"Dotty!" he said. "I've found it. I've found the proof. I've been here before, thousands of years ago when this wasn't a ruins. I remember."
The girl's manner reflected weariness, "Please, Herb. You've got to forget all about it. You'll talk too much!"
His shoulders stiffened. "Don't worry. I won't talk until I have proof to convince even them. Somewhere around here something lies buried. Something I will be able to remember. They will dig where the rocks haven't been touched for five thousand centuries and find what I say is there."
Dotty was shaking her head. "No, Herb, If it were on Earth I might half believe you. But not here on Mars. These—these people weren't even humanoid!"
"Neither was I," Herb whispered hoarsely.
I sighed regretfully. I'd seen too many cases like this one. I'd grown to dread them. But it was a job and a man had to eat.
The guide began herding the tourists back to the bus. I mingled with the crowd, and when Dotty and Herb climbed aboard I managed to stick close to them.
"Where'd you two go to?" the man in the pith helmet called from where he was sitting. "Stick close to me. I put a new roll in the camera. At the next place I want to get some shots of both of you together."
"All right, George," Dotty said obediently.