The groves of oaks and pecans were superb, but they passed more desolate and abandoned buildings and crossed more irrigation ditches choked up with refuse.
Bowie called Ned up to his side, and had him to relate again all that he had seen and heard in Mexico.
"Mr.Austin is at the camp," said Fannin, "and he has been asking about you." Ned's heart thrilled.

There was a strong bond between him and the gentle, kindly man who strove so hard to serve both Texas and Mexico, and whom Santa Anna had long kept a prisoner for his pains.
"When will we reach the camp ?" he asked Bowie.
"In less than a half hour.

See, the scouts have already sighted us." The scouts came up in a few moments, and then they drew near the camp.
Ned, eager of eye, observed everything.
The heart of the camp was in the center of a pecan grove, where a few tents for the leading men stood, but the Texans were spread all about in both groves and meadows, where they slept under the open sky.

They wore no uniforms.

All were in hunting suits of dressed deerskin or homespun, but they were well armed with the long rifles which they knew how to use with such wonderful skill.