e glanced up for a moment. "It gives you the
willies. Sometimes I wonder, myself, if Granny isn't half-right."

There was a stillness in the street as the people slowly dispersed ahead
of the Sheriff. Voices were low, and the banter was gone. The yellow
light from the sky cast weird, bobbing shadows on the pavement and
against the buildings.

"Shall we go?" Maria asked. "This is giving me--what do you say?--the
creeps."

"It's crazy!" Ken exclaimed with a burst of feeling. "It shows what
ignorance of something new and strange can do. One feebleminded, old
woman can infect a whole crowd with her crazy superstitions, just
because they don't know any more about this thing than she does!"

"It's more than that," said Maria quietly. "It's the feeling that people
have always had about the world they find themselves in. It doesn't
matter how much you know about the ocean and the winds and the tides,
there is always a feeling of wonder and fear when you stand on the shore
and watch enormous waves pounding the rocks.

"Even if you know what makes the thunder and the lightning, you can't
watch a great storm without feeling very small and puny."

"Of course not," Ken said. "Astronomers feel all that when they look a
couple of billion light-years into space. Physicists know it when they
discover a new particle of matter. But _they_ don't go around muttering
about omens and signs. You can feel the strength of natural forces
without being scared to death.

"Maybe that's what marks the only real difference between witches and
scientists, after all! The first scientist was the guy who saw fire come
down from the sky and decided that was the answer to some of his
problems. The witch doctor was too scared of both the problem and the
answer to believe the problem could ever have a solution. So he
manufactured delusions to make himself and others think the problem
would just quietly go away. There are a lot of witch doctors still
operating and they're not all as easy to recognize as Granny Wicks!"

They reached Ken's car, and he held the door open for Maria. As he
climbed in his own side he said, "How about coming over to my place and
having a look at the comet through my telescope? You'll see something
really awe-inspiring then."

"I'd love to. Right now?"

"Sure." Ken started the car and swung away from the curb, keeping a
careful eye on the road, watching for any others like Dad Martin.

"Sometimes I think there will be a g