and proclaim the advent of the new era, she will forward a set of all the
documents I have confided to her--the formula of my explosive, the
drawings of the bomb and gun--to each of the great powers of the world.
In this wise I shall bestow on all the nations the terrible gift of
destruction and omnipotence which, at first, I wished to bestow on France
alone; and I do this in order that the nations, being one and all armed
with the thunderbolt, may at once disarm, for fear of being annihilated,
when seeking to annihilate others."

Pierre listened to him, gaping, amazed at this extraordinary idea, in
which childishness was blended with genius. "Well," said he, "if you give
your secret to all the nations, why should you blow up this church, and
die yourself?"

"Why! In order that I may be believed!" cried Guillaume with
extraordinary force of utterance. Then he added, "The edifice must lie on
the ground, and I must be under it. If the experiment is not made, if
universal horror does not attest and proclaim the amazing destructive
power of my explosive, people will consider me a mere schemer, a
visionary! . . . A lot of dead, a lot of blood, that is what is needed in
order that blood may for ever cease to flow!" Then, with a broad sweep of
his arm, he again declared that his action was necessary. "Besides," he
said, "Salvat left me the legacy of carrying out this deed of justice. If
I have given it greater scope and significance, utilising it as a means
of hastening the end of war, this is because I happen to be a man of
intellect. It would have been better possibly if my mind had been a
simple one, and if I had merely acted like some volcano which changes the
soil, leaving life the task of renewing humanity."

Much of the candle had now burnt away, and Guillaume at last rose from