By the time Diego returned to the pueblo with the alcalde's body, he did not have much time to make his plans. Sergeant Mendoza, shocked and appalled at the alcalde's murder, insisted on knowing how Diego came to be in the vicinity and questioned him on the alcalde's last words. Then, much to his frustration, the younger De la Vega was forced to repeat everything to a large group waiting outside the alcalde's office, among them several prominent caballeros who would not let him go without telling his story.

"What are we going to do?" it was Victoria's voice. Diego had not noticed her among the people before then, which was just as well, because seeing her then only reawakened the agony of his heartache.

"We have no more money!" someone exclaimed, and the people nodded anxiously in agreement.

"We cannot just let the children be murdered like the alcalde!" a middle-aged woman cried. "And the padre! And my poor Lecita!"

One of the caballeros raised his hand for silence. "We have enough assets, but we would have to sell..."

Diego shook his head. "We do not have time for that. I am going to send Felipe to San Pedro. I have enough in the bank there to cover the difference. I will just offer myself as hostage in the place of the children until he can return with the money."

A few nodded hopefully, but Don Carlos shook his head. "It will make no difference without Zorro. He has not come."

"He will come," Diego said with a confidence that surprised everyone.

"How do you know?" Victoria demanded hotly. "He is so unpredictable!"

"He has always come before," Diego replied as he hastily wrote a note and handed it to Felipe. Impatient at the delay, he pushed through the people to his horse.

"Diego!" Victoria exclaimed, not reassured by his plan. "You can't go! What can you possibly do?" Her tone was none too gentle, almost disparaging.

With a tired sigh, Diego swung himself onto his horse and turned her around. "Let's hope I can do enough," he snapped irritably as he rode away.

Those who watched him go shook their heads sadly. It seemed there was no hope for the children. If only Diego de la Vega's plan was enough... Zorro had to show himself, but many began to doubt. After all, he had not come at two o'clock as the alcalde had obviously, and as it turned out, vainly hoped.

Diego was not enchanted with his plan, but it was the best he could come up with under the circumstances. He was obviously taking a great risk that the kidnappers would accept him as hostage until Felipe brought his money, but he had to hope they would be greedy enough to wait. He also had to hope they would believe him when he would tell them he could lead them to Zorro.

It was the only way he could hope to to satisfy both their demands without getting himself killed outright. If Zorro showed up without all the money, he was dead. If Diego's promised money was acceptable, and he said nothing about Zorro, he was dead. It had to be this way, but still he could end up dead far too easily.

"Diego!" came the shout from far behind him.

He turned around to see that Sergeant Mendoza and several lancers were chasing after him, so impatiently he reined his horse to a walk and waited for them to catch up.

"You can't go alone, Diego!" Mendoza gasped. "We will come with you."

"No, Mendoza," the don replied. "They may be frightened into shooting the children if they see you coming. We dare not risk it."

"But..."

"The alcalde had to go alone. I will, too."

"At least let me..."

"No, sergeant," Diego said with a smile. "Thank you, but I will be fine. Why don't you follow at a distance and be ready to escort the children home?"

"All right," Mendoza muttered after a moment. "Si."

Satisfied, Diego nodded and urged Esperanza forward again. Once he looked back to see the lancers lagging far behind, so he rode directly to the valley where the kidnappers waited.

"Who are you?" someone shouted from behind the rock where they had waited last time.

He reined to a stop. "Diego de la Vega, from Los Angeles."

"Do you have the money?"

"I have what the alcalde brought, and I am good for the rest. I have sent… a servant to San Pedro to get it. He will be back this evening." He did not want them to know Felipe was much more than a servant; hopefully if the youth had to become involved, they would not bother with threatening his life if they thought he was only doing what he was commanded.

The caballero could hear them conferring. "What about Zorro?"

Diego spoke up. "I know where his hideout is..."

"You lie!"

The young don shook his head and said in a confident tone, "No. I will take you there now."

Again they whispered among themselves, discussing the situation. "De la Vega!" another shouted finally. "How do we know you are telling the truth? About the money and Zorro?"

"I would not have come if I wasn't," he replied evenly. "Take me as hostage and let the children and the others go."

For another few moments they conferred. "The children are more effective hostages," one of them growled loud enough for him to hear.

"They are as long as you can control them," Diego retorted, hoping to reason with the kidnappers. "Soon it will get dark, and the young ones especially will be afraid. Are you prepared to keep them quiet and try to get them to sleep? Do you have enough food to feed them?"

"All right!" one of them snapped. After a few quiet words to one of his companions, he motioned for the other two to return to the wagon. "We will accept your offer... but don't expect us to be patient much longer! We want the money and Zorro! We won't settle for less!"

"You will get everything you ask for as long as you take me. My servant has orders not to surrender the money if anything happens to any of the children."

"All right!"

Diego waited quietly on his horse until he saw the padre driving the wagon toward him. Then he dismounted and waited in the middle of the road.

"Don Diego!" the padre exclaimed. "You are doing a brave thing, my son!"

"Just get the children out of here as quickly as possible," he muttered quietly as he quickly counted them to make sure they were all there. "Sergeant Mendoza is waiting about half a mile behind."

"Come on, De la Vega!" one of the kidnappers growled. "No tricks!"

"God bless you, young man," the padre murmured, obviously worried.

Diego smiled in encouragement. "Go. Hurry!"

The padre snapped the leads, urging the wagon forward, so Diego turned back toward the kidnappers. He saw one of them getting onto his horse, and angrily he said, "If anything happens to any of those children..."

The apparent leader turned to see what he was looking at. "Oh... he has a previous engagement… elsewhere. Don't worry! He won't bother the children or the padre. Now give me your horse..."

As the padre drove away, he turned around to see them tying Diego's hands behind his back and putting him back on his horse. Then he saw them all ride away quickly. Diego had done it. He had exchanged himself for the children, and now they were safe and he was a hostage.