Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1912-04-15
The Argus Daily Story
The Mystery Lady-By Edith Corners.
Copyrighted 1911. by Associated Literary Bureau
am a dealer in secondhand books.

1 buy those that are sold out when
families break up their homes and in
this way secure from time to time vol
umes that I know to be rare, though
the seller often is ignorant Of the fact.
Nevertheless I am free to say that
don't take advantage Of their igno-
rance, but pay them a fair price for
the goods. These rarities 1 keep and
now have a collection that is becom-
ing every day more and more valuable.
One day young woman came into my
store and began looking over my stock.
She attracted me at once by her ap-
pearance, her gentle manner, her soft
feminine voice and traces in her coun-
tenance Of some great grief. She took /
down from the shelves different books. /
most of them on religious subjects. I
left her to examine them according to /
her own sweet will. but she was so at /
tractive to me that 1 could scarcely /
keep my eyes of her. She seemed as {
much interested in the binding as in
the other parts. I noticed that in the
case of several of the books she looked
over she slipped her thumb and fingers
over the cover as if to gauge its thick
ness or smoothness, / couldn't tell
which.
She laid out FIVE books separate from
the rest, all on religious subjects, and
asked me the price of the lot. figured
it up, and she paid me without any eff
fort to induce me to take less, but stip-
ulated that she should be permitted to
bring any Of them back within a week
/ to be exchanged for such others as
she might select. l agreed to this, and
she went away.
I suppose a hundred persons might
have come into my shop at different
times and looked into my stock with
out attracting any especial notice from
me, but this person excited an interest
that 1 was unable to account for. 1
presume it was her engaging presence.
At any rate, could not get her out OF
my mind. Possibly it was because
had met one capable of kindling in me
that inexplicable feeling which tndi-
Gates the dawn Of love. Be all this as
it may, hoped that she would bring
some of the books back for exchange
that might see her again.
My hope was realized. On the sixth
day after her first appearance she came
again. bringing back a book printed In
1916 and bound with all the clumsiness
of that period. The covers were about
quarter of an inch thick. The title
was christian Advice to Young Men"
1 remembered her having slipped her
fingers over the covers Of the books,
and her return of this one indicated
that if she was buying the books for
the binding she did not care for a
thick cover. 1 made some attempt to
engage her in conversation about her
purpose in buying the books, but did
not succeed in eliciting anything. On
any other subject she conversed with
me freely, and when got her interest
ed that sad look faded, to be replaced
by an entirely different expression. l
3 gave her another book in place of the
one she brought back and replaced the
1 one she returned on the shelves. If
she went away unconvinced Of my
3 kindly feeling for her It was not my
fault, for showed her as plainly as.
could that liked her
What it was that induced me, after
she had gone, to take the book she had
returned from its shelf and look it over
1 don't know, unless it was the same
) feeling that induces a man to handle
something that has been held by q
woman for whom he has been inspired
with special tenderness. At any rate,
/ ran over the pages and on a lower
corner of page 100 noticed singular
mark. 1t might or might not be a mon
ogram; it looked more like a snake that
had tied itself up in an untieable knot
than anything else. 1 had no reason to
suppose that the young woman who
had taken 1t away and returned it had
placed it there, but was unable to dl-
vest my mind of the impression that
she had Somehow the idea was grow
: ing upon me that there was mystery
connected with her of which her book
buying was a part. / put the volume
back on the shelf with a feeling of re
II greet that there was no reason to sup
5 pose 1 should see her again or ever
/ know her secret-that is. if there was
a secret.
A week, possibly fortnight. elapsed
s when an elderly woman came in whC
It represented herself as purchasing agen
l. for a benevolent society whose objec
was to furnish books for all persons
needing them, especially religious lit
/; erature, presenting her credentials
which We're genuine. She ransacket
my shelves for wholesome books in
n tended for persons of no great educa
ton. The only volume she asked 70
was Christian Advice to Young Men,
u saying that it had been recommended
D, TO her for the use of the society sh
represented. | took it down for her
and, without examining it at all, sh
{, placed it among the books she sc
8. apart to purchase. Finally she direct
ed me to send the lot to the rooms 0
e the society she represented.
u This purchase of the book that hat
st been returned by the young woma1
completely obliterated any fancies
had conjured up with regard to its con
D. nection with a mystery. Had it bee
n bought by a suspicious person. ha
that person been seen to look for til