We can look for our government,
too. It's wanderin' aroun', tryin' to keep out of the hands of Santa
Anna. We haven't any horse for you now, Ned, but you can ride behind
Will Allen. Maybe we can get you a mount before long."
They remained in the timber the rest of the day, in order that Ned might
recover sufficiently for the journey. About the middle of the afternoon
they saw a dozen Mexican cavalrymen on the plain, and they hoped that
they would invade the timber. They were keyed to such a pitch of anger
and hate that they would have welcomed a fight, and they were more than
confident of victory, but the Mexicans disappeared beyond the swells,
and every one of the men was disappointed.
At night they began their march toward the north, and continued almost
until morning. Ned, riding behind Will Allen, scarcely spoke. Obed
White, then and afterward, observed a great change in him. He seemed to
have matured suddenly far beyond his years, and Obed always felt that he
had some unchanging purpose that had little to do with gentleness or
mercy.
They slept in the timber until about 10 o'clock, and then resumed their
ride northward, still holding to the opinion that the peripatetic Texan
government would be found at Harrisburg, or somewhere in its vicinity.
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