Forward, March | Page 8

the train to
which the "Terror" was attached sped westward through the rich
lowlands of southern Louisiana and across the prairies of Texas. It
crossed the tawny flood of the Mississippi on a huge railway ferry to
Algiers, and at New Iberia it passed a side-tracked train filled with
State troops bound for Baton Rouge. Early the next morning at Houston,
Texas, it drew up beside another train-load of soldiers on their way to
Austin. To the excited mind of our young would-be cavalryman it
seemed as though the whole country was under arms and hurrying
towards the scene of conflict. Was he not going in the wrong direction,
after all? And would not those other fellows get to Cuba ahead of him
in such force that there would be no Spaniards left for the Riders to
fight? This feeling was so increased upon reaching the end of the
journey, where he saw two San Antonio companies starting for the East,
that he gave expression to his fears, whereupon Van Kip responded,
promptly:
"Don't you fret, old man. We'll get there in plenty of time. Teddy's gone
into this thing for blood, and he's got the inside track on information,
too. Fixed up a private ticker all of his own before he left Washington,
and when he gets ready to start he'll go straight to the front without a
side-track. Oh, I know him and his ways! for, as I've said before, we're
great chums, me and Teddy. I shouldn't wonder if he'd be at the station
to meet us."
To Rollo's disappointment, neither Lieutenant-Colonel Roosevelt nor
any one else was on hand to welcome the Riders' new recruits, but this
was philosophically explained by the young New-Yorker on the ground
that he had thoughtlessly neglected to telegraph their coming. Being
thus left to their own devices, and anxious to join their regiment as
quickly as possible, the three who were already enlisted engaged a
carriage to convey them to the fair-grounds, just beyond the city limits,
where the Riders were encamped, leaving Ridge to occupy the car in
solitary state until morning.
"You just stay here and make yourself cozy," said Rollo, "while we go
and get our bearings. I'll see Teddy and fix things all right for you, so

that you can come out and join us bright and early tomorrow. So long.
Robert, take good care of Mr. Norris, and see that he has everything to
make him comfortable."
This order was delivered to the colored steward of the car, and in
another minute the excited trio had rattled away, leaving Ridge to a
night of luxurious loneliness.
To occupy his time he took a brisk walk into the city, and reached the
Alamo Plaza before he knew where he was. Then, suddenly, he realized;
for, half-hidden by a great ugly wooden building, used as a
grocery-store, he discovered an antiquated, half-ruinous little structure
of stone and stucco that he instantly recognized, from having seen it
pictured over and over again. It was the world-renowned Alamo, one of
the most famous monuments to liberty in America; and, hastening
across the plaza, Ridge stood reverently before it, thrilled with the
memory of Crockett and Bowie, Travis and Bonham, who, more than
half a century before, together with their immediate band of heroes,
here yielded up their lives that Texas might be free.
Ridge was well read in the history of the Lone Star State, and now he
strove to picture to himself the glorious tragedy upon which those grim
walls had looked. As he thus stood, oblivious to his surroundings, he
was recalled to them by a voice close at hand, saying, as though in
soliloquy:
"What a shame that so sacred a monument should be degraded by the
vulgarity of its environment!"
"Is it not?" replied Ridge, turning towards the speaker. The latter was a
squarely built man, about forty years of age, with a face expressive of
intense determination, which at the moment was partially hidden by a
slouch hat pulled down over the forehead, and a pair of spectacles. He
was clad in brown canvas, very much as was Ridge himself; but except
for facings of blue on collar and sleeve be wore no distinctive mark of
rank. For a few minutes the two talked of the Alamo and all that it
represented. Then the stranger asked, abruptly,

"Do you belong to the Rough Riders?"
"No," replied Ridge, "but I hope to. I am going to make application to
join them to-morrow, or rather I believe a friend is making it for me
this evening. Are you one of them, sir?"
"Yes, though I have not yet joined. In fact, I have only just reached San
Antonio."
"So have I," said Ridge. "I came in on the