"
"If you smile on him--the least little smile--he will think
you are in love with him. He is such a fool, I assure you.
I am very distressed about this matter, my angel."
"I will tell you Luis--when the myrtle-tree grows figs, and
the fig-tree is pink with myrtle flowers, then I may fall in
love with Dias de Bonilla--if I can take the trouble."
No one heeded this pretty, extravagant talk. It was a thing
apart from the more serious interests discussed by Doctor
Worth and his wife and eldest daughter. And when Ortiz and
Navarro joined the circle, the story of the fall of the Alamo
was told again, and Luis forgot his own happiness, and wept
tears of anger and pity for the dead heroes.
"This brutal massacre was on the morning of the sixth, you
say, Navarro?"
"Last Sabbath morning, Senor. Mass was being offered in the
churches, and Te Deums sung while it went on."
"A mass to the devil it was," said Ortiz.
"Now, I will tell you something. On the morning of the
second, Thomas was in Washington. A convention sitting there
declared, on that day, the independence of Texas, and fifty-
five out of fifty-six votes elected General Houston Commander-
in-Chief."
"Houston! That is the name of victory! Gracias a Dios!"
cried Navarro.
"It is probable that the news of this movement influenced
Santa Anna to such barbarity.
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