"I thought it was all gone, but it isn't."
"Thought what was all gone?"
"The gold fever. I used to have it when I was younger. It isn't a love of money; it's just a love of digging up gold."
"Can you feel it now?"
"Dreadfully. It burns all over me every time I touch one of those nuggets."
"Let it burn, then."
"Why? What's the good of it?"
"Maybe it'll get strong enough to keep you from wasting the rest of your days among the Lipans."
"Among the Lipans? You don't know, Steve. Didn't I tell you what keeps me? No, I don't think I did—not all of it. You're only a boy, Steve."
"You're a wonderfully strong man for your age."