now of the fortress. Are the troops in
good spirits ? "

" Allow me to fear that they are in too good
assurance of success. The most of the men
are very young. They have not yet met our
Lady of Sorrows. They have promised to
themselves the independence of Texas. They
will also conquer Mexico. There are kingdoms
in the moon for them I envy such exalt
ations — and regret them. Grace of God, Senor
ita ! My heart ached to see the crowds of
bright young faces. With a Napoleon — with a
Washington to lead them — they would do
miracles."

"What say you to Houston?"

" I know him not. At Goliad they are all
Houstons. They believe each man in himself.
On the contrary, I wish that each man looked
""^ the same leader."

310 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

"Do you know that Santa Anna is in San
Antonio?"

" I felt it, though I had no certain news. I
came far around, and hid myself from all pass
ers-by, for the sake of the wagon and the horses.
I have the happiness to say they are safe. The
wagon is within the enclosure, the horses are
on the prairie. They have been well trained,
and will come to my call. As for me, I will
now go into the city, for there will be much to
see and to hear that may be important to us.
Sefioritas, for all your desires, I am at your
service." •

When Ortiz was gone, Isabel had a little fret
of disappointment. Luis might have found
some messenger to bring her a word of his love
and life. What was love worth that did not
annihilate impossibilities! However, it con
soled her a little to carry Jack's letter to his
mother. The Senora had taken her morning
chocolate and fallen asleep. When Isabel
awakened her, she opened her eyes with a sigh,
and a look of hopeless misery. These pallid de
pressions attacked her most cruelly in the morn
ing, when the room, shabby and unfamiliar,
gave both her memory and anticipation a shock.

THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 311

But the sight of the letter flushed her face
with expectation. She took it with smiles.
She covered it with kisses. When she opened
it, a curl from Jack's head fell on to her lap.
She pressed it to her heart, and then rose and
laid it at the feet of her Madonna. " She must
share my joy," she said with a pathetic child
ishness ; "she will understand it." Then, with
her arm around Isabel, and the girl's head on
his shoulder, they read together Jack's loving
words :

" Mi madre, mi madre, you have Juan's
heart in your heart. Believe me, that in all
this trouble I sorrow only for you. When
victory is won I shall fly to you. Other young
men have other loves ; I have only you, sweet
mother. There is always the cry in my heart
for the kiss I missed when I left you. If I
could hold your hand to-night, if I could hear
your voice, if I could lay my head on your
breast, I would say that the Holy One had
given me the best blessings He had in heaven.
Send to me a letter, madre — a letter full of
love and kisses. Forgive Juan ! Think of
this only : he is my boy ! If I live, it is for
you, who are the loveliest and dearest of

312 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

mothers. If I die, I shall die with your name
on my lips. I embrace you with my soul. I
kiss your hands, and remember how often they
have clasped mine. I kiss your eyes, your
cheeks, your dear lips. Mi madre, remember
me ! In your prayers, remember Juan ! "

With what tears and sobs was this loving
letter read by all the women ; and the Seftora
finally laid it where she had laid the precious
curl that had come with it. She wanted " the
Woman blessed among women " to share the
mother joy and the mother anguish in her
heart. Besides, she was a little nervous about
Jack's memento of himself. Her superstitious
lore taught her that severed hair is a token of
severed love. She wished he had not sent it,
and yet she could not bear to have it out of
her sight.

" Gracias a Dios ! " she kept ejaculating. " I
kave one child that loves me, and me only. I
shall forgive Juan everything. I shall not
forgive Thomas many things. But Juan ! oh!
it is impossible not to love him entirely. There
is no one like him in the world. If the good
God will only give him back to me, I will say
a prayer of thanks every day of my life

THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 313

long. Oh, Juan! Juan! my boy! my dear
one ! "

Thus she talked to herself and her daughters
continually. She wrote a letter full of motherly
affection and loving incoherencies ; and if Jack
had ever received it he would doubtless have
understood and kissed every word, and worn
the white messenger close to his heart. But
between writing letters and sending them,
there were in those days intervals full of im
possibilities. Love then had to be taken on
trust. Rarely, indeed, could it send assurances
of fidelity and affection.

Jack's letter brightened the day, and formed
a new topic of conversation, until Ortiz re
turned in the evening. His disguise had en
abled him to linger about the Plaza and monte
table, and to hear and observe all that was
going on.

" The city is enjoying itself, and making
money," he said, in reply to question from the
Seftora. " Certainly the San Antonians ap
prove of liberty, but what would you do ? In
Rome one does not quarrel with the Pope ; in
San Antonio one must approve of despotism,
when Santa Anna parades himself there."

REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

" Has he made any preparations for attack
ing the Alamo ? Will the Americans resist
him?"

" Seftorita Antonia, he is erecting a battery
on the river bank, three hundred yards from
the Alamo. This morning, ere the ground was
touched, he reviewed his men in the Plaza.
He stood on an elevation at the church door,
surrounded by his officers and the priests, and
unfurled the Mexican flag."

" That was about eleven o'clock, Captain ? "
" Si, Senorita. You are precisely exact."
" I heard at that hour a dull roar of human
voices — a roar like nothing on earth but the
distant roar of the ocean."

*' To be sure ; it was the shouting of the
people. When all was still, Fray Ignatius
blessed the flag, and sprinkled over it holy
water. Then Santa Anna raised it to his lips
and kissed it. Holy Maria ! another shout.
Then he crossed his sword upon the flag, and
cried out — " Soldados ! you are here to defend
this banner, which is the emblem of your holy
faith and of your native land, against heretics,
infidels and ungrateful traitors. Do you swear
to do it ? And the whole army answered ' Si !

THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 315

si ! juramos ! ' (yes, we swear.) Again he kissed
the flag, and laid his sword across it, and, to be
sure, then another shout. It was a very clever
thing, I assure you, Sefiora, and it sent every
soldier to the battery with a great heart."

The Seftora's easily touched feelings were all
on fire at the description. " I wish I could have
seen the blessing of the banner," she said ; " it
is a ceremony to fill the soul. I have always
wept at it. Mark, Antonia ! This confirms
what I assured you of — the Mexicans make war
with a religious feeling and a true refinement.
And pray, Captain Ortiz, how will the Ameri
cans oppose these magnificent soldiers, full of
piety and patriotism ? "

" They have the Alamo, and one hundred
and eighty-three men in it."

" And four thousand men against them ? "

" Si. May the Virgin de los Remedies * be
their help ! An urgent appeal for assistance
was sent to Fanning at Goliad. Seftor Navarro
took it on a horse fleet as the wind. You will
see that on the third day he will be smoking
in his balcony, in the way which is usual to
him."

* The Virgin appealed to in military straits.

REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

" Will Fanning answer the appeal ? "
" If the answer be permitted him. But
Urrea may prevent. Also other things."

Santa Anna entered San Antonio on Tues
day the twenty-third of February, 1836, and by
the twenty-seventh the siege had become a
very close one. Entrenched encampments en
circled the doomed men in the Alamo, and
from dawn to sunset the bombardment went
on. The tumult of the fight — the hurrying in
and out of the city — the clashing of church
bells between the booming of cannon — these
things the Senora and her daughters could
hear and see ; but all else was for twelve days
mere surmise. But only one surmise was
possible, when it was known that the little
band of defiant heroes were fighting twenty
times their own number — that no help could
come to them — that the Mexicans were cut
ting off their water, and that their provisions
were getting very low. The face of Ortiz
grew constantly more gloomy, and yet there
was something of triumph in his tone as he
told the miserably anxious women with what
desperate valor the Americans were fighting ;
and how fatallv every one of their shots told.

THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 317

On Saturday night, the fifth of March, he
called Antonia aside, and said, " My Sefiorita,
you have a great heart, and so I speak to you.
The end is close. To-day the Mexicans suc
ceeded in getting a large cannon within gun
shot of the Alamo, just where it is weakest.
Sefior Captain Crockett has stood on the roof
all day, and as the gunners have advanced to
fire it he has shot them down. A group of
Americans were around him ; they loaded
rifles and passed them to him quickly as he
could fire them. Santa Anna was in a fury
past believing. He swore then ' by every saint
in heaven or hell ' to enter the Alamo to-mor
row. Sefior Navarro says he is raging like a
tiger, and that none of his officers dare ap
proach him. The Sefior bade me tell you that
to-morrow night he will be here to escort you
to Gonzales ; for no American will his fury
spare ; he knows neither sex nor age in his
passions. And when the Alamo falls, the
soldiers will spread themselves around for
plunder, or shelter, and this empty house is
sure to attract them. The Sefiorita sees with
her own intelligence how things must take
place."

318 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

" I understand, Captain. Will you go with
us?"

"I will have the Jersey wagon ready at mid
night. I know the horses. Before sun-up we
shall have made many miles."

That night as Antonia and her sister sat in
the dark together, Antonia said : " Isabel, to
morrow the Alamo will fall. There is no hope
for the poor, brave souls there. Then Santa
Anna will kill every American."

" Oh, dear Antonia, what is to become of us ?
We shall have no home, nothing to eat, no
where to sleep. I think we shall die. Also,
there is mi madre. How I do pity her ! "

" She is to be your care, Isabel. I shall rely
on you to comfort and manage her. I will
attend to all else. We are going to our father,
and Thomas — and Luis."

" Yes, and after all I am very tired of this
dreadful life. It is a kind of convent. One is
buried alive here, and still not safe. Do you
really imagine that Luis is with my father and
Thomas?"

" I feel sure of it."

" What a great enjoyment it will be for me
to see him again ! "

THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 319

" And how delighted he will be ! And as it
is necessary that we go, Isabel, we must make
the best of the necessity. Try and get mi
madre to feel this."

" I can do that with a few words, and tears,
and kisses. Mi madre is like one's good an
gel — very easy to persuade."

" And now we must try and sleep, queridita."

" Are you sure there is no danger to-night,
Antonia ? "

" Not to-night. Say your prayer, and sleep
in God's presence. There is yet nothing to
fear. Ortiz and Lopez Navarro are watching
every movement."

But at three o'clock in the morning, the
quiet of their rest was broken by sharp bugle
calls. The stars were yet in the sky, and all
was so still that they thrilled the air like some
thing unearthly. Antonia started up, and ran
to the roof. Bugle was answering bugle ; and
their tones were imperative and cruel, as if they
were blown by evil spirits. It was impossible
to avoid the feeling that the call was a predes
tined summons, full of the notes of calamity.
She was weighed down by this sorrowful pre
sentiment, because, as yet, neither experience

3 20 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

nor years had taught her that predestined ills
are never lost.

The unseen moving multitudes troubled the
atmosphere between them. In wild, savage
gusts, she heard the military bands playing the
infamous Dequelo, whose notes of blood and
fire commingled, shrieked in every ear — " No
Quarter ! No Quarter ! " A prolonged shout,
the booming of cannon, an awful murmurous
tumult, a sense of horror, of crash and conflict,
answered the merciless, frenzied notes, and
drowned them in the shrieks and curses they
called for.

It was yet scarcely dawn. Her soul, moved
by influences so various and so awtul, became
almost rebellious. Why did God permit such
cruelties? Did He know? Would He allow a
handful of men to be overpowered by num
bers? Being omnipotent, would He not in
some way, at least, make the fight equal ? The
instinct of her anglo-American nature revolted
at the unfairness of the struggle. Even her
ejaculations to heaven were in this spirit. " It
is so unjust," she murmured ; " surely the
Lord of Hosts will prevent a fight which must
be a massacre."

THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 321

As she went about the simple preparations
for their breakfast, she wept continuously —
tears of indignation and sorrow — tears coming
from the strength of feeling, rather than its
weakness. The Seftora could eat nothing.
Isabel was white with terror. They wandered
from window to window in the last extremity
of anxiety.

About seven o'clock they saw Ortiz pass the
house. There were so many people on the
road he could not find an opportunity to enter
for some time. He had been in the city all
night. He had watched the movement of the
troops in the starlight. As he drank a cup of
chocolate, he said :

" It was just three o'clock, Seftorita, when
the Matamoras battalion was moved forward.
General Cos supported it with two thousand
men."

" But General Cos was paroled by these same
Americans who are now in the Alamo; and
his life was spared on condition that he would
not bear arms against them again."

" It is but one lie, one infamy more. When
I left the city, about four thousand men were
attacking the Alamo. The infantry, in col-

322 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

umns, were driven up to the walls by the cav
alry which surrounded them."

" The Americans ! Is there any hope for
them?"

" The mercy of God remains, Seftori^a. That
is all. The Alamo is not as the everlasting
hills. What men have made, men can also
destroy. Sefior Navarro is in the church,
praying for the souls that are passing every
moment."

" He ought to have been fighting. To help
the living is better than to pray for the dead."

" Permit me to assure you, Seftorita Antonia,
that no man has done more for the living. In
time of war, there must be many kinds of
soldiers. Sefior Navarro has given nearly all
that he possesses for the hope of freedom. He
has done secret service of incalculable value."

" Secret service ! I prefer those who have
the courage of their convictions, and who
stand by them publicly."

" This is to be considered, Seflorita ; the man
who can be silent can also speak when the
day for speaking arrives." No one opposed
this statement. It did not seem worth while
to discuss opinions, while the terrible > facts

THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 323

of the position were appealing to every
sense.

As the day went on, the conflict evidently
became closer and fiercer. Ortiz went back to
the city, and the three lonely women knelt
upon the house-top, listening in terror to the
tumult of the battle. About noon the firing
ceased, and an awful silence — a silence that
made the ears ache to be relieved of it —
followed.

"All is over!" moaned Antonia, and she
covered her face with her hands and sobbed
bitterly. Isabel had already exhausted tears.
The Sefiora, with her crucifix in her hand, was
praying for the poor unfortunates dying with
out prayer.

During the afternoon, smoke and flame, and
strange and sickening odors were blown north
ward of the city, and for some time it seemed
probable that a great conflagration would
follow the battle. How they longed for some
one to come ! The utmost of their calamity
would be better than the intolerable suspense.
But hour after hour went past, and not even
Ortiz arrived. They began to fear that both
he and Navarro had been discovered in some

324 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

disloyalty and slain, and Antonia was heart-sick
when she considered the helplessness of their
situation.

Still, in accordance with Navarro's instruc
tions, they dressed for the contemplated
journey, and sat in the dark, anxiously
listening for footsteps. About eleven o'clock
Navarro and Ortiz came together. Ortiz went
for the horses, and Navarro sat down beside
the Senora. She asked him, in a low voice,
what had taken place, and he answered :

" Everything dreadful, everything cruel, and
monstrous, and inhuman ! Among the angels
in heaven there is sorrow and anger this
night." His voice had in it all the pathos of
tears, but tears mingled with a burning indig^
nation.

" The Alamo has fallen ! "

" Senorita Antonia, I would give my soul to
undo this day's work. It is a disgrace to
Mexico which centuries cannot wipe out."

" The Americans ? "

" Are all with the Merciful One,"

" Not one saved ? "

"Not one."

" Impossible ! "

THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 325

" I will tell you. It is right to tell the whole
world such an infamy. If I had little children I
would take them on my knee and teach them
the story. I heard it from the lips of one wet-
shod with their blood, dripping crimson from
the battle — my own cousin, Xavier. He was
with General Castrillon's division. They
began their attack at four in the morning, and
after two hours' desperate fighting succeeded
in reaching a courtyard of the Alamo.

" They found the windows and doors barri
caded with bags of earth. Behind these the
Americans fought hand to hand with despairing
valor. Ramires, Siesma and Batres led the
columns, and Santa Anna gave the signal of
battle from a battery near the bridge. When
the second charge was driven back, he became
furious. He put himself in front of the men,
and with shouts and oaths led them to the
third charge. Xavier said that he inspired
them with his own frenzy. They reached the
foot of the wall, and the ladders were placed
in position. The officers fell to the rear and
forced the men to ascend them. As they
reached the top they were stabbed, and the
ladders overturned. Over and over, and over

326 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

again these attempts were made, until the
garrison in the Alamo were exhausted with
the struggle."

Navarro paused a few minutes, overpowered
by his emotions. No one spoke. He could
see Antonia's face, white as a spirit's, in the
dim light, and he knew that Isabel was weep
ing and that the Senora had taken his hand.

" At last, at the hour of ten, the outer wall
was gained. Then, room by room was taken
with slaughter incredible. There were fourteen
Americans in the hospital. They fired their
rifles and pistols from their pallets with such
deadly aim that Milagros turned a cannon
shotted with grape and canister upon them.
They were blown to pieces, but at the entrance
of the door they left forty dead Mexicans."

"Ah Senor, Senor! tell me no more. My
heart can not endure it."

" Mi madre," answered Isabel, " we must
hear it all. Without it, one cannot learn to
hate Santa Anna sufficiently"; and her small,
white teeth snapped savagely, as she touched
the hand of Lopez with an imperative
" Proceed."

" Colonel Bowie was helpless in bed. Two

THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. $27

Mexican officers fired at him, and one ran for
ward to stab him ere he died. The dying man
caught his murderer by the hair of his head,
and plunged his knife into his heart. They
went to judgment at the same moment."

" I am glad of it ! Glad of it ! The Ameri
can would say to the Almighty : ' Thou gavest
me life, and thou gavest me freedom ; freedom,
that is the nobler gift of the two. This
man robbed me of both.' And God is just.
The Judge of the whole earth will do right."

" At noon, only six of the one hundred
and eighty-three were left alive. They were
surrounded by Castrillon and his soldiers.
Xavier says his general was penetrated with
admiration for these heroes. He spoke
sympathizingly to Crockett, who stood in
an angle of the fort, with his shattered rifle
in his right hand, and his massive knife, drip
ping with blood, in his left. His face was
gashed, his white hair crimson with blood ; but
a score of Mexicans, dead and dying, were
around him. At his side was Travis, but so
exhausted that he was scarcely alive.

" Castrillon could not kill these heroes. He
asked their lives of Santa Anna, who stood

328 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

with a scowling, savage face in this last citadel
of his foes. For answer, he turned to the men
around him, and said, with a malignant empha
sis: 'Fire!' It was the last volley. Of the
defenders of the Alamo, not one is left."

A solemn silence followed. For a few min
utes it was painful in its intensity. Isabel
broke it. She spoke in a whisper, but her
voice was full of intense feeling. " I wish in
deed the whole city had been burnt up. There
was a fire this afternoon ; I would be glad if it
were burning yet."

"May God pardon us all, Seftorita ! That
was a fire which does not go out. It will burn
for ages. I will explain myself. Santa Anna
had the dead Americans put into ox-wagons,
and carried to an open field outside the city.
There they were burnt to ashes. The glori
ous pile was still casting lurid flashes and shad
ows as I passed it."

" I will hear no more ! I will hear no more !"
cried the Seftora. " And I will go away from
here. Ah, Sen" or, why do you not make haste?
In a few hours we shall have daylight again. I
am in a terror. Where is Ortiz ? "

" The horses are not caught in a five minutes,

THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 329

Senora. But listen, there is the roll of the
wagon on the flagged court. All, then, is
ready. Senora, show now that you are of a
noble house, and in this hour of adversity be
brave, as the Flores have always been."

She was pleased by the entreaty, and took
his arm with a composure which, though as
sumed, was a sort of strength. She entered
the wagon with her daughters, and uttered no
word of complaint. Then Navarro locked the
gate, and took his seat beside Ortiz. The
prairie turf deadened the beat of their horses'
hoofs ; they went at a flying pace, and when
the first pallid light of morning touched the
east, they had left San Antonio far behind
and were nearing the beautiful banks of the
Cibolo.

CHAPTER XV.

GOLIAD.

** How sleep the brave who sink to rest
By all their country's wishes bless'd ?
*****
By fairy hands their knell is rung ;
By forms unseen their dirge is sung.
There Honor comes, a pilgrim gray,
To bless the turf that wraps their clay;
And Freedom shall awhile repair,
To dwell a weeping hermit there."

" How shall we rank thee upon glory's page ?
Thou more than soldier, and just less than sage.8"

" Grief fills the room up of my absent child ;
Lies in his bed, walks up and down with me ;
Remembers me of all his gracious parts."

NEAR midnight, on March the ninth, the
weary fugitives arrived at Gonzales.
They had been detained by the deep mud in
the bottom lands, and by the extreme ex
haustion of the ladies, demanding some hours'
rest each day. The village was dark and
quiet. Here and there the glimmer of a
330

GO LI AD. 33 r

candle, now and then the call of a sentry, or
the wail of a child, broke the mysterious
silence.

Ortiz appeared to know the ground perfect
ly. He drove without hesitation to a log
house in which a faint thread of light was ob
servable, and as he approached it he gave a
long, peculiar whistle. The door was instant
ly thrown open, and, as the wagon stopped, two
men stepped eagerly to it. In another instant
the Sefiora was weeping in her husband's arms,
and Isabel laughing and crying and murmur
ing her sweet surprises into the ear of the de
lighted Luis. When their wraps had been re
moved from the wagon, Ortiz drove away, leav
ing Navarro and Antonia standing by the
little pile of ladies' luggage.

" I will take charge of all, Seiiorita. Alas !
How weary you are ! "

" It is nothing, Sefior. Let me thank you
for your great kindness."

" Seftorita, to be of service to you is my
good fortune. If it were necessary, my life
for your life, and I would die happy."

She had given him her hand with her little
speech of thanks, and he raised it to his lips.

33 2 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

It was an act of homage that he might have
offered to a saint, but in it Lopez unconscious
ly revealed to Antonia the secret love in his
heart. For he stood in the glow of light from
the open door, and his handsome face showed,
as in a glass darkly, the tenderness and hope
lessness of his great affection. She was
touched by the discovery, and though she had
a nature faithful as sunrising she could not
help a feeling of kindly interest in a lover so
reticent, so watchful, so forgetful of him
self.

The log cabin in which they found shelter
was at least a resting-place. A fire of cedar
logs burned upon the hearth, and there was a
bed in the room, and a few rude chairs covered
with raw hide. But the Sefiora had a happy
smile on her weary face. She ignored the
poverty of her surroundings. She had her
Roberto, and, for this hour at least, had for
given fate.

Presently the coffee-pot was boiling, and
Doctor Worth and Luis brought out their small
store of corn-bread and their tin camp-cups,
and the weary women ate and drank, and com
forted themselves in the love and protection

GOLIAD. 333

at their side. Doctor Worth sat by his wife,
and gave Antonia his hand. Isabel leaned her
pretty head against Luis, and listened with
happy smiles to his low words :

" Charming little one, your lips are two crim
son curtains. Between curtain and curtain my
kiss is waiting. Give it to me."

" Eyes of my soul, to-night the world be
gins again for me."

"At this blessed hour of God, I am the
happiest man he has made."

" As for me, here in this dear, white hand
I put my heart."

Is there any woman who cannot imagine
Isabel's shy glances, and the low, sweet words
in which she answered such delightful pro
testations? And soon, to add a keener zest
to his happiness, Luis began to be a little
jealous.

- •' With us is Bias de Bonilla. Do you
remember, my beloved one, that you danced
with him once ? "

" How can you say a thing so offensive?"

" Yes, dear, at the Seftora Valdez's."

" It may be. I have forgotten."

" Too well he remembers. He has dared toft

REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

sing a serenade to your memory — well, truly,
he did not finish it, and but for the Seftor
Doctor, I should have taught him that Isabel
is not a name for his lips to utter. Here, he
may presume to come into your presence.
Will you receive him with extreme haughti
ness ? It would be a great satisfaction to me."

'•' The poor fellow ! Why should I make
him miserable? You should not be jealous,
Luis."

" If you smile on him — the least little
smile — he will think you are in love with him.
He is such a fool, I assure you. I am very
distressed about this matter, my angel."

" I will tell you Luis — when the myrtle-tree
grows figs, and the fig-tree is pink with myrtle
flowers, then I may fall in love with Dias de
Bonilla — if I can take the trouble."

No one heeded this pretty, extravagant talk.
It was a thing apart from the more serious
interests discussed by Doctor Worth and his
wife and eldest daughter. And when Ortiz and
Navarro joined the circle, the story of the fall
of the Alamo was told again, and Luis forgot
his own happiness, and wept tears of anger
and pity for the dead heroes.

GOLIAD. 335

" This brutal massacre was on the morning
of the sixth, you say, Navarro ? "

" Last Sabbath morning, Senor. Mass was
being offered in the churches, and Te Deums
sung while it went on."

" A mass to the devil it was," said Ortiz.

" Now, I will tell you something. On the
morning of the second, Thomas was in Wash
ington. A convention sitting there declared,
on that day, the independence of Texas, and
fifty-five out of fifty-six votes elected General
Houston Commander-in-Chief."

" Houston ! That is the name of victory !
Gracias a Dios ! " cried Navarro.

" It is probable that the news of this move
ment influenced Santa Anna to such bar
barity."

" It is his nature to be brutal."

" True, Ortiz ; yet I can imagine how this
proclamation would incense him. On the
morning of the sixth, the convention received
the last express sent by poor Travis from the
Alamo. It was of the most thrilling character,
breathing the very spirit of patriotism and
courage — and despair. In less than an hour,
Houston, with a few companions, was on his

336 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

way to the Alamo. At the same time he sent an
express to Fannin, urging him to meet him on
the Cibolo. Houston will be here to-morrow."

11 Then he will learn that all help is too late."

But Houston had learned it in his own way
before he reached Gonzales ; for Travis had
stated that as long as the Alamo could be
held, signal guns would be fired at sunrising ;
and it is a well-authenticated fact that these
guns were heard by trained ears for more than
one hundred miles across the prairie. Hous
ton, whose senses were keen as the Indians
with whom he had long lived knew when he
was within reach of the sound ; and he rose
very early, and with his ear close to the ground
waited in intense anxiety for the dull, rum
bling murmur which would tell him the Alamo
still held out. His companions stood at some
distance, still as statues, intently watching
him. The sun rose. He had listened irc vain ;
not the faintest sound did his ear detect.

" The Alamo has fired its last gun," he said,
on rejoining his companions.

" And the men, General ? "

" They have died like men. You may Vy»
sure of that."

GO LI AD, 337

At Gonzales he heard the particulars. And
he saw that the news had exerted a depressing
influence upon the troops there. He called
them together. He spoke to them of the
brutal tragedy, and he invested its horrors
with the grandeur of eternal purpose and the
glory of heroic sacrifice.

" They were soldiers," he cried ; " and they
died like soldiers. Their names will be the
morning stars of American history. They will
live for ever in the red monument of the
Alamo." He looked like a lion, with a gloomy
stare ; his port was fierce, and his eyes com
manded all he viewed. " Vengeance remains
to us ! We have declared our independence,
and it must be maintained."

He immediately sent off another express to
Fannin ; apprised him of the fall of the Alamo;
ordered him to blow up Goliad and fall back
upon Gonzales. Then he sent wagons into the
surrounding country, to transport the women
and children to the eastern settlements ; for
he knew well what atrocities would mark every
mile of Santa Anna's progress through the
country.

These wagons, with their helpless loads, were

338 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

to rendezvous at Peach Creek, ten miles from
Gonzales ; where also he expected Fannin and
his eight hundred and sixty men to join him.
This addition would make the American force
nearly twelve hundred strong. Besides which,
Fannin's little army was of the finest material,
being composed mostly of enthusiastic volun
teers from Georgia and Alabama ; young men,
who, like Dare Grant and John Worth, were
inspired with the idea of freedom, or the
spread of Americanism, or the fanaticism of
religious liberty of conscience — perhaps, even,
with hatred of priestly domination. Houston
felt that he would be sufficient for Santa Anna
when the spirit of this company was added to
the moral force of men driven from their homes
and families to fight for the lands they had
bought and the rights which had been guar
anteed them.

So he watched the horizon anxiously for
Fannin's approach, often laying his ear to the
ground to listen for. what he could not see.
And, impatient as he was for their arrival, the
Senora was more so. She declared that her
sufferings would be unendurable but for this
hope. The one question on her lips, the one

GOLIAD. 339

question in her eyes, was, " Are they coming ? '
And Antonia, though she did not speak of her
private hopes, was equally anxious. Brother
and lover were both very dear to her. And to
have the whole family together would be in
itself a great help. Whatever their depriva
tions and fatigues, they could comfort each
other with their affection.

Every day wagon-loads of women and
children joined the camp, and the march east
ward was very slow. But no circumstance
extols more loudly the bravery and tenderness
of these American soldiers than the patience
with which this encumbrance was endured.
Men worn out with watching and foraging
were never too weary to help some mother still
more weary, or to carry some little child whose
swollen feet would no longer aid it.

One night they rested at a little place on the
Colorado. In one room of a deserted cabin
Houston sat with Major Hockly, dictating to
him a military dispatch. They had no candles,
and Houston was feeding the fire with oak
splinters, to furnish light enough for their
necessity. In the other room, the Worth
family were gathered, Antonia, in preparing

340 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

for their journey, had wisely laid a small mat
tress and a couple of pillows in the wagon ;
and upon this mattress the Seflora and Isabel
were resting. Doctor Worth and Thomas sat
by the fire talking of Fannin's delay ; and An-
tonia was making some corn-meal cakes for
their supper.

When the Sefiora's portion was given to her
she put it aside, and lifted her eyes to
Antonia's face. They asked the question for
ever in her heart, " Is Jack coming ? " and
Antonia pitifully shook her head.

Then the poor woman seemed to have
reached the last pitch of endurance. " Let me
die ! " she cried. " I can bear life no longer."
To Mary and the saints she appealed with a
passionate grief that was distressing to witness.
All the efforts of her husband and her children
failed to sooth her ; and, as often happens
in a complication of troubles, she seized
upon the most trifling as the text of her com
plaint.

" I cannot eat corn bread ; I have always
detested it. I am hungry. I am perishing for
my chocolate. And I have no clothing. I am
ashamed of myself. I thank the saints I have

GOLIAD. 341

no looking-glass. Oh, Roberto ! Roberto !
What have you done to your Maria?"

" My dear wife ! My dear, dear wife ! Be
patient a little longer. Think, love, you are
not alone. There are women here far more
weary, far more hungry; several who, in the
confusion, have lost their little children; others
who are holding dying babes in their arms."

" Giver of all good ! give me patience. I
have to say to you that other women's sorrows
do not make me grateful for my own. And
Santa Maria has been cruel to me. Another
more cruel, who can find ? I have confessed to
her my heartache about Juan ; entreated her
to bring my boy to me. Has she done it ? "

" My darling Maria."

" Grace of God. Roberto ! It is now the
twenty-third of IVirch ; I have been seventeen
days wandering *vith my daughters like very
beggars. If only I had had the discretion to
remain in my own house ! "

" Maria, Lopez will tell you that Fray Ig
natius and the brothers are in possession of it.
He saw them walking about the garden reading
their breviaries."

At this moment General Houston, in the op-

S42 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

posite room was dictating: "Before God, I
have found the darkest hours of my life. For
forty-eight hours I have neither eaten an ounce
of anything, nor have I slept." The Seftora's
sobbing troubled him. He rose to close the
door, and saw two men entering. One leaned
upon the other, and appeared to be at the
point of death.

" Where is there a doctor, General?

" In that room, sir. Have you brought news
of Fannin?"

"I have."

" Leave your comrade with the doctor, and
report."

The entrance of the wounded man silenced
the Senora. She turned her face to the wall
and refused to eat. Isabel sat by her side and
held her hand. The doctor glanced at it as he
turned away. It had been so plump and
dimpled and white. It was now very thin and
white with exposure. It told him far better than
complaining, how much the poor woman had
suffered. He went with a sigh to his patient.

" Stabbed with a bayonet through the shoul
der — hard riding from Goliad — no food- -no
rest — that tells the whole story, doctor."

GOLIAD. 343

It was all he could say. A fainting- fit fol
lowed. Antonia procured some stimulant, and
when consciousness returned, assisted her
father to dress the wound. Their own coffee
was gone, but she begged a cup from some one
more fortunate ; and after the young man had
drunk it, and had eaten a little bread, he was
inclined to make light of his wound and his
sufferings.

" Glad to be here at all," he said. " I think
I am the only one out of five hundred."

" You cannot mean that you are of Fannin's
command ? "

" I was of Fannin's command. Every man
in it has been shot. I escaped by a kind of
miracle/'

The doctor looked at the Senora. She seemed
to be asleep. " Speak low," he said, " but tell
me all."

The man sat upon the floor with his back
against the wall. The doctor stooped over
him. Antonia and Isabel stood beside their
father.

" We heard of Urrea's approach at San
Patricio. The Irish people of that settlement
welcomed Urrea with great rejoicing. He was

344 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

a Catholic — a defender of the faith. But the
American settlers in the surrounding country
fled, and Fannin heard that five hundred women
and children, followed by the enemy, were try
ing to reach the fortress of Goliad. He ordered
Major Ward, with the Georgia battalions, to go
and meet the fugitives. Many of the officers
entreated him not to divide his men for a re
port which had come by way of the faithless
colony of San Patricio.

" But Fannin thought the risk ought to be
taken. He took it, and the five hundred women
and children proved to be a regiment of Mex
ican dragoons. They surrounded our infantry
on every side, and after two days' desperate
fighting, the Georgia battalions were no more.
In the meantime, Fannin got the express telling
him of the fall of the Alamo, and ordering him
to unite with General Houston. That might
have been a possible thing with eight hundred
and sixty men, but it was not possible with
three hundred and sixty. However, we made
the effort, and on the great prairie were at
tacked by the enemy lying in ambush there.
Entirely encircled by them, yet still fighting
and pressing onward, we defended ourselves

GOLIAD. 345

until our ammunition gave out. Then we ac
cepted the terms of capitulation offered by
Urrea, and were marched back to Goliad as
prisoners of war. Santa Anna ordered us all
to be shot.'*

" But you were prisoners of war? "

" Urrea laughed at the articles, and said his
only intention in them was to prevent the loss
of Mexican blood. Most of his officers re
monstrated with with him, but he flew into a
passion at Miralejes. ' The Seflor Presidente's
orders are not to be trifled with. By the Virgin
of Guadelupe ! ' he cried, ' it would be as much
as my own life was worth to disobey them.'

" It gave the Mexican soldiers pleasure to
tell us these things, and though we scarcely
believed such treachery possible, we were very
uneasy. On the eighth day after the surrender,
a lovely Sunday morning, we were marched
out of the fort on pretence of sending us to
Louisiana, according to the articles of surren
der, and we were in high spirits at the prospect.

" But I noticed that we were surrounded by
a double row of soldiers, and that made me
suspicious. In a few moments, Fannin was
marched into the centre, and told to sit down

346 REMEMBER 7"HE ALAMO.

on a low stool. He felt that his hour had
come. He took his watch and his purse, and
gave them to some poor woman who stood out
side lamenting and praying for the poor
Americans. I shall never forget the calmness
and brightness of his face. The Mexican
colonel raised his sword, the drums beat, and
the slaughter began. Fifty men at a time
were shot ; and those whom the guns missed
or crippled, were dispatched with the bayonet
or lance."

" You escaped. How?"

'* When the lips of the officer moved to give
the order : Fire ! I fell upon my face as if dead.
As I lay, I was pierced by a bayonet through
the shoulder, but I made no sign of life. After
the execution, the camp followers came to rob
the dead. A kind-hearted Mexican woman
helped me to reach the river. I found a horse
tied there, and I took it. I have been on the
point of giving up life several times, but I met
a man coming here with the news to Houston,
and he helped me to hold out."

The doctor was trembling with grief and
anger, and he felt Antonia's hand on his
shoulder.

GOLIAD. 347

"• My friend," he whispered, " did you know
John Worth?"

" Who did not know him m Fannin's camp ?
Any of us would have been glad to save poor
Jack ; and he had a friend who refused to live
without him."

" Dare Grant ? "

" That was the man, young lady. Grant was
a doctor, and the Mexicans wanted doctors.
They offered him his life for his services, but
he would not have it unless his friend's life also
was spared. They were shot holding each
other's hands, and fell together. I was watch
ing their faces at the moment. There wasn't a
bit of fear in them."

The Seftora rose, and came as swiftly as a
spirit to them. She looked like a woman walk
ing in her sleep. She touched the stranger.
" I heard you. You saw Dare Grant die. But
my boy! My boy ! Where is my Juan ?"

" Maria, darling."

" Don't speak, Roberto. Where is my Juan ?
Juan Worth ? "

" Madam. I am sorry enough, God knows,
Juan Worth — was shot."

Then the wretched mother threw up her

348 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

hands, and with an awful cry fell to the ground.
It was hours ere she recovered consciousness,
and consciousness only restored her to
misery.

The distress of the father, the brother and
sisters of the dead youth was submerged in the
speechless despair of the mother. She could
not swallow food ; she turned away from the
the sympathy of all who loved her. Even Isa
bel's caresses were received with an apathy
which was terrifying. With the severed curl
of her boy's hair in her fingers, she sat in tear
less, voiceless anguish.

Poor Antonia, weighed down with the double
loss that had come to her, felt, for the first
time, as if their condition was utterly hopeless.
The mental picture of her brother and her
lover meeting their tragic death hand in hand,
their youth and beauty, their courage and
fidelity, was constantly before her. With all
the purity and strength of her true heart, she
loved Dare ; but she did not for a moment wish
that he had taken a different course. " It
is just what I should have expected from
him," she said to Isabel. " If he had let poor
Jack die alone, I could never have loved him

GGLIAD. 349

in the same way again. But oh, Isabel, how
miserable I am ? "

" Sweet Antonia, I can only weep with you.
Think of this ; it was on last Sunday morning.
Do you remember how sad you were?"

" I was in what seemed to be an unreason
able distress. I went away to weep. My
very thoughts were tired with their sorrowful
journeys up and down my mind, trying to find
out hope and only meeting despair. Oh, my
brave Jack ! Oh, my dear Dare, what a cruel
fate wasyour's ! "

" And mi madre, Antonia ? I fear, indeed,
that she will lose her senses. She will not
speak to Thomas, nor even to me. She has
not said a prayer since Jack's death. She can-
not sleep. I am afraid of her, Antonia."

" To-night we are to move further east ; per
haps the journey may waken her out of this
trance of grief. I can see that our father is
wretched about her ; and Thomas wanders in
and out of the room as if his heart was
broken."

" Thomas loved Jack. Luis told me that he
sat with him and Lopez, and that he sobbed
like a woman. But, also, he means a great

35° REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

revenge. None of the men slept last night.
They stood by the camp-fires talking. Some
times I went to the door and looked out.
How awful they were in the blaze and dark
ness ! I think, indeed, they could have con
quered Santa Anna very easily."

Isabel had not misjudged the spirit of the
camp. The news of the massacre at Goliad
was answered by a call for vengeance that
nothing but vengeance could satisfy. On the
following day Houston addressed his little
army. He reminded them that they were the
children of the heroes who fought for liberty at
Yorktown, and Saratoga, and Bunker Hill. He
made a soul-stirring review of the events that
had passed ; he explained to them their situa
tion, and the designs of the enemy, and how
he proposed to meet them.

His voice, loud as a trumpet with a silver
sound, inspired all who heard it with courage.
His large, bright visage, serious but hopeful,
seemed to sun the camp. "They live too
long," he cried, "who outlive freedom. And
I promise you that you shall have a full cup of
vengeance. For every man that fell fighting
vat the Alamo, for every one treacherously

GO LI AD. 35 1

slaughtered at Goliad, you shall be satisfied.
If I seem to be flying before the enemy now, it
is for his destruction. Three Mexican armies
united, we cannot fight. We can fight them
singly. And every mile we make them follow
us weakens them, separates them, confuses
them. The low lands of the Brazos, the un-
fordable streams, the morasses, the pathless
woods, are in league with us. And we must
place our women and children in safety. Even
if we have to carry them to General Gaines and
the United States troops, we must protect
them, first of all. I believe that we shall win
our freedom with our own hands; but if the
worst come, and we have to fall back to the
Sabine, we shall find friends and backers there.
I know President Jackson, my old general, the
unconquered Christian Mars ! Do you think
he will desert his countrymen? Never! If
we should need help, he has provided it. And
the freedom of Texas is sure and certain. It
is at hand. Prepare to achieve it. We shall
take up our march eastward in three hours.'

Ringing shouts answered the summons. The
camp was in a tumult of preparation imme
diately; Houston was lending his great phys-

35 2 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

ical strength to the mechanical difficulties to
be encountered. A crowd of men was around.
Suddenly a woman touched him on the arm,
and he straightened himself and looked at her.

" You will kill Santa Anna, General ? You
will kill this fiend who has escaped from hell !
By the mother of Christ, I ask it."

" My dear madam ! "

He was so moved with pity that he could
not for a moment or two give her any stronger
assurance. For this suppliant, pallid and fren
zied with sorrow, was the once beautiful Se*
flora Worth. He looked at her hollow eyes,
and shrunk form, and worn clothing, and re
membered with a pang, the lovely, gracious
lady clad in satin and lace, with a jewelled
comb in her fine hair and a jewelled fan in her
beautiful hands, and a wave of pity and anger
passed like a flame over his face.

" By the memory of my own dear mother,
Seflora, I will make Santa Anna pay the full
price of his cruelties."

"Thank you, Sefior"; and she glided away
with her tearless eyes fixed upon the curl of
black hair in her open palm.

CHAPTER XVI.

THE LOADSTONE IN THE BREAST

" But to the hero, when his sword
Has won the battle for the free,
Thy voice sounds like a prophet's word,
And in its hollow tones are heard.
The thanks of millions yet to be,"

" Who battled for the true and just,

" And grasps the skirts of happy chance,
And breasts the blows of circumstance.

" And lives to clutch the golden keys,
To mould a mighty state's decrees."

E memorial of wrongs, which resulted in
the Declaration of Texan Independence,
was drawn up with statesmanlike ability by
David G. Burnett, a native of New Jersey, a
man of great learning, dignity, and experience ;
who, as early as 1806, sailed from New Yorli
to join Miranda in his effort to give Spanish
America liberty. The paper need not be
quoted here. It gave the greatest prominence
353

354 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

to the refusal of trial by jury, the failure to
establish a system of public education, the tyr
anny of military law, the demand that the col
onists should give up arms necessary for their
protection or their sustenance, the inciting of
the Indians to massacre the American settlers,
and the refusal of the right to worship the
Almighty according to the dictates of their
own consciences. Burnett was elected Gover
nor, and Houston felt that he could now give
his whole attention to military affairs.

The seat of Government was removed to
Harrisburg, a small place on the Buffalo Ba
you ; and Houston was sure that this change
would cause Santa Anna to diverge from his
route to Nacogdoches. He dispatched orders
to the men scattered up and down the Brazos
from Washington to Fort Bend — a distance of
eighty miles — to join him on the march to
Harrisburg, and he struck his own camp at the
time he had specified.

In less than twenty-four hours they reached
San Felipe, a distance of twenty-eight miles.
The suffering of the women and children on
that march can never be told. Acts of hero
ism on the part of the men and of fortitude

THE LOADSTONE IN THE BREAST. 355

on the part of the women that are almost in
credible, marked every step of the way. The
Seiiora sat in her wagon, speechless, and lost in
a maze of melancholy anguish. She did not
seem to heed want, or cold, or wet, or the
utter misery of her surroundings. Her soul
had concentrated all its consciousness upon
the strand of hair she continually smoothed
through her fingers. Dr. Worth, in. his capac
ity of physician, accompanied the flying fami
lies, and he was thus able to pay some atten
tion to his distraught wife ; but she answered
nothing he said to her. If she looked at him,
her eyes either flamed with anger, or expressed
something of the terror to be seen in the eyes
of a hunted animal. It was evident that her
childish intelligence had seized upon him as
the most obvious cause of all her loss and
misery.

The condition of a wife so beloved almost
broke his heart. The tragic death of his dear
son was not so hard to endure as this living
woe at his side. And when they reached San
Felipe and found it in ashes, a bitter cry of
hopeless suffering came from every woman's
lips. They had thought to find there a lit*

35 6 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

tie food, and a day's sheltered resting-place.
Even Antonia's brave soul fainted at the want
and suffering around her. She had gold, but
it could not buy bread for the little ones,
weeping with hunger and terrified by the fret-
fulness of mothers suffering the pangs of want
and in the last stage of human weariness.

It was on this night Houston wrote : " I
will do the best I can ; but be assured the
fame of Jackson could never compensate me
for my anxiety and mental pain." And yet,
when he was told that a blind woman and her
seven children had been passed by, and did
not know the enemy were approaching, he
delayed the march until men had been sent
back to bring them into safety.

During these days of grief and privation
Isabel's nature grew to its finest proportions.
Her patient efforts to arouse her mother, and
her cheerfulness under the loss of all comforts,
were delightful. Besides which, she had an
inexhaustible fund of sympathy for the babies.
She was never without one in her arms. Three
mothers, who had died on the road, left their
children to her care. And it was wonderful
and pitiful to see the delicately nurtured girl,

THE LOADSTONE IN THE BREAST. 357

making all kinds of efforts to secure little
necessaries for the children she had elected to
care for.

" The Holy Mother helps me," she said to
Antonia. " She makes the poor little ones
good, and I am not very tired."

At San Felipe they were joined by nearly one
hundred men, who also brought word that a fine
company were advancing to their aid from
Mississippi, under General Quitman ; and that
two large cannon, sent by the people of Cin
cinnati, were within a few miles. And thus
hoping and fearing, hungry and weary to the
death, they reached, on the i6th of April, after
a march of eighteen miles, a place called Mc-
Arley's. They had come over a boggy prairie
under a cold rain, and were depressed beyond
expression. But there was a little shelter here
for the women and children to sleep under.
The men camped in the open. They had not
a tent in their possession.

About ten o'clock that night, Doctor Worth
was sitting with his wife and children and
Antonia in one corner of a room in a deserted
cabin. He had the Senora's wasted hand in
his own, and was talking to her. She sat in

358 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

apathetic silence. It was impossible to tell
whether she heard or understood him.

" I wonder where Isabel is," said Antonia ;
and with the words the girl entered the
room. She had in her arms a little lad of
four years old, suffering the tortures of croup.

" Mi madre," she cried, " you know how to
save him ! He is dying ! Save him ! Listen
tome! The Holy Mother says so"; and she
laid the child on her knee.

A change like a flash of light passed over
the Seftora's face. " The poor little one!"
Her motherly instincts crushed down every
thing else. In the child's agony she forgot her
own grief. With glad hearts the doctor and
Antonia encouraged her in her good work, and
when at length the sufferer had been relieved
and was sleeping against her breast, the Seftora
had wept. The stone from her heart had been
rolled away by a little child. Her own selfish
sorrow had been buried in a wave of holy,
unselfish maternal affection. The key to her
nature had been found, and henceforward
Isabel brought to her every suffering baby.

On the next day they marched ten miles
through a heavy rain, and arrived at Burnett's

THE LOADSTONE IN THE BREAST. 359

settlement. The women had shelter, the men
slept on the wet ground — took the prairie
without cover — with their arms in their hands.
They knew they were in the vicinity of Santa
Anna, and all were ready to answer in an in
stant the three taps of the drum, which was
the only instrument of martial music in the
camp, and which was never touched but by
Houston.

Another day of eighteen miles brought them
to within a short distance of Harrisburg.
Santa Anna had just been there, and the place
was in ashes. It was evident to all, now, that
the day and the hour was at hand. Houston
first thought of the two hundred families he
had in charge, and they were quickly taken
over the bayou. When he had seen the last
one in this comparative safety, he uttered so
fervent a " Thank God ! " that the men around
unconsciously repeated it. The bayou though
narrow was twenty feet deep, and the very
home of alligators. There was only one small
bridge in the vicinity. He intended its de
struction, and thus to make his little band and
the deep, dangerous stream a double barrier
between the Mexicans and the women and

30 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

children beyond them. It was after this duty
he wrote :

" This morning we are in preparation to
meet Santa Anna. We will only be about seven
hundred to march, besides the camp guard.
But we go to conquest. The troops are in
fine spirits, and now is the time for action. I
leave the result in the hands of an all-wise
God, and I rely confidently in his Providence.

"SAM HOUSTON."*

The women and children, under a compe
tent guide, continued their march eastward.
But they were worn out. Many were unable
to put their feet to the ground. The wagons
were crowded with these helpless ones. The
Senora had so far recovered as to understand
that within a few hours Santa Anna and the
Americans must meet. And, mentally led by
Isabel's passionate hatred, she now showed a
vindictiveness beyond that of any other
woman.

She spent hours upon her knees, imploring
the saints, and the stars, and the angel Michael,

* Copy from Department of War of the Republic of
Texas.

THE LOADSTONE IN THE BREAST. 361

to fight against Santa Anna. To Isabel she
whispered, " I have even informed the evil one
where he may be found. The wretch who
ordered such infamies! He poisons the air
of the whole world as he goes through it. I
shall never be happy till I know that he is in
purgatory. He will be hated even there — and
in a worse place, too. Yes, it is pleasant to
think of that ! There will be many accusers of
him there. I shall comfort myself with imagin
ing his punishment. Isabel, do you believe
with your heart that Seflor Houston and the
Americans will be strong enough to kill him? "

" Mi madre, I know it."

" Then do be a little delighted. How can
you bear things with such a provoking indiffer
ence ? But as Luis is safe — "

" Chito ! Chito ! Do not be cruel, mi madre.
I would stab Santa Anna with my own hands
— very slowly, I would stab him. It would be
so sweet. The Sisters told me of a woman
in the Holy Book, who smiled upon the one
she hated, and gave him milk and butter, and
when he slept, drove a great nail through his
temples. I know how she felt. What a feast
it would be, to strike, and strike, and strike ! I

32 REMEMBER THE ALAMO,

could drive ten, twenty, fifty nails, into Santa
Anna, when I think of Juan. "

No one had before dared to breathe her boy's
name in her hearing. She herself had never
spoken it. It fell upon the ears of both women
like a strain of forgotten music. They looked
at each other with eyes that stirred memory
and love to their sweetest depths. Almost in
whispers they began to talk of the dead boy,
to recall how lovable, how charming, how affec
tionate, how obedient he had been. Then the
Seftora broke open the seals of her sorrow,
and, with bitter reproaches on herself, con
fessed that the kiss she had denied her Juan
was a load of anguish upon her heart that she
could not bear.

" If I had only blessed him," she moaned ;
" I had saved him from his misfortune. A
mother's blessing is such a holy thing ! And
he knelt at my knees, and begged it. I can
see his eyes in the darkness, when my eyes are
shut. I can hear his voice when I am asleep.
Isabel, I shall never be happy till I see Juan
again, and say to him, ' Forgive me, dear one,
forgive me, for I have suffered.' "

Both were weeping, but Isabel said, bravely;

THE LOADSTONE IN THE BREAST. 363

"I am sure that Juan does not blame you
now, mi madre. In the other world one
understands better. And remember, also, the
letter which he wrote you. His last thought
was yours. He fell with your name on his
lips. These things are certain. And was it
not good of Dare to die with him ? A friend
like that ! Out of the talc-books who ever
hears of such a thing ? Antonia has wept
much. In the nights, when she thinks I am
asleep, I hear her. Have you seen that she
has grown white and thin ? I think that my
father is very unhappy about her."

" In an hour of mercy may the merciful One
remember Dare Grant ! I will pray for his
peace as long as I live. If he had left Juan — •
if he had come back alone — I think indeed I
should have hated him."

" That was also the opinion of Antonia —
she would never have loved him the same. I
arn sure she would not have married him."

" My good Antonia ! Go bring her to me,
Isabel. I want to comfort her. She has been
so patient with me. I have felt it — felt it every
minute ; and I have been stupid and selfish, and
have forgotten that she too was suffering."

364 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

The next day it was found impossible to
move. The majority of the women had hus
bands with the army. They had left their
wives, to secure everlasting freedom for their
children; but, even if Houston was victorious,
they might be wounded and need their help.
To be near them in any case was the one
thing about which they were positive.

" We will not move another inch," said a
brave little Massachusetts woman, who had
been the natural leader of this domestic
Exodus ; " we will rest ourselves a little here,
and if the Mexicans want some extraordinary
fighting they can have it ; especially, if they
come meddling with us or our children. My
husband told me just to get out of reach of
shot and shell and wait there till we heard of
the victory, and I am for doing that, and no
other thing."

Nearly two hundred women, bent upon their
own way, are not to be taken any other way ;
and the few old men who had been sent to guide
the party, and shoot what game was necessary
for their support, surrendered at once to this
feminine mutiny. Besides, the condition of
the boys and girls between seven and fourteen

THE LOADSTONE IN THE BREAST. 365

was really a deplorable one. They were too
old to be cared for as infants, and they had
been obliged, with the strength of children, to
accomplish the labor of men and women.
Many were crippled in their feet, others were
continually on the point of swooning.

It was now the 2Oth of April. The Senora
and her daughters had been six weeks with
the American army, exposed to all the priva
tions which such a life entailed. But the most
obvious of these privations were, perhaps,
those which were most easily borne. Women
endure great calamities better than the little
annoyances affecting those wants which are
part and parcel of their sex or their caste. It
was not the necessaries so much as the luxuries
of life which the Senora missed — the changes
of raiment — the privacy — the quiet — the regu
larity of events.

During the whole of the 2Oth, there was
almost a Sabbath stillness. It was a warm,
balmy day. The wearied children were
under the wagons and under the trees,
sleeping the dead sleep of extreme exhaus
tion. The mothers, wherever it was pos-
«ible, slept also. The guides were a little

366 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

apart, listening and smoking. If they spoke,
it was only in monosyllables. Rest was so
much more needed than food that little or no
attempt was made to cook until near sundown.

At dawn next morning — nay, a little before
dawn — when all was chill, and gray, and misty,
and there was not a sound but the wailing of a
sick child, the Seftora touched her daughters.
Her voice was strange to them ; her face
solemnly happy.

" Antonio ! Isabel ! / have seen Juan ! I
have seen Juan / My eyes were shut, but I have
seen him. He was a beautiful shadow, with a
great, shadowy host around him. He bent on
me such eyes! Holy Mother! their love was
unfathomable, and I heard his voice. It was
far off, yet near. 'Madre!' he said, ' To
morrow you shall hear from us! Now I am
happy. There are words in my heart, but I
cannot explain them to you. I know what
they mean. I will weep no more. They put
my Juan's body in the grave, but they have
not buried him''

All day she was silent and full of thought,
but her face was smiling and hopeful, and she
had the air of one waiting for some assured

THE LOADSTONE IN THE BREAST. 367

happiness. About three o'clock in the after
noon she stood up quickly and cried, " Hark!
the battle has begun ! " Every one listened
intently, and after a short pause the oldest of
the guides nodded. " I'd give the rest of my
life to be young again," he said, "just for
three hours to be young, and behind Hous
ton ! "

" To-morrow we shall hear"

The words fell from the Seflora's lips with a
singular significance. Her face and voice were
the face and voice of some glad diviner, tri
umphantly carrying her own augury. Under
a little grove of trees she walked until sunset,
passing the beads of her rosary through her
fingers, and mechanically whispering the
prayers appointed. The act undoubtedly
quieted her, but Antonia knew that she lay
awake all night, praying for the living or the
dead.

About ten o'clock of the morning of the 22d,
a horseman was seen coming toward the camp
at full speed. Women and children stood
breathlessly waiting his approach. No one
could speak. If a child moved, the movement
was angrily reproved. The tension was too

368 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

great to admit of a touch through any sense.
Some, unable to bear the extended strain, sank
upon the ground and covered their faces with
their hands. But the half-grown children, wan
with privations and fever, ragged and bare
foot, watched steadily the horse and its rider,
their round, gleaming eyes full of wonder and
fear.

" It is Thomas," said the Sefiora.

As he came near, and the beat of the horse's
hoofs could be heard, a cry almost inarticulate,
not to be described, shrill and agonizing in its
intensity, broke simultaneously from the
anxious women. It was one cry from many
hearts, all at the last point of endurance.
Thomas Worth understood it. He flung his
hat up, and answered with a joyful " Hurrah ! "

When he reached the camp, every face was
wet with tears, and a crowd of faces was in-
stantly round him. All the agonies of war
were on them. He raised himself in his stir
rups and shouted out :

"You may all go back to your homes!
Santa Anna is completely overthrown ! The
Mexican army is destroyed ! There will be no
more righting, no more fears. The indepen-

THE LOADSTONE IN THE BREAST, 369

dence of Texas is won ! No matter where you
come from, you are all Texans now ! Victory !
Freedom ! Peace ! My dear friends, go back
to your homes. Your husbands will join you
at the San Jacinto."

Then he dismounted and sought his mother
and sisters. With joyful amazement he recog
nized the change in the Senora. " You look
like yourself, dear mother," he said. " Father
sends you this kiss. He would have brought
it, but there are a few wounded men to look
after; and also I can ride quicker. Antonia,
cheer up my dear ! — and Isabel, little
darling, you will not need to cry any more
for your ribbons, and mantillas, and pretty
dresses."

"Thomas! You have not much feeling, I
think. What I want to know about, is Luis.
You think of no one ; and, as for my dresses,
and mantillas, I dare say Fray Ignatius has
sold, or burned them."

"Queridita! Was I cruel? Luis is well.
He has not a scratch. He was in the front of
the battle, too."

" That, of course. Would you imagine that
Luis would be at the rear ? He is General

57° REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

Houston's friend, and one lion knows another
Hon."

" Pretty one, do not be angry with me. I
will tell you some good news. Luis is coming
here, unless you go back at once with me,"

" We will go back with you, Thomas. I am
full of impatience. I remember my dear
home. I will go to it, like a bird to its
nest."

In half an hour they had turned the heads
of their horses westward again. They went so
rapidly, and were under so much excitement
that sustained conversation was impossible.
And the Sefiora also fell into a sound sleep as
soon as the first homeward steps had been
taken. Whatever had been made known to
her by Juan had received its fulfilment. She
was assured and happy. She slept till they
reached the victorious camp, and her husband
awakened her with a kiss. She answered him
with her old childish impulsiveness. And
among the first words she said, were : " Rob
erto, my beloved, I have seen Juan."

He believed her. To his reverent soul there
was nothing incredible in the statement. The
tie between a mother and her child is not

THE LOADSTONE IN THE BREAST. 37 1

broken by death. Was it unlikely, then, that
Juan should have been conscious of, and
touched by, the mental agony which his un
timely death had caused a mother so beloved?

And oh ! how different was the return to the
ground west of the Buffalo Bayou. The very
atmosphere was changed. A day or two of
spring had brought out the flowers and un
folded every green thing. Doctor Worth took
his family to a fine Mexican marquee, and
among other comforts the Sefiora found there
the chocolate she had so long craved, and some
cigaritos of most delicate flavor.

In a short time a luxurious meal was pre
pared by Antonia, and just as they were sitting
down to it, Luis and Lopez entered the tent
together. Isabel had expected the visit and
prepared for it as far as her limited wardrobe
permitted. And her fine hair, and bright eyes,
her perfect face and form, and the charming
innocence of her manners, adorned her as the
color and perfume of the rose make the beauty
of the flower. She was so lovely that she could
dare to banter Luis on the splendor of his
attire.

" It is evident, mi madre, that Luis has

37 2 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

found at least the baggage of a major-general.
Such velvet and silver embroidery ! Such a
silk sash ! They are fit at the very least for a
sultan of the Turks."

He came to her crowned with victory. Like
a hero he came, and like a lover. They had a
thousand pretty things to say to each other;
and a thousand blissful plans in prospect.
Life to them had never before been so well
worth living.

Indeed, a wonderful exaltation possessed
both Luis and Lopez. The sombre, handsome
face of the latter was transfigured by it. He
kissed the hand of the Seftora, and then turned
to Antonia. Her pallor and emaciation
shocked hirrio He could only murmur, " Sefto-
rita ! " But she saw the surprise, the sorrow,
the sympathy, yes, the adoring love in his
heart, and she was thankful to him for the
reticence that relieved her from special
attention.

Doctor Worth made room for Lopez beside
him. Luis sat by Isabel, upon a pile of splen
did military saddle-cloths. As she sipped her
chocolate, he smoked his cigarito in a lazy
fashion, and gave himself up with delight to

THE LOADSTONE IN THE BREAST. 373

that foolishness of love-making which is often
far wiser than the very words of wisdom.

As yet the ladies had not spoken of the bat
tle. It was won. That great fact had been as
much as they could bear at first. The Seftora
wanted to sleep. Isabel wanted to see Luis.
Only Antonia was anxious for the details, and
she had been busy in preparing the respectable
meal which her mother had so long craved.
The apparent indifference was natural enough.
The assurance of good fortune is always suffi
cient for the first stage of reaction from
anxiety. When the most urgent personal feel
ings have been satisfied, then comes the de
mand for detail and discussion. So now, as
they sat together, the Seftora said :

" No one has told me anything about the
battle. Were you present, Roberto?"

" I had that great honor, Maria. Lopez and
Luis were with the cavalry, and Ortiz also has
had some satisfaction for all his wrongs."

" Very good ! But I am impatient for the
story ; so is Antonia ; and as for Isabel — bah !
the little one is listening to another story.
One must excuse her. We expected the bat
tle on the twentieth, but no !

374 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

" The enemy were expecting it also, and
were in high spirits and perfect preparation.
Houston thought it prudent to dash their en
thusiasm by uncertainty and waiting. But at
dawn, on the twenty-first, we heard the three
taps of the drum, and seven hundred soldiers
sprang to their feet as one man. Houston had
been watching all night. He spoke to us with
a tongue of fire and then, while we cooked and
ate our breakfast, he lay down and slept. The
sun came up without a cloud, and shone
brightly on his face. He sprang to his feet and
said to Burleson, as he saluted him : ' The
sun of Austerlitz has risen again.'

" Some one brought him a piece of corn-
bread and broiled beef. He sat upon the
grass and ate it — or rather upon the blue hya
cinths that covered the grass ; they are red
now. For many weeks I had not seen his
countenance so bright ; all traces of trouble
and anxiety were gone. He called Deaf
Smith — the scout of scouts — and quickly
ordered him to cut down the only bridge
across the bayou.

4< At nine o'clock, General Cos joined Santa
Anna with five hundred and forty men, and for

THE LOADSTONE IN THE BREAST. 375

a moment I thought we had made a mistake
in not attacking the enemy before his rein-
forcements came up. But the knowledge that
Cos was present, raised enthusiasm to the high
est pitch. Our troops remembered his parole
at the Alamo, and the shameful manner in
which he had broken it ; and there was not a
man who did not long to kill him for it.

" About three o'clock in the afternoon,
Houston ordered the attack. The seven hun
dred Americans were divided into three bodies.
I saw Houston in the very centre of the line,
and I have a confused memory of Milard and
Lamar, Burleson and Sherman and Wharton,
in front of their divisions."

" Were the Mexicans expecting the attack,
father?"

''They were in perfect order, Antonia ; and
when Sherman shouted the battle-cry : ' Re
member the Alamo ! Goliad and the Alamo ! '
it was taken up by the whole seven hundred,
and such a shout of vengeance mortal ears
never heard before. The air was full of it,
and it appeared to be echoed and repeated by
innumerable voices.

" With this shout on our lips, we advanced

376 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

to within sixty paces of the Mexican lines, and
then a storm of bullets went flying over our
heads. One ball, however, shattered Hous
ton's ankle, and another struck his horse in the
breast. But both man and horse were of the
finest metal, and they pressed on regardless of
their wounds. We did not answer the volley
until we poured our lead into their very
bosoms. No time for reloading then. We
clubbed our rifles till they broke, flung them
away and fired our pistols in the eyes of the
enemy; then, nothing else remaining, took our
bowie-knives from our belts and cut our way
through the walls of living flesh."

Lopez rose at the words. It was impossible
for him to express himself sufficiently in an at
titude of repose. His eyes glowed like fire, his
dark face was like a flame, he threw up his
hands as he cried :

" Nothing comparable to that charge with
knives was ever made on earth ! If I had seen
through the smoke and vapor the mighty
shade of Bowie leading it, I should not have
been surprised."

" Perhaps indeed, he did lead it," said the
Seftora, in a solemn voice. " I saw, yes, by

THE LOADSTONE IN THE BREAST. 377

all the saints of God ! I saw a great host with
my Juan. They stretched out vast, shadowy
arms — they made me feel what I can never tell.
But I shall honor Seftor Houston. I shall say
to him some day, * Sefior, the unseen bat
talions — the mighty dead as well as the
mighty living — won the battle.' Roberto, be
lieve me, there are things women understand
better than wise men."

A little awe, a solemn silence, answered the
earnest woman. Luis and Isabel came close
to her, and Isabel took her hand. Lopez
resumed the conversation. " I know Colonel
Bowie," he said. " In the last days at San
Antonio I was often with him. Brave as a
lion, true to his friends, relentless to his foes,
was he. The knife he made was the expres
sion of his character in steel. It is a knife of
extreme unction — the oil and wafer are all that
remains for the men who feels its edge. For
my part, I honor the Sefiora's thought. It is a
great satisfaction to me to hope that Bowie,
and Crockett, and Travis, and Fannin, and all
their company were present at San Jacinto.
If the just God permitted it, 'twas a favor of
supreme justice."

378 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

" But then you are not alone in the thought,
Lopez. I heard General Sherman say, ' Poor
Fannin ! He has been blamed for not obeying
Houston's orders. / think he obeyed them
to-day! At the moment I did not com
prehend; but now it is plain to me. He
thought Fannin had been present, and perhaps
it was this belief made him so impetuous and
invincible. He fought like a spirit ; one for
got that he was flesh and blood."

" Sherman is of a grand stock," said the
doctor ; " descended from the wise Roger
Sherman; bred in Massachusetts and trained
in all the hardy virtues of her sons. It was
from his lips the battle-cry of 'Remember the
Alamo / ' sprang."

" But then, Roberto, nothing shall persuade
me that my countrymen are cowards."

" On the contrary, Maria, they kept their
ground with great courage. They were slain
by hundreds just where they stood when the
battle began. Twenty-six officers and nearly
seven hundred men were left dead upon the
field. But the flight was still more terrible.
Into the bayou horses and men rolled down
together. The deep black stream became red ;

THE LOADSTONE IN THE BREAST. 379

it was choked up with their dead bodies, while
the mire and water of the morass was literally
bridged with the smothered mules and horses
and soldiers."

" The battle began at three o'clock ; but we
heard the firing only for a very short time,"
said Antonia.

" After we reached their breastworks it
lasted just eighteen minutes. At four, the
whole Mexican army was dead, or flying in
every direction, and the pursuit and slaughter
continued until twilight. Truly an unseen
power made all our moves for us. It was a
military miracle, for our loss was only eight
killed and seventeen wounded."

44 I am sorry Houston is among the
wounded."

" His ankle-bone is shattered. He Is suf
fering much. I was with him when he left the
field and I was delighted with his patience and
dignity. The men crowded around him. They
seized his bridle ; they clasped his hands.
' Have we done well to-day, General ? Are
you satisfied with us ? ' they cried.

"'You have covered yourselves with glory,'
he answered. ' You have written a grand page

380 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

in American history this day, boys. For it
was not for fame nor for empire you fought ;
but for your rights as freemen, for your homes
and your faith.'

''The next moment he fell from his horse,
and we laid him down at the foot of an oak
tree. He had fainted from loss of blood and
the agony of his wound, combined with the
superhuman exertions and anxieties of the
past week."

" But he is better now?"

" Yes ; I dressed the wound as well as my
appliances permitted ; but he will not be able
to use his foot for some time. No one slept
that night. Weary as the men were, their ex
citement and happiness were too great for the
bonds of sleep. In the morning the rich spoils
of the enemy's camp were divided among them.
Houston refused any part in them. ' My
share of the honor is sufficient,' he said. Yet
the spoils were very valuable ones to men who
but a few hours before had nothing but the
clothing they wore and the arms they carried.
Among them were nearly one thousand stand
of English muskets, three hundred valuable
mules, one hundred fine horses, provisions,

THE LOADSTONE IN THE BREAST. 3Sl

clothing, tents, and at least twelve thousand
dollars in silver."

" Were you on the field all the time,
father?"

" I was near Houston from first to last.
When he saw the battle was won, he did his
best to prevent needless slaughter. But men
on a battle-field like San Jacinto cannot be
reasoned with ; after a certain point, they
could not even be commanded. The majority
had some private revenge to satisfy after the
public welfare had been served. We met one
old man in a frenzy, covered with blood from
his white beard to his boots, his arms bare to
his shoulders, his knife dripping from haft to
point."

" Houston looked at him, and said something
about mercy and valor. ' General/ he said,
'they killed two of my boys at Goliad, and
my brother at the Alamo. I'll not spare a
Mexican while I've the strength to kill one.
I'm on the scent for Santa Anna, and, by G — ,
if I find him, I will spare Texas and you any
more trouble with the brute.' '

At this moment Thomas Worth entered the
marquee, and, in an excited manner, said :

3^2 REMEMBER THE ALAMO

'* Santa Anna is taken ! Santa Anna is
taken ! "

" Taken ! " cried the Senora in a passion.
" Taken ! Is it possible the wretch is yet in
this world ? I was assuring myself that he was
in one not so comfortable. Why is he not
killed ? It is an inconceivable insult to
humanity to let him live. Have you thought
of your brother Juan ? Give me the knife in
your belt, Thomas, if you cannot use it."

" My dear mother — "

" Maria, my life! Thomas could not wisely
kill so important a prisoner. Texas wants him
to secure her peace and independence. The
lives of all the Americans in Mexico may de
pend upon his. Mere personal vengeance on
him would be too dear a satisfaction. On the
battle-field he might have been lawfully
slain — and he was well looked for ; but now,
No."

" Holy Mary ! might have been slain ! He
ought to have been slain, a thousand times
over."

" Luis, I wish that you had been a hero,
and killed him. Then all our life long, if you
had said, ' Isabel, I slew Santa Anna/ I should

THE LOADSTONE IN THE BREAST. 383

have given you honor for it. I should be
obedient to your wishes for that deed."

" But my charming one, I prefer to be
obedient to your wish. Let us not think of
the creature ; he is but a dead dog."

The doctor turned to his son. " Thomas,
tell us about the capture."

" I was riding with a young lieutenant,
called Sylvester, from Cincinnati, and he saw
a man hiding in the grass. He was in coarsest
clothing, but Sylvester noticed under it linen
of fine cambric. He said : 'You are an officer,
I perceive, sir.' The man denied it, but when
he could not escape, he asked to be taken to
General Houston. Sylvester tied him to his
bridle-rein, and we soon learned the truth ;
for as we passed the Mexican prisoners they
lifted their hats and said, with a murmur of
amazement, ' El Presidente ! '

" The news spread like wildfire. As we
took him through the camp he trembled at the
looks and words that assailed him, and prayed
us continually, ' for the love of God and the
saints/ not to let him be slain. We took him
to Houston in safety. Houston was resting on
the ground, having- had, as my father knows,

34 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

a night of great suffering. Santa Anna ap.
preached him, and, laying his hand on his
heart, said : * I am General Antonio Lopez de
Santa Anna, President of the Mexican Repub
lic, and I claim to be your prisoner of war/
Houston pointed to a seat, and then sent for
Santa Anna's secretary, Almonte, who is also a
prisoner, and who speaks English perfectly.

" When Almonte came, he embraced Santa
Anna, and addressing Houston, said : 'General,
you are born to a great destiny. You have
conquered the Napoleon of the West. Gener
osity becomes the brave and the fortunate.'

" Houston answered, sternly : * You should
have remembered that sentiment at the Alamo
and at Goliad.'

" Then the following conversation occurred.
Santa Anna said :

11 ' The Alamo was taken by storm. The
usages of war permitted the slaughter.'

" ' We live in the nineteenth century, Presi*
dent. We profess to be Christians.'

" ' I have to remind you, General Houston,
of the storming of San Sebastian, Ciudad,
Riego and Badajos, by the Duke of Wel
lington.'

THE LOADSTONE IN THE BREAST. 385

" ' That was in Spain. There may have been
circumstances demanding such cruelty.'

" ' Permit me also to bring to your intelli
gence the battles at Fort Meigs and at the
river Raisin. American prisoners were there
given by English officers to their Indian allies
for torture and death. The English war cry
at Sandusky was, " Give the d — Yankees no
quarter." '

'"Sir, permit me to say, that you read his
tory to a devilish purpose, if you read it to
search after brutal precedents. At Goliad our
men surrendered. They were promised safe-
conduct out of Texas. The massacre at Goliad
was a ferocious crime.'

" ' It was precisely the same thing as the
wholesale murder of Turkish prisoners at Jaffa
by the great Napoleon. Also I had the posi
tive orders of my government to slay all
Americans found with arms.'

"'These men had given up their arms/

" ' All Americans — my government said so.'

" ' Sir ! you are the government of Mexico.
You obeyed your own orders.'

" ' You will at least allow that, in the eyes of
recognized nations, your army was but a band

386 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

of desperadoes, without government, and fight*
ing under no flag/

" ' Sir, you show a convenient ignorance.
We have a government ; and as soon as we can
lay down our rifles, we shall probably be able
to make a flag. I say to you, President Santa
Anna, that the butchery at Goliad was without
an excuse and without a parallel in civilized
warfare. The men had capitulated to General
Urrea.'

"'Urrea had no right to receive their capit
ulation.' Then his mild, handsome face became
in a moment malicious and tigerish, and he
said with a cruel emphasis: 'If I ever get
Urrea into my hands, I will execute him ! I
perceive, however, that I have never under
stood the American character. For the few
thousands in the country, I thought my army
an overwhelming one. I underestimated their
ability.'

" ' I tell you, sir, an army of millions would
be too small to enslave ten thousand free-born
anglo-Americans. Liberty is our birthright.
We have marched four days on an ear or two
of dry corn, and then fought a battle after it ' ;
and Houston drew from his pocket an ear, par-

THE LOADSTONE IN THE BREAST. 387

tially consumed, which had been his ration.
' We have had no tents, no music, no uniforms,
no flag, nothing to stimulate us but the deter
mination to submit to no wrong, and to have
every one of our rights.'

" Then he turned to Rusk and Sherman, and
called a military counsel about the prisoner,
who was placed in an adjoining tent under a
sufficient guard. But the excitement is in
tense ; and the wretch is suffering, undoubt
edly, all the mortal terrors of being torn to
pieces by an infuriated soldiery. Houston will
have to speak to them. They will be influ
enced by no other man."

The discussion upon this event lasted until
midnight. But the ladies retired to their own
tent much earlier. They knelt together in
grateful prayer, and then kissed each other
upon their knees. It was so sweet to lie down
once more in safety ; to have the luxury of a
tent, and a mattress, and pillow.

" Blessed be the hand of God ! my children,"
said the Seftora ; " and may the angels give us
in our dreams grateful thoughts."

And then, in the dark, Isabel nestled her
head in her sister's breast, ,and whispered :

388 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

" Forgive me for being happy, sweet Antonia.
Indeed, when I smiled on Luis, I was often
thinking of you. In my joy and triumph and
love, I do not forget that one great awful grave
at Goliad. But a woman must hide so many
things; do you comprehend me, Antonia?"

" Querdita," she whispered, " I comprehend
all. God has done right. If His angel had
said to me, * One must be taken and the other
left,' I should have prayed, * Spare then my lit
tle sister all sorrow.' Good-night, my darling";
but as their lips met, Isabel felt upon her
cheeks the bitter rain which is the price of
accepted sacrifice ; the rain, which afterwards
makes the heart soft, and fresh, and responsive
to all the airs of God.

At the same moment, the white curtains of
the marquee, in which the doctor sat talking
with his son and Luis and Lopez, were opened ;
and the face of Ortiz showed brown and glow-
kig between them.

" Seftors," he said, as he advanced to them,
" I am satisfied. I have been appointed on the
guard over Santa Anna. He has recognized
me. He has to obey my orders. Will you
think of that ? " Then taking the doctor's

THE LOADSTOIVE IN THE BREAST. 389

hand he raised it to his lips. " Senor, I owe
this satisfaction to you. You have made me
my triumph. How shall I repay you ? "

" By being merciful in the day of your
power, Ortiz."

" I assure you that I am not so presump
tuous, Sefior. Mercy is the right of the Di
vinity. It is beyond my capacity. Besides
which, it is not likely the Divinity will trouble
himself about Santa Anna. I have, therefore,
to obey the orders of the great, the illustrious
Houston ; which are, to prevent his escape at
all risks. May St. James give me the opportu
nity, Sefiors ! In this happy hour, a Dios! "

Then Lopez bent forward, and with a smile
touched the doctor's hand. " Will you now
remember the words I said of Houston ? Did
I not tell you, that success was with him?
that on his brow was the line of fortune?
that he was the loadstone in the breast ol
freedom?"

CHAPTER XVII,

HOME AGAIN.

" Where'er we roam,
Our first, best country ever is at home."

* What constitutes a state ?

Men who their duties know;
But know their rights, and knowing, dare maintain,

•* And sovereign law, that states collected will

O'er thrones and globes elate,
Sits empress ; crowning good, repressing ill.'

" This hand to tyrants ever sworn a foe,

For freedom only deals the deadly blow ;
Then sheathes in calm repose the vengeful blade,
For gentle peace, in freedom's hallowed shade."

THE vicinity of a great battle-field is a
dreadful place after the lapse of a day or
two. The bayou and the morass had provided
sepulture for hundreds of slain Mexicans, but
hundreds still lay upon the open prairie. Over
it, birds of prey hung in dark clouds, heavy-
winged, sad, sombre, and silent. Nothing dis-
390

HOME AGAIN. 391

turbed them. They took no heed of the living.
Armed with invincible talons and beaks tipped
with iron, they carried on ceaselessly that
automatic gluttony, which made them benefi
cent crucibles of living fire, for all which
would otherwise have corrupted the higher
life. And yet, though innocent as the ele
ments, they were odious in the sight of all.

Before daylight in the morning the Sefiora
and her daughters were ready to begin their
homeward journey. The doctor could not
accompany them, General Houston and the
wounded Americans being dependent largely
upon his care and skill. But Luis Alveda and
Lopez Navarro received an unlimited furlough ;
and about a dozen Mexican prisoners of war
belonging to San Antonio were released on
Navarro's assurance, and permitted to travel
with the party as camp servants. It was likely,
also, that they would be joined by a great
many of the families who had accompanied the
great flight ; for, on the preceding evening,
Houston had addressed the army, at /f told
the householders and farmers to go home
and plant their corn.

Full of happiness, the ladies prepared for

392 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

their journey. A good army wagon, drawn by
eight mules, and another wagon, containing two
tents and everything necessary for a comfort
able journey, was waiting for them. The
doctor bid them good-by with smiles and
cheerful promises. They were going home.
The war was over. Independence was won.
They had the hope of permanent peace. The
weather also was as the weather may be among
the fields of Eden. The heavens were cloud
less, the air sweet and fresh, and the wild
honeysuckles, with their spread hands full of
scent, perfumed the prairies mile after mile.
The mules went knee-deep through warm
grasses ; the grasses were like waving rainbows,
with the myriads of brightly tinted flowers.

Even Lopez was radiantly happy. Most
unusual smiles lighted up his handsome face,
and he jingled the silver ornaments on his
bridle pleasantly to his thoughts as he cantered
sometimes a little in advance of the wagon,
sometimes in the rear, occasionally by its side;
then, bending forward to lift his hat to the
ladies and inquire after their comfort.

Luis kept close to Isabel ; and her lovely
face and merry chatter beguiled him from all

HOME AGAIN. 393

other observations. A little before noon they
halted in a beautiful wood ; a tent was spread
for the ladies, the animals were loosened from
their harness, and a luxurious meal laid upon
the grass. Then the siesta was taken, and at
three o'clock travel was resumed until near sun
set, when the camp was made for the night.
The same order was followed every day, and
the journey was in every sense an easy and
delightful one. The rides, cheered by pleasant
companionship, were not fatiguing ; the im
promptu meals were keenly relished. And
there were many sweet opportunities for little
strolls in the dim green woods, and for delight
ful conversations, as they sat under the stars,
while the camp-fire blazed among the pictur
esque groups of Mexicans playing monte
around it.

On the third afternoon, the Seftora and
Isabel were taking a siesta, but Antonia could
not sleep. After one or two efforts she was
thoroughly aroused by the sound of voices
which had been very familiar to her in the
black days of the flight — those of a woman
and her weary family of seven children. She
had helped her in many ways, and she still felt

394 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

an interest in her welfare. It appeared now to
be assured. Antonia found her camping in a
little grove of mulberry trees. She had
recovered her health ; her children were noisy
and happy, and her husband, a tall, athletic
man, with a determined eye and very courteous
manners, was unharnessing the mules from a
fine Mexican wagon ; part of the lawful spoils
of war. They, too, were going home : " back to
the Brazos," said the woman affectionately ;
" and we're in a considerable hurry," she added,
" because it's about time to get the corn in.
Jake lays out to plant fifty acres this year.
He says he can go to planting now with an
easy conscience ; he 'lows he has killed enough
Mexicans to keep him quiet a spell."

They talked a short time together, and then
Antonia walked slowly into the deeper shadows
of the wood. She found a wide rock, under
trees softly dimpling, pendulous, and tenderly
green ; and she sat down in the sweet gloom,
to think of the beloved dead. She had often
longed for some quiet spot, where, alone with
God and nature, she could, just for once, give
to her sorrow and her love a free expres
sion.

HOME AGAIN. 395

Now the opportunity seemed to be hers.
She began to recall her whole acquaintance
with Dare — their hours of pleasant study —
their sails upon the river — their intercourse by
the fireside — the most happy Sundays, when
they walked in the house of God together.
In those days, what a blessed future was be
fore them ! She recalled also the time of hope
and anxiety after the storming of the Alamo,
and then the last heroic act of his stainless
life. She had felt sure that in such a session
with her own soul she would find the relief of
unrestrained and unchecked weeping. But we
cannot kindle when we will either the fire or
the sensibility of the soul. She could not
weep ; tears were far from her. Nay, more,
she began to feel as if tears were not needed
for one who had found out so beautiful, so un
selfish, so divine a road to the grave. Ought
she not rather to rejoice that he had been so
early called and blest ? To be glad for herself,
too, that all her life long she could keep the
exquisite memory of a love so noble ?

In the drift of such thoughts, her white,
handsome face grew almost angelic. She sat
motionless and let them come to her; as if she

396 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

were listening to the comforting angels. For
God has many ways of saying to the troubled
soul : " Be at peace "; and, certainly, Antonia
had not anticipated the calmness and resig
nation which forbid her the tears she had be
spoken.

At length, in that sweet melancholy which
such a mental condition induces, she rose to
return to the camp. A few yards nearer to it
she saw Lopez sitting in a reverie as profound
as her own had been. He stood up to meet
her. The patience, the pathos, the exaltation
in her face touched his heart as no words
could have done. He said, only : " Seftorita, if
I knew how to comfort you ! "

" I went away to think of the dead, Seftor."

" I comprehend — but then, I wonder if the
dead remember the living ! "

" In whatever dwelling-place of eternity the
dear ones who died at Goliad are, I am sure
that they remember. Will the emancipated
soul be less faithful than the souls still earth-
bound ? Good souls could not even wish to
forget — and they were good."

" It will never be permitted me to know two
souls more pure, more faithful, more brave,

HOME AGAIN. 397

Juan was as a brother to me, and, by my
Santiguada ! * I count it among God's bless
ings to have known a man like Seftor Grant.
A white soul he had indeed ; full of great
nobilities ! "

Antonia looked at him gratefully. Tears
uncalled-for sprang into the eyes of both ; they
clasped hands and walked mutely back to the
camp together. For the sentiment which
attends the realization that all is over, is
gathered silently into the heart ; it is too deep
for words.

They found the camp already in that flurry
of excitement always attendant upon its rest
and rising, and the Sefiora was impatiently in
quiring for her eldest daughter.

" Gracious Maria ! Is that you, Antonia ?
At this hour we are all your servants, I think.
I, at least, have been waiting upon your pleas
ure "; then perceiving the traces of sorrow and
emotion on her face, she added, with an un
reasonable querulousness : " I bless God when
I see how He has provided for women ; giving
them tears, when they have no other employ*
ment for their time."

* Sign of the Cross.

398 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

"Dearest mother, I am sorry to have kept
you waiting. I hope that you have forgotten
nothing. Where is your mantilla? And have
you replenished your cigarito case ? Is there
water in the wagon ? "

" Nothing has been provided. Things most
necessary are forgotten, no doubt. When you
neglect such matters, what less could happen? "

But such little breezes of temper were soon
over. The influences surrounding, the pros
pects in advance, were too exhilarating to per
mit of anything but passing shadows, and
after an easy, delightful journey, they reached
at length the charming vicinity of the romantic
city of the sword. They had but another five
miles ride, and it was the Sefiora's pleasure to
take it at the hour of midnight. She did not
wish her return to be observed and talked
about ; she was in reality very much mortified
by the condition of her own and her daughters'
wardrobe.

Consequently, though they made their noon
camp so near to their journey's end, they rested
there until San Antonio was asleep and dream
ing. It was the happiest rest of all the delight
ful ones they had known. The knowledge

HOME AGAIN. 395

that it was the last stage of a journey so re
markable, made every one attach a certain
tender value to the hours never to come back ;
to the experiences never to be repeated.

The Sefiora was gay as a child ; Isabel shared
and accentuated her enthusiasms ; Luis was ex
pressing his happiness in a variety of songs;
now glorifying his love in some pretty romance
or serenade, again musically assuring liberty,
or Texas, that he would be delighted at any
moment to lay down his life for their sakes.
Antonia was quite as much excited in her own
way, which was naturally a much quieter way \
and Lopez sat under a great pecan-tree, smok
ing his cigarito with placid smiles and admir
ing glances at every one.

As the sun set, the full moon rose as it rises no
where but over Texan or Asian plains ; golden,
glorious, seeming to fill the whole heaven and
the whole earth with an unspeakable radiance ;
softly glowing, exquisitely, magically beautify
ing. The commonest thing under it was trans
figured into something lovely, fantastic, fairy-
like. And the dullest souls swelled and rose
like the tides under its influence.

Antonia took from their stores the best they

REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

had, and a luxurious supper was spread upon
the grass. The meal might have been one of
ten courses, it occupied so long: it provoked
so much mirth, such a rippling stream of remi
niscence ; finally, such a sweetly solemn retro
spect of the sorrows and mercies and triumphs
of the campaign they had shared together. This
latter feeling soon dominated all others.

The delicious light, the sensuous atmosphere,
the white turrets and towers of the city, shining
on the horizon like some mystical, heavenly
city in dreams — the murmur of its far-off life,
more audible to the spiritual than the natural
ears — the dark figures of the camp servants,
lying in groups or quietly shuffling their cards,
were all elements conducive to a grave yet
happy seriousness.

No one intended to sleep. They were to
rest in the moonlight until the hour of eleven,
and then make their last stage. This night
they instinctively kept close together. The
Seftora had mentally reached that point where
it was not unpleasant to talk over troubles,
and to amplify especially her own share of
them.

" But, Holy Maria ! " she said ; " how unnec-

HOME AGAIN. 401

rssary are such sorrows ! I am never, in the
Beast, any better for them. When the Divine
Majesty condescends to give me the sunshine
of prosperity, I am always exceedingly relig
ious. On the contrary, when I am in sorrow, I
»io not feel inclined to pray. That is precisely
natural. Can the blessed Mother expect
thanks, when she gives her children only suffer',
ing and tears ? "

" God gives us whatever is best for us, dear
mother."

" Speak, when you have learned wisdom,
Antonia. I shall always believe that trouble
comes from the devil ; indeed, Fray Ignatius
once told me of a holy man that had one grief
upon the heels of the other, and it was the
devil who was sent with all of them. I have
myself no doubt that he opened the gates of
hell for Santa Anna to return to earth and do
a little work for him."

" This thought makes me tremble," said
Lopez ; " souls that have become angelic, can
become evil. The degraded seraphim, whom
we call the devil, was once the companion of
archangels, and stood with Michael, and Raph
ael, and Gabriel, in the presence of the Holy

402 REMEMBER THE ALAMO,

One. Is there sin in heaven ? Can we be
tempted even there ? "

The inquiry went in different ways to each
heart, but no one answered it. There were
even a few moments of constrained, conscious
silence, which Luis happily ended, by chant
ing softly a verse from the hymn of the Three
Angels •

" ' Who like the Lord? ' thunders Michael the Chief.
Raphael, ' the cure of God,' bringeth relief,
And, as at Nazareth, prophet of peace,
Gabriel, ' the light of God,' bringeth release."

The noble syllables floated outward and up
ward, and Antonia and Lopez softly intoned
the last line together, letting them fall slowly
and softly into the sensitive atmosphere.

*' And as for trouble coming from the devil,"
said Lopez, " I think, Sefiora, that Fray Igna
tius is wrong. Trouble is not the worst thing
that can come to a man or woman. On the
contrary, our Lady of Prosperity is said to do
them far greater harm. Let me repeat to you
what the ever wise Don Francisco de Quevedo
Villegas says about her:

" Where is the virtue prosperity has not
staggered ? Where the folly she has not aug-

HOME AGAIN. 4°3

merited ? She takes no counsel, she fears no
punishment. She furnishes matter for scandal,
experience, and for story. How many souls,
innocent while poor, have fallen into sin and
impiety as soon as they drank of the enchanted
cup of prosperity ? Men that can bear pros
perity, are for heaven ; even wise devils leave
them alone. As for the one who persecuted
and beggared Job, how foolish and impertinent
he was ! If he had understood humanity, he
would have multiplied his riches, and pos
sessed him of health, and honors, and pleasures:
that is the trial it cannot bear/ '

" Oh, to be sure ! Quevedo was a wise man.
But even wise men don't know everything.
However, we are going home! I thank the
saints for this immeasurable favor. It is a
prosperity that is good for women. I will
stake my Santiguida on that ! And will you
observe that it is Sunday again ? Just before
sunset I heard the vesper bells clearly. Re
member that we left San Antonio on Sunday
also ! I have always heard that Sunday was a
good day to begin a journey on."

" If it had been on a Friday — '

"Fiiday! Indeed, Luis, I would not have

404 REMEA*BAR THE ALAMO.

gone one hundred yards upon a Friday. How
can you suppose what is so inconceivably fool
ish ? "

" I think much of the right hour to under
take anything," said Lopez. " The first move
ments are not in the hands of men ; and we
are subject to more influences than we com
prehend. There is a ripe time for events, as
well as for fruits : but the hour depends upon
forces which we cannot control by giving to
them the name of the day; and our sag*
Quevedo has made a pleasant mockery thereon
It is at my lips, if your ears care to hear it."

" Quevedo, again ! No, it is not proper,
Seftor. Every day has its duties and its favors,
Seftor. That man actually said that fasting on
Friday was not a special means of grace ! Que
vedo was almost a heretic. I have heard Fray
Ignatius say so. He did not approve of him."

" Mi madre, let us hear what is to be said,
Rachela told me, I must fast on a Friday,
and cut my nails on a Wednesday, and never
cut them on a Sunday, and take medicine on a
Monday, and look after money on Tuesday,
and pay calls and give gifts on Saturday;
very well, I do not think much of Rachela;

HOME AGAIN. 405

just suppose, for the passing of the time, that
we listen to what Quevedo says."

" Here are four against me ; well, then,
proceed, Sefior."

" 'On Monday,' says the wise and witty one,
1 buy all that you can meet with, and take all
that is to be had for nothing. On Tuesday,
receive all that is given you ; for it is Mar's
day, and he will look on you with an ill aspect
if you refuse the first proffer and have not a
second. On Wednesday, ask of all you meet;
perhaps Mercury may give some one vanity
enough to grant you something. Thursday is
a good day to believe nothing that flatterers
say. Friday it is well to shun creditors. On
Saturday it is well to lie long abed, to walk at
your ease, to eat a good dinner, and to wear
comfortable shoes ; because Saturn is old, and
loves his ease.' "

"And Sunday, Seftor?"

" Pardon, Seftorita Isabel, Sunday comes
not into a pasquinade. Senora, let me tell you
that it draws near to eleven. If we leave now
we shall reach San Antonio in time to say the
prayer of gratitude before the blessed day of
the seven is past."

4° REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

" Holy Mary! that is what I should desire.
Come, my children ; I thank you, Seftor, for
such a blessed memory. My heart is indeed
full of joy and thankfulness."

A slight disappointment, however, awaited
the Seftora. Without asking any questions,
without taking anything into consideration,
perhaps, indeed, because she feared to ask or
consider, she had assumed that she would im
mediately re-enter her own home. With the
unreason of a child, she had insisted upon ex
pecting that somehow, or by some not ex
plained efforts, she would find her house pre
cisely as she left it. Little had been said of
its occupancy by Fray Ignatius and his broth-
ers ; perhaps she did not quite believe in the
statement ; perhaps she expected Fray Igna^
tius to respect the arrangements which he
knew had been so dear to her.

It was therefore a trial — indeed, something of
a shock — when she found they were to be the
guests of Navarro, and when it was made
clear to her that her own home had been di&
mantled and rearranged and was still in the
possession of the Church. But, with a child's
unreason, she had also a sweet ductility of

HOME AGAIN. 407

nature ; she was easily persuaded, easily
pleased, and quite ready to console herself with
the assurance that it only needed Doctor
Worth's presence and personal influence ta
drive away all intruders upon her rights.

In the mean time she was contented. The
finest goods in San Antonio were sent early
on the following morning to her room ; and
the selection of three entire wardrobes gave
her abundance of delightful employment.
She almost wept with joy as she passed the
fine lawns and rich silks through her worn
fingers. And when she could cast off forever
her garment of heaviness and of weariful wan
derings, and array herself in the splendid
robes which she wore with such grace and
pleasure, she was an honestly grateful woman.

Then she permitted Lopez to let her old
acquaintances know of her presence in her
native city ; and she was comforted when she
began to receive calls from the Senora Alveda,
and Judge and Seflora Valdez, and many
other of her friends and associates. They
encouraged her to talk of her sufferings and
her great loss. Even the judge thought it
worth his while, now, to conciliate the simple

REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

little woman. He had wisdom enough to per
ceive that Mexican domination was over, and
that the American influence of Doctor Worth
was likely to be of service to him.

The Seftora found herself a heroine ; more
than that, she became aware that for some
reason those who had once patronized her
were now disposed to pay her a kind of court.
But this did not lessen her satisfaction ; she
suspected no motive but real kindness, for she
had that innate rectitude which has always
confidence in the honesty of others.

There was now full reconciliation between
Luis and his mother and uncles ; and his be
trothal to Isabel was acknowledged with all
the customary rejoicings and complimentary
calls and receptions. Life quickly began to
fall back into its well-defined grooves ; if there
was anything unusual, every one made an
effort to pass it by without notice. The city
was conspicuously in this mind. American
rule was accepted in the quiescent temper
with which men and women accept weather
which may or may not be agreeable, but
which is known to be unavoidable. Americans
were coming by hundreds and by thousands

HOME AGAIN. 4°9

and those Mexicans who could not make up
their minds *o become Texans, and to assimi
late with the new elements sure to predomi
nate, were quietly breaking up their homes
and transferring their interests across the Rio
Grande.

They were not missed, even for a day.
Some American was ready to step into their
place, and the pushing, progressive spirit of
the race was soon evident in the hearty way
with which they set to work, not only to re
pair what war had destroyed, but to inaugu
rate those movements which are always
among their first necessities. Ministers, phy
sicians, teachers, mechanics of all kinds, were
soon at work ; churches were built, Bibles were
publicly sold, or given away ; schools were
advertised ; the city was changing its tone as
easily as a woman changes the fashion of her
dress. Santa Anna had said truly enough to
Houston, that the Texans had no flag to
fight under ; but the young Republic very
soon flung her ensign out among those of the
gray nations of the world. It floated above
the twice glorious Alamo : a bright blue stand-
ard, with one white star in the centre. It was

410 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

run up at sunrise one morning. The city was
watching for it ; and when it suddenly flew out
in their sight, it was greeted with the most
triumphant enthusiasm. The lonely star in
its field of blue touched every heart's chivalry.
It said to them, " I stand alone ! I have no
sister states to encourage and help me ! I rely
only on the brave hearts and strong arms that
set me here ! " And they answered the silent
appeal with a cheer that promised everything ;
with a love that even then began to wonder
if there were not a place for such a glorious
star in the grand constellation under which
most of them had been born.

A short time after their return, the Seftora
had a letter from her husband, saying that he
was going to New Orleans with General Hous
ton, whose wound was in a dangerous condi
tion. Thomas Worth had been appointed to
an important post in the civil government ; and
his labors, like those of all the public men of
Texas at that date, were continuous and Her
culean. It was impossible for him to leave
them ; but the doctor assured his wife that he
would return as soon as he had placed Houston
in the hands of skilful surgeons ; and he asked

HOME AGAIN. 411

her, until then, to be as happy as her circum*
stances permitted.

She was quite willing to obey the request.
Not naturally inclined to worry, she found
many sources of content and pleasure, until
the early days of June brought back to her the
husband she so truly loved, and with him the
promise of a return to her own home. Indeed
the difficulties in the way of this return had
vanished ere they were to meet. Fray Igna
tius had convinced himself that his short lease
had fully expired ; and when Dr. Worth went
armed with the legal process necessary to re
sume his rights, he found his enemy had
already surrendered them. The house was
empty. Nothing of its old splendor remained.
Every one of its properties had been scattered.
The poor Sefiora walked through the desolate
rooms with a heartache.

" It was precisely in this spot that the side
board stood, Roberto ! — the sideboard that my
cousin Johar presented to me. It came from
the City of Mexico, and there was not another
like it. I shall regret it all my life."

" Maria, my dearest, it might have been
worse. The silver which adorned it is safe.

REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

Those r — monks did not find out its hiding-
place, and I bought you a far more beautiful
sideboard in New Orleans ; the very newest
style, Maria."

" Roberto ! Roberto ! How happy you
make me ! To be sure my cousin Johar's side
board was already shabby — and to have a side
board from New Orleans, that, indeed, is some
thing to talk about ! "

" Besides, which, dearest one, I bought new
furniture for the parlors, and for your own
apartments ; also for Antonia's and Isabel's
rooms. Indeed, Maria, I thought it best to
provide afresh for the whole house."

" How wonderful ! No wife in San Antonio
has a husband so good. I will never conde*
scend to speak of you when other women talk
of their husbands. New furniture for my
whole house ! The thing is inconceivably
charming. But when, Roberto, will these
things arrive? Is there danger on the road
they are coming? Might not someone take
them away? I shall not be able to sleep until
I am sure they are safe."

" I chartered a schooner in New Orleans, and
came with them to the Bay of Espiritu Santo.

HOME AGAIN.

There I saw them placed upon wagons, and
only left them after the customs had been paid
in the interior — sixty miles away. You may
hire servants at once to prepare the rooms:
the furniture will be here in about three
days."

" I am the happiest woman in the world,
Roberto ! " And she really felt herself to be
so. Thoughtful love could have devised noth
ing more likely to bridge pleasantly and surely
over the transition between the past and the
coming life. Every fresh piece of furniture
unpacked was a new wonder and a new de
light. With her satin skirts tucked daintily-
clear of soil, and her mantilla wrapped around
her head and shoulders, she went from room
to room, interesting herself in every strip of
carpet, and every yard of drapery. Her de-
light was infectious. The doctor smiled to find
himself comparing shades, and gravely consid
ering the arrangement of chairs and tables.

But how was it possible for so loving a hus
band and father to avoid sharing the pleasure
he had provided ? And Isabel was even more
excited than her mother. All this grandeur
had a double meaning to her ; it would reflect

4*4 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

honor upon the betrothal receptions which
would be given for Luis and herself — " amber
satin and white lace is exactly what I should
have desired, Antonia," she said delightedly.
" How exceedingly suitable it will be to me !
And those delicious chintzes and dimities for
our bedrooms ! Did you ever conceive of
things so beautiful?"

Antonia was quite ready to echo her delight.
Housekeeping and homemaking, in all its ways,
was her lovable talent. It was really Antonia
who saw all the plans and the desires of the
Seftora thoroughly carried out. It was her
clever fingers and natural taste which gave to
every room that air of comfort and refinement
which all felt and admired, but which seemed
to elude their power to imitate.

On the fourth of July the doctor and his
family ate together their first dinner in their
renovated home. The day was one that he
never forgot, and he was glad to link it with a
domestic occurence so happy and so fortunate.

Sometimes silently, sometimes with a few
words to his boys, he had always, on this
festival, drank his glass of fine Xeres to the
honor and glory of the land he loved. This

HOME AGAIN. 4T5

day he spoke her name proudly. He recalled
the wonders of her past progress; he antici
pated the blessings which she would bring to
Texas ; he said, as he lifted the glass in his
hand, and let the happy tears flow down his
browned and thinned face :

" My wife and daughters, I believe I shall
live to see the lone star set in the glorious
assemblage of her sister stars ! I shall live to
say, I dwell in San Antonio, which is the
loveliest city in the loveliest State of the
American Union. For, dear ones, I was born
an American citizen, and I ask this favor of
God, that I may also die an American
citizen."

" Mi Roberto, when you die I shall not long
survive you. And now that the house is made
so beautiful ! With so much new furniture !
How can you speak of dying?"

" And, my dear father, remember how you
have toiled and suffered for the Independence
of Texas."

" Because, Antonia, I would have Texas go
free into a union of free States. This was the
hope of Houston. ' We can have help/ he
often said to his little army ; " a word will call

41 6 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

help from Nacogdoches, — but we will emanci
pate ourselves. If we go into the American
States, we will go as equals ; we will go as
men who have won the right to say : Let
us dwell under the same flag, for we are
brotfurs I "

CHAPTER XVIA

UNDER ONE FLAG.

*And through thee I believe
In the noble and great, who are gone.

" Yes ! I believe that there lived
Others like thee in the past.
Not like the men of the crowd.
Who all around me to-day,
Bluster, or cringe, and make life
Hideous, and arid, and vile,
But souls temper'd with fire,
Fervent, heroic, and good ;
Helpers, and friends of mankind."

— ARNOLD.

"Our armor now may rust, our idle scimitars
Hang by our sides for ornament, not use.
Children shall beat our atabals and drums ;
And all the noisy trades of war no more
Shall wake the peaceful morn."

— DRYDEN.

AS the years go on they bring many
changes — changes that come as naturally
as the seasons — that tend as naturally to
anticipated growth and decay — that scarcely
startle the subjects of them, till a lengthened-
417

41 8 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

out period of time discloses their vitality and
extent. Between the ages of twenty and thirty,
ten years do not seem very destructive to life.
The woman at eighteen, and twenty-eight,
if changed, is usually ripened and improved ;
the man at thirty, finer and more mature than
he was at twenty. But when this same period
is placed to women and men who are either
approaching fifty, or have passed it, the change
is distinctly felt.

It was even confessed by the Seftora one
exquisite morning in the beginning of March,
though the sun was shining warmly, and the
flowers blooming, and the birds singing, and
all nature rejoicing, as though it was the first
season of creation.

" I am far from being as gay and strong as
I wish to be, Roberto, " she said ; " and to
day, consider what a company there is com
ing! And if General Houston is to be added
to it, I shall be as weary as I shall be happy."

"He is the simplest of men; a cup of coffee,
a bit of steak—

" San Bias ! That is how you talk ! But is
it possible to receive him like a common
mortal? He is a hero, and, besides that,

UNDER ONE FLAG. 419

among hidalgos de casa Solar" (gentlemen
of known property) —

" Well, then, you have servants, Maria, my
dear one/'

" Servants ! Bah ! Of what use are they,
Roberto, since they also have got hold of
American ideas?"

" Isabel and Antonia will be here."

" Let me only enumerate to you, Roberto.
Thomas and his wife and four children arrived
last night. You may at this moment hear the
little Maria crying. I dare say Pepita is wash-
ing the child, and using soap which is very dis
agreeable. I have always admired the wife of
Thomas, but I think she is too fond of her
own way with the children. I give her advices
which she does not take."

" They are her own children, dearest."

" Holy Maria ! They are also my own
grandchildren."

"Well, well, we must remember that Abbie
is a little Puritan. She believes in bringing
up children strictly, and it is good ; for Thomas
would spoil them. As for Isabel's boys — "

44 God be blessed ! Isabel's boys are en
tirely charming. They have been corrected at

420 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

my own knee. There are not more beautifully
behaved boys in the christened world."

"And Antonia's little Christina?"

" She is already an angel. Ah, Roberto !
If I had only died when I was as innocent as
that dear one ! "

" I am thankful you did not die, Maria.
How dark my life would have been without
you ! "

" Beloved, then I am glad I am not in the
kingdom of heaven ; though, if one dies like
Christina, one escapes purgatory. Roberto,
when I rise I am very stiff : I think, indeed, I
have some rheumatism."

" That is not unlikely ; and also Maria, you
have now some years."

" Let that be confessed; but the good God
knows that I lost all my youth in that awful
flight of 'thirty-six."

" Maria, we all left or lost something on
that dark journey. To-day, we shall recover
its full value."

" To be sure — that is what is said — we shall
see. Will you now send Dolores to me? I
must arrange my toilet with some haste ; and
tell me, Roberto, what dress is your prefer-

UNDER ONE FLAG. 411

ence ; it is your eyes, beloved, I wish to
please."

Robert Worth was not too old to feel
charmed and touched by the compliment.
And he was not a thoughtless or churlish
husband ; he knew how to repay such a wifely
compliment, and it was a pleasant sight to see
the aged companions standing hand in hand
before the handsome suits which Dolores had
spread out for her mistress to examine.

He looked at the purple and the black and
the white robes, and then he looked at the
face beside him. It was faded, and had lost
its oval shape ; but its coloring was yet beauti
ful, and the large, dark eyes tender and bright
below the snow-white hair. After a few min
utes' consideration, he touched, gently, a robe
of white satin. " Put this on, Maria," he
said, " and your white mantilla, and your best
jewels. The occasion will excuse the utmost
splendor."

The choice delighted her. She had really
wished to wear it, and some one's judgment to
endorse her own inclinations was all that was
necessary to confirm her wish. Dolores found
her in the most delightful temper. She sat

422 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

before the glass, smiling and talking, while
her maid piled high the snowy plaits and curls,
and crowned them with the jewelled comb,
only worn on very great festivals. Her form
was still good, and the white satin fell grace-
fully from her throat to her small feet. Be
sides, whatever of loss or gain had marred her
once fine proportions, was entirely concealed
by the beautifying, graceful, veiling folds of
her mantilla. There was the flash of dia
monds, and the moonlight glimmer of pearls
beneath this flimsy covering ; and at her belt a
few white lilies. She was exceedingly pleased
with her own appearance, and her satisfaction
gave an ease and a sense of authority to her
air and movements which was charming.

" By Maria's grace, I am a very pretty old
lady," she said to herself; "and I think I
shall astonish my daughter-in-law a little. One
is afraid of these calm, cool, northern women,
but I feel to-day that even Abbie must be
proud of me."

Indeed, her entrance into the large parlor
made quite a sensation. She could see the
quiet pleasure in her husband's face ; and her
son Thomas, after one glance, put down the

UNDER ONE FLAG. 4*3

child on his knee, and went to meet her. " Mi
madre," he whispered with a kiss. He had
not used the pretty Spanish word for years,
but in the sudden rush of admiring tenderness,
his boyish heart came back to him, and quite
unconsciously he used his boyhood's speech.
After this, she was not the least in awe of her
wise daughter-in-law. She touched her cheek
kindly, and asked her about the children, and
was immeasurably delighted when Abbie said :
" How beautiful you are to-day! I wish I had
your likeness to send to Boston. Robert,
come here and look at your grandmother ! I
want you to remember, as long as you live,
how grandmother looks to-day." And Robert
— a fine lad eight years old, accustomed to
implicit obedience — put down the book he
was reading, planted himself squarely before
the Seftora, and looked at her attentively, as if
she was a lesson to be learned.

" Well then, Roberto ? "

" I am glad I have such a pretty grand-
mother. Will you let me stand on tiptoes and
kiss you ?" and the cool, calm northern woman's
eyes filled with tears, as she brought her
younger children, one by one, for the Senora's

424 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

caress. The doctor and his son watched this
pretty domestic drama with hearts full of pride
and happiness ; and before it had lost one parti
cle of its beauty and feeling, the door was flung
open with a vigor which made every one turn
to it with expectation. A splendid little lad
sprang in, and without any consideration for
satin and lace, clung to the Seftora. He was
her image: a true Yturbide, young as he was;
beautiful and haughty as his Castilian ances
tors.

Isabel and Luis followed ; Isabel more
lovely than ever, richly dressed in American
fashion, full of pretty enthusiasms, vivacious,
charming, and quite at her ease. She had
been married eight years. She was a fashiona
ble woman, and an authority upon all social
subjects.

Luis also was wonderfully improved. The
light-hearted gaiety, which ten years ago had
bubbled over in continual song, was still there ;
but it was under control, evident only because
it made perpetual sunshine on his face. He had
taken the doctor's advice — completed his study
of English and Mexican law — and become a
famous referee in cases of disputed Mexican

UNDER ONE FLAG. 425

claims and title deeds. His elegant form and
handsome, olive face looked less picturesque in
the dull, uncompromising stiffness of broad
cloth, cut into those peculiarly unbecoming
fashions of ugliness which the anglo-Saxon
and anglo-American affect. But it gained by
the change a certain air of reliability and im
portance ; an air not to be dispensed with in
a young lawyer already aspiring to the seat
among the lawmakers of his State.

" We called upon Antonia," said Isabel, " as
we came here. Of course she was engaged with
Lopez. They were reading a book together ;
and even on such a day as this were taking,
with the most blessed indifference, a minute at
a time. They will join us on the Plaza. I rep.
resented to them that they might miss a good
position. * That has been already secured/ said
Lopez, with that exasperating repose which
only the saints could endure with patience.
For that reason, I consider Antonia a saint to
permit it. As for me, I should say : ' The
house is on fire, Lopez ! Will it please you for
once to feel a little excited?' Luis says they
read, continually, books which make people
think of great solemnities and responsibilities.

426 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

How foolish, when they are so rich, and might
enjoy themselves perpetually ! "

" Here are the carriages," cried Thomas
Worth, " and the ceremony of to-day has its
own hour. It will never come again."

"Your mother and I will go first, Thomas;
and we will take Abbie and your eldest son. I
shall see you in your place. Luis, bring your
boy with you ; he has intelligence and will re
member the man he will see to-day, and may
never see again."

On the Plaza, close to the gates of the
Alamo, a rostrum had been erected ; and around
it were a few stands, set apart for the carriages
of the most illustrious of the families of San
Antonio, The Sefiora, from the shaded depths
of her own, watched their arrival. Nothing
could be more characteristic than the approach
of her daughters. Antonia and Lopez, stately
and handsome, came slowly ; their high-step
ping horses chafing at their restraint. Luis and
Isabel drove to their appointed place with a
speed and clatter, accentuated by the jingling
of the silver rings of the harness and the silver
hanging buttons on the gay dress of the Mexi
can driver. But the occupants of both car-

UNDER ONE FLAG. 4*7

riages appeared to be great favorites with the
populace who thronged the Plaza, the windows,
the flat roofs of the houses, and every available
place for hearing and seeing.

The blue flag of Texas fluttered gayly over
the lovely city ; and there was a salvo of cannon ;
then, into the sunshine and into the sight of all
stepped the man of his generation. Nature
has her royal line, and she makes no mistakes
in the kings she crowns. The physical charm
of Houston was at this time very great. His
tall, ample, dignified form attracted attention
at once. His eyes penetrated the souls of all
upon whom they fell. His lips were touched
with fire, and his words thrilled and swayed
men, as the wind sways the heavy heads in a
field of ripe barley.

He stretched out his arms to the people, and
they stretched out their arms to him. The
magnetic chain of sympathy was complete.
The hearts of his listeners were an instrument,
on which he played the noblest, most inspir
ing, the sweetest of melodies. He kindled
them as flame kindles dry grass. He showed
them their future with a prophet's eye, and
touched them also with the glad diviner's rap«

428 REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

ture. They aspired, they rejoiced at his bid
ding ; and at the moment of their highest en-
thusiasm, he cried out :

" Whatever State gave us birth, we have one-
native land and we have one flag ! " Instantly
from the grim, blood-stained walls of the for-
tress, the blessed Stars and Stripes flew out ;
and in a moment a thousand smaller flags,
from every high place, gave it salutation.
Then the thunder of cannon was answered by
the thunder of voices. Cannon may thunder
and make no impression ; but the shout of hu
manity ! It stirs and troubles the deepest
heart-stream. It is a cry that cannot be resist
ed. It sets the gates of feeling wide open.
And it was while men were in this mood that
Houston said his last words :

" I look in this glorious sunshine upon the
bloody walls of the Alamo. I remember Goliad.
I carry my memory back over the long struggle
of thirty years. Do you think the young,
brave souls, fired with the love of liberty,
who fell in this long conflict have forgotten it ?
No! No! No ! Wherever in God's Eternity
they are this day, I believe they are permitted
to know that Texas has become part of their

UNDER ONE FLAG. 429

country, and rests forever under the flag they
loved. The shouting thousands, the booming
cannon, that greeted this flag were not all the
sounds I heard ! Far off, far off, yet louder
than any noise of earth, I heard from the dead
years, and the dead heroes of these years ; the
hurrahing of ghostly voices and the clapping
of unseen hands ! "

" It was like Houston to call the dead to the
triumph," said the doctor, as he stood with the
Seftora in her room. He was unbuttoning her
gloves, and her tears dropped down upon his
hands.

" He is a man by himself, and none like him,
I thought that I should never forgive him for
sparing the life of that monster — Santa Anna ;
but to-day I forgive him even that. I am so
happy that I shall ask Holy Maria to excuse
me the feeling ; for it is not good to permit
one's self to be too happy ; it brings trouble.
But indeed, when I looked at Thomas, I
thought how wisely he has married. It is
seldom a mother can approve of her daughter-
in-law ; but Abbie has many excellencies — good
manners, and a good heart, and a fortune which
is quite respectable."

43° REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

" And strong principles also, Maria. She
will bring up her children to know right and
wrong, and to do right."

" That of course. Every good mother does
that. I am sure it is a sight for the angels to
see Isabel teaching her children their prayers.
Did you observe also how great a favorite Luis
is? He lifted his hat to this one and that one,
and it is certain that the next election will be
in his hand."

" Perhaps — I wish Lopez would take more
interest in politics. He is a dreamer."

" But, then, a very happy dreamer." Per
haps to dream well and pleasantly is to live a
better life. Antonia is devoted to him. She
has a blessed lot. Once I did not think she
would be so fortunate."

" Lopez was prudent and patient."

" Prudent ! Patient ! It is a miracle to me !
I assure you, they even talk together of young
Seftor Grant ! It is satisfactory, but extreme
ly strange."

" You had better sleep a little, Maria. Gen
eral Houston is coming to dinner."

" That is understood. When I spoke last to
him, I was a woman broken-hearted. To-night

UNDER ONE FLAG. 43 l

I will thank him for all that he has done. Ah,
Roberto ! His words to-day went to my soul
— I thought of my Juan — I thought of the
vision he showed me — I wondered if he knew —
if he saw — and heard — " she leaned her head
upon her husband's breast, and he kissed away
the sorrowful rain.

" He was so sweet ! so beautiful ! Oh,
Roberto ! "

" He was God's greatest gift to us. Maria !
dear Maria ! I love you for all the children
you have given me; but most of all,
luan / "

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