It is announced that Prince Hugo will be visiting the castle. Swiftnick plans to rob the coach taking Prince Hugo to the castle, but does not want to use any of Moses' inventions, as he feels they never work.
Meanwhile, Sir John wants to please Prince Hugo, as it will make him and the castle look good. Being aware that Prince Hugo is keen on torture, he instructs his inventor to build an ultimate torture machine – only problem is, Sir John drowned his inventor last week! He therefore hires Moses, and gives him a short deadline in which to build his machine, threatening to drown him as well if his invention is not ready on time, or does not work.
When Prince Hugo arrives, he complains about having been stopped in the forest by Swiftnick (an attempt which obviously failed). He suggests that a good way to test the new torture machine would be to capture Swiftnick by sundown, and use it on him.
At the same time, Swiftnick plans to rescue Moses, feeling that his invention is sure to malfunc
