Zorro Fights A Friend - Seems to Dodge Bullets

"Do not disturb yourself about this scoundrel, Zorro while you are in my jurisdiction, señor," Capitan Ortega told the merchant. "My sergeant, Manuel Garcia, is in charge, and has four troopers on guard with him. They have the tavern surrounded."

"That is good news," Cassara praised. "I shall mention your attention to duty when I reach Monterey."

"This Zorro is a thorn in the flesh," Ortega admitted. "He is a fiend with the blade, and he seems to dodge bullets. He has a black horse that can outrun anything we have. We never know where he will strike – that is the trouble."

"You have not learned his identity?"

"No. He apes a caballero and has said he is one, but we doubt that now. We think he came to this district from the north, possibly from San Francisco de Asis. He may be some scoundrel who was run out of that place for offenses."

They talked on, drinking the rich wine. Cassara was trying to make an impression on the capitán. In turn, Ortega was trying to make a good impression on Cassara, knowing him to be a wealthy merchant of Monterey and thinking possibly he might drop a few appropriate words in high places there and Ortega receive coveted promotion as the result.


- Zorro Fights A Friend