Paul,

I really like the term "ghost stall" or "ghost table", as it may be.  Not only
has the left-behind tool disappeared, but even the stall itself cannot be found!

One of my buddies learned the hard way not to get too involved with less
rare/valuable items when better pickings might be available just steps away,
especially not when you are with a flea market veteran.

He was dumbfounded when I held out the large Translucent White Hard Arkansas
stone in its original box. I'd picked it out of a "box of rust" for $5.  Found
it while he was closely examining a table that just didn't look very promising
to me.

I tell my companions "Keep the scan going!" Just like an airplane pilot
constantly scanning the skies and the instruments!

Speaking of stones, I picked up a worn but useable Belgian Coticule blue &
yellow razor hone a few weeks back for $1.  This is only the second Coticule
stone I've ever seen in years of hunting. ( The other is an irregular
quadrilateral whose longest side is only about 4-1/2". )

Sometimes, stuff just "gets away".  Years back I was in an overpriced antique
shop in the [Raritan] bayside town of Keyport. There was a good-sized stone in a
mortised wooden base. The base apparently had some age on it.  The price tag
made me pass it up......much later, as I was falling asleep that night, it
suddenly occurred to me that that stone was BLUE, as in "possible Coticule".  I
went back as soon as I could, and of course the stone had already been sold !!!

I'll never know if an actual 8" Coticule slipped through my fingers, or if it
was just some less-desireable type of blue-colored stone.  The point, if there
is one, is that I didn't adequately examine it before passing it by.

 John Ruth