yellowish-brown mass of unusual octagonal shape. One end contained a
small oval opening, but the men from the Earth looked in vain for any
creature to emerge from it.

The doctor silently set to work with his apparatus. From an air-tight
double-doored compartment he obtained a sample of the ether outside the
car; and with the aid of previously arranged chemicals, quickly learned
the truth.

There was no air. Not only was there no oxygen, the element upon which
all known life depends, but there was no nitrogen, no carbon dioxide;
not the slightest trace of water vapor or of the other less known
elements which can be found in small amounts in our own atmosphere.
Clearly, as the doctor said, whatever air the astronomers had observed
must exist on the circumference of the planet only, and not in this sun-
blasted, north-central spot.

On the outer walls of the cube, so arranged as to be visible through the
windows, were various instruments. The barometer showed no pressure. The
thermometer, a specially devised one which used gas instead of mercury,
showed a temperature of six hundred degrees, Fahrenheit.

No air, no water, and a baking heat; as the geologist remarked, how
could life exist there? But the architect suggested that possibly there
was some form of life, of which men knew nothing, which could exist
under such circumstances.

They got out three of the suits. These were a good deal like those worn
by divers, except that the outer layer was made of non-conducting
aluminum cloth, flexible, air-tight, and strong. Between it and the