Placed in such a position, the Texan insurgents must regard themselves as freed from any courteous obligation toward their enemies, and in fact were so. Until they were permitted to treat on equal terms with their old masters, they had only one thing to regard, namely, the object to be attained: under the present circumstances they had attained it, and no more could be asked of them. The Jaguar's first care, so soon as he was in possession of the fortress, was to have John Davis installed in a comfortable and airy room; then he sent several men to the creek whence the expedition had started, to fetch the clothes and anything the conspirators had left there. During the works necessitated by the new occupation and an exact inspection of the important fortress the Texans had succeeded in seizing, day had broke, and the sun risen. The Jaguar, after taking all the necessary precautions to prevent himself being surprised in his turn, took a telescope, and went up to the platform of the castle. From this point the eye surveyed an immense landscape, and a magnificent panorama was unrolled. On one side were the undulating Texan plains, which lofty mountains enclosed on the horizon; on the other, the sea with its grand and mysterious immensity. The Jaguar first looked carelessly through the telescope at the town of Galveston, which was beginning to wake up, and whose streets were growing gradually peopled; next at the mainland, and the entrance of the Rio Trinidad, which was still plunged in a mournful solitude. Then, turning, he fixed the glass on the sea, and attentively examined the horizon. Lanzi, carelessly lounging on a gun carriage, was rolling a husk cigarette with all the serious attention he generally devoted to this important operation. "Lanzi!" the Jaguar suddenly said, as he hurried to him. "Well!" he answered, raising his head, but not otherwise disturbing himself. "Do you know what has become of the Mexican flag we found in the commandant's room?" "Indeed I do not." "You must go and enquire at once, my good fellow. So soon as you have got it, bring it to me." "Very good." The half-breed rose and left the platform; in the meanwhile, the Jaguar, who was leaning over the parapet, seemed deeply interested. In fact, the chase of the privateer by the corvette was beginning at this moment! and the two vessels appeared under full sail. "Oh, oh," the Jaguar muttered, "how will it end? The brig is very small to carry so large a vessel by storm! Nonsense," he added after a little reflection, "we have seized the fort, then why should they not capture the corvette?" "I see nothing to prevent it," a voice said at his elbow. The Jaguar turned and saw the half-breed standing by his side, with a roll of bunting under his arm. "Well," he asked him, "where is the flag?" "Here it is."