SANTA ANNA'S ADVANCE The three rode abreast, Ned in the center.

The boy was on terms of perfect equality with Obed and the Panther.

They treated him as a man among men, and respected his character, rather grave for one so young, and always keen to learn.
The land rolled away in swells as usual throughout a great part of Texas, but they were not of much elevation and the red glow in the south was always in sight, deepening fast as they advanced.

They stopped at last on a little elevation within the shadow of some myrtle oaks, and saw the fires spread before them only four or five hundred yards away, and along a line of at least two miles.

They heard the confused murmur of many men.