The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1906-07-05

ACTOR"
greatly beraied for having left the rear
door of the barn unfas,ened. Mean
Z while | went TO the front of the house
aud found Celia siili leaning upon tho
gate. but Mephlstopheles had van
I lshed.
From the evidence IN my possession
there was only one conclusion Celia
4 was involved IN a nonsensical romance
with man who was highly objection
able 10 her parents. ! was deeply
4 gripYed. for we were cousins, True,
I the tie OF blood between us was as
I thin as homeopathic thirty second di.
/ luton. still had always called her
/ parents uncle aud aunt and had thought
OF her as member OF my family.
I Such being the case, what was my nat.
urai duty-to find the man. lead him
by the ears 20 the end OF Long wharf
and drop him oyerboardp That was at
least my first Impulse. yet could not
help feeling the need OF little more
information before proceeding to exc.
cute a vengeance. would wish TO act
la such way as would serve Celia
best. In order TO act wisely must get
at The facts
| was not prepared TO believe that
Asa and the unknown Romeo had been
so overbold as TO choose my uncle's
barn as their dressing room More
rrnhalf,s tha oxnhanua ~ raip,ant bnI
been made IN thick grove OF spruces
which stood In the field. and the inva-
sion of the barn had been an after
thought OF Asa's.
Upon this supposition the place to en-
trap the bogus Mephisto was the grove,
and so | withdrew TO that spot as Sc
cretly as possible and waited more
than an hour In vain. Meanwhile the
procession had formed IN front Of the
town hall, and the air was shudderlng
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 | satisfied myself that he
was the real Asa Colby this time. !
did not dare to question him, for II he
supposed that his harmless burglary of
the barn was unsuspected he might
keep still about ii, whereas, II accused,
be might attempt a too public justifca-
ton.
My only real clew lay In the initials
on 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
Bentonvlle. for Celia had not been
away within year. Perhaps he had
lodged at the Bentonvllle hotel, and
upon this theory | approached the land
lord of that place Of entertainment and
exhibited to him the cane, which ! said
had found In the woods.
THAT stick belongs to Boston actor
named Gilbert Seabury.' said he.
Don't you take II up TO your uncle's
house. If you do he'll have fit"
"WhyW | asked, with counterfeit
surprise.
"Seabury was here couple Of weeks
In June" lie replied His 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 fun OF theatrical notions.
She's bit stage struck anyhow, you
know. Your Aunt Anne got on TO II,
tnd-well, you know your Aunt Anne"
Here was very serious situation In
iced, and 10 doubt 1t was my duty to
lay the whole case frankly before my
aunt. Yet 10 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 1
actors clothes. BY supper time ! was
convinced that he had gone away and |
that Celia was safe from his histrionIc
faporings for the present.
There was 10 be a display >of fire |
works In the evening within the fort I
on the hill, n relic OF English occupa- 1
tion In Revolutionary times. Celia had 4
laid aside the vestments OF Columbia I
and had appeared during the afternoon /
In gown OF white duck. which was |
very becoming. After supper. how.
ever, she clothed herself In dark 1
gray costume with black hat
was seriously alarmed, for the plain
implication TO my mind was that Celia 4
had chosen tho gown most suitable for
a journey. resolved that she should
not get out OF my sight during the
evening, but while we were sitting. /
with all Bentonvllle for company, upon
the bank Of the fort Celia suddenly
disappeared.
With great caution I myself slipped
away while particularly vivid bomb 4
was attracting the attention Of my rel
atiyes and friends. ! made the circuit
OF the great old earthwork, hoping to
ind seabury lurking In some corner Of
the dry most. but he was not there,
then increased the radius Of my search
and was rewarded By the discovery Of
black horse aid q light wagon 10
little usoi road which runs back ~ the
hin and Joins the main highway lend
l.lg out of town 10 the norihward. So
there was an elopemsnt hidden IN this
mystery.
The horse was hltched TO the fence
by one Of The relns ] tied him by tie
cheeArcin ard removed the others alto
gciher. Bnbuckilng them from the bit
IL was my intention 70 hide them under
the seat. aud my bead was in The wag
on when ! became aware that some
one was approaching.
Ny position was extremely favorable
for eoneealmeni. and | waited. II was
Celia al0nc who was coming She was
within Eve steps Of the wagon before
she perceived ne. then by the agat u
one Of the bombs, exploding high II air,
We saw each others face.
Wen, usrs vas q very strenuous