to the Mokart scale. This apparently was their
council chamber."

"What are those rectangular stone blocks depending from the ceiling?" I
said.

Mason turned the light beam upward. "I don't know," he said. "But my
guess is that they are burial vaults. Perhaps the creatures were
ornithoid."

Away from the flash the floor of the plaisance appeared to be a great
mirror that caught our reflections and distorted them fantastically and
horribly. We saw then that it was a form of living mold, composed of
millions of tiny plants, each with an eye-like iris at its center. Those
eyes seemed to be watching us, and as we strode forward, a great sigh
rose up, as if in resentment at our intrusion.

There was a small triangular dais in the center of the chamber, and in
the middle of it stood an irregular black object. As we drew nearer, I
saw that it had been carved roughly in the shape of this central
building and that it was in a perfect state of preservation.

Mason walked around this carving several times, examining it curiously.

"Odd," he said. "It looks to be an object of religious veneration, but I
never heard before of a race worshipping a replica of their own living
quarters."

Suddenly his voice died off. He bent closer to the black stone, studying
it in the light of the powerful ato-flash. He got a small magnifying
glass out of his pocket and focused it on one of the miniature
bas-reliefs midway toward the top of the stone. Unfastening his geologic
hammer from his belt, he managed, with a sharp, swinging blow, to break
off a small protruding piece.

He drew in his breath sharply, and I saw his face go pale. I stared at
him in alarm.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

He motioned that I follow and led the way silently past the others
toward the stair shaft. Climbing to the top level was a heart-pounding
task, but Mason almost ran up those steps. At the surface he leaned
against a pillar, his lips quivering spasmodically.

"Tell me I'm sane, Bagley," he said huskily. "Or rather, don't say
anything until we've seen Norris. Come on. We've got to see Norris."

* * * * *

All the way back to the _Marie Galante_, I sought to soothe him, but he
was a man possessed. He rushed up the ship's gangway, burst into central
quarters and drew up before Navigator Norris like a runner stopping at
the tape.

"You damned lying hypocrite!" he yelled.

Norris looked at him in his quiet way. "Take it eas