Page:The Fall of the Alamo.djvu/139

 And more than that, they send me a report Of what at other times would have provoked My merriment, but now appals my mind With spectral fear: my scouts announce to me The Independence of the State of Texas, As so declared by her Convention. [Impatiently.] Ha! Were but this fortress in my hands, I should Soon overthrow their lofty aspirations, And make the Texans free and independent Of land and lives and fortunes. [Violently.] I must have This Alamo, e'en though it clung by chains To heaven itself. Where stays that Colonel Bradburn? [Enters Prado.] Well, Prado! in thy countenance I read: Thou bringest me some tidings worth the hearing.

And so they are! The Alamo is yours, Without so much as an assault or treaty.

What sayest, man! thou ravest—

It is so! Concealed behind the tent of Colonel Bradburn, I overheard a touching colloquy, Well apt to move me to the bitterest tears,