comparison between them."

"Can you give me any idea as to its strength?"

I hesitated. "According to my calculations," I said slowly, "it ought
to prove at least twenty times as powerful as gun-cotton."

Savaroff uttered a hoarse exclamation and sat upright in his seat.

"Are you speaking the truth?" he asked roughly.

I stared him full in the face, and then without answering turned back
to McMurtrie.

The latter made a gesture with his hand. "Leave the matter to me,
Savaroff," he said sharply. "I understand Mr. Lyndon better than you
do." Then addressing me: "Supposing you had all the things that you
required, how long would it take you to manufacture some of this
powder--or whatever it is?"

"It's difficult to say," I answered. "Perhaps a week; perhaps a couple
of months. I could make the actual stuff at once provided I had the
materials, but it's a question of doing it in such a way that one can
handle it safely for practical purposes. I was experimenting on that
very point at the time of my arrest."

McMurtrie nodded his head slowly. "You have been candid with us,"
he said, "and now I will be equally candid with you. My friend M.
Savaroff and myself are very largely interested in the manufacture
of high explosives. The appearance of an invention like yours on the