“Wa-al?”
“And if you won’t let us have your recipe, or tell us where you got it, the only thing left for us to do is to hire you.”
“Meanin’ that you want me to work fur you?”
“Exactly.”
“Makin’ pickles?”
Poppy nodded.
“Um.... My business is towin’, not pickle makin’.”
“You may find,” says Poppy, “that you can make more money pickling than towing. For what you take in from towing isn’t all profit. The wear and tear on your outfit is considerable.”
“They hain’t no wear an’ tear on a mule.”
“Every time your mule shakes its tail,” says Poppy, seriously, “a certain amount of physical energy is used up. And to supply this energy you’ve got to buy corn and oats. The more tail shaking, naturally the more oats. That is what I call the expense of upkeep. Or, in other words, the expense of wear and tear.”