Besides, all was not well.
When the darkness had fully come, he descended with his two benevolent
jailers to a lower part of the house, where he was assigned to a small
room, with a single barred window and without the possibility of escape.
His guards, after bringing him food and water, gave him a polite good
night and went outside. He knew that they would remain on watch in the
hall.
Ned could eat and drink but little. Nor could he yet sleep. The night
was far too heavy upon him for slumber. Besides, it had brought many
noises, significant noises that he knew. He heard the rumble of cannon
wheels over the rough pavements, and the shouts of men to the horses or
mules. He heard troops passing, now infantry, and then cavalry, the
hoofs of their horses grinding upon the stones.
He pressed his face against the barred window. He was eager to hear and
yet more eager to see. He caught glimpses only of horse and foot as they
passed, but he knew what all those sights and sounds portended. In the
night the steel coil of the Mexicans was being drawn closer and closer
about the Alamo.
Brave and resolute, he was only a boy after all. He felt deserted of all
men. He wanted to be back there with Crockett and Bowie and Travis and
the others.
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