Zorro Rides Again - Trussed Up

Capitán Rocha bowed before her again. "I trust that I do not merit your great scorn," he said. "I am truly one of your admirers. When this sorry business is at an end, I shall tell your father that I wish to pay you my addresses. It is possible that an alliance may be arranged between us."

"When this sorry business is at an end, you probably will have formed an alliance with the devil!" she snapped.

Rocha fought back his wrath and stalked to the door. He turned and bowed again, mockery in his manner. He opened the door, and let out a flood of light – and recoiled with a cry of mingled fear and rage.

Just outside the door, on the ground, were his three troopers. They were trussed up with ropes, and gagged with strips torn from their own serapes. And they were stretched out so that the three bodies formed the letter Z.

But they were not dead, and Capitán Rocha rushed to them and tore the gags away. Two of the troopers were conscious already, and the third was rapidly regaining consciousness. Capitán Rocha called for water, which a servant carried to him. He cut the ropes away, refreshed his men, meanwhile volleying questions.

"What occurred? How came this about? Speak, Juan!"

"A blow in the dark – and I knew nothing more," the man moaned.

"Felipe?"

"It was the same with me, commandante."

"Are you soldiers? How many men attacked you? Do you go about serious business with your eyes closed? A month in jail, with little to eat and drink, might serve as punishment. Carlos, what happened to you?"

"At the corner of the patio wall, something struck me, commandante. I know nothing more."

"Dios!" Rocha swore. "Can none of you tell me the straight of it?"

But they could tell him little except that, one by one, in some dark corner where they had been searching for Señor Zorro, they had been felled by unexpected blows. And they had the bumps on their aching heads to show.

"The scoundrel is near at hand!" Capitan Rocha cried. "For this outrage, he shall die! We'll search till we find him! To horse!"

They rushed toward the spot where they had left their mounts tethered in front of the house. But the horses were gone.

Mocking laughter greeted them from the near distance, and a sarcastic voice called to them:

"Ho, señores! It is a long walk to Reina de Los Angeles, and the dust is deep!"

And then they saw their horses not far away in the moonlight, tied together and being led from them, first at a walk, and then at a trot, and then, as they watched and howled maledictions, at a furious gallop. Riding ahead of them, on his own mount, and leading them, was Señor Zorro.


- Zorro Rides Again, Chapter 6