fight.So long, Bill."
The two big men stepped outside. In the night there was a sudden clatter ofhoofs as the Texans mounted and rode. From across the river came a briefspatter of musket fire, then silence. In the dark, there had been nodifficulty in breaking through the Mexican lines.
Inside the chapel, John Ord's mouth hung slackly. He muttered, "Am Iinsane? It didn't happen this way--it couldn't! The books can't be _that_wrong--"
In the candlelight, Travis hung his head. "We tried, John. Perhaps it was aforlorn hope at best. Even if we had defeated Santa Anna, or delayed him, Ido not think the Indian Nations would have let Houston get help from theUnited States."
Ord continued his dazed muttering, hardly hearing.
"We need a contiguous frontier with Texas," Travis continued slowly, justabove a whisper. "But we Americans have never broken a treaty with theIndians, and pray God we never shall. _We_ aren't like the Mexicans, alwayspushing, always grabbing off New Mexico, Arizona, California. _We_ aren'tcolonial oppressors, thank God! No, it wouldn't have worked out, even if weAmerican immigrants had secured our rights in Texas--" He lifted a short,heavy, percussion pistol in his hand and cocked it. "I hate to say it, butperhaps if we hadn't taken Payne and Jefferson so seriously--if we couldonly have paid lip service, and done what we really wanted to do, in ourhearts ... no matter. I won't live to see our final disgrace."
He put the pistol to his head and blew out his brains.
* * * * *
Ord was still gibbering when the Mexican cavalry stormed into the oldmission, pulling down the flag and seizing him, dragging him before theresplendent little general in green and gold.
Since he was the only prisoner, Santa Anna questioned Ord carefully. Whenthe sharp point of a bayonet had been thrust half an inch into his stomach,the Britainer seemed to come around. When he started speaking, and theMexicans realized he was English, it went better with him. Ord wasobviously mad, it seemed to Santa Anna, but since he spoke English andseemed educated, he could be useful. Santa Anna didn't mind the raving; heunderstood all about Napoleon's detention camps and what they had done toBritainers over there. In fact, Santa Anna was thinking of setting up acouple of those camps himself. When they had milked Ord dry, they threw himon a horse and took him along.
Thus John Ord had an excellent view of the battlefield when Santa Anna'scannon broke the American lines south of the Trinity. Unable to get his menacross to safety, Sam Houston died leading the last, desperate chargeagainst the Mexican regulars. After that, the American survivors were tootired to run from the cavalry that pinned them against the flooding river.Most of them died there. Santa Anna expressed complete indifference to whathappened to the Texans' women and children.
Mexican soldiers found Jim Bowie hiding in a hut, wearing a plain linentunic and pretending to be a civilian. They would not have discovered hisidentity had not some of the Texan women cried out, "Colonel Bowie--ColonelBowie!" as he was led into the Mexican camp.
He was hauled before Santa Anna, and Ord was summoned to watch. "Well, donJaime," Santa Anna remarked, "You have been a foolish man. I promised yourwife's uncle to send you to Acapulco safely, though of course your landsare forfeit. You understand we must have lands for the veterans' programwhen this campaign is over--" Santa Anna smiled then. "Besides, since Ordhere has told me how instrumental you were in the abandonment of the Alamo,I think the Emperor will agree to mercy in your case. You know, don Jaime,your compatriots had me worried back there. The Alamo might have been atough nut to crack ... _pues_, no matter."
And since Santa Anna had always been broadminded, not objecting to lightskin or immigrant background, he invited Bowie to dinner that night.
* * * * *
Santa Anna turned to Ord. "But if we could catch this rascally warcriminal, Crockett ... however, I fear he has escaped us. He slipped overthe river with a fake passport, and the Indians have interned him."
"Si, _Senor Presidente_," Ord said dully.
"Please, don't call me that," Santa Anna cried, looking around. "True, manyof us officers have political ambitions, but Emperor Iturbide is old andvain. It could mean my head--"
Suddenly, Ord's head was erect, and the old, clear light was in his blueeyes. "Now I understand!" he shouted. "I thought Travis was raving backthere, before he shot himself--and your talk of the Emperor! Americanrespect for Indian rights! Jeffersonian form of government! Oh, thoseponces who peddled me that X-4-A--the _track jumper_! I'm not back in myown past. I've jumped the time track--_I'm back in a screamingalternate!_"
"Please, not so loud, _Senor_ Ord," Santa Anna sighed. "Now, we must shoota few more American officers, of course. I regret this, you understand, andI shall no doubt be much criticized in French Canada and Russia, wherethere are still civilized values. But we must establish the Republic of theEmpire once and for all upon this continent, that aristocratic tyrannyshall not perish from the earth. Of course, as an Englishman, youunderstand perfectly, Senor Ord."
"Of course, excellency," Ord said.
"There are soft hearts--soft heads, I say--in Mexico who cry for civilrights for the Americans. But I must make sure that Mexican dominance isnever again threatened north of the Rio Grande."
"_Seguro_, excellency," Ord said, suddenly. If the bloody X-4-A _had_jumped the track, there was no getting back, none at all. He was stuckhere. Ord's blue eyes narrowed. "After all, it ... it is manifest destinythat the Latin peoples of North America meet at the center of thecontinent. Canada and Mexico shall share the Mississippi."
Santa Anna's dark eyes glowed. "You say what I have often thought. You area man of vision, and much sense. You realize the _Indios_ must go, whetherthey were here first or not. I think I will make you my secretary, with therank of captain."
"_Gracias_, Excellency."
"Now, let us write my communique to the capital, _Capitan_ Ord. We mustdescribe how the American abandonment of the Alamo allowed me to press thetraitor Houston so closely he had no chance to maneuver his men into thetrap he sought. _Ay, Capitan_, it is a cardinal principle of theAnglo-Saxons, to get themselves into a trap from which they must fighttheir way out. This I never let them do, which is why I succeed whereothers fail ... you said something, _Capitan_?"
"_Si_, Excellency. I said, I shall title our communique: 'Remember theAlamo,'" Ord said, standing at attention.
"_Bueno!_ You have a gift for words. Indeed, if ever we feel the _gringos_are too much for us, your words shall once again remind us of the truth!"Santa Anna smiled. "I think I shall make you a major. You have indeedcoined a phrase which shall live in history forever!"
* * * * *
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