"Aye, it was," said the man next on his right. "Santiago, but was it
not, Jose?"
Jose, the second man on the right, replied in the affirmative and with
emphasis:
"You speak the great truth, Carlos. Such another march I never wish to
make. Think of the hundreds and hundreds of miles we have tramped from
our warm lands far in the south across mountains, across bare and windy
deserts, with the ice and the snow beating in our faces. How I shivered,
Carlos, and how long I shivered! I thought I should continue shivering
all my life even if I lived to be a hundred, no matter how warmly the
sun might shine."
The others laughed, and seemed to Ned to snuggle a little closer to the
fire, driven by the memory of the icy plains.
"But it was the will of the great Santa Anna, surely the mightiest man
of our age," said Carlos. "They say that his wrath was terrible when he
heard how the Texan bandits had taken San Antonio de Bexar. Truly, I am
glad that I was not one of his officers, and that I was not in his
presence at the time. After all, it is sometimes better to be a common
soldier than to have command."
"Aye, truly," said Ned, and the others nodded in affirmation.
"But the great Santa Anna will finish it," continued Carlos, who seemed
to have the sin of garrulity.
Pages:
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120