This put the steward to a new taking; but the Don holding firm, he at length agreed to give us this note, upon Don Sanchez writing another affirming that he had seen Mrs. Godwin and her daughter in Barbary, and was going forth to fetch them, that should Mr. Richard Godwin come to claim the estate he might be justly put off.

And so this business ended to our great satisfaction, we saying to ourselves that we had done all that man could to redeem the captives, and that it would be no harm at all to put a cheat upon the miserly steward.  Whether we were any way more honest than he in shaping our conduct according to our inclinations is a question which troubled us then very little.

CHAPTER VI.

Moll is cast to play the part of a fine lady; doubtful promise for this undertaking.

On our way back to Greenwich we stayed at an inn by the road to refresh ourselves, and there, having a snug parlour to ourselves, and being seated about a fine cheese with each a full measure of ale, Don Sanchez asks us if we are satisfied with our undertaking.

“Aye, that we are,” replies Dawson, mightily pleased as usual to be a-feasting.  “We desire nothing better than to serve your honour faithfully in all ways, and are ready to put our hands to any bond you may choose to draw up.”

“Can you show me the man,” asks the Don, lifting his eyebrows contemptuously, “who ever kept a treaty he was minded to break?  Men are honest enough when nought’s to be gained by breaking faith.  Are you both agreed to this course?”

“Yes, Senor,” says I, “and my only compunction now is that I can do so little to forward this business.”

“Why, so far as I can see into it,” says Dawson, “one of us must be cast for old Mrs. Godwin, if Moll is to be her daughter, and you’re fitter to play the part than I, for I take it this old gentlewoman should be of a more delicate, sickly composition than mine.”

“We will suppose that Mrs. Godwin is dead,” says the Don, gravely.

“Aye, to be sure; that simplifies the thing mightily.  But pray, Senor, what parts are we to play?”

“The parts you have played to-day.  You go with me to fetch Judith Godwin from Barbary.”

“This hangs together and ought to play well; eh, Kit?”

I asked Don Sanchez how long, in the ordinary course of things an expedition of this kind would take.

“That depends upon accidents of many kinds,” answers he.  “We may very well stretch it out best part of a year.”

“A year,” says Jack, scratching his ear ruefully, for I believe he had counted upon coming to live like a lord in a few weeks.  “And what on earth are we to do in the meanwhile?”

“Teach Moll,” answers the Don.

“She can read anything print or scrip,” says Jack, proudly, “and write her own name.”

“Judith Godwin,” says the Don, reflectively, “lived two years in Italy.  She would certainly remember some words of Italian.  Consider this:  it is not sufficient merely to obtain possession of the Godwin estate; it must be held against the jealous opposition of that shrewd steward and of the presumptive heir, Mr. Richard Godwin, who may come forward at any time.”