“But I have!” Don Diego declared.
“And are up again so soon? Here is some devilish mystery that needs an explanation!”
“You made noise enough to awaken the dead,” Don Diego said.
“It could not be helped, caballero, since we are acting under orders.”
“Were it not possible to make your preparations at the presidio instead of here in the plaza, or did you think not enough persons would see your importance there?”
“Now, by the—”
“Do not say it!” Don Diego commanded. “As a matter of fact, I am up early because I must make a confounded trip to my hacienda, a journey of some ten miles, to inspect the flocks and herds. Never become a wealthy man, Sergeant Gonzales, for wealth asks too much of a man.”
“Something tells me that never shall I suffer on that account,” said the sergeant, laughing. “You go with escort, my friend?”
“A couple of natives, that is all.”
“If you should meet up with this Señor Zorro, he probably would hold you for a pretty ransom.”
“Is he supposed to be between this place and my hacienda?” Don Diego asked.
“A native arrived a short time ago with word that he had been seen on the road running to Pala and San Luis Rey. We ride in that direction. And since your hacienda is the other way, no doubt you will not meet the rascal now.”
“I feel somewhat relieved to hear you say it. So you ride toward Pala, my sergeant?”
“We do. We shall try to pick up his trail as soon as possible, and once we have it we shall run this fox down. Meanwhile, we also shall attempt to find his den. We start at once.”
“I shall await news eagerly,” Don Diego said. “Good fortune go with you!”
Gonzales and his men mounted, and the sergeant shouted an order, and they galloped across the plaza, raising great clouds of dust, and took the highway toward Pala and San Luis Rey.
Don Diego looked after them until nothing could be seen but a tiny dust-cloud in the distance, then called for his own horse. He, too, mounted and rode away toward San Gabriel, and two native servants rode mules and followed a short distance behind.
But before he departed, Don Diego wrote a message and sent it by native courier to the Pulido hacienda. It was addressed to Don Carlos, and read:
The soldiers are starting this morning to pursue this Señor Zorro, and it has been reported that the highwayman has a band of rogues under his command and may offer battle. There is no telling, my friend, what may happen. I dislike having one in whom I am interested subjected to danger, meaning your daughter particularly, but also the Doña Catalina and yourself. Moreover, this bandit saw your daughter last evening, and certainly must have appreciated her beauty, and he may seek to see her again.
I beg of you to come at once to my house in Reina de Los Angeles, and make it as your home until matters are settled. I am leaving this morning for my hacienda, but have left orders with my servants that you are to give what commands you will. I shall hope to see you when I return, which will be in two or three days.
Don Carlos read that epistle aloud to his wife and daughter, and then looked up to see how they took it. He scoffed at the danger himself, being an old warhorse, but did not wish to put his womenfolk in jeopardy.
“What think you?” he asked.
“It has been some time since we have visited the pueblo,” Doña Catalina said. “I have some friends left among the ladies there. I think it will be an excellent thing to do.”
“It certainly will not injure our fortunes to have it become known we are house guests of Don Diego Vega,” Don Carlos said. “What does our daughter think?”
It was a concession to ask her, and Lolita realized that she was granted this unusual favor because of Don Diego’s wooing. She hesitated some time before answering.
“I believe it will be all right,” she said. “I should like to visit the pueblo, for we see scarcely anybody here at the hacienda. But people may talk concerning Don Diego and myself.”
“Nonsense!” Don Carlos exploded. “Could there be anything more natural than that we should visit the Vegas, since our blood is almost as good as theirs and better than that of others?”
“But it is Don Diego’s house, and not that of his father. Still—he will not be there for two or three days, he says, and we can return when he comes.”
“Then it is settled!” Don Carlos declared. “I shall see my superintendent and give him instructions.”
He hurried into the patio and rang the big bell for the superintendent, being well pleased. For when the Señorita Lolita saw the rich furnishings in the house of Don Diego Vega, she might the more readily accept Don Diego as a husband, he thought. When she saw the silks and satins, the elegant tapestries, the furniture inlaid with gold and studded with precious stones, when she realized that she could be mistress of this and much more besides—Don Carlos flattered himself that he knew the feminine heart.
Soon after the siesta hour, a carreta was brought before the door, drawn by mules and driven by a native. Doña Catalina and Lolita got into it, and Don Carlos bestrode his best horse and rode at its side. And so they went down the trail to the highway, and down the highway toward Reina de Los Angeles.
They passed folk who marveled to see the Pulido family thus going abroad, for it was well known that they had met with ill fortune and scarcely went anywhere now. It was even whispered that the ladies did not keep up with the fashions, and that the servants were poorly fed, but remained at the hacienda because their master was so kind.
But Doña Catalina and her daughter held their heads proudly, as did Don Carlos, and
