"What kind of plot?" demanded the startled Morton; "who is Speyer, and who are the other men?"
"I will tell you. Speyer is an intriguer, a revolutionist, a man in every way infamous. As for his being a professor, he is no more a professor than he is a prime minister, and you may ascribe what motives you please to your friend for giving him the name. He dares not set foot in Austria. If he did, it would go very hard with him. The other men are of the same kidney—his aiders, abetters, fellow conspirators; known or suspected to be plotting for the overthrow of the government."
"Then why are they at liberty?"
"Do you call it liberty to be day and night under the eye of the police—to be dogged and watched every hour of their lives? They serve as a sort of decoy. All who hold communication with them are noted down as dangerous; and my only wonder is, that you have not before this heard from the police."
"And what would you advise me to do?"
"Get out of Austria as soon and as quietly as you can. When you have passed the frontier you will be safe, and not before."
CHAPTER XXXVI.
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Monsieur, j'ai deux mots à vous dire; Messieurs les maréchaux, dont j'ai commandement, Vous mandent de venir les trouver promptement, Monsieur.—Le Misanthrope. |
That evening Morton arrived at the post house at ——. He was alone, his companion of the morning, whose route lay in another direction, having left him long before. At the head of the ancient staircase, the host welcomed him with a "good night," and ushered him into a large, low, wooden room, where some thirty men and women were smoking, eating, and lounging among the tables and benches. Old Germans talked over their beer pots, and puffed at their pipes; young ones laughed and bantered with the servant girls. A Frenchman, en route for Laibach, gulped down his bowlful of soup, sprang to the window when he heard the postilion's horn, bounded back to finish his tumbler of wine, then seized his cane, and dashed out in hot haste. A small, prim student strutted to the window to watch him, pipe in hand, and an amused grin on his face; then turned to roar for more beer, and joke with the girl who brought it.