"A full twenty seconds must elapse from the moment I press the ball till the explosion takes place." "Phew!" whistled Ossipon, completely appalled.

"Twenty seconds! Horrors! You mean to say that you could face that?
I should go crazy--" "Wouldn't matter if you did.

Of course, it's the weak point of this special system, which is only for my own use.

The worst is that the manner of exploding is always the weak point with us.

I am trying to invent a detonator that would adjust itself to all conditions of action, and even to unexpected changes of conditions.