His body was wrecked; there remained his mind, and they would find it a great power.

But he did not talk until the lights had been put out and the three youths were in their separate bunks.

Then, without the light to show them his helpless body, in the darkness, which would give his mind a freer play, he began to tell his story.
It was a long narrative.

Far back in the years he had prospected with a youth named Pete Reeve.

They had located a claim and they had gone to town together to celebrate.