CLOSE QUARTERS
Over the hills peeped the moon.
Señor Zorro would have had the sky heavy with clouds this night and the
moon obscured, could he have had things his own way, for now he was
riding along the upper trail, and his pursuers were close behind and
could see him against the brightening sky.
The horses ridden by the troopers were fresh, too, and the most of
those belonging to the men of his excellency's escort were magnificent
beasts as swift as any in the country, and able to endure many miles of
travel at a terrific pace.
But now the highwayman thought only of getting all the speed possible
out of his own mount, and of making as great as he could the distance
between himself and those who followed; for at the end of his journey
he would need quite a little time, if he was to accomplish what he had
set out to do.
He bent low over the _señorita_, and felt his horse with the reins,
making himself almost a part of the animal he rode, as any good
horseman can. He reached the crest of another hill, and glanced back
before he began the descent into the valley. He could see the foremost
of his pursuers.
Had Señor Zorro been alone, no doubt the situation would have caused
him no uneasiness, for many times he had been in a position more
difficult, and had escaped. But the _señorita_ was on the saddle
before him now, and he wanted to get her to a place of safety, not
only because she was the _señorita_ and the woman he loved, but also
because he was not the sort of man to let a prisoner he had rescued be
recaptured. Such an event, he felt, would be a reflection on his skill
and daring.
Mile after mile he rode, the _señorita_ clinging to him, and neither
speaking a word. Señor Zorro knew that he had gained some on those who
followed, but not enough to suit his purpose.
Now he urged his horse to greater effort and they flew along the dusty
highway, past _haciendas_ where the hounds barked in sudden alarm, past
the huts of natives where the clamor of beating hoofs on the hard road
caused bronze men and women to tumble from their bunks and rush to
their doors.
Once he charged through a flock of sheep that were being driven to
Reina de Los Angeles and the market there, and scattered them to either
side of the road, leaving cursing herders behind him. The herders
gathered the flock again, just in time to have the pursuing soldiers
scatter it once more.
On and on he rode, until he could see, far ahead, the mission buildings
at San Gabriel glistening in the moonlight. He came to a fork in the
road, and took the trail that ran to the right, toward the _hacienda_
of Fray Felipe.
Señor Zorro was a reader of men, and he was trusting to his judgment
to-night. He had known that the Señorita Lolita would have to be left
either where there were women, else where there was a robed Franciscan
to stand guard over her, for Señor Zorro was determined to protect his
lady's good name. And so he was pinning his faith to old Fray Felipe.
Now the horse was galloping over softer ground, and was not making such
good speed. Señor Zorro had little hope that the troopers would turn
into the San Gabriel Road when they arrived at the fork, as they might
have done had it not been moonlight and they had been unable to catch
sight now and then of the man they pursued. He was within a mile of
Fray Felipe's _hacienda_ now, and once more he gave his horse the spurs
in an effort to obtain greater speed.
"I shall have scant time, _señorita_," he said, bending over her and
speaking into her ear. "Everything may depend upon whether I have been
able to judge a man correctly. I ask only that you trust me."
"You know I do that, _señor_!"
"And you must trust the man to whom I am carrying you, _señorita_,
and listen well to his advice upon all matters concerned with this
adventure. The man is a _fray_."
"Then everything will be well, _señor_," she replied, clinging to him
closely.
"If the saints are kind, we shall meet again soon, _señorita_. I shall
count the hours, and deem each one of them an age. I believe there are
happier days ahead for us."
"May Heaven grant it!" the girl breathed.
"Where there is love, there may be hope, _señorita_."
"Then my hope is great, _señor_."
"And mine!" he said.
He turned his horse into Fray Felipe's driveway now, and dashed toward
the house. His intention was to stop only long enough to leave the
girl, hoping that Fray Felipe would afford her protection, and then
ride on, making considerable noise and drawing the troopers after him.
He wanted them to think that he was merely taking a short cut across
Fray Felipe's land to the other road, and that he had not stopped at
the house.
He reined in his horse before the veranda steps, sprang to the ground
and lifted the _señorita_ from the saddle, hurrying with her to the
door. He beat against it with his fist, praying that Fray Felipe was a
light sleeper and easily aroused. From the far distance there came a
low drumming sound that he knew was made by the hoofs of his pursuers'
horses.
It seemed to Señor Zorro that it was an age before the old _fray_ threw
open the door and stood framed in it, holding a candle in one hand.
The highwayman stepped in swiftly and closed the door behind him, so
no light would show outside. Fray Felipe had taken a step backward in
astonishment when he had beheld the masked man and the _señorita_ he
escorted.
"I am Señor Zorro, _fray_," the highwayman said, speaking swiftly and
in low tones. "Perhaps you may feel that you owe me a small debt for
certain things?"
"For punishing those who oppressed and mistreated me, I owe you a large
debt, _caballero_, though it is against my principles to countenance
violence of any sort," Fray Felipe replied.
"I was sure that I had made no mistake in reading your character,"
Señor Zorro went on. "This _señorita_ is Lolita, the only daughter of
Don Carlos Pulido."
"Ha!"
"Don Carlos is a friend of the _frailes_, as you well know, and has
known oppression and persecution the same as they. To-day the governor
came to Reina de Los Angeles and had Don Carlos arrested and thrown
into the _carcel_ on a charge that has no true worth, as I happen
to know. He also had the Doña Catalina and this young lady put in
_carcel_, in the same prison-room with drunkards and dissolute women.
With the aid of some good friends, I rescued them."
"May the saints bless you, _señor_, for that kind action!" Fray Felipe
cried.
"Troopers are pursuing us, _fray_. It is not seemly, of course, that
the _señorita_ ride farther with me alone. Do you take her and hide
her, _fray_--unless you fear that such a course may cause you grave
trouble."
"_Señor!_" Fray Felipe thundered.
"If the soldiers take her, they will put her in _carcel_ again, and
probably she will be mistreated. Care for her, then, protect her, and
you will more than discharge any obligation you may feel that you owe
me."
"And you, _señor_?"
"I shall ride on, that the troopers may pursue me and not stop here at
your house. I shall communicate with you later, _fray_. It is agreed
between us?"
"It is agreed!" Fray Felipe replied solemnly. "And I would clasp you by
the hand, _señor_!"
That handclasp was short, yet full of expression for all that. Señor
Zorro then whirled toward the door.
"Blow out your candle!" he directed. "They must see no light when I
open the door."
In an instant Fray Felipe had complied, and they were in darkness.
Señorita Lolita felt Señor Zorro's lips press against her own for an
instant, and knew that he had raised the bottom of his mask to give her
this caress. And then she felt one of Fray Felipe's strong arms around
her.
"Be of good courage, daughter," the _fray_ said. "Señor Zorro, it
appears, has as many lives as a cat, and something tells me he was not
born to be slain by troopers of his excellency."
The highwayman laughed lightly at that, opened the door and darted
through, closed it softly behind him, and so was gone.
Great eucalyptus-trees shrouded the front of the house in shadows, and
in the midst of these shadows was Señor Zorro's horse. He noticed, as
he ran toward the beast, that the soldiers were galloping down the
driveway, that they were much nearer than he had expected to find them
when he emerged from the house.
He ran quickly toward his mount, tripped on a stone and fell, and
frightened the animal so that it reared and darted half a dozen paces
away, and into the full moonlight.
The foremost of his pursuers shouted when he saw the horse, and dashed
toward it. Señor Zorro picked himself up, gave a quick spring, caught
the reins from the ground and vaulted into the saddle.
But they were upon him now, surrounding him, their blades flashing in
the moonlight. He heard the raucous voice of Sergeant Gonzales ordering
the men.
"Alive, if you can, soldiers! His excellency would see the rogue suffer
for his crimes. At him, troopers! By the saints!"
Señor Zorro parried a stroke with difficulty, and found himself
unhorsed. On foot, he fought his way back into the shadows, and the
troopers charged after him. With his back to the bole of a tree, Señor
Zorro fought them off.
Three sprang from their saddles to rush in at him. He darted from the
tree to another, but could not reach his horse. But one belonging to
a dismounted trooper was near him, and he vaulted into the saddle and
dashed down the slope toward the barns and corral.
"After the rogue!" he heard Sergeant Gonzales shouting. "His excellency
will have us flayed alive if this pretty highwayman escapes us now!"
They charged after him, eager to win promotion and the reward. But
Señor Zorro had some sort of a start of them, enough to enable him to
play a trick. As he came into the shadow cast by a big barn, he slipped
from the saddle, at the same time giving the horse he rode a cut with
his rowels. The animal plunged ahead, snorting with pain and fright,
running swiftly through the darkness toward the corral below. The
soldiers dashed by in pursuit.
Señor Zorro waited until they were past, and then he ran rapidly up the
hill again. But he saw that some of the troopers had remained behind to
guard the house, evidently with the intention of searching it later,
and so he found he could not reach his horse.
And once more there rang out that peculiar cry, half shriek and half
moan, with which Señor Zorro had startled those at the _hacienda_ of
Don Carlos Pulido. His horse raised its head, whinnied once in answer
to his call, and galloped toward him.
Señor Zorro was in the saddle in an instant, spurring across a field
directly in front of him. His horse went over a stone fence as if it
had not been in the way. And after him speedily came a part of the
troopers.
They had discovered the trick he had used. They charged at him from
both sides, met behind him, followed and strained to cut down his lead.
He could hear Sergeant Pedro Gonzales shouting lustily for them to make
a capture in the name of the governor.
He hoped that he had drawn them all away from Fray Felipe's house, but
he was not sure, and the thing that demanded his attention the most now
was the matter of his own escape.
He urged his horse cruelly, knowing that this journey across plowed
ground was taking the animal's strength. He longed for a hard trail,
the broad highway.
And finally he reached the latter. Now he turned his horse's head
toward Reina de Los Angeles, for he had work to do there. There was
no _señorita_ before him on the saddle now, and the horse felt the
difference.
Señor Zorro glanced behind, and exulted to find that he was running
away from the soldiers. Over the next hill, and he would be able to
elude them!
But he had to be on guard, of course, for there might be troopers in
front of him, too. His excellency might have sent reënforcements to
Sergeant Gonzales, or might have men watching from the tops of the
hills.
He glanced at the sky, and saw that the moon was about to disappear
behind a bank of clouds. He would have to make use of the short period
of darkness, he knew.
Down into the little valley he rode, and looked back to find that his
pursuers were only at the crest of the hill. Then came the darkness,
and at the proper time. Señor Zorro had a lead of half a mile on the
pursuing soldiers now, but it was not his intention to allow them to
chase him into the _pueblo_.
He had friends in this locality. Beside the highway was an adobe hut,
where there lived a native Señor Zorro had saved from a beating. Now he
dismounted before the hut, and kicked against the door. The frightened
native opened it.
"I am pursued," Señor Zorro said.
That appeared to be all that was necessary, for the native immediately
threw the door of the hut open wider. Señor Zorro led his horse inside,
almost filling the crude building, and the door was hastily shut again.
Behind it, the highwayman and the native stood listening, the former
with pistol in one hand and his naked blade in the other.