22
Krakatit
Prokop read the formula aloud. Then Professor Wald stood up and suddenly said in a voice which was somehow completely different: “How does it run?”
Prokop repeated the formula.
“Tetrargon?” inquired the professor rapidly. “How much Pb?”
“Two.”
“How is it prepared?” inquired the voice, this time extraordinarily close. “The method! How is it prepared? How? How do you prepare Krakatit?”
Prokop opened his eyes. Thomas was bending over him with a pencil and notebook in his hand and breathlessly watching his lips.
“What?” mumbled Prokop uneasily. “What do you want? How . . . is it prepared?”
“You’ve got some strange idea into your head,” said Thomas and hid the notebook behind his back. “Sleep, man, sleep.”
