Evening star., 1939-03-19
THE AFFAIR RETICULATUS
Continued from poge seven

his long, drooplng lips. \ snake. ne
SAID solemnly ITO be exact, Abble -
apython."
Mrs. Tupper mopped her moist face
with man S sized linen handkerchief.
What about the little blue men and
the pink elephants?
MIR. Martin grinned dolefully. 1T
sounds screwy doesn't it, Mrs. r.:
Well, it isn't. That's why I'm here in
town A python. And I'm going to
lose. That darned judge must have
been caught creeping under a circus
tent when he was kid. He keeps look
ing at me -
Wait minute" Mrs. Tupper held
up huge crimson paw COmmandlngly.
Lets take this slow. Start at the
beginning
1T goes back about year MIR.
Martin explained. II was running
snake farm at one of the coast fairs. |
had a pretty good exhibit and a red
hot spiel but needed something big
something spectacular to round 1t
out
"a python" his listener guessed.
Exactly. Maybe you don't know 1t,
Abbie, but there is guy around here
that raises snakes A nasty little piece
Of double poison named
Boomer. Well, | heard this Boomer
had two pythons. So | came to sec
him, He had two. One twenty feet
long, that he said was a selffeedcr,
and another about seventeen feet long
that was a force feeder"
I'm not up on my pythons.
Cooney." Mrs. Tupper rumbled.
whats the ditfercnce?"
"A lot of difference. Mrs. T. mean
for exhibitions The hicks like to see a
python handle a rabbit or small pig
for himself. 1t takes away from his
show value when the dead food has to
be rammed down his gullet so to speak.
| bought the selt-feeder Paid nine
hundred. Then made an agreement
with Boomer to hold him tor me until
got set at a new spot | was moving
my show to-
Il see. Then what happened?"
Il can only guess about part of 1t.
think before the time came to ship my
snake, it died. So the smart guy
shipped me the other
Mrs Tupper dug the cherry out of
her drink. you spotted the trick, eh?''
Am a Tovcy Mary? OF course
did And should have shipped him
back right away But with one thing
and another kept him for month.
At first | wasn't quite sure. not belnga
python expert as you might say. Then
| wrote Boomer The rat swore it was
the snake picked out and told me to
go to hell.
And you?"
II sued him finally. Nine hundred
for the snake and thirty-hve hundred
for damages to my show.
1.-The force-feeder was flop?'
"A louise Just sleeping bundle of
skin. No more drama. Mrs. T., than a
can of corn. A dope of the first water.
The case came up this week. That's
why I'm here me an that burned
python reticmlatns.
But if you can prove the guy
switched snakes on you, why should
you be sure you're going to lose?"
ITS that Judge" Martin com
planned with sigh My lawyer says
he don't like the show business. That
and other things"
What other things. Cooney?'
This lawyer for Boomer gets to
crawling over my past life" MIR.
Cooney Martin blew his nose viz
tuously. mot that it amt been an
open book, as you we'll know, Mrs. T."
Mrs. Tupper grinned. An answering
twinkle crept into the gray ewes op-
posite. Suppose | did used to run a
gambling joint once? Suppose ] did
sell what we used to call Mexican
diamonds by mail? What if did sell a
correspondence course in muscle build
ing? Is managing diving horse and
blonde a criminal OffenCeT