
When the Alcalde decides to conscript men for forced labor to build a new highway (named for himself), Don Alejandro makes the mistake of announcing that he will journey to Monterey to speak with the governor personally. Zorro, of course, is on hand to intervene when Don Alejandro is ambushed by lancers. While leading the soldiers off into the hills, a chance shot spooks Toronado, sending Zorro down into a ravine. Sergeant Mendoza returns to town to announce Zorro's death. When Toronado returns to the secret cave, Felipe takes him and tracks Zorro down. Zorro is suffering from a bad concussion, and his mind drifts to the time when he attended university in Madrid, learning swordsmanship as well as scholarship, before his father recalled him to help cope with the new, corrupt Alcalde. The soldiers are returning to collect Zorro's body. Even if there was a way out of the ravine, Zorro is in no condition to move....moreless