"'Tis a night for evil deeds!" declared Sergeant4 Pedro Gonzales, stretching his great feet in their loose boots toward the roaring fire and grasping the hilt of his sword in one hand and a mug filled with thin wine in the other. "Devils howl in the wind and demons6 are in the raindrops! 'Tis an evil night, indeed—eh, señor?"
"It is!" the fat landlord agreed hastily; and he made haste, also, to fill the wine mug again, for Sergeant Pedro Gonzales had a temper that was terrible when aroused, as it always was when wine was not forthcoming.
"An evil night!" the big sergeant repeated, and drained the mug without stopping to draw breath, a feat7 that had attracted considerable attention in its time and had gained the sergeant a certain amount of notoriety up and down El Camino Real,as they called the highway that connected the missions in one long chain.
Gonzales sprawled9 closer to the fire, and cared not that other men thus were robbed of some of its warmth. Sergeant Pedro Gonzales often had expressed his belief that a man should look out for his own comfort before considering others; and being of great size and strength, and having much skill with the blade, he found few who had the courage to declare that they believed otherwise.
Outside the wind shrieked and the rain dashed against the ground in a solid sheet. It was a typical February storm for southern California. At the missions the frailes had cared for the stock and had closed the buildings for the night. At every great hacienda big fires were burning in the houses. The timid natives kept to their little adobe10 huts, glad for shelter.
And here in the little pueblo11 of Reina de Los Angeles, where, in years to come, a great city would grow, the tavern12 on one side of the plaza13 housed for the time being men who would sprawl8 before the fire until the dawn rather than face the beating rain.
Sergeant Pedro Gonzales, by virtue14 of his rank and size, hogged15 the fireplace, and a corporal and three soldiers from the presidio sat at table a little in rear of him, drinking their thin wine and playing at cards. An Indian servant crouched16 on his heels in one corner, no neophyte17 who had accepted the religion of the frailes, but a gentile and renegade.
For this was in the day of the decadence18 of the missions, and there was little peace between the robed Franciscans who followed in the footsteps of the sainted Junipero Serra, who had founded the first mission at San Diego de Alcála, and thus made possible an empire, and those who followed the politicians and had high places in the army. The men who drank wine in the tavern at Reina de Los Angeles had no wish for a spying neophyte about them.
Just now conversation had died out, a fact that annoyed the fat landlord and caused him some fear; for Sergeant Pedro Gonzales in an argument was Sergeant Gonzales at peace; and unless he could talk the big soldier might feel moved to action and start a brawl20.
Twice before Gonzales had done so, to the great damage of furniture and men's faces; and the landlord had appealed to the comandante of the presidio, Captain Ramón, only to be informed that the captain had an abundance of troubles of his own, and that running an inn was not one of them.
So the landlord regarded Gonzales warily21, and edged closer to the long table, and spoke22 in an attempt to start a general conversation and so avert23 trouble.
"They are saying in the pueblo," he announced, "that this Señor Zorro is abroad again."
His words had an effect that was both unexpected and terrible to witness. Sergeant Pedro Gonzales hurled24 his half-filled wine mug to the hard dirt floor,straightened suddenly on the bench, and crashed a ponderous25 fist down upon the table, causing wine mugs and cards and coins to scatter26 in all directions.
The corporal and the three soldiers retreated a few feet in sudden fright, and the red face of the landlord blanched27; the native sitting in the corner started to creep toward the door, having determined28 that he preferred the storm outside to the big sergeant's anger.
"Señor Zorro, eh?" Gonzales cried in a terrible voice. "Is it my fate always to hear that name? Señor Zorro, eh? Mr. Fox, in other words! He imagines, I take it, that he is as cunning as one. By the saints, he raises as much stench!"
"He runs up and down the length of El Camino Real like a goat of the high hills! He wears a mask, and he flashes a pretty blade, they tell me. He uses the point of it to carve his hated letter "Z" on the cheek of his foe31! Ha! The Mark of Zorro they are calling it! A pretty blade he has, in truth! But I cannot swear as to the blade—I never have seen it. He will not do me the honor of letting me see it! Señor Zorro's depredations32 never occur in the vicinity of Sergeant Pedro Gonzales! Perhaps this Señor Zorro can tell us the reason for that? Ha!"
He glared at the men before him, threw up his upper lip, and let the ends of his great black mustache bristle33.
"They are calling him the Curse of Capistrano now," the fat landlord observed, stooping to pick up the wine mug and cards and hoping to filch34 a coin in the process.
"Curse of the entire highway and the whole mission chain!" Sergeant Gonzales roared. "A cutthroat, he is! A thief! Ha! A common fellow presuming to get him a reputation for bravery because he robs a hacienda or so and frightens a few women and natives! Señor Zorro, eh? Here is one fox it gives me pleasure to hunt! Curse of Capistrano, eh? I know I have led an evil life, but I only ask of the saints one thing now—that they forgive me my sins long enough to grant me the boon35 of standing36 face to face with this pretty highwayman!"
"There is a reward—" the landlord began.
"You snatch the very words from my lips!" Sergeant Gonzales protested. "There is a pretty reward for the fellow's capture, offered by his excellency the governor. And what good fortune has come to my blade? I am away on duty at San Juan Capistrano, and the fellow makes his play at Santa Barbara. I am at Reina de Los Angeles, and he takes a fat purse at San Luis Rey. I dine at San Gabriel, let us say, and he robs at San Diego de Alcála! A pest, he is! Once I met him—"
Sergeant Gonzales choked on his wrath37 and reached for the wine mug, which the landlord had filled again and placed at his elbow. He gulped down the contents.
"Well, he never has visited us here," the landlord said with a sigh of thanksgiving.
"Good reason, fat one! Ample reason! We have a presidio here and a few soldiers. He rides far from any presidio, does this pretty Señor Zorro! He is like a fleeting38 sunbeam, I grant him that—and with about as much real courage!"
Sergeant Gonzales relaxed on the bench again, and the landlord gave him a glance that was full of relief, and began to hope that there would be no breakage of mugs and furniture and men's faces this rainy night.
"Yet this Señor Zorro must rest at times—he must eat and sleep," the landlord said. "It is certain that he must have some place for hiding and recuperation. Some fine day the soldiers will trail him to his den19."
"Ha!" Gonzales replied. "Of course the man has to eat and sleep! And what is it that he claims now? He says that he is no real thief, by the saints! He is but punishing those who mistreat the men of the missions, he says. Friend of the oppressed, eh? He left a placard at Santa Barbara recently stating as much, did he not? Ha! And what may be the reply to that? The frailes of the missions are shielding him, hiding him, giving him his meat and drink! Shake down a robed fray39 and you'll find some trace of this pretty highwayman's whereabouts, else I am a lazy civilian40!"
"I have no doubt that you speak the truth," the landlord replied. "I put it not past the frailes to do such a thing. But may this Señor Zorro never visit us here!"
"And why not, fat one?" Sergeant Gonzales cried in a voice of thunder. "Am I not here? Have I not a blade at my side? Are you an owl5, and is this daylight that you cannot see as far as the end of your puny41, crooked42 nose? By the saints—"
"I mean," said the landlord quickly and with some alarm, "that I have no wish to be robbed."
"To be—robbed of what, fat one? Of a jug43 of weak wine and a meal? Have you riches, fool? Ha! Let the fellow come! Let this bold and cunning Señor Zorro but enter that door and step before us! Let him make a bow, as they say he does, and let his eyes twinkle through his mask! Let me but face the fellow for an instant—and I claim the generous reward offered by his excellency!"
"He perhaps is afraid to venture so near the presidio," the landlord said.
"More wine!" Gonzales howled. "More wine, fat one, and place it to my account! When I have earned the reward, you shall be paid in full. I promise it on my word as a soldier! Ha! Were this brave and cunning Señor Zorro, this Curse of Capistrano, but to make entrance at that door now—" The door suddenly was opened!
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1
shrieked
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| v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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torment
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| n.折磨；令人痛苦的东西(人)；vt.折磨；纠缠 | |
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3
puffed
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| adj.疏松的v.使喷出( puff的过去式和过去分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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sergeant
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| n.警官，中士 | |
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owl
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| n.猫头鹰，枭 | |
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demons
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| n.恶人( demon的名词复数 )；恶魔；精力过人的人；邪念 | |
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7
feat
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| n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的 | |
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8
sprawl
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| vi.躺卧，扩张，蔓延；vt.使蔓延；n.躺卧，蔓延 | |
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9
sprawled
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| v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的过去式和过去分词)；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着） | |
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adobe
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| n.泥砖，土坯，美国Adobe公司 | |
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pueblo
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| n.（美国西南部或墨西哥等）印第安人的村庄 | |
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12
tavern
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| n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店 | |
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plaza
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| n.广场，市场 | |
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14
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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15
hogged
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| adj.（船）中拱的，（路）拱曲的 | |
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crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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neophyte
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| n.新信徒；开始者 | |
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decadence
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| n.衰落，颓废 | |
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den
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| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
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brawl
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| n.大声争吵，喧嚷；v.吵架，对骂 | |
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warily
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| adv.留心地 | |
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22
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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23
avert
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| v.防止，避免；转移(目光、注意力等) | |
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24
hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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25
ponderous
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| adj.沉重的，笨重的，(文章)冗长的 | |
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26
scatter
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| vt.撒，驱散，散开；散布/播；vi.分散，消散 | |
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27
blanched
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| v.使变白( blanch的过去式 )；使（植物）不见阳光而变白；酸洗（金属）使有光泽；用沸水烫（杏仁等）以便去皮 | |
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28
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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29
gulped
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| v.狼吞虎咽地吃，吞咽( gulp的过去式和过去分词 )；大口地吸（气）；哽住 | |
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30
tirade
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| n.冗长的攻击性演说 | |
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31
foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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32
depredations
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| n.劫掠，毁坏( depredation的名词复数 ) | |
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33
bristle
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| v.（毛发）直立，气势汹汹，发怒；n.硬毛发 | |
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filch
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| v.偷窃 | |
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boon
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| n.恩赐，恩物，恩惠 | |
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36
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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37
wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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38
fleeting
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| adj.短暂的，飞逝的 | |
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39
fray
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| v.争吵；打斗；磨损，磨破；n.吵架；打斗 | |
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40
civilian
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| adj.平民的，民用的，民众的 | |
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41
puny
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| adj.微不足道的，弱小的 | |
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42
crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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43
jug
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| n.(有柄，小口，可盛水等的)大壶，罐，盂 | |
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