Cromwell laughed, but not in recklessness—in pride.
'How can you afford to travel, then?' asked Scheffer.
'Oh, I shall go as some other good fellows have gone—on foot; for I shall work my passage, and get somehow from Havre to Paris.'
'What next?'
'Hard work, you know.'
'Yes; I know what hard work means. But do you? Such hard work as this will be?'
'Do you take me for a dunce? Of course I know; and I shall tell you how I did it, five years from now.'
Then Scheffer said, not hesitating—for anything like a doubtfulness of manner on his part would have defeated his design:
'I want to invest some money, Harry. Take a couple of hundred for me, and buy some of the specimens; or find them, if you like that better. You shall sell them, when you get back, and pay me a percentage, whatever you can afford.'
There was no delay in the answer. It had all the readiness, and the sound, of sincerity.