Without exception, it resembled the central group; all the figures were neckless, and all much more heavily built than any people on earth.  There were several female figures; they had the same general build, and in every case were so placed as to enhance the glory of the males.  In one group the woman was offering up food and drink to a resting worker; in another she was being carried off, struggling, in the arms of a fairly good-looking warrior.

Dr. Kinney led the way into the building.  As in the other structure, there was no door.  The space seemed to be but one story in height, although that had the effect of a cathedral.  The whole of the ceiling, irregularly arched in a curious, pointed manner, was ornamented with grotesque figures; while the walls were also partially formed of squat, semi-human statues, set upon huge, triangular shafts.  In the spaces between these outlandish pilasters there had once been some sort of decorations, A great many photos were taken here.

As for the floor, it was divided in all directions by low walls.  About five and a half feet in height, these walls separated the great room into perhaps a hundred triangular compartments, each about the size of an ordinary living room.  Broad openings, about five feet square, provided free access from one compartment to any other.  The men from the earth, by standing on tiptoes, could see over and beyond this system.

“Wonder if these walls were supposed to cut off the view?” speculated the doctor.  “I mean, do you suppose that the Mercurians were such short people as that?” His question had to go unanswered.

They stepped into the nearest compartment, and were on the point of pronouncing it bare, when Jackson, with an exclamation, excitedly brushed away some of the dust and showed that the presumably solid walls were really chests of drawers.  Shallow things of that peculiar metal, these drawers numbered several hundred to the compartment.  In the whole building there must have been millions.

Once more the dust was carefully removed, revealing a layer of those curious rolls or reels, exactly similar to what had been found in the tool chest in the shell works.  A careful examination of the metallic tape showed nothing whatever to the naked eye, although the doctor fancied that he made out some strange characters on the little boxes themselves.

His view was shortly proved.  Finding drawer after drawer to contain a similar display, varying from one to a dozen of the diminutive ribbons, Van Emmon adopted the plan of gently blowing away the dust from the faces of the drawers before opening them.  This revealed the fact that each of the shallow things was neatly labeled!

Instantly the three were intent upon this fresh clue.  The markings were very faint and delicate, the slightest touch being enough to destroy them.  To the untrained eye, they resembled ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics; to the archeologist, they meant that a brand-new system of ideographs had been found.