Part 5 (1/2)

”You're right thar, lootenant,” rejoined Rock ”He ain't worth eyther, that's the truth An' 'twould only be puttin' pisen on the blade o' wine to let him off so easy's all that, unless you an' the captain insists on it

After the warmish work he's had, an' the sweat he's put hiuess he won't be any the worse of a sprinkling o' cold water So here goes to gie it hi which, he strode off towards the ditch, half-dragging, half-carrying Santander along with him

The cowed and craven creature neither made resistance, nor dared Had he done so, the upshot was obvious For the Texan's blade, still bared, was shi+ning before his eyes, and he knew that any attempt on his part, either to oppose the latter's intention or escape, would result in having it buried between, his ribs So, silently, sullenly, he allowed hihter, but a wolf, or rather dog, about to be chastised for some malfeasance

In an instant after, the chastise hold of hi hi hihted with the steel shi+rt, he fell with a dead, heavy plunge, going at once to the bottom

”That's less than your desarvin's,” said the Texan, on thus delivering his charge ”An' if it had been left to Cris Rock 'twould 'a been _up_, 'stead o' _down_, he'd 'a sent ye If iver in', you're the model o' him Ha--ha--ha! Look at the skunk now!”

The last words, with the laugh preceding them, were elicited by the ludicrous appearance which Santander presented He had co to the encumbrance of his under-shi+rt, clambered out upon the bank But not as when he went under Instead, hat appeared a green cloak over his shoulders, the scu undisturbed The hackney-driver--there was but one now, the other taken off by Duperon, who had hired hihter, while Kearney, Crittenden, and their own surgeon could not help uniting in the chorus Never had tragic hero suffered a more comical discomfiture

He was now permitted to withdraw from the scene of it, a permission of which he availed hi for so and distraught; then, as if seized by a sudden thought, diving into the ti

Soon after the carriage containing the victorious party rattled past; they inside it scarce casting a look to see what had beco to the to be are to Texas, and their necessity for hastening back to the Crescent City, to make start for ”The Land of the Lone Star”

CHAPTER NINE

A SPARTAN BAND

In ancient days Sparta had its Thermopylae, while in those of modern date Sicily saw a thousandupon her coast, and conquer a kingdom defended by a military force twenty or thirty times their number!

But deeds of heroism are not alone confined to the history of the Old World That of the New presents us with es of a similar kind, and Texas can tell of achievements not surpassed, either in valour or chivalry, by any upon record Such was the battle of San Jacinto, where the Texans were victorious, though overmatched in the proportion of ten to one: such the defence of Fort Alamo, when the brave Colonel Crockett, noorld-known, surrendered up his life, alongside the equally brave ”Jiave his name to the knife which on that occasion he so efficiently wielded--after a protracted and terrible struggle dropping dead upon a heap of foes who had felt its sharp point and keen edge

Areat renown done by the defenders of the young Republic, none her rank, since none is entitled to it, than that known as the battle of Mier Though they there lost the day--a defeat due to the incapacity of an ill-chosen leader--they won glory eternal Every man of them who fell had first killed his foeman--some half a score--while of those who survived there was not one so craven as to cry ”Quarter!” The white flag went not up till they were overwhelmed and overpowered by sheer disparity of nuht at first with rifles and e; then closer as the hostile host cah s and loopholed walls--soth it becauns clubbed--being e one antagonist with the butt of his piece after having sent its bullet through the body of another!

Vain all! Brute strength, represented by superior numbers, triue; and the ”Mier Expedition,” froh ingloriously; those who survived being made prisoners, and carried off to the capital of Mexico

Of the Volunteer Corps which composed this ill-fated expedition--and they were indeed all volunteers--none gave better account of itself than that organised in Poydras Street, New Orleans, and a its individual members no man behaved better than he whom they had chosen as their leader Florence Kearney had justified their choice, and proved true to the trust, as all who outlived that fatal day ever after ad the survivors; by a like good luck, so too were his first-lieutenant Crittenden and Cris Rock As at ”Fanning's Massacre,” so at Mier the gigantic Texan perfor on all sides, till at length wounded and disabled, like a lion beset by a _chevaux-de-frise_ of Caffre assegais, he was co side by side, with the man he had first taken a fancy to on the Levee of New Orleans, and afterwards beca this man to be what he had conjecturally believed and pronounced hirit”--Cris Rock now felt for Florence Kearney alrand respect which one gallant soul is ever ready to pay another Devotion, too, so strong and real, that had the young Irishreatest risk of his life, in any good or honourable cause, he would have responded to the call without a moment's hesitancy or murmur Nay, more than risk; he would have laid it down, absolutely, to save that of his cherished leader

Proof of this was, in point of fact, afforded but a short while after

Any one acquainted with Texan history will re taken to the city of Mexico, rose upon their guards, andthem, made their escape to the mountains around

This occurred at the little town of El Salado, and was caused by the terrible sufferings the captives had endured upon the march, added to many insults and cruelties, to which they had been subjected, not only by the Mexican soldiers, but the officers having theether insupportable, at El Salado reaching the cli ti, and which the Texans anticipated For they had, at every opportunity afforded them, talked over and perfected a plan of escape

By early daybreak on a certainabout an idle hour before continuing that toilsonal shout was heard

”Now, boys, up and at the, which all well understood--alton at Waterloo And as pro it the Texans rushed at the soldiers of the escort, wrenched froh the hastily-formed ranks of the enemy out into the open country

So far they had succeeded, though in the end, for most of them, it proved a short and sad respite Pursued by an overwhelhbourhood, added to the late escort so sha under the huh a country to which they were entire strangers--a district almost uninhabited, without roads, and, worse still, without water,--not strange that all, or nearly all, of them were recaptured, and carried back to El Salado

Then ensued a scene worthy of being enacted by savages, for little better than savages were those in whose custody they were Exulting fiend-like over their recapture, at first the ent round that all were to be executed; this being the general wish of their captors No doubt the deed of wholesale vengeance would have been done, and our hero, Florence Kearney, with his companion, Cris Rock, never more have been heard of; in other words, the novel of the ”Free Lances” would not have been written But aers there were sohter It was ”a far cry to Loch Awe,” all knew; the Highland loch typified not by Texas, but the United States But the ht be heard, and then what the result? No anised, and but poorly equipped, to come across the Rio Grande; instead a well-disciplined ar the banner of the ”Stars and Stripes”