What terrible decision!—yet I must!
Oh, Elsie ! had I listed but to thee!
[Hopefully.] Maybe that all may yet turn for the best;
That Santa Anna may be moved to truth
Through me, as I was through my hero-brethren,
Or, that returning my sincerity
By generosity, he will allow me
Hence to depart. [Resolutely.] Still were no less than death
To be the expiation of my wayward course,
I shall not flinch nor beg, but solace me
With that grand sentence of the Irish patriot:
"Whether on the gallows high,
Or in the battle's van.
The fittest place for man to die
Is, where he dies for man!"
Scene II.
Santa Anna's tent. Enters Santa Anna with despatches in his hand. Later Frado; still later, Almonte.
Santa Anna.
My scouts inform me, that the band of rebels
Assembled on the Colorado's banks
Is waxing stronger every day, and threatens
To hasten to the Alamo's relief.
