During a ride with Rebecca, Ivanhoe’s friend Wamba the jester is kidnapped by two mysterious masked horsemen. Ivanhoe immediately receives a message from the kidnappers. They will exchange Wamba for a large sum of gold. There can be no doubt – Prince John is behind the kidnapping. It is a ploy to keep Ivanhoe from collecting the ransom needed to free King Richard. To his friends astonishment, Ivanhoe agrees to pay Wamba’s kidnappers, and goes off to hand over the money himself. But our hero is not a man who surrenders to blackmailers without a fight.