“No. Where is he?” answered Ernest.
“He’s been ’round here a couple of weeks and more. About the first thing he did was to drop down and call on Santa Anna, at the Phelps ranch, below. They say Santa Anna simply fell on his neck and bawled; and the general patted him on the back and said: ‘There, there!’ and promised to do what he could for him.”
“I don’t know,” spoke Jim, thoughtfully, “but seems to me we might as well let Santa Anna go. We’ve held him prisoner all these months, and part of the time he’s been in irons and afraid of assassination besides.”
“Well, Mexico kept Stephen Austin shut up for near two years,” retorted Sion. “About killed him, too.”
“That ought not to be the American and Texas way, though,” voiced Leo, agreeing with Jim. “Nobody hates Santa Anna worse than I do; but we made a treaty, promising to release him, and we’ve never done it. The general says that after the battle of San Jacinto we started in to be merciful; and now it’s got down to the question of whether we’ll be just. Santa Anna’s nothing to us; he’s only one man; the United States is siding with us and we can take care of ourselves. President Andy Jackson himself is watching, and he and Sam Houston stand right together on what is what. Didn’t Jackson write to Santa Anna, telling him to depend on Houston to see him through safely according to the treaty, and saying: ‘Let those who clamor for blood, clamor on. The world will take care of Houston’s fame!’”
“That Santa Anna’s a murderer, just the same,” argued Sion, the stubborn. “He murdered our men at the Alamo and at Goliad. And his word’s no good. The Mexican government claims that whatever he signs as a prisoner doesn’t count.”
“Stephen Austin and General Jackson and Sam Houston say he ought to be released, though. Texas promised that,” insisted Leo.
“All right, release him, then,” consented Sion. “I think he ought to be taken over to Goliad and killed on the spot where Fannin’s men were killed; but let him go. He won’t amount to much in Mexico, anyway, and he’ll stir up trouble enough there to keep ’em all busy at home.”
“How’s the general looking?” invited Ernest, changing the subject.