Presently they stood on a precarious scaffolding close to the huge sphere. The bed of ooze could be discerned engulfing its base. Already, under the heat of the sun, a steaming effluvium was rising from the surface. The outside of the ball was caked with a grayish crust of the stuff.
"Feel it," urged DuChane. "Hard?"
"Yes, it's hard," admitted Marlin. "Like stone."
"Now look." DuChane caught up a crowbar and drove it into the bulging wall. It pierced the crust and sank a short distance into the interior.
"Push on it," he directed.
Marlin tested the resistance to the bar. Under pressure it sank deeper. He could even twist it slowly.
"Seems kind of—rubbery—inside," he commented.
"Pull it out."
He did so. Immediately the hole filled with a flowing exudation similar to the ooze below him. It spread over the edges and began to harden.