Fast forward a few years later.  The rifle was still sitting at the shop.  I
finally decided the time was right and went up there, cash in hand, to bring
the rifle home.  I noticed something was amiss when I walked in the shop -
the display cases were smashed and several handguns and a few rifles were
missing, including the S-R!  Seems the night before some miscreants used a
truck to pull the front door off the shop and then looted the place.
Fortunately a passing driver saw this and alerted police.  During a chase
down I-55 the thieves started tossing guns out the window, including the
S-R.  Fortunately, the rifle sustained minimal damage, mostly to the wood.
My dealer had an excellent gunsmith repair the stock so it appears almost
new except for a couple of deep scratches.  Mechanically, everything was
fine except that the follower in the magazine was lost.

After getting the rifle back from the gunsmith, my dealer put it back out on
the rack with an unmarked pricetag.  Seems he was trying to find a follower
for it before putting a price on it.  He did offer to sell it to me at cost,
but the lack of a follower discouraged me from purchasing it at the time.

A couple of years go by.  In June of 1999 my dealer friend announced he was
quitting the business, getting married and moving to Colorado.  He sold me a
few guns and accessories at reduced cost.  Knowing that I've always been
wanting the S-R, he offered it to me for $75.  I couldn't pass it up, even
though it was missing the follower.  He told me this was the only gun that
he actually lost money on.