"Perfectly. I was just trying to collect my thoughts. So you want a sectional plan of the Manhattan, showing where her armor is thinnest," he said slowly. "Well, supposing I make one, what is there in it for me?"
"That depends on the success of the grand project," was the rejoinder.
Ned looked puzzled. Into the anarchist's eyes there had come the same glare of fanatical fire that Herc had noted there before.
"What is this grand project, if I may ask?" he said presently.
"You may ask," was the reply, "but I shall not answer. The accomplishment itself shall be your reply—and the world's."
The man had risen to his feet and was pacing up and down the cabin excitedly. Suddenly he turned sharply.
"I shall ask for your reply in half an hour," he said abruptly, and plunged, rather than mounted, up the cabin stairs.
Ned sat lost in thought after his departure. After a long period of speechlessness, Herc spoke.
"What are you thinking about, Ned?" he asked.