e prisoner, and the strictness of the
catchpolls. Lope was thrust into a narrow cell in the prison, with a
doubly grated window, and the wounded man was taken to the infirmary,
where the surgeon pronounced his case extremely dangerous.

The alguazil took home the two asses with him, besides five pieces of
eight which had been found on Lope. Tomas returned greatly disconcerted
to the inn, where he found the landlord in no better spirits than
himself, and gave him an account of the condition in which he had left
his comrade, the danger of the wounded man, and the fate of the ass. "To
add to the misfortune," said he, "I have just met a gentleman of Burgos,
who tells me that my master will not now come this way. In order to make
more speed and shorten his journey by two leagues, he has crossed the
ferry at Aceca; he will sleep to-night at Orgaz, and has sent me twelve
crowns, with orders to meet him at Seville. But that cannot be, for it
is not in reason that I should leave my friend and comrade in prison and
in such peril. My master must excuse me for the present, and I know he
will, for he is so good-natured that he will put up with a little
inconvenience rather than that I should forsake my comrade. Will you do
me the favour, senor, to take this money, and see what you can do in
this business. While you are spending this, I will write to my master
for more, telling him all that has happened, and I am sure he will send
us enough to get us out of any scrape."

The host opened his eyes a palm wide in glad surprise to find himself
indemnified for the loss of his ass. He took the money and comforted
Tomas, telling him that he could make interest with persons of great
influence in Toledo, especially a nun, a relation of the corregidor's,
who could do anything she pleased with him. Now the washerwoman of the
convent in which the nun lived had a daughter, who was very thick indeed
with the sister of a friar, who was hand and glove with the said nun's
confessor. All he had to do, then, was to get the washerwoman to ask her
daughter to get the monk's sister to speak to her brother to say a good
word to the confessor, who would prevail on the nun to write a note to
the corregidor begging him to look into Lope's business, and then,
beyond a doubt, they might expect to come off with flying colours; that
is provided the water-carrier did not die of his wound, and provided
also there was no lack of stuff to grease the palms of all the