Don Ricardo Returns

In 1835, in Monterey, Alta California, the duplicitous Spaniard Luera is concerned because the ship on which he had his cousin, Don Ricardo, the owner of Rancho San Luis Rey, shanghaiied two years before, is finally returning to port. Determined to have Don Ricardo declared dead so that he can inherit his ranch and marry his fiancée, Dorotea, Luera orders his guards to go to the port and kill Don Ricardo on sight. Having jumped ship, Don Ricardo, meanwhile, appears in a cantina and, after becoming involved in a fight with the owner, is aided by Lugo the Huge, a childhood friend. Lugo recognizes the much-changed Don Ricardo by a scar on his face and pledges to help him. Lugo and Don Ricardo are then surprised by Capt. Martinez, the man whom Luera hired to shanghai Don Ricardo, and Luera's guards. Don Ricardo and Lugo quickly overwhelm their attackers, however, and force Martinez to implicate Luera in the kidnapping before letting him go. Later, after Lugo tells Don Ricardo that Luera has been putting his labels on goods produced at Dorotea's ranch, El Camino, Don Ricardo vows to find enough evidence to convict him. Martinez, meanwhile, is confronted by Luera and his vicious overseer, Miguel Porcoreno, and assures him that Don Ricardo drowned while trying to flee the ship. After Luera breaks the "news" to Dorotea, he prepares to leave for San Diego, where he will have Don Ricardo officially declared dead and himself the new proprietor of San Luis Rey. The faithful Dorotea refuses to believe that Don Ricardo is dead, however, and rejects Luera's explanation that he abandoned her in order to have "an adventure." Don Ricardo and Lugo, meanwhile, seek refuge in the local mission, which is run by Father Carlos. After Don Ricardo tells Father Carlos that he is planning to engage Luera in a duel with swords, the priest advises him to go incognito until he is ready to fight. To that end, Lugo and Don Ricardo, using the name Manuel, convince the unsuspecting Porcoreno to hire them as laborers at San Luis Rey. At the first opportunity, Don Ricardo sneaks into his house and retrieves his sword and the deed to the ranch. Soon after, Father Carlos secretly reunites Don Ricardo and Dorotea at the mission, and Dorotea, who has been honing her fencing skills with Luera, practices daily with her fiancé in preparation for the duel. When Luera finally returns from San Diego, having been made a don by the governor, Porcoreno reports to him that Dorotea has been meeting someone in secret. Angry and jealous, Luera rushes to see Dorotea at El Camino, while she sends a servant to fetch "Manuel" and Lugo at San Luis Rey. Before he can go to Dorotea, however, Don Ricardo is summoned by Porcoreno, who, having sensed that he is not an ordinary "peon," asks him to look over the ranch's account books. When Lugo arrives at El Camino, he tries to eavesdrop on Luera's conversation with Dorotea, but Luera orders him to leave. Lugo challenges Luera's authority, however, and slugs him, after which Luera tries to arrest Lugo and inadvertently provokes the workers to revolt. While the laborers create havoc at El Camino, Don Ricardo, having found the evidence he needs in Luera's account books, escapes from San Luis Rey and, dressed in his formal clothes, challenges his startled cousin to a duel. Luera agrees on condition that no seconds be present and the fight be to-the-death, but then resorts to unfair tactics in order to kill Don Ricardo after wounding him. With the help of Dorotea and Lugo, however, Don Ricardo gets the upper hand and corners Luera, who is then led off by a sergeant sent by Father Carlos. Later, with his land restored, Don Ricardo instructs the priest to announce his impending marriage to Dorotea.