noon
With Sinclair leading the way , the boys slowly walked up a flagstone path toward the house , and they had their first chance to see a Venusian plantation home at close range . The Sinclair house stood in the middle of a clearing more than five thousand yards square . At the edges , like a solid wall of green vegetation , the Venusian jungle rose more than two hundred feet . It was noon and the heat was stifling . They were twenty-six million miles closer to the sun , and on the equator of the misty planet . While Astro , George , and Sinclair did n't seem to mind the temperature , Tom and Roger were finding it unbearable . `` Can you imagine what it 'll be like in the house with that crystal roof ! ''