You can grab it to pull yourself up."

[Illustration]

"O.K.," said Astro and took the length of hose and put it in his mouth.
Then, taking a piece of waste cotton, he stopped up his nose and tested
the hose.

"Can you breathe O.K.?" asked Tom.

Astro signaled that he could and stepped through the hatch. He turned,
and facing backward, began clawing his way upward.

"Keep that hose clear, Roger!" ordered Tom. "There's about five feet of
sand that he has to dig through and if any of it gets into the
hose--well--"

"Don't worry, Tom," interrupted Roger. "I've got the end of the hose
right next to the oxygen bottle. He's getting pure stuff!"

Soon the big cadet was lost to view. Only the slow movement of the hose
and rope indicated that Astro was all right. Finally the hose and rope
stopped moving.

Tom and Roger looked at each other, worried.

"You think something might be wrong?" asked Tom.

"I don't know--" Roger caught himself. "Say, look--the rope! It's
jerking--Astro's signaling!"

[Illustration]

"He made it!" cried Tom.

"I wonder if--" Roger suddenly picked up the end of the hose and spoke
into it. "Astro? Hey, Astro, can you hear me?"

"Sure I can." Astro's voice came back through the hose. "Don't shout so
loud! I'm not on Earth, you know. I'm just ten feet above you!"

Roger and Tom clapped each other on the shoulders in glee.

"All set down there?" called Astro, through the hose.

"O.K." replied Tom.

"Listen," said Astro, "when you get outside the hatch, you'll find a
pipe running along the bulkhead right over your head. Grab that and pull
yourself up. Tie the rope around your shoulder, but leave enough of it
so the next guy can come up. We don't have any way of getting it back
down there!" he warned. "Who's coming up first?"

Tom looked at Roger.

"You're stronger, Tom," said Roger. "You go up now and then you can give
Astro a hand pulling me through."

"All right," agreed Tom. He began pulling the hose back through the
sand. He took the end, cleared it out with a few blasts from the oxygen
bottle and put it in his mouth. Then, after Roger had helped him tie the
rope around his shoulders, he stuffed his nose with the waste cotton. He
stepped to the opening. Roger gave three quick jerks on the rope and
Astro started hauling in.

With Astro's help, Tom was soon free and clear, standing beside Astro on
the jet-boat deck.

"Phoooeeeey!" said Tom, spitting out the sand that had filte