Part 3 (1/2)

”No indeed,” Dr Miller answered ”We own part of it, and a fa and we've never objected to the public using it The local Boy Scout troops have taken on the job of keeping it clean as a regular project, and lanced at his watch It was getting dark rapidly now, and the apparition was due in fifteen e was just ahead They were in plenty of tihost of Captain Seth Costin, late of the Union Army, probably the Army of the Potoret there can only be one perfor' Or was that true? Had anyone stayed to see? Maybe the obliging phanto darkness”

He shook his head as though to clear it of cobwebs This didn't check with any ghost story he had ever heard No holding hands around a table, no incantations or strange phrases in forgotten languages, no incense, no nothing It was bue and entered the trees, still following the dirt road Rick saw that the road forked, one branch going to town, the other to the picnic area The trees around thee oaks, and al in years when Seth Costin fought a of history, of a definite past He resolved to do a little reading on the area

Barby and Jan, who had been walking boldly in the van, dropped back now and the group see the trees, and here and there the glow of a fire Then the edge of the tree belt was reached and the group stopped

There was a clearing beyond the tree belt, and in the clearing were rough-hewn tables and benches Beyond the clearing a grassy hill rose gently to an upland meadow, except for a section that rose sharply for nearly a hundred feet

The upthrusting section was barren of grass, and at its base, boards were nailed across as obviously the opening into theformation, isn't it?” Dr Miller asked

It definitely was, and Rick said so Even to his relatively untrained eye, this was a place where a volcanic fissure had opened ages ago, allowing igneous rock to thrust sharply upward through the sediround Now the formation had weathered until it was like a barren hill built on top of a fertile one On the steep slope of igneous rock no grass hadto it

Barby pointed to a shelf, actually a terrace in the rock structure, above and a few yards to the left of the et a good position,” Rick urged ”It's almost nine”

The sky was still blue in color, but it was already dark on the ground

Fires flared up brightly, but the picnickers were hushed, as though they kneas cohost, and it was likely few believed they would see anything, but the unknown casts a strong web, and they were feeling its effects

The Spindrifters roups of picnickers until they were directly opposite the old mine shaft, and took up positions in the shelter of an oak tree

”There's a pool of water on top of that shelf,” Dr Miller told the boys ”It's fro, actually an artesian well There's a pipe outlet up there from which water flows constantly It collects in the pool, which overflows into a natural drainage ditch”

The scientist pointed to where the tiny strea the trees ”Over the years it has cut a natural channel to the creek So far as anyone can remember, it has always been here The pipe was replaced a few years ago, apparently by driving a new one into the hillside The original well probably was driven during the Civil War”

Rick exa out of a hillside like that, especially when the hillside isn't part of a e, and it develops a pretty good head of pressure in its underground channels Whoever drove the original well sih why they didn't drive the well at this level is beyond ht the conversation to an abrupt end

Rick turned in ti that made a white cloud, rise from the place where Dr Miller had said the pool was located

Rick felt a chill run through him and the short hairs on the nape of his neck bristled in a reaction older than the race of ot to keep calm,” he warned hi!”

Scotty let out a lohistle, and Rick suddenly felt Barby's fingers biting into his ar mist, there came an officer in Union blue, and froht at theuely aware of the terrified scurry around his would carry theh in welcome to a loved one The youthful, handsome face smiled