“Wakeupoldman,”theboysaidandputhishandononeoftheoldmansknees。
Theoldmanopenedhiseyesandforamomenthewascomingbackfromalongwayaway。Thenhesmiled。
“Whathaveyougot?”heasked。
“Supper,”saidtheboy。“Weregoingtohavesupper。”
“Imnotveryhungry。”
“Comeonandeat。Youcantfishandnoteat。”
“Ihave,”theoldmansaidgettingupandtakingthenewspaperandfoldingit。Thenhestartedtofoldtheblanket。“Keeptheblanketaroundyou,”theboysaid。YoullnotfishwithouteatingwhileImalive。
“Thenlivealongtimeandtakecareofyourself,”theoldmansaid。“Whatareweeating?”
“Blackbeansandrice,friedbananas,andsomestew。”
Theboyhadbroughttheminatwo-deckermetalcontainerfromtheTerrace。Thetwosetsofknivesandforksandspoonswereinhispocketwithapaper-napkinwrappedaroundeachset。
“Whogavethistoyou?”
“Martin。Theowner。”
“Imustthankhim。”
“Ithankedhimalready,”theboysaid。“Youdontneedtothankhim。”
“Illgivehimthebellymeatofabigfish,”theoldmansaid。“Hashedonethisforusmorethanonce?”
“Ithinkso。”
“Imustgivehimsomethingmorethanthebellymeatthen。Heisverythoughtfulforus。”
“Hesenttwobeers。”
“Ilikethebeerincansbest。”
“Iknow。Butthisisinbottles,Hatueybeer,andItakebackthebottles。”
“Thatsverykindofyou,”theoldmansaid。“Shouldweeat?”
“Ivebeenaskingyouto,”theboytoldhimgently。“Ihavenotwishedtoopenthecontaineruntilyouwereready。”“Imreadynow,”theoldmansaid。“Ionlyneededtimetowash。”
Wheredidyouwash?Theboythought。Thevillagewatersupplywastwostreetsdowntheroad。Imusthavewaterhereforhim,theboythought,andsoapandagoodtowel。WhyamIsothoughtless?Imustgethimanothershirtandajacketforthewinterandsomesortofshoesandanotherblanket。
“Yourstewisexcellent,”theoldmansaid。
“Tellmeaboutthebaseball,”Theboyaskedhim。
“IntheAmericanLeagueitistheYankeesasIsaid,”theoldmansaidhappily。
“Theylosttoday,”theboytoldhim。
“Thatmeansnothing。ThegreatDiMaggioishimselfagain。”
“Theyhaveothermenontheteam。”
“Naturally。Buthemakesthedifference。Intheotherleague,betweenBrooklynandPhiladelphiaImusttakeBrooklyn。ButthenIthinkofDickSislerandthosegreatdrivesintheoldpark。”
“Therewasnothingeverlikethem。HehitsthelongestballIhaveeverseen。”
“DoyourememberwhenheusedtocometotheTerrace?IwantedtotakehimfishingbutIwastootimidtoaskhim。ThenIaskedyoutoaskhimandyouweretootimid。”
“Iknow。Itwasagreatmistake。Hemighthavegonewithus。Thenwewouldhavethatforallofourlives。”
“IwouldliketotakethegreatDiMaggiofishing,”theoldmansaid。“Theysayhisfatherwasafisherman。Maybehewasaspoorasweareandwouldunderstand。”
“ThegreatSislersfatherwasneverpoorandhe,thefather,wasplayinginthebigleagueswhenhewasmyage。”
“WhenIwasyourageIwasbeforethemastonasquareriggedshipthatrantoAfricaandIhaveseenlionsonthebeachesintheevening。”
“Iknow。Youtoldme。”
“ShouldwetalkaboutAfricaoraboutbaseball?”
“BaseballIthink,”theboysaid。“TellmeaboutthegreatJohnJ。McGraw。”HesaidJotaforJ。
“HeusedtocometotheTerracesometimestoointheolderdays。Buthewasroughandharsh-spokenanddifficultwhenhewasdrinking。Hismindwasonhorsesaswellasbaseball。Atleasthecarriedlistsofhorsesatalltimesinhispocketandfrequentlyspokethenamesofhorsesonthetelephone。”