r
outside--for the thermometer registered 150 deg.!

The two men quickly walked over to the airlock, entered, closed it
behind them, and opened the outer door. There was a slight rush of air,
as the pressure outside was a bit lower than that inside. There was a
singing in their ears, and they had to swallow several times to equalize
the pressure.

The guards at once fell into a double row on either side of them, and
the young officer strode ahead. He himself had curbed his curiosity
after the single startled glance he had given these strange men. Only
their hands were visible, for the cooling suits covered them almost
completely, but the strange pink color must indeed have been startling
to the eyes; also their dwarf stature, and the strange suits they wore.
The men of his little troop, however, as well as the people in the crowd
about them, were not so disinterested. They were looking in eager
amazement at these men who had just saved their city, these strange
small men with their queer pink skin. And most surprising of all,
perhaps, the inner thumb was missing from each hand!

But soon they had passed beyond the sight of the crowd, which was held
in check by a handful of the deep blue uniformed men.

"Those fellows would never hold such a Terrestrial crowd back if
visitors from another planet landed!" remarked Morey wonderingly.

"How do they know we are visitors from another planet?" Arcot objected.
"We suddenly appeared out of nowhere--they don't even know our direction
of approach. We might be some strange race of Venerians as far as they
know."

They walked briskly up to the massive gold and black entrance, and
passed through the great doors that seemed made of solid copper, painted
with some clear coating that kept the metal lustrous, the rich color
shining magnificently. They stood open wide now, as indeed they always
were. Even the giant Venerians were dwarfed by these mighty doors as
they passed through into an equally vast hall, a tremendous room that
must have filled all the front half of the ground floor of the gigantic
building, a hall of graceful columns that hid the great supporting
members. The stone, they knew, must serve the Venerians as marble serves
us, but it was a far more handsome stone. It was a rich green, like the
green of thick, heavy grass in summer when the rain is plentiful. The
color was very pleasing to the eye, and restful too. There was a
checker-board floor of this green stone,