But the light was yet
dim and the sounds were few. Nevertheless the great pulse in his throat
began to leap. The attack was at hand.
The door of the room was unlocked and the two peons who had guarded him
upon the roof came for him. Ned saw in the half gloom that they were
very grave of countenance.
"We are to take you to the noble Captain Urrea, who is waiting for you,"
said Fernando.
"Very well," said Ned. "I am ready. You have been kind to me, and I hope
that we shall meet again after to-day."
Both men shook their heads.
"We fear that is not to be," said Fernando.
They found Urrea and another young officer waiting at the door of the
house. Urrea was in his best uniform and his eyes were very bright. He
was no coward, and Ned knew that the gleam was in anticipation of the
coming attack.
"The time is at hand," he said, "and it will be your wonderful fortune
to see how Mexico strikes down her foe."
His voice, pitched high, showed excitement, and a sense of the dramatic.
Ned said nothing, and his own pulses began to leap again. The strip of
gray in the east was broadening, and he now saw that the whole town was
awake, although it was not yet full daylight.
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