Austin was inclined toward negotiation, for that had always been his specialty, but that clearly was not to be. Cós seemed to have the advantage: numerical superiority and a strong, fortified position. But the farmers and frontiersmen whose rifles bristled around this old mission town had something more potent: a fire in the belly and a yearning to be free of Mexico. Even Austin, who had so long advocated conciliation and accommodation, had come to bitter disillusionment during his long incarceration. Independence was the only course for Texas now, he agreed, independence from the internal power struggles and the vacillating policies of an unpredictable government that too often operated for the enrichment and the egos of those who happened to rule at any given moment, as Santa Anna did now.

James found someone else, too. Elizandro Zaragosa was in charge of a company of Mexican volunteers of republican sentiments, men who still remembered the high principles of the Mexican people in their proudest time, in the winning of their independence from Spain. Too often they had seen those principles trampled by one tyrant or another who managed for a while to grab the power of the central government. Santa Anna was but the latest.

James shook hands with the Mexican farmer and ex-soldier, old friend to the Lewis brothers. He felt a warm respect for the courage of this man who had come back to his home in defiance of the proscription list that named him as one of several to be captured and punished for their principles. He looked quickly about the Mexican camp, half expecting to find Michael there.

“Do you know where Michael is at?” he asked anxiously. “We haven’t heard from him.”

Zaragosa shook his head. “He was at Gonzales when last we were together. He rode away with some other men. I think they were on their way to attack the garrison at La Bahía.” Zaragosa tried to keep his grace, not to appear too eager. “What of my son Manuel? Tell me about him.”

“He’s fine. Him and Mordecai, they’re the best friends you ever saw. Where one goes, the other follows. He’s growin’ up into a fine man. How about the rest of your family?”

“They are well. I should be with them now, but this is more important. If we can force Cós to surrender, to leave Texas, it will be a big defeat for Santa Anna. Cós is his brother-in-law, you know.”

James nodded. He had heard that. “You don’t suppose Michael is here somewhere, in one of these camps?”

“I cannot say he is not, for there are so many I have not seen them all.”

“I’ll keep lookin’. You be careful.”

“And you also.”

James hunted until he was sure he had visited every encampment in the vicinity of Bexar. They ranged from company strength in a few cases to little groups of as few as two to four men. He lost track of the number but knew it ran to seven or eight hundred. People said more than a thousand Mexican soldiers were garrisoned in the town.