The horse, turning somewhat, swam powerfully in a diagonal course across
the stream. Ned, dazed for the moment by the shock of the plunge from a
height into the water, clung tightly to his back. He sat erect at first,
and then remembering that he must evade the bullets leaned forward with
the horse's neck between him and the Mexicans.
More shots were fired, but again he was untouched, and then the horse
was feeling with his forefeet in the muddy bank for a hold. The next
instant, with a powerful effort, he pulled himself upon the shore. The
violent shock nearly threw Ned from his back, but the boy seized his
mane and hung on.
The Mexicans shouted and fired anew, but Ned, now sitting erect, raced
for San Antonio, only a mile away.
CHAPTER VIII
IN THE ALAMO
Most of the people in San Antonio were asleep when the dripping figure
of a half unconscious boy on a great horse galloped toward them in that
momentous dawn. He was without hat or serape. He was bareheaded and his
rifle was gone. He was shouting "Up! Up! Santa Anna and the Mexican army
are at hand!" But his voice was so choked and hoarse that he could not
be heard a hundred feet away.
Davy Crockett, James Bowie and a third man were standing in the Main
Plaza.
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