The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1906-07-16

ACTOR"
greatly beratcd for having left the rear
door Of the barn unfastened. Mean
while | went 10 the front Of the house
aud found Celia stili leaning upon the
gate, but Mcphistopheles had van
ished.
From the evidence In my possession
thcre was only one conclusion Celia
was involved in ! nonscnsIcal romance
with n man who was highly objection
able TO her parents. was deeply
grlcyed. for we were cousins. True
tho tie Of blood between us was az
thin ns homeopathic thirty second di
iutlon, still had always called her
parents uncle and aunt aud had though,
OF her Ms member Of my family
Such being the case. what was my nat
ural duty--to fnd the man. lead him
by the ears TO the end OF Long wharf
and drop him overboardf That was ai
least my FIRST impulse, yet could moi
help feeling the need OF a little more
Information before proceeding to exc
cute vengeance. I would wish TO nc;
In such way az would serve Celia
best, In order to act wisely must 90,
at the facts.
! was not prepared 10 believe that
Asa and the unknown Romeo had beer
so overbold as TO choose my uncle's
barn as their dressing room. More
probably the exchange OF raiment had
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 supposltion the place TO en-
trap the bogus Mephlsto was the grove
and no 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 mir was shudderine
az the music OF the Bentonville band.
emerged from my hiding place and
intercepted the procession. Mephiste
was not among It's attractions, and his
absence was a subject OF comment. He
appeared later In a manner sufficiently
mysterious to match the part that ht
played, aud | satisfied myself that ht
was the real ASA Colby this time.
did not dare 10 question him, for II ht
supposed that his harmless burglary oi
the barn was unsupported he might
keep still about II, whereas, If accused
he might attempt too public justinca
ton.
My only real clew lay In the initials
on the cane. They would not 1t the
name Of any young man In that com.
munlty; they puzzled me completely,
And yet "G. s." must have been In
Bentonyllle, 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 l said
i had found In the woods.
"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 a At"
"WhyI" | asked, with counterfeit
surprise.
"Seabury was here a couple OF weeks
In June" he replied. His folks live In
Lynde"-a town about fifteen miles
north Of Bentonvllle, "He got to know
your cousin Celia, and he was talking
her head full OF theatrical notions.
She's bit stage struck anyhow, you
know. Your Aunt Anne got on to 1t,
and-well, you know your Aunt Anne"
Here was 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 ont, first,
whether Seabury was stlll IN town, and
so spent the whole afternoon hunting
for him, assisted by the Nallord's de.
scriptlon and my own view OF the
actors clothes, BY supper time | was
convinced that he had gone away and
that Celia was safe from his hlstrlonic
vaporlngs for the present.
There was to be a display of fire.
works In the evening within the fort
on the hill II relic Of English occupa.