Circumstance and place seemed to the boy so full of wild romance that he forgot, for the time, his own fate and the message that he wished to bear to those far Texans.
It was very cold that night on the heights, and, now and then, a little snow was blown about by the wind, but Ned kept warm by the fire and between the two serapes.

He fell asleep to the tinkling of Almonte's guitar.

They started again at earliest dawn, descended the slopes into a highway to Vera Cruz, and pushed on in the trail of Cos.

Ned still rode his burro, which trotted along faithfully with the best, and he kept an eager eye for the road and all that lay along it.

The silent youth had learned the value of keen observation, and he never neglected it.
Before noon Ned saw a dim, white cone rising on the eastern horizon.