"Who, then?"
"He!"
He had pronounced this word in a whisper, with religious fervour, casting a glance towards the east. He was speaking of the master, Bakunin the destroyer.
"He alone can give the thunderclap," he went on, "while your learned men, with their evolution, are mere cowards. Before three years are past, the International, under his orders, will crush the old world."
Étienne pricked up his ears in attention. He was burning to gain knowledge, to understand this worship of destruction, regarding which the engine-man only uttered occasional obscure words, as though he kept certain mysteries to himself.
"Well, but explain to me. What is your aim?"
"To destroy everything. No more nations, no more governments, no more property, no more God nor worship."
"I quite understand. Only what will that lead you to?"
"To the primitive formless commune, to a new world, to the renewal of everything."
"And the means of execution? How do you reckon to set about it?"