Yet they often came
perilously near. Once, a large band rode down to the creek to water
their horses, when Ned was not fifty feet distant. He instantly lay flat
among some bushes, and did not move. He could hear the horses blowing
the water back with their noses, as they drank.
When the horses were satisfied, the cavalrymen turned and rode away,
passing so near that it seemed to him they had only to look down and see
him lying among the bushes. But they went on, and, when they were out
of sight, he rose and continued his flight through the timber.
But this alternate fleeing and dodging was most exhausting work, and
before the day was very old he decided that he would lie down in a
thicket, and postpone further flight until night. Just when he had found
such a place he heard the faint sound of distant firing. He put his ear
to the earth, and then the crackle of rifles came more distinctly. His
ear, experienced now, told him that many men must be engaged, and he was
sure that Fannin and the Mexican army had come into contact.
Young Fulton's heart began to throb. The dark vision of the Alamo came
before him again. All the hate that he felt for the Mexicans flamed up.
He must be there with Fannin, fighting against the hordes of Santa Anna.
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