"Say, Boss. Can you spare a minute?" I sez, pokin' my head in.

The Boss was sittin' at his desk with a goblet of wine in his hand and a full pitcher nearby.

"Sure, Guido. Come on in. Pour yourself some wine."

It seemed to me it was awfully early in the day for the Boss to be hittin' the vino so hard, but figured it was none of my business. When it came right down to it, I had little idea what the Boss had to do on a day-to-day basis while tryin' to straighten out the kingdom's finances or what kind of pressures it put on him. What he did and how he did it was up to him.

"I never drink when I'm workin', Boss," I sez, "but thanks anyway. I just need to talk to you about something."

I glanced around and pulled up a chair. Now that I was here, I wasn't sure quite how to start.

The Boss seemed to realize this, and leaned forward with a slight smile on his face.

"So, what can I do for you?" he sez, friendly-like.

I took a deep breath and plunged in.

"Well, Boss, It's like this. I was thinkin' ... You know how Nunzio and me spent some time in the army here?"

"Yes, I heard about that," he sez with a nod.

"Bein' on the inside like that, I get the feelin' I probably know a little more'n you do about the army types and how they think. The truth is, I'm a little worried about how they're gonna handle bein' tax collectors. Know what I mean?"

I paused and looked at him expectantly.

"Not really," he sez, with a bit of a frown.

This was not goin' as well as I hoped, but I pressed on gamely.

"What I mean is, when you're a soldier, you don't have to worry much about how popular you are with the enemy, 'cause mostly you're tryin' to make him dead and you don't expect him to like it. It's different doin' collection work, whether it's protection money or taxes, which is of course just a different kind of protection racket. Ya gotta be more diplomatic 'cause you're gonna have to deal with the same people over and over again. These army types might be aces when it comes to takin' real estate away from a rival operation, but I'm not sure how good they are at knowin' when to be gentle with civilian types. Get my drift?"