The bomb appeared to have been prepared in a very rudimentary fashion; it had been charged with small pieces of iron, and fired by means of a match, such as a child might have devised.

The extraordinary part of the affair was the formidable power of the central cartridge, which, although it must have been a small one, had wrought as much havoc as any thunderbolt.

And the question was this: What incalculable power of destruction might one not arrive at if the charge were increased ten, twenty or a hundredfold.

Embarrassment began, and divergencies of opinion clouded the issue directly one tried to specify what explosive had been employed.

Of the three experts who had been consulted, one pronounced himself in favour of dynamite pure and simple; but the two others, although they did not agree together, believed in some combination of explosive matters.