It was evident to the captain that the entire force of the enemy could be easily captured as they came off the meadow; but it might require the whole night to secure them. The first company, now united, marched to the hill road, and halted in a field which had been selected before for the camping-ground. The men proceeded to feed themselves and their horses. A half-dozen scouts were left on the by-road to watch the mired Texans. They had built a great fire to afford them light, and continued their labors. A portion of the field where they had encamped consisted of a grove of big trees, such as the company had frequently seen. The baggage-train had been left at the bridge, and the men had no tents, but they were provided with overcoats and blankets; and thus protected from the cold of the chill night, it was not accounted a hardship to sleep on the ground. Sentinels surrounded the camp, and two scouts had been sent out in each direction on the hill road. "Scouts coming in from both ways!" shouted the sentinels in the road; and the word was carried to the guard quarters. The captain was immediately informed. As Deck happened to be in the detail for guard duty, he had been stationed in the road, and it was his voice which first announced the return of the scouts. Captain Gordon, who had stretched himself under a tree for a nap, hastened to the road to ascertain the cause of the alarm. "Where are the scouts, Deck?" he asked, as he confronted the sentinel in the road. "They have not got here yet," replied Deck, as he saluted the captain. "I saw them at the top of the hills, coming in at full speed." "But there is no enemy in this vicinity, except the Texans in the quagmire," added the captain. "I know of none, Captain." The two scouts came in almost at the same moment, before the captain and the private could discuss the situation, and reported a detachment of cavalry approaching from either direction. CHAPTER XXVII AT THE CAMP-FIRE NEAR THE ROAD As Captain Gordon suggested, there was no enemy in the vicinity with the exception of the Texan Rangers, half buried in the mud. The approach of cavalry from both directions, and in the darkness, was rather an alarming announcement; and if the scouts had not been close by, he would have ordered the long roll, and prepared for defence. The camp-fires were blazing near the road, and a weird light was cast upon the scene. "Well, Beck, what is your news?" demanded the captain, as the scout saluted him. "A detachment of cavalry was coming up when I left the top of the hill," replied the trooper. "What were they?" demanded the captain impatiently. "I don't know, Captain; we could not make them out in the darkness," replied the scout; and he was the one who came from the south. "How many were there of them?" "We looked at them as they came down the hill, and Wilder and I reckoned there were about fifty of them. They had a wagon train behind them."