"Must be about noon. How do you feel?"
"I'm not sure yet. I had a dream." The big cadet rubbed his eyes and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "I dreamed I was being shoved into an oven—like Hansel and Gretel in that old fairy tale."
"Personally," mumbled Roger, without opening his eyes, "I'll take Hansel and Gretel. They might be a little more tender."
"I could do with a drink," said Astro, looking at Tom.
Tom hesitated. He felt that as hot as it was, it would get still hotter and there had to be strict control of the remainder of the water.
"Try to hold out a little longer, Astro," said Tom. "This heat hasn't really begun yet. You could drink the whole thing and still want more."
"That's right, Astro," said Roger, sitting up. "Best thing to do is just wet your tongue and lips a little. Drinking won't do much good now."
"O.K. by me," said Astro. "Well, what do we do now?"
"We sit here and we wait," answered Tom. He sat up and held the space cloth up on his side.
"You get in the middle, Astro," suggested Roger. "Your head is up higher than mine and Tom's. You can be the tent pole under this big top."