"Do you want all the pigs in the stable?" Lee Augeas, a pig farmer on Battle Mountain, narrowed his eyes. "How many do you think there are? Are you sure?"
"I know," said Hercule Giraud. His French-accented English and pricked mustache annoyed Augeas. But Hercule didn't care what Augeas thought of him. He said with a smile. "There are a lot of soldiers with great appetites."
"How many people are there?"
"Roughly a hundred people."
"Even if one person ate a whole pig, there would still be a lot left over."
"I plan to process the surplus into ham, sausage, terrine, galantine, pate, etc. It's a precaution in case I can't get meat from here on."
Then they specifically entered into price negotiations. It was much cheaper than buying it in New York. This was because the wholesaler did not intervene. However, Augeas made one order.
He wanted to annoy Hercule. Without knowing it, Hercule laughed.
"Please, tell me anything."
Hercule Giraud was generous because the government would comply with whatever demands he put forward. That attitude annoyed Augeas even more.
"This stable is dirty, isn't it?"
"Yes. It's dirty. But so are all stables."
"When all the pigs are gone, it's no longer stable. It's just a hut with only food scraps and feces. So clean up the stable. That's the terms of the contract."
YOU ARE READING
The Argo Goes West
Science FictionIn 1900, creatures from Greek myth began to invade America, where the frontier line had disappeared. Theodore Roosevelt builds the Argo, a battle train and heads to the west where monsters await!
