Part 13 (1/2)

”Just a minute” Scotty pointed to a pile of brush ”Aren't those s?”

They were, and of the same brand as those the boys had located on the streaers

”Mighty curious Water cures Portland ceh sos, his brows creased with bewilder besides cement But what? Fertilizer for the cornfield, maybe? And o caches?”

”If it were fertilizer, the bags near the mine could have been for the field across the creek where the plane is,” Scotty suggested ”These could have been for this field But I don't think it was fertilizer

Isn't fertilizer soluble in water?”

Rick wasn't sure ”We can take the bag along,” he said ”Maybe the , orthat the bagsThey had been hidden, and only the erosion of rain had uncovered them, first at the creek embankment and now here The Frostola man had almost certainly taken the others Why? Unless they had sos orthless, of themselves

They finished the survey of the area It was clear that whoever produced the ghost would have to enter by the road from town, because there was no other road on the side of the hill in which the mine was located To be sure, the area could be reached by walking a considerable distance, but Rick couldn't see a h cornfields or woods filled with underbrush He was certain the ghost had to be produced by equipment of some kind, probably electric powered--which host producer operate? If dry ice was used to produce the et into the pool? He had no answers to these vital questions, nor did Scotty

The dark-haired boy looked at hied back to the farmhouse ”Did it ever occur to you that it's ihost? There is no place within sight of the pool where anyone could hide, except in a tree, and aat the picnic grounds”

”It did occur to me,” Rick admitted ”But doesn't that put us back where we started? Either the ghost is a genuine spook, or it'sit's man-made, I admit But if it isn't, where does that leave us?”

Rick re with a bath in the quarry If they had been chasing a real ghost, and the ghost had led theer deliberately, that ave hioose pimples to think about it

The electricity and telephone service had been restored by the tiot back Dr Miller told theed for thein the town

Rick displayed the bag ”Got a speciroup He explained their interest in the bag and asked Dr Miller if he could identify the contents

The scientist exa ”It could be any one of a hundred things,” he said ”Let's see e can find out about it”

The farmhouse wasn't equipped for any kind of chemical analysis, but the scientist did as possible He tried to dissolve the powder in water, and failed He tried vinegar, as the only acid available, and failed He tried ammonia, and failed

Finally he said, ”Well, it isn't ceanic substance I suggest the ive us a clue to its structure, if not its identity”

Rick spread a sht, and put the slide on the stage He focused, using his highest-power lens conification of three hundred times

The poas clearly crystalline, a mineral of some kind Rick couldn't identify it He turned the eyepiece over to Dr Miller The scientist had no better luck

Barby asked, ”Could it be an explosive?”

”No, Barby This is powdered rock of some kind,” Dr Miller answered, his eye at the instrument ”But why anyone should use powdered rock and then hide the bags certainly escapes ine what the powder is for It isn't a powdered liht be used on the fields The crystal structure is wrong for that”

”Wish we had a geologist with us,” Rick said ”This calls for an expert” He stared helplessly at the microscope There was only oneit