ALBACORA 195 



"Mario is a man of means," Lou said. "He's saved 

 $400." 



"Wonderful, Mario," Luis Rivas said. "Bueno/' 



Mario nodded and giggled. 



"Four hundred," Walt said, grinning. "Next trip 

 Mario will hire you, Lou." 



Lou laughed and I laughed. Everyone was delighted 

 that Mario had saved his Iquique homestead. 



"What about you, Gus?" I said. "You have diner o, 

 too. What do you want to do with it. You don't have a 

 mortgage to meet?" 



Gus was puzzled until Walt translated. Then he 

 grinned and answered with an excited flurry of Span- 

 ish. 



"It's hard to translate for you, literally," Walt said, 

 "but let's say Gus wants to be a playboy. For a few 

 weeks he wants to live on dry land and spend his time 

 with girls instead of fish." 



Lou smiled and then turned serious. "To be perfectly 

 frank," he said, "I can't say that I blame him." 



