noon
But the Mexicans did not accept the challenge . Save for the little scouting parties that always kept a watch at a safe distance they remained within their intrenchments . But Bowie and Fannin were able to take a look at the fortifications , confirming in every respect all that Ned and his comrades had told them . They ate in the saddle at noon , having provided themselves with rations when they started , and then rode back on their slow half circle about the town , Mexican scouts riding parallel with them on the inner side of the circle , five hundred yards away . The Texans said little , but they watched all the time . It made a powerful appeal to Ned , who had been a great reader , and whose mind was surcharged with the old romances . It seemed to him that his comrades and he were like knights , riding around a hostile city and issuing a formal challenge to all who dared to meet them .