The Press., 1913-04-16
The Mystery
 Lady She Contrived u Carry Out a Hidden Scheme
By EDITH CORNERS

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 I am a dealer in secondhand books.
 I 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 keep and
 now have 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. l left her to examine them according to her own sweet will. but she was so at- tractive to me that I could scarcely keep my eyes off her. She seemed as much interested in the binding as in the other parts. 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. l 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. agreed to this, and she went away.
 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 I was unable to account for. presume it was her engaging presence. At any rate. I could not get her out of my mind. Possibly it was because 1 had met one capable of kindling in me that inexplicable feeling which indi- cates 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 book printed in 1S45 and bound with all the clumsiness of that period. The covers were about a quarter of an inch thick. The title was Christian Advice to Young Men," l remembered her having slipped her fingers over the covers of the books, and her return of this one indi0ated that If she was buying the books for the binding she did not care for a thick cover. I 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. gave her another book in place of the one she brought back and replaced the one she returned on the shelves. If she went away unconvinced of my kindly feeling for her it was not my fault, for I 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 from it's shelf and look it over I don't know, unless it was the same feeling that induces a man to handle something that has been held by a woman for whom he has been inspired with special tenderness. At any rate, l ran over the pages and on a lower corner of page 100 noticed a singular mark. It might or might not be a mon- ogram: 1t looked more like a snake that had tied itself up in an untieable knot than anything else. 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 di- vest my mind of the impression that she had. Somehow the idea was grow ing upon me that there was a mystery connected with her of which her book buying was part. I put the volume back on the shelf with feeling of re- gret that there was no reason to SUD- pose should see her again or ever know her secret-that Is. if there was a secret.
 A week. possibly fortnight. elapsed when an elderly woman came in who represented herself as purchasing agent fer benevolent society whose object was to furnish books for all persons needing them. especially religious lit erature. presenting her credentials, which were genuine. She ransacked my shelves for wholesome books in ten'led for persons of no great educa ttOn. The only volume she asked for was Christian Advice to Young Men," saying that it had been recommended to her for the use of the society she took 1t down for her. and. without examining 1t at all. she placed it among the books she set apart to purchase. Finally she direct ed me to send the lot to the rooms of the society she represented.
 This purchase of the book that had been returned by the young woman
 
 had conjnred up with regard to its con- nection with mystery. Had it been bought " suspicious person had that person been seen to look for the snakellke mark in it, those fancies might have gone on multiplying, but since 1t had been purchased in an ordi- nary way was bound to admit to my self that they were without any foun- dalton whatever. From that time on dismissed them from my mind. But did not banish from my mind the young woman who had impressed me. That sad face of hers, those Madonna like eyes and, above all. the transition In her under my effort t0 induce her to throw off what troubled her were ever present with me. ......--. az...
 Within few days after the visit of the purchasing agent, who should come In but the young woman who is the subject of this story. She said that