But I do train them.”
“You like it?”
“Not much, the real big ones.
But I like pumas.
I’m going to get an act together with them some time.
But I’ll need a lot of them.
Jungle pumas.
Not these outlaws you see in the zoos.”
“What’s an outlaw?”
“He’d kill you.”
“Wouldn’t they all?”
“They might, but an outlaw does anyhow.
If it was people, he would be a crazy person.
It comes from being bred in captivity.
These cats you see, they look like cats, but they’re really cat lunatics.”
“How can you tell it’s a jungle cat?”
“I catch him in a jungle.”
“You mean you catch them alive?”
“Sure.
They’re no good to me dead.”
“Holy smoke.
How do you do that?”
“Well, first I get on a boat and go down to Nicaragua.
All the really fine pumas come from Nicaragua.
These California and Mexican things are just scrubs compared to them.
Then I hire me some Indian boys and go up in the mountains.
Then I catch my pumas.
Then I bring them back.
But this time, I stay down there with them a while, to train them.
Goat meat is cheaper there than horse meat is here.”
“You sound like you’re all ready to start.”
“I am.”
She squirted a little wine in her mouth, and gave me a long look. They give it to you in a bottle with a long thin spout on it, and you squirt it in your mouth with the spout. That’s to cool it.
She did that two or three times, and every time she did it she would look at me.
“I am if you are.”
“What the hell?
You think I’m going with you to catch them goddam things?”
“Frank, I brought quite a lot of money with me.
Let’s let Goebel keep those bughouse cats for their board, sell your car for whatever we can get, and hunt cats.”
“You’re on.”
“You mean you will?”
“When do we start?”
“There’s a freight boat out of here tomorrow and it puts in at Balboa.
We’ll wire Goebel from there. And we can leave your car with the hotel here. They’ll sell it and send us whatever they get.
That’s one thing about a Mexican.
He’s slow, but he’s honest.”
“O.K.”
“Gee I’m glad.”
“Me too.
I’m so sick of hot dogs and beer and apple pie with cheese on the side I could heave it all in the river.”