“By the saints! You make mock of me, caballero?”
“ ’Tis but a jest, my sergeant. Now that we understand each other, perhaps Fray Felipe will give wine to you and your men. After such a chase, you must be fatigued.”
“Wine would taste good,” the sergeant said.
His corporal came in then, to report that the huts and barns had been searched, and the corral also, and that no trace had been found of Señor Zorro or his horse.
Fray Felipe served the wine, though he appeared to do it with some reluctance, and it was plain that he was but answering Don Diego’s request.
“And what shall you do now, my sergeant?” Don Diego asked, after the wine had been brought to the table. “Are you always to go chasing around the country and creating a tumult?”
“The rogue evidently has turned back toward Reina de Los Angeles, caballero,” the sergeant replied. “He thinks he is clever, no doubt, but I can understand his plan.”
“Ha! And what is it?”
“He will ride around Reina de Los Angeles and take the trail to San Luis Rey. He will rest for a time, no doubt, to throw off all pursuit, and then will continue to the vicinity of San Juan Capistrano. That is where he began this wild life of his, and for that reason the Curse of Capistrano he is called. Yes, he will go to Capistrano.”
“And the soldiers?” Don Diego asked.
“We shall follow him leisurely. We shall work toward the place, and when the news of his next outrage is made known, we shall be within a short distance of him instead of in the presidio at the pueblo. We can find the fresh trail, and so take up the chase. There shall be no rest for us until the rogue is either slain or taken prisoner.”
“And you have the reward,” Don Diego added.
“You speak true words, caballero. The reward will come in handy. But I seek revenge also. The rogue disarmed me once.”
“Ah! That was the time he held a pistol in your face and forced you to fight not too well?”
“That was the time, my good friend. Oh, I have a score to settle with him!”
“These turbulent times!” Don Diego sighed. “I would they were at an end! A man has no chance for meditation. There are moments when I think I shall ride far out in the hills, where there can be found no life except rattlesnakes and coyotes, and there spend a number of days. Only in that manner may a man meditate.”
“Why meditate?” Gonzales cried. “Why not cease thought and take to action? What a man you would make, caballero, if you let your eye flash now and then, and quarreled a bit, and showed your teeth once in a while! What you need is a few bitter enemies.”
“May the saints preserve us!” Don Diego cried.
“It is the truth, caballero! Fight a bit—make love to some señorita—get drunk! Wake up and be a man!”
“Upon my soul! You almost persuade me, my sergeant. But—no! I never could endure the exertion!”
Gonzales growled something into his great mustache, and got up from the table.
“I have no special liking for you, fray, but I thank you for the wine, which was excellent,” he said. “We must continue our journey. A soldier’s duty never is at an end while he lives.”
“Do not speak of journeys!” Don Diego cried. “I must take one myself on the morrow. My business at the hacienda is done, and I go back to the pueblo.”
“Let me express the hope, my good friend, that you survive the hardship,” Sergeant Gonzales said.
XVIII
Don Diego Returns
Señorita Lolita had to tell her parents, of course, what had happened during their absence, for the despensero knew, and would tell Don Diego when he returned, and the señorita was wise enough to realize that it would be better to make the first explanation.
The despensero, having been sent for wine, knew nothing of the love scene that had been enacted, and had been told merely that Señor Zorro had hurried away. That seemed reasonable, since the señor was pursued by the soldiers.
So the girl told her father and mother that Captain Ramón had called while they were absent, and that he had forced his way into the big living-room to speak to her, despite the entreaties of the servant. Perhaps he had been drinking too much wine, else was not himself because of his wound, the girl explained, but he grew too bold, and pressed his suit with ardor that was repugnant, and finally insisted that he should have a kiss.
Whereupon, said the señorita, this Señor Zorro had stepped from the corner of the room—and how he came to be there, she did not know—and had forced Captain Ramón to apologize, and then had thrown him out of the house. After which—and here she neglected to tell the entire truth—Señor Zorro made a courteous bow and hurried away.
Don Carlos was for getting a blade and going at once to the presidio and challenging Captain Ramón to mortal combat; but Doña Catalina was more calm, and showed him that to do that would be to let the world know that their daughter had been affronted, and also it would not aid their fortunes any if Don Carlos quarreled with an officer of the army; and yet again the don was of an age, and the captain probably would run him through in two passes and leave Doña Catalina a weeping widow, which she did not wish to be.
So the don paced the floor of the great living-room and fumed and fussed, and wished he were ten years the younger, or that he had political power again, and he promised that when his daughter should have wedded Don Diego, and he was once more in good standing, he would see that Captain Ramón was disgraced and
