"I have but one room left," I said to this latecomer.

"And one is all I want," he said. Then, with a quick glance at my face: "I suppose you are a little particular whom you put into the oak parlor. Not everyone appreciates such romantic surroundings."

I looked at him, completely puzzled. "The room is gloomy and uninviting," I said. "But beyond that, I do know of no especial claim it has upon our interest."

"You astonish me," he said with an expression of surprise and incredulity -- and walked on, very thoughtfully, straight to the room. At the door he paused. "Don't you know the secret of the oak parlor?"

Anna Katharine Green (1846-1935), a prolific novelist and poet, earned a place in literary history with The Leavenworth Case, the first detective novel by a woman.

Genre: Mystery