"Let us see your other coins," said Lecchio.
"Sir!" cried Rowena.
"That we may see if they be genuine," he said, menacingly.
"I assure you that they are," said Rowena.
"Let them be examined," said Lecchio, "that a determination in the matter may be made."
"He is certified by the Builders," Chino reminded them.
"Will it be necessary to remove them from you by force, for the tests?" asked Lecchio.
"No," said Rowena. She, then, and the others, handed over their purses to Lecchio, under the watchful eye of the suspicious Petrucchio.
"Now then, too," said Lecchio, grimly, "your secret purses, those concealed in your clothes, those strapped to your left thighs."
The girls, protesting, squeaking with outrage, turned away from the men, bending over and thrusting about under their cumbersome robes of concealment. More purses and packets were delivered to Lecchio.
"And now, ladies," said he, "your most secret purses."
"No!" the cried, outraged.
"Or we must make our own probes," he said.
"Oh, oh!" they cried in misery, and turned away again. Three more coins were produced for Lecchio. The women then, angrily, smoothed down their garments.
"Do you have any more?" asked Chino, in assistance to Lecchio.
"No!" said Rowena.
"Are you sure?" asked Chino.
"Yes!" cried Rowena. "We are now as coinless as slaves!"
"Excellent," said Chino.
"Excellent!" cried Rowena.
"Yes," said Chino. "And it is interesting that you should put it just that way."
"What mean you, Sir?" demanded Rowena.
"Oh, nothing," said Chino.
Lecchio, this time, it seemed, could make his determinations with little more than a cursory glance. "These coins are genuine," he said.
"Certainly they are!" cried Rowena.
"But they are doubtless stolen," said Lecchio, gravely.
"What!" cried Rowena.
"What is the amount?" inquired Chino.
"Three double tarns, fifteen tarns, eighteen silver tarsks, twenty-seven copper tarsks, and one hundred and five tarsk-bits," said Lecchio.
"It is as I feared!" cried Chino.
"Precisely," said Lecchio.
"I do not understand," said Petrucchio.
"That is the exact amount of money stolen from the vintner, Groppus, of Pseudopolis."
"Ah!" cried Petrucchio, scandalized.
"It could, of course, be a coincidence," said Chino. "When did you leave Pseudopolis?"
"Two days ago, in the afternoon," said Petrucchio.
"It was just two days ago, in the morning, that the theft took place," said Lecchio.
"It could be a coincidence," suggested Chino.
"Of course," agreed Lecchio.
"This is absurd!" cried Rowena.
"It is our money!" cried Lady Telitsia.
"Give it back to us!" cried Bina.
"Be patient, ladies," said Chino. "-if ladies you truly be."
"What means this 'if ladies you truly be'?" asked Petrucchio.
"It has to do with our suspicions," said Chino.
"What suspicions?" inquired Petrucchio, anxiously.
"Oh, nothing," said Chino, evasively.
"Speak, fellow!" cried Petrucchio, yanking at his sword. Then he gave up the attempt, it apparently being stuck in the sheath.
"You have know these women personally, of course, for several years?" said Chino.
"No," said Petrucchio. "I am actually from Turia."
"It is probably nothing," said Chino, reassuringly.
"Give us back our money!" cried Rowena.
"Speak!" demanded Petrucchio.
"It is only that two days ago, in the morning," said Chino, "in Pseudopolis, a sum of three double tarns, fifteen tarns, eighteen silver tarsks, twenty-seven copper tarsks, and one hundred and five tarsk-bits was stolen from the vintner, Groppus, by three female slaves masquerading as free women, reported to be heading in this direction, clad in garments precisely like those, on this road."
"That is the exact sum discovered on these women, it is not?" asked Petrucchio.
"Why, yes, it is," said Lecchio, apparently quickly checking the matter.
"And many other things, too, seem to tally," said Petrucchio, alarmed.
"It could all be a coincidence," said Lecchio.
"Of course," hastily agreed Chino.
"Perhaps to you it might all seem a coincidence," said Petrucchio, "but to one such as I, one of the caste of warriors, one trained in wariness and discernment, it seems there might be more to it."
"Oh," asked Chino, interested.
"Yes," said Petrucchio.
"There is no vintner, Groppus, in Pseudopolis!" said Rowena.
"They are also reputed to be splendid liars," said Chino.
"I suspect that these three women with me might not be precisely what they seem," hinted Petrucchio, darkly.
"What!" cried Chino.
"What!" cried Lecchio.
"I think it is possible," said Petrucchio, confidentially, to Chino and Lecchio, "that these very women with me may be the escaped slaves of whom you speak."
"No!" cried Chino.
"No!" cried Lecchio.
"Think," said Petrucchio to them. "It was false coins they offered me in return for my services. Surely that is suspicious, if nothing else. Similarly the resources pooled among them, as we have ascertained, total the exact amount purloined from the wronged Groppus of Pseudopolis. Too, the theft took place just shortly before we left the city, thus permitting them to be in the place of the crime itself, and then giving them time to flee the city. Too, there are three of them, and they are heading on this road, in this direction, in exactly those garments."
Chino and Lecchio looked at one another, frightened, impressed.
Petrucchio then stood upright, and twirled his mustaches, meaningfully.
"What should we do?" asked Chino, looking to Petrucchio, naturally enough, in the situation, for guidance.
"Surely, for one thing," said Lecchio, "we must keep this money, until it can be determined who its proper owner, or owners, may be."
"That is for certain," agreed Petrucchio.
"Give us back our money," said Lady Telitsia.
Petrucchio turned about and looked sternly upon the women. They huddled together under this fierce gaze, drawing back.
Lecchio and Chino hastily poured the coins into their wallets.
"Are you all free women?" asked Petrucchio.
"Certainly!" said Rowena.
"Certainly!" said Lady Telitsia.
"Certainly!" cried Bina.
"What were the names of the escaped slaves?" asked Petrucchio of Chino and Lecchio.
"Lana, Tana and Bana," said Chino, quickly.
"Yes, that is right," said Lecchio.
"Are you Lana, Tana and Bana?" asked Petrucchio.
"No," cried Rowena. "I am the Lady Rowena of Pseudopolis!"
"And I am the Lady Telitsia of Pseudopolis!" said Lady Telitsia.
"And I the Lady Bina of Pseudopolis!" said Bina.
There was some laughter at this from the audience, for «Bina» is a not uncommon slave name. The word «bina» is generally used to designate very pretty beads, but beads which, nonetheless, are cheap, common, and simple. They are usually of painted wood or glass. With such beads common slaves, if they are sufficiently pleasing, might hope to be permitted to adorn themselves. Sometimes slave girls fight fiercely over such beads. The best simple translation of «bina» is "slave beads." In the context of the play, of course, the audience took her, like the others, for the free woman she was supposed to be.
"It seems our suspicions are unfounded," said Petrucchio, relieved, "for these are not Lana, Tana, and Bana, miserable escaped slaves, but the ladies Rowena, Telitsia and Bina, of Pseudopolis."