Further Adventures - Gonzales Skill

The line of caballeros was broken almost immediately, and each found himself the particular foe of three or more pirates. Yet they fought like maniacs, silently at times, right merrily at times, feeling that they were doomed, but determined to do what damage they could before the battle went entirely against them.

And then there was a sudden tumult on the opposite side of the pirates' camp, and into it and among the huts charged the crew of the trading schooner, the captain at their head.

But the pirates were so great in numbers that they were disconcerted only for an instant. From the huts and the adobe buildings poured men Barbados had been general enough to hold in reserve. The crew of the trading schooner was overwhelmed. The men of the sea fought valiantly, but they died with their captain.

And now Zorro had reached the bottom of the slope, and, blade in hand, rushed to join his friends. His sword flashed as he entered the light and tried to turn the tide of battle. His shouts rang out above the bedlam.

"Ha!" he cried. "At the scum, caballeros! They cannot stand against proper men!"

"Ha!" roared the great voice of Sergeant Gonzales, as he fought off two of the pirate crew with his long sword. "To me, Zorro! We'll carve a pathway through the swine!"

But Zorro did not hear him. He had seen that his old friend, Don Audre Ruiz, was sorely pressed, and he fought his way quickly to Don Audre's side. His blade seemed to be half a score as it flashed in and out and downed one of Don Audre's opponent's. Like a man possessed, Zorro pressed forward again, straight at the pirates in the foreground.

"Atencion! A caballero's near – "

He sang it as he fought, stopping the song now and then for an instant to grunt as he made an unusually hard thrust. The men before him broke and fled, and Zorro, with Don Audre at his side, seized the minor advantage of the moment. The other caballeros rallied and followed.

"The ghost!" one of the pirates shrieked. "It is the ghost from the sea!"

"Ha!" Zorro cried, and cut down another man. "Ha, scum! So you fear ghosts? Have at you –"

"Pirates, eh?" Sergeant Gonzales was crying, puffing and blowing out his great cheeks as he fought. "Stand, pirates, and fight like men! Is this a fight or a test of speed, dolts and fools? Meal mush and goat's milk!"

"A ghost!" another man shrieked.

Barbados whirled around in time to see Sanchez, a look of terror in his face, about to retreat. He took in the situation at a glance.

"It is no ghost, fiends of hell!" he shrieked at his men. "'Tis this Señor Zorro somebody has saved from the sea! At him! Fetch him to me alive. Does a ghost fight with a blade that runs red? Get the fiend!"


- The Further Adventures of Zorro, Chapter 17