Zorro Rides Again - Single Stroke

"Your pardon, señor, but I insist that we get down to our business," Rocha said. "This merchant had made a complaint, and, as commandante, I am compelled to give him ear. Can you convince me that you were not abroad last evening, that you spent the time here in your own home, in innocent pursuits?"

"Why should I take the trouble to do so?" Don Diego asked with a trace of indignation.

"Do you not understand? The Z was carved on this man's face - and you were Zorro!"

"Ha!" Don Diego exclaimed. "And does he intimate that I carved him? Is he ass enough to charge that I mutilated a face previously mutilated by nature? The Mark of Zorro, eh? Look at it, I ask you! Did you ever see the Mark of Zorro on anybody? You have not? I thought so! Observe the letter on this man's cheek. The upper bar of the letter, for instance, tilts a bit to the left. Did Zorro's Z do that? And the downward stroke, señor, is far too long. Made with three strokes of the blade? This man surely jests. The mark of Zorro was made with a single stroke of the blade, a quick twisting of the point that seemed like a flash of fire. I know, for I am the man who made it."


- Zorro Rides Again, Chapter 2