I looked at him, I suppose, interrogatively, for he went on to say—
“Among your kings who is the most powerful? Is it not he who possesses the deadliest weapons and can use them with the most facility and precision?”
I said nothing for a moment, for I knew he was misleading me, or perhaps I should not say I knew, but I felt so, not indeed because of any opinion that I had [198] ]formed about the purpose of the cultivated germs, but because of the profound distrust with which he had inspired me. Then, as he seemed to be waiting for my reply I said briefly, “I have no doubt at all of your power.”
“Very well,” he said; “we shall see to-morrow if you are worthy to share it.”
I said nothing. The words that formed themselves in my mind were, “I hope that I am not sufficiently unworthy,” but for obvious reasons I kept silence.
Then he said, “We meet here to-morrow two hours before noon, and now you can return to your friend; I can see him coming towards us on the stair.”
I could not see, for I had left the glass in the car; but I exchanged a parting salute with my companion, walked slowly to the stair and began to ascend it. Before beginning the ascent I had seen Jack standing half way up the stair, looking towards me.
After a hearty grip of the hand we turned back and walked slowly towards the pathway that we had taken on the second morning of our stay here. We spoke almost in whispers. I gave Jack a brief account of what I had seen. He said that it indicated something of which we could hardly guess the whole import, but he agreed with me that such import was probably as bad as it could be.
[199] “We must try to escape,” he said, “as soon as possible. I know now exactly how to work and steer the cars, and I know, too, how to lay my hands on a second battery.”
“What do we want with a second battery?” said I.