The four got out of the car and walked through a doorway that had been blasted through the rock in some time past. Beyond this was an air lock that kept the compressed air of the observatory from escaping.
When they had gone through the door, the four found facing them a crude elevator. Dr. Kenton motioned the young people inside and then followed. He threw a switch, and the elevator cage began rising slowly.
“This column of rock has always been hollow,” he explained, “so it was easy to run an elevator up through it.”
He unfastened his helmet and took it off. “You can take off your hats now,” he told the children. “There’s air in here.”
The elevator stopped at the top of the shaft. The four got out and entered a big room with a rounded ceiling. Ted knew this to be the dome that housed the telescope. The reflector was like a huge cylinder resting in its horseshoe yoke across the room.
“Hello!” Dr. Kenton called. “Is anyone home?”
Suddenly a round face appeared at the side of the telescope. The face reminded Ted of a circus clown’s, with its wild, wispy hair and broad grin.
“John Kenton!” cried the little man, as he ran out and embraced Ted’s dad. The elderly scientist asked, “What in the world are you doing on Luna? And who are these young folks with you?”
Dr. Kenton explained that he was on a stop-over to Mars, and he introduced the children to the funny little scientist, whose name was Dr. Beeler.