The first two games were easily won by the stranger, whom Bishop wanted to become confident in his luck. The man thus managed to relieve him of 6,000 thousand pesos. The next three games, with stakes of 10,000 pesos, 5,000 advanced by each of the players, ended with Bishop's win.

"I've never seen such a change in luck! Señor," the bearded man exclaimed. "Perhaps there's a trick I can't see. Considering the stakes, I hope you'd not oppose if the señor here," he pointed at the innkeeper "inspected the cards, and deal from now on?" he suggested. "I'd do it myself, but I seem to have some problems seeing well…"

The gambler agreed to give Señor Portolla the cards, looking at his opponent with his hyena smile.

At the same time Zorro went to his room's window, lighted a string of firecrackers, threw them in the street below, then returned to the slightly opened door before they went off.

The tavern owner took the deck of cards and inspected them for markings, looking at them in the light as he stood up. At that moment, what sounded like gunfire was heard from the street. Everyone turned towards the door, and the lancers hurried out, just as Señor Portolla switched the deck of cards with another he had with him, hidden in his vest.

After the lancers returned with news that there was no danger, "just some damn kids disturbing the peace by playing with firecrackers", the tavern owner declared himself satisfied that the cards had no visible markings, and, after each player advanced the 1,000 pesos 'ante', started distributing them between the two players.

The newcomer defiantly placed the cards face down in front of him, without turning them to have a look, glanced towards the deck, and pretended to guess which one to change. Bishop smiled and did the same.

"One card." The bearded man asked as he chose the last one he had been handed, and which the gambler was certain to be a 6 of diamonds. He took the card offered to him, again avoiding to turn it to look at it as he stared defiantly at his opponent, and added it to the other ones he had spread, face down, on the table.

Also asking for only one card, Bishop selected the one in the middle. As per what he could see using his glasses, the stranger had only one pair of 6s while, after the exchange, he had three of a kind.

"15,000 in!" The bearded man said as he wiped some nonexistent sweat from his forehead and took off his jacket, leaving only his vest on.

Don Alfredo, who had received an anonymous message to be there, walked through the door.

The man must be a stupid idiot. Bishop thought as one of his face muscles drew up half of his right lip, giving the stranger a preview of his canine tooth.

Taking some time to appear undecided, he met the sum and raised it by the four thousand pesos he had won from his adversary. The other man took a long look at the cards on the table, then met the new sum and raised it by his last 2,000 pesos.

Bishop was certain he was going to win, so he reached into his jacket and took out the moneybag containing all his remaining money, adding it to the pile.

"Two thousand seventy pesos." He said as everybody in the tavern held their breaths.

The bearded man took out his gold ring, putting it on top of Bishop's moneybag.

"Call." He uttered as he did so, and someone from the crowd protested that the ring was worth more than 70 pesos, but he ignored him.

Nobody even questioned his decision to give up his ring instead of taking the sum from the money bag he had on him or, if they did, they probably assumed he was too drunk to remember it.

As they turned the cards on the table, Bishop gasped as he realized his cards were not as he had thought, and he only had a pair of 8s while his adversary had four of a kind. He had lost.

"That's not possible!" The gambler protested as people in the tavern started applauding.

"Looks like your luck has just run out, Señor!" The other man replied with a smile as he gathered his winnings, and Bishop realized he was, by no means, drunk, as he had believed him to be.

"But… But, this is impossible!" Bishop uttered as he took a look at his cards, flipping them on both sides. "The markings on these cards are wrong. I saw very clearly that you only had a pair of 6s! You cheated!" Bishop accused, throwing the cards on the table, but immediately repented as everyone had heard his confession.

"Just because you cheat, it doesn't mean others do, as well!" Zorro uttered as he jumped over the rails of the second floor and straight behind Bishop, sword in hand.

Bishop turned around with a startle, the lancers and everyone else in the tavern stood up, all attention on the black-clad man, but nobody dared raise a weapon against the legendary outlaw. In the distraction, Señor Portolla gathered all the cards and again switched the decks, hiding the one he had just recovered in his vest and leaving the other one on the table.

"Allow me, Gentlemen, to explain exactly how it is that Señor Bishop had such a streak of good fortune at cards!" Zorro offered. "You see, Señores, as he had just confessed, his cards were all marked with a special ink, invisible to the naked eye, but clearly visible when using the pair of glasses the distinguished Señor here is wearing. Corporal," he addressed one of the lancers in the tavern "take Señor Bishop's glasses and look at the back of the cards, then tell me what you see!"

The man did as Zorro had asked and, checking the deck of cards, confirmed that they all had red markings on them.

"But my glasses were wrong! He!" Bishop pointed at Señor Garibaldi "check his glasses! If I cheated, so did he!"

The bearded man handed the lancer his glasses.

"They are, indeed, strange glasses, but I can see no markings with them." The military man said.

Zorro smiled and addressed the haciendado who had spent that entire day convinced he had lost everything and would, most probably, die at dawn.

"Don Alfredo, since Señor Bishop cheated you out of your properties, I am sure Señor Garibaldi will be more than willing to return the deeds to your ranch to you." He stated as, to everyone's surprise, Señor Garibaldi handed him the documents with no protest. "You can also press charges against this man, Señor!" He continued, pointing towards the gambler.

"And I will insist you do!" A man made his way through the crowd. "My name is Lieutenant Fernando Fonzi, and I was sent here exactly for this man. He has been cheating good people all over Alta California, and the Governor entrusted me to find out how, who his accomplices have been all this time, and to place him under arrest for his crimes. I doubt he'll ever see the light of day again! Private, cuff him!" He ordered the soldier.

Seeing himself about to be arrested, Bishop took advantage of the fact that Zorro's sword was no longer pointed at him and bolted for the door, throwing several people into each other and on the floor as he did so. Exiting the tavern, Zorro and the lancers on his heels, he stumbled on some packs deposited next to the entrance and fell, hitting his head on an iron dock mooring cleat.

A lancer went to check his pulse. "He's dead," he told the people who had, meanwhile, also followed him and the other uniformed men outside.

"In that case, justice is done." The Lieutenant pronounced as he ordered the privates to take away the body. "Too bad he will never be able to give testimony against those who have helped him. I understand he could have made a great case against the Alcalde of Los Angeles."

"Can't win them all, I suppose." Zorro sighed, realizing he had just missed the opportunity to get rid of Luis Ramone.

"Señor Zorro," the Lieutenant addressed him "since you helped stop a criminal who had caused the death of at least three dons, including a close friend of the Governor, I will ignore, this time, the warrant for your arrest. Have a good night, Señores!" He added as he followed the lancers who had already taken the dead body and were carrying it towards the small garrison in the port.

"I also have a great debt to you, Señor Zorro, and to you, Señor Garibaldi!" Don Alfonso stated.

"You are most welcome, Don Alfredo, but we couldn't have done it without the help of Señor Portolla." Zorro stated as the innkeeper grinned at him.

"But how did you do it?" The haciendado asked.

"You should know better than to ask a magician to reveal his tricks!" Zorro replied and the Don agreed with a smile. "I hope you've learned your lesson from all this, and never again will you risk your life and the wellbeing of the people who depend on you by repeating your mistake."

"I will not, Señor Zorro!" Don Alfredo confirmed. "Thank you, again, to all of you!"

ZZZ

"You played a good game, my friend!" Zorro mentioned some fifteen minutes later as Señor Garibaldi handed the small bag of fake emeralds, the ring, the watch and the bag of money back to Zorro. He then proceeded to change his clothes and removed his false beard to re-become Ramon Escalante.

"Zorro, how did you know Señor Portolla would help?" The younger man asked.

"Don Carlos was his godfather. He dared not take action against Bishop all by himself, but I knew he'd be more than happy to help take him down."

"I must say I enjoyed seeing that man lose. His death, though, gave me no satisfaction. But you knew that, didn't you?"

"Taking a life is a heavy burden on one's soul, Ramon. I pray you never have to carry it." The black-clad man uttered as they both mounted their horses, heading for Los Angeles.

"Now, only one problem remains."

"Oh? And what is that?"

"What do I do with the money I have won from Bishop?" Ramon replied, taking out the bag containing the 2070 pesos.

"I guess that's up to you, Ramon. But I do have an idea about how to use a small portion of it, should you wish to do so." Zorro answered as Tornado trotted away with Ramon's horse on his heels.

ZZZ

"MENDOZAAAAA!" Luis Ramone was heard shouting from his office and all across the plaza to the tavern.

The lancer gulped and, after saying "Adios, amigos!" to Ramon, Don Alejandro and Diego, with whom he was sharing a table at the time, hurried to answer the call.

"Si, Alcalde!" He answered as he entered the office.

"What day is today, Mendoza?"

"Today? Today is Wednesday, mi Alcalde!"

"Yes. But what date is it?"

"Well… It says right there, August the 18th."

"And what were you supposed to do by today, Sergeant?"

"Ah… I was supposed to… capture Zorro. But Alcalde, Zorro is impossible to track, and he hasn't been to the pueblo since he dealt with Bishop!"

"I don't care, Sergeant! From this day on, your pay and the pay of your men is cut in half!"

"But, Alcalde!" The Sergeant lamented.

"No buts! I will only raise your pay back when you'll have captured that brigand! Now, OUT, Mendoza!"

"The economies will not go very far but will, at least, help buy me that new sword I want." Luis Ramone uttered just for himself, with a wicked smile, after Mendoza exited his office. He then headed for his desk and sat down, taking a second, satisfied look at the letter he had received informing him that the investigator was no longer to come to Los Angeles.

Diego, Don Alejandro, Ramon and Victoria watched from the tavern's porch as the Sergeant was making his way back, head down, shoulders dropped. He was a sorry sight and even Don Alejandro felt pity for him.

"The Alcalde kept his word, I assume?" The tall caballero asked his friend.

"Si, Don Diego."

"Well, in that case, I know just what will cheer you up, Mendoza!" Victoria stated.

"A plate of tamales on the house, Señorita?"

"Even better. The knowledge that your debt and that of your men has been paid in full. You no longer owe me anything."

"Really, Señorita?"

"It's true!"

"But… who paid it?"

"I'm not sure. I only found the money and a note mentioning what it was for. It was signed by a Señor Garibaldi, but I know no one by that name."

"Me neither… So, if I buy lunch today, I can pay only the next month… as per our agreement, I mean… the one month advance?"

"We'd love to invite you, Sergeant!" Don Alejandro stated with a laugh as he put a hand on the man's shoulder and guided him inside the tavern. "You can start accumulating your debt again first thing tomorrow!"

"The Señorita does make some delicious huevos rancheros for breakfast…" Mendoza agreed.

ZZZ

"So, Ramon, ready for the long journey south?" Don Alejandro asked as the De la Vegas, accompanied by Felipe, came to say goodbye.

"I am, Don Alejandro!" He confirmed as he embraced his sister. "Especially knowing that the three of you, as well as Zorro will take good care of Victoria, just as you've always had"

"We'll do our best, Ramon," Diego confirmed.

"You know, I still wonder who might have told Zorro that I went after Bishop." Ramon mentioned as they were exiting the tavern. "I haven't told anyone. The only person who even knew I had left was Felipe."

"Zorro has his own way of always knowing what's going on in the pueblo." Diego offered an answer, trying to avoid having Ramon thinking too much about that one coincidence.

"Gracias a Dios for that! Who knows what would have happened otherwise?" Victoria said and Ramon hurriedly entered the stagecoach, looking to put some distance between himself and his sister's temper, on the wrong end of which he had been for the entire week since he was misguided enough to recount for her and the De la Vegas the entire adventure which ended up in Bishop's demise.

He waved his goodbyes as the stagecoach departed, and the people who had come to see him off did the same until the coach was no longer visible.

"You know, now that I think about it, Felipe did leave the tavern in a hurry that day when Ramon went after Bishop. As if he had an urgent errand… or…" Victoria uttered pensively.

"Ah… Yes. I believe it was when he remembered that I had asked him to fetch me some more green and yellow dye for the landscape I was working on. I had specifically told him I needed it very fast or the other strata would have dried and the entire thing would have been ruined. I was only lucky he arrived in time... Perhaps you would care to come for dinner tonight at the hacienda. It would be a great opportunity to show you the painting, and you could advise me on where to hang it." Diego explained quite convincingly.

Victoria looked at him a little suspiciously, then smiled as she, once more, dismissed the utterly absurd idea he might be Zorro which had, once again crossed her mind. "It will be my pleasure to help you in such an important endeavor, Diego." She answered, a little amused and a little sarcastically, turning on her heel and entering the taproom.

"Excellent!" He said, winking at Felipe as the three of them followed Victoria inside.