"They are noble boys!" cried the Ambassador, with enthusiasm. "They saved my son's life at the peril of their own, and with a manly daring which moves all men to admiration. London is ringing with their praises to-day; they are the heroes of the hour!" Then Don Diego intervened with an eager request that he might visit the sick-room. "It may not be, young sir," said Sir John. "You know they have a masterful young nurse in Mistress Susan Jefferay, and I myself have just been refused an interview with the boys by their stern guardian; they are to be kept in absolute quiet, she says, or Dr. Barnes will not answer for the consequences." So the visitors took their departure, Diego obtaining permission to return to Gray's Inn in the evening. Throughout that day visitors poured in at the Treasurer's lodgings with eager inquiries respecting the lads whose deed of daring had become public property from the moment when the Queen's guardship came to their rescue. To many of these visitors the lads were unknown personally, though their handsome faces and strongly knit bodies had attracted much observation in Gray's Inn and its neighbourhood. But Sir John was one of the leading men of the day; not only was he known to be a great lawyer, but he sat in Queen Mary's Parliament as a member for the City of London, and was fast becoming a strong leader among the members of the House who were silently ranging themselves as partisans of the young Princess Elizabeth. In the evening the young Spaniard, Don Diego, returned to the Inn, and he brought news with him which Susan promised to impart to her brothers at the earliest possible moment. Diego had gone down the Thames that morning on board a guardship in the hope of discovering the hulk to which his captors would have taken him, but his efforts had been useless. There were many suspicious-looking hulks moored on the banks of the stream, but he had no means of identifying the one he sought. When the twins were themselves again, they would make another attempt; he had been lying in the bottom of the boat, fast bound, when one of his captors had endeavoured to moor the boat alongside the hulk. But he had other news. The watermen had picked up the bodies of the two ruffians who had leapt overboard—they had paid the due penalty of their crime. The hour was growing late when the young Spaniard took his leave, and the wearied Treasurer was just congratulating himself that the labours of the day were over, when the valet once more presented himself in the library. "Another visitor—and at this late hour!" said Sir John, somewhat impatiently. "Make my excuses, Robin," he continued; "say that I have retired to rest." "Yes, Sir John", said Robin, yet he lingered as if he had something further to say. "What is it, man?" said Sir John, perceiving Robin's hesitation.