Argosy (UK), January 1955 — page 78: what you’re looking at

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

76 ROBERT SHECKLEY their Hunter-Hunted room. There were lightweight bullet-proof vests for Victims, and hats, with bullet-proof crowns. On one side was a large display of a new .38-calibre side-arm. Use the Malvern Straight-shot! the ad proclaimed. ECB- approved. Carries a load of twelve shots. Tested deviation less than .oot inches per 1,000 feet. Don’t miss your victim! Don’t risk your life without the best! Be safe with Malvern! Frelaine smiled. ‘The ad was good, and the small black weapon looked supremely efficient. But he was satisfied with the one he had. There was a special sale on trick canes, with a hidden four- shot magazine, promising safety and concealment. As a young man, Frelaine had gone in heavily for novelties. But now he knew that the old-fashioned ways were usually best. Outside the store, four men from the Department of Sanitation were carting away a freshly killed corpse. Frelaine regretted missing the take. He ate dinner in a good restaurant and went to bed early. To- - morrow he had a lot to do. The next day, with the face of his Victim before him, Frelaine walked through her neighbourhood again. He didn’t look closely at anyone. Instead, he moved rapidly, as though he were really going somewhere, the way an old Hunter should walk. He passed several bars and dropped into one for a drink. Then he went on, down a side street off Lexington Avenue. There was a pleasant café there. Frelaine walked past it. And there she was! He could never mistake the face. It was Janet Patzig, seated at a table, staring into a drink. Frelaine walked to the end of the block. He turned the corner and stopped, hands trembling. Was the girl crazy, exposing herself in the open? Did she think she had a charmed life? He hailed a taxi and told the man to drive around the block. Sure enough, she was just sitting there. Frelaine took a careful look. She seemed younger than her pictures, but he couldn’t be sure. He would guess her to be not much over twenty. Her dark hair was parted in the middle and combed above her ears, giving her a nunlike appearance. Her expression, as far as Frelaine could tell, was one of resigned sadness. Wasn’t she even going to make an attempt to defend herself? Frelaine paid the driver and hurried to a drugstore. Finding a vacant telephone booth, he called ECB. ‘““ Are you sure that a Victim named Janet Marie Patzig has been notified?” comiclooks.comn