They were not ordinary men.

They were not ordinary scouts and borderers.

One from the north and one from the south, they were much alike in their mental processes, their faculties of keen observation and deep reasoning.

Both were now stirred to the core, but neither showed a trace of it on his face.

They watched the little file pass away over the prairie until it was lost to sight behind the swells, and then Smith spoke: "I reckon you an' me, Hank, will ride toward the Alamo." "I reckon we will, Deaf, and that right away." Inside of five minutes they were on the road, armed and provisioned, the best two borderers, with the single exception of the Panther, in all the southwest.