Santa Anna had just been there, and the place was in ashes.
It was evident to all, now, that the day and the hour was at hand.
Houston first thought of the two hundred families he had in charge, and they were quickly taken over the bayou.

When he had seen the last one in this comparative safety, he uttered so fervent a "Thank God!" that the men around unconsciously repeated it.

The bayou though narrow was twenty feet deep, and the very home of alligators.

There was only one small bridge in the vicinity.

He intended its destruction, and thus to make his little band and the deep, dangerous stream a double barrier between the Mexicans and the women and children beyond them.