"You are the new tax collector from Monterey?" "Put up your pistols." "You'll get nothing from me." "You are the new tax collector?" "Si." "This is Jose Morales." "I am his nephew." "I'm on the king's business." "Turn your horses and let me proceed." "Oh, it's not as easy as that." "You heard." "Turn your horses." "Now, calm yourself, old man." "l'm warning you..." "l said calm yourself." "Go on!" "Stubborn fool." "All right." "Let me have your papers." "Come along." "Your commission from the king." "There is hardly enough meat on your bones to make a meal for the buzzards." "Now don't make me waste a shot." "Give it to him, uncle." "They will shoot us and take it anyway." "Come with me, nephew." "Wait a minute." "Go to the mission beyond the pass and wait until you hear from us." "You, young man, bring me the papers." "Your nephew will stay with us." "If you say one thing to the priest or anyone else about what's happened," "you will never see your nephew again." "Alive." "Go on, uncle." "Get away while you can." "Don't worry about me." "You'd better do what we ask, or we may find it simpler to kill you." "Both of you." "The old fool will say nothing." "After all, I'm his favorite nephew." "That shows he really is a fool." "All right, tax collector." "Your license to plunder the poor." "A big tax, Senor." "It will not make you popular." "But then, perhaps tax collectors do not expect to be very popular, eh?" "I'm ready to begin." "Roll the drum." "Good." "En garde." "Advance." "Advance again." "Again." "Fine." "Now, give me the same thing, only this time, riposte." "Excellent!" "En garde." "Advance." "Advance again." "All right, we try point work." "Extend and lunge." "Again." "You're not reaching, you're not lunging fully." "All the way this time." "Really go for me." "Ah!" "Excellent." "You'll soon be fencing with the best of them." "Now we'll try the horse again." "How can you help me as Zorro unless you ride like Zorro?" "Do it like this." "Now you try it." "You made only one mistake, my friend." "You landed the wrong way round." "Now try it again." "Buenos dias, Senor." "Hello, Maria." "Shall I give your servant a chair in the kitchen?" "No, I think he prefers to stand." "He's been sitting on and off all afternoon." "Si, Senor." "Come with me." "What's that?" "They are arresting someone." "I'm sorry, but you'll have to come with me." "It's my brother!" "Leave him alone." "Take your hands off him." "l cannot. I am arresting him." "Do as I say!" "Let him go!" "Wait a minute." "You must not bully the acting Comandante." "Don Diego, make them let him go." "What is this about, Eusebio?" "He would not pay his tax." "The Magistrado said to put him in jail." "Would not pay it?" "I could not pay it." "See?" "He could not pay it." "So he has to let him go." "Now look, Maria, I can do nothing unless you quiet down." "The sergeant is merely doing his duty." "Oh, thank you, Don Diego." "Now will you behave?" "Si, Don Diego." "Very well." "Take him away, Sergeant." "Come with me, please." "You see, Maria, there have always been taxes and people who cannot pay them." "Si, but he's my brother." "l know. I shall see what I can do." "Oh, gracias, Don Diego." "Gracias." "This is the last one I put into my jail." "Until you let somebody out, you can't put more in." "Do you wish me to tell the Magistrado you refused to obey orders?" "Oh, no, Senor, I do not refuse." "It is just that I thought..." "Well, the jail is so crowded." "It sounds so good the way I think it and so bad the way you say it." "Hmm..." "All these people cannot pay their tax?" "Si, Don Diego." "Never before was there such a tax like this." "Eusebio, how much is your tax?" "65 pesos." "65 pesos?" "What do they want me to do?" "Sell the few cattle I have and the house I have built with my own hands and go to work again for another man?" "Shall I let my wife and children go without food to pay this tax?" "But Eusebio, if you needed money, why did you not come to my father or to me?" "There comes a time when a man must stand on his own feet or he is not a man." "Sergeant Garcia, get that young man out of here or I'll put him in a cell." "He is inciting unrest." "No, Senor, this is not a young... I mean, this is Don Diego, son of Don Alejandro de la Vega." "Ah!" "One moment, Senor." "is it your contention I caused the unrest among the prisoners?" "Si." "Like accusing the owl of causing darkness because he appears after sundown." "If you have no more business here, I suggest you leave at once." "But I do have business here." "I've come to pay the tax for Eusebio Crespo. 65 pesos." "Oh, the devil take it." "I'd better pay for everyone." "It is not as easy as that, de la Vega." "What is wrong?" "You levy the tax to raise money, I come with money to pay it." "What more do you want than that?" "lt is too late." "The prisoners are being punished for refusing to pay the king's tax." "It is no punishment if wealthy young men like you pay it for them." "Still, money is money and I have yet to see a tax collector who can refuse it." "You see it now." "I am sorry, Don Diego. I was ready to unlock the doors and let them all out." "Sergeant, who actually gave the order to put those men in prison?" "The Magistrado." "The tax collector, he just says, "This man does not pay."" "So the Magistrado will release them?" "Si." "Why am I standing here talking to you?" "l don't know, Don Diego." "Why?" "Twenty-one, 22." "Then it is agreed?" "Twenty-two men." "Si." "And if there are more?" "Then I will take them all at the same price." "May I have a word with you?" "You're upset. ls something wrong?" "It is about the men who are imprisoned." "Oh, yes." "The men who refuse to pay their lawful taxes." "Oh, this is Senor Vasquez from Sonora." "Your servant, sir." "Senor de la Vega, one of our most respected citizens." "I spoke with the collector and offered to pay the tax for every man in prison." "Oh, how very kind of you, Don Diego." "And yet what a pity." "Just five minutes too late." "What do you mean, five minutes too late?" "You understand, the men who refuse to pay their taxes represent a loss to the king." "It is the duty of his servants to recompense him in any way they can." "Just what are you trying to say?" "Merely that Senor Vasquez is a labor contractor." "The men in jail have been sold to him as indentured peons." "Tomorrow they leave for the mines at Sonora." "This you cannot change." "Senor..." "Wait a minute!" "Suppose there are one or two who are not such good workers." "lf you could keep them for two years!" "l would be lucky if they live for one." "Even healthy ones don't last too long in the mines." "All right. 50 pesos for Maraga and Carrillo and 65 for the rest." "Very well." "What is that?" "Sergeant Garcia!" "Sergeant Garcia!" "Si." "Make them stop that infernal racket." "Of course, Senor." "Zorro the swift..." "Listen to me." "Listen to me." "This is very disturbing to our good, kind tax collector, so no more singing." "Zorro the swift Zorro the brave" "Zorro will ride, his amigos to save" "What can I do?" "I have asked them, but they do not stop." "His anger will blaze like the brush fire" "When Zorro is told... I think I do not pay you now." "Suppose Zorro helps them to escape." "Then I have no money and no peons." "When will you pay?" "Si." "When?" "Tomorrow, all of you will come with us until we are through the pass." "If Zorro has not interfered by then, then I will pay you." "Those poor fellows actually think Zorro will save them." "So I hear." "Do you want to hear something wicked?" "Go ahead." "I hope he does, too." "Oh, not you, too?" "But do you not realize that Zorro fights only against evil and tyranny." "He cannot fight against the legal acts of his own government." "Whether we like it or not, it is legal to sell the labor of men who are in prison and send them to the mines." "Good night, Senor Tax Collector." "Tell me something, Bernardo." "Why did the viceroy appoint a man like that as tax collector?" "And why did he impose such an unjust tax?" "Wait a minute." "Can we be sure it is the viceroy?" "That man is very close to our treacherous friend, the Magistrado." "Suppose that he..." "That's right, Bernardo." "This evil brood that uses the eagle's feather as a sign." "Suppose he is one of them." "Wait for me." "Senor." "l have nothing to say to you." "I'd like to discuss the de la Vega tax." "I do not see there is anything to discuss." "You mind looking up the tax we paid a few months ago." "It is completely irrelevant, but I will look it up." "There you are." "Ah." "Notice this item." "Our tax is about double that of the Sotelos." "And here we are paying tax on the same cattle you already taxed us on." "You pay once, it is due again." "But this is exorbitant." "Are you sure there's no mistake?" "I don't know, de la Vega." "I could be wrong, perhaps." "I'm sure you're wrong." "My apologies, Senor." "I see now there is a mistake." "The tax is paid." "And we owe nothing at all?" "Si." "I notice you're looking at my eagle's feather." "An old Indian gave it to me, told me to carry it for good luck." "Apparently, he was right." "Never before have I gained a concession from a tax collector." "Good night, Senor." "You have your wish, Bernardo." "Zorro will ride tonight." "Hasn't that dirty dog of a Zorro shown up?" "Not a sign of him." "This will serve him right." "What will?" "Nothing." "Nothing in the world." "Just tell me one thing." "Why do sergeants always have to act so peculiar?" "I'm not acting peculiar." "This comes natural to me." "You men, go to bed." "Thank you." "Not you, Corporal." "l have to stand guard alone?" "Si." "Our jails, our barracks full of people." "I would not want somebody standing guard who might fire at every shadow." "Well, that would be very dangerous." "Somebody could get hurt." "Exactly." "Now, if you saw a dark shadow flitting about the cuartel, you would not shoot him, would you?" "No, Sergeant. I would not fire a shot." "That is all I wanted to know." "Good night, Corporal." "Sergeant, where are you going?" "Just for a walk." "At this time of night?" "The night air might do me some good." "Look." "Zorro!" "Lancers, turn out!" "Lancers, turn out!" "Lancers, turn out!" "Hold your fire!" "Sergeant Garcia, what are you doing in those ridiculous clothes?" "How did you know it was me, Excellency?" "I'm wearing a mask." "I said, what are you doing?" "I was merely testing my defenses." "I said to myself, the only way I can find out if I am properly protected against Zorro is to see what happens if Zorro appears." "So I volunteered to play the part of Zorro and here I am, as you see." "Sergeant, you are an idiot." "Si." "From this moment on, until the prisoners leave at dawn, every man in this garrison shall be on duty." "And as for you, Sergeant, I shall recommend to the governor that you be transferred to a position of less responsibility in the Mojave Desert!" "Si, Excellency." "Lancers, fall in!" "What could I do?" "A dozen Zorros would be helpless after the commotion our fat friend created." "What is the matter?" "I'm trying to tell you there's nothing I can do." "Well, maybe there is something I can do." "Tomorrow." "With a little help." "I shall never believe in Zorro again." "Look." "There they are." "Seven armed men." "The odds are too great even for Zorro." "This is it, my friend." "This is the day you shall help me." "Yes." "As Zorro." "What is this?" "We go no further." "The agreement was you would go through the pass." "We go no further." "And we want our money." "Count it if you do not trust me." "l do not trust you." "You pay a small price for 20 men." "Zorro is worth twice as much, dead or alive." "After him!" "On your way." "There he is." "No!" "Thank you, Senores." "Never has Zorro had such capable allies." "Don't just sit there laughing." "Get us out of these things." "I gave you over 1 ,200 pesos." "How do I get my money back?" "Go find Zorro." "He took it." "l think I have a better way." "At 1 20 pesos per year, I shall have to keep you for ten years..." "If you live that long." "Guards, get the prisoners on their feet." "We are moving on." "You can't do this to us." "This was not the agreement." "Get up, Senor Tax Collector." "Bernardo, that was great." "I could have never done it without you." "You know, at first I thought it was just a plot against the military, but now we know it is bigger than that." "It is a plot against the people." "And this eagle feather..." "Why does it spell death for one man and lower taxes for another?" "Someone has set up a deliberate campaign to spread misery and suffering." "And it is up to us to find out who and why."