"By Jove!" ejaculated the doctor, almost in awe. He leaned forward and
scrubbed the dead-light for the tenth time. All four men strained their
eyes to see.

It was the architect who broke the silence which followed. The other
three were content to let the thrill of the thing have its way with
them. Such a feeling had little weight with the expert in archeology.

"Well," he declared jubilantly in his boyish voice, "either I eat my hat
or that's a genuine, bona fide city!"

As swiftly as an elevator drops, and as safely, the cube shot straight
downward. Every second the landscape narrowed and shrunk, leaving the
remaining details larger, clearer, sharper. Bit by bit the amazing thing
below them resolved itself into a real metropolis.

Within five minutes they were less than a mile above it. Smith threw on
more current, so that the descent stopped; and the cube hung motionless
in space.

For another five minutes the four men studied the scene in nervous
silence. Each knew that the others were looking for the same thing--some
sign of life. A little spot of green, or possibly something in motion--a
single whiff of smoke would have been enough to cause a whoop of joy.

But nobody shouted. There was nothing to shout about. Nowhere in all
that locality apparently was there the slightest indication that any
save themselves were alive.