In the afternoon they encountered a Mexican force of eight mounted men,
and attacked with such vigor that Ned and Will, riding double, were
never able to get into the fight. Two of the Mexicans fell, and the rest
got away. The Texans were unharmed.
The Panther, after a chase, captured one of the horses, and brought him
back for Ned. They also secured the arms of the fallen Mexicans, one of
these weapons being an American rifle, which Ned was quite sure had
belonged to a slaughtered recruit at Goliad. They also found a letter in
one of the Mexican haversacks. It was from General Urrea to General
Santa Anna, and the Panther and his comrades inferred from the direction
in which its bearer had been riding that the dictator himself had left
San Antonio, and was marching eastward with the main Mexican army.
"I have to inform you," ran a part of the letter, "that your orders in
regard to the rebels at Goliad were carried out, in my absence, by the
brave and most excellent Colonel Portilla. They were all executed,
except a few who escaped under cover of the smoke to the timber, but our
cavalrymen are sure to find in time every one of these, and inflict upon
them the justice that you have ordered.
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