I had just moved to San Antonio, Texas. I had gotten a job working for the tour bus service that would take tourists on a short tour of the city's historic1 places and would end up at the Alamo.
It was near closing time and I was driving back from my last tour of the day. It was a cool February day, and there wasn't anyone on my bus, I was on my way back from the San Fernando Catholic2 church. I was about to keep driving by when I saw a man dressed up in an old buckskin jacket and a large worn out hat. I was thinking to myself, that this person must be a re-enactor or something walking around. I stopped and opened the door and asked the man, "Need a ride?" He looked up at me and I finally saw how young he was. He was a teenager if not a teen or he had to be in his early twenties. Without saying anything he just walked on board and sat down in a seat behind me. I made sure that there wasn't any other people needing a ride somewhere and closed the door.
"Where you heading?" I asked him he looked up into the mirror at me and replied.
"I've got to get to the fort3 and report to Col. Travis that the Mexicans are here!" I laughed to myself thinking that this man was a serious re-enactor.
"I'm guessing you mean the Alamo?" I said back to him. I looked up at him in the mirror and saw that he wasn't smiling nor laughing. I just put my foot on the gas and started to drive away.
All throughout the ride I looked back at him in the mirror above my head and saw that he was staring in amazement4 at all the towering skyscrapers5 and the buildings along the street.
"I remember when this town was nothing more than a little trading village!" He finally said to me.
"Yeah that's what I've heard that this city used be nothing more than a little pueblo6." He nodded his head up at me.
"It was." He said in return.
"So what's your name?" I asked him.
"Daniel Cloud, yours?"
"David Zime." I replied as I turned the corner of the street and laid eyes upon the Alamo.
I pulled up to the sidewalk and opened the door. Cloud got out of his seat and came up to me.
"Thanks for the ride." He said extending his hand. I took his palm and it was freezing cold like he just stepped out of the Blue Bell Ice Cream factory's freezer.
"Not a problem Mr. Cloud, and don't worry about the fee. it's on the house." He nodded his head in gratitude7 like all us Texans do and walked out the door.
It wasn't until then that I noticed that he was soaked to the bone in dripping water and we had not a single drop of rain in a month or more. I just shook my head and closed the door behind him. I looked ahead for a spilt second to see if any other tourists were waiting to be picked up on the corner. I turned back and I discovered that Cloud was gone!! I looked behind the bus and saw no one, I was amazed at how fast he had went away. I just shrugged8 my shoulders and took off done for the day.
A few days later I was reading a book about the Battle of the Alamo when I discovered the most shocking thing I had ever discovered in my life. One of the pages of the book had a list of the names of the 183 defenders9 of the Alamo, and in the "C" section was the name, Daniel Cloud! When I read this my eyes went wide and I looked across the page and saw that he was only 19 years old when he was killed in the Alamo. He was the one who spotted10 the Mexicans before they took over the streets of San Antonio in February of 1836, and his post on top of the San Frenando Church where I had picked him up!
From then on I still look for Cloud when I'm passing by the San Frenando Church on my way back to the Alamo, and hopefully I'll pick him up again someday and take him to the Alamo.....
不久前我搬家去了德克薩斯州的圣安東尼奧，我在那找了份觀光旅游車司機(jī)的工作，職責(zé)是開車載著游客去城里的名勝古跡參觀，全程的終點(diǎn)在阿拉莫。
那天已經(jīng)是快下班的時(shí)間了，我正跑著最后一趟車，因?yàn)槟鞘窃诙碌囊惶?，很冷，所以車上一個(gè)人都沒有，我們剛剛離開了圣費(fèi)爾南多大教堂返回阿拉莫。我正打算一路開下去，這時(shí)見到路邊有個(gè)人穿著件舊鹿皮夾克，頭上戴著頂破帽子。我心想，這肯定是個(gè)喜劇演員或者類似的什么人。我停下車，開了門問他，“要搭車嗎？”他抬頭看看我，這時(shí)我才發(fā)現(xiàn)原來他是個(gè)年輕的小伙子，也就是十幾歲，或者頂多二十歲出頭。他沒說話，上了車坐在我后面的一個(gè)座位上。我看不會再有別人要搭車了，就關(guān)門開走了。
“你要去哪？”我問他。
他抬起頭，從后視鏡里看著我，回答道，“我要去堡壘向特拉維斯上校報(bào)告，墨西哥人沖過來了。”
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1 historic
adj.歷史上著名的，具有歷史意義的
參考例句：
This is a historic occasion.這是具有重大歷史意義的時(shí)刻。 We are living in a great historic era.我們正處在一個(gè)偉大的歷史時(shí)代。
2 catholic
adj.天主教的；n.天主教徒
參考例句：
The Pope is the supreme leader of the Roman Catholic Church.教皇是羅馬天主教的最高領(lǐng)袖。 She was a devoutly Catholic.她是一個(gè)虔誠地天主教徒。
3 fort
n.要塞，堡壘，碉堡
參考例句：
The fort can not be defended against an air attack.這座要塞遭到空襲時(shí)無法防御。 No one can get into the fort without a pass.沒有通行證，任何人不得進(jìn)入要塞。
4 amazement
n.驚奇，驚訝
參考例句：
All those around him looked at him with amazement.周圍的人都對他投射出驚異的眼光。 He looked at me in blank amazement.他帶著迷茫驚詫的神情望著我。
5 skyscrapers
n.摩天大樓
參考例句：
A lot of skyscrapers in Manhattan are rising up to the skies. 曼哈頓有許多摩天大樓聳入云霄。 On all sides, skyscrapers rose like jagged teeth. 四周聳起的摩天大樓參差不齊。
6 pueblo
n.（美國西南部或墨西哥等）印第安人的村莊
參考例句：
For over 2,000 years,Pueblo peoples occupied a vast region of the south-western United States.在長達(dá)2，000多年的時(shí)間里，印第安人統(tǒng)治著現(xiàn)在美國西南部的大片土地。 The cross memorializes the Spanish victims of the 1680 revolt,when the region's Pueblo Indians rose up in violent protest against their mistreatment and burned the cit
7 gratitude
adj.感激，感謝
參考例句：
I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的謝意。 She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的淚珠禁不住沿著面頰流了下來。
8 shrugged
vt.聳肩（shrug的過去式與過去分詞形式）
參考例句：
Sam shrugged and said nothing. 薩姆聳聳肩膀，什么也沒說。 She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她聳聳肩，裝出一副無所謂的樣子。 來自《簡明英漢詞典》
9 defenders
n.防御者( defender的名詞復(fù)數(shù) )；守衛(wèi)者；保護(hù)者；辯護(hù)者
參考例句：
The defenders were outnumbered and had to give in. 抵抗者寡不敵眾，只能投降。 來自《簡明英漢詞典》 After hard fighting,the defenders were still masters of the city. 守軍經(jīng)過奮戰(zhàn)仍然控制著城市。 來自《簡明英漢詞典》
10 spotted
adj.有斑點(diǎn)的，斑紋的，弄污了的
參考例句：
The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商從一群200頭牛中選出有斑點(diǎn)的牛。 Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯積了有斑點(diǎn)的短襪
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