Zorro Rides Again - Dodge Knife

First, she saw a riderless horse standing in the shadows against the patio wall. Then she beheld her Señor Zorro leaning against the gorgeous sundial her father had imported from Spain. He was singing again, in a voice soft and low, his attention centered on the house. And then – then Lolita saw two men creeping toward him through the shadows, one from either side, and the cold moonlight glinting on weapons they held.

In her sudden great fear for him, the man to whom she had given her maiden's heart, she forgot her unconventional attire, and the circumstances, and remembered only that he was in peril. She threw wide the draperies, grasped the metal bars over the open window, bent forward until her forehead touched them, and cried at him in alarm:

"Diego! On guard! Beware! At your back!"

Her mother was clutching at her now, demanding to know what was wrong, for she had recognized the unmistakable note of fright in her daughter's voice. Then Doña Catalina, too, looked through the window and saw the menace, and added her shrill cries to those of the señorita.

Don Diego sprang swiftly to one side and whirled, even as the two charged at him. He saw the flash of the moon light on a naked blade, saw it flash also on a dagger, and made haste to get his own sword out of its scabbard. He maneuvered, as swift as thought, to keep them out in the bright moonlight, when there would be no shadows to disconcert him.

"Saints preserve him!" the señorita breathed.

"Assassins!" Don Diego cried. "Cowardly dogs! Come to your fate, curs!"

Abruptly, they stopped their charge. That puzzled Don Diego for the instant, and then he learned the reason for it. There was a swish through the air, and a riata fell upon him, deftly cast by one of his foes. The noose was jerked taut around his body - but he managed to keep his sword arm free.

He braced himself quickly against the pull he knew was coming. It came, a tremendous jerk, but did not throw him off his feet, to roll on the ground and be a helpless victim for their steel. An instant later, he was rushing the man who had cast the rope, and who also held the dagger; rushed him before his companion in this murderous attack could get to his assistance. Don Diego was not inclined to exhibit mercy! Here were only cowardly assassins trying to strike from the dark, evidently bent upon his extermination, and a caballero could not afford to take chances with such. They did not regard the rules of fair conduct, hence could expect no mercy in return.

A flash through the air as the man hurled the knife, which passed over the shoulder of Don Diego as he bent quickly to one side. There was another flash as his own blade did its bloody work. A stifled cry, a gurgle, a fall – and Don Diego Vega sprang aside swiftly and prepared to engage the other.

He came at a charge, mouthing curses, making swift play with his blade. Steel rang, and they circled and fought. Don Diego caught sight of the other's face, and knew that he never had seen him before.


- Zorro Rides Again, Chapter 5