FOR FREEDOM'S SAKE
Evidently the horses had found considerable grass through the night, as
they were fresh and strong, and the miles fell fast behind them. At the
gait at which they were going they would reach the cabin that night.
Meanwhile they made plans. The little force would divide and messengers
would go to San Antonio, Harrisburg and other points, with the news that
Santa Anna was advancing with an immense force.
And every one of the three knew that the need was great. They knew how
divided counsels had scattered the little Texan army. At San Antonio,
the most important point of all, the town that they had triumphantly
taken from a much greater force of Mexicans, there were practically no
men, and that undoubtedly was Santa Anna's destination. Unconsciously
they began to urge their horses to great and yet greater speed, until
the Panther recalled them to prudence.
"Slower, boys! slower!" he said. "We mustn't run our horses out at the
start."
"And there's a second reason for pulling down," said Ned, "since there's
somebody else on the plain."
His uncommon eyesight had already detected before the others the strange
presence. He pointed toward the East.
"Do you see that black speck there, where the sky touches the ground?"
he said. "If you'll watch it you'll see that it's moving. And look!
There's another! and another! and another!"
The Panther and Obed now saw the black specks also. The three stopped on
the crest of a swell and watched them attentively.
"One! two! three! four! five! six! seven! eight! nine! ten! eleven!
twelve! thirteen!" counted the far-sighted boy.
"An' them thirteen specks are thirteen men on horseback," continued the
Panther, "an' now I wonder who in the name of the great horn spoon they
are!"
"Suppose we see," said Obed. "All things are revealed to him who
looks--at least most of the time. It is true that they are more than
four to our one, but our horses are swift, and we can get away."
"That's right," said the Panther. "Still, we oughtn't to take the risk
unless everybody is willin'. What do you say, Ned?"
"I reply 'yes,' of course," said the boy, "especially as I've an idea
that those are not Mexicans. They look too big and tall, and they sit
too straight up in their saddles for Mexicans."
"Them ideas of yours are ketchin'," said the Panther. "Them fellers may
be Mexicans, but they don't look like Mexicans, they don't act like
Mexicans, an' they ain't Mexicans."
"Take out what isn't, and you have left what is," said Obed.
"We'll soon see," said Ned.
A few minutes more and there could be no further doubt that the thirteen
were Texans or Americans. One rode a little ahead of the others, who
came on in an even line. They were mounted on large horses, but the man
in front held Ned's attention.
The leader was tall and thin, but evidently muscular and powerful. His
hair was straight and black like an Indian's. His features were angular
and tanned by the winds of many years. His body was clothed completely
in buckskin, and a raccoon skin cap was on his head. Across his shoulder
lay a rifle with a barrel of unusual length.
"Never saw any of them before," said the Panther. "By the great horn
spoon, who can that feller in front be? He looks like somebody."
The little band rode closer, and its leader held up his hand as a sign
of amity.
"Good friends," he said, in a deep clear voice, "we don't have very
close neighbors out here, and that makes a meeting all the pleasanter.
You are Texans, I guess."
"You guess right," said the Panther, in the same friendly tone. "An' are
you Texans, too?"
"That point might be debated," replied the man, in a whimsical tone,
"and after a long dispute neither I nor my partners here could say which
was right and which was wrong. But while we may not be Texans, yet we
will be right away."
His eyes twinkled as he spoke, and Ned suddenly felt a strong liking for
him. He was not young and, despite his buckskin dress and careless
grammar, there was something of the man of the world about him. But he
seemed to have a certain boyishness of spirit that appealed strongly to
Ned.
"I s'pose," he continued, "that a baptism will make us genuine Texans,
an' it 'pears likely to me that we'll get that most lastin' of all
baptisms, a baptism of fire. But me an' Betsy here stand ready for it."
He patted lovingly the stock of his long rifle as he spoke the word
"Betsy." It was the same word "Betsy" that gave Ned his sudden
knowledge.
"I'm thinking that you are Davy Crockett," he said.
The man's face was illumined with an inimitable smile.
"Correct," he said. "No more and no less. Andy Jackson kept me from
going back to Washington, an' so me an' these twelve good friends of
mine, Tennesseans like myself, have come here to help free Texas."
He reached out his hand and Ned grasped it. The boy felt a thrill. The
name of Davy Crockett was a great one in the southwest, and here he was,
face to face, hands gripped with the great borderer.
"This is Mr. Palmer, known all over Texas as the Panther, and Mr. Obed
White, once of Maine, but now a Texan," said Ned, introducing his
friends.
Crockett and the Panther shook hands, and looked each other squarely in
the eye.
"Seems to me," said Crockett, "that you're a man."
"I was jest thinkin' the same of you," said the Panther.
"An' you," said Crockett to Obed White, "are a man, too. But they
certainly do grow tall where you come from."
"I'm not as wide as a barn door, but I may be long enough to reach the
bottom of a well," said Obed modestly. "Anyway, I thank you for the
compliment. Praise from Sir Davy is sweet music in my ear, indeed. And
since we Texans have to stand together, and since to stand together we
must know about one another, may I ask you, Mr. Crockett, which way you
are going?"
"We had an idea that we would go to San Antonio," said Crockett, "but
I'm never above changin' my opinion. If you think it better to go
somewhere else, an' can prove it, why me an' Betsy an' the whole crowd
are ready to go there instead."
"What would you say?" asked the Panther, "if we told you that Santa Anna
an' 7,000 men were on the Rio Grande ready to march on San Antonio?"
"If you said it, I'd say it was true. I'd also say that it was a thing
the Texans had better consider. If I was usin' adjectives I'd call it
alarmin'."
"An' what would you say if I told you there wasn't a hundred Texan
soldiers in San Antonio to meet them seven thousand Mexicans comin'
under Santa Anna?"
"If you told me that I'd say it was true. I'd say also, if I was usin'
adjectives, that it was powerful alarmin'. For Heaven's sake, Mr.
Panther, the state of affairs ain't so bad as that, is it?"
"It certainly is," replied the Panther. "Ned Fulton here was all through
their camp last night. He can talk Mexican an' Spanish like lightnin'
an' he makes up wonderful--an' he saw their whole army. He saw old Santa
Anna, too, an' fifty or a hundred generals, all covered with gold lace.
If we don't get a lot of fightin' men together an' get 'em quick, Texas
will be swept clean by that Mexican army same as if a field had been
crossed by millions of locusts."
It was obvious that Crockett was impressed deeply by these blunt
statements.
"What do you wish us to do?" he asked the Panther.
"You an' your friends come with us. We've got some good men at a cabin
in the woods that we can reach to-night. We'll join with them, raise as
many more as we can, spread the alarm everywhere, an' do everything
possible for the defence of San Antonio."
"A good plan, Mr. Panther," said Crocket. "You lead the way to this
cabin of yours, an' remember that we're servin' under you for the time
bein'."
The Panther rode on without another word and the party, now raised from
three to sixteen, followed. Crockett fell in by the side of Ned, and
soon showed that he was not averse to talking.
"A good country," he said, nodding at the landscape, "but it ain't like
Tennessee. It would take me a long time to git used to the lack of hills
an' runnin' water an' trees which just cover the state of Tennessee."
"We have them here, too," replied Ned, "though I'll admit they're
scattered. But it's a grand country to fight for."
"An' as I see it we'll have a grand lot of fightin' to do," said Davy
Crockett.
They continued at good speed until twilight, when they rested their
horses and ate of the food that they carried. The night promised to be
cold but clear, and the crisp air quickened their blood.
"How much further is it?" asked Crockett of Ned.
"Fifteen or eighteen miles, but at the rate we're going we should be
there in three hours. We've got a roof. It isn't a big one, and we don't
know who built it, but it will shelter us all."
"I ain't complainin' of that," rejoined Davy Crockett. "I'm a lover of
fresh air an' outdoors, but I don't object to a roof in cold weather.
Always take your comfort, boy, when it's offered to you. It saves wear
an' tear."
A friendship like that between him and Bowie was established already
between Ned and Crockett. Ned's grave and serious manner, the result of
the sufferings through which he had gone, invariably attracted the
attention and liking of those far older than himself.
"I'll remember your advice, Mr. Crockett," he said.
A rest of a half hour for the horses and they started riding rapidly.
After a while they struck the belt of forest and soon the cabin was not
more than a mile away. But the Panther, who was still in the lead,
pulled up his horse suddenly.
"Boys," he exclaimed, "did you hear that?"
Every man stopped his horse also and with involuntary motion bent
forward a little to listen. Then the sound that the Panther had heard
came again. It was the faint ping of a rifle shot, muffled by the
distance. In a moment they heard another and then two more. The sounds
came from the direction of their cabin.
"The boys are attacked," said the Panther calmly, "an' it's just as well
that we've come fast. But I can't think who is after 'em. There was
certainly no Mexicans in these parts yesterday, an' Urrea could not
possibly have got ahead of us with a raidin' band. But at any rate we'll
ride on an' soon see."
They proceeded with the utmost caution, and they heard the faint ping of
the rifles a half dozen times as they advanced. The nostrils of the
Panther began to distend, and streaks of red appeared on his eyeballs.
He was smelling the battle afar, and his soul rejoiced. He had spent his
whole life amid scenes of danger, and this was nature to him. Crockett
rode up by his side, and he, too, listened eagerly. He no longer carried
Betsy over his shoulder but held the long rifle across the pommel of his
saddle, his hand upon hammer and trigger.
"What do you think it is, Panther?" he asked. Already he had fallen into
the easy familiarity of the frontier.
"I can't make it out yet," replied the Panther, "but them shots shorely
came from the cabin an' places about it. Our fellows are besieged, but
I've got to guess at the besiegers, an' then I'm likely to guess wrong."
They were riding very slowly, and presently they heard a dozen shots,
coming very clearly now.
"I think we'd better stop here," said the Panther, "an' do a little
scoutin'. If you like it, Mr. Crockett, you an' me an' Ned, here, will
dismount, slip forward an' see what's the trouble. Obed will take
Command of the others, an' wait in the bushes till we come back with the
news, whatever it is."
"I'll go with you gladly," said Davy Crockett. "I'm not lookin' for
trouble with a microscope, but if trouble gets right in my path I'm not
dodgin' it. So I say once more, lead on, noble Mr. Panther, an' if Betsy
here must talk she'll talk."
The Panther grinned in the dusk. He and Davy Crockett had instantly
recognized congenial souls, each in the other.
"I can't promise you that thar'll be rippin' an' t'arin' an' roarin' an'
chawin' all the time," he said, "but between you an' me, Davy Crockett,
I've an' idee that we're not goin' to any sort of prayer meetin' this
time of night."
"No, I'm thinkin' not," said Crockett, "but if there is a scene of
turbulence before us lead on. I'm prepared for my share in it. The
debate may be lively, but I've no doubt that I'll get my chance to
speak. There are many ways to attract the attention of the Speaker.
Pardon me, Mr. Panther, but I fall naturally into the phrases of
legislative halls."
"I remember that you served two terms in Congress at Washington," said
the Panther.
"An' I'd be there yet if it wasn't for Andy Jackson. I wanted my way in
Tennessee politics an' he wanted his. He was so stubborn an' headstrong
that here I am ready to become a statesman in this new Texas which is
fightin' for its independence. An' what a change! From marble halls in
Washington to a night in the brush on the frontier, an' with an unknown
enemy before you."
They stopped talking now and, kneeling down in a thicket, began to creep
forward. The cabin was not more than four or five hundred yards away,
but a long silence had succeeded the latest shots, and after an advance
of thirty or forty yards they lay still for a while. Then they heard two
shots ahead of them, and saw little pink dots of flame from the
exploding gunpowder.
"It cannot be Mexicans who are besieging the cabin," said Ned. "They
would shout or make some kind of a noise. We have not heard a thing but
the rifle shots."
"Your argyment is good," whispered the Panther. "Look! Did you see that
figure passin' between us an' the cabin?"
"I saw it," said Davy Crockett, "an' although it was but a glimpse an'
this is night it did not seem to me to be clad in full Christian
raiment. I am quite sure it is not the kind of costume that would be
admitted to the galleries of Congress."
"You're right, doubly right," said the Panther. "That was an Injun you
saw, but whether a Comanche or a Lipan I couldn't tell. The boys are
besieged not by Mexicans, but by Injuns. Hark to that!"
There was a flash from the cabin, a dusky figure in the woods leaped
into the air, uttered a death cry, fell and lay still.
"An', as you see," continued the Panther, in his whisper, "the boys in
the house are not asleep, dreamin' beautiful dreams. Looks to me as if
they was watchin' mighty sharp for them fellers who have broke up their
rest."
Crack! went a second shot from the house, but there was no answering
cry, and they could not tell whether it hit anything. But they soon saw
more dark figures flitting through the bushes, and their own position
grew very precarious. If a band of the Indians stumbled upon them they
might be annihilated before they gave their besieged comrades any help.
"I make the motion, Mr. Panther," said Crockett, "that you form a speedy
plan of action for us, an' I trust that our young friend Ned here will
second it."
"I second the motion," said Ned.
"It is carried unanimously. Now, Mr. Panther, we await your will."
"It's my will that we git back to the rest of the men as soon as we can.
I reckon, Mr. Crockett, that them Tennesseans of yours wouldn't head in
the other direction if a fight grew hot."
"I reckon that wild horses couldn't drag 'em away," said Crockett dryly.
"Then we'll go back an' j'in 'em."
"To hold a caucus, so to speak."
"I don't know what a cow-cuss is."
"It's Congressional for a conference. Don't mind these parliamentary
expressions of mine, Mr. Panther. They give me pleasure an' they hurt
nobody."
They reached the Tennesseans without interruption, and the Panther
quickly laid his plan before them. They would advance within a quarter
of a mile of the cabin, tie their horses in the thickest of the brush,
leave four men to guard them, then the rest would go forward to help the
besieged.
Crockett's eyes twinkled when the Panther announced the campaign in a
few words.
"Very good; very good," he said. "A steering committee could not have
done better. That also is parliamentary, but I think you understand it."
They heard detached shots again and then a long yell.
"They're Comanches," said the Panther. "I know their cry, an' I guess
there's a lot of them."
Ned hoped that the shout did not mean the achieving of some triumph.
They reached presently a dense growth of brush, and there the horses
were tied. Four reluctant Tennesseans remained with them and the rest
crept forward. They did not hear any shot after they left the horses
until they were within three hundred yards of the house. Then an
apparition caused all to stop simultaneously.
A streak of flame shot above the trees, curved and fell. It was followed
by another and another. Ned was puzzled, but the Panther laughed low.
"This can't be fireworks on election night," said Davy Crockett. "It
seems hardly the place for such a display."
"They're fireworks, all right," said the Panther, "but it's not election
night. You're correct about that part of it. Look, there goes the fourth
an' the fifth."
Two more streaks of flame curved and fell, and Ned and Crockett were
still puzzled.
"Them's burnin' arrers," said the Panther. "It's an old trick of the
Injuns. If they had time enough they'd be sure to set the cabin on fire,
and then from ambush they'd shoot the people as they ran out. But what
we're here for is to stop that little game of theirs. The flight of the
arrers enables us to locate the spot from which they come an' there
we'll find the Comanches."
They crept toward the point from which the lighted arrows were flying,
and peering; from the thicket saw a score or more of Comanches gathered
in the bushes and under the trees. One of the Tennesseans, seeking a
better position, caused a loud rustling, and the alert Comanches,
instantly taking alarm, turned their attention to the point from which
the sound had come.
"Fire, boys! Fire at once!" cried the Panther.
A deadly volley was poured into the Comanche band. The Indians replied,
but were soon compelled to give way. The Panther, raising his voice,
shouted in tremendous tones:
"Rescue! Rescue! We're here, boys!"
The defenders of the cabin, hearing the volleys and the shouts of their
friends, opened the door and rushed out of the cabin, rifle in hand.
Caught between two forces, the Comanches gave up and rushed to the
plain, where they had left their ponies. Jumping upon the backs of
these, they fled like the wind.
The two victorious parties met and shook hands.
"We're mighty glad to see you, Panther," said Fields, grinning. "You
don't look like an angel, but you act like one, an' I see you've brought
a lot of new angels with you."
"Yes," replied the Panther, with some pride in his voice, "an' the first
of the angels is Davy Crockett. Mr. Crockett, Mr. Fields."
The men crowded around to shake hands with the renowned Davy. Meanwhile
a small party brought the four Tennesseans and the horses. Fortunately
the Comanches had fled in the other direction. But it was not all joy in
the Texan camp. Two silent figures covered with serapes were stretched
on the floor in the cabin, and several others had wounds, although they
had borne their part in the fighting.
"Tell us how it happened," said the Panther, after they had set
sentinels in the forest.
"They attacked us about an hour after dark," replied Fields. "We knew
that no Mexicans were near, but we never thought of Indians raiding
this far to the eastward. Some of the men were outside looking after
jerked meat when they suddenly opened fire from the brush. Two of the
boys, Campbell and Hudson, were hurt so badly that they died after they
were helped into the house by the others. The Comanches tried to rush in
with our own men, but we drove them off and we could have held the cabin
against 'em forever, if they hadn't begun to shoot the burning arrows.
Then you came."
Campbell and Hudson were buried. Ned had been welcomed warmly by Allen,
and the two boys compared notes. Will's face glowed when he heard of
Ned's adventures within the Mexican lines.
"I could never have done it," he said. "I couldn't have kept steady
enough when one crisis after another came along. I suppose this means,
of course, that we must try to meet Santa Anna in some way. What do you
think we can do, Ned?"
"I don't know, but just at present I'm going to sleep. The Panther, Davy
Crockett and Obed will debate the plans."
Ned, who was becoming inured to war and danger, was soon asleep, but
Will could not close his eyes. He had borne a gallant part in the
defense, and the sounds of rifle shots and Indian yells still resounded
in his excited ear. He remained awake long after he heard the heavy
breathing of the men about him, but exhausted nerves gave way at last
and he, too, slept.
The next morning their news was debated gravely by all. There was not
one among them who did not understand its significance, but it was hard
to agree upon a policy. Davy Crockett, who had just come, and who was
practically a stranger to Texas, gave his opinions with hesitation.
"It's better for you, Mr. Panther, an' you, Mr. White, to make the
motions," he said, "an' I an' my Tennesseans will endorse them. But it
seems, boys, that if we came for a fight it is offered to us the moment
we get here."
"Yes," said the twelve Tennesseans all together.
"I shall be compelled to leave you," said Roylston. "Pray, don't think
it's because I'm afraid to fight the Mexicans. But, as I told you
before, I can do far greater good for the Texan cause elsewhere. As I am
now as well as ever, and I am able to take care of myself, I think I
shall leave at once."
"I've known you only a few hours, Mr. Roylston," said Crockett, "but
I've knocked around a hard world long enough to know a man when I see
him. If you say you ought, you ought to go."
"That's so," said the Panther. "We've seen Mr. Roylston tried more than
once, and nobody doubts his courage."
A good horse, saddled and bridled, and arms and ammunition, were given
to Roylston. Then he bade them farewell. When he was about twenty yards
away he beckoned to Ned. When the boy stood at his saddle bow he said
very earnestly:
"If you fall again into the hands of Santa Anna, and are in danger of
your life, use my name with him. It is perhaps a more potent weapon than
you think. Do not forget."
"I will not," said Ned, "and I thank you very much, Mr. Roylston. But I
hope that no such occasion will arise."
"So do I," said Roylston with emphasis. Then he rode away, a square,
strong figure, and never looked back.
"What was he saying, Ned?" asked Will, when the boy returned.
"Merely promising help if we should need it, hereafter."
"He looks like a man who would give it."
After some further talk it was decided that Ned, Will, Obed and the
Panther should ride south to watch the advance of Santa Anna, while
Crockett, Fields and the remainder should go to San Antonio and raise
such troops as they could.
"An' if you don't mind my sayin' it to you, Mr. Crockett," said the
Panther, "keep tellin' 'em over an' over again that they have need to
beware. Tell 'em that Santa Anna, with all the power of Mexico at his
back, is comin'."
"Fear not, my good friend," said Davy Crockett. "I shall tell them every
hour of the day. I shall never cease to bring the information before the
full quorum of the House. Again I am parliamentary, but I think you
understand, Mr. Panther."
"We all understan'," said the Panther, and then Crockett rode away at
the head of the little troop which tacitly made him commander. Ned's
eyes followed his figure as long as he was in sight. Little did he dream
of what was to pass when they should meet again, scenes that one could
never forget, though he lived a thousand years.
"A staunch man and true," said Obed. "He will be a great help to Texas."
Then they turned back to the cabin, the four of them, because they did
not intend to go forth until night. They missed their comrades, but the
cabin was a pleasant place, well stored now with meat of buffalo, deer
and wild turkey. Floor and walls alike were covered with dressed skins.
"Why not fasten it up just as tightly as we can before we go away,"
said Allen. "The Comanches are not likely to come back, the war is
swinging another way, and maybe we'll find it here handy for us again
some day."
"You're talkin' sense, Will Allen," said the Panther. "It's been a
shelter to us once, and it might be a shelter to us twice. The smell of
the meat will, of course, draw wolves an' panthers, but we can fix it so
they can't get in."
Taking sufficient provisions for themselves, they put the rest high up
on the rafters. Then they secured the windows, and heaped logs before
the door in such a manner that the smartest wolves and panthers in the
world could not force an entrance. As they sat on their horses in the
twilight preparatory to riding away, they regarded their work with great
content.
"There it is, waiting for us when we come again," said Obed White. "It's
a pleasant thing to have a castle for refuge when your enemies are
making it too hot for you out in the open."
"So it is," said the Panther, "and a man finds that out more than once
in his life."
Then they turned their horses and rode southward in the dusk. But before
long they made an angle and turned almost due west. It was their
intention to intersect the settlements that lay between the Rio Grande
and San Antonio and give warning of the approach of Santa Anna.
They went on steadily over a rolling country, mostly bare, but with
occasional clumps of trees.