Transcriber's Note:
This etext was produced from Amazing Stories November 1948. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.
OOGIE FINDS LOVE
by Berkeley Livingston
It took a fierce battle with the prehistoric Cro-Magnons,and a modern wrestling match with the Russian Bear, beforeOogie, the Caveman, finally won beautiful Sala for his woman
From the caves men appeared, dragging after them thewomen who had been clubbed into submission
ill him...!" "Moider 'im...!" "Tear his arm off!" The cries andshrieks and boos and confusion were general throughout the auditorium,and the tenor of them was about the same, that the Russian Bear shouldbe annihilated. Alas for the public's pleas. Oogie the Caveman wasunderneath, and already the referee was on his knees, his head bentalmost to the canvas, his nose almost touching the muscled shoulder ofOogie who was underneath the Russian Bear. The two wrestlers werealmost in the center of the ring and the nearest of the spectators wassome eight feet off. The front row could see the lips of the refmoving but none could hear the words, nor even imagine. For what theref said, was:
"Boss wants to see you after the match...."
Oogie rolled a face toward the ref upon which was writ the torturesof the damned, and blinked his right eyelid. Then the ref slapped theRussian Bear on the shoulder and the match was over....
"... Hi boss," Algernon Allerdyce called in greeting. His nose sniffedappreciatively at the aroma of coffee.
"Hi Oogie," Sam Grogan replied without turning from what he was doing,lifting the cover of the percolator on the electric plate. "SquatOog," he directed. "This is just about done. Be with you...."
The fragrant aroma of Mocha, Java and Brazilian coffee beans, ground,mixed and blended until they had achieved a perfect harmony, perfumedthe air. Two cups, saucers and spoons lay on the desk. Beside them wasa bottle of brandy. Oogie and Sam shared the same vice, coffee.
Sam did the honors, and after both men sniffed with the deepestdelight of the brew, he leaned back in his chair and regarded themuscular man at his side with both affection and speculation. Afterall, Algernon Allerdyce, known to the wrestling public as Oogie theCaveman, had been Sam's own discovery, and he was proud of it.
A flashback of memory brought a clear picture to Sam's mind: A hugebulk of a man whose face could have served as a model for the drawingof Pithecanthropus Erectus, entering his offices at the oldHippodrome Building. The wonder he felt at the gentleness of thevoice, as the stranger asked:
"Sam Grogan?" And at Sam's nod, "I'm here in answer to the ad you hadplaced in the Sun...."
That had been the beginning of a strange and very profitablefriendship. For Grogan had advertised for wrestlers and Allerdyce hadbeen