"You could try to drive me off," suggested the other.
There was no answer for a time, then the tall figure muttered reflectively to itself.
"After all—he's an Englishman."
"I don't think myself invincible on that account," observed Cosmo calmly.
"I know. I have fought against English soldiers in Buenos Ayres. I was only thinking that, to give the devil his due, men of your nation don't consort with spies or love tyranny either. . . . Tell me, is it true that you have only been two hours in this town?"
"Perfectly true."
"And yet all the tyrants of the world are your allies," the shadowy man pursued his train of thought half aloud.
The no less shadowy traveller remarked quietly into the gathering night:
"You don't know who my friends are."
"I don't, but I think you are not likely to go with a tale to the Austrian spies or consort with the Piedmontese sbirri. As to the priests who are poking their noses everywhere, I . . ."