"That's easy. I can always borrow two dollars and a half."
"I think perhaps I can too. But I try not to borrow. First you borrow. Then you beg."
"Keep warm old man," the boy said. "Remember we are in September."
"The month when the great fish come," the old man said. "Anyone can be a fisherman in May."
"I go now for the sardines," the boy said.
When the boy came back the old man was asleep in the chair and the sun was down.
The boy took the old army blanket off the bed and spread it over the back of the chair and over the old man's shoulders.
They were strange shoulders, still powerful although very old, and the neck was still strong too and the creases did not show so much when the old man was asleep and his head fallen forward.
His shirt had been patched so many times that it was like the sail and the patches were faded to many different shades by the sun.
The old man's head was very old though and with his eyes closed there was no life in his face.