ionate for him, however, and one day the Pirate simply turns over the money to the friends so that it will be safe. The large bag of coins becomes the symbolic center of the friendship.
             As the months pass, many more stories accumulate around the group. On St. Andrew's Eve Pilon and Big Joe think they have found treasure but it turns out to be a signpost for a geological survey. There are affairs with women, but the companionship within the group is much stronger than the affections any of them have for women. In the end, the romantic paisano returns to the group having relearned this lesson. In many cases, the paisanos provide a service to a needy party. One time, they house and feed a distraught caporal from the Mexican Army with his baby when the two have nowhere else to go. Another time, they save the large family of Senora Teresina Cortez from starvation when the local bean crop fails.
             Sometimes there is wine, and sometimes there is food, but there is always the pleasure that each of them receives from the company of the others. Eventually the Pirate reaches his goal of one thousand quarters and buys a golden candlestick for Saint Francisco. The friends have a small party for this occasion with hamburger meat and wine bought from the plunder of a downed coast guard ship. When there is nothing going on, they rather spend their days in philosophical discussion of town gossip, enjoying the sun on their front porch. Often the stories are scandalous, but there is always a lesson to be learned from them.
             The monotony of the paisano way of life and the weight of property ownership begins to wear on Danny, however. For a month, he sits on the porch with his friends brooding over memories of nights sleeping in the forest and the infinitely better taste of stolen food. In the end, the weight is too much and Danny gives into to his desires to reexperience his youth. He disappears into the woods and goes on a month long crime spree. He...