Part 36 (1/2)

”Can you swim with that wounded shoulder?”

”I can swim with one hand, lad, although I allow it will be slower work than with two hands.”

”Then come on. If we can get away, the sooner the better,” returned the boy, and led the way into the water once more. They walked as far as they could and then began to swim. Stover insisted on taking the lead.

”I'm used to scoutin',” he said. ”We don't want to run in no hornet's nest.”

The water now reached almost to the top of the pa.s.sageway, and they had to move with caution for fear of striking their heads. The light grew clearer and clearer as they advanced, until Stover announced that he could see the river bank ahead, with some roots of trees and bushes hanging down in the pa.s.sageway.

”Keep back, and I'll take a look out,” he whispered, and drew slowly to the end of the opening. He was gone several minutes, during which time Dan supported himself by clinging to a jagged rock sticking out from overhead.

”Come on back; we can't escape jest yet,” whispered Poke Stover, on his return. ”Come,” and he led the way up the pa.s.sageway again.

”But why can't we escape?” asked Dan, impatiently.

”Because there is a whole company of Mexican soldiers encamped at the very spot where this pa.s.sageway leads into the stream,” was the answer that filled the youth with dismay.

CHAPTER x.x.xI.

SOMETHING ABOUT GENERAL SAM HOUSTON.

The Alamo had fallen, and now it was necessary to figure up results. As said before, all of the Texans, about one hundred and eighty in number, had been slaughtered, while the loss to the Mexicans was variously estimated at from three to five hundred. The sights about the mission were truly horrible, and never forgotten by those who witnessed them.

It must be said, in all frankness, that the defence of the Alamo was a mistake, for those gallant men must have known that they could not hold out against the overwhelming forces of Santa Anna. And they did not remain there because all escape was cut off, for they could have gotten away just as easily as the reinforcements from Gonzales got in. It was not until the final days of the siege that the Mexicans drew around them closely.

Why, then, did they remain?

The answer is one that every American boy and man ought to remember with pride. They remained because of the _principle_ involved. They had staked their lives for liberty or death, and they waged the contest to the bitter end.

The slaughter of the Alamo garrison thrilled the hearts of the Texans as they had never been thrilled before. Those who had been doubtful before were now doubtful no longer. ”We must be independent,” they said, ”absolutely independent. We must raise a regular army. We must not be divided into factions, but must fight as one man, and under one leader.” And then they prepared to strike one grand blow from which Santa Anna should never be able to recover.

But of none of these things did Dan or Poke Stover think as they rested in the dark pa.s.sageway just beyond the reach of the water from the river. Both were cold and hungry and almost exhausted, yet there was nothing at hand to eat, and rest seemed out of the question.

”We must try to escape, as soon as it grows dark,” said the old frontiersman, and all through that long, weary day they waited and watched for the light to disappear up the pa.s.sageway. At last it was gone, and they swam again to the river, making as little noise as possible.

At the opening were a number of bushes, and, as they emerged among these, they heard the footsteps of a Mexican sentinel not a dozen feet off. At a distance was the camp, with several fires burning brightly.

Suddenly Stover caught Dan by the arm, and pointed to a tree overhanging the stream. Under the tree was a long canoe with the paddle lying at the bottom.

”We'll set the canoe adrift, and float down the stream with it,”

whispered Stover, so softly that Dan could scarcely hear him. ”It's our one chance.”

They waited until the sentinel had turned to walk to the other end of his station, then slipped down and swam over to the canoe. It was drawn partly up over some marsh-gra.s.s, and they easily dislodged it. Then they turned it down the stream and kept along with it as it floated, their heads up, on the side opposite to the Mexican camp.

They expected that the Mexican sentinel would discover the floating canoe, but such was not the fact until they were twenty yards from the mouth of the pa.s.sageway. Then the Mexican turned and stared stupidly.

”The canoe has drifted off,” he murmured to himself, in Spanish. ”Well, it is not mine, so why should I care? Let the owner take care of his property.” And he resumed his walk.

As soon as they were out of the range of the light from the camp-fires, Poke Stover crawled into the canoe and took up the paddle.