The pirates had a few firearms, but little ammunition for them. And they were more used to fighting hand-to-hand with naked blades. Yet they discharged their firearms first as the caballeros advanced, and took a bloody toll. The caballeros had nothing but their blades, for they had come from Don Diego Vega’s bachelor supper, and they had worn no firearms to that affair.
There was a moment of silence pregnant with dire possibilities, the lull before the storm—and then the two forces met with a crash! Blades clanged together, men gasped and fought and fell.
The line of the 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 Señor Zorro had reached the bottom of the slope, and, blade in hand, rushed to join his friends. His sword flashed as he entered the fight 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, Señor Zorro! We’ll carve a pathway through the swine!”
But Señor 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 opponents. Like a man possessed, Señor Zorro pressed forward again, straight at the pirates in the foreground.
“Atención! A caballero’s near—”