"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 dogs were put into the railway-van, and the inventor brought his
portmanteau with him into the private carriage reserved for the use of
the Minister.

The place, as the Minister of War had said, was desolate enough. The
stone buildings near the edge of the deserted quarry were stout and
strong, although partly in ruins.

"I have here with me in my portmanteau," said Lambelle, "some hundreds
of metres of electric wire. I will attach one of the dogs by this clip,
which we can release from a distance by pressing an electric button.
The moment the dog escapes he will undoubtedly explode the compound."

The insulated wire was run along the ground to a distant elevation. 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. 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.