WAS HIS SAVIOR SAINT—OR SATAN?
The trickling golden sand in the hourglass reveals to Don Carlos de la Mendoza, young nobleman and attorney, that the last hour of his life, if he did not swerve in his determination, is more than half gone...
Don Carlos, born of noble blood in the Spanish province of Sevilla, had hoped to achieve resounding success in the New World. But neither Mexico nor Alta California, at that time a colony of Spain, had offered him any opportunities for advancement. Death by his own hand seem the only way out.
Then comes a knock at the door, and fate intervenes in the shape of a beggar with a message and a packet. The note, signed "El Diablo," advises Don Carlos to be of "...stout heart...use the contents of the casket as capital for investment and gain...put aside half of all profits for the writer, and hold until demand is made for it..."
From that moment success seems to come magically to Don Carlos. But readers who remember The Mark of Zorro can be sure that difficulties and perils, along with the love of the courageous Señorita Carmencita, will plague his path.
Once again Johnston McCulley's romantic verve and sense of the dramatic combine in a thrilling combination of romance and swordplay, that only ends when the true face of Señor El Diablo is unmasked.