By that time we were once more upon our saddles and ready to
start. Roche felt indignant at the meanness of the fellow who had
received our severity-five cents for the water before he invited us into
the house. We refused, and Roche told him that he was an old scoundrel
to sell for money that which even a savage will never refuse to his most
bitter enemy.
The rage of the honourable cannot be depicted: "My rifle!" he
vociferated, "my rifle! for God's sake, Betsey--Juliet, run for
my rifle!"
The judge then went into the house; but, as three pistols were drawn
from our holsters, neither he nor his rifle made their appearance, so we
turned our horses' heads and rode on leisurely to Austin.
In Austin we had a grand opportunity of seeing the Texans under their
true colours. There were three hotels in the town, and every evening,
after five o'clock, almost all of them, not excluding the president of
the republic, the secretaries, judges, ministers, and members of
Congress, were more or less tipsy, and in the quarrels which ensued
hardly a night passed without four or five men being stabbed or shot,
and the riot was continued during the major portion of the night, so
that at nine o'clock in the morning everybody was still in bed. So
buried in silence was the town, that one morning at eight o'clock, I
killed a fine buck grazing quietly before the door of the Capitol.
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