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134
THE FALL OF THE ALAMO
Santa Anna.
Is this—I ask—their whole reply?
Bradburn.
It is.
Santa Anna.
Well, man! a school-boy's eloquence
Could have succeeded where thy art has failed.
Were not our hundred guns, our whelming numbers
Convincing arguments enough to move
The must tenacious rebel to submission?
Bradburn.
What scares a knave stirs not a hero's blood.
Santa Anna.
And what of Travis? , hast thou not essayed
To unnerve his resistance by thy news?
Bradburn.
Like inaccessible to bribe and threat,
He scorned your promise and defied your vengeance.
Santa Anna.
But would thy daughter's promised hand not melt
His stubbornness as wax before the sun?
Bradburn.
With nought but deep contempt he heard my offer.
