When they returned to the heap of powdered wood which had been the desk, Smith spied a long work-bench under a nearby window.  There they found a very ordinary vise, in which was clamped a piece of metal; but for the dust, it might have been placed there ten minutes before.  On the bench lay several tools, some familiar to the engineer and some entirely strange.  A set of screw-drivers of various sizes caught his eye.  He picked them up, and again experienced the sensation of having wood turn to dust at his touch.  The blades were whole.

Still searching, the engineer found a square metal chest of drawers, each of which he promptly opened.  The contents were laden with dust, but he brushed this off and disclosed a quantity of exceedingly delicate instruments.  They were more like dentists’ tools than machinists’, yet plainly were intended for mechanical use.

One drawer held what appeared to be a roll of drawings.  Smith did not want to touch them; with infinite care he blew off the dust with the aid of his oxygen pipe.  After a moment or two the surface was clear, but it offered no encouragement; it was the blank side of the paper.

There was no help for it.  Smith grasped the roll firmly with his pliers —­and next second gazed upon dust.

In the bottom drawer lay something that aroused the curiosity of all three.  These were small reels, about two inches in diameter and a quarter of an inch thick, each incased in a tight-fitting box.  They resembled measuring tapes to some extent, except that the ribbons were made of marvelously thin material.  Van Emmon guessed that there were a hundred yards in a roll.  Smith estimated it at three hundred.  They seemed to be made of a metal similar to that composing the machines.  Smith pocketed them all.

It was the builder who thought to look under the bench, but it was Smith who had brought a light.  By its aid they discovered a very small machine, decidedly like a stock ticker, except that it had no glass dome, but possessed at one end a curious metal disk about a foot in diameter.  Apparently it had been undergoing repairs; it was impossible to guess its purpose.  Smith’s pride was instantly aroused; he tucked it under his arm, and was impatient to get back to the cube, where he might more carefully examine his find with the tips of his fingers.

It was when they were about to leave the building that they thought to inspect walls and ceiling.  Not that anything worth while was to be seen; the surfaces seemed perfectly plain and bare, except for the inevitable dust.  Even the uppermost corners, ten feet above their heads, showed dust to the light of Smith’s electric torch.

Van Emmon stopped and stared at the spot as though fascinated.  The others were ready to go; they turned and looked at him curiously.  For a moment or two he seemed struggling for breath.

“Good Heavens!” he gasped, almost in a whisper.  His face was white; the other two leaped toward him, fearful that he was suffocating.  But he pushed them away roughly.