Got another odd volume just like it in his wicked old hand, ready to change it when I wasn't looking." "Ah," said Mr.Emblem, waking up from his dream of Iris and her father's letter; "ah, they will try it on.

Keep your eyes open, James." "No thanks, as usual," grumbled Mr.James as he returned to his gum and his scissors.

"Might as well have left him to snatch the book." Here, however, James was wrong, because it is the first duty of an assistant to hinder and obstruct the book-snatcher, who carries on his work by methods of crafty and fraudulent exchange rather than by plain theft, which is a mere brutal way.

For, first, the book-snatcher marks his prey; he finds the shop which has a set containing the volume which is missing in his own set; next, he arms himself with a volume which closely resembles the one he covets, and then, on pretense of turning over the leaves, he watches his opportunity to effect an exchange, and goes away rejoicing, his set complete.

No collector, as is very well known, whether of books, coins, pictures, medals, fans, scarabs, book-plates, autographs, stamps, or anything else, has any conscience at all.