Read Online The Mark of Zorro by JOHNSTON MCCULLEY - Free Book Online Page B

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 his fate.”
    â€œThat is true,” said Don Carlos. “The fellow was boasting to us to-night of his accomplishments.”
    â€œI 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 to-night, 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.”
    â€œYou think you could conquer him, señor?” Doña Catalina asked.
    â€œUndoubtedly! 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.
    â€œThe 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.
    â€œI 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.
    â€œI—I thought you had escaped,” Don Carlos gasped.
    â€œHa! It was but a trick! My horse escaped—but I did not!”
    â€œThen there shall be no escape for you now!” Captain Ramón cried, drawing his blade.
    â€œBack, 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!”
    â€œI thought—you escaped!” Don Carlos gasped again, seemingly unable to think of anything else, and doing as Señor Zorro commanded.
    â€œA 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!”
    â€œWith a pistol in your hand!” Ramón cried.
    â€œI 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