“Well,” interrupted Potterboy, thinking of what he was going to have to say back on earth, “we’ll just have to put it down to not understanding the alien laws of chance, or the undetected forces working on Mars--if there are any? But, outside of the ruins, the sand, and the ice caps, the only two remaining things are the Pads and the Cones. The Pads run around absorbing water, and the Cones bake in the sand, occasionally sending up head-splitting telepathic squawks that no linguist can decipher or begin to comprehend. Establishing communication has proved impossible, in spite of their telepathic powers. And the only motion they appear capable of is sluggishly burrowing up and down in the sand.” “Yes, gentlemen,” Grisby said, gravely, “we’ve failed in resurrecting the one seemingly-intelligent life-form on Mars.” “How do you know they’re any more intelligent than the Pads?” questioned McGinnis. “Oh, well,” said Potterboy, “the ruins show, as you shall presently see, that they’ve developed telepathy. And they have tried communicating with us.” “Also,” Grisby added, “when the first party landed to establish a base, and started bringing water from the ships, the Cones set up shrill mental vibrations, attempting to warn us before the Blotting Pads could come within range and start absorbing.” As they came within a hundred yards of the ruins, McGinnis halted. “Are these the ruins? Just two metal walls?” “The only bit of Martian culture left on the whole planet,” Potterboy said, lighting another cigar. How he stood them in the heat, was beyond both Grisby and McGinnis. But, then, the government official was eccentric in many ways. * * * * * In another five minutes, McGinnis was touching the strange, glassy surface of one of the walls; both of which, ran parallel to one another and towered twenty-five feet into the air. Grisby, noticing, said, “Another indication of how advanced the Martians were. We’ve tried everything, including atomics, on these walls in order to get a piece for analysis--no luck. We drilled down five thousand feet and couldn’t even find the bottom of either wall. “Step around to the inside here. This is where the chronological line drawings begin, as well as the hieroglyphics, which, I’m told, the archeologists have pretty well deciphered.” “We’ll have to skim rather rapidly,” Grisby continued, “in order to get back before our helmet and suit chemicals give out.”