Suddenly he held them out towards his guest. The shining light had returned to his eyes. Again had mounted to that splendid brain the hot desire to speak from the bottom of his heart.
"Take them! Take them!" he cried passionately. "They are my children. I give them for the world. They must grow, and do for the world all that I have dreamed of into their creation. They are the plans, drawn and written in English by my own hands. No eyes but mine have seen them, and there are no others in existence. They are the plans of the U-rays light, which, by taking from them the cylinders you brought away, I have robbed Germany of the use of, and the plans of this submersible. Safeguard them as you would your life, and lose not a moment in forcing your slow country to construct. We have agreed that you have ten years, and in ten years you can do much, if you do not let your country meanwhile sleep."
Ruxton took the proffered rolls and held them a moment while his eyes rested introspectively upon the seals.
"And the price?" he demanded, in a firm voice.
"The price! Himmel, the price!" The Prince threw up his hands in a gesture of dismay. "The price!" he repeated. "The price when humanity stands at the threshold of disaster! Ach! You are a true Englishman."
He rose from his seat and moved hurriedly across to his stateroom. At the door he paused and turned.
"There is no price," he said, and his big eyes were alight with a whimsical smile.