s for rushing a ghost like that.

Rick staggered in the grip of the supporting hands. His heart was
pounding and there was a constriction in his chest. Tears streamed down
his cheeks as his tear ducts spouted fluid to protect his eyes from the
now-vanishing cold. His cheeks felt numb, but sensation was returning.

At last he regained his equilibrium and found his handkerchief. He
mopped his face and suddenly realized that his face was flushed, as
though with fever. The sensation of burning cold was gone. He took a
deep breath, grateful to be nearly normal again.

Scotty was also back to near normal. To the questions from the
surrounding circle of Sons of the Old Dominion they could only say that
they didn't know what had happened.

"Suddenly our faces froze," Rick explained shakily. "At least mine did."

"Same here," Scotty supplemented.

"It was like the cold of ... of ... I don't know, really. It was cold,
but like nothing I've ever experienced before. The shock was so great I
just sort of crumpled and fell."

"Whatever made you rush right into the ghost like that?" a burly man
wanted to know.

Rick shrugged. "We didn't think the ghost was real, and we wanted to see
how it was produced."

"Do you believe it's real now?"

The boy shuddered. "I'm a whole lot closer to believing it," he
admitted.

"At least we won't try football tactics on it again," Scotty added.

Seeing that the boys were all right, the group dispersed. In a few
moments they were alone. Rick shook his head hard, to clear it. "Now
where are we?" he asked.

Scotty laughed mirthlessly. "I'm glad you asked that. I'd be gladder if
you could answer it."

"One thing more and I'm ready to call quits," Rick said. Common sense
told him to beat a path to the Millers, but he was stubborn. He wasn't
giving up yet. He searched until he found a coke bottle, then taking his
nerve in both hands he climbed up to the pool. He let the bottle fill
with spring water then rinsed it. When he was satisfied it was clean
enough, he filled it from the pool--the same pool from which the ghostly
mist had appeared only short minutes before.

Only then did he and Scotty leave the picnic grounds and proceed home to
the Miller farmhouse.

The Millers and the girls were waiting. One look at the boys' faces and
they knew something had happened.

Jan Miller said with quick intuition, "You're hurt!"

"Not permanently," Rick reassured her. "For a while we wondered, bu