"
"It is not true!" exclaimed Ned with heat. "Despite all your fire the
defenders of the Alamo have lost but a few men. You offer no quarter and
they ask none. They are ready to fight to the last."
There was a murmur among the generals, but Santa Anna raised his hand
and they were silent again.
"I cannot believe all that you say," he continued. "It is a boast. The
Texans are braggarts. To-morrow they die, every one of them. But tell us
the exact condition of everything inside the Alamo, and perhaps I may
spare your life."
Ned shut his teeth so hard that they hurt. A deep flush surged into the
dark face of Santa Anna.
"You are stubborn. All the Texans are stubborn. But I do not need any
information from you. I shall crush the Alamo, as my fingers would smash
an eggshell."
"But your fingers will be pierced deep," Ned could not keep from
replying. "They will run blood."
"Be that as it may," said Santa Anna, who, great in some things, was
little enough to taunt an enemy in his power, "you will not live to see
it. I am about to give orders to have you shot within an hour."
His lips wrinkled away from his white teeth like those of a great cat
about to spring, and his cruel eyes contracted.
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