He does not, cannot, know it.
At a sign from Engineer Serko the inventor has raised the phial.
The bugles sound louder and more strident.

It is the salute to the flag.

A flag unfurls to the breeze--the tricolor, whose blue, white and red sections stand out luminously against the sky.
Ah! What is this?
I understand! Thomas Roch is fascinated at the sight of his national emblem.

Slowly he lowers his arm as the flag flutters up to the mast-head.

Then he draws back and covers his eyes with his hand.
Heavens above! All sentiment of patriotism is not then dead in his ulcerated heart, seeing that it beats at the sight of his country's flag! My emotion is not less than his.