"Hi, George!" Nancy greeted her Mend. "Come in."

When the two walked into the living room, Bess pointed to a shoe box George carried. "What's in there?" she inquired.

George's eyes twinkled. She took off the lid, which had several small holes punched in it. "You can see," she said, "but don't touch."

In the box lay a twelve inch baby crocodile. Since it did not move, the girls assumed it was asleep. George held up the box and tapped the underside. At once the crocodile began to wiggle! It opened its jaws wide and swished its tail.

Bess screamed. "Put the lid on and get that thing out of here!" she demanded.

George laughed. "It's not real! Nancy, your dad asked me to stop at the River Heights Trick Shop and buy a rubber crocodile. He didn't explain why."

She replaced the lid and set the box on the table. "The clerk in the store said if you tickle the trick crocodile, it will wiggle. It's meant to scare people, but it can't possibly hurt you."

Bess looked doubtful, and George went on, "If this reptile were real, the government would take it and fine me twenty thousand dollars."

"What!" Bess cried out. "That's incredible."

"Or I could spend five years in jail for possessing it without government permission."

"But why?" Bess asked.

"Because crocodiles are a vanishing species," Nancy put in. "There used to be plenty of them in this country, but now there are only a few left in Florida."

Bess's eyes opened wide. "Do you think your father is going to send us to the part where there are crocodiles?"

Nancy was looking out the window. "We'll soon know," she replied. "He's driving in now."

Carson Drew, a leading attorney in River Heights, parked his car in the garage, then came into the house by way of the kitchen. When he reached the living room, he kissed Nancy and greeted the other two girls.