"No, I don't," replied Uncle Brian. "It will only be an additional inducement for small nations to defy their greater neighbours. The primal instinct can never be destroyed, but the means of waging war ought to be controlled. According to the prophets, wars of the future will resemble a prize fight with poisoned rings hidden in the pugilists' gloves."
"Supposing, as is quite possible," objected Peter, "this invention of yours is perfected? What if there's an antidote—what then?"
Uncle Brian shrugged his shoulders—a habit he had acquired from his Rioguayan neighbours.
"That's what I am dreading," he replied. "Meanwhile, I'm going ahead with this gadget. Now you see why I'm keen on your flying. Obviously, I couldn't experiment upon a machine in charge of a Rioguayan pilot. He'd smell a rat. But I can try it in a flying-boat piloted by you, even if there is a crew on board. There would be no danger, since I can control the rays before you are obliged to make a forced landing. I'll see Jaurez in the morning and ask him when you will be sufficiently trained to take charge. We'll give you a week's practice from then and by that time I'll be ready for the big test. Are you game?"
"Rather!" replied Peter.
They spent another hour overhauling the apparatus, Uncle Brian carefully explaining the nature and use of the various component parts until his nephew had a clear and comprehensive insight into the mysteries of the new anti-aircraft device.
Then little Timothy was released from his box to resume his duties of guardian of the experimental room, and Brian Strong and his nephew, having locked the door, returned to the house.
Peter had another restless night. He was not altogether satisfied that Uncle Brian's secret would be all that it claimed to be. Unconsciously, he placed himself in the position of Uncle Brian's rival and thought out schemes to counteract the blighting influence of the mysterious rays. Must an aeroplane engine always be fired electrically? he asked himself. Is a magneto or a battery and trembler-coil a sine qua non for the work? It was quite within the bounds of possibility that a dynamo-driven engine might be produced, receiving its current by means of a wireless current. Or there was the hot-bulb engine—far too heavy in its present form for aerial work, but was it too much to expect that in the near future it could be reduced in weight and bulk without any sacrifice of horse-power?
"I hope Uncle Brian isn't putting all his eggs into one basket," he soliloquized. "By Jove! I'll try a little experiment on my own account. It will be rough luck on Uncle Brian if it comes off; but better now than later."
And with the new-born plan maturing in his active mind, Peter lay awake until pink hues in the eastern sky heralded the dawn of yet another strenuous day.