At length he saw one of the men in the nearest battery to the Alamo expose himself above the earthwork.

There was a flash from the wall of the church, a little puff of smoke, and Ned saw the man fall as only dead men fall.

Perhaps it was Davy Crockett, the great marksman, who had fired that shot.

He liked to think that it was so, and he rejoiced also at this certain evidence that the little garrison was as dauntless as ever.

He watched the Alamo for nearly an hour, and he saw that the firing was desultory.