"No; he's of no nation at all. He belongs to a sort of mongrel breed, from the Rock of Gibraltar,--a cross of half the nations in Europe. They go by the name of Rock Scorpions. Speyer is a compound of German, Spanish, English, French, Genoese, and Moorish, and the result is the greatest rascal that ever went unhung. Still you ought to know him; he is a curiosity,--one of the men of the times. If you want to know the secret springs of the revolution that all the newspapers will be full of not many years from this, why, Speyer is one of them." "But is there not some risk in being in communication with such a man?" "Yes, if one isn't cautious. But, as I'll manage it, it will be perfectly safe." Vinal, though morbidly timorous as respected peril to life or limb, was not wholly deficient in the courage of the intriguer--a quality quite distinct from the courage of the soldier. Any thing which promised to show him human nature under a new aspect, or disclose to him a hidden spring of human action, had a resistless attraction in his eyes. He therefore assented to Richards's proposal, and promised that, at some more auspicious time, he would go with him to the patriot's lodging. CHAPTER XXX. Those travelled youths whom tender mothers wean And send abroad to see and to be seen, Have made all Europe's vices so well known, They seem almost as natural as our own.--_Churchill_. On the next morning, Vinal, Morton, and two other young Americans were seated together in the coffee room at Meurice's. They were discussing plans of travel. "Then you don't intend to stay long in Paris," said one of the strangers to Morton. "Not at present. I shall set out in a few days for Vienna, and then go down the Danube." "That's an original idea. What will you find there worth seeing?" "It's a fancy of mine. There is no place in Europe where one can see such a conglomerate of nations and races as in the provinces along the Danube. I like to see the human animal in all his varieties,--that's my specialty." "But what facilities will you find there for travelling?" "O, I shall be content with any that offer; the vehicles of the country, whatever they are. I don't believe in travelling _en grand seigneur_. By mixing with the people, and doing at Rome as the Romans do, one learns in a month more than he could learn in ten years by the other way." "You'll take your servant with you, I suppose." "No. I shall discharge him when I leave Paris." After conversing for some time longer, Morton and the two young men left the room, while Vinal still remained faithful to the attractions of his omelet. He was interrupted by the advent of the small man who had accosted Morton in the steamer, and had since favored him with his company from Liverpool to Paris. "Well, here's a pretty business, damned if there isn't," said the new arrival, seating himself indignantly. "What's the matter?" asked Vinal.