Argosy All-Story Weekly, Vol. 189, No. 4 — page 38: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

508 dy did not venture out to the end, Mr. Cud- lip pointing out to him the fact that the large, grayish-brown log out there was not a log, but an alligator basking in the sun. The saurian confirmed the salesman’s warning at that moment by opening its large, pink mouth and emitting a loud and businesslike hiss. “Are the alligators thrown in?” Teddy ‘wanted to know. ®*“ Treat them kind,” said Mr. Cudlip, “and you'll have them eating right out of your hand.” “ How about snakes?” Teddy asked, as they turned and started back toward the bungalow. “Tt seems to me I saw one here once,” Mr, Cudlip admitted. “There he goes again,” Teddy cried, pointing to a five-foot water moccasin slith- ering off into the marsh at the river’s edge. “Vou ought to get you a motor boat,” Mr. Cudlip said, hastily. ‘ You got plenty of water there, and Biscayne Bay isn’t far off. You can pick up boats for a song. It’s a crime the way people are having to give their stuff away, things like boats, pianos and autos. You can pick up a good car for next to nothing. Shall we drive back te town?” They drove back to town. Teddy made arrangements to have his trunks sent out to his~plantation, then bought, first, a car and then a small motor cruiser, both at prices which made him feel ashamed of him- self. He bought a slightly used Buick roadster for two hundred and fifty dollars, which, in the Northern market, would have fetched, at a conservative estimate, nearly a thousand. The boat was even more of a bargain—a thirty-foot sea skiff with a hunt- ing cabin and powered by a new Kermath engine. He bought this for three hundred and fifty, and it was worth, easily, two thou- sand. The boat he arranged to have de- livered at his dock and the roadster he drove home. He did not drive straight home. When Teddy was about a mile from his planta- tion, skimming along the excellent road that led in from the Dixie Highway to ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. Arcadia-on-Ooglagoochee, he had his first adventure at the hands of a Florida cracker. V. THE road ahead of him stretched straight and empty for perhaps a mile, and Teddy Armbister was sure that it was equally empty behind him. Without the slightest warning he heard the familiar and sickening pop-pop-pop of a motor cycle at his left rear wheel. Instinctively he glanced at his speedome- ter and found that his speed was somewhere between thirty-six and thirty-seven miles an hour. The man on the motor cycle had a large red face and_a pair of small, blue, close- set eyes. He had big, yellow teeth and big, red, hairy hands. The motor cycle policeman jerked his thumb toward the side of the road, and Teddy pulled up and stopped. The ma- jesty of the law looked at him for some time before he spoke, then his voice came midway between a growl and a snarl. “Say,” said he, “‘ what do yo’ think this is—Daytona Beach?” “‘1’m sure,” Teddy answered in his best roadside manner, “I wasn’t going faster than thirty-two or three, officer.” ‘Yo’ was goin’ close on to forty!” “After all,” Teddy argued, “there wasn’t anybody else on the road and there aren’t any blind intersections ahead. J wasn’t conscious of stepping on it, officer. As a matter of fact, I just bought this car, and I certainly wouldn’t speed up until V’d made sure it would hang together.” “The speed limit on this road is thirty- five,” growled the cracker. “Good night!” Teddy exploded. “ And all I was doing was thirty-six! It seems to me you're drawing the line pretty fine. Look here, officer; I’ve just bought some property here in Arcadia-on-Oogiagoochee. I’m going to be a permanent resident. I’m not an ordinary tourist.” “Tell it to the judge,” the cop headed him off. “ Drive along till I tell yo’ to stop.” Teddy Armbister was beginning to boil, — but he drove along as he had been ordered. Eomicbooks (EC)