“Perhaps it may be arranged,” Captain Ramón said.
He was plotting more, even as he spoke. He did not see how he could lose in this game. If he fetched the troopers, and the pirates were wiped out and the caballeros saved, the señorita would keep her word if she had given it. Men might despise him for taking advantage of a situation, yet would he be safe. And perhaps, for a small sum, he could have this Señor Zorro killed yet.
And if the pirates through some fortune of war managed to be victorious over the troopers, then Captain Ramón could do the other thing—simply seize the señorita, give Señor Zorro up to torture, and remain a renegade, perhaps even become a pirate chief himself in the future.
“I will speak to no other man, señor—only Zorro,” she said, as he seemed to hesitate. “I will not betray your double-dealing to the pirate crew, for that would defeat all our ends and mean death for Señor Zorro and the caballeros, and much worse for me. But I must speak to Señor Zorro a moment before I give you my decision in the matter.”
“I will try to arrange it with Barbados,” Captain Ramón replied. “Come into the other room and let the woman guard you until I return. You must play the game well if you would be successful. And there is scant time. I should start my ride to San Diego de Alcála as quickly as possible.”
CHAPTER XXIII.
THE SEÑORITA PLOTS ALSO.
Captain Ramón, hurrying outside, found Barbados in the open space before the other adobe building. The pirate chief, it was easy to see, had been drinking heavily of rich, stolen wine. Among the pirates slain were some of Barbados’s particular friends, and he was trying to drown his sorrow at their untimely taking off.
He turned as the commandante approached and greeted him with a shout.
“Ha!” he cried, lurching drunkenly. “So you have not started for San Diego de Alcála yet, capitan? You have just come from the little señorita—sí? Yet your face does not bear the marks of her nails, which is strange. I would not want the taming of her. By my naked blade, I would not!”
“Attend me!” the captain commanded, grasping the pirate chief by the arm. “Is it your intention to torture this Señor Zorro your men have taken?”