The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1908-09-16

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"William Thomas Osbon" was th
way the name was written In the bi
family Bible, but since he had grad
uated from curls and short skirts an,
willie he had been "Bill" to all tn,
boys and "Will" to all the girls, Onl.
the occasional appearance Of lettel
addressed in full reminded him tina
his name was both sonorous and i'm
pressive.
Like Peter Pan, 0sbon never had
grown up, He had arrived at the dig
nifty Of mustache, and since his fa
TIERS retirement he had more than
doubled the capacity and capital Of
0sbon & Son. yet he was still the
same light hearted, apparently care
free Bill Osbon that he had been In
his boyhood and his college days.
Therein lay the source Of his great
trouble.
From the time she first could toddle
about until he had left for college Bet
ty Durand had been his almost con-
slant companion. About the same time
she had gone to finishing school, and
when they had returned osbon found
that there had arisen a great barrier
between them.
Betty had developed ideals, and her
boyish sweetheart -boyish still-did
not measure up to her romantic stand
ards. She still liked 0sbon except
when he spoke of love, but 0sbon was
too genuinely light hearted to play the
lovesick swain. and when he spoke Of
love with smile upon his lips Betty
was wont to frown.
Its utterly absurd to ask me to mar
ry you," she had declared. Il like you
awfully well, viii, but l must respect
and look up to the man l marry"
Il see" was the light hearted re-
sponse. "You want to be miserable
though married"
Betty frowned again at this exhibit
ton Of levity at SO important a mo-
nent and assured herself that she was
right in her refusal to marry 0sbon.
Augustus Esterbrooke seemed to an
swer to Betty's description Of an ideal.
He was tall, dark, mysterious and
handsome in saturnine way. No one
ever dreamed Of addressing him as
Gus" and he moved majestically In
a little world Of his own. where the
cares and worries of everyday exist
ence were not permitted to intrude.
Esterbrooke had inherited wealth and
estates, wherefore he despised the lit.
tie things of prosaic everyday life.
1t was characteristic Of Osbon that
he smiled as he saw the majestic Es
terbrooke escorting Betty down the
dock at the end of which lay the little
steamer chartered for the Sunday !
school excursion down the lake.
Osbon was keenly conscious that he /
wanted Betty to be his companion, as
she had always been in those early /
years when they had eaten mixture |
of cake and sandwiches and deyiled .
eggs out of the same shoe box and had
been supremely content.
1t was all different now. Ester
brooke's man solemnly bore an Eng
lish lunch hamper and rugs and wraps I
enough for score.
Betty smiled In friendly fashion
upon Osbon, who was darting from
crowd to crowd, exchanging jest
here, giving word Of greeting there
and doing his best to inspire the holi-
day spirit.
He paused for moment to exchange
a word with Betty; then Esterbrooke
led her Off to the upper deck, where
they could make themselves comfort
able In the shade Of the piloth0use.
Passengers were not allowed on the
upper deck, but Esterbrooke held a
block Of stock In the transportation
owning the feet of three
steamers plying the lake, and he was
a privileged person.
The pair were not again visible to
the rest of the picnickers until the
grove was reached; then the servant
spread the. rugs, made coffee by the
aid of an alcohol stove and served the
lunch.
Esterbrooke and Betty wandered
away to escape the crowd, and they
did not reappear until the boat was
ready to leave. Esterbrooke hated
crowds, and he had come merely be-
cause Betty insisted. He argued to
himself that there would be time
enough after marriage to bend her to
MS ways.
When they reached the upper deck
ne directed the captain to take the
oack channel on the way home. :
IT'S a beastly bore to repeat the
he offered In explanation. $
The back channel will be little diff {
erent."
"The lake Is at a pretty low stage"
objected the captain. "There are t
ONE pretty nasty rocks in the chan :
lei, Mr.. Esterbrooke.
"0f course if you are afraid"- he :
'egan and smiled softly to himself as 7
he captain brought his teeth together :
nth snap and stepped inside the p
dollhouse. ESterbrooke had caused q