“The great Sisler's father was never poor and he,the father,was playing in the big leagues when he was my age.”
“No.I know others better.”
He walked off,barefooted on the coral rocks,to the ice house where the baits were stored.
“When I was your age I was before the mast on a square rigged ship that ran to Africa and I have seen lions on the beaches in the evening.”
“I know.You told me.”
“That's very kind of you,”the old man said.“Should we eat?”
Usually when he smelled the land breeze he woke up and dressed to go and wake the boy.But tonight the smell of the land breeze came very early and he knew it was too early in his dream and went on dreaming to see the white peaks of the Islands rising from the sea and then he dreamed of the different harbors and roadsteads of the Canary Islands.
“Then live a long time and take care of yourself,”the old man said.“ What are we eating?”
The door of the house where the boy lived was unlocked and he opened it and walked in quietly with his bare feet.The boy was asleep on a cot in the first room and the old man could see him clearly with the light that came in from the dying moon.He took hold of one foot gently and held it until the boy woke and turned and looked at him.The old man nodded and the boy took his trousers from the chair by the bed and, sitting on the bed,pulled them on.