"They seem like the slashes from an extremely sharp and large razor," said the medical man. Others were coming in to look at Rooney, and the museum was buzzing with activity as various curators, alarmed about the safety of their valuable collections, feverishly examined their charges. "He punched his clock in here at two A.M.," said Smythe. "I seen that. It's the last time he'll ever do his duty, poor feller." "Curious odor," said the doctor, sniffing. "It smells like musk, but is fetid. I suppose it's some chemical you use." "I noticed that, too," said Professor Young. "I don't recognize it, myself." Marable, who had been looking at the floor between the great block of amber and the body, uttered an exclamation which caused the two men to look up. "There are wavy lines leading around back of the block," said Marable, in answer to their questions. The young man disappeared behind the block, and then he called to them excitedly to join him. Betty Young pressed closer, and finally slipped past the corpse and stood by her father. * * * * * Before her, she saw a large pool of black liquid. It had been hidden by the corner of the block, so that they had not noticed it, so busy were they looking at Rooney. And there was a great cavity in the heart of the amber block. Pieces of the yellow brown mass lay about, as though they had fallen off and allowed the inky substance to escape. "It's hardened or dried out in the air," said Young. "It looks like black lacquer," said Betty. The musky smell was stronger here. The great amber block seemed to stifle them with its size. "Our chipping and hammering and the heat of the radiator causing it to expand must have forced out the sepia, or whatever it is," said Young. There was a disappointed note in his voice "I had hoped that inside the liquid we would discover a fossil of value," he went on. Marable looked at Betty Young. They stared at one another for some seconds, and both knew that the same thought had occurred to the other. The frightful eyes--had they then been but figments of the imagination? Marable began looking around carefully, here and there. Betty realized what he was doing, and she was frightened. She went to his side. "Oh, be careful," she whispered. "The giant block has been moved a little," he replied, looking into her pretty face. "Have you noticed that?" Now that she was told to look, she could see the extremely heavy amber block was no longer in the position it had been in. Marks on the floor showed where it had been dragged or shifted from its original resting place. * * * * * Betty Young gasped. What force could be so powerful that it could even budge so many tons? A derrick had been used, and rollers placed under the block when men had moved it. Reason tried to assert itself. "It--it must have exploded. That would cause it to shift," she said faintly.