"Speyer has come out to America. There is not a country in Europe but has grown too hot for him. He was under surveillance in Paris, all the time I knew him." "When did he come?" "Six or eight months ago." "Where is he to be found?" "In New York, chiefly. If you could have caught him when he was here in Boston, in the spring, you might have got something out of him; for he seemed flush of money." "What, after you saw him with Vinal?" "Yes." "Have you seen him more than once in Boston?" "Yes, two or three times." "Is he in New York now?" "I suppose so; but I would not advise your trying to do any thing with him. You had better pocket your loss, and let him go. However, if you want to try, I can refer you to a man who can probably help you to find his whereabouts." "Thank you; there's no harm in making the attempt. I don't know Speyer well. What kind of man is he?" "Well, I will draw his portrait for you. He is sly as a fox; always contriving, plotting, and working under ground. Intrigue is his native element. He takes to it like a chameleon to air, or a salamander to fire." "An artful, managing fellow, not bold enough to make a direct attack?" "Bold! There is nothing on the earth, or under it, that he fears. He will not make a direct attack, if he can help it, because it is against his instinct; but press upon him--crowd him a little--and he will show his teeth like a Bengal tiger. He is always in hot water; for he never could be happy out of it. He has his weaknesses, though. A woman whom he takes a fancy to can turn him round her finger. I never knew a man so desperate in that way, or such a devil incarnate when a fit of jealousy seizes him." "You draw a flattering likeness of your friend," said Morton." "O," said Richards, laughing, "I cut half my foreign acquaintance, now that I am at home." Before leaving his new companion, Morton obtained from him the name and direction of the person of whom he had spoken as likely to know where Speyer was to be found. Left alone at length, he pondered on what he had heard:-- "So Vinal applied to Richards, to learn Speyer's address, when he wrote to him to report me dead. Speyer in America!--having interviews with Vinal!--and flush of money! Can it be possible that this agent of his villany has become the instrument of his punishment?--that the Furies are already on his track? If Speyer kept Vinal's letter, as, under the circumstances, such a calculating knave would be apt to do, he has that in his hands which would make my friend open his purse strings; yes, make him coin his life blood, to satisfy him. It is past doubting; Vinal has it now; this cormorant is preying upon him." That afternoon Morton took the night train to New York, in search of Speyer. CHAPTER LVII. Though those that are betrayed Do feel the treason sharply, yet the traitor Stands in worse case of woe.--_Cymbeline_.