Maestro's service
since he first began to be famous. He saved my life at the risk of his
own, and I have served him five years come the Feast of Saint John. I
therefore know that he is not a Sicilian counterfeiter! If you have any
means of reaching the Legate, therefore, it would be well to set him
right at once in this matter. He will be the more grateful, or, at
least, the less angry, if my master is detained in prison for a few
hours only.'

The innkeeper saw the wisdom of this, on the supposition that Cucurullo
was speaking the truth, but of that he was not quite sure. It was a bad
world, he reflected, and the counterfeiter might have a clever hunchback
for a servant, with a knack of fixing his eyes as Cucurullo did, and of
putting great earnestness into his tone. So far, the innkeeper had only
done what the law had required of him, except in the matter of turning
out two women who could not pay for their lodging, and in doing this
the law would support him. Monsignor Pelagatti was a tremendous
personage, who ruled the whole Marquisate of Ferrara in the name of the
Pope; he knew his business, or believed he did, and it was absurd to
think that a humble innkeeper and posting-master could influence him to
act upon the mere word of a serving-man.

On the other hand, it was unsafe to doubt a hunchback openly, and it
would be fatal to quarrel with him, because he could cast the spell of
the Evil Eye.

'I shall do my best,' the innkeeper replied, 'and far more readily for
your sake, my dear friend, than for my own, I assure you.'

Cucurullo smiled quietly, and seemed quite satisfied with this answer.
He now went on to ask questions about Ortensia and Pina, but the host
knew nothing, except that they had left the house together, immediately
after the arrest of Stradella. For obvious reasons he said nothing of
his interview with Pina. He declared that they had simply left the inn,
and that he had not hindered them. He had not seen them go out, and
could not tell whether they had turned to the north or the south. He
suggested that since they had gone away at once and without the least
hesitation, they probably had friends in Ferrara to whom they could turn
for protection and help in their difficulty. He was ready, he said, to
help Cucurullo to find them out; he would be only too happy to be of
use.

What he suggested was not unlikely. During the flight from Venice,
Cucurullo had observed Pina closely, and had come to