Sentence:  Here Godfroy nodded pleasantly to Claude, who bowed, and was off— / —In a <WSD>jiffy</WSD> to his men, who greeted him with loud hurrahs. In another <WSD>jiffy</WSD>, he was on a barrel, making them an oration. In another <WSD>jiffy</WSD>, he had hold of a horse, somehow—for the man had contrived already to make himself so popular in Viot, that he could have anything he liked for the asking. ["Footnote":  <WSD>"Jiffy</WSD>".—Let not the reader scorn the word; it is in Webster. "<WSD>"Jiffy</WSD>, a moment.""—"Webster."] 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  A very short, unspecified length of time. (from 1780.)