“No, I never did. But Ben Milam and several other men I know have seen him. Milam fought along with the patriots in 1821, when Mexico freed herself from Spain and became a republic. Santa Anna was a colonel then, on the patriot side, although he was born in Spain and was in the Spanish regular army. When the new president, named General Iturbide, turned about and proclaimed himself emperor, Milam and a lot more who opposed him were put in jail; but Santa Anna headed another revolution that deposed Iturbide, restored the republican government, and of course freed Milam and the rest. Santa Anna has always been ag’in a monarchy or a despotism――look what he did in 1832 when Bustamante tried to seize the reins――and we all have thought he would be just the man to understand the Texas ideas. But he’s surely acting suspicious now. He’s a brainy man, and not big to look at. About five feet five, I hear, small-boned, dark complexioned, Spanish type, with good head and smart face, and fine manners. Aged about forty-five. And he’s quite a soldier, too. He’s always been successful in his fighting, to date.” The year 1834 opened with a terrific “norther” or cold, sleety storm, sweeping struggling Texas almost from border to border. The people of Gonzales were only beginning to thaw out in the welcome sunshine, when from Stephen Austin arrived bad news at last. He had had the cholera. The petition was unanswered, and congress kept postponing any action on it. He finally had told Vice-president Farias that unless something was done for Texas very soon, the settlers would be likely to take matters into their own hands. Also, he had written a long letter to the mayor and people of San Antonio, saying that he did not believe he could accomplish anything and that San Antonio and the other Texas towns had better meet and form a state government, anyway, as permitted by the Constitution of 1824 whenever Texas could prove that she was ready for statehood. Then, before this advice had been spread far enough to be acted upon, a man on lathering horse rode post-haste from the west into Gonzales. He was Ben Milam. As he drew rein in Market Square excited voices hailed him. “What’s the matter, Ben?” “Austin’s been arrested!” IV “WE MUST DEFEND OUR RIGHTS” “_Austin’s been arrested!_” The terse sentence seemed to carry instantly through all inner Gonzales, as attracted by the galloping horse men came running. “Steve Austin arrested? When? Where?” “On January 3rd, at Saltillo, by orders from the capital. He’d got this far, on his way home; now they’re taking him back again, to the City of Mexico.” “How do you know?” “Because I was there and saw it.” “What did they arrest him for?” “Mostly on account of that letter he wrote to San Antonio, advising Texas to get together and form its state government. The mayor sent the letter to the capital, saying he disapproved――――” “The scoundrel!”