The Minister looked at him. "I beg of you, M. Lambelle, never to divulge this secret to the Government of France, or to any other power. Take the risk of it being discovered in the future. I implore you to reconsider your original intention. If you desire money, I will see that you get what you want from the secret funds." Lambelle shrugged his shoulders. "I have no desire for money," he said; "but what you have seen will show you that I shall be the most famous scientist of the century. The name of Lambelle will be known till the end of the world." "But, my God, man!" said the Minister, "the end of the world is here the moment your secret is in the possession of another. With you or me it would be safe: but who can tell the minds of those who may follow us? You are putting the power of the Almighty into the hands of a man." 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. Now then, tell me: will you, as Minister of France, secure for your country this greatest of all inventions?" "Yes," answered the Minister; "no other power must be allowed to obtain the secret. Have you ever written down the names of the ingredients?" "Never," answered Lambelle. "Is it not possible for any one to have suspected what your experiments were? If a man got into your laboratory--a scientific man--could he not, from what he saw there, obtain the secret?" "It would be impossible," said Lambelle. "I have been too anxious to keep the credit for myself, to leave any traces that might give a hint of what I was doing." "You were wise in that," said the Minister, drawing a deep breath. "Now let us go and look at the ruins." As they neared the spot the official's astonishment at the extraordinary destruction became greater and greater. The rock had been rent as if by an earthquake, to the distance of hundreds of yards. "You say," said the Minister, "that the liquid is perfectly safe until evaporation takes place." "Perfectly," answered Lambelle. "Of course one has to be careful, as I told you, in the use of it. You must not get a drop on your clothes, or leave it anywhere on the outside of the bottle to evaporate." "Let me see the stuff." Lambelle handed him the bottle. "Have you any more of this in your laboratory?" "Not a drop." "If you wished to destroy this, how would you do it?" "I should empty the bottle into the Seine. It would flow down to the sea, and no harm would be done." "See if you can find any traces of the dog," said the Minister. "I will clamber down into the quarry, and look there." "You will find nothing," said Lambelle confidently.