“We must enter the pueblo quietly,” Señor Zorro said. “There is no moon, and we will not be observed if we use caution. We shall approach the carcel from the south. Each man will have his task to do.
“Some will surround the building to give notice if any approach it. Others must be ready to beat off the soldiers, if they respond to an alarm. Others will effect an entrance to the carcel with me, and rescue the prisoners.”
“It is an excellent plan,” one said.
“That is but a small part of it. Don Carlos is a proud man, and if given time for reflection may refuse to be rescued. We cannot allow that. Certain ones will seize him and take him from the place. Others will attend to the Doña Catalina. I will undertake to care for the señorita. Now—we have them free! And then what?”
He heard murmurs, but no distinct reply, and so he continued to outline the plan.
“All will ride to the highway just below this place,” he said. “At that point we shall scatter. Those who have the Doña Catalina in charge will hasten with her to the hacienda of Don Alejandro Vega, where she can be hidden if necessary, and where the governor’s soldiers will hesitate before entering and seizing her.
“Those who have Don Carlos in charge will take the road to Pala, and at a certain point some ten miles from this pueblo they will be met by two natives of understanding, who will give the sign of the fox. The natives will take Don Carlos in charge and care for him.
“When these things are done, each caballero will ride to his home quietly and alone, telling what story pleases him, and using great caution. I shall have conducted the señorita to a safe place by that time. She shall be given into the keeping of old Fray Felipe, a man we can trust, and he will hide her if he must. Then we will watch to see what the governor does.”
“What can he do?” a caballero asked. “Have them searched for, of course.”
“We must await developments,” Señor Zorro said. “Are all now ready?”
They assured him that they were, and so he named the men for each task, and then they left the little valley and rode slowly and cautiously around the little town, and approached it from the south.
They heard the soldiers shouting and singing in the tavern, saw the lights in the presidio, and crept toward the carcel quietly, riding two by two.
In a short time it had been surrounded by quiet, determined men; and then Señor Zorro and four others dismounted and went to the door of the building.
XXXI
The Rescue
Señor Zorro knocked upon it with the hilt of his sword. They heard a man gasp inside, presently heard his steps on the stone flooring, and after a little time light showed through the cracks, and the aperture was opened, and the sleepy face of the guard appeared.
“What is wanted?” he asked.
Señor Zorro thrust the muzzle of his pistol through the aperture and into the man’s face, and in such fashion that the little door could not be closed.
“Open, if you value your life! Open—and make not the slightest sound!” Señor Zorro commanded.
“What—what is this?”
“Señor Zorro is talking to you!”
“By the saints—”
“Open, fool, or you die instantly!”
“I—I’ll open the door. Do not shoot, good Señor Zorro! I am only a poor guard and not a fighting man! I pray you do not shoot!”
“Open quickly!”
“As soon as I can fit key to lock, good Señor Zorro!”
They heard him rattling the keys; presently one was turned in the lock, and the heavy door was thrown open.
Señor Zorro and his four companions rushed inside, and slammed and fastened the door again. The guard found the muzzle of a pistol pressed against the side of his head, and would have knelt before these five masked and terrible men, only one of them caught him by the hair and held him up.
“Where sleeps the keeper of this infernal hole!” Señor Zorro demanded.
“In yonder room, señor!”
“And where have you put Don Carlos Pulido and his ladies?”
“In the common prison-room, señor!”
Señor Zorro motioned to the others, strode across the room, and threw open the door to the jailer’s chamber. The man already was sitting up in bed, having heard the sounds in the other room, and he blinked in fright when he beheld the highwayman by the light of the candle.
“Do not make a move, señor!” Zorro warned. “One screech, and you are a dead man! Señor Zorro confronts you!”
“May the saints preserve me—”
“Where are the keys to the prison rooms?”
“On—on that table, señor.”
Señor Zorro picked them up, and then whirled upon the jailer again and rushed toward him.
“Lie down!” he commanded. “On your face, scoundrel!”
Señor Zorro tore strips from a blanket, and bound the jailer’s hands and feet, and made a gag which he affixed.
“To escape death,” he said, then, “it is necessary for you to remain exactly as you are now, without making a sound, for some time after we have left the carcel. I shall leave it to your own judgment to decide the length of time.”
Then he hurried back into the main office, beckoned the others, and led the way down the evil-smelling hall.
“Which door?” he asked of the guard.
“The second one, señor.”
They hurried to it, and Señor Zorro unlocked it and threw it open. He forced the guard to hold a candle high above his head.
A gasp of pity came from beneath the highwayman’s mask. He saw the aged don standing by the window, saw the two women crouched on the bench, saw the vile companions they had in this miserable place.
“Now may Heaven forgive the governor!” he cried.
Señorita Lolita looked up in alarm, and then gave a glad cry. Don Carlos whirled at the highwayman’s words.
“Señor Zorro!” he gasped.
“The same, Don Carlos!
