crazy if you think you can get away with it, and I'll see that you don't! There's a dozen members of the league at Crowfield waiting for me to get back, and when they hear what I have to say, there'll be some action taken, don't think there won't!'
The others were on their feet too. Daniel Cullen rumbled, 'You're a goddam maniac, Pratt.'
Cullen grunted, and wheeled. 'Come on, Bennett. Come on, Darth. I've got to catch a train.' He strode off. The other two followed at his heels. They disappeared around the comer of the house.
After a silence Pratt's jaw relaxed a little and he looked across at the one who was left.
'You know, McMillan,' he said, 'I don't like the look of that fellow Bennett. Nor what he said either. He might even sneak around to that pasture right now, and I'm afraid the man I've got guarding it isn't much good. I know I wasn't supposed to get anything for my $45,000 except the bull, but I wonder if you'd mind…'
'Sure.' McMillan was up, big-boned and lanky. 'I'll go take a look. I… I wanted to look at him anyway.'
'Could you stick around a while?'
'Sure.'
The stockman lumbered off.
We sat, the nephew and niece looking worried. Lily Rowan yawning, Pratt frowning. Wolfe heaved a sigh and emptied his glass.
Pratt muttered, 'All the commotion.'
Wolfe nodded. 'Astonishing. About a bull. It might be thought you were going to cook him and eat him.'
Pratt nodded back at him. 'I am. That's what's causing all the trouble.'
3
WELL, AS the Emperor of India would say, that tore it. The children didn't appear to be shocked any, but I goggled at our host, and I could see by the sudden tilt to Wolfe's head that he was enjoying one of his real and rare surprises. He also betrayed it by repeating what he had already been told, which was equally rare. 'Eat that bull, Mr. Pratt?' he demanded. Pratt nodded again. 'I am. Perhaps you noticed a pit we have started to dig down by the lane. That's for a barbecue which will occur Thursday afternoon. Three days from now. I have invited a hundred guests, mostly from New York. My niece and nephew and their friend Miss Rowan have come for it The bull will be butchered tomorrow. No local man will undertake it, and I'm getting one from Albany.
'Remarkable.' Wolfe's head was still tilted. 'I suppose an animal of that size would furnish 7 or 800 pounds of edible tissue. At $45,000 on the hoof, that would make it around $60 a pound. Of course you'll use only the more desirable cuts and a great deal will be wasted. Another way to calculate: if you serve a hundred guests the portions will be $450 each.'
'It sounds terrible that way.' Pratt reached for his glass, saw it was empty, and yelled for Bert. 'But consider how little you can get for $45,000 in newspaper display or any other form of advertising. The radio would eat it up at a gulp, and what do you get for it? Nobody knows. But I know what I'll get out of this. Do you go in for psychology?' 'I…' Wolfe choked and said firmly, 'No.'
'You ought to. Look here. Do you realize what a stir it will make that the senior grand champion Guernsey bull of the United States is being barbecued and served in chunks and slices to a gathering of epicures? And by whom? By Tom Pratt of the famous pratterias! Let alone the publicity, do you know what the result will be? For weeks and months every customer that eats a roast beef sandwich in a pratteria will have a sneaking unconscious feeling that he's chewing a piece of Hickory Caesar Grindon! That's what I mean when I say psychology.'
'You spoke of epicures.'
'There'll be some. Mostly the barbecue guests will be friends and acquaintances and of course the press, but I'm going to run in a few epicures.' Pratt jerked up. 'By the way, I've heard you're one. Will you still be in Crowfield? Maybe you'd like to run out and join us. Thursday at one o'clock.'
'Thank you, sir. I don't suppose Caesar's championship qualities include succulence, but it would be an experience.'
'Certainly it would. I'll be phoning my agency in New York this evening. Can I say you'll be here? For the press.'
'You may say so, of course. The judging of orchids will be Wednesday afternoon, and I shall probably have left for home. But you may say so. By the way, about this bull. I am only curious: you feel no compunction at slaughtering a beast of established nobility?'
'Why should I?' Pratt waved a hand. 'They say this Caesar bull has so many A R daughters, that's the point they harp on. Do you know what A R means? Advanced Register. What a cow has to do to get on the Advanced Register is to produce a daily average of so much milk and so much butterfat over a period of one year. Well, there are over 40,000 A R Guernsey cows in this country, and only 51 of them are Caesar's daughters. Does that sound as if I was getting ready to barbecue the breed out of existence? To hear that bunch over at Crowfield talk you might think I was. I've had over forty telegrams today howling threats and bloody murder. That's that fellow Bennett; he's sicked his members on me.'
'Their viewpoint, of course, is valid to them.'
'Sure, and mine is to me. – Hey, you want a drink there, Mr. Goodwin. How about you. Miss Rowan? Oh, Bert! Bert!'
When Greasy-face appeared I let him proceed with his function, which I must admit he performed promptly and well. Three highballs were a notch above my ordinary indulgence, but after the blowout and smashup, and the pasture exercise, I felt a little extra would be not amiss. A little fed up with the champion bull, I moved to a chair closer to the champion niece and began to murmur at her. She graciously took it, and after a little I observed
