[XXI.]
THE BEE-HUNTER
At Natchitoches: forty bushels of frogs to the acre—The Bee-Hunter casts his lot with Colonel Crockett and Thimblerig—The welcome at Nacogdoches—Davy’s parting speech—The Bee-Hunter says farewell to Kate—The journey to the Rio Trinidad—Encounter with the Pirate and the Indian Hunter—They also enlist with the Colonel—Chasing the buffalo, and separation of the party—Davy and the mountain lion—The spectacle of Halley’s comet—A party of Comanches surround Thimblerig—The party reunited—Encounter with Mexicans—In sight of the Alamo—The welcome at San Antonio.
The next morning, after an early walk along the lowlands of the river, which were said to produce each year forty bushels of frogs to the acre, with alligators enough for fences, Davy was standing in front of the village inn, when he heard a clear and musical voice break into song. Drawing near to the singer, he saw him to be a young man of about twenty-two, of light and graceful figure, indicating strength and activity. He was dressed in a hunting-shirt, tastily ornamented with fringe. A highly-finished rifle was in his hand, and a hunting-pouch, covered with Indian ornaments, was slung across his shoulders. His clean shirt-collar was open, secured only by a black riband around his neck. The young man’s face was a handsome, bright, and manly one. From his eyes to his breast he was sunburnt as dark as mahogany, while the upper part of his high forehead was as white and as polished as marble. Thick clusters of curly hair showed under his cap.
When the young man saw Davy, he called him by name, and said that he had come to meet him, for the purpose of going with him to Texas. He was a bee-hunter, and knew the trails that the Spanish had dignified with the name of roads. As soon as they could get a horse for Thimblerig, the three men started for Nacogdoches, in Texas, where the first troubles had begun. The Bee-Hunter proved a cheerful companion and an experienced guide, and after a journey of one hundred and twenty miles they came in sight of Nacogdoches, then a straggling settlement of one thousand people. From afar they saw the tri-color, two-starred flag of Texas and Coahuila, at the top of a high pole, and when nearer heard the sound of fife and drum, in honor of Crockett’s arrival. The day was spent in hearing the news, procuring supplies, and writing letters, and at a late hour they were ready for an early start for San Antonio, two hundred miles distant.
What they had heard was enough to stir their blood. The capture of General Cos and his Mexicans by General Burleson, the surrender of the Alamo, and the clearing from Texas soil of the last Mexican soldier, presaged an easy road to Texan freedom. But the danger of an invasion by another and larger Mexican army was not unlikely.
Before going to bed, Crockett surprised Thimblerig, busy with his thimbles and the elusive pea, in the midst of a dozen men. At the sight of his new friend, the crestfallen gambler hustled his apparatus out of sight.
The next morning Davy found the Bee-Hunter in the little parlor of the inn, talking with a girl of about eighteen. Davy says she was as lovely as the wild-flowers of the prairie, and when she courtesied to Davy, and looked farewell into her lover’s face, the old scout and hunter turned away with tears in his eyes. A gourd for water, a pocket Bible, and some other little tokens of her thoughtfulness and love, she gave to the handsome recruit and he was ready to go.
In front of the inn, Crockett made a short speech before mounting his little mustang. Standing with head uncovered, he said at last:
“I will die, if I must, with my ‘Betsy’ in my arms. No! I will not die! I’ll grin down the walls of the Alamo, and we’ll lick up the Mexicans like fine salt!”
The Bee-Hunter then came out, followed by the weeping girl. He said good-by to his friends who surrounded him, took Kate, his sweetheart, to his heart, kissed her farewell, and leaped upon his horse. As he rode away he sang in a clear, exultant voice, as if to cheer his listeners: