"It's the boy, Ned Fulton.

I know him well.
What he says must be truth." "It is every word truth!" croaked Ned.

"I was pursued by their vanguard! My horse swam the river with me! Up! Up! for Texas!" Then he fainted dead away.

Bowie seized him in his powerful arms and carried him into one of the houses occupied by the Texans, where men stripped him of his wet clothing and gave him restoratives.

But Bowie himself hurried out into the Main Plaza.