CHAPTER XXXI.
SOMETHING ABOUT GENERAL SAM HOUSTON.
The Alamo had fallen, and now it was necessary to figure up results. Assaid before, all of the Texans, about one hundred and eighty in number,had been slaughtered, while the loss to the Mexicans was variouslyestimated at from three to five hundred. The sights about the missionwere truly horrible, and never forgotten by those who witnessed them.
It must be said, in all frankness, that the defence of the Alamo was amistake, for those gallant men must have known that they could not holdout against the overwhelming forces of Santa Anna. And they did notremain there because all escape was cut off, for they could have gottenaway just as easily as the reinforcements from Gonzales got in. It wasnot until the final days of the siege that the Mexicans drew aroundthem closely.
Why, then, did they remain?
The answer is one that every American boy and man ought to rememberwith pride. They remained because of the _principle_ involved. They hadstaked their lives for liberty or death, and they waged the contest tothe bitter end.
The slaughter of the Alamo garrison thrilled the hearts of the Texansas they had never been thrilled before. Those who had been doubtfulbefore were now doubtful no longer. "We must be independent," theysaid, "absolutely independent. We must raise a regular army. We mustnot be divided into factions, but must fight as one man, and under oneleader." And then they prepared to strike one grand blow from whichSanta Anna should never be able to recover.
But of none of these things did Dan or Poke Stover think as they restedin the dark passageway just beyond the reach of the water from theriver. Both were cold and hungry and almost exhausted, yet there wasnothing at hand to eat, and rest seemed out of the question.
"We must try to escape, as soon as it grows dark," said the oldfrontiersman, and all through that long, weary day they waited andwatched for the light to disappear up the passageway. At last it wasgone, and they swam again to the river, making as little noise aspossible.
At the opening were a number of bushes, and, as they emerged amongthese, they heard the footsteps of a Mexican sentinel not a dozen feetoff. At a distance was the camp, with several fires burning brightly.
Suddenly Stover caught Dan by the arm, and pointed to a treeoverhanging the stream. Under the tree was a long canoe with the paddlelying 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 ourone chance."
They waited until the sentinel had turned to walk to the other end ofhis station, then slipped down and swam over to the canoe. It was drawnpartly up over some marsh-grass, and they easily dislodged it. Thenthey 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 floatingcanoe, but such was not the fact until they were twenty yards from themouth of the passageway. 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 hisproperty." 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.
"Stay where you are, Dan," he said. "They needn't have but one of us toshoot at," and while Dan clung fast to the rear of the craft, Stoverpaddled with all the vigour at his command, which was considerable,considering his condition.
In ten minutes they were out of rifle-range, and safe, and then thefrontiersman sent the craft ashore, and he and Dan climbed to the riverbank. "Thank God, we are out of that!" exclaimed Stover, fervidly, andDan uttered a hearty Amen.
"I think the fust thing we want to do is to git sumthin' to eat,"remarked Stover, after they had rested for a bit. "I'm that hungry Icould eat most anything."
"I don't know this location at all, Poke. Where are we?"
"Not many miles from the Gonzales road, lad. About a mile back is NatWoodver's cabin. I reckon as how we'll git a warm welcome there, if Natis able to give it to us."
They set out in the darkness, and reached the cabin half an hour later.They found that the settler was away, to join the army; but his wifeand daughters were home, and they speedily did all they could for ourfriends, giving them a hot supper, and dressing the wounds as skilfullyas trained nurses. They had heard of the fall of the Alamo, but had notimagined that all of the garrison were slaughtered.
His awful experience had driven Carlos Martine entirely out of Dan'shead, and all the youth thought of now was to rejoin his father and hisbrother.
"They will worry about us, Poke," he said. "More than likely they willthink us dead, for they must know that all of the Texans in and aboutSan Antonio went to the Alamo when Santa Anna appeared."
"You are right, lad; we'll steer for the ranch the first thing in themorning," answered Stover, and this they did, riding two ponies thatMrs. Woodver loaned them.
When the pair reached Gonzales they found the town wild withexcitement. The news of the disaster of the Alamo had just come in, andby the deaths of the thirty-two men from Gonzales who had entered themission shortly before it fell, twenty women were left widows and twiceas many children fatherless. One woman went crazy, and rushed about thestreets crying for the Mexicans to come and kill her, too. It isneedless to add that the Parkers were deeply affected over the loss ofHenry.
As Dan and Stover were about to start for the trail leading up theGuadalupe, they met Amos Radbury riding post-haste into Gonzales.
"My son!" cried the father, joyfully. "And Poke, too! I was afraid youwere dead!"
"We came close enough to it, father," answered Dan. And then he and thefrontiersman told their stories in detail.
"I would have gone with the men from Gonzales," said LieutenantRadbury, "but I hated to leave Ralph home with nobody but Pompey. Theseare certainly terrible times. I wonder what Santa Anna will do next?"
"Perhaps he'll march on Gonzales," said the youth. "It looks as if hemeant to wipe out everybody in Texas."
"The whole State is aroused now. It must and will be a fight to thefinish. If the Texans are whipped, every ranch will go up in flames,and every man will be butchered."
The party returned to Gonzales, for Amos Radbury did not want to returnto the ranch, now he knew that Dan was safe.
While the siege of the Alamo was in progress, the General Convention ofTexas, which had been called, met at Washington, and a declaration ofindependence was adopted, and General Sam Houston was unanimouslyreelected commander-in-chief, with absolute authority over all armyforces, regular and volunteer. Heretofore, Houston had been little morethan commander in name; now it was felt upon all sides that he must begiven the absolute authority that the situation demanded. All otherappointments which had been made in a haphazard, irregular way wereabolished.
For the work that was ahead no better selection of a leader than thatof General Sam Houston could have been made. Houston was born inVirginia, in 1793, and at the age of nineteen he enlisted for the warof 1812, becoming an ensign, and fought with such courage that he andGeneral Jackson became warm friends. At thirty years of age he became amember of Congress, and five years later he was made governor ofTennessee, and was one of the most popular men in the West. He was upfor reelection, when some unfortunate domestic difficulties overtookhim, and he resigned his position and plunged into the wilderness,taking up his abode, later on, with some friendly Indians with whom hehad hunted years before. These Indians elected him one of their greatchiefs, and in return for this, Houston went to Washington for them andexposed a number of Indian agents who had been defrauding the red menout of the allowances made to them by the government. For this theseIndians swore undying friendship, and they called Houston theirbest-beloved brother to the day of his death. Because of his life amongthe red men Houston frequently attired himself in an Indian blanket andstuck in his hair the feath
ers of a chief, a custom that was oftenfollowed by other mighty hunters of this portion of our country.
Besides being governor of Tennessee, Houston had been a lawyer ofwell-known reputation, and as such had closely studied legal affairsrelating to the United States, Texas, and Mexico. He saw, long beforewar was declared, that Texas must one day strike for freedom, and heresolved, after leaving the Indians, to throw in his fortunes with theTexans, or Texians, as some have called them. As soon as he arrived hetook hold, in his own peculiar way, of certain public affairs, and at ameeting at Nacogdoches he was elected commander of the forces ofeastern Texas. This was directly after the opening of hostilities atGonzales.
Had Houston been allowed to act as he wished from the start, it ispossible that the slaughter at the Alamo might have been avoided, but,as mentioned before, matters, politically, were very much mixed, andthere were frequent clashes of authority. Some secondary leaders tookthe liberty to do about as they saw fit, and at one time it looked asif Houston's command would fall to pieces. In the midst of this cametrouble with the Indians, but this was patched up by the man who hadlived so long among them and who understood them thoroughly.
As the Convention which had reelected Houston commander-in-chief of thearmy was in session, the President was handed a letter fromLieutenant-Colonel Travis, making a last appeal for help. As the letterwas read there was wild excitement, and then it was moved that themeeting adjourn and the members march in a body to the relief of theAlamo.
But Houston would not have this. "Your place is here, gentlemen," hesaid. "Here, to pass laws and make our State an assured fact. I willtake the field and organise a relief force, and I give you my word thatno enemy shall come near you." The Convention settled down, and insideof an hour Houston, accompanied by several of his staff, was ridinglike the wind for Gonzales.