I am perplexed by these markings.  I am used to different crown designs (even for 1917) and having the manufacturer listed below the crown.  What am I looking at?

A "Peddle Scheme" SMLE produced by SSA.  If that's the one from Little Rock, I'm planning to meet Ray on Monday to purchase it.

RogueJSK is correct as always. By the 1917 date, it's an SSA rifle (some 1918 receivers were manufactured by the government entity that took over SSA's works - National Rifle Factory, NRF).

Note that SSA never produced more than receivers, bolts, trigger guards, and barrels. All of the other parts were made by other firms or RSAF Enfield; the manufacturers that were part of the "Peddled Scheme" all sent their parts to RSAF Enfield where they became part of the Rifle Components Pool, and were subsequently assembled into complete rifles in the old bayonet shop.

Boo.  Someone apparently just convinced him to sell it to them instead, for more than his asking price.    So no Peddle Scheme rifle for me.  Oh well.

Well, that sucks. You'll find another, though. They turn up often enough.