Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1916-01-06

Swiftly Geraldine advanced.

in, won't you?" And hastily to Gid
dings: "That will do, Giddings. Or
der luncheon for two"
Mr.. Merrol flushed with pleasure,
his blue eyes lighting.
"This is good of you," he said, as
he divested himself of top-coat, hat
and stick. "The servant had just
denied your presence here"
Naturally" said Geraldine, but did
not explain further. "You don't mind
having little luncheon with me? l
was just about to begin, and I've
been riding and I've tremendous ap-
petite"
He followed her into the pale-blue
breakfast room, where servants were
dexterously adding another cover to
her small flower-decked table.
This is very pleasant" he said. at
is so much more comfortable to talk
over food. And l want every posi-
BILE assistance to-day"
Yes"
II have come to persuade you that
you must give us the book. Your
note caused cyclones in the office this
morning. And / was despatched post
haste to bargain, argue, reason, or
persuade"
Are you usually successful in ma
king people change their minds ?"
She asked the question quietly, re-
garding him.
Casually" he admitted.
She smiled. And as before her
smile seemed the more wonderful be-
cause her habitual expression was so
discOntented.
81 am hard to move" she said. "To
he quite frank, there is really i'm
portant reason behind my intention
not to publish, as | told you in my
note. daren't run the risk of hav-
ing the authorship attributed to me-"
But if you were assured it would
not be?"
I'VE could not keep people from
suspecting, you know"
He smiled confidently.
But we can"
Suppose, instead of publishing an
onymously, we sign it? Suppose we
sign-Mary Smith? An anonymous
book inspires theories as to author
ship. A book signed Mary Smith is
supposed to have been written by
Mary Smith. There is an end to it."
But people will ask: Who is Mary
Smith?
Exactly, and we will tell them. We
will tell them. We will endow Mary
Smith with an interesting personality,
"A place of residence, a history, and so
on. Mary Smith will become a liv-
ing reality in the mind of the public.
And behind her ample proportions
you can hide"
She looked at him under narrowed
lids.
<I?" '''T-'' g~
He flushed.
81 beg your pardon. I meant the
author "
"Do you suspect me of having writ
ten it?"
She was surprised.
He hesitated, shrugged.
"Your note gave you away. Sew
eral corrections in the manuscript
were in the same hand. more than
half suspected before. / know now."
"All the more reason why / should
not risk publication"
81 am trustworthy, l assure you,"
he answered gravely. And he looked
offended. She smiled family.
at is not that. i feel that you are
trustworthy, Pm sure. But if you
suspect, others will"
81 associate you with the book. No
one else will have the clue. You see,
invariably authors bring manuscripts
to us under the preteXt that 'frined'
has requested the service. But when
saw you was puzzled | couldn't
understand how a girl as young as
you could have written-could have
known-as much of life as is in 'Her
Sacrifice But the address," He
stopped short. Horrifed, he remain
ed speechless, overcome by his awk-
ward tactlessness.
Calmly her strange gray eyes met
his deep blue ones.
"Yes," she said, "the address? 1t
gave you some clue?"
"Forgive me-" he said. ~ spoke
thoughtlessly.
Sand the clue-please?"
So, .RzGr2