Page:The Fall of the Alamo.djvu/176

 Father! forgive me, if I leave thee now, My own defence absolves me from my vow. My sole protection now lies,— where I go,— With William Travis in the Alamo. [Having raised the altar-cloth Elsie and James Travis disappear beneath it. Santa Anna, finding his efforts unavailing, resigns himself to his fate.] Curse, curse on every mercy-tempered deed; It carries in itself its failure's seed! Curse, curse on each concession to regards Of sex and worldly usage; it discards Half of the spirit's energy and power, And lowers the bold to creatures of the hour. If thou must be a devil, be it whole. Or else give up thy aspiration's goal. But list! a step ! it is the sentinel! [Knocking against the door, he calls aloud:] Quick! ope the door, unlock my prison-cell! [The soldier is seen coming through the corridor.] Haste, haste thee, man! thy blood, thy life shall pay For every moment lost through thy delay! [The soldier takes the keys from the door where Elsie had left them and unlocks the room in which Santa Anna is. The latter exclaims eagerly:] Where are they, speak?