The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1904-11-04
Skeletons in Books.

The letter began "My Sweet Anne. "
Surely stranger must be pardoned
for reading it through, for it was
found hidden snugly away between
the leaves of a dusty and ancient vol
ume Of poems drawn from a great IL
brary. The finder took it carefully
to the librarian.
"Another one?" said the librarian
inquiringly. "Out of the old edition
of Moore, ehl Well, l guess we won t
send it back. l generally return per-
sonal letters If they are Of enough in
terest and nobody calls for them, but
if sent everything back that we find
the directors would be about my ears
for wasteing postage stanps.' The
afternoon was qniet one and the lib
rarian continued:
1--WE shake every book that is re-
turned, and almost always something
falls out. 1t may be letter like the
one you have just found or visiting
card or hairpin. Almost invariably
the treasures that we unfold bear the
earmarks Of feminine possession. /
am not charging women with careless
ness. am simply stating fact.
"Generally the things we find are
documentary in their nature. Last
week l shook out of book on home
life signed and indorsed check for
$79 made payable to the dressmaker
whose statement of account was pin
ned to it. On another occasion q fifty
dollar bank note futtered out. Both
were called for within short time.
Occasionally one gives US a glimpse
of love secret or tradgedy. Not
SO long ago letter was taken from
4 book which was of snch an unusual
nature that l remembered the names
concerned long enoug b to recos nize
them in the newspaper reports of Il
court case which divided family
The letter was addressed to woman
and filed with the frank and open
avowal of mans forbidden love, for
the woman was the wife of another. l
carefully secreted the missive and a
few hours later was confronted by a
tall, heavily veiled lady, who asked if
letter had been found in q book
which happened to be morbid prob
lem novel of great popularity At the
time, the work of well known Eng
lish women. The question was asked
in voice which tried hard not to
shake. l handed the letter over, and
the women hastily took herself off:
Scarcely month later ran across
her name in the newspapers as defen-
dant in divorce court.
"Yet the writings we find in books
are not always 50 intimate. Some
times they savor Of domestioity and
the delights OF the kitchen. Indeed
l have enough recipes for desserts and
sweetmeats to publish the collection
40 a cookbook. Now and then book
is q veritable mine. 1 have found in
them gold, silver and precious stones.
Embroidery silk by the yard and Of
rainbow hues may be fished out from
some novels, and, alas, an occasional
cigarette paper.
"The evidences of masculine forget
fulness ale rarer. | bave forgotten
almost all such instances, but of those
which l do remember there is one OF
which the details are as clear to me
now az if they had happened yester-
dav. Indeed it will never leave my
mind, for it led to the capture of a
gang of criminals.
"A wealthy but solitary old bache
lor was found lifeless on the floor of
bis library one morning. On his body
no wound was discovered, and as far
as the detectives could ascertain no
one had gained access to the house.
The case excited great public interest,
and | followed the developments with
closeness in the newspapers. There
had been at first some talk of suicide
and more of heart failure, but the au-
topsy put new phrase upon the case,
for it showed that the old man had
come to his death through an insid
ious yet powerful poison. The ques-
ton then arose. Who administered
it? As was reading the detailed re-
port of tue doctors / suddenly drop
ped the paper. l remembered that 4
month before stranger had come in
one vet, dismal night and asked Tor
a recondite work by foreign author
1t was a standard treaties on poisons
and a volume seldom read.