"Oh, no, Comandante, it was not my fault..." ""Sergeant Garcia." lt's for me." ""From..." "Zorro!"" ""lf you will come to the high road" ""above Cahuenga Pass tomorrow night, all alone," ""l will surrender myself to you." "Zorro."" ""l will surrender myself to you." "Zorro!"" "No trouble?" "Everything went as planned?" "Si, Gomez." "Now it is up to the fat sergeant." "He's ambitious and stupid." "He, too, will do exactly as we planned." ""Tomorrow night, all alone."" "All alone." "Come in." "Come in, please." "Ah, Don Diego, come in." "l came to offer my congratulations." "On what?" "On your new office." "Oh, no, Don Diego. I am only sitting here till another Comandante comes." "Oh, too bad." "The accommodations are much better than at the barracks." "Does this come with it?" "Don Diego, I was wondering about something." "About what?" "Well, if a certain sergeant were to capture a certain outlaw, and lock him up in jail..." "You mean, if Sergeant Garcia should capture Zorro?" "Si, Don Diego, but please do not tell me what I mean." "Let me figure it out for myself." "It would be a great feather in your cap." "You would win a promotion." "Do you think maybe I might become new Comandante of Los Angeles, perhaps?" "Comandante of Los Angeles?" "Sergeant Garcia" "Amigo, I see your muscles" "Are mighty and strong" "A great Comandante" "You surely would be" "But that's not the end of my song" "A great Comandante, a man of renown" "With an air of distinction and style" "The wicked will pale at the sight of your frown" "And the good will rejoice at your smile" "When you're Comandante with splendid moustache" "And a devilish gleam in your eye" "The ladies will thrill at your glitter and dash" "And swoon as they watch you go by" "When you're Comandante You'll ride a white horse" "As fast as an eagle in flight" "And you will chase Zorro" "And catch him, of course" "While everyone cheers with delight" "So Zorro is brought to a horrible end" "By our hero so daring and strong" "Our new Comandante" "Garcia, my friend" "And that is the end of my song" "Thank you, Don Diego, for helping me to make up my mind." "About what?" "I think I will start to grow the moustache now, so it will be ready." "Halt where you are!" "You have come alone, Sergeant?" "Si, I have come alone." "Take off your sword and drop it." "Take off my sword and..." "No." "Never." "A soldier does not take off his sword." "Do you want to go on to meet El Zorro?" "Do you want him to surrender to you?" "Si." "That is why I have come, to have him surrender to me." "You can only meet Zorro unarmed." "You can pick it up on the way back." "garcia:" "About the surrender..." "We will discuss terms." "I will insist that it be unconditional." "Understand?" "Unconditional!" "Please?" "You can discuss that with Zorro." "Now ride straight up the trail for two miles, until you come to a pile of rocks." "And there another voice will tell you which way to go." "This is Sergeant Garcia. I am here now." "is somebody here who's to take me to Zorro?" "Please?" "I..." "I left my sword back there." "The man said there would be somebody here to tell me..." "Senor Magistrado." "Fetch the doctor." "What happened, Senor?" "At the pass, I was robbed and beaten." "Left for dead." "Who are you, Senor?" "There is something in his pocket." "This man is the king's messenger from Monterey." "He was bringing the payroll for the garrison." "Our payroll?" "Who took it?" "Find out who robbed him!" "Be quiet." "Why should I?" "We haven't been paid in four months." "Who took it?" "Was it Zorro?" "Zorro?" "No, soldier." "I was robbed and beaten by one of you." "The man who stole your pay is one of you soldiers." "No." "Not him." "No." "Much too small." "No." "Much bigger." "No." "No." "Not him." "He is not the one." "No." "Are you sure you could remember?" "If you are beaten and left for dead, you remember." "My friend, I know we do not have the cream of the army in this garrison, but I did think they were above stealing one another's pay." "I told you what happened." "That is all I know." "But are you sure it was a soldier?" "Could you not have been mistaken," "in the darkness?" "lf that is what you think, look in my saddlebag." "He broke it over my body." "I brought it back, thought it might help." "Open the gates!" "Who ordered them closed?" "What goes on when I am not here to take care of things?" "Sometimes I think that..." "Buenos dias, Your Excellency." "Sergeant, where is your sword?" "Well, I..." "It... ls that it?" "Si." "Gracias, Your Excellency." "But it is broken." "How did it get broken?" "Perhaps when you robbed the king's messenger in Cahuenga Pass." "Such a good sword, too." "It's too bad it got..." "Robbed the king's messenger?" "Me?" "Really, Your Excellency." "Just a minute, Don Diego." "ls that the man?" "That is the man." "Arrest him." "But I did not rob anyone." "Arrest him!" "Who is in charge here?" "l am." "But you are the accused." "But I am also acting Comandante." "Ah..." "Put me in cell number one." "And post a double guard." "I think I am a very dangerous man." "I saw you last night sneaking towards the pass." "I wish I'd known then what you were up to." "Si. I wish I had known, too." "All right, prisoner." "What happened then?" "Then I waited some more and then I shouted some more." "And then nothing happened, so I came home." "You expect us to believe this preposterous story?" "No, Your Excellency." "You don't expect us to believe it?" "I wish you would, but I almost do not believe it myself, and I am telling it." "You claim you didn't know the messenger was arriving." "Si, I did not know, so how could I go out and rob him?" "Maria Crespo, will you come forward?" "The night before last, did you serve the prisoner here at the tavern?" "Si." "Did he tell you he expected the king's messenger from Monterey bringing his pay, and did he say that he expected the messenger that very night?" "Si." "He said that." "diego:" "Your Excellency..." "As a friend of the prisoner, I should like to ask Maria a question." "Out of respect to the de la Vega name, I will permit it." "Maria, was that the first time the sergeant said he expected a messenger with his pay?" "Oh, no, Don Diego." "Every time I ask him about his bill, he says that." "How many times has he said this in the past year?" "Maybe 1 00, 200 times." "Oh, no, Maria." "A few times, maybe." "Not so many." "Maria..." "Don Diego, this line of questioning is trivial and it serves no useful purpose." "The charge is one of the most serious known to our laws, assault upon a king's messenger upon a king's highway." "And after hearing all the evidence, I find that charge conclusively proved." "Prisoner, it is now my duty to pass upon you the sentence which the law prescribes." "And that sentence is death." "No, Don Diego." "There is only one possibility for me, and even that is impossible." "What is that?" "Zorro." "Zorro?" "But he got you in here by throwing that rock through your window." "I have been thinking about that and thinking about that, and the more I think about it, the more I am sure it was not Zorro." "I think somebody has tricked me." "Well, uh, we might consider that as a possibility." "I shouldn't have wanted to become Comandante." "Oh, don't say that, Sergeant." "Let us consider what your position is." "You know you're innocent, and I know you're innocent." "There must be some way to prove it." "l hope so." "All right, now..." "They tricked you out to the pass." "Si." "They tricked you into dropping your sword so it would help incriminate you." "Si, but, shh, please, Don Diego, not so loud." "They did it so they could rob the messenger and put the blame on you." "Si." "But why did the messenger think it was you?" "Did the man look like you?" "Oh, no. ln the whole world, there is only one person who looks like me." "That is my cousin in Monterey." "Your cousin looks like you?" "You could not tell us apart." "Except for one little thing, he is skinny like a rail." "But that is just it." "How can it be a case of mistaken identity..." "Unless..." "Unless what, Don Diego?" "Unless there was no mistake." "l do not understand." "The whole thing was a plot and the messenger was in on it." "I still don't understand." "The fellow was nearly killed." "How do we know that?" "Anyone can pretend to be injured, to wrap himself in bandages." "Maybe he was never attacked at all." "Maybe..." "Prisoner, it is my duty to tell you that sentence will be executed upon you tomorrow morning at sunrise." "Sunrise. I'm not even awake by then." "I understand that the messenger is staying at your house." "I should like to put questions to him." "He is no longer at my house." "He is on his way back to Monterey." "On his way back?" "Well?" "He is supposed to be severely injured." "He was severely injured, but his orders were to return, and he is doing so." "Your Excellency, in the name of justice I ask that the execution be postponed for 2 4 hours." "In the name of justice?" "You ask, Don Diego?" "I am the king's magistrate and I am justice in this town." "And, Senor, you, from all I can learn, you are an idle young man who never before has concerned himself with more than the cut of his clothes or the tuning of his guitar." "Sentence will be executed tomorrow morning at sunrise." "You see, Don Diego?" "I should never have wanted to be Comandante." "My friend, I believe that two and two are just beginning to make four." "Well, I'm glad of that." "Something will happen." "Something is going to happen tomorrow morning at sunrise." "No, that's not what I mean." "Look... I cannot say anything more, except do not give up." "I will not give up." "I will be waiting..." "Right here." "There's one desperate chance." "That is for Zorro to catch up with the messenger and bring him back." "Say a little prayer that I can make it in time." "It's dark in here." "Would you rather not wear it?" "I think I would rather see them not doing it than not to see them when they do do it." "Si. I will leave it off, please." "Well, goodbye, Corporal." "Goodbye, Sergeant." "I know what they think, but at least you know I'm innocent, don't you?" "Of course, Sergeant." "There is no one more innocent than you." "Gracias, Corporal." "However..." "However what?" "Would you do something for me?" "Anything, Corporal." "Please tell me where you hid the money." "What money?" "Come along, Corporal." "Don't keep the prisoner waiting around." "Do not hurry on my account." "I do not mind waiting around." "Does the prisoner have anything to say before sentence is executed upon him?" "Si." "Very well." "What is it?" "I wish I'd never joined the army." "Ready!" "Aim!" "Zorro!" "Now tell them the truth." "Shoot him!" "Shoot Zorro!" "Wait a minute." "You want your pay?" "Yes." "Yes, we want our pay." "Tell them what happened to him." "Nobody robbed me." "I only pretended to be hurt." "I was told I could keep the money if I said I was robbed by the fat sergeant." "Please, couldn't you just say plump?" "And here, my friends, is your four months' pay." "Adios, my big, fat sergeant." "The gold." "Go after him!" "Send the men after him!" "Who, me?" "Yes, you idiot." "But I am under arrest." "That's over." "You're not under arrest." "Why didn't you say so before?" "Up to the roof, lancers." "After him." "No, you idiot." "Go after Zorro." "Of course, Your Excellency." "Just as soon as we have the messenger safely behind bars, we won't stop." "Everybody, up to the roof!" "Up to the roof!" "Garcia, you're a fool." "Maybe I am a fool, but I think it would be politer to catch Zorro another time." "Don't you?" "Yes." "Another eagle feather, Bernardo." "The messenger said the Magistrado gave it to him to take to Monterey." "So our self-righteous friend is mixed up in this, too." "But what is it all about?" "First they kill the Comandante, then they try to turn the soldiers against one another, and..." "Wait a minute." "Look, Bernardo." "Look." "Notice the strange way in which the barbs are cut." "I'm sure it has a special meaning." "If we could find out what it was, it might tell us their next move." "We will have to wait and find out when it comes." "You and me and Zorro."