Judge, 1911-07-15 · page 9 of 24
Judge — July 15, 1911 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This appears to be a humorous short story from *Judge* magazine about two men who visit a circus tent featuring "Mlle. Zozo," a performer with a large African python. After one man (Henry) prods the woman with a pin from his lapel, she retaliates by swinging the snake at both men, sending them fleeing in panic to a doctor's office. The satire targets the men's deception: they arrive claiming to be "bitten by snake" to obtain a whiskey prescription (likely during Prohibition or a period of liquor restrictions). The doctor's final line reveals the joke—their actual injuries come from the woman and tent stake, not the snake, exposing their attempted fraud to circumvent local alcohol laws. The humor satirizes both foolish masculine behavior and attempts to evade legal restrictions through false medical claims.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
still slept. There the argument began again, and, to his joy, the ticket taker saw Henry take a pin from the lapel of his coat, poise it in his fingers, aim care- fully, and ram it deep into the right calf of Mlle. Zozo. Instantly there was a yell that could have been heard a mile, and Mlle. Zozo jumped to her feet, her eyes shooting sparks of rage. Her first motion was toward the injured calf, but the second was toward the frightful African python. With her burly right hand she grasped the long, moist serpent by the tail, swung it around her head, and, with a splashy thud, hit Henry a blow on the neck that sent him head over heels in the sawdust. The next instant the head of the serpent caught John on the right cheek, and he lit just clear of the center pole. In two jumps they were out of the tent and streaking it across the field for the town, yelling like wild Indians, while Mlle. Zozo proceeded to clear out the tent. Her husband went down at the third swing of the frightful African python, and at each blow, as she swung My Cerepneg HELD BY THB ENEMY. the heavy, soggy snake around her head, | some one dropped. Henry was the better runner, and he | reached the doctor’s office first. He fell up the stairs and tumbled into the office, his eyes wild and his breath short. “Doe, bit by snake, bit by snake!"” he gasped pantingly. “Now, now!"’ said the doctor. ‘Be calm! There are no poisonous snakes in this’’—— | John tumbled into the room, his face as white as a sheet. “Bit by snake, doc, bit by snake!’’ he groaned. ‘‘Quick! Bit by snake!’’ “See here, are you fellows intoxi- cated?"’ asked the doctor; but he placed them in chairs and began looking them over. The closest examination showed | no wounds of snake teeth, Henry had a | severe contusion on his neck, and John | on his jaw, such as might have been | made by a tent stake, but no signs of a | snake bite. | “Well, boys,”’ he said, ‘‘you did your best to get me to prescribe a whiskey, but I'can’t do it. The laws in this State comicbooks.com