Then at the signal of the Ring Tailed Panther they rose to their feet, and stretched their cramped limbs.
"It is certainly good," whispered Obed, "to stand up on two legs again and walk like a man." They were now very near to the town and they saw the dark shapes of houses, in some of which lights burned.

It was the poorer portion of San Antonio, where the Mexican homes were mostly huts or jacals, made of adobe, and sometimes of mere mud and wattles.

As all the four spoke Spanish, they advanced, confident in themselves, and the protecting shadows of the night.

A dog barked at them, but Obed cursed him in good, strong Mexican, and he slunk away.

Two peons wrapped to the eyes in serapes passed them but Obed boldly gave them the salutations of the night and they walked on, not dreaming that the dreaded Texans were by.
Fifty yards further they saw a long earthwork, with the spades and shovels lying beside it, as if the Mexicans expected to resume work there in the morning.