"What can I say?" he demanded. "When I saw that wordage on the mist, I knew someone was onto the act. I only delayed long enough to read it--backward--from where I was. Then I got out and ran into troopers.
All right. You found the secret of the ghost, and that I have a Geiger counter. So what? Practical jokes aren"t illegal, and anyone can own a survey meter."
"But selling shares in a nonexistent mine with intent to defraud is quite a different matter," the agent said. "We"ve been collecting evidence for a few days, including some from clients of yours who were interested in knowing the field had been salted. And we"ve picked up Collins and Hilleboe."
The Frostola man sighed. "Well, it was good while it lasted. I suspected things were getting risky when those two kids charged into the mist, but I hoped maybe the cold spray had cooled them down a little. When it didn"t, I tried to scare them off by trapping them in the mine. No intent to harm, either. I knew they"d be dug out in short order."
"We were," Rick agreed. "Only while the rescuers were digging in, we were busy finding the upper tunnel. After that, it was easy."
"I saw the rescue," the Frostola man said. "You came out the same way you went in. That fooled me completely; I just figured you hadn"t gone beyond the pile of rocks between the tunnels."
A trooper sergeant pointed to the police car waiting on the dirt road.
"Come on. We"ll take a ride to town and get you booked. Don"t worry about your scooter. It will be taken care of."
"Eat all the ice cream you want," the Frostola man said grandly. "Be my guests. I won"t be needing it."
"Not for some years," Taylor agreed. "Come on, lads. Let"s get back to the picnic."
"We"re with you," Rick said. "Lead the way." He chuckled suddenly. "It was a pretty good effect, wasn"t it? The lab did a good job, and the Frostola man didn"t see that a new chunk had been spliced in."
"A very good effect," Scotty agreed. "Only stand by for misery and woe.
Barby and Jan won"t like this! After all, we destroyed a historic romance."
The picnic crowd was eating again when the boys returned. They located the family and Rick strained to see the girls" faces, but it was too dark.
Barby"s voice said sternly, "Is that you, Rick Brant?"
He admitted it, rather meekly. "Uh-uh."
"Rick Brant! You knew all the time ... I mean, while Jan and I were ..."
Barby"s voice was trembling. He thought she was in tears. He hoped not; she shouldn"t take legends so seriously ...
Agent Taylor joined the group and chuckled. "You should have seen that Frostola man come out of the tunnel! I guess that final commercial shocked him silly."
"He wasn"t the only one," Barby said swiftly, and to Rick"s amazement she and Jan Miller burst into peals of laughter.
This wasn"t the reaction Rick had expected. "But the romance," he said doubtfully. "I mean, you should be brokenhearted ..."
"I"ll never understand girls," Scotty said darkly.
"It was like sitting through the same movie too many times," Barby explained.
Jan added, "Really, we were getting a little bored with the same act. If the ghost had only changed his routine a little ..."
There was real pride in Barby"s voice as she declared, "And how do you get rid of a boring ghost? You get my brother Rick to turn him into a commercial. Rick Brant"s Sponsored Spooks!"
Rick was so relieved at Barby"s reaction that he let her have the last word. Besides, there were new events to think about, for Hartson Brant had brought word of a new project the Spindrift Foundation had agreed to undertake, one that would shake the very earth to its depths, and one in which Rick Brant and Scotty would play a major part.
_The_ RICK BRANT SCIENCE-ADVENTURE _Stories_
BY JOHN BLAINE
THE ROCKET"S SHADOW
THE LOST CITY
SEA GOLD
100 FATHOMS UNDER
THE WHISPERING BOX MYSTERY
THE PHANTOM SHARK
SMUGGLERS" REEF
THE CAVES OF FEAR
STAIRWAY TO DANGER
THE GOLDEN SKULL
THE WAILING OCTOPUS
THE ELECTRONIC MIND READER
THE SCARLET LAKE MYSTERY
THE PIRATES OF SHAN
THE BLUE GHOST MYSTERY