Returning to the others, Marlin found DuChane holding forth in a profane diatribe which included not only McGruder, Link, and Sally, but all their antecedents. "There's nothing to get excited over," Marlin interposed, calmly. "What difference does it make?" "Difference?" DuChane roared. "Has it occurred to you that we've no possible way to get out of here? That ooze must have filled up the opening solidly by now." "But the pipe is still projecting from the outside. Our sheriff friend will probably have gumption enough to force it in, just as we did. He'll be plenty mad by the time he finishes the job, but as far as I can see this merely delays our coming-out party for a few hours." "And makes it tougher," growled DuChane. Marlin's words, nevertheless, seemed to have a quieting effect on his anger. His mood changed. "We're in for it, but they can't pin anything on me. I served the rap for my little accident with a gun. Slinky here is likely to go up for a stretch, just on general principles. McGruder--now that baby has a bad conscience or he wouldn't have been so anxious to close the entrance. It wouldn't surprise me if--" "Mind your own business!" snarled the detective. "Loud-mouthed blabbers like you is like to wake up with a knife in their ribs." "So! A killer! One of the breed that sticks a knife in your back! What say, Dave--shall I teach him a lesson?" There was a scuffle in the dark. "You lemme go!" roared McGruder. "I'll--" The words ended in a jolting gasp as two bodies struck the floor. The thrashing limbs and bodies flailed for a moment, eliciting a wholehearted round of abuse from Sally as they almost knocked her feet from under. After a minute, DuChane arose. "No weapons," he reported. "Bad boys shouldn't make threats unless they've got something to back 'em up with. Next time," he added ominously, "I'll cave your teeth in." There was a faintly muttered response as McGruder retired to a safer distance. "Where's Eli?" again demanded Marlin. "He left us here," DuChane replied, "saying he was going down to the control room. Wonder if he has any way of lighting this--Oh, hello!" A sudden radiance engulfed them. Blinking, they stared at each other--at their surroundings. The tilted surface on which they stood was apparently nothing more than a scaffolding in the unfinished portion of the sphere. The boxes and crates they had loaded were distributed around the closed entrance-hole. Peering upward, they looked into a network of girders, bracing the huge expanse, weirdly lighted here and there with single bulbs--evidently a temporary lighting arrangement for the workmen. Below the level of their vision, also on a slant, was a partly enclosed portion of three or four levels, resembling a ship's superstructure. The humming noise of a dynamo accompanied the establishment of light service. Thornboldt emerged from a doorway and stood with head tilted back, surveying the bleak interior.