It might be all right, but there was something strange about it—something Havener could not understand. Once more he felt the demon of jealousy stirring uneasily in his heart. He tried to quiet the beast, but it refused to be soothed thus easily.
What was this secret between the two? Why had they refused to tell it to him?
He walked away.
"I'll keep my eyes open," he said. "Perhaps I am being made a fool of, after all!"
A man does not like to think that. Nothing galls him so much as to think that he is being fooled by some one who is chuckling over the easy manner in which he is deceived.
The time came for the curtain to rise on the second act. It rolled up, and the play went on.
In this act Cassie seemed sprightlier than usual. Never before had the little soubrette seemed so buoyant and full of animal spirits. She had some good lines and a catchy song and dance. She was encored, and gave another song, ending with an eccentric dance that fairly set the audience in an uproar.
Havener was watching her, his brows lowering.
"Never saw her feeling better," he thought. "Is it because of something Merriwell said to her?"
Then he thought how she had defended Frank, and how eager she had been to get him back with the company.