Santa Anna replied very nicely. He said that he would agree to letting American colonists come in; he would send troops to protect the settlers against Indians and smugglers; but he did not think that Texas was enough populated yet to be a state by itself――he really did not see how he was authorized to make it a state; but it could be a territory!
Texas did not wish to be a territory, for then it would have no independence at all, and all its officers would be supplied by the government and they might not be good officers. And it was suspicious of so many troops, who might not pay so much attention to the Indians as to the American settlers.
Many people thought that Austin was being hood-winked by Santa Anna. The president was too smooth-spoken, and Austin was gullible. He had not been permitted to return yet, had he? No.
Then another difficulty arose. The Coahuila legislature, supposed to represent Texas, too, began to sell off vast tracts of Texas land, for as low as two cents an acre; and instead of giving the money to Texas, divided it among speculators, while pretending to apply it on a fund to maintain a militia for defense against the Indians. Evidently Coahuila was making what it could out of Texas, before a separation occurred.
Still, the Texas Grand Central Committee, appointed by that convention of 1833, which had sent Stephen Austin to the City of Mexico, opposed war. It appointed subcommittees throughout the province, who should keep track of matters and spread any news that came to them; but while Austin was a prisoner it advocated peace, as long as possible.
This may read dull, but life in Texas in those days was by no means dull; not even for Ernest. The Indians themselves shared the unrest, and kept things lively. Attacks and massacres were reported, in the country districts and along the Royal Road itself, from Nacogdoches to Bejar. The Comanches, the Wacos, the Cooshatties, the Tawakanas, were very, very bad; and after almost every full moon (which was the favorite time for raids) Gonzales heard of Indian forays, in which women and children as well as men were killed and scalped.
The six-pounder brass cannon, which had been sent to Gonzales, from the presidio at Bejar, for protection, was kept ready. Gonzales thought highly of that brass cannon. And while on herd with his horses Ernest carried his little rifle, and watched sharply.