“He escaped?”
“He did, with your men surrounding the house. He dashed the candles to the floor, ran through the kitchen—”
“The men took after him?”
“They are upon his heels, señor.”
“Ha! It is to be hoped that they catch this pretty bird. He is a thorn in the side of the soldiery. We do not catch him, and because we do not the governor sends sarcastic letters by his courier. This Señor Zorro is a clever gentleman, but he will be captured yet!”
And then Captain Ramón walked further into the room, and perceived the ladies, and swept off his cap and bowed before them.
“You must pardon my bold entrance,” he said. “When an officer is on duty—”
“The pardon is granted freely,” said Doña Catalina. “You have met my daughter?”
“I have not had the honor.”
The doña presented them, and Lolita retreated to her corner again and observed the soldier. He was not ill to look at—tall and straight and in a brilliant uniform, and with sword dangling at his side. As for the captain, he never had set eyes upon Señorita Lolita before, for he had been at the post at Reina de Los Angeles but a month, having been transferred there from Santa Barbara.
But now that he had looked at her once he looked a second time, and a third. There was a sudden light in his eyes that pleased Doña Catalina. If Lolita could not look with favor upon Don Diego Vega, perhaps she would look with favor upon this Captain Ramón, and to have her wedded to an officer would mean that the Pulido family would have some protection.
“I could not find my men now in the darkness,” the captain said, “and so, if it is not presuming too much, I shall remain here and await their return.”
“By all means,” Don Carlos said. “Be seated, señor, and I’ll have a servant fetch wine.”
“This Señor Zorro has about had his run,” the captain said, after the wine had been tasted and found excellent. “Now and then a man of his sort pops up and endures for a little day, but he never lasts long. In the end he meets the fate.”
“That is true,” said Don Carlos. “The fellow was boasting to us tonight of his accomplishments.”
“I was comandante at Santa Barbara when he made his famous visit there,” the captain explained. “I was visiting at one of the houses at the time else there might have been a different story. And tonight, when the alarm came, I was not at the presidio, but at the residence of a friend. That is why I did not ride out with the soldiers. As soon as I was notified I came. It appears that this Señor Zorro has some knowledge of my whereabouts and is careful that I am not in a position to clash with him. I hope one day to do so.”
“You think you could conquer him, señor?” Doña Catalina asked.
“Undoubtedly! I understand he really is an ordinary hand with a blade. He made a fool of my sergeant, but that is a different proposition—and I believe he held a pistol in one hand while he fenced, too. I should make short work of the fellow.”
There was a closet in one corner of the room, and now its door was opened a crack.
“The fellow should die the death!” Captain Ramón went on to say. “He is brutal in his dealings with men. He kills wantonly, I have heard. They say he caused a reign of terror in the north, in the vicinity of San Francisco de Asis. He slew men regardless, insulted women—”
The closet door was hurled open—and Señor Zorro stepped into the room.
“I shall take you to task for that statement, señor, since it is a falsehood!” the highwayman cried.
Don Carlos whirled around and gasped his surprise. Doña Catalina felt suddenly weak in the knees and collapsed on a chair. Señorita Lolita felt some pride in the man’s statement, and a great deal of fear for him.
“I—I thought you had escaped,” Don Carlos gasped.
“Ha! It was but a trick! My horse escaped—but I did not!”
“Then there shall be no escape for you now!” Captain Ramón cried, drawing his blade.
“Back, señor!” Zorro cried, exhibiting a pistol suddenly. “I shall fight you gladly, but the fight must be fair. Don Carlos, gather your wife and daughter beneath your arms and retire to the corner while I cross blades with this teller of falsehoods. I do not intend to have a warning given out that I still am here!”
“I thought—you escaped!” Don Carlos gasped again, seemingly unable to think of anything else, and doing as Señor Zorro commanded.
“A trick!” the highwayman repeated, laughing. “It is a noble horse I have. Perhaps you heard a peculiar cry from my lips? My beast is trained to act at that cry. He gallops away wildly, making considerable noise, and the soldiers follow him. And when he has gone some distance he turns aside and stops, and after the pursuit has passed he returns to await my bidding. No doubt he is behind the patio now. I shall punish this captain, and then mount and ride away!”
“With a pistol in your hand!” Ramón cried.
“I put the pistol upon the table—so! There it remains if Don Carlos stays in the corner with the ladies. Now, captain!”
Señor Zorro extended his blade, and with a glad cry Captain Ramón crossed it with his own. Captain Ramón had some reputation as a master of fence, and Señor Zorro evidently knew it, for he was cautious at first, leaving no opening, on defense rather than attack.
The captain pressed him back, his blade flashing like streaks of lightning in a troubled sky. Now Señor Zorro was almost against the wall near the kitchen door, and in the captain’s eyes the light of triumph already was beginning to burn. He fenced rapidly, giving the highwayman no rest, standing his ground and keeping his antagonist against the wall.
And then Señor Zorro chuckled! For
