Out of The Long Ago
by Seabury Quinn
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A ROMANCE OF HEREDITY
Author of "Weird Crimes" and "The Phantom Farm House"
[Excerpts from the diary of Prof. Simeon Warrener, D. Sc., Ph. D.]
TWO letters in the afternoon mail; both requiring answers. Most important, a note from Morgan Carew, inviting me to come to Wales and join in some excavations he plans making this fall. He has stumbled over a promising-looking mound near the village of Cag na Gith, not far from Chatsworth, and expects some interesting digging. There is a dolmen in a pretty fair state of preservation on one of the hills, and Carew thinks some instructive kitchen-middens will be found in the neighborhood.
The second is a favor from Alice Frasanet, asking me to tea at 4 to-morrow. I suppose I may curse Frank Seabring for that. Ever since he met the girl he's been dancing attendance on her, singing my praises when other conversational topics failed. There are several drawbacks to having an assistant of the impressionable age. If it were not for Frank and the fact that Frasanet, père, is a liberal contributor to the Society for Anthropological Research, I'd ignore the invitation. But the boy is genuinely fond of me, besides being an able and conscientious assistant, so I shall accept both invitations.
TAKING it all in all, Alice's party was a success. During the few moments I was able to pry Frank away, I told him my project to join Carew, and asked him to get his traps together as quickly as possible, as I want to leave before the autumn storms set in. I am not a good sailor.
He seemed a little crestfallen at first, but a few minutes later came up all smiles, and assured me he’d not only be delighted to go on the expedition, but to stay at Cag na Gith long enough to dig to the center of the earth, or clear through, if I so desired. Frank is a good boy, but a little inclined to be flighty.
If ever there were a born flirt, Alice Frasanet is she. Before the guests had thinned out, she allowed herself to be teased into singing, and, with Dora Caruthers' accompaniment, rendered The Land of The Sky-Blue Water." I felt sorry for Frank. The little minx planted herself squarely in front of him, and sang as directly to him as any Broadway chorus girl tor-
