When Zorro finds a few bandits' spoils, the loot includes a 'bundle of joy' they are glad to be rid of: a baby-girl, which is stolen, as Diego guesses right from the cloths, from Russian immigrants, who are flooding California at the time, and change the alcalde's mind from 'not interested' to 'alcalde's job' by posting a 500 peso reward. Poor Felipe is stuck sitting the cry-baby, so he literally begs Zorro to ride and get more willing help from senorita Victoria Escalante, who proves very maternal.

Desperate for a hiding place in the canyon, the wounded Zorro reminisces further how he showed Felipe his set-up in the hacienda's secret escape trough the fire-place to the hide-out cave. The alcalde's arrests of don Alejandro and Victoria Escalante and Mendoza's uttering that nothing scares soldiers more then the unknown inspired don Diego to invent the mysterious black-cloaked and -masked man, named after he cunning fox ('zorro' in Spanish) found in the hide-out by Felipe, who proved an ideal assistant once Diego found out the mute boy is not deaf.