Part 1: Chapters 19, 20, and 21 Summary

Jim and Will agree that they both counted twenty-eight backward revolutions of the merry-go-round while Mr. Cooger was riding and growing younger. They try to figure out a rational explanation for what they just saw, such as there actually being two different people on the carousel.

Jim and Will run in the direction that the twelve-year-old Cooger has run. They go through the center of town, past the barbershop, and realize that they are on the street where their teacher, Miss Foley, lives. At Miss Foley's house, they see a boy who looks about twelve looking out from the upstairs window at them. Will figures it must be the visiting nephew Miss Foley was telling them about at the carnival, but Jim insists that he looked in the boy's eyes, and he saw Mr. Cooger's eyes.

The two boys...