"You were saying that you had lived for some years at Berlin. Perhaps you can tell me who and what he is."
"I know of no Professor Henry Speyer at Berlin."
"This man, I am told, is well known as a philologist."
"There is a Henry Speyer who is a philologist, so far as speaking every language in Europe can make him one; but he was never a professor in Berlin or any where else."
Morton looked perplexed. The German studied his face for a moment, and then said,—
"You say that a friend of yours gave you letters from Henry Speyer to the men you just named?"
"Yes."
"I beg your pardon! Have you ever quarrelled with your friend? Are you on terms with your friend's mistress? or do you stand between your friend and a fortune?"
A cold thrill passed through Morton's frame. There was an approach to truth in both the two last suppositions.
"Either you are very much deeper than I know how to comprehend you, or else you are the victim of a plot."