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Coming up to the surface again, he said to the mild and benevolent scientist: "I cannot find a trace of the dog." "Nor can I," said Lambelle. "Of course when you can hardly find a sign of the building it is not to be expected that there should be any remnants of the dog." "Suppose we get back to the hill now and have lunch," said the Minister. "Do you wish to try another experiment?"
The dog was attached by the electric clip, and chained to a doorpost of one of the buildings. Lambelle then carefully uncorked his bottle, holding it at arm's length from his person. The Minister looked on with strange interest as Lambelle allowed the fluid to drip in a semicircular line around the chained dog.
He found himself believing in the extraordinary claims made by the inventor, and his thought dwelt on the awful possibilities of such an explosive. "Will you press the electric lever?" asked Lambelle quietly. "Remember that you are inaugurating a new era."
No Government has ever yet been successful in keeping the secret of either a gun or a gunpowder." "There is, of course," said Lambelle, "much in what you say; but, equally of course, all that you say might have been said to the inventor of gunpowder, for gunpowder in its day was as wonderful as this is now." Suddenly the Minister laughed aloud.
The inventor carefully re-corked the bottle, wiped it thoroughly with a cloth he had with him, and threw the cloth into one of the deserted houses. They waited near, until the spots caused by the fluid on the stone pavement in front of the house had disappeared. "By the time we reach the hill," said Lambelle, "it will be quite dry in this hot sun."
"Well, we'll try that after lunch. We have another dog left." When an hour had passed, Lambelle was anxious to try his quarry experiment. "By-and-by," he said, "the sun will not be shining in the quarry, and then it will be too late." "We can easily wait until to-morrow, unless you are in a hurry." "I am in no hurry," rejoined the inventor. "I thought perhaps you might be, with so much to do."
That evening, when the Minister drove to the railway station in time for his train, he found Lambelle waiting for him, holding, by a leash, two sorry-looking dogs. "Do you travel with such animals as these?" asked the Minister. "The poor brutes," said Lambelle, with regret in his voice, "are necessary for our experiments. They will be in atoms by this time to- morrow."
The devastation such a thing would cause, if it fell into unscrupulous hands, is too appalling even to contemplate." "I have thought of that," said the inventor; "but some one else the time may be far off or it may be near is bound to make the discovery. My whole ambition, as I told you in my letter, is to have my name coupled with this discovery. I wish it to be known as the Lambelle Explosive.
Lambelle flushed with pride as the pale-faced Minister said this. "You speak the truth!" he cried, "it is the power of Omnipotence." "Then," implored the Minister, "reconsider your decision." "I have labored too long," said Lambelle, "to forego my triumph now. You are convinced at last, I see.
When the inventor approached the quarry, leading the dog behind him, the Minister's hand trembled so that he was hardly able to hold the field-glass to his eye. Lambelle disappeared down the path. The next instant the ground trembled even where the Minister sat, and a haze of dust arose above the ruined quarry.
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