The Irish standard., 1916-01-15

against criminal cunning. Many Of
lies most intricate and perplexing
complications flow Out, of acts that are
innocent enough in themselves, or even
inspired by the most praiseworthy of
motives; but, Of course, whose distant
results could not possibly have been
imagined, much less anticipated.
Cases like these form pleasant breaks
1.-the depressing, monotonous process.
sion Of such as owe their origin to
criminal activity or Legitimate prac.
tees.
At the same time the domestic prob
lens are often the most difficult to
cope with; all of the operatives re.
sources of intelligence, skill and ex.
perience are sometimes bafned; but
many of them offer phases of interest
that are quite as compelling as when
he is trying to solve, say, an unusual
murder. All sorts of eccentrics are
met with; queer traits of character
play their part; sometimes the partici.
pants are plunged into tragedy, or else
tragedy is averted only in the nick of
time. The archives Of the Sutherland
Detective agency conceal the records
Of many cases of this description.
One of these unusual cases was
brought to the attention of Felix Haz.
ard in rather remarkable way.
Nearby the Sutherland offices was q
shabby little shop, whose proprietor
dealt in all sorts of curious odds and
ends, though his tastes ran chiefly to
old books. The shop, in truth, reflect
ed the proprietor's quaint character.
and most of his curios were so ex.
tremely bizarre that they attracted
purchasers by their striking and fan
tastic oddly. Thus the old man,
whose name was Philo Godall, pros.
pered.
One morning when Hazard was in
the shop Godall spread upon the dirty
showcase a booksellers trade journal
and pointed to certain advertise
meht.
Here is something peculiar" said
he. II have seen that advertisement,
or one just like 1t, in four or five diff
ferent papers during the past week"
Hazard looked where the old mans
finger was pointing, and read:
II WILL PAY $1,000 FOR TWO GER
TAIN BOOKS.
"The title pages of the two books show
them to be:
II. Principal Navigations, VOYAGES
and Discoveries Of the English Nation
by Richard Hakluyt, London, 1852.
"2. "A Particular Discourse Concern
Ing Western Discoveries by Richard
Hakluyt, London, 1884.
these two volumes are not genuine,
but spurious, first editions, and are
lntrinsically worth only the paper upon
which they are printed.
"As heirlooms, however, they have
q value to the undersigned, who will
pay $1,000 $500 for each volume) up
on delivery to him in an unmutilated
or otherwise unchanged condition.
when the library of the late H.
sydenor Gray was disposed of in June,
1913. the two books specified were in
pj1ded in the catalogue by mistake.
an extremely anxious to recover them.
Address: Edward s. Gray, r. F. D.
II, Unaminee, ILL.,"
Hazard looked at the old dealer.
"Well," said he, whats SO peculiar
about that?"
Before replying, Godall stopped and
ashed something from underneath the
counter. He laid two dingy, scratched
and battered leather-bound volumes
upon the showcase.
There" he announced, "are the
very books the young man is so eager
to get"
The detective examined them curl
ously, and as the conversation pro-
ceeded he ran through the pages with
deft fingers, now and then pausing to
examine one or another with more par
ucularity.
why young?" he asked. do you
know him?'
i've seen him. It was who bought
most Of old Sydenor Gray's library
these two among the rest Of the books.
He had very little that was worth q
good deal, and SO Of course they didn't
add much to the estate.
"But the funny part about it is that
several weeks ago I sold these very
same books, and after seeing the ad-
vertisement for the first time, to save
my soul all I could remember of the
transaction was that had accepted q
dollar apiece for them; I hadn't the
faintest recollection of who had bought
them.
II didn't worry much about it,
though; l thought, If the purchaser
should chance upon this advertisement
he'll find he's made a good invest
ment,' and dismissed the matter from
my mind.
well, sir, what do you think! Not
more than an hour ago he came blus.
tering in here and slammed them
down on the counter in a towering
rage-said I'd cheated him, and so on.
Tried to sell 'em, guess, to some.
body that knew more about old edi-
lions than he did.
II didn't argue with him; I gave
him back his two dollars and he went
away apparently satisfied" Godall
chuckled in high good humor.
Hazard congratulated him on his
windfall and thought no more Of the
When Archbishop Mundelein comes
to Chicago, to which the Holy Father
has sent him, 800 priests will mar.