Another problem looms for Zorro when an arrogant stranger arrives in the pueblo and demands the help of Don Alejandro. Felipe Basilio has been sent by the Spanish government to sell bonds to the local citizens in order to help finance the Spanish war effort, but he gets off to a bad start by interrupting Sergeant Garcia's birthday party and throwing his pinata into the trash. Basilio also angers the townspeople by telling them they must buy the bonds, and a Capitan Mendoza arrives to enforce his order. The newcomers try to force Alejandro to persuade the peons, but they must resort to force when sales lag due to the unreasonable levies they have placed on their victims. One such person is the innkeeper, of whom they demand 250 pesos. Basilio is attracted to Moneta, the daughter of a wealthy landowner, and the two visitors temporarily delay their demands. Garcia draws Basilio's wrath by sneaking into the tavern to recover his pinata, and the visitor decides to make his strength known by placing the sergeant in the town stocks. Zorro avenges this humiliation by forcing Basilio to free Garcia, and then places him in the stocks instead.
