Santa Anna, a reader
of the human face, saw what was in his mind.
"Be not too sanguine," he said, "because I have changed my mind once it
does not mean that you are to be free now or ever. I shall keep you
here, and you shall see your comrades fall."
A sudden smile, offspring of a quick thought and satanic in its nature,
passed over his face.
"I will make you a spectator of the defeat of the Texans," he said. "A
great event needs a witness, and since you cannot be a combatant you can
serve in that capacity. We attack at dawn to-morrow, and you shall miss
nothing of it."
The wicked smile passed over his face again. It had occurred to Ned, a
student of history, that the gladiatorial cruelty of the ancient Romans
had descended to the Spaniards instead of the Italians. Now he was
convinced that it was so.
"You shall be kept a prisoner in one of our strongest houses," said
Santa Anna, "and Captain Urrea, whose vigilance prevented your escape,
will keep guard over you. I fancy it is a task that he does not hate."
Santa Anna had also read the mind of the young Mexican. Urrea smiled. He
liked this duty. He hated Ned and he, too, was not above taunting a
prisoner. He advanced, and put a hand upon Ned's shoulder, but the boy
shook it off.
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