“You allude to the powders, I suppose, Baudoin?”
“Yes, sir, I am aware that you possess the formulæ. Can nothing be stolen which would place the one who should be audacious enough to attempt the coup, in possession of the secret?”
“The powders, even the formulæ might be stolen, Baudoin, without the secret being discovered. There is a peculiar trick of manipulation the General revealed to me, which alone constitutes the real value of the discovery.”
“All the same, it was to obtain possession of the formulæ that my master was killed.”
“No, Baudoin, he was killed because he refused to tell the proportions of the ingredients. It was madness at finding himself deceived that inspired the murderer’s arm. He imagined he could substitute his own for the genius of the inventor, and find out the mixtures himself. He wished to storm the mystery and brutalize science. It was then the General was struck.”
“Is it not possible he may try again?”
“Is he even alive? Come, Baudoin, are you attempting to discover some relation, however far-fetched, between these disturbances, which are putting the whole district in commotion, and this powder affair?”
“I know nothing; but I am on my guard against everything that appears of a suspicious nature. There are strangers in the works. It is they who lead the strikers. Strangers were also in the powder affair. Mon Dieu! I may be stupid, sir, but I would give a great deal to be safe back in Paris with you.”
“You are very imaginative, Baudoin.”
“Well, then, as I see you are determined to pay no attention to what I say, I should be glad, sir, if you would give me the key of the laboratory. I will keep watch by day, and sleep there by night. In that way I shall be more completely at ease.”