Original subtitles

When daggers are pointed at innocent hearts and muskets are ready to fire.

When tyrants ride high and govern with fear as the forces of evil

conspire. Then from out of the night, a hero must rise with courage that

even a mask won't disguise.

They turn to the men.

And defender of all is this man who the people acclaim.

He's the one who's right back for the poor and oppressed.

A hero.

Who's next?

Nobody's seen them.

Alcalde thinks maybe he's offended them in some way.

De Soto?

Offensive?

Impossible!

Now, now, Don Alejandro.

Hasta luego.

Diego?

I don't know, Diego. Felipe doesn't look too happy.

Maybe he had problems with his señorita, huh?

What's the matter?

One little thing.

Felipe, where did you find her?

Oak Creek. You stopped there for water.

I'm sorry, Felipe. What a shame.

Francisco? Don Esteban?

Help me.

Help me.

Water. Water. It's okay. No.

I will get you water.

Dead?

You're certain of that?

It was awful, Alcalde. You could see the pain in their eyes.

Oh, those poor men.

It sounds like a grisly death.

The sons of Don Carlos Carvajal.

Their eyes were swollen. Their face was white like ash. It was just terrible,

Alcalde. Just terrible.

How do you think this is going to make me look?

You? That's hardly the point, Alcalde.

The sons of Don Carlos Carvajal, chief minister of the colonial office, dead.

In my jurisdiction.

Well, that's it.

My career's over when Madrid hears about this.

I'll never get a promotion out of here.

How did they die?

Well, perhaps it was evil spirits.

There's an Indian burial ground right next to the... Sergeant!

Do you think the chief minister of the colonial office is going to accept evil

spirits? Well, maybe not.

But what if it was the plague?

They could have brought a disease over from Europe.

Within a week, we could all be dead.

Oh, Victoria, the plague hasn't been seen in Europe in nearly six decades.

Besides, if they'd have been that ill, they never would have been able to make

the trip from Spain.

Then how did they die?

Well, it could have been any number of things.

Thank you, Diego.

Sergeant, we need answers.

And we need them now.

that would have proved faithful to the Carvajal brothers.

So strange.

Such a mystery.

Mystery and death.

Bad combination.

There's a draft to Francisco and Esteban Carvajal.

Si, mi alcalde, this is from the boy's father, the minister Carvajal himself.

Should we send it back?

Well, perhaps there's a return address inside.

Oh, we shouldn't open it, alcalde.

What is this?

What is this?

Apparently the chief minister was sending his two sons here to monitor me?

And report back on rumors of a very popular local folk hero named Zorro?

Isn't that Zorro something?

Even in Madrid they know about him. They know nothing.

They worry about a local folk hero and they put me under a spyglass?

And you know why, Sergeant?

Well, maybe I'm... Because of Zorro, that's why!

Incredible. A common criminal.

I wonder what the chief minister would... I wonder...

I wonder if the chief minister would change his opinion about my troubles if

knew that the man responsible for the death of his two sons is none other than

that local folk hero himself.

You think Zorro killed him?

I know he did, Sergeant.

And all I have to do is prove it.

What's wrong?

I can't follow. What's he saying? I don't know. Try again. Slow.

Stomach pain.

Poison.

This happened to you after you went to Don Sebastian's hacienda. Father, get

some water. We need to flush the poison from his system.

Whatever it is, I'm sure it will pass.

I know, I know. It feels terrible.

Let's hope he can keep this down.

What on earth is going on out there?

Let them go! Let them go!

Good horses gone bad.

Severe stomach problems.

On your way back from Don Sebastian's Hacienda, you stopped for water at Oak

Creek where you found the dying sparrow.

Oak Creek runs close to the Carvajal brothers' rancho where our horses drank.

No, Salute, you're not going to die.

Or go loco like the horses.

Luckily, you only drank enough to give yourself some severe stomach cramps.

But I've got to get a sample of that water before it kills someone else.

If Zorro was here, I've just got to prove it. There must be some way to do

There must.

I've got to get out of this miserable pueblo.

Wait a minute.

Well, the great folk hero has returned to the scene of his crime and his own

execution. Taking a sample of tainted water is hardly a crime, Alcalde.

No, but murder certainly is.

You see, Zorro, you've come back here to destroy any evidence linking you to the

murder of the Carvajal brothers.

You really do have an active imagination, Alcalde.

Thank you.

And now Madrid will promote me out of this miserable colonial post.

Because when you confronted me, I did only what I had to do.

Oh, yes.

So, if you're a God -fearing man, it would be an excellent time to pray.

Yes, well, now that my prayers have been answered, I still need a sample of that

water.

There's the bucket!

Go ahead and get it!

We've been through this before, Alco.

Oh, yes.

But since last we met, I visited Pedro Diamante in Mexico City to sharpen my

fighting technique.

Private lessons with Pedro Diamante?

What a lavish waste of money.

I'll show you what a lavish waste of money it was.

Please, allow me to show you.

So much

for good money after bad.

You're feeling better. Wonderful.

Look at this. I think I'm on the right track here.

Lead sulfate, a byproduct of the smelting process used in the lead mines

north of here. This is what poisoned you and killed the Carbajal brothers.

It's in the water on their ranch.

Now, how it got into the water, I'm not certain.

But several years ago, the mine operators sold large quantities of lead

to the local farmers to use as weed killer.

Yes, but the lead sulfate did more than kill the weeds.

It also killed the crops.

Yes, the farmers did return the weed killer and got their money back.

But the mine operators quickly covered their losses by selling the entire

shipment of lead sulfate to Luis Ramon.

Exactly.

It's time Zorro paid a visit to the one man who knew everything Luis Ramon was

up to.

I need some information.

This is a military barracks.

Do you know what would happen if I sound an alarm?

You will die.

Let's be very, very quiet.

Sergeant, I want you to cast your mind back to the time when our former

Luis Ramon, put large quantities of chemicals from the owners of the lead

just north of here.

Ah, si, si.

I remember because I had to drive the wagon all the way up to San Luis Obispo.

I had to collect some barrels full of some kind of powder that could stop

anything from growing.

What did Luis Ramon want with the powder?

Well, he wanted to buy some land in the Coenga Pass, but the people didn't want

to sell. They wanted to grow some crops.

That must have angered him.

Oh, made him very mad, till the very veins in his neck stood out.

He was going to spread this powder.

and make it impossible for anything to grow on that land.

And the land would drop in value until he could buy it for his son.

He never did it.

Why not?

Well, he was afraid.

He was afraid that you would find out and you would undermine his ambitions

the governor.

For once he was right.

So he told me to bury the barrels at Olo Creek.

But that was about...

Five years ago, Zorro. Why are you so interested now?

Those barrels contained lead sulfate.

The very thing that killed the Carvajal brothers.

They did?

But how?

Well, last winter's heavy rains ended a four -year drought.

The buried lead sulfate must have seeped into the underground springs feeding

Oak Creek and the well on the Carvajal Rancho.

Well, that... That means I killed them.

It was Luis Ramon's ignorance of the delicate balance of nature that killed

them. Help others to avoid the same fate.

How?

I will do anything.

Get me a garrison wagon full of explosives.

So, Rover, the Alcalde will shoot you on sight.

Then I have nothing to worry about.

You'll be driving the wagon.

Midnaving Mendoza!

Alatos!

Looks

like

it.

Yes, over.

Over there.

That's where I buried the barrels with powder.

But they used to be... Big trees over there with branches and leaves, and

was tall grass all around.

I don't understand.

Ignorance has dire consequences.

Well, what do we do now, Zorro?

For this piece of land?

Nothing. But if we can change the course of the underground streams running past

this point, all of the land to the south of us will be safe once more.

Maybe Zorro's planning to ambush us with our own explosives.

That's preposterous, Overman.

Ambush.

Well, Private, why don't you ride ahead to verify the trail, hmm?

Si, mi alcalde.

Lancers!

Zorro, Zorro, wait, please.

I'm part of the one who caused the problem around here. I should be the one

eliminate that problem.

Be my guest, Sergeant.

Too late for that, Zorro.

No, I can't do that now.

Not now.

Get out of the way, Sergeant.

No, I can't do that.

Zorro probably has a knife in Mendoza's back.

I can't let Zorro escape.

Shoot them both.

It's time for you to go, Sergeant. Just be sure to light those fuses.

You're going to be court -martialed for this, Sergeant.

Do you court -martial a man for making the entire region safe for future

settlement? What are you talking about?

Well, Sergeant Mendoza is responsible for eliminating a deadly poison that

killed the Carvajal brothers.

What?

No doubt Madrid will look with favor upon his commanding officer.

Congratulations, Alcalde. You should be proud of your astute leadership.

Yes.

Yes.

Thank you.

Thanks.

Juanito and I, really, we could have used some help.

Well, there was a bit of a celebration over at the tavern for Alcalde de Soto.

You know, he actually received a commendation from Madrid for doing away

the contamination caused by our former Alcalde.

That's incredible.

Ha! The only one who deserves a commendation from what I've heard is

Well, I'm sure all that's a bit of an exaggeration, Father.

Besides, cleaning up our land and water is really only one step.

Now we have to work on preventing future problems by learning to dispose of

things safely.

If that's true, Diego, then you just tell me how I dispose of all of these

infernal weeds.

Well, perhaps it's just a matter of perception, Father.

Perception?

They're a weed, Diego.

Well, look at it this way. The weeds are probably there for a reason.

I guess they're just plants whose virtues we have yet to discover.