Page:The Fall of the Alamo.djvu/148

 Is this—I ask—their whole reply? It is. Well, man! a school-boy's eloquence Could have succeeded where thy art has failed. Were not our hundred guns, our whelming numbers Convincing arguments enough to move The must tenacious rebel to submission? What scares a knave stirs not a hero's blood.

And what of Travis? , hast thou not essayed To unnerve his resistance by thy news? Like inaccessible to bribe and threat, He scorned your promise and defied your vengeance. But would thy daughter's promised hand not melt His stubbornness as wax before the sun? With nought but deep contempt he heard my offer.