Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1905-07-21

and had wondered what was within.
tained strange treasures.
Upon this suppositlon the place to
entrap the bogus Mephisto was the
grove, and SO 1 withdrew to that spot
us secretly as possible and waited more
than an hour in vain. Meanwhile tho
procession had formed in front Of the
town hall, and the air was shuddering
at the music Of the Bentonville band.
/ emerged from my hiding place and
intercepted the procession. Mephisto
was not among It's attractions, and his
absence was a subject of comment. He
appeared later In manner sufficiently
mysterious to match the part that he
played, and l satisfied myself that he
was the real Asa Colby this time
did not dare to question him, for IL he
supposed that his harmless burglary OF
the barn was unsupported he might
keep still about it, whereas, IL accused.
he might attempt too public justiflca-
ton.
My only real clew lay in the initials
en- the cane. They would not fit the
name of any young man In that COM
munity; they puzzled me completely.
And yet &c. S." must have been in Ben
tonville, for Celia had not been away
within year. Perhaps he had lodged
at the Bentonville hotel, and upon this
theory / approached the landlord of
that place of entertainment and ex-
hibited to him the cane, which said
/ had found in the woods.
The landlord took me by the arm and
led me into an even more secluded
corner than that which l had selected
for our interview.
THAT stick belongs to Boston actor
named Gilbert Seabury," said he. Don't
you take 1t up to your uncle's house. II
you do he'll have fit"
.'Why?" asked, with counterfeit sur
prise.
''Seabury was here couple of weeks
in june" he replied. Ills folks live in
Lynde"-a town about fifteen miles
north of Bentonville. Gle got to know
your cousin Celia, and he was talking
her head full o. theatrical notions. She's
a bit stagestruck anyhow, you know
Your Aunt Anne got on to it, and-well,
you know your Aunt Anne. There was
no noise about 1t, but Seabury ran for
his life. He was no coward either, at
that
Here was a very serious situation in
deed, and no doubt 1t was my duty to
lay the whole case frankly before my
aunt. Yet no man likes to do that sort
of thing. ! resolved to find out first
whether Seabury was still in town. and
so spent the whole afternoon hunting
for him, assisted by the landlords de-
scription and my own view of the
actors clothes. BY supper time I was
convinced that he had gone away and
that Celia was safe from his histrionic
vaporings for the present.
There was to be a display of fire.
works in the evening within the fort
on the hill, relic of English occupa-
ton in Revolutionary times. Celia had
laid aside the vestments of Columbia
and had appeared during the afternoon
in a gown of white duck, which was
very becoming. After supper, however.
she clothed herself in dark gray cos
tune with a black hat. / heard her
mother ask her why she had put on
that heavy dress, and Celia replied that
she thought she might be chilly watch
ing the fireworks. In fact, the evening
was unusually hot and calm.
l was seriously alarmed, for the plain
implication to my mind was that Celia
had chosen the gown most suitable for