Duncan went back to making hats and repairing guns. Itâll take years to hear from Spain, Ellis brooded. By then Iâll be an old man. Why donât they just shoot us?
Months passed and rumors floated about, but nothing happened. Some said that Salcedo hadnât sent the papers to Spain, and theyâd never be freed; that was easy to believe. Duncan was called to the village of Aldama to repair the weapons of a detachment of troops stationed there, a task that would take several months. Fero and House again exchanged letters about a plan for escaping. âWilliam Danlin and I are thinking of trying to get away,â House told Ellis.
âMe too,â Ellis replied. He got permission to go to San Carlos, where he made escape plans for Duncan, House, and himself. Between them, Ellis and Duncan had purchased, through Mexican friends, four horses and three guns.
Before attempting to escape, House and the other prisoners in Chihuahua decided to petition Salcedo to release them. An obliging priest wrote in Spanish a lengthy explanation of how theyâd come to accompany Nolan to Texas, explaining that he had assured them he had permission and a passport, and that he had been allowed to enter Texas a number of times before. They had no reason to doubt his word until they met a Spanish patrol searching for them, and then it was too late to back out. While waiting to learn Salcedoâs response, Fero and Cooley again wrote House concerning escape plans. From San Carlos, Ellis wrote to Duncan in Aldama and to House in Chihuahua that he had the preparations nearly complete, and that two soldiers had agreed to desert and accompany them. They were to meet at an old church when the day came, and from there set out on their journey. He entrusted the letters to a villager, who delivered Duncanâs at Aldama before continuing on to Chihuahua with the letter to House. Duncan hurried his work along so he could return to Chihuahua in time to join the escape party.
Tom House was sick and stretched out on a mat in the adobe house that served as his blacksmith shop, when a sergeant and squad of soldiers entered. âStay where you are,â the sergeant ordered in Spanish, and gathered up the letters on a little table that served as a desk.
âWhatâs goinâ on?â House asked in broken Spanish.
âI shouldnât tell you, perhaps,â the sergeant replied, âbut one of your countrymenâthe one with a nose like a hawkâtook General Salcedo a letter from Señor Bean to you. The General ordered us to see what we could find here and arrest you. Thatâs all I know.â
âNose like a hawk,â House muttered. âThat can only be that son-of-a-bitch Waters. Iâll cut off his balls for this, if he has any.â The soldiers escorted him to the guardhouse.
At Aldama, Duncan learned that Ellis, Cooley, and Fero had been arrested in San Carlos, and hastily burned the letter from Ellis. If they force him to talk about our escape plans, theyâll come for me next, Duncan thought. Every time he saw soldiers he expected to be arrested, but he was allowed to finish his work and return to Chihuahua, where he found House in the hospital, in bad shape.
One day, Ellisâ cell door opened and a guard helped Joel Pierce through it and lowered him to the floor, for he was too weak to stand alone. Ellis recoiled in horror at the sight.
âIâm dying, Ellis,â Joel gasped as he lay on the floor. âIâll never see my wife again. I didnât expect to find you a prisoner, but at least Iâll die in the company of a friend and a countryman.â
Ellis had a little money in his pocket, and he persuaded the guard to buy some wine and bread. After Joel drank a little wine and ate some bread, he was able to sit up. Ellis gazed at him sadlyâhe was little more than a skeleton; there was no doubt that he hadnât long to live.
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