Jim Bowie by Robert E. Hollmann Read Free Book Online

fired their rifles. The enemy looked at the trees. They could see the smoke from our rifles. Then they saw the men as they charged from the trees. The men were yelling and shooting as fast as they could. The enemy took one look at the screaming Texans and ran away. We chased them for a while, and then Jim raised his hand to stop the attack.
    “That’s far enough. Let them go. I don’t think they’ll come back.”
    The men stopped and watched the enemy run away. We rode back to the stream and drank the cool water. Jim sat with his back against a tree. I lay beside him with my head in his lap. Now that the fighting was over, we were tired. One of the men walked over and sat beside Jim.
    “What are we going to do now?”
    Jim looked at the men lying under the trees.
    “We’ll rest here until tomorrow and then head back to San Antonio. I’m ready to see Ursula again. They should be back from Monclova by now.”
    That night I looked at the stars while Jim and the others slept. The moon was full and its light lit up the prairie. I was ready to get back home too. I missed Ursula. She was always nice to me. I could hardly wait for the morning to come. Finally the sun peeked above the horizon. The camp began to stir as the men woke up. I sat next to Jim, gnawing on a bone as he drank some coffee. The men were cooking their breakfast and getting ready to leave.
    Suddenly I heard the sound of horses’ hooves. The rider was coming fast. Soon he was in view. Jim and the others watched him as he came closer.
    “Can you tell who it is?” one of the men asked.
    Jim shook his head.
    “Not yet. He sure is in a hurry though.”
    Finally the rider came close enough to recognize.
    “That’s Turner. I’ve never seen him ride like that,” one of the men said.
    Soon Turner dragged his horse to a stop in front of the campfire. He got down off his horse and walked over to Jim.
    Jim stuck out his hand. “Good to see you, Turner. Looks like you’ve been riding hard. Have a seat and pour yourself some coffee.”
    Turner looked at Jim.
    “Thanks, Jim, but I’m afraid I have some bad news.”
    “What is it, Turner?” Jim asked. “Is there another army coming?”
    Turner shook his head. “No.” Turner looked down at the ground. “Jim, the cholera went through Monclova. Ursula, Mr. Veramendi, the whole family is dead.”
    I looked up at Jim. His face was white. He did not say anything for a while. Finally he looked up. I saw a tear roll down his cheek.
    “Come on, men. We have to get home,” he said softly.

Chapter Fifteen
    “It makes me sad TO hear that Ursula died,” Princess said.
    The old dog put his paw on her head.
    “It made Jim sad too. For months he just wandered around their house. I think he expected Ursula to come out of one of the rooms. Jim was never the same after that.”
    Butch rolled over and watched a cloud pass by.
    “Tell us about some more Indian fights.”
    The old dog yawned. He was thinking about the old days…
    There were no more Indian fights. The days dragged into months and the months dragged into years. Jim tried to keep busy with his land, but he was not a good businessman. He lost a lot of his land. Jim tried to find the lost mines one more time, but had no luck. More people came into Texas, and the relationship with Mexico became worse and worse. Stephen Austin tried to calm things down, but young hotheads like William Travis kept things stirred up.
    Jim became very interested in what was going on. He joined the men who wanted to separate from Mexico. As time went on everyone knew that there would be a war. Stephen Austin went to Mexico to try and work things out, but he was thrown in jail. After a year he came home, and now even Austin believed that war was coming.
    Austin raised an army of volunteers and marched toward San Antonio. The army camped on Cibolo Creek, and Jim joined them with some of his friends. Austin was glad to see Jim. He walked up to us as we rode into the camp.
    “Good